Word: clevelandism
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When Edward Groening went shopping for a car last Thursday, his first stop was Ganley Chevrolet's new car lot in Cleveland. He test-drove a 2008 Impala and a brand-new Chevy Cobalt, and liked them both. With a loan, he could afford whichever one he chose. But like millions of American consumers, Groening decided that any new debt right now is just too risky. So on Friday he walked across the street to Ganley's used-car dealership. There he found a 2007 Impala with 13,000 miles that cost $5,000 less than new one. At that...
...lots of Cleveland, people at the ground floor of the economy are getting nervous too. In an average month, 260 customers walk through the doors of Boyland Acura in Cleveland. That total dropped to 80 in August, says general sales manager Clayton Hrabik. The few remaining shoppers find that it's getting harder to secure a loan. "Once we get down to the meat and potatoes of their credit worthiness," Hrabik says, "they just can't afford...
That's what Cleveland resident Mildred Maldonado realized last week when the timing belt of her 1994 Saturn broke, causing the engine to seize. She would like to borrow money for a used car. If her Saturn had died two months ago, perhaps she could have qualified. But Maldonado has a low credit score. And banks, nervous about a global credit crunch, are requiring down payments of up to 30%, according to several Cleveland dealers. Maldonado cannot afford that. So she begs relatives for rides. "I hate it, but there's nothing else I can do," says Maldonado, 49. With...
Similar credit concerns have contributed to a 20% drop in sales at Marshall Ford in Mayfield Heights, an affluent Cleveland suburb, says owner Larry Elk. Leased vehicles typically make up half of Marshall's new-car business. As Ford, GM and other manufacturers take steps to cut back on car leases, Elk says he feels the pinch. "People are getting the message that leases aren't happening," he says. "If people don't have to buy a car, they're just holding off to see what happens...
...letter to vice-presidential debate moderator Gwen Ifill urging her to ask more questions about education. The Sept. 29 letter noted that in this election cycle, just 20 of the 653 questions asked at 30 presidential debates have dealt with education - about 3%. "In the last Democratic debate in Cleveland, for instance, Senators Obama and Clinton spent more than 15 minutes discussing health care, [while] no education questions were asked," the authors said. "If the presidential debates were a barometer, there would be little indication of any problem in America's schools...