Money in a Minute: Headlines From Around the Web

FEDERAL DEBT: Republican Ron Paul dismisses Boehner’s dollar-for-dollar debt-cut demand

A Republican presidential candidate publicly disagrees with the Republican House speaker over budget cuts. “Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul dismissed House Speaker John Boehner’s call for spending cuts to match any increase in the federal debt ceiling,” Bloomberg reports. The reason? “A fiscal catastrophe is coming whether or not the country exhausts its borrowing power.”

JOBS: America’s hidden unemployment problem

Unemployment may be slowly dropping, but not for one group of Americans. “There are 8.3 million workers receiving disability payments, an increase of 1.2 million, or 17 percent from when the recession began,” CNN reports.

SHOPPING: Wal-Mart gets small to compete with dollar-store rivals

Walmart’s next big idea is to open smaller stores. “In rural Arkansas, the first drugstore-size Walmart Express store offers a peek at how the world’s largest retailer plans to expand in big cities and tiny towns,” USA Today reports. “Wal-Mart is thinking small as it takes its fight against the growing threat of dollar stores to its own backyard.”

CARS: Obama on auto bailout: ‘American industry is back’

The federal government invested $80 billion in Chrysler and General Motors, and only half has been returned so far. But President Obama announced, “American manufacturing and American industry is back,” CNN reports.

POST OFFICE: The postal service is running out of options

The Post Office employs 571,566 full-time workers, making it the country’s second-largest civilian employer after Wal-Mart Stores. “Since 2007 the USPS has been unable to cover its annual budget, 80 percent of which goes to salaries and benefits,” MSNBC reports. “In contrast, 43 percent of FedEx’s budget and 61 percent of United Parcel Service’s pay go to employee-related expenses.”