Public Affairs / Politics
Obama Promises Governors He'll be Listening
The nation's governors came to tell tales of financial woe, but President-elect Barack Obama was already sold on them playing a role in the national economic recovery plan. After convening almost a complete set of state chief executives Tuesday, Obama pledged "action, and action now" to address the budget shortfalls expected in no less than 41 states in the coming year. Los Angeles Times
More Than 60% of California's Eligible Voters Went to the Polls
More than 60% of Californians who were eligible to vote cast ballots in the Nov. 4 presidential election, the highest turnout since Richard Nixon and George McGovern competed for the office in 1972, elections officials reported Tuesday. The total includes all qualified citizens, including those who had not registered to vote. Los Angeles Times
McClintock Appears Headed for Congress
Four weeks after election day, Republican Tom McClintock finally can order his plane ticket to Washington. With all the votes counted, the conservative state senator has a nearly 1,800-vote lead over Democrat Charlie Brown in the Fourth Congressional District, almost certainly enough to weather any changes that might arise before the secretary of state posts the official figures Dec. 13. San Francisco Chronicle
Human Resources / Health & Safety
Best Place to Work? San Diego is No. 2
According to the Human Capital Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank, this is one of the top places where America's dream-job seekers want to live. The city ranked second, slightly behind New York City, among 46 metro areas that 3,000 survey respondents considered as places to live and work. San Diego Union-Tribune
British Balance Gain Against the Cost of the Latest Drugs
British authorities, after a storm of protest, are reconsidering their decision on the cancer drug and others. For years, Britain was almost alone in using evidence of cost-effectiveness to decide what to pay for. But skyrocketing prices for drugs and medical devices have led a growing number of countries to ask the hardest of questions: How much is life worth? New York Times
Riverside Will Charge for too Many Police Responses
Businesses that have unruly customers and other problems requiring a heavy police response or frequent responses will have to pay the cost, the Riverside City Council decided Tuesday. The council's action came after a series of shootings and other incidents at a small number of bars and nightclubs over the past year. Riverside Press-Enterprise
Economy
GM Says it Could Fail in a Matter of Weeks
Turning to Washington for a lifeline, General Motors Corp. has asked lawmakers for up to $18 billion to stave off collapse, promising in return to slash executive pay and jettison its poorly performing brands. GM, along with Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler, submitted its restructuring plan to Congress on Tuesday, the same day domestic and foreign automakers reported a withering 37% U.S. sales decline. Los Angeles Times
Good News for Bay Area Retailers All Weekend
It wasn't Bleak Friday after all. The Friday after Thanksgiving, the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season, saw throngs of shoppers and increased sales from last year, both nationally and locally, according to research firms and reports from Bay Area retailers. San Francisco Chronicle
Service Sector Shrinks as New Orders Fall in Nov.
The U.S. service sector contracted dramatically in November as slower spending hurt insurers, retailers and hotels. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, says its services sector index fell to 37.3 in November from 44.4 in October. Associated Press
Environment/Agriculture
High-Speed Rail Backers Look to Obama and D.C. Democrats
The credit markets are collapsing, the stock market has tanked, and government deficits are sky-high. Sounds like a terrible time to try to construct one of the largest public works projects in California history: an 800-mile-long, $45 billion network of bullet trains linking the Bay Area and Los Angeles, right? San Jose Mercury News
Solar Thermal Projects Gather Steam -- and Opposition
Just up the road, past pump jacks bobbing in California's storied oil patch, look sharp and you'll catch a glimpse of the state's energy future. Rows of gigantic mirrors covering an area bigger than two football fields have sprouted alongside almond groves near California 99. This is a power plant that uses the sun's heat to produce electricity for thousands of homes. Los Angeles Times
Long-Delayed Auburn Dam Hits Final Hurdle
A California board on Tuesday revoked federal water claims that were critical to building a long-stalled dam northeast of Sacramento, effectively ending the project. The unanimous vote by the State Water Resources Control Board comes more than four decades after Congress authorized the Auburn Dam to control flooding along the American River, which descends from the mountains ringing Lake Tahoe to Sacramento. Associated Press in the San Francsico Chronicle
The Air Resources Board is working on a regulation that could affect more than 1.5 million diesel trucks and buses in California! Join the Driving Toward a Cleaner California Coalition today and find out what you can do to make sure CARB strikes the right balance between protecting our environment and our economy. For more information on what you can do, visit www.drivecleanCA.org.
International
China’s Economy, in Need of Jump Start, Waits for Citizens’ Fists to Loosen
But such tenacious thrift, once an admirable quality here, has become a liability as the nation’s export-driven economy slows, a prospect that has stoked the government’s fear of unemployment and social instability, and that could threaten the Communist Party’s hold on power. In recent weeks China’s once unstoppable economy has slowed sharply. New York Times
Chinese State Fund Turns Inward
The chairman of the Chinese sovereign wealth fund said Wednesday that China had no plans for further investments in Western financial institutions, nor did it have any plans to "save" the world through economic policies. Asked whether China might pursue economic policies aimed at rekindling economic growth worldwide, Lou said Chinese leaders had a narrower focus. International Herald Tribune
Russian Parliament Passes New Restrictions on Cigarettes, but Health Advocates Displeased
Russia's lower house of parliament has approved legislation to lower tar and nicotine content in cigarettes and to put large health warnings on the packs. But some health advocates say the measure passed by the State Duma ignores some guidelines of the international tobacco control agreement that Russia joined this year. Associated Press in the Los Angeles Times
The CalChamber Council for International Trade (CIT) is urging members of the business community to join its coalition working to secure congressional approval of the free trade agreements (FTAs) with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. Companies or associations that join the California Coalition for Free Trade will be included on the rapidly growing list of FTA supporters. There is no cost to join the coalition, which will keep members apprised of its activities and how to be supportive of the FTAs. For more information on the FTAs or to join the coalition, visit www.calchamber.com/international.
Infrastructure / Education
California Passes College Affordability Test
An independent report on American higher education flunks all states but California when it comes to affordability -- an embarrassing verdict that is unlikely to improve as the economy contracts. The biennial study by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, which evaluates how well higher education is serving the public, handed out Fs for affordability to 49 states, up from 43 two years ago. Associated Press in the San Francisco Chronicle
UC Chief Changes Buyout Policy
The new president of the University of California system pledged Tuesday that employees in his office no longer will be allowed to collect full severance checks and then be rehired at other UC locations. While avoiding open criticism of his predecessor, Robert Dynes, President Mark Yudof noted that the program in which 16 employees got hefty severance checks and landed in other UC jobs this year was created prior to June, when he took the 10-campus university's top job. San Francisco Chronicle
More Funds Urged for California's School Meal Program
The poor economy is hitting the bellies of 3.1 million California school children. State Superintendent of Public Schools Jack O'Connell warned Tuesday that, because of increased demand, state funding for the Free and Reduced-Price Meal program could run dry before the end of the school year. He urged lawmakers to increase state funding for the hot meal service by $31 million. Sacramento Bee
Just for the Kids-California (JFTK-CA) provides a free website, that presents data on how students at schools throughout the state are performing on state accountability tests. Find out how your local schools are doing at ww.jftk-ca.org.
Opinion / Editorial
A Balancing Act is Key to Stimulus
Somewhere in the middle could be a mix of projects that could include new hospitals, revamped levees, road rehabilitation, transit lines, school buildings and infrastructure for affordable housing. To find this middle ground, lawmakers of both parties need to come out of their corners, find an immediate solution to the state's fiscal crisis and come up with a stimulus package that stimulates green public works. Sacramento Bee
Bailout Bug Hits Some, Not All, States
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger deserves credit for saying he won't ask the federal government to financially help California "before we have straightened out our own fiscal mess." Those might be comforting words for those of us opposed to local government being financed from Washington, with the inevitable strings attached. Orange County Register
A Better Idea
In addition to the misguided proposal that certain take-out food containers be banned and fees be imposed on plastic and paper bags as a way to keep litter off California beaches, the California Ocean Protection Council has also proposed extending the so-called litter tax to cigarettes because of the millions of tobacco butts that end up in the sand. Here's a more effective solution: Ban smoking at all state beaches, just as every coastal city in San Diego County and numerous other California beach communities have already done. San Diego Union-Tribune
Make a difference on proposed laws. Visit www.calchambervotes.com.