Last December, Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said $352 billion in criminal money was laundered and kept the financial system afloat during the worst of the crisis.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear both sides of an issue which has been brewing between federal courts and California's executive for two years. 

Election year politics and a lame-duck governor could be sending California into a lengthy budget standoff as the Legislature has already missed the often-missed June 15 constitutional deadline to send a budget to the governor. 

Earlier this week, California missed another constitutionally mandated deadline to pass a state budget. Policymakers are reeling from the enormous, seemingly impossible task of bridging an approximately $19 billion budget deficit.

In a Daily Show segment entitled "Respect My Authoritah", Jon Stewart criticized President Obama for his apparent hypocrisy on foreign policy and presidential power. 

The recent debate over further economic stimulus in the US Senate has produced a predictable round of new infighting over budgetary philosophy from both the Democrats and Republicans, albeit one with special relevance for California’s people. 

Given the US public's deep dissatisfaction with the Democratic and Republican parties, numerous political commentators and prognosticators have suggested that the current political climate favors outsiders and the Independent.