The Democrats failed to pass the first of 20 budget proposals yesterday (Wed 6/24).  Not that it would have been too much better otherwise, as this proposal addressed only $11 of the $24 billion problem. Gov. Schwarzenegger’s proposal addressed $16 billion, but received scrutiny for cutting programs for the poor, including the now infamous “900,000 children” that will be without state-funded health insurance.

Arambula expresses disappointment over the state's water problem solutions and the Democratic leaders who curb the deficit by raising taxes without deeper cuts using "phantom money" (LA Times).

A Project Labor Agreement, or PLA, will not be used in the $887 million project (scheduled to begin this summer) to expand San Diego’s International Airport at Lindbergh Field. This decision is giving rise to dispute.

Imagine if ANYONE could run for office, wouldn’t that be nice? When I say “ANYONE” I mean even people who do not have a million dollars. Yes, I know, it’s hard to imagine.  But what if candidates- under strict rules- received enough money from a state fund to actually win an election? AB 583 is authored by Assemblymember Loni Hancock (D- East Bay) and intends to do just that. 

On State Treasurer Robert Lauten’s website he displays the “Act-Independent Statement” to the G-20 Summit in London, APRIL 2, 2009.  This insightful text intends to define the $1.5 Quadrillion derivates bubble, while making common sense recommendations for world leaders.  Derivatives played a key role in the Orange County disaster during the Clinton years.    Regarding the

SEIU Executive Vice President Eliseo Medina says:  “Governor Schwarzenegger’s proposed cuts to home care would add up to 340,000 people to the ranks of the unemployed, moving California’s unemployment rate to 12.8 percent--nearly tied with Michigan for the highest in the nation. This is exactly the opposite of what California needs.”  Although these “irresponsible cuts will cost the state over a billion dollars a year in lost federal funds, and untold billions over the long term… worse still is the human toll.

According to the LA Times in 2004 the city had four known storefront dispensaries.  Now, police say there are as many as 600 or more… no one really knows.  In September 2007, the Medical Marijuana Interim Control Ordinance (temporary moratorium on new medical marijuana dispensaries) became law (

The governor acknowledges “we are in the midst of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression,” and that in “the past 18 months one-third of the world's wealth has vanished...We are not Washington. We cannot print money. We cannot run up trillion-dollar deficits.

Attorney General Edmund Brown Jr.

In her year as head of the state Assembly, Karen Bass has discovered that getting lawmakers to cooperate is far tougher than her previous work as a community activist.

Now the powerful post looks like a booby prize, as the state battles its worst budget crisis in history and Bass tries to deflect voter anger with action.

Read the Full Article from the LA Times Here.