Schwarzenegger wants $11-billion water bond off the November ballot

Calif. gov. wants to pull bond measure
Sacramento, June 30 (UPI) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger says he wants to pull a water bond issue scheduled for voter consideration off the November ballot. The Governor said the proposal as written has a slim chance of passing in light of California's present dire economic straits and he wants to focus his attention on the Budget, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday. "After reviewing the agenda for this year, I believe our focus should be on the Budget -- solving the Deficit,...

Schwarzenegger calls for $11 billion water bond to be pulled from November ballot
In a stunning development, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Tuesday he would attempt to pull an $11.1 Billion water bond off the November ballot and instead ask for voter approval two years from now. The Governor said the delay was needed to concentrate on the Budget, but the economic climate and persistent criticism of the bond's cost were also making the measure a tough sell. "After reviewing the agenda for this year, I believe our focus should be on the Budget — solving the Deficit,...

Bill for Budget Delay: $50 Million a Day
As the debate over the State's Budget once again drags on in Sacramento -- State leaders have missed the Wednesday deadline for the seventeenth time in the last twenty years -- the delay is costing the State. Starting Thursday, and every day without a new Budget deal after that, the State is estimated to face over $50 million in associated costs according to Treasurer Bill Lockyer . That's on top of the $20 Billion Deficit negotiators are trying to solve. The costs come in the form of bond...

Pence: "Mr. Speaker, You Can't Deem a Budget That You Never Passed"
“I urge my colleagues: reject this phony baloney deeming of the Budget” Washington, DC - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence, Chairman of the House Republican Conference, delivered the following remarks on the House floor today: “Federal Spending is out of control and the American People know it. A $13 Trillion dollar National Debt. A $1.4 Trillion Deficit this year. An 84 percent increase in non-defense Discretionary Spending since this administration took office. The Democrat...

Whitman slams lawmakers for leaving during crisis
ROSEVILLE, CALIF. — Republican Gubernatorial Candidate Meg Whitman said Tuesday lawmakers shouldn't leave Sacramento and return to their districts for a break in the midst of a $19 Billion Budget Crisis. Her criticism came just two days before the start of a new Fiscal Year, with most of the 120 legislators expected to head home for the holiday weekend. "What I would do is take this Legislature and say, OK, 10 of you go find money here, 10 go find money here," Whitman said at a campaign...

MEGAN MCARDLE ON AUSTERITY HORROR: "If Ireland hadn't done the austerity budget, it might now be mo...
Megan McArdle ON Austerity HORROR: “If Ireland hadn’t done the Austerity Budget, it might now be more like Greece-in danger of default without massive intervention from the rest of the European Union. Intervention that might well not be forthcoming, if it became clear that too many countries were going to require it. . . . Austerity is an expensive form of Insurance against a true fiscal Crisis. And though it doesn’t necessarily seem like it when you’re not...

How to Think About Austerity
Megan McArdle says to think of it as Insurance : Austerity is an expensive form of Insurance against a true fiscal Crisis.  And though it doesn't necessarily seem like it when you're not having one, fiscal crises are much, much worse than Austerity Budgets.  Fiscal Crisis means that rather than unpleasant cuts, you have sudden, unmanageable collapses in things like Public Pension plans.  The resulting suffering is not unpleasant; it is disastrous. A year or two ago, I'm...

House approves financial overhaul
Washington — The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a massive restructuring to the nation’s Financial laws last night, but the Senate canceled plans to vote on the Legislation this week after Senator Scott Brown said he was not ready to pledge support for the measure. The House, voting 237 to 192, capped an intense, yearlong debate spearheaded by Representative Barney Frank, who was hailed with handshakes, hugs, and applause from Democrats after the vote. The new...

A bailout won't solve California's budget deficit " nor will it fix D.C.
Over the past couple of years, Washington has thrown out Bailout after Bailout at the National economy.

A bailout won't solve California's budget deficit " nor will it fix D.C.
Over the past couple of years, Washington has thrown out Bailout after Bailout at the National economy.

No more welfare cash at strip club ATMs
Sacramento, June 30 (UPI) -- California welfare recipients can no longer withdraw cash benefits from ATM machines at gentlemen's Clubs, state officials say. Machines in 17 Clubs were on a list of approved sites for using welfare debit cards, posted on a state Web site, the Los Angeles Times reported. Between January 2007 and December 2009, about $12,000 in welfare benefits was withdrawn at those Clubs. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the Club machines taken off the list the day after...

No more welfare cash at strip club ATMs
Sacramento, June 30 (UPI) -- California welfare recipients can no longer withdraw cash benefits from ATM machines at gentlemen's Clubs, state officials say. Machines in 17 Clubs were on a list of approved sites for using welfare debit cards, posted on a state Web site, the Los Angeles Times reported. Between January 2007 and December 2009, about $12,000 in welfare benefits was withdrawn at those Clubs. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the Club machines taken off the list the day after...

S.F. budget talks go late into the night
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and members of the Board of Supervisors worked late into the night Wednesday trying to strike a Budget deal after a day of whirlwind negotiations at City Hall. Even with the lack of an agreement for the Fiscal Year that starts today, the board's Budget committee and board President David Chiu continued late-night negotiations with the Newsom administration to add back funding for Mental Health services, Substance Abuse treatment and other programs the mayor had...

More CA school districts have trouble paying bills
San Francisco — California education officials on Tuesday reported a sharp jump in the number of School Districts that are having trouble paying their bills because of the state's Budget Crisis. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell O'Connell said a record 174 Districts may not be able to meet their financial obligations over the next two Years, a 38 percent increase over last Year. "The economic picture for our Schools regrettably is bleak," O'Connell said. "This...

Secondary Sources: Absent Recovery Engines, Growth Risks, 401(k)s
By Phil Izzo A roundup of Economic news from around the Web. - Absent Recovery Engines: Calculated Risks looks at absent engines of Recovery. ” Usually the engines of Recovery are investment in housing (not Existing Home Sales) and Consumer Spending. Both are still under severe pressure with the large overhang of housing inventory, and the need for households to repair their balance sheet (the saving rate will probably rise — slowing consumption growth)... It is hard to have...

American Austerity
Today's New York Times article on the Irish Economy makes for depressing reading.  Despite swift moves for wage cuts and other Austerity measures (backed by the Unions, no less), the Deficit is almost 15% of GDP, and the spread between Irish and German Debt is about 300 basis points.  Unemployment is high, and long-term Unemployment makes up a significant portion of the problem. Given all that, Kevin Drum asks In the case of Ireland, it's not clear if they had a lot of choice....

State Budget Crisis and the Governor's Race
Sponsored To view this video you must to have Flash Player 9.0 or later installed. Click to download the most recent version of Flash. State Budget Overdue

IL Dems Trying to Force Black Conservative Woman off Ballot?
Wilhelmi, she says,

Business woes help drive historic plunge in Santa Clara County property values
Sacramento — The Great Recession continues to cast a deep shadow over Silicon Valley's economy, with new figures released by the Santa Clara County assessor's office today revealing the disturbing disappearance of thousands of businesses over the past year. The report also confirmed a historic plunge in overall Property values, with Santa Clara County's assessment roll for 2010-11 dropping nearly 2.5 percent, from $303.8 Billion to $296.47 Billion. Not counting a massive decline after...

No 'pledges' on taxes as Gov. Deval Patrick signs $27B budget
G ov. Deval Patrick yesterday refused to rule out a Tax hike next year - handing his opposition a hot campaign issue - as he signed a pared-back $27.6 Billion Budget and looked ahead to an estimated $2 Billion Deficit with a nearly dry rainy day fund. “I’m not taking any pledges,” said Patrick, who vetoed $457 million from the Budget after anticipated federal Medicaid funding fell through. “We need to have a serious conversation as a commonwealth about what...

After the Bailouts, Washington's the Boss
By BOB DAVIS , DEBORAH SOLOMON and JON HILSENRATH Associated Press President Obama, with Congressional Financial committee leaders and his economic team in February. In 2008 and 2009, Washington strove to save The Economy. In 2010, Americans will get a clearer picture of how Washington has changed The Economy. Only as the Recession recedes will it become fully evident how permanently the state's role has expanded and whether, as a consequence, a new, hybrid strain of American Capitalism is...

States seek financial help as new fiscal year begins
State Governments desperately need money. Congress is in no mood to spend it. And the reckoning will begin Thursday, when the new Fiscal Year will start for most States. This Story View All Items in This Story View Only Top Items in This Story Nothing less than the nation's nascent Economic Recovery hangs in the balance. States say that if they do not find financial rescue they will have to cut Services and workers. That would deliver a potentially crippling blow to The Economy, which needs...

Concerns raised in North Salem over ballot in school bond vote
Treadway said that he heard from several voters that after they voted on the School Budget, which passed with a total of 1,263 yes and no votes, they couldn’t find the bond Referendum on the ballot. The $1.3 million bond, which passed with 953 people voting, will pay for a new boiler and HVAC system at Pequenakonck Elementary School and for security improvements. On the sample ballot available at the polling place for most of the day, he said, the bond question was underneath the Budget on...

Income-tax battle expected to be costly, maybe nasty
OLYMPIA — It appears all but certain that voters will be asked to help bail out the State Budget with an Income Tax that targets high-income earners. Initiative 1098 supporters are expected to turn in more than 360,000 signatures Thursday morning, which should be more than enough to qualify the measure for the November ballot. The upcoming campaign for I-1098 has all the makings of an expensive, and potentially ugly, battle between the business community and a coalition of labor and...

Andy Stern: Invest Social Security Funds In Wall Street
Andy Stern, a key member of the Deficit commission, is pushing to invest a significant portion of the Social Security trust Fund in private companies through the Stock Market, the former Labor Leader told HuffPost. Stern, taking a break from one of the few public meetings of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, said that Social Security "needs to be, like any Pension Fund, brought back into balance." There were several ways to bring the Fund into balance, he said, but...