Economy -- It's Not A Recssion, per CEA Chair: Edward Lazear, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said yesterday that, of the five measures the private National Bureau of Economic Research uses to date the start and end of recessions, only one--sales in retail and manufacturing--"are declining at rates commensurate with prior recessions." Recent job losses are at "less than half the rate that prevailed during the mild recession of 2001." Payrolls have declined four months in a row. Contracting -- But It's Contracting: Purchases by federal agencies will drop by double digits in fiscal 2009, with most of the decline coming from the Defense Department, according to a forecast by a federal market research firm. Contract spending will drop by more than 10 percent from fiscal 2008 to fiscal 2009, from $490.7 billion to $440.4 billion. Story. Taxes -- And White House Warns on Tax Hikes: Gloom marked the fifth aniversary of the 2003 tax cuts, with the White House predicting that the largest tax increase in history is looming: "[i]f the President's tax relief is allowed to expire at the end of 2010, Americans will pay about $280 billion more in taxes each year. With the largest tax increase in history looming, Congress should make the President's tax relief permanent." Fact Sheet.