The fils Koch, the pair of arch-conservative billionaires who have been financing the
Tea Party movement, are holding their annual conference
in Rancho MIrage -- home of golf, sun and Bob Hope's ghost. And some people don't like it. The LAT's Margot Roosevelt tells the tale.
"Environmentalists, labor union members and liberal
activists across Southern California are mounting a protest Sunday in Rancho Mirage against
billionaire "tea party" funders Charles and David Koch
and their
semiannual confab of conservative activists."
"The brothers, who own oil refineries across the U.S.,
helped fund last November's Proposition 23, the failed ballot initiative to
delay California's landmark global warming law, AB
32. They are major backers
of groups that seek to refute scientific
evidence of global climate change."
Three health insurers -- Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross and PacifiCare -- say they'll hold off on their controversial rate hikes
until Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones reviews them,
reports Bobby Caina Calvan in the Bee.
"Jones, who was sworn in Jan. 3, requested the delay to
give his agency time to review the rate filings. The requests were prompted by the public uproar over
Blue
Shield's plan to raise premiums on nearly 200,000 Californians who buy
insurance on their own. For some, rates will rise by
as much as 59 percent."
"Blue Shield said rates would rise as scheduled and
go
into effect March 1. In the meantime, the company said it hired an outside
actuary to review the rates and vowed to issue refunds
if the new rates are not
actuarially sound."
Meanwhile, the state's political watchdog cleared the
members of the California High Speed Rail Authority
board of any wrongdoing in connection with a series
of overseas trips.
From Rich Connell in the LA Times: "The trips, which typically included visits with
manufacturers, government officials and rail operators,
as well as rides on high-speed
systems, were paid for by foreign governments trying
to help their homeland
firms win large contracts. In November, the state's ethics watchdog agency notified
board members Curt
Pringle, Lynn Schenk, Quentin Kopp and Tom Umberg,
as well the agency's former
executive director, Mehdi Morshed, that it was investigating.
"The five received letters this week saying the inquiry
"determined there is no evidence that you committed
a violation" of
state law and that the cases were being closed."
Overhauling California's budget includes meaningful
tax reform, which means taking a look at the sales tax. From the Bee's Dan Walters.
"Today, taxable sales are barely 30 percent of our
personal incomes and that means, despite several boosts
in sales tax rates over
the years, it generates only about a third of the state's
revenue."
"Meanwhile, the personal income tax, once a relatively
minor source of general fund dollars, has soared to
more than 50 percent of
revenue. This change contributed heavily to the state's chronic
budget woes because income taxes are much more volatile
than sales taxes."
Speaking of money, Los Angeles business guru Eli Broad and three others
have pledged $100 million to make permanent a program called Teach for America,
reports Howard Blume in the LA Times.
"Broad's foundation pledged $25 million to the endowment,
spurring three other matching donations from the Laura
and John Arnold
Foundation, the Robertson Foundation and philanthropists
Steve and Sue Mandel,
officials said."
"Education-reform efforts are a major thrust of the
Southern California-based Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. Teach for America,
which has a local regional office, currently has 270 teachers working in the
Los Angeles area."
And from our "Love Conquers All" file, we note the case of a man who kept his wife
locked in a basement for years while he lived upstairs
with his main squeeze. This is called two-timing.
"A Brazilian man has been arrested on suspicion of
keeping
his wife locked in a cellar for at least eight years
while he lived upstairs
with another woman. Acting on a tip, police found 64-year-old Sebastiana
Aparecida Groppo lying naked in a filthy basement in
the city of Sorocaba in
Sao Paulo state."
"Her husband Joao Batista Groppo told officers he had
locked her up because she was mentally ill and aggressive."
"Police said Mrs Groppo appeared to be in good physical
health. But they said she showed signs of mental problems that
could have been caused by her confinement."
She isn't the only one with mental problems...
