The Books Go On and On

The most expensive piece of property sold at a federal Resolution Trust Corp. auction last Thursday near Palm Springs was the site of the auction, the Doubletree Resort. It went for $18.1 million to Los Angeles investor Charles Lee.

One item Lee’s new acquisition has in plentiful supply is the hardcover version of Sonny Bono’s “The Beat Goes On,” the recently published autobiography of the Palm Springs mayor and Senate wanna-be. Six of Bono’s books were stacked conspicuously next to the gift shop cash register on the day of the auction, with more said to be in a nearby storage room.

A spokeswoman for the auction, however, said the books don’t come with the hotel because the gift shop leases the space.

Read My Stickers

President Bush and members of Congress may have struck a nerve with consumers by putting the spotlight on high credit card rates, but they struck the wrong one with Paul Richard.

Richard is vice president of the National Center for Financial Education, a nonprofit group in San Diego that discourages excessive credit card use. He argues that Bush’s jawboning of credit card issuers to lower rates, along with efforts in Congress to cap interest rates on cards, promotes irresponsible usage.

So Richard last week flooded the White House and various congressional offices with a batch of stickers that read “Can We Afford it???” “Warning: Overuse Can Be Dangerous to Your Wealth” and “Should We Charge It???” The stickers are the same ones he gives people to attach to their credit cards so they won’t be tempted to use them.

What are the odds he’ll get anyone’s attention in a place like Washington? “We didn’t run into this thing with any false expectations that a little group like ours could change the mind-set of a 30-year spending spree,” he said.

Return to Sender

Mayor Tom Bradley’s recent efforts to make Los Angeles something of a junk mail free zone could get some inspiration from Fenton Communications, an environmental-oriented public relations firm in Washington.

Director David Fenton has given a new meaning to the term “recycled news” by including with press kits the firm sends out a paid-for return envelope so media organizations that aren’t interested can send them back. Fenton said the ones that come back in good shape get sent out again, while the rest are recycled.

Returning the junk mail Los Angeles residents ignore could prove costly. It has been estimated that the 1.2 million households in the city on average decline to open 68 pounds of the stuff each year.

Briefly. . .

No fizz: French Champagne maker Moet et Chandon sees lower sales this year because of a worldwide economic slowdown. . . . A New Mexico outfit is charging a fee ranging from $25 to $300 to “adopt” a hawk, eagle, falcon or owl, promising updates on the bird’s mating, migration and nesting activities. . . . What about Kennebunkport? “Playground of Presidents” is now both a registered state and federal trademark of the Rancho Mirage Chamber of Commerce.