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California's deficit of common sense

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Rebecca Solnit - Nov. 01 (Opinion) - California is rich. Even in the midst of a drought, we have lots of water, and in the midst of a recession, we have lots of money. The problem is one of distribution, not of actual scarcity.

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California Christians worship in a big way

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Duke Helfand - Oct. 11 (Special Report) - Thanks to good weather, sprawling suburbs and a number of charismatic pastors, the Golden State has more of these megachurches -- defined as those with at least 2,000 congregants -- than any other state. California is home to 193, slightly more than Texas with 191, according to the most recent survey by the Hartford Institute for Religion Research, one of the nation's leading authorities on megachurches.

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California’s Budget Suffers ‘Major Blow’ as Debt Sales Loom

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Bloomberg - By William Selway, Michael B. Marois - Oct. 10 (News Report) - “Revenues more than $1 billion under estimates and recent adverse court rulings are dealing a major blow to a budget that is barely 10-weeks old,” Controller John Chiang said in a statement. “While there are encouraging signs that California’s economy is preparing for a comeback, the recession continues to drag state revenues down.”

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Will California become America's first failed state?

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - By Paul Harris - Oct. 04 (News) - California may be the eighth largest economy in the world, but its state staff are being paid in IOUs, unemployment is at its highest in 70 years, and teachers are on hunger strike. So what has gone so catastrophically wrong? California has a special place in the American psyche. It is the Golden State: a playground of the rich and famous with perfect weather. It symbolises a lifestyle of sunshine, swimming pools and the Hollywood dream factory. But the state that was once held up as the epitome of the boundless opportunities of America has collapsed. From its politics to its economy to its environment and way of life, California is like a patient on life support. At the start of summer the state government was so ...

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Can California Be Fixed?

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0700

American Prospect - By Pema Levy - Sep. 27 (Interview) - In the coming weeks, the coalition Repair California will begin the official process of calling a state constitutional convention, submitting ballot-initiative language to Attorney General Jerry Brown's office. Repair California proposes to restructure government through a state constitutional convention. The Prospect talked to John Grubb, official spokesperson for Repair California, about the crisis in California and the emerging movement to reform government.

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Lawsuits are the latest roadblock for California budget

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Evan Halper - Aug. 10 (Special Report) - Lawyers are being drafted in droves to unravel spending plans passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor. The goal of these litigators is to get back money their clients lost in the budget process. They are havingconsiderable success, winning one lawsuit after another, costing the state billions of dollars and throwing California's budget process into further tumult.

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Report: California must adapt to changing climate

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Associated Press - By Samantha Young - Aug. 03 (News Report) - Even if the world is successful in cutting carbon emissions in the future, California needs to start preparing for rising sea levels, hotter weather and other effects of climate change, a new state report recommends.

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California could have $15 billion shortfalls

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

San Francisco Chronicle - By Richard Procter - Jul. 31 (News Report) - The plan signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this week to balance the state's budget could leave California facing shortfalls in future years of more than $15 billion, according to an analysis released Thursday by a major Wall Street credit rating firm.

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California Approaches a Deal on Budget Cuts - NYTimes.com

Thu, 16 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Jennifer Steinhauer - Jul. 16 (News Report) - California lawmakers neared a deal on Wednesday with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to close the state’s $26 billion budget gap in ways that would profoundly alter the state’s relationship with its cities and millions of residents who receive basic services. Details emerging from the talks suggested that the deal would require extraordinarily deep cuts to school systems and local governments, and, while far smaller than the governor threatened a month ago, substantial cuts to health care and other social services.

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California Schools Quake From Budget Cuts

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

National Public Radio - By Carrie Kahn - Jul. 14 (News Report) - As California tries to fill a $26 billion budget gap, any solution is likely to involve more cuts in education spending. The state's public schools have already been hit hard with layoffs, canceled programs and overcrowded classrooms.

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California v Texas: America's future

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Economist - Jul. 09 (Opinion) - Plenty of American states have budget crises; but California’s illustrate two more structural worries about the state. Back in its golden age in the 1950s and 1960s, it offered middle-class people, not just techy high-fliers, a shot at the American dream—complete with superb schools and universities, and an enviable physical infrastructure. These days California’s unemployment rate is running at 11.5%, two points ahead of the national average. In such Californian cities as Fresno, Merced and El Centro, jobless rates are higher than in Detroit. Its roads and schools are crumbling. Every year, over 100,000 more Americans leave the state than enter it.

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New ad says pot smokers "happy to be taxed'' -- can they help with CA's budget crunch?

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

San Francisco Chronicle - By Carla Marinucci - Jul. 09 (News Report) - So could legalized pot keep California from closing parks and cutting school funding in the state's current budget crunch? Folks at the Marijuana Policy Project say yes -- and they've launched a statewide ad campaign today to reach Gov.Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers in California as they wrestle this week over the yawning $26 billion-plus deficit.

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State budgets in crisis: Happy new year

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Economist - Jul. 04 (News Analysis) - Every state but two, commodity-rich North Dakota and Montana, has faced a deficit this year. One legislator in New Jersey described her state as “functionally bankrupt”. More than 5,000 Illinoisans gathered on June 23rd to protest against cuts to social services, with a child placed in a coffin for dramatic effect. In California, which faces a $24 billion gap, Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor, sent the leader of the state Senate a metallic pair of bull testicles to urge him to cut spending.

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Ethnic Healthcare Groups Prescribe Prevention and Access to Care

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New America Media - By Jun Wang - Jul. 03 (News Report) - As the U.S. Congress considers proposals to reform the nation’s healthcare system, participants at a day-long health policy conference highlighted the importance of primary and preventive care and the need to improve access to quality care for low income communities.

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Sailor gunned down on sentry duty, Navy says

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

CNN - By Taylor Gandossy - Jul. 03 (News Report) - A sailor found dead earlier this week at California's Camp Pendleton was shot while standing sentry, and a fire was set in an attempt to cover up evidence, the U.S. Navy said. Seaman August Provost, shown on his MySpace page, was killed while on sentry duty at Camp Pendleton. The death of Seaman August Provost of Houston, Texas, is being investigated as a homicide, Capt. Matt Brown told reporters on Thursday. A sailor is in custody in the case, Brown said. Although at least one of Provost's relatives said she believes he was killed because of his sexual orientation and his race, Brown said there was no indication the killing was a hate crime. A U.S. congressman also said on Friday there are indications Provost may have been killed because of his sexual orientation.

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BBC NEWS | Americas | California in 'fiscal emergency'

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:00:00 -0700

BBC News - By BBC Media - Jul. 02 (News Report) - Democrats and the governor, and the Republican lawmakers who take pride in never voting in favour of any budget, have set us on a road toward two possible cataclysms: a popular revolt that will further diminish the power of government as we know it, and ruinous default that keeps the recession alive for another decade and plunges Californians, and perhaps all Americans, into nearly unimaginable misery.

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California's Fiscal Crisis: The Legacy of Proposition 13

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Time - By Kevin O'Leary - Jun. 27 (News Report) - The financial crisis in California grew worse this week as State Controller John Chiang warned that if legislators and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger fail to come up with a budget-balancing package, he would begin paying California's bills with IOUs on July 2. The last time the state did this was during the Great Depression.

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California Budget Cuts Could Cause ‘Public Safety Emergency'

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

ProPublica - By Emily Witt, Ben Protess - Jun. 23 (Investigative Report) - That may not sound like much alongside the hundreds of millions in proposed slashes to the state's education, prison and health care systems. But it's half the lab's budget and would likely halt or delay the testing of rape kits, DNA and other crucial crime scene evidence in many counties, law enforcement officials warn.

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Dusty fields in Fresno County

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Bettina Boxall - Jun. 22 (News Report) - A day after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was scolded in Fresno for not doing enough about this summer's farm-water shortages, he went to Mendota to issue yet another drought-related disaster declaration.

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California Wants To Cut Legal Aid Attorneys For Poor

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Deborah Hastings - Jun. 15 (News Report) - Unlike any other public service, court-appointed counsel cannot be scaled back. According to the Constitution, every criminal defendant, rich or poor, gets one. If the defendant can't pay, the government does. And if public defenders aren't available, private attorneys must be hired, at rates costing at least twice as much and often more.

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Critical mass for same-sex marriage

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Media Nation - By Dan Kennedy - Jun. 05 (Opinion) - At some point, though, it seems inevitable that liberal, blue California will re-enshrine same-sex marriage. And with more than 36.7 million people, it remains the big prize. Add them to the other six states plus New York, and you've got 58.9 million people, or 21.7 percent of the U.S. population.

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California's State of Insanity

Sun, 31 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Time - By Joel Stein - May. 31 (Opinion) - Before I moved to California, I enjoyed voting. Once every four years, I thought very deeply for a very long time about the presidential candidates and then voted for the Democrat. I left the crappy high school gym knowing I had voted for a government that would bring progress and change, ignoring the fact that the high school gym kept getting crappier.

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California Was The Future

Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

New America Media - By Sandip Roy - May. 29 (Opinion) - In a few years some young activist in South Asia might be mystified why the world’s first group for LGBT South Asians was born all the way out in California.

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The Golden State's extreme makeover

Fri, 29 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

San Francisco Bay Guardian - By Rebecca Bowe, Tim Redmond - May. 29 (Opinion) - California's an amazing place, a state with a history of starting trends that sweep across the nation. It has crowded cities and spectacular wilderness, agriculture and high-tech industries, 840 miles of coast, 163,000 square miles of land and 36 million people. And it's proving almost impossible to manage.

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California's top court upholds Prop. 8 ban on same-sex marriage

Wed, 27 May 2009 00:00:00 -0700

Christian Science Monitor - By Michael B. Farrell, Daniel B. Wood - May. 27 (News Report) - The California Supreme Court ruled Tuesday to uphold a statewide ballot initiative that limits marriage to heterosexual couples, while at the same time preserving 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place before the measure was passed last year.

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