Just before 1:30 p.m. Aug. 3, a frustrated President Obama gathered Gene B. Sperling and the economic team in the White House and told them to design a jobs package he could offer the American public.

Obama had spent much of the year locked in negotiations with Republicans over the national debt, with little to show for the effort but a sagging approval rating. He had wanted to argue publicly for ideas to create jobs, but hesitated in the midst of negotiations. Liberal critics reprised a familiar critique of the Obama White House: that it too often bows to political constraints and forfeits what’s right for what’s possible or easy.

The nation’s leading breast cancer advocacy group has gone into full damage-control mode.

Executives of the embattled Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation held conference calls with affiliates Saturday to discuss a new strategy for working with supporters, a first step in rebuilding trust after last week’s public relations fiasco surrounding Komen’s off-then-on-again decision to fund Planned Parenthood.

Newt Gingrich’s campaign remains roughly $600,000 in debt, two months after it reported deep debts and a long list of creditors, newly released campaign spending records show.

Fundraising by the former House speaker’s campaign has stepped up markedly since then and Gingrich just last month cut by half the $1.2 million owed in October 2010. Still, several outstanding creditors remain.

One of the most interesting stories to come out of the Facebook IPO windfall is that of David Choe, the scrappy street artist who was given the choice of cash or stock for the murals he created in the company’s first headquarters.

While the punditocracy dives into the details and debates the vices and virtues of Mitt Romney’s and Newt Gingrich’s 2010 tax returns, we found a gold mine in tax savings for ordinary folks who will never need a Swiss bank account.

Taxpayers looking to maximize their charitable deductions and save on taxes can replicate a strategy Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney uses.

By donating stock to a foundation, Romney and his wife, Ann, eliminated taxes on gains, received a deduction for the securities’ full market value and can donate the money to charities over several years, said Steven Bankler, a certified public accountant. Individuals can achieve similar results with a donor-advised fund for a “whole lot cheaper,” he said.

The big idea: How can executives (or anyone) use what we know about process improvement to make their lives better — as well as improve the lives of everyone with whom they interact? Todd Pearson’s productivity transformation in his home, personal and work life is one in a series of Living Lean vignettes describing the holistic, real-world application of continuous process improvement principles.

American Airlines has saved $2.1 billion since 2006, thanks to two congressional measures that allowed it to reduce contributions to its pension plans. The company said it would make up any shortfall later.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday named an official at the Government Accountability Office, Jeanette M. Franzel, to serve as a watchdog over corporate audits, filling a potentially pivotal seat on an oversight board that was created in the aftermath of the Enron and WorldCom accounting scandals.

Caught in a maelstrom of public reaction to its decision to cease funding Planned Parenthood, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation announced Friday that it would reverse course.

Komen will no longer bar organizations that are under government investigation from applying for grants. As a result, Planned Parenthood — which is the focus of a House probe over whether it has used federal funds to pay for abortions — will once more be eligible for Komen grants.

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued a handful of the nation’s largest banks Friday, claiming they deceived homeowners and court officials by filing flawed and fraudulent foreclosure documents through a popular electronic mortgage registry.

The U.S. economy added 243,000 jobs in January — and 11 of those were at Annie’s Ace Hardware, a new store slated to open in Petworth on Tuesday.

The 6,500-square-foot store near Upshur Street and Georgia Avenue NW has long been a dream of owner Anne Stom, a home repair aficionado and former Labor Department project director who went all in to launch her new business, including investing about $200,000 of her own money.

The largest PC maker in the world is — Apple?

Hard to believe, maybe, but according to the latest analysis from Canalys, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company shipped 120 million PCs last year, if you include the iPad.

It was fun, but wanting — the motorized equivalent of a last fling. At the end of the journey, I knew we were done.

Infatuation and fantasy wear thin with real-road experience, particularly when you are driving several hundred miles in a speedster as tiny as the 2012 Mini Cooper John Cooper Works Coupe.

It’s called the Shrimp Boat restaurant and if you’ve ever driven out of Capitol Hill on East Capitol Street you’ve seen it sailing toward you — paint peeling, windows mostly shuttered and a seaweed green awning that looks like it could collapse at any moment.

One is a local crafter who specializes in hand made baby clothes. Another is a state department employee by day and talent agent on the side. A third is the director of a local non-profit that teaches health and wellness to Ward 8 residents.

David Choe became the art world’s newest millionaire this week, thanks to his wise decision to take Facebook stock in exchange for the murals he painted in the company’s headquarters in 2005, despite believing at the time that Facebook wa s “ridiculous.”

“It’s good to remember that the fact that there were some folks who were willing to let this industry die. Because of folks coming together, we are now back in a place where we can compete with any car company in the world.”