GOP tax-less budget solution makes sense -- Senate and Assembly Republicans finally unveiled a dollar-specific plan to reduce the huge state budget deficit, itemizing $15.6 billion in spending cuts and proposing to divert $6.5 billion in existing tax revenue. The plan has the added benefit of not increasing taxes even a nickel. EDITORIAL in the Orange County Register -- 12/17/08
GOP steps up -- The proposal just released by GOP leaders to cut $16 billion in spending and raise $6 billion in revenue is the smartest blueprint yet to help California leave its budget crisis behind. EDITORIAL in the San Diego Union-Tribune -- 12/17/08
Drill, Arnold, Drill! -- Schwarzenegger wants to raise the state's sales tax to help make up the shortfall. But there's a better way to drum up revenues, one that won't cost California taxpayers a dime. The state could generate huge royalties by allowing offshore oil drilling. EDITORIAL in the Investor’s Business Daily -- 12/16/08
Growth is the only solution to state's crisis -- Economic growth is the only real solution to our fiscal fiasco, and economic growth is only strong in states that encourage it. If California really wants to get out of the fiscal doldrums, we need to become one of those states. MARGARET A. BENGS in the Sacramento Bee -- 12/17/08
Walters: Politicos make way too much of budget gap -- The Capitol is consumed with the state budget situation and every day brings some new histrionics, such as Assembly Speaker Karen Bass' threat Tuesday to lock up her colleagues if they fail to approve Democrats' revised package of taxes and spending cuts. Dan Walters in the Sacramento Bee -- 12/17/08
Herdt: When paralyzed, try moving -- Watching the paralysis of the California Legislature as it stares, deer-eyed, at the real prospect of imminent bankruptcy, one can only conclude that if it took a two-thirds vote to do so, this group would be unable to order an evacuation if a tsunami was headed straight at Santa Monica. Timm Herdt in the Ventura Star -- 12/17/08
In the News
Dems' new budget plan fails to get 2/3 majority -- Democrats in the state Assembly on Tuesday countered the plan by Republican lawmakers for deep cuts to help bridge California's gaping budget hole, putting up for a floor vote a new $19 billion plan through mid-2010 that would adopt Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's tax ideas. Matthew Yi in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/17/08
Public works projects face the ax as Assembly votes fail -- California public works projects totaling $5 billion are expected to begin grinding to a halt today after the Assembly balked at a Democratic plan to end the state's bitter budget standoff. Jim Sanders in the Sacramento Bee Jordan Rau and Evan Halper in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/17/08
Governor's aides OK water strategy -- A team of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's top advisers settled on a new water strategy yesterday, promoting a contentious mix of dams and a new canal to keep supplies flowing to Southern California while at the same time restoring the health of the fragile Sacramento delta. Michael Gardner in the San Diego Union-Trib -- 12/17/08
Risky, Ill-Timed Land Deals Hit Calpers -- At the height of the property bubble, California's giant pension fund, Calpers, made a fateful decision: It aggressively poured money into real estate. As a result, today it's one of the biggest owners of undeveloped residential land in America. MICHAEL CORKERY, CRAIG KARMIN, RHONDA L. RUNDLE and JOANN S. LUBLIN in the Wall Street Journal -- 12/17/08
Calpers Set to Choose a New CEO -- The largest U.S. public pension plan, known as Calpers, is poised to select a new chief executive officer this week, ending a nearly half-year period when the fund operated without its top two executives. CRAIG KARMIN and JOANN S. LUBLIN in the Wall Street Journal -- 12/17/08
What Fed's drastic rate cut means -- The Federal Reserve took unprecedented steps Tuesday to bolster the crumbling economy that could ease interest rates on credit cards and other short-term loans but might have little impact on the mortgage market that ignited the crisis. James Temple in the San Francisco Chronicle Tom Petruno in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/17/08
Borrowers may get break; savers' suffering to worsen -- What does the Fed rate cut mean to you with a mortgage, car loan and credit cards? You could be a winner if you have a home equity line of credit. But if you've socked away money in a savings account, you could be a loser. Jim Wasserman in the Sacramento Bee -- 12/17/08
Federal bank bailout isn't trickling down, panel told -- A three-member oversight board hears that, in Nevada at least, the Treasury Dept.'s $700-billion rescue plan has done little or nothing to curb unemployment and foreclosures. Ralph Vartabedian in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/17/08
Survey: Buyers don't want seized homes -- A new real estate survey shows that consumers are less willing to buy foreclosures, which could prove problematic in 2009, when a new wave of home foreclosures is expected. Debra Gruszecki in the Desert Sun -- 12/17/08
Governor calls for detection, disclosure of toxic chemicals -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants California to require full disclosure of chemicals used in consumer products to wean industry and consumers off toxic compounds. The governor endorsed the consumer disclosure concept and five related strategies Tuesday on the recommendation of his environmental protection secretary, Linda Adams. Chris Bowman in the Sacramento Bee Margot Roosevelt in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/17/08
California Department of Techology to move from Sacramento to Vacaville -- The department outlined its relocation plans in a recent presentation to the state Technology Services Board, saying it will sign the lease in January. Officials will start moving equipment by May and relocate staff now to other offices by 2010, relocation project manager Steve Rushing told the board. Andrew McIntosh in the Sacramento Bee -- 12/17/08
Steve Jobs and Apple pulling out of MacWorld -- Macworld, the trade show that celebrates all things Apple and that became a cultural event for so-called Macolytes, will no longer have its featured showman or company at the party. Troy Wolverton in the San Jose Mercury Ryan Kim in the San Francisco Chronicle Dawn Chmielewski and Alex Pham in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/17/08
Apple CEO Will Skip Macworld Trade Show -- Apple's stock fell as much as 5.5% in after-hours trading after the announcement as investors worried that the move was linked to Mr. Jobs's health. Mr. Jobs, who has been the keynote speaker at Macworld since 1997, is a survivor of pancreatic cancer. YUKARI IWATANI KANE in the Wall Street Journal -- 12/17/08
CBS fires nearly 30 people in its entertainment division -- CBS fired nearly 30 people, primarily in its network programming but also at its CBS Paramount Network Television production studios in Los Angeles and Studio City, two people close to the network said. Meg James in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/17/08
Chip sales forecast: down this year, and getting worse -- Reflecting plummeting worldwide sales of computers and other tech gadgets, global chip sales will be down this year — and even worse next year — a research group said Tuesday, representing the industry's first back-to-back decline in annual revenue since the firm began tracking the market in 1980. Steve Johnson in the San Jose Mercury -- 12/17/08
U.S. seeks to wipe out immigration fraud -- They are predators who take advantage of people desperate to become legal residents and citizens. Stephen Wall in the San Bernardino Sun -- 12/17/08
Cortines hired to lead L.A. schools -- The veteran educator replaces David L. Brewer. 'We will not do things the same way,' the new LAUSD superintendent says. Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/17/08
UCSF wins $25 million stem cell grant -- The stem cell research center at UCSF - one of the largest U.S. programs of its kind - has won a $25 million donation toward a new facility that will bring its top scientists together in one building for the first time. Erin Allday in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/17/08
UC president's staff treated to party -- The headquarters staff of the University of California threw a holiday party on Monday in the elegant lobby of the historic Rotunda Building in downtown Oakland, but it was a scaled-back event compared with the gala celebrations of past years. Jim Doyle in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/17/08
Judge rejects limit on pregnancy aid -- A San Francisco judge struck down a state law Tuesday that requires low-income women to live in California for six months before qualifying for state-funded care during pregnancy and immediately after childbirth. Bob Egelko in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/17/08
Stepping up to the plate on greater food regulation -- State and local officials push trans fat bans and menu labeling. Some restaurants, diners and manufacturers object. Jerry Hirsch in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/17/08
Family of 4-year-old who died of mysterious infection searches for answers -- Every day, Jenny Ekhilevsky calls the coroner, asking for any scrap of information that might help her understand why her 4-year-old daughter died in her sleep last week. Julia Prodis Sulek in the San Jose Mercury -- 12/17/08
Kaiser 'biobank' may yield big health dividends -- They already have 20,000 cheek swabs yielding human DNA, and with a new $8.6 million grant announced Tuesday, Kaiser Permanente researchers plan to collect nearly a half-million more to stock a repository of DNA that rivals the world's largest. Suzanne Bohan in the Oakland Tribune -- 12/17/08
Matier & Ross: Price of justice may be high in long case -- What started as a minor case over a pair of scratch marks less than 6 inches long on a Toyota RAV4 in Palo Alto has turned into a three-year legal odyssey involving a private investigator, an expert witness flown in at a cost of several thousand dollars and appeals all the way to the state Supreme Court. Phillip Matier, Andrew Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/17/08
San Francisco Bicycle Coalition hits pothole No. 1,000 -- If you're going to be a pothole, you may as well be a famous one, and that's just what an irksome blemish in the asphalt on Market Street became Tuesday when reporters and camera crews were summoned by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition to take a good look at it. Rachel Gordon in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/17/08
Off-track betting -- California racing authorities have approved an expansion of off-track betting to cardrooms, sports bars and other businesses in the state. Charles Burress in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/17/08
More local fallout from Madoff collapse -- With reference to the unfolding $50 billion alleged Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard Madoff, the following e-mail was sent to a number of Bay Area institutions Monday. Andrew S. Ross in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/17/08
Hollywood figures snared in Bernard Madoff's alleged fraud -- Screenwriter Eric Roth, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg are among those who suffered losses in the investment manager's alleged $50-billion Ponzi scheme. E. Scott Reckard, Rachel Abramowitz and Claudia Eller in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/17/08
3 TGI Friday's restaurants close without notice -- A skeleton crew boxed up the booze at the TGI Friday's in San Bruno Tuesday after their Florida-based employer abruptly closed that restaurant and two others in San Mateo and Cupertino, firing dozens of people without warning. Tom Abate in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/17/08
San Joaquin Valley farmers face costly freeze -- A freeze watch is on through Thursday in southern San Joaquin Valley, the heart of California's $1.3 billion citrus industry, spurring growers to tune up some 12,000 wind machines and prepare for at least one sleepless night. George Raine in the San Francisco Chronicle -- 12/17/08
Elevated tram will keep things moving -- Holiday travelers will notice something new this year at Sacramento International Airport – a major construction zone. Work barriers are up. Excavators are rumbling. And a gaping 16-foot-deep crater marks the foundation for a new four-story terminal and hotel. Tony Bizjak in the Sacramento Bee -- 12/17/08
Food broker accuses California company of racketeering -- Randall Lee Rahal, a New Jersey sales broker, leveled a startling allegation with a guilty plea in Sacramento federal court Tuesday, telling the judge that SK Foods L.P., one of the nation's largest processors of tomato-based products, has been run as a "racketeering enterprise" since 2004. Denny Walsh in the Sacramento Bee -- 12/17/08
Los Angeles County Museum of Art proposes merger with MOCA -- The offer sets up a face-off between LACMA and the city's most powerful arts patron, Eli Broad, who has offered $30 million to the Museum of Contemporary Art. Diane Haithman and Mike Boehm in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/17/08
A little dinghy dreams big in Newport Harbor -- D25, a beloved Christmas boat parade perennial, is shooting for the grand prize. Susannah Rosenblatt in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/17/08
Disaster area? Southern California has it made in the shade -- The region is actually one of the safest in the country, researchers say. Extreme heat and cold are far more deadly than earthquakes and wildfires. Thomas H. Maugh II and Mary Engel in the Los Angeles Times -- 12/17/08
No comments:
Post a Comment