"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
lauded an agreement Thursday that brings nine states in the U.S. heartland in line with his fight against global warming - his 11th such pact in little more than a year," reports Steve Geissinger in the Merc News.
His pact?
"The latest accord was signed at a climate-change summit in Wisconsin. Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Kansas, Ohio, Wisconsin and South Dakota signed onto the pact, along with the Canadian province of Manitoba.
"The pacts enlist governments - states, foreign provinces, even a coalition of European Union nations - to join a large emissions cap-and-trade system. Schwarzenegger and others believe such a program will create incentives for businesses to curb greenhouse-gas emissions by allowing them to trade and sell credits to those who don't.
"'States and regions are making significant progress toward paving the way for a future federal program,' Schwarzenegger said of the agreement. 'Together, we're creating a network of climate initiatives that will form the foundation of an eventual national program.'"
"Board members
Betty Yee,
Judy Chu and a representative of state Controller
John Chiang supported the higher tax rate Thursday, while members
Bill Leonard and
Michelle Steel voted no."
Evan Halper and Nancy Vogel
look into Bill Leonard's affiliation with a nonprofit that receives donations from businesses with matters pending before the Board of Equalization.
"Leonard, who often votes with business interests, can't accept much support from them at election time because of a $250 limit on donations to the board's members. But businesses pump hundreds of thousands of dollars into a tiny Sacramento-area nonprofit where Leonard's wife and his chief deputy both draw income.
"
Pacific Gas & Electric, Eli Lilly and Co., Amgen, the manufacturing lobby, distillers of alcoholic beverages and other businesses with multimillion-dollar matters before the Board of Equalization all have donated. A chunk of the money has been used to pay Leonard's wife and his deputy to organize an annual gathering of lawmakers, lobbyists and their families at a luxury resort in Maui. This year's event, which Leonard attended, wrapped up Friday.
"'This seems like a way for large corporations to launder contributions to a member of the board,' said
Lenny Goldberg, president of Californians for Tax Reform.
"'It is improper and it should be illegal.'
"Leonard, the only Board of Equalization member at this year's conference, said he saw no problem with tens of thousands of dollars in corporate money going to his family's bank account. The San Bernardino Republican says his wife, Sherry, has a right to earn a living.
"'If a company wants to be inappropriate and come to me and say, 'I helped your wife's business, and by the way we have a tax matter coming up,' I would throw them out of my office,' Leonard said. 'I can't imagine something like that happening. . . . Just because I chose to run for public office, is my wife forced to be a homemaker?'
"Leonard's deputy,
Barbara Alby, and
Sherry Leonard shared payments totaling $77,000 for organizing the Maui conference in 2005 and 2006, public tax records show. They will be paid roughly $40,000 for arranging the event -- the sole function of their foundation -- this year.
The American Spectator writes about
the left's new crusade against Dianne Feinstein. "Last year, ultra-liberal elements within the Democratic Party waged a heated political battle against Sen. Joe Lieberman, their vice-presidential nominee of just six years earlier.
But if you thought that liberal cannibalism stopped with the attack on Connecticut's junior senator, think again. The left wing has now set its sights on California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, another centrist Democrat who has failed to walk in lockstep with the increasingly puritanical left.Feinstein voted to support President Bush's nominee for attorney general, Michael Mukasey, and various judicial appointments opposed by the left. "
Such cardinal sins have left Feinstein facing a censure resolution that left-wing activists hope to move at the California Democratic Party's executive board meeting tomorrow.It looks like
the problems may just be beginning for one of the state's largest HMOs.
"The state Thursday
slapped a $1-million fine on Health Net Inc., the Woodland Hills-based insurer that acknowledged last week that it set goals for cancellations and paid bonuses in part based on how many policyholders were dropped and how much money was saved," reports the LAT's Daniel Costello.
"
State officials said they levied the fine after finding that the company misled investigators about such bonuses on two occasions during interviews at the company's headquarters this fall."Thursday's fine was solely related to the company's candor.
Health Net's cancellation practices remained under investigation by the state. If any violations of state regulations are found, the company could face additional fines."
"They taste like fruit drinks, they're packaged like beer, they're attractive to many teenagers – and
state tax regulators took a final vote Thursday to tax them as hard liquor," reports Jim Sanders in the Bee.
"The Board of Equalization voted 3-2 to classify flavored malt beverages, such as Mike's Hard Lemonade and Smirnoff Ice, as distilled spirits instead of beers.
"The change, if accepted by the state Office of Administrative Law,
will send taxes soaring for the drinks, known as 'alcopops,' from 20 cents per gallon, the beer rate, to $3.30 per gallon, the liquor rate."Buyers could find themselves paying an extra $2 per six-pack for the sweet alcoholic drinks.
From our
Family Values Files, AP reports the story of
a boy who drove his father's truck home because his dad was too drunk. There was just one small problem...
"A police officer checking on a truck that got stuck in the mud at a city park was startled to find a 13-year-old boy behind the wheel. The boy's father, who was sitting in the passenger seat, told police he had had too much to drink and let his son drive. The boy had been drinking, too, police said.
"(The boy) even said he didn't want to drive because he was too drunk," McLellan told The Flint Journal for a story published Thursday.
