Lawmakers first in line for IOUS

Fantastic-the do nothing California lawmakers deserve IOUs'-if it was up to me, they would not receive any pay. When state income taxpayers awaiting refunds and companies that do business with the state receive IOUs' instead of real money, then Californians will have to wake up to the fact that services they want can't be paid for with a beer pocket book budget & that the services they want are provided by real people-nothing is free. I'm a State worker that cannot legally be paid with IOUs-which means I'll get a check that can be cashed immediately while every other Californian who doesn't value State workers will get IOUs'-ASK ME IF I'M SYMPATHIC.

Sales tax holidays

This will not get the American consumer to spend their money. As long as people such as myself may lose their jobs or get a gigantic pay reduction, there is no way people are going to spend their money on anything except the basic necessities of life-food, water, telephone, transportation for work and gas & electric. Besides, what the retailers are requesting only amounts to $175 per year for a family of four-that amounts to nothing in the overall scheme of things. If it's a choice between paying for food or gas and electric vs purchasing something a family doesn't need, food or gas and electric wins hands down. The sales tax holiday proposal is just a "feel good" thing nothing more.

The State Worker: Furlough scenario may come with steep price

Anyone who gets laid off qualifies for unemployment & welfare. The Federal government requires the States to reimburse the Federal government for the welfare cost. 2nd, who's going to do the work that is going to pile up with State employees laid off & the rest furloughed 2 days a month. All this means is that State employees will be working overtime at 1 1/2 times their salary weeknights & Saturdays & double time on Sundays-where's the cost savings? In addition, what about the State agencies that generate money for the State such as the Franchise Tax Board & the Public Utilities Commission? Limousine operators & moving companies must obtain permits to operate in California & pay $500 plus quarterly fees to the State which I collect-if I'm laid off or furloughed, this means there will be less money collected from these operators that will go into California's General Fund.

State's budget crisis: Answers to pressing questions

Use private contractors & investors on public projects-what kind of oversight is there going to be, what State agency will have oversight & is the State agency going to have any regulatory muscle? Isn't this the problem this country is having now with the financial institutions-tons of flexibility & letting them do what they want without oversight from any State & Federal Government regulatory agencies? California has been there & done that, letting private contractors & investors implement & build the public projects-AFTER INVESTIGATION, WE FOUND OUT IT THESE PUBLIC PROJECTS COST DOUBLE OR TRIPLE WHAT IT WOULD HAVE COST IF STATE EMPLOYEES BUILD THESE PROJECTS INSTEAD. THE PRIVATE CONTRACTORS CHARGED THE STATE BILLIONS MORE FOR ALL THE PUBLIC PROJECTS THAN WHAT THEY REALLY COST & CLAIMED IT'S "COST OVERRUNS" OR THAT THE STATE KEPT CHANGING THE PLANS. The Governor can increase the sales tax all he wants-if people don't have jobs or have a reduction in their salary they're not going to spend any money. I'm one of those Californians who have STOPPED spending for everything EXCEPT THE BASIC necessities of life(food, water, telephone & gas and electric) since the Governor signed an executive order to reduce my salary by $325 per month.

Could saber-rattling lead to war between India and Pakistan?

Why would the Indian government listen to President Bush who couldn't wait to get the U.S. into 2 wars? How can Pakistan's government, weak/strong, crackdown on Islamic militant groups that the army & the directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence formed? Pakistan wants any excuse to withdraw their troops from the Pakistan/Afghanistan border because Pakistan is the only ally of the Taliban. The Pakistani people are jealous of the Indian people because the Indian people are prosperous & Pakistan is a FAILED state & the only way for the Pakistani people to prosper & feel safe is to immigrate from Pakistan to Europe or the U.S. The U.S. is providing Billions of my taxpayer dollars as aid to Pakistan, since money is the only thing foreign countries understand, the U.S. must withdraw the aid, that will get Pakistan's attention & get them to act-AFTER ALL what other country will provide Pakistan with the amount of aid the U.S. is providing-NOT CHINA(WHO'S STIMULATING IT'S OWN ECONOMY), NOT RUSSIA (RUSSIANS DON'T EVEN TRUST THEIR OWN CURRENCY & BANKS & THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT IS UTILITIZING THEIR PETRO DOLLARS TO STAY AFFLOAT), NOT EUROPE(EUROPE CAN'T EVEN AGREE ON HOW MUCH THEY NEED TO SPEND TO BAIL OUT THEIR OWN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS & IS GOING TO HAVE TO BAIL OUT THEIR OWN AUTO INDUSTRY VERY SOON)

Automakers grab loans, look to Obama White House

I hope that the Big 3 automakers realize that government becoming a stockholder in the companies means that the Federal government will have a gigantic say on every part of these companies' operations & Dubya is requiring rules for the automakers to follow to get bailed out & none for the financial institutions that received $350 Billion. Changing wage & work rules that are competitive with foreign automakers by the end of next year means reducing salaries to what the foreign auto workers make even though states are giving gigantic tax breaks to these same foreign automakers to locate & stay in these states & the money these foreign automakers are receiving is not staying in the U.S. Why isn't Dubya requiring the same of the financial institutions? Why are we giving taxpayer money to companies such as AIG who are giving executive compensation packages with taxpayer money, spending thousands of dollars of taxpayer money staying at 5 star hotels & resorts? Why isn't Dubya & Treasury secretary Paulson requiring AIG to repay this money back to the taxpayers?

Governor orders state worker furlough

I don't see how this is going to save California any money-All this will mean is that 238,000 state workers & their families WILL STOP spending money on everything except for the basic necessities of life-food, rent, gas & electric, water, telephone, gas for their cars to get to work. I'm a State worker & have stopped spending money on everything except the basic necessities of life-I'm not purchasing Christmas presents or birthday presents for anyone. This means less sales tax money going into the General fund since the Governor & legislators want Californians to purchase big ticket items such as refrigerators, stoves, flat screen TVs' & new cars. In addition, since some state workers are being laid off & others are being furloughed two days a month State agencies that collect money that go into the General Fund such as Franchise Tax Board, Public Utilities Commission, etc. will collect less money because the State workers won't be there to collect the money & the State workers that are left will be doing double or triple the work in an 8 hour period which means they'll collect less money during that time period. HASN'T THE GOVERNOR EVER HEARD OF CUTTING OFF ONE'S NOSE TO SPITE YOUR FACE.

Palin soap opera: Drug in Levi's mom's case is oxycontin

This is the type of family Gov. Palin wants her daughter Bristol to marry into & have a baby? This article forgot to mention that at the time of the announcement of Bristol's pregnancy, it was mentioned that Levi Johnston is unemployed. Who is going to pay for the baby's birth, Bristol & the baby's hospital stay, who's going to pay for the baby's needs-formula, baby food, diapers, doctor visits, vaccinations, etc-WELFARE(THE U.S. TAXPAYERS)?

Dubya Opens Up

To compromise one's soul & integrity, a person has to know the definition of the words soul & integrity in order to have a soul & integrity. The reason Dubya bailed out the Big 3 automakers with my taxpayer money is not because he didn't want to leave President Obama with a bigger mess than Dubya has already left President Obama or that he believes he should bailout the Big 3 automakers. The real reason is he's thinking about his legacy, if the Big 3 automakers were going bankrupt in Dubya's first term or the first 2 years of his 2nd term, he would have let them go bankrupt because Dubya basically does not give a rat's ass about the American people & the U.S. economy otherwise he wouldn't have decimated the environment, decimated the Federal oversight agencies such as the SEC, EPA, FDA, DEA, Fed/OSHA by underfunding these agencies so much that they're irrevelant. People need to wake up, granted the Big 3 automakers weren't making cars Americans wanted to buy, but these companies are ones who built the jeeps & trucks for the American military to fight the wars Dubya is so gungho about getting this country into, these are the companies who were willing to employ & train people who didn't know how to build cars-these companies basically gave this country its middle class. Dubya & his Republican legislators need to stop screaming about bailing out the Big 3 with taxpayer funds, IT'S HYPOCRITICAL. WHEN STATE GOVERNMENTS GIVE GIGANTIC TAX BREAKS & LAND THAT'S ALMOST FREE TO TOYOTA, HONDA, NISSAN, BMW, MERCEDES, VOLVO, SAAB, BRITISH MOTORS, ETC. TO LOCATE PLANTS IN THEIR STATES-THAT IS BAILING OUT THE AUTO INDUSTRY EXCEPT THE MONEY DOESN'T STAY IN THE U.S. TO BE SPENT OR INVESTED- THE MONEY GOES BACK TO JAPAN, GERMANY, SWEDEN, GREAT BRITAIN, ETC.

Bush says he didn't compromise soul to be popular

This coming from the most moronic, incompetent, inept President of this country. This President did more to ruin this country's reputation worldwide, caused irreparable environmental damage, increased the federal deficit & trade deficit than any President in modern U.S. history. President Bush didn't compromise his soul, what soul, IF he had a soul, he wouldn't have gotten this country into two wars under false pretenses & continually blame others for inaccurate intelligence information, created so much environmental damage that there are more Americans suffering from cancer, other terminal & respiratory diseases than at any other time in U.S. history & this country will have to spend trillions cleaning up the environmental damage created by his administration-such as burying mountain top mining dirt in streams which flows into our drinking water & mining in the Grand Canyon. President Bush says he's a free market guy-this is why we have the housing, financial & credit card meltdowns at the same time because he decimated regulations & underfunded the agencies that regulate & oversee these industries. Thereby making these regulatory agencies irrelevant. Americans need to stop criticizing Chris Cox & the SEC-it's not their fault that President Bush underfunded the SEC so much that they don't have the staff to regulate Wall Street. This is also why the U.S. is importing products with high levels of lead & melamine causing poisoning & deaths. President Bush is looking at options for helping the Big Three automakers, what options?-either the Bush Administration bails out the Big Three automakers or they go bankrupt & millions of Americans are out of jobs & this country goes into a depression if it isn't in a depression already, there's no in between. President Bush needs to do what the American people elected him to do, govern this country & make the hard decisions instead of sloughing the hard decisions to Congress to make. The Republicans in the Senate were intelligent & called President Bush's bluff- why should they take the heat? Oh yes, I forgot, PRESIDENT BUSH & TREASURY SECRETARY PAULSON SAID THE FUNDAMENTALS OF THE UNITED STATES ARE STRONG.

NOTE: We all know that President Bush wants to break the United Auto Workers union just like President Reagan did with the air traffic controllers (the American people are suffering every time they fly), never mind that the auto companies did more to help average Americans get into the middle class than any other industry.

Obamas' parenting methods sets stage for others to follow

Give me a break!!! Barack & Michelle Obama are like a lot of Americans who do not come from exemplary backgrounds & raise exemplary children. A lot of what the Obamas' are having their children do (chores) is just common sense, a parent must teach their children values & how to be a responsible adults. Big deal, a parent is suppose to spend a lot of one on one time with their children & put their children first. Everything the Obamas' are doing as parents is a parent's RESPONSIBILITY & anyone who doesn't know this must not have children. Obama children had to go to school the day after the historic election, what's the big deal, the day after the election wasn't Easter, Christmas, summer vacation or a school holiday. The Obama children are like all American children, they are to get an education & become productive members of this country. I come from an average, ordinary family & my parents did not come from exemplary backgrounds, both had careers & raised two exemplary persons. It is not Barack & Michelle Obama's responsibility to share & come public with how they raise their children & show Americans how to raise their children with a lot of family values and family morals, THAT IS NOT WHY AMERICANS ELECTED BARACK OBAMA AS PRESIDENT.

President Obama wants education reform, require parenting classes for anyone who is thinking of having children before, the blessed event.

To Danita Childers & Tamar Williams, if you didn't know how to be a parent, you shouldn't have children.

Steinberg, Bass take another crack at rooting out wasted state dollars

What a waste of time & energy. What this amounts to is studying California's budget problems to death. Everyone knows what the problem is-Californians want all the services that the State government currently provides & want to pay for these services with a beer pocket book budget when they know these services require a champagne pocket book budget. I guarantee every Californian that this new study will go the way of Gov. Schwarzenegger's Ca. Performance Review-the report will just sit on his desk collecting dust because every one of the 150 agencies & departments represents a program that some constituency of Californians want or need. REMEMBER, A PROGRAM THAT BENEFITS ONE GROUP OF CALIFORNIANS IS AN UNNECESSARY WASTE & NOT NECESSARY TO ANOTHER GROUP OF CALIFORNIANS. I use to work for the Ca. Occupational Safety & Health division of the Department of Industrial Relations. Gov. Pete Wilson dismantled it because he said it was a waste of taxpayer money when we already had the Federal government's Occupational Safety & Health. On the day Cal/OSHA was dismantled, the workers' compensation cost to employers increased 45% (to this day Gov. Schwarzenegger won't admit this is the reason employers have high workers' compensation cost). Employers screamed bloody murder. The employers & Californians found out that Fed/OSHA is inefficient, incompetent & ineffective (successive Presidents reduced funding, therefore Fed/OSHA doesn't have enough staff to regulate employers in states without their own OSHA programs). 18 months later, Cal/OSHA was reconstituted. In otherwords, people don't know what they lost until it's gone. Be careful what you wish for, we might just get it & we'll be worse off for it. Californians need to realize that any programs the State cuts will be regulated by the Federal government & the Federal government's reputation is BETTER DEAD THAN FED.

Burger King ad stirs controversy

Why should people be surprised-this is FREE trade. This is what American corporations have been doing for decades, starting with cigarettes. When the American people got smart & started protecting themselves by eating healthy, stopping smoking, demanding clean air & water, the American corporations decided to contaminate the rest of the world by exporting their cancer, diabetes, heart attack & stroke causing foods & chemicals with the help of President George W. Bush & prior Presidential administrations. The American people need to wake up to the fact that our federal government is not here to help keep the American people & the rest of the world healthy.

California running out of money

If California's running out of money, why did Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appoint 3 has been legislators to the Integrated Waste Management Board at a salary of $132,718.00 per year plus benefits?-this totals $398,154.00 per year plus benefits. In addition, why did the new assemblymen & senators receive new $32,000-$45,000 cars plus free gas & maintenance? If the Republicans get their way & sell San Quentin prison, what is California going to do with the prisoners? What about the prisoners on death row since San Quentin prison is the only prison with the death chamber? As far as scaling back on the state's ambitious greenhouse-gas targets, all that's going to do is increase healthcare cost because greenhouse gas emissions have a detrimental effect on people, especially children, with allergies & asthma. The Republican, Democrat legislators & Gov. Schwarzenegger need to think about long term cost to the state instead of constantly thinking shortterm.

Obama hopes to reboot US image among Muslims

I think this is completely inappropriate & RACIST to ask President Obama if he would drop his middle name during his inauguration on Jan. 20 & people continually asking him if he is a Muslim noting his middle name, that his father is Kenyan, and that he lived for a time as a child in Indonesia. What's wrong with living in a foreign country as a child, what's wrong with someone's father being from another country-President Obama's mother is an American. What's wrong with someone being a Muslim. I didn't hear anyone screaming & protesting loudly about a politician being a Catholic when everyone found out about Catholic Priests molesting boys & girls for years & decades. People need to stop being judgmental & hypocritical. Granted President Obama's American mother & Kenyan father were not saints, however, I would like to know who's parents are saints & if anyone living today is a saint & doesn't have an faults.

Officials: Obama chooses energy, enviro posts

It's about time President Obama diversified his cabinet appointments instead of appointing the Washington D.C. old boy "WHITE'S" only appointments. President Obama better not forget California & appoint qualified people from California(remember California has 55 electoral votes) if he wants to get re-elected in 2012. What has Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm done for Michigan or for the rest of this country for that matter. Gov. Granholm has not diversified Michigan's economy- G.M., Ford & Chrysler is Michigan-that's why Michigan's population is decreasing & why Detroit is #2 on the list of cities with the highest crime rates. Motown came into being in Detroit & because of Detroit horrible reputation, Motown left in a extremely short time for Los Angeles.

House OKs $14B auto bill, but it's still in peril

The Democrats are correct, the environmental mandate MUST be part of the legislation. In addition, the Democrats must not back down. The Big 3 MUST withdraw the 6 lawsuits against the EPA & 16 states that are requiring the Big 3 to manufacture fuel efficient & energy efficient cars. President George W. Bush, in the history of this country, is the ONLY incompetent, inept & moronic President this country has had needs to be vetoed by Congress. President George W. Bush has never been concerned about the American people, President George W. Bush is only concerned about his OIL friends & the OIL companies that's why we invaded Iraq-OIL- for no other reason. The Republicans are correct, the companies must go into bankruptcy or auto companies, autoworkers and creditors must make hefty concessions as a condition of any federal aid.

Eugene Robinson: Losers don't get to rewrite history

That's not President Bush's selective memory-basically President Bush doesn't think he's done anything wrong, he thinks he's competent to be President which is why he said "It wasn't just people in my administration; a lot of members in Congress, prior to my arrival in Washington, D.C., during the debate on Iraq, a lot of leaders of nations around the world were all looking at the same intelligence". In otherwords, he's blaming everyone else for his incompetence in getting this country into war in Iraq, watching New Orleans drown(going on prime time television & telling the people of New Orleans that the federal government will help New Orleans rebuild & then doing absolutely nothing) and having Treasury Secretary Paulson announce on Prime Time television that our economy is sound when this country has been in a recession since December, 2007 & the financial institution meltdown. President Bush didn't create democracy in the heart of the Middle East, if he did, what about Saudia Arabia, Syria, Iran, etc. these countries aren't democracies. In addition, the Iraqis are just waiting for the U.S. to withdraw, then they go back to killing each other. President Bush is just plain arrogrant in addition to being incompetent & inept and the American people wonder why this country is going in the wrong direction & is in such terrible shape economically, environmentally & in every other way. 4 Years is not going to be long enough for President Obama to fix all the problems President Bush created, it will take a life time.

Trudy Rubin: Obama’s new security team must first rebuild America’s diplomatic machine

Bush administration derided soft power as "social work" — no substitute for the tough work of war-making, shortage of Foreign Service officers, and particularly of those with training in critical languages such as Arabic, Chinese, Hindi and Urdu, no capacity to interact with a global generation that uses the Internet & we Americans wonder why the rest of the world is angry at this country. In addition, that's why we end up going to war without obtaining truthful intelligence first. As for hiring outside contractors to do projects in places such as Iraq-that's because the Bush Administration contrary to their political correctness speeches don't think much of U.S. military solders-remember that comment from the previous Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about our American solders who were drafted into the military & bravely fought & died in WWI, WWII, Korea & Vietnam-"it's better to have the voluntary military we have now, they're competent not like our drafted solders", this is how the Bush Administration thinks that's why we have to hire outside contractors to do projects in Iraq that the American military solders are perfectly capable of doing & therefore, wasting American taxpayer money.

My View: The climate has to be top priority

Fantastic & once President Obama is inaugurated maybe this country will sign the Kyoto treaty etc. However, President Obama is going to be spending his entire 4 years trying to undo the environmental damage caused by President George W. Bush's non-environmental policy such as gutting the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act & allowing coal mining companies to dump contaminated mountain top dirt into streams(President Obama will have to clean up 100 streams that have already been contaminated by coal mining companies utilizing this dumping method during President George W. Bush's administration).

Migden lands plum job ($132,178 a year) on waste panel

What happened to California's budget deficit? As a state worker, I DO NOT mind doing my fair share to help reduce California's budget deficit, such as taking 1 day unpaid leave per month. But why should state workers THAT DO THE WORK have to take all the pain when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appoints people to boards that are places to park has-been politicians – at a very hefty salary, $132,178 per year.

Californians reportedly under review for federal posts

With 55 electoral votes, President Obama better appoint some Californians to cabinet positions that addresses the concerns of California if President Obama wants to get re-elected in 2012 because depending on what President Obama does, what the economy is like, what war he gets this country into, he will need California's 55 electoral votes. President Obama may not be as lucky in 2012-In 2008 all the stars were aligned perfectly for him winning the Presidential election-meaning the financial institution meltdown & housing meltdown happened at the correct time which drowned out the so called Iraqi peace & reduction of the number of American solders dying -if it happened in August or September, 2008 instead of October, 2008, we most likely would be inaugurating President John McCain on January 20, 2009 instead of President Barack Obama.

Paid to leave, then rehired

What else is new, two University of California employees receiving sweet severance packages & then getting a new U.C. job. That's what they do in private industry, however, we don't hear about it but it happens. The only reason we found out about Chrysler's CEO receiving a $210 million goodbye compensation package AFTER BEING FIRED from Home Depot is because Chrysler wants bailout money from the American taxpayer. We Americans need to stop fooling ourselves, when private industry gives signing bonuses & GIGANTIC goodbye compensation packages, we the American people pay for these compensation packages. How many people have purchased or are going to purchase merchandise from Home Depot?-if you did or are going to-you're paying for Chrsyler's CEO's $210 million goodbye compensation package. How many people do you know working for private industry or government who GETS FIRED & receives a $210 million goodbye compensation package, gets another CEO job with a lucrative salary & then has the audacity to ask the American taxpayer to give bailout money to his/her new employer?

Bush: war in Iraq on its way to being won

Of course President Bush is going to say that we're winning the war in Iraq, he's thinking of his legacy. President Bush knows that the American people know that he's incompetent, inept & stupid. Everyone knows that Al Qaeda wasn't in Iraq until we invaded Iraq on the PRETENSE (LIE) that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction-the invasion was ALL ABOUT OIL NOTHING ELSE. The Iraqis are just waiting for the U.S. to withdraw & then they'll go back to killing each other. Basically, Iraq needs a strongarm to run the country, that's what Hussein was-that's why the Sunnis, Shites & Kurds weren't killing each other. AFTER 2011 when all American troops have withdrawn, since this country wants Iraq oil, are we going to re-invade Iraq in a year or two under another PRETENSE(LIE). How can the Iraqis maintain the security gains since the U.S. troop buildup of last year when the current Iraq government is incompetent & inept as well? It's time for President Bush & any future President to tell the truth to the American people when a President WANTS (NOT NEEDS OR MUST) to go to war & spill American blood-IT WOULD BE REFRESHING TO HEAR THE TRUTH FOR ONCE. It's also time for the American people to wake up & not blindly follow a President wanting to go to war.

White House: Constructive auto talks with Congress

Fantastic that Pelosi wants to bar the automakers from using any of the funds to pursue a legal challenge to states seeking to put in place tougher auto emission standards. However until this specific language is in the legislation, the Big 3 withdraws their 6 lawsuits against the EPA & the states & the requirements that there is no executive compensation packages for current & future executives, fire all the current executives starting with the CEOs' without compensation packages & the Big 3 sell all their corporate jets, absolutely NO bailout money. My employer is talking about layoffs due to the horrible economy-if I'm laid off, I won't receive any compensation package. I'll have to go on unemployment until I can get another job. It should be the same for the Big 3's CEOs & other executives.

American Autos Worth Saving And Writing Off

As far as I am concerned, even if the Big 2 get rid of SUVs', trucks, hummers' & other inefficient cars & trucks, it would not be enough to give them a bailout. The Big 2 need to do the following to get a bailout:

1. Sell ALL their corporate jets.

2. Withdraw their 6 lawsuits immediately against the EPA & 16 states that want them to manufacture fuel efficient energy efficient cars.

3. Fire all the current executives starting with the CEOs' WITHOUT executive compensation packages.

4. If any future executives resign or are fired, NO executive compensation packages.

5. The hybrid, natural gas & electric cars the Big 2 said would be manufactured & ready for the American consumer must be shipped to all the auto dealers to sell within 1 year from the date the contract with the Federal Government & the American people is signed.

6. Executives must not receive signing bonuses for any executive positions. Executive salaries must be tied to performance. If the company loses money, the executives' salary must be reduced by the same amount the company lost. If performance is still unsatisfactory, the executives must be fired WITHOUT any executive compensation package.

7. The Big 2 must open their Accounting books to Congress & the American people-the books with the REAL numbers not the "good books" with the phony numbers.

8. All the above must be a signed contract.

9. The bailout money must be given to the Big 3 in installments based on their completion of the above 7 criteria. If any of the 7 criteria are not meant & completed, the bailout money will be reduced.

10. If the Big 2 are not willing to abide by the above, let them go bankrupt.

11. Chrysler must not be bailed out. Since it's owned by a private equity firm, let the private equity firm bail Chrysler out. If the private equity firm doesn't, let Chrysler file Chapter 7. No one wants Chrysler anyway. Dailmer purchased it & had to sell this money losing albatross. Nobody wants to purchase their cars & trucks anyway.

The American taxpayers need guarantees that the bailout money will be paid back. The American taxpayers need iron clad strings attached to any bailout.

Pentagon to recruit aliens on visas

Is the Pentagon completing a through security screening of all aliens prior to employing them as doctors, nurses and linguists? or are we the United States no longer concerned about terrorism. Has it been that long since September 11, 2001.

Democrats: Obama needs hands-on economic approach

President-Elect Obama is correct in not having a hands-on approach to the economic crisis because he WILL NOT be President until January 20, 2009. If Senators Frank, Levin & Dodd want President-Elect Obama to be more hands-on, they need to change the law so that President-Elect Obama is inaugurated immediately instead of waiting until January 20, 2009. If not, these senators need to lobby President George W. Bush. In addition, the American people & Congress need to realize that when we elect an incompetent, inept person as President & re-elect him 4 years later, the American people deserve what they get. The American people & Congress are going to have to wait until January 20, 2009.

Carmakers' bailout pleas hit Senate skepticism

Congress, the Bush Administration & the incoming Obama Administration must not bailout the Big 3 because their verbal promises to reimburse taxpayers by 2012 this time & devote itself to manufacturing fuel-efficient cars & trucks that people want to buy isn't worth anything. The Big 3 & their CEOs' can't be trusted-call their bluff. After the Big 3 file chapter 7 bankruptcy not chapter 11, then we should take them seriously not before. In addition, there must not be a bailout unless the following conditions are met.

1. The Big 3 must withdraw their 6 lawsuits against the EPA & 16 states that are requiring the Big 3 to manufacture fuel efficient, energy efficient cars & trucks.

2. All the current executives starting with the CEOs' must be fired.

3. The Big 3 must sell all their corporate jets & all executives must reduce their salaries to $1(that's all they deserve). If they resign or are fired, they must not receive any executive compensation package. It is unacceptable that Chrysler's CEO Nardelli was fired from Home Depot & received a $210 million compensation package. If I was fired by my employer, I would not receive $1 in compensation. The American people need to realize that when these executives receive these undeserving compensation packages, the American people pay for these compensation packages in higher cost. This means that every time the American people purchase anything from Home Depot, the American people are paying for his $210 million compensation package.

4. The Big 3 must show Congress & the American people their REAL accounting books with REAL numbers not the Good set of accounting books with the phony numbers.

5. We must not bailout Chrysler. Let the private equity firm that owns Chrysler come to their rescue. If the private equity firm doesn't, Chrysler can file chapter 7 bankruptcy. Chrysler won't be missed.

There must be a signed contract by the Big 3 & the money needs to be given to them in installments as they meet the above criteria. If the Big 3 refuse, let them file chapter 7. Americans do not purchase their cars & trucks anyway. The European & Asian automakers that manufacture cars & trucks here such as the Toyota Tundra can also manufacture jeeps, etc for the U.S. military.

President Obama's cabinet

What happened to the change President Obama said was going to happen in this country during the primary & general elections. So far what President Obama has done is pick people from the Beltway or people who use to be in the Clinton Adminstration. I am not saying that these people are not qualified. However, is President Obama telling the American people that he can't find any qualified people to fill his cabinet positions from outside the Beltway, who haven't worked in any previous presidential administrations, where are the qualified Asians, Hispanics, American Indians, etc. In additions, President Obama said he'd appoint Republicans, where are the Republicans? I know there aren't that many qualified Republicans. However, there's Kay Bailey Hutchinson & Gov. Pawlenty & Former Gov. Romney to name a few.

California's elected officials urged to pare their own pay

I couldn't have stated this any better than Lynne Larsen. I'm an office technician & my salary is is $39,000 per year. My take home pay would drop $163.20 per month. This is not a nice dinner and a high-end cigar for the folks under the dome because their dinners & cigars are paid for, it's called per diem. $163.20 is my gas, electric, water & telephone bills. I guess I'm suppose to tell Pacific Gas & Electric, A.T & T. & the San Francisco Water Dept. to turn off my gas & electric, water & telephone since I won't be able to pay them. California's legislators are like AIG, General Motors, Ford & Chrysler's executives. They want us taxpayers to pay for their excessive compensation while they stay at 5 star hotels such as the Ritz Carlton, fly around in private corporate jets & eat in posh restaurants that the rest of us can only dream of. I've never flown on a private jet, the closes I've gotten to a private jet was using frequent flyer miles to fly in the business class of a commercial airplane.

Big 3 Automaker bailout

The new proposal by both Democrats & Republicans in Congress for the government to get a chance to share in future profits by the auto companies, require them to limit executives' pay packages & prohibit use of the funds for lobbying or paying shareholders dividends is worse than the original plan. 1. Nothing will improve as long as the management from the CEO on down stays at the Big 3. 2. If we taxpayers give the Big 3 $25 Billion as an investment, what guarantee is there that they'll implement their plan?-they could return in 3 months to 1 year & say they couldn't implement any of their proposals in the plan due to circumstances beyond their control, the $25 Billion is gone & we need more money. Since we the taxpayers will have already invested $25 Billion & won't want to lose that money, we'll give more money. We might as well turn on the faucet & let the water continue to go down the drain.

Requiring them to limit executives pay packages should have been in the first $25 Billion bailout. Are there going to be monetary penalties if they don't comply?

Prohibit use of the funds for paying shareholders dividends. This also should have been a requirement in the first $25 Billion bailout because shareholders would revolt if they didn't get their dividends, some of our seniors use these dividends to supplement their living expenses-if it was I guarantee you the shareholders would have voted these executives out of office due to their incompetence.

Schwarzenegger calls for federal aid

Bond spending and regular operations spending out of the general fund is different. With bond spending the State ends up spending more than we have because even though we've spent the borrowed funds, we're still paying off the interest. For ex. In the mid 80's, Californians approved a transportation bond. According to Cal/Trans, we've spent the borrowed funds. However, we just finished paying the interest. The econcomical way to improve California's infrastructure including water is for the legislature to pass legislation & the Governor sign the legislation-this saves millions in interest payments.

Editorial: Schwarzenegger: 'I am open to discussing anything'

What about cutting your staff Governor Schwarzenegger? You haven't said anything about that. If everyone is suppose to sacrifice a little bit, what about you?

Once again, help for wartime vets

It's great that Americans are supporting the troops. The problem is that Americans don't want to pay to make the returning troops whole again physically & mentally, re-educate, retrain & house them. It's easy to say support the troops. In otherwords, actions speak louder than words, put your money where your mouth is.

Schwarzenegger pushes for November budget solution

The severity of the situation will not force lawmakers to respond, the situation was severe back in May-September & the lawmakers didn't respond, they're just as entrenched today as they were back then. Lawmakers don't care if the Governor looks at their name favorably down the line. The termed out lawmakers will run for another elected office, they all do. State workers taking a monthly unpaid day of leave through June 2010 "under the auspices of everyone gets a little haircut" is not getting a little haircut. A little haircut cost $25-$30. A monthly unpaid day of leave is a 5% pay cut. For me, a state worker, that's $163.20 pay cut per month. This is $163.20 per month less in discretionary spending. This means I'll have $163.20 less per month to purchase big ticket items such as kitchen appliances, remodeling my home, etc. This means less sales tax revenue going into the General Fund.

John McCain

In John McCain's concession speech, he said "I don't know what more I could have done to win the election". Here are my suggestions:

1. Properly vet your choice for your Vice Presidential running mate. Do not choose someone who is not qualified to be Vice President let alone President & try to pretend to the American people that your choice is qualified. It didn't work, enough people were convinced that Sarah Palin was qualified to give a speech the McCain campaign advisors prepared for her at the convention. However, when she gave interviews, everyone knew she wasn't qualified-telling Katie Couric "I'll check & bring it to ya" or not remembering the July, 2008 Supreme Court ruling reducing Exxon's monetary award to Alaska for the Exxon Valdez accident.

2. Before choosing your campaign advisors, throughly investigate them. Don't hire campaign advisors who sent the value of their company's stock from $150 per share to $25 per share-Carly Florina.

3. When an undecided independent voter sends an e-mail regarding a concern they have, respond to the e-mail. I sent John McCain an e-mail the first week of September asking how his healthcare plan would benefit me. To date, I have not received a response. This shows that McCain does not care about the American people-caring about people who have 7-12 homes isn't caring for the American people. People who have 7-12 homes don't need help.

California's budget

If Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger truly wants to reduce government spending, he can start by reducing the number of supervisors/managers in all the government agencies. Some agencies have 1 supervisor supervising 1-3 employees. Don't let state agencies move from state owned buildings to privately owned buildings, thereby incurring moving cost, cost overruns & rent that is 2-3 times higher than the rent at state owned buildings. In addition, if the privately owned building isn't computer ready & doesn't meet the Americans With Disabilities Act, the State incurs cost to bring the building into compliance.

Minister: Split with McCain 'best for both of us'

This makes me wonder about McCain's judgment especially since he stuck with Hagee after the comments Hagee made about Catholics. McCain said he did not know about the Hitler remarks before Hagee's endorsement. This is the same excuse Obama made after hearing about Rev. Wright's comments. This smacks of hypocrisy especially after he criticized Obama regarding Rev. Wright's comments. I'll have to think long & hard before I'd vote for McCain.

Housing relief: Help, but for how many

People need to read all the loan documents prior to signing the loan documents. Ask questions & keep asking questions until you understand everything in the loan documents. In addition, on the very first & 2nd page of the loan document, it tells you what type of loan you are getting, fixed rate or ARM & if there's a balloon payment. Basically, you shouldn't be purchasing the property because you can not afford the payments that's why you had to get an ARM loan instead of a fixed rate loan. Getting an ARM loan knowing that you can not afford the payments when the loan resets is your fault (PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY). Why should the taxpayers bail you out for your mistake?

Kathleen Finan: Make the pain stop

Does your town have public transportation? If not, it's your choice to live in a town/city that does not have public transportation. In addition, it's your choice to have children. I live in San Francisco where there is public transportation & there are plenty of parents who transport their children on public transportation & commute to work the same way. In addition, bring your coffee/tea & your lunch every day and eat dinner at home every day-that'll cut your food cost in half.

The Federal Government's job is to defend this country against outside enemies & defend our borders. Has anyone heard of personal responsibility.

As first tax rebates show up in checking accounts, many Americans eye groceries, not fancy TVs

Contrary to what President Bush says, this country is in a recession. Instead of blaming Congress, President Bush needs to propose legislation that would help defray the housing problem, cost of gasoline, home heating, groceries, etc. Playing the blame game is tired & old, it doesn't solve anything.

In additon, with the increase in the cost of gasoline, home heating & groceries, all $600 will pay for is gas & groceries if that. Besides, why would some one spend $600 for merchandise they don't need. I'm a single person, I use to pay $60 per week for groceries, now I pay $110+ per week for groceries. My "stimulus check" is going into my checking account to pay for groceries & gas for my car. Besides, when we filed our 2008 income taxes, is the $600 considered Capital Gains & therefore, taxable?

Obama 'outraged' by Wright's remarks

Barack Obama's outraged at Rev. Wright's remarks is not believable. He was a parisher in the Trinity Church for 20 years, he could not have been sleeping during all of Rev. Wright's sermons. In addition, Barack Obama referred to Rev. Wright as someone that he considered part of his family like a dad or an uncle. He had Rev. Wright marry him & Michele and baptised his children. How many parishers consider their ministers/priests as part of their family? Rev. Wright is correct, Barack Obama is disassociating himself from Rev. Wright for political reasons.

Federal government Stimulus check

People need to understand the federal government's stimulus check is not free money. The stimulus check is your money that you paid in taxes during the 2007 tax year. In addition, my tax preparer informed me that even though taxes will not be taken from the check when you receive it, you will have to claim the entire amount when you file your income tax for the 2008 tax year because it's considered Capital Gains. Therefore, if you're going to spend the check, be sure to save some for your income tax.

California's budget deficit

It is time for the Governor & the State Legislature to get serious about California's deficit since the budget expires June 30, 2008. However, we Californians (38 million of us) need to make some hard choices. If we want the State government to provide services from A through Z, we need to be willing to pay for the services even if that means increasing our taxes. There is no such thing as a free lunch. If we're not willing to increase our taxes, we should be willing to wait longer for the services to be provided to us & not complain if the State reduces some services especially now when the State has a $18 Billion deficit.

Note: We either pay up front with an increase in our taxes or we pay on the back end with a reduction in services. Either way we pay.

democrat fumble

It is time for the democrat party to have a nominee for the general election. Since neither Clinton or Obama can reach the magic 2025 delegate count, one of these two candidates needs to withdraw from the contest. All the slinging of mud against each other is only going to help John McClain win the election in November which is not necessarily bad for this country. At least, McCain is not a hypocrit when he indicates he's supporting the surge-he has something to lose- two of his sons are serving in the military in Iraq. The two candidates need to stop fighting about whether to count Michigan & Florida's delegates. In addition, telling the voters how horrible President Bush is for the last eight years is not what the voters what to hear, the voters know that. Voters including me want to know what a Clinton, Obama or McCain presidency will do for us--I want to know what the candidates' plans are to solve the medicare & social security insolvency, the trade deficient, federal deficient, Iraq war, global warming, bank insolvency, etc. not fluff. I'm tired of voting for the lesser of two evils. Telling the voters that you want change in Washington D.C. is not good enough.