"California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, alarmed by the
ongoing national
financial crisis, warned Treasury Secretary Henry M.
Paulson on
Thursday that the state might need an emergency loan of as much as
$7
billion from the federal government within weeks," reports the LAT's Marc Lifsher and Evan Halper.
"The warning
comes as California is close to running out of cash
to fund day-to-day
government operations and is unable to access routine
short-term loans
that it typically relies on to remain solvent.
"The state of California is the biggest of several governments
nationwide that are being locked out of the bond market
by the global
credit crunch. If the state is unable to access the
cash,
administration officials say, payments to schools and
other government
entities could quickly be suspended and state employees
could be laid
off."
No wonder the guv is pushing so hard for that Wall
St. bailout...
The LA Daily News's Kerry Cavanaugh reports, "If Congress rejects the $700 billion bailout
plan today, California and local governments might have to postpone
voter-approved road, school and other projects for lack of
money .
"Turmoil
in the financial markets has made it difficult and
expensive for
government agencies to sell bonds that generate the
cash needed to pay
for large-scale construction projects."
The Merc News's Edwin Garcia reports on Democrats' frustration with the governor over the prolific use
of his veto pen. "'It's not a record to be proud of,' Assembly Speaker Karen Bass told reporters in her Los Angeles office Thursday.
"In the middle of a financial crisis and a mortgage
meltdown that's hitting California particularly hard, Governor Schwarzenegger
vetoed bills to reform the mortgage industry and stimulate
the economy. He vetoed bills to aid troubled veterans,
increase access to health care and implement education
reform."
"At the Capitol, Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico, D-Fremont, told a news conference that it will be 'extremely difficult for many of us to continue to work
with this governor.'
"The next highest veto rate belongs to Gov. Gray Davis, a Democrat who vetoed nearly 25 percent of bills in 2000, according to the Senate Committee on Local Government,
which has kept such records since 1967.
"Republican Gov. George Deukmejian vetoed the most bills in a single year, 436, in 1990. Democrat Jerry Brown holds the record for fewest vetoes, 30, in 1982.
"Of the 1,187 pieces of legislation Schwarzenegger considered this
year, he signed 772 bills and vetoed 415.
"Press Secretary Aaron McLear extolled the governor's record, saying he used the same process as in years
past: 'He reviews every bill, he signs the ones that are good
for California, vetoes those that don't move the state forward.'"
The Bee's Buzz adds:
"Assemblyman Alberto Torrico, D-Newark, vowed Thursday to launch a
bipartisan effort in January to override many of Gov.
Arnold
Schwarzenegger's recent vetoes. 'We're all very frustrated,' he said. 'I don't think there's going to be a problem attaining the votes for an
override.' The rub? It's illegal. Lawmakers next year can't act on this
year's bills. ... Oops."
Dan Walters writes that the accounting gimmicks used in this year's spending plan might qualify budget-writers for Wall Street jobs.
"The much-delayed 2008-09 budget, finally enacted last month, not only fails
to bridge the gap but includes blast-from-the-past corporate tax changes that trade short-term revenue gains for long-term revenue losses – even worse, if that's possible, than the earlier giveaway.
"One new gimmick suspends corporations' ability to carry forward net operating losses to offset
future profits for two years, and then allows them
carry back losses against past profits and claim tax
refunds from prior years, thus fattening up a major
benefit from the earlier action.
"The state gains something over a billion dollars a
year during the suspension, but probably will be repaying
a half-billion a year forever – another extremely high-interest loan from business to the state.
"Even worse, the budget package includes a second corporate
tax break, suspending income tax credits meant to encourage
certain kinds of investment for a couple of years,
and then allowing businesses to transfer those unused
credits to affiliated companies in the future. That
change picks up about $600 million a year in revenue, but the cost in revenue
losses will be many times over that."
"The only public hearing to be held on California's most contested ballot initiative turned into a de facto debate yesterday on whether
same-sex marriage was good for children raised by the couples," reports the AP's Christina Hoag.
"The hearing focused on Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot that seeks to overturn a state Supreme Court
ruling earlier this year that allowed same-sex unions.
"Jennifer Roback Morse, president of The Ruth Institute, which promotes traditional
marriage, said same-sex unions violate the “child-centered institution of marriage.”
"'Mothers and fathers are not interchangeable,' she said, adding gay couples shouldn't wed because they can't bear children.
"James Crawford of the California chapter of the American Academy
of Pediatrics said studies show the sexual orientation
of a couple has no bearing on the ability to raise
a well-adjusted child.
"'It's the strength and security these families give,' he said."
The LAT's Jessica Garrison reports on troubles the Yes on 8 campaign is having getting their campaign signs.
"It was supposed to be the largest mass lawn-sign planting in the history of California politics: A million signs in a million yards across the state,
all stuck into the ground at the same moment in a show
of support for Proposition 8.
"Except it never happened.
"It seems that the signs, some of them outsourced overseas,
didn't all arrive in time for the September event. And many
still haven't reached supporters of the measure that would amend
the state Constitution to ban gay marriage.
"'It takes longer to get a million than we thought,' said Sonja Eddings Brown, deputy communications director for the Protect Marriage
coalition."
Meanwhile, the long knives are starting to come for Nancy Pelosi , AP reports. "Paul Pelosi has been treasurer of the speaker's PAC to the Future
political action committee since last year, after the
death of the
previous treasurer. The PAC has paid his investment and consulting
firm, Financial Leasing Services Inc., more than $50,000 since last
year for accounting services and rent, plus at least
$20,000 more in
prior years.
"Pelosi contended Thursday that she was merely complying
with the
law by reimbursing her husband's firm for what would otherwise amount
to improper "in-kind" donations of services to her committee."
And since you've all been asking, we've got a follow up on our Fish pedicure story from a few weeks
back .
"Thursday, however, the Department of Licensing shut
down Bui's, um, fishy operation, saying that the pedicures were
illegal.
Inspectors from the agency stopped by the shop recently
and observed
the procedure. After conducting further research, the
department
decided that the pedicures were unsanitary and potentially
unsafe.
"Bui was personally delivered a letter Thursday informing
her of the
agency's decision, which was based on a state law that all
implements
used in pedicures had to be "sanitized, disinfected, or disposed of
after each service to protect salon customers from
the possibility of
disease and infections."
"You can clean files and other equipment, but there
is just no way
to sanitize live fish," said Christine Anthony, a spokeswoman for the
agency."
Now, if this were California, some fish-pedicure advocate would already have a bill in the
hopper for next year...
