Measures taken by President Obama to meet the economic crisis placed heavy burdens on taxpayers, according to a new report from the General Accountability Office. The auto industry bailout is expected to incur losses of $12.2 billion and and non-housing TARP programs will lose more than $4 billion by the time they are phased out.

Compliment or insult? Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, in a radio interview, compared prospective Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to a celebrity.  His full statement is not complimentary. He called her "boring" and said, "She's just, you know, a celebrity like Kim Kardashian."

They're not calling it a tax, but Californians now have to pay more to the government as part of the state's effort  to fight global warming. The new charge, which state officials call a fee on gas retailers, is on top of the already existing gas tax -- a tax on a tax, in other words. It adds about 10 cents a gallon to wholesale gas prices.