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November 2008
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1. ““Does
Civilization Have a Promising Energy Future?”” – Wonderfest 2008
November 2,
Steven Chu
(moderator), Nobel Laureate & Director, Lawrence Berkeley Lab
Dan Kammen (conservation), Professor of
Energy Resources, UC Berkeley
2. 2008 Human
Rights Fellows Conference and Poster Session
Reception to follow. Conference
agenda
The
Nobuko
Mizoguchi (MPP/MPH 1998), Demography, UC Berkeley
Nobuko will
work with the Global Health Access Project to survey human rights abuses and
health conditions among residents of conflict-ridden eastern
Layda
Negrete Sansores (MPP 1998/PhD cand.) and Roberto Hernandez Ruiz (PhD cand.), Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley
Layda and
Roberto will produce a documentary and initiate a petition against the
government of
“The
Judiciary: Promoting Human Rights”
Faculty
Discussant: Naomi Roht-Arriaza (MPP/JD 1990)
Poster
session features:
Veronica Guzman (MPP cand.), Goldman School of Public Policy, UC
Berkeley
“Internal
Displacement in
Nicole Farkouh (MPP cand.), Goldman School of Public Policy, UC
Berkeley
“Understanding
and Addressing Uterine Prolapse in
3.
"European Missile Defense: Why Now?"
Wednesday,
November 12th |
Harold P. Smith, Distinguished Visiting
Scholar,
Sponsored by
the Institute of Governmental Studies, the
4. ECOPOLIS, Discovery Channel’s TV series hosted
by Prof. Dan Kammen, premieres on
Wednesday at
5. “Our Environmental Destiny: Mario
Savio Memorial Lecture”
December 4 |
The 12th
annual Mario Savio Memorial Lecture will feature leading environmental defender
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Doors open at
Sponsor: Mario Savio Memorial Lecture
Fund
The evening
includes a presentation of the Mario Savio Young Activist Award, which
recognizes young people engaged in the struggle to build a more humane and just
society. Event Contact: 510-642-3394
6. 2009 Annual Aaron Wildavsky Forum
Dean Rebecca Blank, Ford
Topic & location TBD
7. Aaron Wildavsky
panel discussion
Panelists TBD
ALUMNI AND STUDENT NEWSMAKERS
1. “Spitzer:
‘Absurd’ to bring back lame-duck lawmakers” (Sacramento Bee, Capitol Alert,
2. “Prop. L: Mayor’s forgotten footnote” (San Francisco
Chronicle,
3. “An Old Refrain: Slow Down” (The New York Times,
4. “Friend’s eatery on road Stevens got paved - $2.7 MILLION…” (Anchorage Daily News, October 27, 2008); story by GARANCE BURKE (MPP 2005/MJ 2004); http://www.adn.com/politics/story/568654.html
5. “Did Palin’s key pipeline deal play favorites? - Field
narrowed to firm tied to administration” (Chicago Tribune,
6. “The quiet avenger; Encounter with Shanta Martin” (The Age
(
7. “Health Dialogues: Health Care for All” (The California
Report, KQED Radio,
8. “Final financial filing in S.F. supervisor races” (San
Francisco Chronicle,
9. “Students’ well-being tracked to improve lives” (San
Francisco Chronicle,
10. “ ‘Lawyers With Cameras’ Change Mexican Justice” (Hewlett Foundation Newsletter, October 2008); story citing ROBERTO HERNANDEZ (PhD cand.) and LAYDA NEGRETE (MPP 1998/PhD cand.); http://www.hewlett.org/AboutUs/News/Foundation+Newsletter/Lawyers+With+Cameras.htm
11. “Phila. expects budget
shortfall” (Philadelphia Daily News,
12. “
13. “Should details of the recipients of EU farm subsidies be
published?” (The Irish Times,
14. “Q&A: State’s retiring legislative analyst reflects
on state of the state” (Sacramento Bee,
15. “Longtime
16. “Corzine offers recovery plan” (Record, The (
17. “
18. “
19. “It’s Time to Wake Up From Oil Price Shock and Create an Effective U.S. Energy Policy, Warns Severin Borenstein in Milken Institute Review” (Market Wire, October 16, 2008); story citing JULIA BIXLER ISAACS (MPP 1985).
20. “Newsom becomes campaign tool for Prop. 8 backers” (San
Francisco Chronicle,
21. “
22. “Financial muscle moves to Washington - Power shift from Wall Street to D.C. comes with heavy dose of regulation” (Chicago Tribune, October 14, 2008); story citing STAN COLLENDER (MPP 1976); http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-tue-dc-power-oct14,0,1345309.story
23. “White House Overhauling Rescue Plan for Economy” (New
York Times,
24. “As governor, Palin blurs church-state line” (Advocate, The (
25. “Internal Affairs: Ex-eBay CEO Meg Whitman positions
herself for battle of billionaires” (Mercury News,
26. “Officials will ask residents to weigh in on M.I. plan”
(Times-Herald (
27. “State’s leaders deal with new budget problems” (San
Francisco Chronicle,
28. “City facing another budget shortfall” (Alameda Journal,
29. “News briefs: Council meeting on budget today” (Oakland
Tribune,
30. “White House Briefing: Bush’s Ghost” (Washington Post,
31. “Propositions 6 and 9” (Forum, KQED Radio, Oct 7, 2008); features commentary by TODD SPITZER (MPP/JD 1989); Listen to the program
32. “White House Watch: The No-Confidence Man” (Washington
Post,
33. “PUC should insure affordable home phone service” (San
Francisco Chronicle,
34. “Women losing traction in S.F. politics” (San Francisco
Chronicle,
35. “Levi cuts pattern for a greener bottom line. S.F. jeans
maker tracks the life cycle of every pair” (San Francisco Business Times,
36. “Race and gender in this election?” (FOX
7 Morning TV,
37. “Report: Egg industry could survive Prop. 2. Expert says
measure’s publicity will likely increase demand for cage-free eggs” (Capital
Press (
38. “Cigarette sales ban – the case for choice” (San
Francisco Chronicle,
39. “CAMPAIGN 2008 S.F. District 9: Front-runners share a lot
in common. Solid records with high-level endorsements, all progressives” (San
Francisco Chronicle,
40. “Mayor elated with town hall meetings” (Oakland Tribune,
41. “Health program opens - Effort to begin offering care to
more than 20,000 uninsured Howard residents” (
42. “Remedy sought for nursing shortage - Professionals, educators also hope to bring diversity to field” (Ventura County Star, October 1, 2008); story citing HAYLEY BUCHBINDER (MPP/MPH 2003); http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/oct/01/remedy-sought-for-nursing-shortage/
43. “A Broader Definition of Merit: The Trouble with College
Entry Exams” (New York Times,
44. “Deja Blue in Mets’ Shea Finale. Amazin’’s close stadium on a downer as they get bumped from playoffs in sad ‘07 rerun” (New York Daily News, September 28, 2008); story citing RAY DOMANICO (MPP 1979); http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/mets/2008/09/28/2008-09-28_mets_close_shea_stadium_on_a_down_note_w.html
45. “Will this be a ‘change’ election based on ‘fear
itself’?” (Mercury News,
46. “What Matters To Colleges” (The Washington Post,
47. “Amid oil worries, natural gas boom is a ‘bright spot’”
(The Kansas City Star,
48. “The Natural Resources Defense Council holds a media briefing on South Korea’s plan to announce an emissions reduction target next year and the elements of what major emerging economies could support as a part of the agreement in Copenhagen” (The Washington Daybook, September 26, 2008); event featuring NED HELME (MPP 1971).
49. “Precedent-setting carbon auction Thursday” (Christian
Science Monitor,
50. “
51. “Conservation Key to City’s New Long-Range Water Supply
Plan” (Santa Fe New Mexican,
52. “White House Briefing: What Bush Left Out” (Washington
Post,
53. “County appeals judges ruling on GA program” (Oakland
Tribune,
54. “Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of
55. “Delbanco
tries surveillance; Former Leapfrog CEO joins monitoring firm (Modern
Healthcare,
56. “Measures would hike sales taxes for transit” (San
Francisco Chronicle,
57. “Saturday Readers’ Forum: SMART won’t help traffic”
(Marin Independent Journal,
58. “
59. “Hearings set on controls for bond money outlay”
(Sacramento Bee,
60. “
61. “Poverty measure needs to reflect times” (Post-Crescent (
62. “High HIV infection rate for young black men, CDC finds” (San Francisco Chronicle, September 12, 2008); story citing MARK CLOUTIER (MPP/MPH 1993); http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/12/MN9612SFKE.DTL&hw=mark+cloutier&sn=002&sc=526
63. “Lander Cnty, NV’s GO SPUR Raised To ‘A’ On Strong Finances” (Market News Publishing, September 2, 2008); story citing LISA SCHROEER (MPP 2005).
64. “We know what’s cost effective. Now
what?” (
65. “RI gov subject of ethics probe for hiring niece” (The
Associated Press State & Local Wire,
66. “Gay couples use weddings to wage ballot fight”
(Associated Press,
67. “Our economy is like a bungee cord: It’ll bounce back”
(Mercury News,
68. “Uniforms or no uniforms?” (Ocala
Star-Banner,
FACULTY IN THE NEWS
1. “Put focus back on the unemployed” –
Commentary by ROBERT REICH
(Marketplace [NPR],
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/10/29/reich_unemployed
2. “Expect smears to spatter more with 7 days left” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 28, 2008); story citing JACK GLASER; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/10/28/MNET13P9FC.DTL
3. “Early voters turning out in record numbers” (KGO
TV,
4. “Google’s Green Agenda Could Pay Off” (
5. “Experts to gather this week for UC Berkeley-UCLA symposium on mortgage meltdown” (UC Berkeley News, October 27, 2008); press release citing JOHN QUIGLEY; http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2008/10/27_mortgage.shtml
6. “Chevron fights human rights charge” (KGO TV,
7. “Personality, party factor in voting decision”
(Reno Gazette-Journal,
8. “Deficits are okay? The
death of a political consensus” (The Toronto Star,
9. “Read the fine print on presidential energy plans” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 24, 2008); op-ed by DAN KAMMEN; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/24/EDV213N2H3.DTL&type=printable
10. “Blog: Stumping for Obama and McCain” (BBC
Online [
11. “Maybe ‘too big to fail’ is just too big” –
Commentary by ROBERT REICH
(Marketplace [NPR],
12. “Frontline: Heat” (PBS,
13. “Home sales sizzle, prices fizzle” (San Jose
Mercury News,
14. “Yes, It’s A Wreck,
But We Can Fix It” (Newsweek,
15. “Fluctuations: A Hemline Index Updated” (New
York Times,
16. “Just in Case McCain Wins, a Survival Guide for Reporters Who Wrote Him Off” (Washington Post, October 19, 2008); column citing HENRY BRADY.
17. “Green energy is not a middle-class conceit,
more the only way forward” (The Independent [
18. “Is ‘Joe the Plumber’ Really Average?” (KCBS
Radio,
19. “
20. “Racism rears its ugly head in campaign” (KGO
TV,
21. “Dozens of
22. “Energy-Saving Windows A
Legacy Of ‘70s Oil Crisis” (Morning Edition, NPR,
23. “Election Protection” (Forum, KQED Radio,
24. “The debate and the crises to come” (Chicago
Tribune,
25. “Race for The White House with David Gregory”
(MSNBC,
26. “Confidence should shore up banks soon. Asian
markets bounce back and
27. “Candidate Supporters’ Use of Gadgets as
Symbols Reveal Power of Brands” (Wired,
28. “What Next?; Will It
Work?” (World News with Charles Gibson, ABC News,
29. “A New Age of Global Capitalism Starts Now. With the American model in tatters, its European and Asian rivals
make their move” (Newsweek, International Edition,
30. “Bush Tries to Reassure Public on Economy; Retirement Savings Being Drained; Predicting the Election” (CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, CNN, October 12, 2008); features commentary by ROBERT REICH.
31. “Can anyone save us now?” (The
Sunday Times (
32. “Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson announced
the government would buy stock in financial institutions” (‘The Rachel Maddow
Show’, MSNBC,
33. “Greyhounds and bloodhounds. At a forum on
the
34. “Saved by the Deficit?” – Opinion by ROBERT REICH (New York Times,
35. “
36. “
37. “I could use a liquidity injection” (The
Globe and Mail (
38. “Beyond the Bailout” (Forum, KQED Radio,
39. “Congress speaks about financial crisis” (KGO
TV,
40. “Bottom-up economic theory” – Commentary by ROBERT REICH (San Francisco Chronicle,
41. “Bay Area leaders playing key roles in
campaigns of McCain and Obama: Bay Area’s Brain Trust” (Mercury News,
42. “Wall Street meltdown the turning point for
Obama” (The Toronto Star,
43. “
44. “Berkeley profs call
for quick economic action” (San Francisco Chronicle,
45. Saving Energy on the Cheap” (Wall Street
Journal [*requires registration],
46. Minor relief felt after Senate passed bill”
(KGO TV,
47. “Nuclear weapons: Countdown to zero?
1. “Spitzer:
‘Absurd’ to bring back lame-duck lawmakers” (Sacramento Bee, Capitol Alert,
Posted by Shane Goldmacher
Assembly Member Todd Spitzer,
R-Orange, enters s a news conference in his small office he was assigned to by
the Speaker, over a dispute,
Republican Assemblyman Todd
Spitzer thinks calling
“With the philosophical differences still firmly in place it is unlikely anything will be finalized” before lawmakers are forced from office on Dec. 1, Spitzer writes on his blog.
“As a termed out legislator, I feel it is absurd that my termed out colleagues and I could potentially be called back to try and fix the ever increasing budget deficit. Both sides have no incentive to reach across the aisle and accomplish anything, especially since Election Day will be in our past.”
Worse, says the outspoken Spitzer,
“It is not fair to the newly elected legislators ... to have the current group
of legislators in
He adds, “It will be this new group of legislators who will be the ones that have to deal with the ramifications of this special session.” …
2. “Prop. L: Mayor’s forgotten footnote” (San Francisco Chronicle,
--C.W. Nevius
There was a time when the
The special court was an innovative idea from Mayor Gavin Newsom, and funding for it was put on the ballot as Proposition L to make a clear, ringing statement to opponents and give supporters an issue to run on….
Newsom wouldn’t have put the measure on the ballot if it wasn’t to ding Supervisor Chris Daly, who threatened to kill the pilot project. And now that he has called Daly’s bluff, Newsom has virtually dropped the idea and moved on to something else. So what’s the point?
After all, the Board of Supervisors has already agreed to fund the court, which would target crimes like aggressive panhandling and public urination in the Tenderloin and South of Market. People brought before the court would be matched with social services to get them to improve their lives and ordered to pay back the neighborhoods in community service. Or they could choose jail time.
Since the supervisors have funded the court, it would be virtually impossible to cut off the money for at least a year….
However, in the last month or so, things have changed. Other issues,
like Proposition 8, the same-sex marriage ban, have consumed the mayor’s
attention. The
“If it goes down, it will be because they never mounted even a bare-bones campaign, which would have done it,” said David Latterman, a political pollster at Fall Line Analytics. “They absolutely took this for granted.” …
“At best, [Newsom]’s an ideas guy,” Latterman said. “His nose-to-the-grindstone follow-through is not good.”…
3. “An Old Refrain: Slow Down” (The New York Times,
By Jeffrey Selingo
Driving slower would be one way
to cut gas consumption. (Alan Zale for The New York Times)
HIGHER gas prices have forced some American drivers to trade in their S.U.V.’s for smaller, more fuel-efficient cars; combine errands in an effort to drive less; or even add air to their tires to eke out a few more miles per gallon.
But most drivers have largely ignored one easy way to conserve fuel: ease up on the gas pedal.
One exception is Senator John Warner, Republican of Virginia, who has suggested a return to a federal speed limit. In July, he asked the Department of Energy to study the issue, although he did not recommend a specific speed….
The national 55-miles-per-hour speed limit, enacted after the 1973 Arab oil embargo, was repealed by Congress in 1995. According to the Congressional Research Service, the [55 mph] speed limit reduced gasoline consumption by about 167,000 barrels a day. Over all, gasoline demand remained relatively flat in the first decade after the law was enacted.
‘‘We know fuel consumption goes up pretty rapidly if you drive 75 versus 55,’’ said Roland Hwang, the vehicles policy director at the Natural Resources Defense Council….
4. “Friend’s eatery on road Stevens got paved - $2.7 MILLION…”
(Anchorage Daily News,
By GARANCE BURKE and ADAM GOLDMAN - The Associated Press
The newly paved
Just 0.7 miles long,
It cost taxpayers $2.7 million to widen and pave that road, and
“This is a classic pork barrel project that just confirms everyone’s fears,” said David Williams, a vice president for policy at Citizens Against Government Waste. “It’s like ‘Hey, if you’re my buddy, I’ll just get you a few million dollars and make you a road to your restaurant.’ “
Details of the Crow Creek deal emerged as Stevens awaits a verdict in his trial. He is charged with lying on Senate financial disclosure forms about gifts, including more than $250,000 in home improvements to his cabin, not far from the Double Musky.
Trial testimony indicated that Stevens granted Persons power of attorney to guide the home renovation. Among the many presents Stevens is charged with concealing is a nearly $2,700 massage chair from Persons. Stevens says the chair was a loan. But his explanation of why he kept it in his house for seven years led to one of the more awkward exchanges of his testimony….
In 2002, when Stevens was chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, he inserted last-minute language in a transportation bill to secure $10 million for “Girdwood: Road Improvements.” He then ensured that his intentions to pave his friend’s road were carried out….
5. “Did Palin’s key pipeline deal play favorites? - Field narrowed to
firm tied to administration” (Chicago Tribune,
By Justin Pritchard and Garance Burke, Associated Press
Gov. Sarah Palin’s signature accomplishment—a contract to build a 1,715-mile pipeline to bring natural gas from Alaska to the Lower 48—emerged from a flawed bidding process that narrowed the field to a company with ties to her administration, an Associated Press investigation shows.
Despite Palin’s boast of a smart and fair bidding process for the pipeline, the AP found that her team crafted terms that favored only a few independent companies and ultimately benefited the winner, TransCanada Corp.
In interviews and a review of records, the AP found:
* Instead of creating a process that would attract many potential builders, Palin slanted the terms away from an important group: the global energy giants that own the rights to the gas.
* Despite promises and legal guidance not to talk directly with potential bidders, Palin had meetings or phone calls with nearly every major candidate for the project, including TransCanada.
* The leader of Palin’s pipeline team had been a partner at a lobbying firm where she worked on behalf of a TransCanada subsidiary. Also, that woman’s former business partner at the lobbying firm was TransCanada’s lead private lobbyist on the pipeline deal, interacting with legislators in the weeks before the vote to grant TransCanada the contract….
6. “The quiet avenger” (The Age (
By Jewel Topsfield - senior writer
Shanta Martin (Photo:Simon O’Dwyer)
THE FEAR
started to creep in when the fish began to die. The open pit copper, zinc, gold
and silver mine on
But the brave new world turned ugly just months after the mine began operating in 2005, when a pump malfunction caused poisonous cyanide-laden sludge to ooze into the rivers. After a second fish kill, fear turned to panic when locals refused to buy fish from the island, robbing the villagers of their livelihood.
Families struggled to find enough to eat. Some complained of rashes and itching. The mine was fined a record $258,000, suspended from full operation for 15months and went into voluntary receivership last December. But its legacy continues to be felt by the islanders.
It’s a story Oxfam
Martin studied law and science at university, followed by articles at commercial law firm Mallesons Stephen Jaques….
Despite the cracking pace of working as a dispute resolution lawyer
at a top law firm, Martin also managed to volunteer for Amnesty International and
the Red Cross and study for a master’s of law, focusing on corporate
responsibility for human rights. However, it was a chance encounter with Justine Nolan, an Australian lawyer working in the
“She was talking about being able to work with companies to try and improve workers’ conditions. I realised I could maybe use my commercial experience to work with communities affected by companies in developing countries. I decided I could keep rehashing what everyone else was saying or go over and see if I could make a contribution and a difference.” …
7. “Health Dialogues: Health Care for All” (The California Report,
KQED Radio,
The State of
Download (MP3)
Guests:
• Marian Mulkey, M.P.H., M.P.P., senior program officer for the
California Healthcare Foundation’s Market and Policy Monitor Program, promoting
greater transparency and accountability in California’s health care system
8. “Final financial
filing in S.F. supervisor races” (San Francisco Chronicle,
--Wyatt Buchanan, Heather Knight, Erin Allday, Audrey Cooper
Thursday was the
deadline for the last round of
District Four (Sunset District)
Filings Show:
Ron Dudum has raised $58,629, much of it recently coming from retirees and homemakers, with a couple of large donations from execs at the Gap. Incumbent Carmen Chu raised $204,056 so far, with donations coming from banking and law executives along with labor unions.
What it means:
9. “Students’ well-being
tracked to improve lives” (San Francisco Chronicle,
--Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer
(10-22) 18:37 PDT --
Fewer kids in
These are among hundreds
of illuminating and sometimes heart-wrenching facts revealed in a new
county-by-county study [coauthored by
Corey Newhouse] of the well-being of California’s youngest residents,
published Wednesday by Children Now, a national nonprofit advocacy group based
in
By peering in at the details of children’s health and happiness - and showing precisely where they are doing well or poorly - the group hopes to push counties to take action to improve the lives of children.
“In two years, we’ll
come back and see how well we’ve done, whether anything has changed,” said Ted
Lempert, a former
Lempert acknowledges
that the state’s dire financial situation makes it unlikely that counties will
devote the kind of money and resources his group would like to bolster the next
generation of
In
“We’re taking this quite
seriously,” said Trish Bascom, an associate superintendent in the
[To see the full report, visit www.childrennow.org/scorecard .]
10. “ ‘Lawyers With Cameras’ Change Mexican Justice” (Hewlett Foundation Newsletter, October 2008); story citing ROBERTO HERNANDEZ (PhD cand.) and LAYDA NEGRETE (MPP 1998/PhD cand.); http://www.hewlett.org/AboutUs/News/Foundation+Newsletter/Lawyers+With+Cameras.htm
Judge Hector
Palomares-Medina stands with his back to Antonio “Toño” Zuniga in the judge’s
courtroom. Photo credit: Adrian Mealand
For Antonio “Toño”
Zúñiga, the nightmare began on the morning of
Despite the absence of physical evidence and an airtight alibi, he was charged with and later convicted of murdering a young man a half mile from where he worked and sentenced to twenty years and six months in prison.
For Zúñiga, as for so many others caught in the maw of Mexico’s troubled criminal justice system, that would have been the end of it had it not been for two young Mexican attorneys and social science researchers, Roberto Hernández and Layda Negrete.
Working in part with a grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Hernández and Negrete, self-described “lawyers with cameras,” produced Presumed Guilty, a 90-minute documentary that used Toño Zúñiga’s story as a vehicle to tell the larger tale of how justice works—or doesn’t—in Mexico….
In Presumed Guilty, the lawyers-turned-filmmakers recount the workings of a system where there was no presumption of innocence for defendants, no oral trials, and little use of physical evidence. Many, like Zúñiga, were convicted on the word of a single accuser in a written document which, of course, precludes cross-examination. Most never appear before the judge who convicts them. Conviction rates hover around 90 percent….
In June, the effectiveness of that approach was clear, when President Felipe Calderón signed a long-awaited constitutional amendment that will allow U.S.-style trials, including the presumption of innocence and the right to oral argument in an open court….
Such reforms had been in the works for more than a decade, but two previous presidents were unable to get them through Congress. At least seventeen of the country’s thirty-one states needed to approve a constitutional amendment before it could be voted on.
“We were frustrated that the data we were generating was not being used in public debates about how to reform the judiciary or the prosecutorial system,” Hernández said….
Hernández and Negrete decided to make Presumed Guilty in 2007 as a way to engender public support for the constitutional reforms. It would be the first story they would tell with a happy ending.
It would not be until Hernández and Negrete acted as Zúñiga’s lawyers for the appeal that the conviction was at last reversed and he was freed. Crucial in that reversal, the two say, was the fact that the appeals judge watched an early cut of Presumed Guilty before rendering his verdict….
“Toño’s case is very
typical,’’ said Hernández, who today
lives in
11. “Phila. expects budget shortfall” (Philadelphia Daily News,
By Jeff Shields - Inquirer Staff Writer
The city’s budget outlook is not getting any brighter and could easily get worse, administration officials said yesterday as they predicted a five-year shortfall of $841 million.
The number remains within the $650 million to $850 million gap in the city’s five-year plan forecast by Mayor Nutter on Oct. 8. But by putting the figure at the top of that range yesterday and citing a host of unstable economic conditions and depressing revenue projections, Finance Director Rob Dubow acknowledged that “the number could go up.”
Dubow testified before City Council’s Committee on Fiscal Stability and Intergovernmental Cooperation, chaired by majority whip Darrell L. Clarke….
Dubow and Budget Director Stephen Agostini spent part of their testimony justifying the budget decisions and economic predictions made in the Nutter administration’s first budget. They said that their estimates for modest growth in tax revenues from wages, business revenues, real estate transfers and sales were all undercut by a shaky economy, as were earnings of the pension fund.
To some Council members, Dubow’s number already has gone up. Nutter’s five-year plan depended on $50 million a year in savings that would result from the issuance of a pension obligation bond. That bond was supposed to shore up the city’s underfunded pension fund up front and save the city from having to make catch-up payments each year.
Now Dubow and Agostini are reducing that figure to $35 million a year, and the savings would not begin until fiscal year 2011, which begins in July 2010….
12. “
--Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
… In
In his campaign literature, Sandoval has made no secret of the fact that he’s a Democrat. Mellon is registered as a Republican and has criticized the supervisor for infusing politics into the nonpartisan race.
“What Sandoval is doing
is he’s just basically saying, ‘I’m a Democrat, he’s a Republican, me good, him
bad,’ “ said
Latterman said that although many people tend to vote for the
incumbent, Sandoval could prevail because
13. “Should details of
the recipients of EU farm subsidies be published?” (The Irish
Times,
HEAD TO HEAD: Jack Thurston says it's only if the payments are open that we can know whether the public is getting good value and if the payments are ending up with the farmers they were designed to assist….
YES: WHEN POLITICIANS argue for secrecy, it is natural to assume there is something to hide. Fortunately, the opponents of transparency are trying to close the door after the horse has bolted. Under new rules agreed by all EU countries, citizens now have a legal right to know how the EU spends EUR 120 billion of public money each year. At EUR 55 billion a year, farm subsidies represent the lion's share but the new transparency rules apply across the board: fisheries subsidies, roads, bridges and tunnels, development aid and all the rest. And they should be welcomed.
For the past four years the farmsubsidy.org network has been lifting the veil on the Common Agricultural Policy (Cap). To date, we have obtained data relating to 12 million payments in 21 countries worth EUR 66 billion. Our first discovery has been that you do not need to be a farmer to get a farm subsidy. We have uncovered hundreds of curious recipients, from airlines to oil rigs, riding stables to railway companies, prisons to property developers. Anyone who owns qualifying land can claim a subsidy—even absentee landlords who don't farm but just rent out their land to another farmer. Sharp practice and fraud are much more likely to go undetected if payment information is kept secret. As the old adage has it, "sunlight is the best of disinfectants"….
... Subsidies embody a kind of contract between society and farmers. But what kind of a contract is it where those paying have no idea how much they're paying, to whom and for what? Irish taxpayers fund the Cap to the tune of EUR 178 per person each year. Only if the payments are public can there be a debate on whether the public is getting good value for its investment in agriculture and if the payments are ending up with the farmers they were designed to assist.
Our most striking discovery has been just how severely the Cap is skewed towards the wealthiest and most competitive farms. Small, hard-pressed, family farms get little more than the crumbs….
Access to data on farm
subsidies can help us understand their environmental impact. In the
The alternative is that
everything is decided for us by politicians, bureaucrats and lobbyists in
Jack Thurston is a co-founder of www.farmsubsidy.org
14. “Q&A: State’s
retiring legislative analyst reflects on state of the state” (Sacramento Bee,
By Steve Wiegand
Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill, shown in her office
Tuesday, retires next week. She’s proud of “keeping to the role of
advice-giver, in a nonpartisan way.” BBAER@SACBEE.COM
Elizabeth Hill, the state’s widely respected legislative analyst, is retiring next Friday from the nonpartisan budgetary watchdog post she’s held for 22 years.
Hill, who views her departure as “bittersweet” but looks forward to more time for golf, recently sat down with The Bee to ruminate on the state of the state:
Q: If there was one element of the budget process you could change with a magic wand, what would it be?
I’d try to unlock the budget. Unlock all the formulas that are both in statute and the constitution … so the governor and Legislature could really respond to changing conditions and set current priorities. … Right now there are so many formulas that it makes budgeting and setting priorities for the state very difficult. … Take Proposition 49, the after-school measure. It required that $500 million be put in only for after-school programs; whether we needed textbooks or other things, it has to be spent on after-school programs.
Q: What’s been the biggest frustration?
Probably retiring when we still have a structural budget problem.
Q: Conversely, the greatest sense of accomplishment?
Oh, I think trying to ensure that the office remained a trusted source of information and advice to the Legislature. Keeping to the role of advice-giver, in a nonpartisan way….
Q: Has it been frustrating to recommend changes that can be evolutionary in nature to people who often are focused only on the next election?
We know that sometimes an idea has to percolate for a while for the time to be right for implementation, so we try to be realistic about how much of a bite of the apple can be taken at a given time. But that being said, we try to put the whole apple on the table so policymakers can see what would be required for it all to work. And sometimes the environment is such that it can all be done at once. I think back on welfare reform in 1997. … That was a case when we recommended something, and the Legislature did do it as a comprehensive package….
15. “Longtime
--Samantha Sondag,
Chronicle
Waiting in her office became common for Elizabeth Hill during the state budget deadlock. She postponed retirement until it was settled. (Brant Ward / The Chronicle)
(10-24)
“She’s a solid shot with absolute impeccable integrity. Couldn’t be any better,” said former Democratic state Sen. John Vasconcellos, who spent much of his career working with her.
The 58-year-old Hill, unflappable as an independent voice on fiscal matters from budgets to ballot initiatives, is stepping down to spend more time with her retired husband and two grown children.
Calling her office staff an “extension of my family,” Hill said she will miss her co-workers more than any other aspect of her job.
“We’ve attracted really talented people to public service and given them an opportunity to shine and I’m certainly going to miss that,” Hill told The Chronicle this week. “But I am looking forward to the next chapter of my life and decompressing from these budget numbers.”
In her final year on the job, Hill made her mark as much as ever. In January, she released the Legislative Analyst’s Office’s first-ever alternative to a governor’s budget. She disputed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s plan to cut funding equally from all programs, recommending instead that the state rank the importance of programs and cut them appropriately.
“The job this year would have been impossible without that,” said Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, chairwoman of the bipartisan legislative budget committee, which works closely with Hill and this week announced that one of Hill’s longtime deputies, Mac Taylor, will succeed her.
After earning degrees
from Stanford and UC Berkeley, the
In 1978, at age 28, she called out then-Attorney General Evelle Younger for routinely driving a state car home at night. In response, the state Department of Justice took away Younger’s car, along with those of hundreds of other employees, saving the department $500,000.
Hill became
But Hill managed to tell people what they least wanted to hear without losing their respect, or in many cases, their friendship. Evidence of her legacy rippled through the standing ovations she received from both sides of the aisle at legislative ceremonies this summer.
“Everyone in that office
is dedicated to the ethic of nonpartisanship because Liz has developed it that way,” said Assemblyman Roger Niello,
R-Fair Oaks (
“The LAO’s become primarily the budget watchdog ... and they jealously guard our legislative prerogatives,” Ducheny said. “Her retirement will create a huge hole. She has a lot of institutional knowledge in a term-limited environment.”…
An avid debater and athlete in high school, Hill ended up at Stanford, where she played on the women’s basketball team for three years before Title IX required that women’s athletics receive funding on par with men’s programs….
She worked in the
university’s food service to pay for school. Hill graduated in 1973, and
obtained a master’s degree in public
policy from UC Berkeley’s
16. “Corzine offers
recovery plan” (Record, The (
By John Reitmeyer,
Chris Pedota/Staff Photographer
Governor Corzine is pushing tax breaks for
businesses, state-funded programs to create jobs and immediate help for
homeowners threatened by foreclosure to counter the ongoing economic slowdown
in
The governor unveiled a broad statewide economic recovery proposal during a special joint session of the state Legislature on Thursday….
Corzine’s plan includes
measures aimed at stopping home foreclosures, including mandatory mediation
sessions for homeowners and lenders in a new program that will start in
He is also seeking to
qualify more seniors for a program that freezes their property tax bills, a
move that could mean $1,000 annually to seniors living in
Thousands of jobs in
The governor has also proposed creating a $3,000 reward for in-state businesses for every new job they create and reworking tax policies to make the state more business-friendly. The state would also invest in state-chartered banks with cash and pension funds and push for job creation in the renewable-energy sector….
State Sen. Robert Gordon, D-Fair Lawn, said a proposal included in Corzine’s plan that would speed up the redevelopment of abandoned industrial sites makes a lot of sense for his district.
“I think he’s doing what we have to do,” Gordon said. “There are things we can do right now.” …
17. “
By Samantha Young ; Associated Press Writer
To do that will require a sweeping set of mandates for cleaner cars, more renewable energy and a cap on the state’s major polluters, according to a final plan released Wednesday by the California Air Resources Board.
It’s the first
comprehensive effort of any state to reduce greenhouse gases in the absence of
federal regulation and comes as
One of the most contentious elements of the plan is the reliance on a cap-and-trade program to help power plants, oil and gas refiners, manufacturers and other major polluters lower their output of carbon emissions. The idea is to allow businesses that cannot cut their emissions because of cost or technical hurdles to buy emission credits from companies that have achieved cleaner emissions….
In the board’s latest proposal, regulators suggested businesses could get some emission credits for free, but polluters eventually would have to buy into the market. They also suggested they would limit so-called offset projects - such as planting trees - that companies could undertake to achieve their obligations.
Regulators said final decisions would be made as they design the market program in the next few years, disappointing some environmentalists who had hoped they would finally address many of the difficult and most contentious rules for implementing the plan.
“The features of a well
designed cap and trade program are pretty clear, and they could have been much
more specific in their recommendations,” said Chris Busch, a climate
economist at the
18. “
“CARB’s plan appropriately recognizes that cap-and-trade is not a silver bullet,” said UCS Climate Economist Chris Busch. “CARB is reducing pollution in the most cost-effective way. It starts with strong policies that do most of the work by targeting specific reductions in highly polluting sectors and then uses a market-based cap-and-trade system to produce additional cuts.”
One area where CARB’s plan falls short is its embrace of offsets, he said, which are credits that polluters in capped sectors can buy based on estimated reductions made by offset providers in uncapped sectors….
“CARB should go further
than the minimum standards agreed to in the [Western Climate Initiative]
process. The plan should limit offsets to a small fraction of reductions
instead of up to 49 percent,” Busch
said. He pointed out that an economic analysis by CARB and the
“Auctioning pollution allowances is the simplest, most fair and effective choice,” Busch said. “It’s unfortunate that CARB’s implementation plan doesn’t commit to 100 percent auctioning, even without a specific timeframe. Polluting industries should receive a clear signal that this is the direction the system is headed.”
Busch noted that all of the Northeastern and
“Giving away pollution permits for free,” Busch said, “would generate windfall profits for polluters and enrich out-of-state corporate shareholders at the expense of Californians.” …
The Proposition 7 ballot
measure, meanwhile, could delay new renewable energy development in
19. “It’s Time to Wake Up From Oil Price Shock and Create an Effective U.S. Energy Policy, Warns Severin Borenstein in Milken Institute Review” (Market Wire, October 16, 2008); story citing JULIA BIXLER ISAACS (MPP 1985).
LOS
Also in this issue:
Julia Isaacs and Belle Sawhill of
the Brookings Institution take on the myth that
[Julia Isaacs and Belle Sawhill, “Reaching for the Prize: The Whole Truth about Economic Mobility” (Milken Institute Review, October 2008) [*requires subscription]).
20. “Newsom becomes
campaign tool for Prop. 8 backers” (San Francisco Chronicle,
--Erin Allday, Chronicle Staff Writer
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom performed the wedding of Erin Carder (left) and Kerri McCoy on Friday.
The mayor has become the reluctant face of the campaign opposing same-sex unions with the help of a prominent Yes-on-Proposition-8 television ad. Conservative blogs have been atwitter about Newsom last week officiating at the wedding of a lesbian teacher whose class of first-graders took a field trip to celebrate with her….
Whether Newsom was aware of the student involvement or not, political analysts said it’s just a matter of time - days, probably - before Prop. 8 proponents find a way to capitalize on the mayor’s role in schoolchildren celebrating a same-sex wedding.
Political consultant David Latterman, who opposes Prop. 8, called the wedding a “gimme for the right-wingers.”
“I really hope Newsom
had no idea those kids were going,” he said. “If this in his mind was a
publicity stunt, that just boggles my mind. The mayor of
21. “
By Matthew Benjamin, Bloomberg News
Bailing out AIG, based in lower
Bailouts of American
International Group, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac likely will be more expensive
than expected. States are turning to
“I always assumed they would be asking for more money along the way if it was necessary, and it looks like it’s going to be necessary,” said Stan Collender , a former analyst for the House and Senate budget committees, now at Qorvis Communications in Washington. “At the moment, there’s nothing happening here that’s positive for the budget. Nothing.” …
22. “Financial muscle moves to Washington - Power shift from Wall Street to D.C. comes with heavy dose of regulation” (Chicago Tribune, October 14, 2008); story citing STAN COLLENDER (MPP 1976); http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-tue-dc-power-oct14,0,1345309.story
By William Neikirk,
Special to The
For the foreseeable future, the nation’s capital could also serve as its virtual financial capital, experts say, as it tries to stabilize an economy suffering from Wall Street excesses.
Not only are the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department writing the checks to keep the nation’s troubled banks afloat, they are preparing for tougher regulation that could crimp Wall Street’s freewheeling style.
The shift in power comes
as some wonder whether the
Stan Collender, head of a
communications firm in
“
23. “White House
Overhauling Rescue Plan for Economy” (New York Times,
By Edmund L. Andrews and Mark Landler
“We will do what it takes to resolve this crisis,” President Bush
said in the Rose Garden on Saturday morning, flanked by finance ministers from
the Group of 7 nations. (Ken Cedeno/Bloomberg News)
As international leaders gathered here on Saturday to grapple with the global financial crisis, the Bush administration embarked on an overhaul of its own strategy for rescuing the foundering financial system.
Two weeks after persuading Congress to let it spend $700 billion to buy distressed securities tied to mortgages, the Bush administration has put that idea aside in favor of a new approach that would have the government inject capital directly into the nation’s banks—in effect, partially nationalizing the industry.
As recently as Sept. 23, senior officials had publicly derided proposals by Democrats to have the government take ownership stakes in banks.
The Treasury Department’s surprising turnaround on the issue of buying stock in banks, which has now become its primary focus, has raised questions about whether the administration squandered valuable time in trying to sell Congress on a plan that officials had failed to think through in advance.
It has also raised questions about whether the administration’s deep philosophical aversion to government ownership in private companies hindered its ability to look at all options for stabilizing the markets….
... People familiar with the early planning efforts for a systemic bailout said the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben S. Bernanke, argued that it would be easier and more efficient to inject capital directly into banks. But Treasury officials balked, in part because they were ideologically opposed to direct government involvement in business.
But as the financial markets spiraled further downward during the last 10 days, a growing number of top-tier institutions, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, became worried about their survival.
“The crisis in
confidence goes way beyond the actual losses that will be incurred from debt
securities,” Mickey Levy, chief economist for Bank of
Treasury officials began canvassing banks and investment firms about the possibility of having the government buy stakes in them….
24. “As governor, Palin
blurs church-state line” (Advocate, The (
By Garance Burke – Associated Press
WASILLA,
What she didn’t tell worshippers gathered at the Wasilla Assembly of God church in her hometown was that her appearance that day came courtesy of Alaskan taxpayers, who picked up the $639.50 tab for her airplane tickets and per diem fees.
An Associated Press review of the Republican vice presidential candidate’s record as mayor and governor reveals her use of elected office to promote religious causes, sometimes at taxpayer expense and in ways that blur the line between church and state.
Since she took state office in late 2006, the governor and her family have spent more than $13,000 in taxpayer funds to attend at least 10 religious events and meetings with Christian pastors, including Franklin Graham, the son of evangelical preacher Billy Graham, records show.
Palin was baptized Roman Catholic as a newborn and baptized again in a Pentecostal Assemblies of God church when she was a teenager. She has worshipped at a nondenominational Bible church since 2002, opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest and supports classroom discussions about creationism….
On a weekend trip from the capital in June … she addressed the budding missionaries at her former church.
“As I’m doing my job,
let’s strike this deal. Your job is going be to be out there, reaching the
people - (the) hurting people - throughout
Palin and her family
billed the state $3,022 for the cost of attending Christian gatherings
exclusively, including visits to the Assembly of God here and to the
congregation they attend in
Experts say those trips fall into an ethically gray area, since Democrats and Republicans alike often visit religious venues for personal and official reasons….
“Politicians are entitled to freely exercise their religion while in office, but ethically if not legally that part of her trip ought to not be charged to taxpayers,” said [J. Brent] Walker, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. “It’s still fundamentally a religious and spiritual experience she is having.” …
An AP review of her time as mayor, from late 1996 to 2002, also reveals a commingling of church and state.
Records of her mayoral
correspondence show that Palin worked arduously to organize a day of prayer at
city hall. She said that with local ministers’ help, Wasilla - a city of 7,000
an hour’s drive north of
In that same period, she also joined a grass-roots, faith-based movement to stop the local hospital from performing abortions, a fight that ultimately lost before the Alaska Supreme Court….
25. “Internal Affairs:
Ex-eBay CEO Meg Whitman positions herself for battle of billionaires” (Mercury
News,
… Jessica Garcia-Kohl, a policy analyst for San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, has a new job.
On Friday, after a little
more than a year in the mayor’s office, she started as deputy executive director for the Housing Trust of
“I am honored to have worked among such a committed and competent group of professionals,” she wrote in an e-mail to her “friends and colleagues.” …
Garcia-Kohl was well liked around City Hall. Reed’s chief of staff, Pete Furman, who’s hardly known for his loquacious banter, put it this way: “Much as we are sad to see her leave our office … (we) support her decision to pursue career growth and fulfill her passion.”
26. “Officials will ask
residents to weigh in on M.I. plan” (Times-Herald (
By Jessica A. York/Times-Herald staff writer
Dry dock No. 2 at
Before
The city’s planning department expects to host a community meeting by the end of the month or early November on the topic.
A company looking to
settle on
In keeping with the former naval base’s shipbuilding history, the company, also seeking a regional dredging permit as Allied Defense Recycling, plans to repair, dismantle and build ships in the island’s mammoth graving docks numbers two and three.
Already, former
“The dry docks are one of the assets of the shipyard that have been challenging to reuse,” Whittom said. “And there’s an opportunity for the reuse of those with this unit plan application.”
Whittom said the city will be tasked with making sure the industrial business’ potential plan is environmentally sensitive, among other issues….
27. “State’s leaders
deal with new budget problems” (San Francisco Chronicle,
--Matthew Yi, Chronicle
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders emerge from a
Capitol meeting Wednesday to announce they will act quickly to deal with the
state’s short-term needs. (Brian Baer/Sacramento
Bee)
(10-09)
Like the rest of the
nation,
Mike Genest, director of the Department of Finance, said Wednesday that based on September’s shortfalls, he believes the state could see its revenues for the fiscal year faltering by $3 billion….
To
smooth out its cash flow,
But the new federal bailout package should ease those fears, and state Treasurer Bill Lockyer is scheduled to start selling the so-called Revenue Anticipated Notes, or RANs, to investors next week….
“Government-issued bonds, or notes in this case, are among the safest
investments you can make,” [Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for Lockyer] said. “
That was one of the big questions addressed in the Wednesday meeting between Schwarzenegger and the lawmakers, the governor said.
“We wanted to make sure we had enough money to pay back the (loans),” he said.
Genest said the state would have plenty of cash to repay the loans….
28. “City facing another
budget shortfall” (Alameda Journal,
By Peter Hegarty
With the stock market on
a roller coaster and the nation in economic crisis,
The city will face a $700,000 shortfall in General Fund revenues this fiscal year, City Manager Debra Kurita said.
As a result, officials are now looking at a hiring freeze, selling off some city vehicles and cutting back on overtime for some workers.
“These economic times are impacting our businesses and our community in general,” Kurita said….
Most of the [city’s budget of about $76 million] … is earmarked for funding police and firefighters, agencies now both in contract talks with the city….
In August, the City
Council put
The state has taken $52
million from
29. “News briefs:
Council meeting on budget today” (Oakland Tribune,
As the City Council
deliberates on how to cut $42 million from the
The second is a workshop
hosted by Council President Pro Tem Jean Quan at
Joining Quan will be Marianna Marysheva-Martinez, policy adviser to Mayor Ron Dellums, and Gilbert Garcia, assistant budget director….
30. “White House
Briefing: Bush’s Ghost” (Washington Post,
Stan Collender blogs that “it’s far too late, and there’s been far too much economic and financial water under the bridge, for the Bush administration to reestablish its own credibility on the economy in any way. That’s why, from a communications perspective, the White House needs to find someone with that credibility who will lead its public efforts.
“In other words... The Bush administration needs to rent someone else’s credibility for three months by naming an economic crisis czar.”
31. “Propositions 6 and 9” (Forum, KQED Radio, Oct 7, 2008); features commentary by TODD SPITZER (MPP/JD 1989); Listen to the program
Proposition 6 on
Guests:
• Jakada Imani,
executive director of the
• Todd Spitzer, state assemblyman and statewide chairman of the Yes on Prop. 9 Campaign (second half hour)
32. “White House Watch:
The No-Confidence Man” (Washington Post,
Deficit Watch
Stan Collender writes for Roll Call: “Because of [the Troubled Assets Relief Plan], my estimate is that the budget deficit could easily reach or exceed $1 trillion this year. This includes my estimate of a $600 billion deficit before TARP and an additional $400 billion afterwards. A deficit of that size would be between and 6 percent and 7 percent of gross domestic product, a level that hasn’t been reached since fiscal 1942-1946 when the United States was fighting and paying for the direct costs of World War II.
“But the bigger cost of TARP may well be less in dollar terms than in making progress in other areas. A $1 trillion, 7-percent-of-GDP deficit likely will chill most of the spending and taxing plans of whoever is elected as hoped-for tax cuts and spending increases have to be delayed.” …
33. “PUC should insure
affordable home phone service” (San Francisco Chronicle,
--Steve Koppman
At the same moment free-market fundamentalism falls backward on the national stage, the California Public Utilities Commission plunged further down its path of faith-based deregulation, voting Sept. 18 to allow telephone companies complete freedom to set basic residential landline rates in two years.
Ending a century of public-interest regulation, the commission’s claims that the free market will restrain prices for landline service ignore the results of its 2006 deregulation of all other rates. The panel then insisted telephone companies lacked market power to raise prices, despite controlling nearly 90 percent of the landline market. The outlook for Bay Area home telephone customers can be gauged by what actually happened to AT&T’s other rates since deregulation (see table).
These jumps from already profitable prices were made without relationship to the relatively modest, stable costs of service provision. Similar increases can now be expected for basic home phone service that a broad social consensus has long agreed should be readily available to all. Those most vulnerable to gouging include people of limited incomes, older people, those who don’t use wireless phone service, those who don’t want a service “bundle,” low-tech people, immigrants and those of modest education.
The commission put its faith in the power of competition to restrain prices without examining the nature of that competition. Without empirical evidence, relying solely on a textbook view of free-market economics, it interpreted existence of alternatives to telephone company service—chiefly cell phones and Internet telephony—as evidence phone companies cannot raise prices above a free-market level. But cell phones and Internet telephony are hardly interchangeable with landline service. The latter combines premium emergency 911-access with caller location and independence of the electric power system with uniquely reliable quality voice transmission, ubiquitous coverage and unlimited local calling. Wireless is a service with very different characteristics and higher prices, so it exerts little competitive restraint on landline rates….
Landline phones are a basic utility that should be available to all and are irreplaceable in emergency conditions that Californians frequently confront. There is no excuse for endangering their ubiquity by allowing them to become a luxury. To ensure residential phone service remains universally available and affordable will require action by the Legislature or, more likely under the Schwarzenegger administration, by the public through the initiative process before the telephone rate cap is fully removed in 2011.
Steve Koppman is a telecommunications industry analyst who previously worked for the Public Utility Commission’s Division of Ratepayer Advocates and was lead analyst in developing a Ratepayer Protection Initiative to freeze basic residential rates.
34. “Women losing
traction in S.F. politics” (San Francisco Chronicle,
--Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer
In a year when gender
has played a significant role in the presidential campaign—18 million people
voted for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and the
Republican base is enthused by Gov. Sarah Palin—women in
In fact, they have been losing ground for decades in this famously open-minded, diverse city. In the 1980s and 1990s, several configurations of the 11-member Board of Supervisors had female majorities of six or seven members. Now, the board has three.
With seven supervisorial races on the ballot Nov. 4, it would stand to reason that women could gain a lot of ground. But observers say that’s unlikely. Supervisor Carmen Chu is fighting to keep her seat in District Four, and only newcomers Sue Lee in District One and Denise McCarthy in District Three are seen as having a real chance at winning seats—though both face tough competition in crowded fields….
Currently, just four of
the city’s 18 top elected positions are held by women: District Attorney Kamala
Harris and supervisors
One thing that’s certain is the biological clock that affects women in all professions, but especially politics because of its around-the-clock schedule.
…
“Maintaining your household and keeping your family together has traditionally fallen on women,” she said. “If you want to do the job right, there’s a lot of sacrifice involved. ... Even when I’m at home, I’m constantly thinking about it.”…
35. “Levi cuts pattern
for a greener bottom line. S.F. jeans maker tracks the life cycle of every pair”
(San Francisco Business Times,
By Lindsay Riddell
“It’s a matter of survival,” says Levi’s Michael Kobori. Consuming less energy, materials and water reduces the company’s costs. (Photo: Paolo Vescia)
For the world’s oldest and most iconic jeans maker, going green is about more than doing what’s right.
“In one way, it’s a matter of survival as a company,” said Michael Kobori, vice president of supply chain, social and environmental sustainability at Levi.
Levi Strauss & Co.,
born in 1853 at the height of the Gold Rush, has always prided itself in its
corporate citizenship. It has been a leader in AIDS support and prevention and
has formed initiatives to address institutional racism and programs to assist
employees in becoming
But its new vision, the one that will determine if Levi can survive and thrive for another 150 years and beyond, is as much about the bottom line as it is about helping the Earth.
Levi adopted a new mission statement in March: “We will build sustainability into everything we do so our profitable growth helps restore the environment.”
The company has just received the results of a lifecycle analysis for its Levi 501 jeans and Dockers brand Original Khaki. The study looked at the impact their production has on the environment from the cotton field to a consumer’s closet, all the way to what happens to jeans once they’ve enjoyed their last wear. The point is to figure out how to reduce its impact on the environment, head off risk associated with increasingly strict environmental regulations, cut rising energy costs and bolster profits….
“If we can consume less energy, materials, and water, we can reduce our costs, and those cost savings drop to the bottom line,” Kobori said….
The company is dependent on the notoriously pesticide- and water-intensive cotton industry. Levi also has a massive, worldwide supply chain….
Plus, times are tough for the retail industry….
But sustainability initiatives [that] Levi institutes now, says Kobori, ensure the company will have the materials it needs to make its products for decades to come.
Armed with the results of the life cycle analysis, the company will look for ways to reduce energy use along its supply chain. It’s encouraging suppliers to recycle process water and experimenting with finishing techniques that would use less water in making jeans. It’s also commissioned a study of its facilities’ greenhouse gas emissions and will set targets to reduce those next year after results are finalized….
In initial studies, Levi discovered that the two phases that account for the most energy use and greenhouse gas emissions along the life cycle of a pair of jeans are the fabric-production phase — 21 percent of the total climate change impact — and the consumer use phase, which accounts for 58 percent of a pair of jeans’ climate impact….
“We can’t change consumer behavior but we can certainly change what we’re directing them to do, so we’re changing all of our care labels worldwide to say wash in cold water, tumble dry warm,” Kobori said.
If customers follow those instructions, they could reduce energy used over the life of their jeans by 87 percent and reduce carbon emissions by 90 percent. And the company is considering how to use fabrics that don’t need to be washed as often and, at the retail level, about encouraging customers to wash jeans less to conserve water and energy.
The company is also working on sharing water quality standards from its factories with other companies and has started a sustainable cotton group to look at the environmental issues around cotton and what changes Levi could make….
36. “Race and gender in
this election?” (FOX 7 Morning TV,
We have an African American as the presidential nominee for a major party. And history could be made on the Republican side too, if John McCain wins and Sarah Palin becomes the first woman vice president. So do race and gender play a role in this election? Dr. David Campt is known as The Race Doctor and he’s here to talk about this sensitive subject….
37. “Report: Egg
industry could survive Prop. 2. Expert says measure’s publicity will likely
increase demand for cage-free eggs” (Capital Press (
By Hank Shaw
Laying hens in a
battery cage owned by JS West eggs at a
California’s egg industry would be smaller—but
could survive as a national purveyor of specialty eggs—if Proposition 2 passes
on Election Day, according to an economic report conducted on behalf of the
Humane Society of the United States.
The Humane Society of
the
The analysis also
suggests that
Former California Finance Director Tim Gage and former researcher for the state’s Legislative Analyst Matthew Newman conducted the study; Gage served as finance director from 1999-2003 under Gov. Gray Davis.
Newman said that passage
of Proposition 2 would accelerate the demise of an already fading industry. He
noted that the number of shell eggs produced in
The report suggests that
several large companies, such as Safeway, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and
Costco, want to use more cage-free eggs but cannot get enough of them to make
the switch;
38. “Cigarette sales ban
– the case for choice” (San Francisco Chronicle,
--C.W. Nevius
The problem for a well-meaning legislator is always the same. While some forward-thinking proposals advance the common good, it is easy to slip into an attempt to force people to change their lifestyle choices because you don’t like them.
For example, it is worthwhile to enable people to have the right to make an individual choice - like same-sex marriage. It is a good idea to post nutritional information in chain restaurants to help diners make informed decisions.
But once you begin to say, “I don’t like that people are risking their health by smoking so I’m going to make it harder to buy tobacco,” you’re on thin ice.
“It’s the nanny-state run to an extreme,” said Supervisor Sean Elsbernd, who voted against the ban, along with supervisors Carmen Chu and Bevan Dufty. “It is very close to that line if not already there.” …
39. “CAMPAIGN 2008 S.F.
District 9: Front-runners share a lot in common. Solid records with high-level
endorsements, all progressives” (San Francisco Chronicle,
--Heather Knight, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tom Ammiano
(10-01) 18:53 PDT -- On a recent Monday night,
the top three contenders for supervisor of San Francisco’s District Nine
gathered … to answer some tough questions from their host, the League of Pissed
Off Voters.
The first question was perhaps the hardest.
“What sets you apart from each other?” asked moderator Heather Box. “Why is it important we vote for you instead of the person sitting next to you?”
Voters in the city’s
most liberal district - comprised of parts of the
Political consultant David Latterman said endorsements won’t matter in this race because they’re splitting them all.
“The race is going to be won by neighborhood coalitions, by word-of-mouth, by name ID,” he said. “It’s going to be close, and it’s going to start to be really contentious. It’s going to be fun to sit back and watch this one.”
40. “Mayor elated with
town hall meetings” (Oakland Tribune,
By Jennifer K. Rumple, Correspondent
Traffic safety and crime
concerns, tips on how to “go green” and voicing the pros and cons of
“The meetings worked out exactly as we had hoped in a sense that a lot of folks came and we heard a lot of new ideas and a lot of discussions of things that are on people’s minds,” said Friedman, elated with the community turnout. “The point of having a town hall meeting is to listen and hear what people care about, what they think about, what they’re worried about, what their hopes are and we got to hear all of that. It was really fantastic.” …
“Nothing I heard over the last three weeks would I say was a surprise to me as much as people bringing up issues I just wouldn’t have thought about before,” Friedman said. “Tonight we heard about people wanting more flexibility within their property to do things like pursue green initiatives. Things we’ve already talked about, but hearing some different takes on it. Things like chickens.”
One longtime Piedmont resident had the “green” idea of not only growing edibles on his property, but incorporating chickens for their eggs.
“So, every one of these we’ve gotten some new and interesting ideas and new thinking injected into the process,” Friedman added….
Friedman said this forum has been a valuable tool to not only hear more directly what’s on people’s minds, but how are they prioritizing those thoughts and concerns….
41. “Health program
opens - Effort to begin offering care to more than 20,000 uninsured Howard
residents” (
By Larry Carson
Eric Scuderi says he plans to be among the first to apply for the
Healthy Howard health care plan. “I definitely need health insurance,” he says.
“I’ve done without it for a long time.” (
Eric Scuderi needs surgery on his ankle, which he injured in an accident on his motorcycle, and a crown on a tooth that had a root canal.
But his job as a dance
and gymnastics teacher comes with low pay and no health insurance, so the
27-year-old
Scuderi plans to be
among the first to sign up today for Howard County’s new program to provide
health care access to the more than 20,000 uninsured residents in the county.
After more than a year of planning, the first phase of Healthy Howard Inc. gets
under way in earnest as the county begins enrolling participants on a
first-come basis at the
The program will be watched closely by many in public health care circles, particularly as widespread economic distress threatens any major federal reforms….
The program is not insurance, but instead uses health “coaches” and individual lifestyle plans to improve a patient’s health and reduce emergency room visits….
The early stage of such
a venture can be critical, said Tangerine
Brigham, director of Healthy
“Dive straight in,” she said. “Learn from your first two months.”
Brigham predicted that the program will be well received because patients will have a personal connection to one care provider….
42. “Remedy sought for nursing shortage - Professionals, educators also hope to bring diversity to field” (Ventura County Star, October 1, 2008); story citing HAYLEY BUCHBINDER (MPP/MPH 2003); http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/oct/01/remedy-sought-for-nursing-shortage/
By Anna Bakalis
Healthcare professionals
and educators came together Tuesday in
Destino: The Hispanic Legacy Fund and the Ventura Nursing Legacy Project joined to host a symposium called “Diversity in Nursing and the Impact on the Ventura County Latino Community.” About 50 healthcare professionals and educators attended the three-hour event, which included panel discussions and keynote speaker Hayley Buchbinder, a UCLA researcher who has studied nursing programs across the state.
A lack of minorities in the profession, an aging work force and an increase in demand have led to the current nursing shortage, Buchbinder said.
“People really want to be nurses, but they face significant barriers,” she said.
Successful nursing programs are culturally aware and have supportive learning environments, she said. Tailoring programs for working students, providing more financial aid and promoting private and public partnerships also help bolster Latino enrollment and retention.
While nursing-program
enrollment figures are generally up, Buchbinder
said, they aren’t growing at a sufficient rate to replace baby boomers looking
to retire in the next few years. She said there also is a severe faculty
shortage and capacity problems at community colleges, where 70 percent of
43. “A Broader
Definition of Merit: The Trouble with College Entry Exams” (New York Times,
By Brent Staples
Imagine yourself an admissions director of a status-seeking college that wants desperately to move up in the rankings. With next year’s freshman class nearly filled, you are choosing between two applicants. The first has very high SAT scores, but little else to recommend him. The second is an aspiring doctor who tests poorly but graduated near the top of his high school class while volunteering as an emergency medical technician in his rural county.
This applicant has the kind of background that higher education has always claimed to covet. But the pressures that are driving colleges — and the country as a whole — to give college entry exams more weight than they were ever intended to have would clearly work against him. Those same pressures are distorting the admissions process, corrupting education generally and slanting the field toward students whose families can afford test preparation classes.
Consider the admissions director at our hypothetical college. He knows that college ranking systems take SAT’s and ACT’s into account. He knows that bond-rating companies look at the same scores when judging a college’s credit worthiness. And in lean times like these, he would be especially eager for a share of the so-called merit scholarship money that state legislators give students who test well.
These and related problems are the subject of an eye-opening report from a commission convened by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. The commission, led by William R. Fitzsimmons, the dean of admissions and financial aid at Harvard, offers a timely reminder that tests like the SAT and ACT were never meant to be viewed in isolation but considered as one in a range of factors that include grades, essays and so on….
The National Merit
Scholarship Program, which uses a test to screen thousands of applicants every
year, comes in for a drubbing. The commission believes that the program has
played a destructive role by helping to narrow the public’s view of merit,
giving it an exclusively test-related meaning. This commission draws on the
work of Patrick Hayashi, a former
associate president at The
[Hayashi] first questioned the scholarship program during the 1990s
out of disappointment with highly sought-after national merit scholarship
students who had enrolled at
Critics will inevitably view the report as an attempt to undermine objective admissions and awards systems. But the commission is arguing for a richer and more expansive view of merit that could include test scores but does not end with them. And the commission’s central contention — that the obsession with admissions tests is damaging education — is indisputably true.
44. “Deja Blue in Mets’
Shea Finale. Amazin’’s close stadium on a downer as they get bumped from
playoffs in sad ‘07 rerun” (New York Daily News,
By Brendan Brosh and Bill Hutchinson, Daily News Writers
Mets’ fans can’t
watch as team closes out Shea with a loss that ends playoff hopes. (Sipkin/News)
Shea la vie.
The end of Shea Stadium
came yesterday with a crushing, season-ending Mets defeat, 44 years after the
ballpark in
The shock of the season’s sudden end was compounded by the jolting realization that Shea would close for good. Next year, the Mets will play in brand-new Citi Field, now rising next-door….
The sadness of the bitter defeat was soon replaced by a spattering of cheers as a postgame closing ceremony got underway and players of the Mets glory days began to step onto the field.
The applause grew louder when members of the 1969 “Miracle Mets,” who brought the first taste of World Series glory to Shea, appeared from behind the center field fence.
They were followed by members of the 1986 Amazin’s team, which brought the last world title to Shea….
Tom Seaver, the winningest pitcher in Mets history, took the mound for the final pitch ever hurled at Shea.
With flashbulbs lighting up the stadium, 63-year-old Tom Terrific summoned up his old fastball for catcher Mike Piazza. The pitch was low and bounced across home plate, where Piazza scooped it up.
As fireworks exploded from the roof of the stadium and the legends filed off the field a final time, Ray Domanico thought about a Sunday in April 1964 when the Mets won their first game at Shea against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“I saw the first game they ever won here with my dad when I was a kid,” said Domanico, 52, of Farmingdale, L.I. “I’m gonna miss this place. It’s like home.” …
45. “Will this be a
‘change’ election based on ‘fear itself’?” (Mercury News,
By Doug Henton - Special to the Mercury News
The current election could be characterized as a rerun of earlier “change” elections in 1932, 1968 or 1980. Which of the three is it likely to be?
Given the major financial challenge now facing our nation, especially with our current housing and banking situation, the next president may face a moment similar to Franklin Roosevelt, when he said “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” and then took immediate action to address our fundamental economic crisis. In this regard, our current election may well turn out to be similar to 1932. However, the political debate in this campaign so far has not yet begun to discuss this level of economic challenge in any fundamental way.
The year 1968 was a
watershed year for
In 1980, our nation
faced an economic and energy challenge and a crisis of confidence following
Watergate, the end of the Vietnam War and oil embargoes. President Carter made
the case that Ronald Reagan was a risky choice for
Doug Henton is president of Collaborative Economics in Mountain View. He wrote this article for the Mercury News.
46. “What Matters To
Colleges” (The Washington Post,
Once again, Jay Mathews took an issue in education—this time grade-point average—and either failed to report or distorted the relevant research on it [“In Grading Levels, the Playing Field Is Seldom Even,” Metro, Sept. 15].
Mathews claimed that the
Both Mathews and
Fairgrade fail to acknowledge that the best predictor of college success
(grades) and college completion is a student’s unweighted GPA. Perhaps the best current research on this issue is
a 2004 study of undergraduate admissions to the
The simple fact is that
most competitive colleges do not take a high school GPA at face value. Rather,
like the
-- Mark Crockett,
The writer is a teacher
at
47. “Amid oil worries,
natural gas boom is a ‘bright spot’” (The Kansas City Star,
By Steve Everly
Lost amid persistent worries about the price of crude oil and gasoline is a little-understood reality: There is more natural gas under our feet than we know what to do with.
Indeed, natural-gas
production is growing at such a rapid rate in this country that it’s threatening
to outrun demand — driving down prices and prompting producers to ponder
capping wells or exporting the excess to
Industry figures show
that more gas wells were completed in the
Over the long haul, though, the natural-gas boom could have profound implications in a country that now imports more than 60 percent of its crude oil — fueling a major rethink of how we generate electricity and move our cars and trucks.
A big plank in billionaire investor T. Boone Pickens’ much-touted energy plan is to use more natural gas for transportation as a way to reduce oil imports. The surge in natural-gas supplies makes the plan more feasible, although other obstacles remain, such as building an infrastructure that would dispense the fuel into cars and trucks.
Others would rather see more natural gas used to generate electricity. Natural gas is now used to generate about 21.5 percent of the nation’s electricity, while coal is still used to generate nearly half.
Sharon Buccino, a director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said that a push for more natural gas in generating electricity would reduce our reliance on coal, which pollutes more than natural gas. The resulting electricity, in turn, could be used to charge batteries for electric cars, which would help reduce oil imports.
…. Natural gas is still a fossil fuel, and there can be environmental damage in producing the fuel, she noted.
But “bottom line, it’s a good thing” that there is a good supply of natural gas, Buccino said.
Automakers such as General Motors Corp., which plans to introduce the Chevrolet Volt in 2010, also are looking ahead as they plan to sell electric vehicles.
Skip Horvath, president of the Natural Gas Supply Association, said that he expected supply and demand for natural gas to climb over the long haul for electric power generation and other uses.
“But that doesn’t mean there won’t be short-term fluctuations in price as a result of temporary imbalances between supply and demand,” he said.
The
48. “The Natural Resources Defense Council holds a media briefing on South Korea’s plan to announce an emissions reduction target next year and the elements of what major emerging economies could support as a part of the agreement in Copenhagen” (The Washington Daybook, September 26, 2008); event featuring NED HELME (MPP 1971).
PARTICIPANTS: Rae-Kwon Chung, South Korean ambassador for Climate Change; Center for Clean Air Policy President Ned Helme; and Natural Resources Defense Council Director of International Policy Jake Schmidt
49. “Precedent-setting
carbon auction Thursday” (Christian Science Monitor,
By Mark Clayton, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
The Brayton Point Power Station in
For almost as long as people have worried about global warming, economists have called for taxing carbon emissions. As long as sending CO2 skyward was cost-free, they argued, the practice would continue.
Starting Sept. 25, for
the first time in
Just what that price will be won’t be known until after tomorrow’s computerized auction of about 12.5 million tons of carbon allowances, essentially permission slips to pollute.
Utility companies will bid on the allowances. They may be used, saved, or traded so that any company with a need to send more CO2 up the stack can buy more - at the market price. The amount of CO2 to be cut over the next decade is modest—about 18 million tons annually (US power plants collectively emit about 2.8 billion tons of CO2 yearly). But the auction and process of setting a price for carbon are critical first steps, many say.
At least 15 other states in two groups … are moving ahead with greenhouse-gas (GHG) reduction plans of their own. Congress, meanwhile, is mulling more than a half-dozen plans to cut GHGs nationwide.
So the 10 Northeast and mid-Atlantic states that make up the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) are guaranteed to get a lot of attention.
“It’s the first CO2
auction and first compliance market for carbon in the
Unlike previous cap-and-trade attempts, RGGI will auction nearly all its allowances instead of giving them free of charge to industry or grandfathering them….
RGGI costs will be modest at the start. Already, futures contracts are being sold on RGGI allowances, putting their costs just under $5 per ton of CO2. But analysts like Ms. Mazacurrati see them dropping lower in price due in part to a shift by power producers away from oil to natural gas, which has lower emissions….
50. “
By Mark Magnier
Analysts said that while
the mission has little obvious strategic or military benefit, it sends a signal
to the world and particularly to regional space rivals
One of the more interesting aspects of the mission will be the launch of a small satellite designed to travel alongside the Shenzhou 7 and transmit images of the craft back to Earth. This is a potentially tricky operation given the proximity of the two objects and may be a warmup for future rendezvous and docking missions.
“At that speed in space,
it’s not easy to do,” said Eric Hagt,
“This will be the first time they really take pictures of a Chinese astronaut in space,” he added. “You can imagine the flags everywhere…. Post-Olympics, this is another accomplishment. It’s a public relations event.” ...
“A lot of countries have satellites,” Hagt said. “But if you have a space station, it says, ‘We have a serious claim in space.’”
51. “Conservation Key to
City’s New Long-Range Water Supply Plan” (Santa Fe New Mexican,
By Julie Ann Grimm
Water conservation will
be a big part of
The city anticipates a
gap of about 2,700 acre-feet between the amount of water it will have and the
amount of water it will need by 2045. Among primary goals for bridging the gap
are enhancing the city’s water-conservation programs, purchasing more water
rights and determining an appropriate price at which to sell treated effluent
and “optimize” its use. The plan also establishes that the city wants to
maintain “a living
Councilors voted later to keep a 6-year-old program that offers one-time, $30 rebates for the purchase of rain barrels. City staff said the program was too costly to administer in light of its water savings….
Councilor Chris Calvert , who sponsored the measure to get rid of the rebates … said the city could have used the rebate money to move on to more efficient programs.
“I think that if we, for example, shift to educating people and helping them with their drip irrigation systems, we have a lot more potential to save water,” he said. “We can get a bigger bang for our conservation buck.”
52. “White House
Briefing: What Bush Left Out” (Washington Post,
Stan Collender blogs: “How does a lame duck president with little or no credibility on economic issues and overall very low job approval ratings make a nationwide speech that dramatically changes public opinion on the Paulson Plan?
“How does a president with few rhetorical skills find the words and delivery to be convincing to a skeptical nation?
“How does a president with little credibility on economic issues rescue the plan proposed by the one person in his administration who has some credibility on economic issues?” …
53. “County appeals
judges ruling on GA program” (Oakland Tribune,
By Chris Metinko
[
County Counsel Richard Winnie said that the appeal was filed based on the judge’s ruling, which was that the county had not properly defined who could be working and who was thus eligible to lose their benefits….
54. “Her Majesty Queen
Rania Al Abdullah of
By Rania Al Abdullah
9/24/2008 6:28:51 PM … When I was driving to my next event, I watched swaths of NY’s bright young women, suited, booted, and striding purposefully to work, to meetings, to lunches, and it made me think about a meeting I had yesterday with the executive director of UNICEF, Ms. Ann Veneman , and several members of her team. We talked about the 38 million girls around the world not in school, the girls not counted on birth registers, the girls enrolled in school but unable to attend because they have to collect water for their families, the lost girls. We talked about how UNICEF and other international organizations are trying to find them, give them a voice, make them count, and give them tools to change the course of their lives.
Research shows that girls who go to school become women who spend more of the family resources on child nutrition, health, and education-so children grow up with better chances and choices. Educating girls is one of the highest-returning social investments we can make. And we’re not making it. That’s why I’m proud to be working with UNICEF on this and other education-related issues. It’s too important to ignore….
55. “Delbanco tries surveillance; Former
Leapfrog CEO joins monitoring firm (Modern Healthcare,
By Jean DerGurahian
Former Leapfrog Group Chief Executive Officer Suzanne Delbanco has landed another executive position, this time heading a private company that has developed and is hoping to sell video systems to watch healthcare workers as they perform care.
Delbanco said that she is hoping to motivate patient-safety efforts as the new president of Arrowsight Medical, the newly formed healthcare division of Mount Kisco, N.Y.-based Arrowsight. The company develops Web-based remote video and viewing devices that are used to track compliance with quality procedures as staff perform them at the point of care. Delbanco, who founded the almost 8-year-old Leapfrog in an effort to promote quality initiatives among large employers, providers and health plans and has appeared on Modern Healthcare’s 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare rankings, stepped down from leading the not-for-profit organization last year.
Citing her work in developing strategies that create change in the healthcare industry, Arrowsight said Delbanco will help the new division roll out its video auditing patient-safety strategy across healthcare facilities. An Arrowsight spokesman declined to provide Delbanco’s salary.
Hospital video auditing, as the company calls its product, monitors healthcare workers at patient bedsides and provides feedback reports to them to demonstrate how well they are complying with evidence-based safety measures.
Delbanco might have her work cut out for her. While video auditing is used in other industries such as meat processing, the concept of placing cameras in patient rooms and watching how providers conduct care is new to an industry already jumpy with the number of quality measures it is expected to perform….
But the concept is meant to bolster individual control over patient-safety practices, not give a hospital any control over providers, according to Delbanco. Video monitoring contributes to a culture of safety; “part of the team culture is measuring performance,’’ she said. When team members see their collective performance increase, there is “enormous pride. That was a feature that sold me,’’ she said.
There is ‘a lot of noise’’ around patient safety in healthcare right now but many facilities have not found ways to ensure improvements are sustainable over long periods of time, Delbanco said. The video auditing is a chance to create that sustainability. “The feedback doesn’t go away. I think this has the opportunity to accelerate improvement in a leap-type way,’’ she said….
The purpose of the feedback reports is to let providers have more control over their practices and behavior, Delbanco said. “There are certain practices you can really only measure if you watch.’’…
56. “Measures would hike
sales taxes for transit” (San Francisco Chronicle,
--Rachel Gordon, Chronicle Staff Writer
(09-19) 19:36 PDT -- … Measure Q, on the ballots in Marin and Sonoma counties, would raise the sales tax a quarter-cent to build and operate a 70-mile commuter train operation between Cloverdale and Larkspur.
Voters narrowly rejected a similar proposal two years ago. Although 65.3 percent of the voters were in favor, the proposal failed to secure the minimum two-thirds approval required for passage. This year’s measure also needs at least two-thirds support to pass.
The proposed route would run parallel to Highway 101 and stop at 14 stations. A separate bike and pedestrian path would be built alongside. Construction costs have been pegged at $541 million, with annual operating costs adding $19 million more….
Opposition largely comes from anti-tax groups and Marin residents who fear the new train would spur development along the transit corridor and change the small-town feel of their county.
Joy Dahlgren, a representative of the group North Bay Citizens for Effective Transportation, which opposes the ballot measure, questioned the true benefits of the proposed SMART train, given the projected ridership of 5,300 boardings a day.
“It’s not the right kind of area for a train; there isn’t a concentration of jobs and housing along the route,” she said. Instead, she favors widening Highway 101 and expanding existing bus service….
57. “Saturday Readers’
Forum: SMART won’t help traffic” (Marin Independent Journal,
A recent letter to the editor urged fact-based voting on Measure Q, the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit train tax.
Here are some facts from SMART’s own documents:
The most important is that SMART would not reduce congestion. Levels of congestion on Highway 101 would be the same with or without the train, according to the environmental report. If you find this hard to believe, consider that SMART is estimating fewer than 6,000 passenger-trips by 2025, after 17 years of population and job growth. The average one-way trip would be only 13 miles long.
Spread out in two directions, over a 70-mile route, over six hours of operation, the number of people on the train at any time and location would be tiny compared to the number in cars and buses on Highway 101.
SMART estimates total costs through 2029 at $1.2 billion for the train alone, and it would not begin service until 2015.
In 15 years of service, SMART would provide 21 million passenger-trips, 10.5 million round-trips.
So over the life of the sales tax, SMART would spend over $100 for each round-trip.
Joy Dahlgren,
58. “
By Jessica A. York/Times-Herald staff writer
As one idea in a multi-tiered affordable housing
push,
The Vallejo Housing Authority hired a consultant to perform a budgeted $25,000 study on the feasibility of instituting what is known as a community land trust….
Community land trusts are organizations - often headed by nonprofit groups - that own parcels of land in order to provide low-income and affordable housing properties that can be sold to residents. The homeowners would pay their own property taxes.
In a report to the Vallejo City Council on Tuesday, city Housing and Community Development staff explained that the land trusts could be used to rehabilitate foreclosed and neglected properties. By owning the property under the homes, land trusts are able to keep the homes at affordable costs by setting sale prices.
“We think it’s a
potentially good model for
The implementation of the proposed community land trust organization, if instituted, would broaden the affordable housing push from rental to owned properties.
The program likely would not fulfill low-income housing obligations set in a 1999 Redevelopment Agency legal settlement known as the Buchongo Settlement Agreement. Whittom said the city was looking at other low-income housing options in parallel with the land trust feasibility study….
59. “Hearings set on
controls for bond money outlay” (Sacramento Bee,
By Andrew McIntosh
The Little Hoover
Commission wants to know whether
Witnesses at Thursday’s hearing will include state Treasurer Bill Lockyer and officials from the controller’s office and Department of Finance.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office and Tim Gage, a former director of the Department of Finance and co-founder of Blue Sky Consulting Group, also will discuss what’s needed for better bond spending oversight.
60. “
Speaker: Bruce
MacDonald, Senior Director, Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture
of the
MR. BEHLING: Jeff Abramson.
Q Jeff Abramson, with Arms Control Today.
… I wanted your diplomatic take on when
61. “Poverty measure
needs to reflect times” (Post-Crescent (
The way we measure poverty in this country hasn’t changed since the 1960s &mdash and it’s long past time to adjust it to reflect the 21st century.
When the measure was developed more than 40 years ago, a family was not determined to be poor if its income equaled three times the annual cost of basic groceries.
Even with the rising cost of food today, most families spend much more of their income on shelter, child care and transportation than groceries.
Measuring how much those other items take out of a household budget seems like a better barometer of who’s hitting bottom economically.
Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Washington, who serves as the chairman of the U.S. House subcommittee on income security, plans to introduce legislation this month that would require the government to develop a more modern measure of poverty, based on consumption patterns for food, clothing, shelter and out-of-pocket medical expenses, among other basic necessities.
It also would account for noncash income, such as food stamps and tax credits, and would factor in geographical disparities in the cost of living….
Eligibility for many federal aid programs is tied to the poverty level. And while additional people might qualify under the new measure, others would no longer be considered poor, according to Julia Isaacs, a Brookings Institute fellow visiting at the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
A greater number of elderly, for instance, would qualify because their out-of-pocket medical expenses typically run so high, Isaacs said….
62. “High HIV infection rate for young black men, CDC finds” (San Francisco Chronicle, September 12, 2008); story citing MARK CLOUTIER (MPP/MPH 1993); http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/12/MN9612SFKE.DTL&hw=mark+cloutier&sn=002&sc=526
--Elizabeth Fernandez, Chronicle Staff Writer
A new, detailed picture released Thursday of the swath of HIV infections nationally illustrates the severe impact the virus is taking on young black gay and bisexual men, black women, and white gay and bisexual men in their 30s and 40s.
The report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for the first time breaking down new infections in terms of race, gender and age, shows an alarming prevalence of the disease in young black men. The report found that the number of new infections in black gay and bisexual men 13 to 29 years old is roughly twice that of white or Hispanic gay men in the same age group.
“The house has been on
fire for African American gay men for many years,” says Mark Cloutier, chief
executive of the
The study augments a CDC
report last month that documented a significantly higher-than-expected rate of
new HIV infections in the
63. “Lander Cnty, NV’s GO SPUR Raised To ‘A’ On Strong Finances” (Market News Publishing, September 2, 2008); story citing LISA SCHROEER (MPP 2005).
Standard & Poor’s
Ratings Services raised its underlying rating (SPUR) to ‘A’ from ‘BBB’ on
“It is additionally supported by a low debt burden, average income indicators, and improved unemployment numbers.” …
64. “We know what’s cost
effective. Now what?” (
By Charlie Quimby, Guest Commentary
Using cost-effectiveness
to justify a future-oriented public investment is gaining currency. In an era
when budgets are tight and demand for accountability is growing,
Brookings Institution
fellow Julia Isaacs, a former analyst for the Congressional Budget
Office and Health and Human Services Department, was in
She says the cost-effectiveness theme does resonate on Capitol Hill. But viewing a specific policy through an economics lens also has limitations, especially when applied to education or children and families, where the contributing factors are complex, the results take time to materialize, and the payoffs are distributed across a range of beneficiaries….
Isaacs cautioned against the temptation to do “lite” or sound-alike versions of proven interventions—cutting some steps, using less skilled workers or otherwise diluting programs. The cost-benefit ratios may be lower with less investment. Isaacs’ research identified four areas of investment in children—covering from prenatal care to the teenage years—that merit expanded federal funding based on their cost/ benefits. The return on investment came from lower health care costs, reduced crime and incarceration, improved educational attainment and increased lifetime earnings. While a dollar invested might return up to $8 depending on the program, the non-governmental savings were typically higher, and in some cases, the government alone did not see a positive return….
65. “RI gov subject of
ethics probe for hiring niece” (The Associated Press State & Local Wire,
The commission voted 5-0 to pursue the complaint. Two members abstained, including one commissioner who is part of Cariceri’s extended family.
The chairman of the state Democratic Party filed the complaint in June after a TV station reported the Republican governor employs his niece, Stephanie Accaputo, in his constituent affairs office. Accaputo is the daughter of Carcieri’s wife’s brother.
State ethics regulations in place since 1991 bar state officials from hiring family members, including those related by marriage. Carcieri has argued the rules weren’t clear when Accaputo was hired to work for his office….
The Ethics Commission refused to issue Carcieri an advisory opinion in June on whether he could employ Accaputo. His request came after a TV station raised questions about her employment. At the time, commission member Ross Cheit said it appeared Carcieri violated the ethics code.
66. “Gay couples use
weddings to wage ballot fight” (Associated Press,
By Laura E. Davis, Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- When
Pamela Brown got married, the two
bride figurines atop her wedding cake celebrated her newfound right in
Brown and her wife are one of many same-sex couples whose nuptials are made possible by the state Supreme Court’s May 15 ruling that legalized gay marriage.
But as these couples say
“I do,” they are threatened by the prospect that
Brown and her partner, Shauna, even inserted language into their
ceremony in
“If I had my preference,
I wouldn’t bring politics into it. But we just can’t lose the moment and the
opportunity when so many friends and family are together,” said Brown, who is the policy director for Marriage Equality
67. “Our economy is like
a bungee cord: It’ll bounce back” (Mercury News,
By Doug Henton
… The most important
thing in a “bunge” economy is recognizing the signs of the next bounce.
Fortunately, for the past 40 years,
We have the world’s leading universities. We remain a global leader in the fields of biotechnology and nanotechnology as well as information technology. And we are positioned to be a world leader in the growing field of clean tech if we respond to rising oil prices with innovation.
We have more venture
capital, innovation and entrepreneurial vitality than any other country. A
recent
The
So what is causing the problem?
We have experienced a financial bubble as a result of lax regulatory policies that helped fuel a dramatic rise of debt. This was not a fundamental change in our technology and intellectual assets….
The late Sir John Templeton was known as the best contrarian investor of the 20th century. As a young man, he made lots of money by buying every stock worth $1 in the stock market during the 1930s. He later created the Templeton Growth Fund.
He understood that markets do bounce back. But he also knew how to invest at the right time based on fundamentals. Fortunately, our fundamentals remain strong.
DOUG HENTON is president of Collaborative Economics, based in
68. “Uniforms or no uniforms?” (Ocala Star-Banner, July 7, 2008); story citing SCOTT JOFTUS (MPP 1994).
By Joe Callahan - Star-Banner
She has been touting mandatory uniforms for years. She said uniforms are needed to make students take pride in their appearance and to step it up academically….
Mosley’s comments come after
the School Board unanimously voted to support a mandatory uniform policy at
Horizon Principal Juan Cordova held meetings spanning nearly a year and learned that 90 percent of parents who turned in ballots supported uniforms….
As for the bigger question: The primary debate is whether uniforms positively affect discipline, violence and academic success. Mosley and Cordova, as well as many educational organizations around the country, say they do.
A school uniform study
released in April 2004 found school safety and student achievement improved
when school uniform policies were enacted in school districts in
The study, which was funded by leading school uniform manufacturer French Toast, was headed up by consultant Scott Joftus….
1. “Put focus back on the
unemployed” – Commentary by ROBERT REICH
(Marketplace [NPR],
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/10/29/reich_unemployed
ROBERT REICH: When even the chairman of the Federal Reserve Board says Congress should pass a stimulus package, we know we’re in trouble. The last stimulus of tax rebates stimulated lots of people to pay off some of their debts, which hardly stimulated the economy at all.
The coming stimulus package could be even more nonsensical. It would be voted on by a lame-duck Congress, many of whose members will want to reward campaign donors with juicy pieces of pork….
Instead of this, Congress should do just one thing when it returns right after Election Day: Extend unemployment benefits….
More than 1 in every 5 people out of work have been looking for six months or more. And many are running out of unemployment benefits. The National Employment Law Project estimates that nearly 800,000 will run out this month, and another 350,000 by December. That means they won’t be able to pay their bills, including their mortgages. Already this year, almost half of mortgage delinquencies have been caused by homeowners’ lacking income or employment.
For now, focus on the unemployed.
Jagow: Robert Reich teaches public policy at the
2. “Expect smears to spatter more with 7 days left” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 28, 2008); story citing JACK GLASER; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2008/10/28/MNET13P9FC.DTL
--Joe Garofoli, Chronicle Staff Writer
Democratic
presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama delivers a speech in
(10-27)
Last-minute smear jobs are as old as the American presidency and are rooted in the darkest corners of the human psyche. The smearer usually supports the candidate who is trailing in the polls, analysts say.
“It’s consistent with human psychology that people who are behind or feel they have nothing to lose are less risk-averse,” said Jack Glaser, an associate professor of public policy at UC Berkeley and an expert on politics and emotion. “So Sen. McCain and his supporters are throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks.
“They feel that they have less to lose. What’s the difference if they lose by 3 points or 6? Of course, those Republicans further down on the ticket might disagree with them.”
An e-mail
sent by the Pennsylvania Republican Party to 75,000 Jewish voters in
Glaser said the move could backfire with the target audience.
“Jewish voters are very sensitive to being manipulated by the Holocaust,” said Glaser, who is Jewish and whose grandparents were killed in the Holocaust. “And I think these types of attacks will alienate independent voters. From what I’ve seen, they (the McCain campaign) are just reaching out to their base and making sure it shows up (to vote).” …
3. “Early
voters turning out in record numbers” (KGO TV,
By Carolyn
Tyler
In
Registrars like early voting because it decreases the chances of Election Day
problems; candidates like it because they get votes locked up early; but early
voting may be problematic for democracy,
“If people vote early, they may not have all of the information,” Brady said.
“They may not have heard everything the candidates have to say, or the people
who are supporting propositions have to say. I think there’s dangers with fraud
with early voting, especially absentee voting.”...
4. “Google’s
Green Agenda Could Pay Off” (
By Miguel Helft
A Google worker trying to determine which of the company’s electric
rental cars, which are powered by solar panels, is his. Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
But in recent weeks, Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s chief executive, has hinted at the company’s broad interest in the energy business. He also joined Jeffrey R. Immelt, General Electric’s chief executive, to announce that they would collaborate on policies and technologies aimed at improving the electricity grid. The effort could include offering tools for consumers.
Meanwhile, engineers at Google are hoping to unveil soon tools that could help consumers make better decisions about their energy use.
And while the company’s philanthropic unit, Google.org, has invested in clean energy start-ups like one that uses kites to harness wind power, Google is now considering large investments in projects that generate electricity from renewable sources….
The timing could be off. With a recession looming and oil prices dropping, investors might pressure Google to curtail its clean energy ambitions.
Google’s shares have lost more than half their value in the last year, and some analysts complain that the company has a long history of dabbling in new initiatives with mixed results….
But none of this has deterred Google from going deeper into the alternative energy business. To support its efforts, it has hired a growing number of engineers who are conducting research in renewable energy, former government energy officials, scientists and even a former NASA astronaut, whose hands-on experience with all sorts of electronic gadgets is being put to use to develop energy tools for consumers.
“They are a
high-profile actor in the energy field,” said Daniel M. Kammen, a professor in the energy and resources group at the
[This story
also appeared in the <a href=“http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/28/technology/28google.php“>International
Herald Tribune</a>]
5. “Experts to gather this week for UC Berkeley-UCLA symposium on mortgage meltdown” (UC Berkeley News, October 27, 2008); press release citing JOHN QUIGLEY; http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2008/10/27_mortgage.shtml
By Kathleen Maclay, Media Relations
Among the featured speakers will be Federal Reserve Bank Chair Ben Bernanke (speaking via satellite) .…
The event is
a joint endeavor between the Berkeley Program on Housing and Urban Policy and
the
“The
symposium was planned at the beginning of last summer, when it was clear that
the collapse of housing prices was real and that
6. “Chevron
fights human rights charge” (KGO TV,
By Heather
Ishimaru
Was Chevron just doing what it had to protect its workers in
U.C. Berkeley Energy Institute Professor
Dan Kammen is an oil industry expert and is married to a Nigerian woman.
“Environmental communities have a legitimate beef that no matter what the
letter of the law is, they have not been compensated for the damage being done
to their livelihoods,” said Kammen....
7. “Personality,
party factor in voting decision” (Reno Gazette-Journal,
By Anjeanette Damon
Forget U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s health care plan or U.S. Sen. John McCain’s tax proposals, if a presidential candidate can’t get the voting public to like him there’s probably little he can do to persuade them on the issues.
While most voters will say they decide who to support for president based on the candidate’s issue positions, political scientists say a bevy of other factors come first— the candidate’s political party and personality are the top two.
“The party
probably matters the most, but after party, it’s a toss up between positions
and personality,” said Jack Glaser,
a social psychologist at the
The personality test, say political scientists, goes beyond the question that tended to dominate the 2000 presidential election: Which candidate would you rather have a beer with?
“The whole who do you want to have a beer with thing is not rational,” Glaser said. “But if a candidate is perceived to be calm and collected and intellectually curious, that’s a much more rational factor because it predicts how he is going to perform.” …
8. “Deficits
are okay? The death of a political consensus” (The Toronto
Star,
By David
Olive,
… On Monday
pigs were observed migrating across the
The new
reality is a
“Under these
circumstances, deficit spending is not unwelcome,”
9. “Read the fine print on presidential energy plans” (San Francisco Chronicle, October 24, 2008); op-ed by DAN KAMMEN; http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/24/EDV213N2H3.DTL&type=printable
--Daniel M. Kammen
…Thankfully, both presidential candidates, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain, are talking substantively about energy….
The similarity between the candidates, however, ends there—at the proverbial 30,000-foot level….
To usher in a clean energy economy, the Obama plan calls for a 10-year, $150 billion program that balances support for an expanded R&D portfolio - which everyone agrees is vitally needed - with support for market development and expansion.
Obama also calls for a renewable energy portfolio standard of 10 percent of electricity nationwide to come from renewable energy by 2012 and 25 percent by 2025. McCain simply has no comparable articulated vision for a balanced approach, and in the past has routinely voted against arguably the most effective clean energy policy: a production tax credit and investment tax credit package for renewable energy supplies….
Second, the candidates differ markedly on the mechanism and targets for a federal cap-and-trade system to first limit, and then reduce, greenhouse gas emissions. Obama has endorsed a cap-and-trade system where the permits to emit are all auctioned. McCain proposes to initially give them away. The economic consensus is overwhelming here: Without a price from Day One for permits, the government forfeits a vital revenue stream, and is tremendously counterproductive because the largest polluters get the least incentive to innovate and clean up their emissions….
With energy finally back on the priority list, it is vital to back up broad sentiments about energy independence and climate with innovative programs and partnerships. In this the candidates differ greatly.
Daniel M. Kammen is a professor in the Energy and Resources Group, and in the Goldman School of Public Policy at the UC Berkeley. He is a member of the International Panel on Climate Change that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize.
10. “Blog:
Stumping for Obama and McCain” (BBC Online [
--Maggie Shiels
Mr Schmidt
(that’s Eric of Google to you and I) didn’t go to
On the campaign trail Mr McCain has for months had Meg Whitman who used to run
the online auction site e-Bay campaigning by his side....
So what’s in it for everyone? Henry
Brady, a professor of political science at UC Berkeley told me that for the
candidates it’s all about showing they are pro-business. For the CEO’s it’s
probably about personal beliefs with perhaps a little bit of vanity thrown in
as they strut a much bigger stage than normal. And for
the company it’s a realisation that government really does count.
“A lot of these start ups started with the notion that they could rule the
world,” explained Professor Brady.
“The internet would be an alternative way to learn about the world and change
the world and the way it is viewed. And then they realised that government
mattered to them because it regulates the telecoms industry, it gets involved
in issues of privacy and confidentiality and rights. These are issues that the
government decides.”…
11. “Maybe
‘too big to fail’ is just too big” – Commentary by ROBERT REICH (Marketplace [NPR],
ROBERT REICH: According to Treasury
Secretary Hank Paulson, the biggest Wall Street banks now getting money from
the government are just “too big to fail.”...
Pardon me for asking, but if a company is too big to fail, maybe—just
maybe—it’s too big, period....
We seem to
have forgotten that the original purpose of antitrust law was also to prevent
companies from becoming too powerful. Too powerful in that so many other
companies depended on them, so many jobs turned on them and so many consumers
or investors or depositors needed them, that the economy as a whole would be
endangered if they failed. Too powerful in that they could wield inordinate
political influence of a sort that might gain them extra favors from
Maybe the
biggest irony today is that
So we’re ending up with even bigger giants, with even more power over the
economy and politics, subsidized by taxpayers and guaranteed never to fail
because they’re just—too big!
Ryssdal: Robert Reich teaches public policy at the
12.
“Frontline: Heat” (PBS,
Interviewed
by Martin Smith (on
Dan Kammen is a specialist in renewable research at the
Q: Despite record profits in both the oil and coal industries, neither are devoting much investment into research or development of alternative energy. How do you understand that? ...
I think there are a couple of explanations. The energy sector has historically underinvested in R&D relative to other areas. Biotech invests 10 or more percent of all revenues back into R&D. The energy field has reinvested a tiny fraction of revenues, under 0.4 percent, back into R&D. ... And only now are companies beginning to figure out that investing a tiny fraction of their revenues back into research is bad business.
We’re seeing European, Japanese companies with not only larger but also more coherent research policies. ... [There are] major U.S. companies that have basically called on the president to enact a climate policy because they will respond to it once it’s law, but they’re not going to respond before it’s law. They’re out there waiting for things to happen….
Q: You say we’re underresearched. Just give me a picture of how we compare.
…Or one of my favorite examples is that the
Q: These [big energy] companies are not stepping up to the plate. What responsibility do they have, beyond that to their shareholders, to do anything differently than they have been?
I think that one of the features of the story is that companies shouldn’t be expected to or asked to make policy. They should respond to policy, and they should respond genuinely, and they should recognize their social roles. But the government’s job is to set policy, and we have not done so. ...
Q: Why haven’t we done better as a country?
... We haven’t responded well even though the science has become increasingly clear, and we’ve had a number of pockets of elected officials at the state and federal level who have really done a great job of holding up the clean energy, sustainable economy mantra.
We haven’t
seen it percolate through, I think partially because we invest so little in our
energy programs in this country. Energy is the largest part of the economy and
the least well-funded, and it’s one where we, in this country, by having
artificially low energy prices for many years, avoided learning the lessons
that
Q: What do you mean by “artificially low energy prices”?
We have taxed our fossil fuel use [at a] very low level compared to Europeans, and we have, therefore, kept prices low.
But that’s been good for the economy. It’s made more cars for sale, more oil for sale.
Well, I would say what it’s done is it has encouraged us not to think seriously about the energy choices we make. We have made [choices] that were easy. And in fact, the way we’ve structured it, we have made many of our policy choices around making energy as cheap as possible to the big consumers. ...
[An online discussion of the program, mentioning Professor Kammen, appeared on the <a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2008/10/17/DI2008101701824_pf.html“>Washington Post’s Web site</a>]
13. “Home
sales sizzle, prices fizzle” (San Jose Mercury News,
By Eve Mitchell, Staff Writer
Bay Area home sales shot up 45 percent in
September compared to a year ago as buyers picked up foreclosed properties at
discounted prices, resulting in the median home sales price sinking 36 percent
to $400,000, according to a report released Tuesday by MDA DataQuick.
In the nine-county Bay Area, some 7,271 new and existing houses and condos changed hands in September. Nearly 42 percent of the existing homes sold last month in the Bay Area had been foreclosed upon at some time in the last 12 months, up sharply from 6.9 percent a year ago….
“In real
estate markets, sellers seem to be motivated to keep closer to their asking
prices, even when it would be advantageous to them to reduce prices and sell
quicker. Thus, when sales by these people are replaced by auctions of their
repossessed property, transactions prices plummet,” John Quigley, a
14. “Yes, It’s A Wreck, But We Can Fix It” (Newsweek,
NEWSWEEK’s Business Roundtable looks at why the government’s efforts to right the economy haven’t yet worked—and what might do the trick.
Down the Rabbit Hole
Robert Reich, former secretary of Labor under President Clinton, now professor
of public policy at
Nine straight months of shrinking employment spells recession. And it’s likely to get far worse before it gets better. The problems aren’t only found in hobbled credit markets. They’re also found in hobbled consumers.
The $700 billion bailout hasn’t worked because the Treasury and the Fed have still not fully and convincingly explained how it will be used to restore confidence. Instead, they’ve issued a hapless and feckless set of policies—letting Lehman go, propping up AIG, creating shotgun marriages between other banks, and now talking about government taking equity stakes in other financial institutions. It looks to all the world as if American policymakers have no idea what they’re doing....
For years, regardless of the business cycle, American consumers were the Energizer bunnies of the world economy. Their spending kept it going. But now the Energizer bunnies have turned into scared rabbits, and they’re going back into their holes….
What to do? Trust can be restored only if we have better regulation of Wall Street in order to avoid the sort of bubbles and Ponzi-like schemes that have generated this credit crisis.
But we also need to get money back into the pockets of average American consumers. That means major public investments in job—creating infrastructure and affordable health care, as well as a more progressive tax code.
15. “Fluctuations: A Hemline
Index Updated” (New York Times,
By Tamar Lewin
Michael Mabray
More suicides? Fewer male births? Less back pain? More laxative sales?
Data points litter the landscape as economists, sociologists, psychologists and marketers examine the societal changes, big and small, trivial and traumatic, that accompany a bad economy. And with this particular version of a troubled economy — a stock market that goes into convulsions at 3 p.m., a looming global recession, a $700 billion bailout plan that may or may not work, and a jittery public wondering what is coming next — changes should flow as freely as profits in good times….
By most accounts, bad times herald an upturn in at least some crime.
“I’ve never been able to find any relationship
between violent crime and the economy,” said Stephen Raphael, an economics
professor in the
[This story also appeared in the <a href=“http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/20/business/hemline.php“> International Herald Tribune</a>]
16. “Just in Case McCain Wins, a Survival Guide for Reporters Who Wrote Him Off” (Washington Post, October 19, 2008); column citing HENRY BRADY.
By Jack Shafer - Slate’s editor at large
With
New Voter No-Shows. The number of registered Democrats is up 5 percent from 2004, says the Associated Press, and the GOP has lost 2 percent of its registered voters. But getting new voters to the polling stations is harder than getting seasoned ones there. How many new voters who won’t actually vote are reflected in the polls? Emergency sources to contact: Peter Nadulli, Alan I. Abramowitz, Henry Brady (presidential voting-patterns scholars) and David Gergen….
17. “Green energy is not a middle-class conceit,
more the only way forward” (The Independent [
A Green New Deal is essential if we are to enjoy a sustainable prosperity, argues Geoffrey Lean
The
So that’s it, then, choruses the commentariat. Collapsing confidence, crashing stock markets and credit-starved banks spell doom not just for the economy, but for environmental concerns. Saving the planet may be all very well in the good times, but is an unaffordable luxury when things turn bad….
The argument is pervasive, persuasive and gaining ground. Even some environmentalists half-accept it, believing they should mute their message. But it is plain wrong. Never have green concerns and measures been more important….
But the most important reason is wholly positive. Developing a new green economy is our most promising path out of the present crisis. It is the best available new engine of growth, with the best chance of creating the tens of millions of jobs that will soon be desperately needed….
The global market for environmental goods and services
now stands at $1.37 trillion and this is expected to double within 12 years.
Clean technologies attract the third largest amount of venture capital in the
If all this has been happening under the old, now
failing, economic regime, which has not been at all favourable to green growth,
what might happen if the world decided to promote the new green economy? For a
start there would be many more jobs. Renewable energy, says Professor Daniel Kammen of the
18. “Is ‘Joe the Plumber’ Really Average?” (KCBS
Radio,
Reported by Melissa Culross
SAN
FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- The concerns of “Joe
the plumber,” also known as Samuel Wurzelbacher of Ohio, have come to represent
the concerns of average Americans, or at least that’s what one or even both of
the major presidential campaigns has been proposing.
But some critics argue that “Joe” doesn’t truly represent the average American voter.
“I would say that he’s not wildly awesome, sort of an average American, but it sort of misrepresents what you might think of an average person because it suggests that there’s a big chunk of people that look like this guy and it over simplifies what the American population looks like,” said Jack Glaser, a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley….
Glaser
says campaigns are very careful in choosing the “regular” people they put in
front of the cameras. Wurzelbacher is Caucasian and a member of the majority
race in
“I think it’s fairly obvious that they try to get a representative for the people standing near the candidate on camera. They want more people to in the audience to identify with the candidate if they see someone like them standing there,” said Glaser.
Glaser calls Wurzelbacher more of an archetypal American voter, as the archetype of a white man as the average American is very strong.
19. “
By Daniel B. Wood| Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
The full moon sets behind a
wind farm in the
LOS ANGELES—California moved ahead this week with plans to slash greenhouse-gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and foster a green economy, even as some business groups questioned the costs in difficult economic times.
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) released Wednesday final details of its so-called “Scoping Plan,” that spells out ways to reduce its greenhouse-gas emissions to meet the requirements of the state’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.
The plan combines market-based regulatory approaches, voluntary measures, and fees. Key new measures include reducing leakage of harmful air conditioning and refrigeration gases, expanding commercial recycling programs, and establishing greenhouse-reduction targets for local governments….
But it’s not yet clear how the current economic crisis might affect the plan. Several businesses say that slashing emissions will be costly and harder to achieve during a potential recession.
The California Manufacturers and Technology Association – which represents 165 business organizations – says the Scoping Plan will cause electricity rates to increase by 11 percent, natural-gas rates to rise 8 percent, and gasoline prices to go up $11 billion per year under the plan.
A recent poll here by Fairbanks, Maslin, Maullin & Associates showed that 3 out of 4 voters support state energy policies even if they result in higher prices. The poll was conducted in June before the current financial crisis intensified.
However, Stanley Young, spokesperson for CARB, argues that electricity prices were going to rise anyway. “The price of electricity may rise but the bill that the householder gets could drop which is the benefit of energy efficiency,” he says.
It is possible that costs may rise in the short
run and then level off or drop, says Dan
Kammen, an energy expert with the
Moreover, CARB hopes the plan will create new green jobs – a category estimated to grow by 100,000 or more by 2020….
20. “Racism rears its ugly head in campaign” (KGO
TV,
By Lilian Kim
McCain has made a point of denouncing any attacks on Obama’s race, but that has not stopped some of his supporters from distributing propaganda that links Obama to racist stereotypes and to Osama bin Laden.
The images of Senator Barack Obama have stirred
outrage among Democrats and Republicans. They came from two separate
organizations, from both ends of
The first image of Barack Obama appeared in a recent newsletter distributed by a San Bernardino County Republican club. It shows the Democratic nominee on a phony $10 bill surrounded by Kentucky Fried Chicken, ribs, Kool-Aid and watermelon—stereotypical African-American food….
The second image [which many found offensive, was posted on] the Sacramento County Republican Party’s website…. It has since been removed, but it said, “The only difference between Obama and Osama is BS.” It also urged people to “waterboard Barack Obama.”
“The campaigns don’t officially condone any of this kind of thing. These are independent expenditures. You can’t do much about them,” said Bob Gardner, a GOP ad strategist.
However,
“She has conveyed real concern about him being different and being dangerous. And those are the stereotypes that people have of African Americans,” said Professor Glaser. “And it might be sending that subtle message to people who already have those racist tendencies, that maybe it’s okay to let loose a little bit.” …
21. “Dozens of
By Carol Ness, Public Affairs
Because of his groundbreaking work on the deleterious health effects of air pollution caused by indoor cooking and heating fuels around the world, Smith was invited to be part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s painstaking assessment process, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore.
Next week, Smith will lead three of his fellow
The occasion will be a celebratory dinner and
ceremony being held by the United Nations Association of the
Honored at the dinner will be the 45 or so
Since 1988 the IPCC has sought out the top experts in a wealth of disciplines related to climate change, health, and the environment to take part in a process that Smith says is “by far the most developed” of any such international effort to bring science to bear on policy….
On the Berkeley campus, no office keeps track, but at least six contributors held Berkeley appointments while working on the IPCC assessments: Smith himself; Dan Kammen, professor in the Energy and Resources Group; Norm Miller, adjunct professor of geography; William Collins, a professor of earth and planetary science; Inez Fung, professor of atmospheric science and co-director with Kammen of the campus’s Institute of the Environment; and Barbara Allen-Diaz, professor of environmental science, policy, and management….
22. “Energy-Saving Windows A
Legacy Of ‘70s Oil Crisis” (Morning Edition, NPR,
By Richard Harris
Steve Selkowitz examines the shutters at the window lab at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif. Researchers here are working on the next generation of energy-efficient windows. (Richard Harris/NPR)
You may have noticed that clear-glass buildings
are springing up in cities across the
In fact, this line of research turns out to be
one of the biggest success stories to come out of the last energy crisis — and
there are lessons to be learned, as
The technology is called low-emissivity window coatings, and these invisible films are the reason that architects in American cities are gleefully building those transparent glass towers….
The remarkable story of this glass starts during
the last energy crisis, three decades ago, at the Department of Energy’s
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Steve Selkowitz was then, as now,
working in the labs above the
“In the mid-’70s, people looked at energy use and said, ‘OK, we need more oil, but at the same time, what can we do to reduce the need for it?’” Selkowitz says.
So Selkowitz and other physicists sat down for a
brainstorming session to figure out how to reduce that need. They came back
with a rather surprising answer. A huge amount of
All in all, with just a few million dollars, the federal scientists became the midwives of this technology. True, it’s not as sexy as inventing new gizmos to generate clean energy. But the end result is that it has saved consumers literally billions of dollars, according to a study by the National Academy of Sciences.
Berkeley professor Dan Kammen says one lesson here is that energy efficiency overall has given us by far the biggest bang for our 1970s energy-research buck.
“We now see that by continuing on a path to make our buildings more efficient, to make our lighting systems better, and to make our heating systems better, that in fact the states that embraced that are dramatically better than the national average,” Kammen says.
Another secret of success here is that the Lawrence Berkeley group has somehow managed to keep working on the technology, even after the government abandoned most other energy research in the mid-1980s, when oil prices dropped and the energy crisis seemingly came to an end.
“The classic example is that President Carter put solar panels on the White House and President Reagan took them off,” Kammen says.
Today, funding for clean energy research is about
what it was in the 1960s, Kammen
says. But the
23. “Election Protection” (Forum, KQED Radio,
With many election officials expecting record voter turnouts in November, we look at efforts to protect voting rights and prevent fraud. Host: Michael Krasny
Guests:
• Henry Brady, professor of political science and public policy at UC Berkeley
• Kim Alexander, president and founder of California Voter Foundation
• Thad Hall, research affiliate for Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project
HENRY BRADY: “Democrats are registering new voters at two to three times the rate of Republicans, so they definitely have the advantage on that score.” ...
“The law says your home is where you say is your home. But if your driver’s license doesn’t agree, that could be a problem….”
“
24. “The debate and the crises to come” (Chicago
Tribune,
By Christi Parsons and Jim Tankersley,
Just as the looming disasters were far from the campaign spotlight back then, the 2008 race might be trundling along in complete oblivion to the next big crisis….
As they meet for their third and final debate at
--Income inequality: “The richest 1 percent of
Americans is now taking home 20 percent of total national income,” says Robert Reich, labor secretary in Bill
Clinton’s administration and now a professor
at the
--Global calamity: A cyber terrorism attack could cripple the Western economy. Cure-resistant viruses and bacteria could spread “at a break-neck pace,” Reich warns….
25. “Race for The White House with David Gregory”
(MSNBC,
GREGORY: Let me ask you about the bailout plan and the new wrinkle in which is that the government will take over U.S. banks in a kind of private nationalization by taking equity stakes in U.S. banks. If you’re sitting at home and then all of us are watching all of this, worried about all of this, what now? …
REICH: It is a big question. This is uncharted terrain, David. We don’t know exactly where we are.
Wall Street has been on kind of a rip for years without adequate regulation…. Barack Obama was saying two years ago, three years ago, we need to regulate, we need to make sure that these bankers know what they are doing. Not just pushing money out the door.
Now Hank Paulson, our Treasury Secretary has authority to actually take over some of the shares of stock and provide liquidity to these banks. What Barack Obama says is, okay, as long as number one, taxpayers are not hurt. Taxpayers get shares of stock so on the upside those taxpayers can be repaid. The government can be repaid when profits return.
And number two as a quid pro quo, as a condition, we’ve got to make sure that there is a moratorium on foreclosures. You can’t have big banks getting all of these public benefits and allow them to continue to foreclose.
GREGORY: …[T]here’s so much talk about saving the taxpayer and forgetting about the shareholder when the shareholder and not just the fat cats on Wall Street but there are people who own shares of 401(k)s. There are parents out there, people saving up for their college education. Are they being overlooked in all this?
REICH: No. They’re not being overlooked. I think one of the big, big problems that people have is they can’t take money out of their 401(k)s. That’s why Barack Obama today announced his proposal to do it as fast as possible; allow people to take out up to $10,000 from their 401(k)s.
If you were 20 years from retirement, David, I would advise personally, just keep all of your shares of stock there. Don’t take anything out if you can avoid it. But a lot of people need that money. And they should not be penalized….
26. “Confidence should shore up banks soon. Asian
markets bounce back and
By Lilian Kim
… The heads of nine major
The unprecedented government response brought confidence back to Wall Street, at least for the time being. The Dow jumped 11 percent, but economists warn the government’s plan is only a short-term boost and banks still need to clean up their books.
“The long term problem is a crisis in trust. Most lenders and most investors simply don’t know that they can trust the numbers on pieces of paper,” says Professor Robert Reich, from U.C. Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy….
27. “Candidate Supporters’ Use of Gadgets as
Symbols Reveal Power of Brands” (Wired,
By Jose Fermoso
A thread on the snarky website Fark recently produced a series of illustrations that compare the presidential candidates to each other through their perceived symbolic equals, including some of our favorite gadgets.
But a close look at the illustrations reveal that they are more than a just meaningless, amusing outgrowth of this crazy election. They suggest that people who demonstrate their enthusiasm towards the candidates in this way mirror the enthusiasm of gadget lovers, like Apple fanboys and their iPhone, in their personality traits, obsessions, and political leanings....
UC Berkeley Public Policy professor Jack Glaser told Wired.com in an email that people’s feeling of powerlessness in the election process makes them resort “to all kinds of related (but inefficacious) activities.” And it’s especially true “when they pay close attention” like they are in this election, he said.
Most of the symbols depict Sen. Barack Obama as cutting edge, Sen. Joe Biden as wise, Sen. John McCain as old, and Gov. Sarah Palin as ditzy, and are created by people compelled to express their support.
Still, Glaser says, these are mostly funny “but not too deep.”...
28. “What Next?; Will It
Work?” (World News with Charles Gibson, ABC News,
Reportedby David Muir (ABC News)
David Muir: With the federal government now planning to go beyond just buying bad debt and actually buying stakes in banks, we asked a half dozen respected economists today, will it work?
Professor Robert Reich (University of California-Berkeley): The plan will work in the short term, or at least will help in the short term. Because right now, a lot of small businesses and individuals and even some big businesses can’t get any money. They can’t the credit they need simply to keep operating. And injecting additional money into the banking system will be helpful.
David Muir: Each of the economists emphasized this will be a short-term boost. That the banks will still have to clean up their books.
Professor Robert Reich (University of California-Berkeley): The long term problem is a crisis in trust. Most lenders and most investors simply don’t know that they can trust the numbers on pieces of paper….
29. “A New Age of Global Capitalism Starts Now. With the American model in tatters, its European and Asian rivals
make their move” (Newsweek, International Edition,
By Rana Foroohar; with Stefan Theil in Berlin, William Underhill and Sophie Grove in London, Mac Margolis in Rio and Tracy McNicoll in Paris
It was a week for dramatic words and even more dramatic gestures. As the U.S. congress debated, then vetoed, and then revised and ultimately passed a $700 billion plan to bail out the country’s failing banks, world stock markets rose and fell in what can really only be described as rollercoaster fashion. The Dow recorded its biggest loss in two decades before making up much of the ground, falling and rising again in triple digits each day of the week as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s plan wound its way through Congress. Among lenders, paranoia reigned—record-high interbank lending rates underscored the fact that after weeks of financial fall-out, nobody knew who was holding the next basket of exploding assets.…
It didn’t happen overnight. From the late 1970s
onward, a slew of legal and technological changes unshackled the growth and
earning potential of financial institutions—pension funds were allowed to start
investing their portfolios in the stock markets, brokers were able to start
offering mutual funds to individuals, different types of banks were allowed to
merge and enter new areas of business, automatic teller machines and trading
software created a 24/7 electronic finance network. From the 1970s to 2005, the
percentage of Americans owning stock rose from 16 percent to more than 50
percent. As former
Driving it all were the investment bankers, who, in the post-Volcker era of low inflation, were looking for new ways to make double-digit returns. Financial innovation burgeoned, helped along by market-friendly politicians, mostly notably Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher…
House prices, which had shot up between 2001 and
2005, plummeted, exposing poor credit standards (it didn’t help that the credit
agencies were paid by the companies they were supposed to rank). The bubble
burst. The dominoes fell. And now Americans are left wringing their hands about
the cost of a bailout package that would seem to reward the greed that created
the mess to begin with. “Much of the anger over the past week has not been
about the fact that the government has produced this massive safety net, but
that the people who will receive it are the Wall Streeters who’ve made out like
bandits in the past few years,” notes Robert
Reich. Meanwhile, average Joes are scared (a point worked to effect by both
presidential candidates in the
Bankers’ pay may even be capped (in the U.S., Reich and many others are calling for pay pegged to five-year rolling performance targets to help curb undue short-term risk-taking, in Europe there are plans to legislate delays in the vetting of options)….
30. “Bush Tries to Reassure Public on Economy; Retirement Savings Being Drained; Predicting the Election” (CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer, CNN, October 12, 2008); features commentary by ROBERT REICH.
BLITZER: The world's finance ministers are
meeting right now to try to map out a strategy for dealing with this global
economic crisis. Let's talk about that, the impact on the
BLITZER: What works, Robert Reich?
ROBERT REICH: Well, Wolf, I think that an infrastructure stimulus is a very important part of a package to make the economy work again, as Senator Obama has said.
Also, as Senator Obama has said, a major investment in alternative technologies, creating about 5 million so-called green-collar jobs, all of these are investments for the future, they're not just to stimulate the economy right now, they're to grow the economy in the future because if we have a first class infrastructure and we have also alternative energy, we are going to do better.
BLITZER: What Nancy Pelosi is also recommending is new unemployment benefits be included in the second stimulus package. Is that a good idea, Robert Reich?
REICH: Yes. I think it's absolutely necessary. There are too many people now who are exhausting their unemployment benefits. Wolf, since the first of the year, we have lost, if you include just private sector jobs, over a million jobs.
And that is also including people who were even too discouraged even to look for work. If you lose the demand side, that is, people are losing jobs and they're losing wages, there's no way that they can turn around and buy the things that are produced in this economy.
So, we make the recession even worse and we are begging for a—well, a very serious recession....
BLITZER: Here's his proposal, Robert Reich, as McCain unveiled it the other night at that town hall presidential debate. I'll play this clip, and then you'll respond.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ): I would order the secretary of the treasury to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America and renegotiate at the new value of those homes—at the diminished value of those homes and let people be able to make those payments and stay in their homes. Is it expense? Yes.
BLITZER: All right. Go ahead, Robert Reich. You agree with Senator McCain's proposal?
REICH: Well, not only do I agree, but Senator Obama has been saying the same thing for over a year. It is in the Treasury bill already. The Treasury Department does have that authority. But Senator McCain has gone one step further, he wants … the Treasury to buy those mortgages back at what's called face value.
And I think the problem here, very simply put, is that if you buy them back at face value, you are providing a huge windfall to the mortgage bankers and the others who made the loans. There's no reason—you're not going to protect the taxpayers. And Barack Obama, when he talked about the conditions that should be applied to that $700 billion, he said, No. 1, it should go—much should go to home owners to help them stay in their homes, and number two, the taxpayers should not be put at risk. And this puts taxpayers directly at risk, Wolf….
31. “Can anyone save us now?” (The
Sunday Times (
By Richard Woods and David Smith
… The financial meltdown that started on Wall Street and spread like a virus around the world has become frighteningly personal. As markets collapse, even the banks running the cash machines we take for granted are tottering under the onslaught….
How supposedly safe insurance systems can
suddenly unravel is also being played out on a national scale with the collapse
of
Just as in
32. “Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson announced
the government would buy stock in financial institutions” (‘The Rachel Maddow
Show’, MSNBC,
...Rachel Maddow: Joining us now is Robert Reich, secretary of labor under
President Bill Clinton. He’s now a professor
at the
Maddow: So the week that ended
Reich: Well, it is very scary. I wish - you know, I’m tempted to say we have nothing to fear but fear itself. But the trouble is fear itself is pretty scary.
Maddow: Yes. I mean, is it true though that the disaster in the stock market, specifically, is more of a symptom now than the actual illness? Are there other indicators we should be watching that may be better indicators with what’s really going on than the stock markets?
Reich: Well, almost every indicator right now, Rachel, unfortunately, is heading downward. The credit markets are freezing. They have been freezing for some time. And obviously, the reason Barack Obama was talking about small businesses today is the small businesses are the major generators of new jobs.
And if you can’t get credit to small businesses, if they can’t borrow, then there are not going to be new jobs. In addition, though, we ought to be watching the unemployment figures. We have lost in this country in the private sector, so far, this year, about a million jobs. And if unemployment continues to rise, we are in deeper trouble because people … can no longer pay their bills....
33. “Greyhounds and bloodhounds. At a forum on
the
By Barry Bergman, Public Affairs
BERKELEY — As an economic historian, observed Barry Eichengreen last Thursday, “every time the market turns down I get phone calls from journalists with the ‘Could it happen again?’ question,” the “it” being another Great Depression. “I respond, ‘No, it couldn’t happen again, because policymakers have learned from history.’ “
To which Eichengreen, a
The line got laughs. But Eichengreen, sifting through the rubble of America’s crumbled financial system at a forum of Berkeley experts that filled the seats and most of the floor space at the law school’s Booth Auditorium, saw nothing funny about what he called U.S. lawmakers’ “truly breathtaking, extraordinary failure of leadership” in their stewardship of the U.S. economy.
Sponsored by the
The
Economics professor John Quigley, interim dean of the Goldman School of Public Policy, counseled that given the seriousness of the crisis — which by the following Monday had sent the Dow plummeting to its lowest close in nearly four years and was threatening economies in Asia and Europe — this is no time for schadenfreude.
“At least for some of the people in this room who have some devotion to competitive markets, this is really a sad wake-up call in the sense that given the circumstances, many people would just love to see these bad actors receive the full and complete retribution that markets would exact on their irresponsible behavior,” said Quigley, referring to Wall Street’s “masters of the universe” and their high-risk gambles in the now-cratered credit markets. “If there were no systemic risk involved, at least some people would be just delighted to watch some of these guys go under.”
Like several of his colleagues, Quigley suggested that the
34. “Saved by the Deficit?” – Opinion by ROBERT REICH (New York Times,
By ROBERT B. REICH
Carl Wiens
Berkeley,
Yet all is not what it seems. First, the $700 billion bailout is less like an additional government expense than a temporary loan or investment….
Another difference is that in 1993, the nation was emerging from a recession. Although jobs were slow to return, factory orders were up and the economy was growing…. Unless President Clinton cut the deficit and abandoned much of his agenda, interest rates would rise and the economic recovery would be anemic.
Next year, however, is likely to be quite different. All economic indicators are now pointing toward a deepening recession. Unemployment is already high, and the trend is not encouraging. Factory orders are down. Worried about their jobs and rising costs of fuel, food and health insurance, middle-class Americans are unable or unwilling to spend on much other than necessities.
Under these circumstances, deficit spending is not unwelcome. Indeed, as spender of last resort, the government will probably have to run deficits to keep the economy going anywhere near capacity, a lesson the nation learned when mobilization for World War II finally lifted us out of the Great Depression….
Robert B. Reich, a secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton and a professor at the
35. “
By Kristin Underwood,
Image source: The Science Channel
What will future cities look like? How will we feed the estimated 75% of the global population that will be living in cities by 2050? How will we transport and house and clothe all of those people living in a finite space? Nobel-Prize winning Dr. Daniel Kammen, host of Ecopolis, thinks he might have a few answers.
The mega-cities of the future will come complete with a mega-carbon footprint and mega-pollution if we don’t begin to implement new practices. Each episode of the show will focus on a different issue and test out whether it’s possible to use many of today’s technologies and experimental projects to ease the burden of these mega-cities….
Dr. Kammen tops this whole “experiment” off with a look at the 20 most visionary world-saving innovations out there, then narrows this group down to the five most likely to succeed and picks the top solution that the world should focus on and urgently implement.
Dr. Kammen
is a professor at the
Ecopolis will air Wednesdays at
36. “
--David R. Baker, Chronicle Staff Writer
(10-06) 17:34 PDT -- The next wave of solar power technology may be a skinny glass tube that looks like a fluorescent light bulb painted black.
The tube contains 150 solar cells, wrapped around
the inside of the glass. Designed and built by
Solyndra’s tubes, made at the company’s
According to the company, there are some 30
billion square feet of flat roof space in the
University and government researchers have tinkered with solar cylinders before, said Daniel Kammen, a professor in the Energy and Resources Group at UC Berkeley. But they didn’t get as far as Solyndra, which generated ample buzz while in stealth mode.
Kammen sees Solyndra as a sign that the venture capital flowing into young solar companies the past few years is finally going to truly different ideas, not just refinements of older technology.
“A lot of smart money has gone into making better versions of existing stuff,” Kammen said. “Now we’re seeing a push to innovate.” …
37. “I could use a liquidity injection” (The
Globe and Mail (
By Margaret Wente
Stephen Harper’s reaction to the world financial meltdown reminds me of a cop at the scene of a monumental crack-up. “Move it right along, folks. Nothing to see here.”
Sure,
The experts always told us the answer to any downturn is to be patient, avoid panic and ride it out. But what if you’re an aging boomer? “Anybody over 55 may be in even bigger trouble,” argues American policy expert Robert Reich. “In an economic crisis, many employers lay off older people first. The house you’ve been planning to cash in for retirement is worth far less now than when you last looked. So are those investments you’ve been counting on. And you don’t have enough time before retirement to make up for these losses - certainly not enough time to reap the gains you expected between now and then.”
“Honey, don’t worry,” I told my husband. “Robert Reich says we’ll be fine. All we have to do is work until we’re 90.”
38. “Beyond the Bailout” (Forum, KQED Radio,
The Senate and the House have approved an amended bailout bill, but economists say it’s still not enough to really improve the economy. We talk with experts about what’s needed to stabilize the situation. Host: Michael Krasny
Guests:
-Robert Kuttner, co-editor of The American Prospect Magazine
and columnist for the Boston Globe
ROBERT REICH: “The bailout was necessary but not sufficient…. We need a substantial job stimulus program, and we’ve got to extend unemployment insurance….”
39. “Congress speaks about financial crisis” (KGO
TV,
By Mark Matthews
WASHINGTON (KGO) -- Congress opened its first oversight hearings into the financial crisis, and there are a lot of people pointing fingers….
Early on in the hearing, Republicans members of the committee tried to turn attention toward the failings of Democrats for not tightening controls on mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac….
On Monday afternoon Senator Barbara Boxer got into the blame game while touring bio-engineering labs at UC Berkeley. ABC7 News asked her what Congress could have done to prevent the crisis.
“In the 80’s we had something called the Keating Five and what that was about was five senators Republicans and Democrats who decided that regulation was a bad thing,” said Sen. Boxer….
Across campus, former Labor Secretary and professor of economic [public] policy Robert Reich says fixing the problem as for now, is taking a back seat to fixing the blame.
“The essential reality right now, four weeks before a presidential election, is that we have an economic meltdown and there is no leadership,” said Reich….
40. “Bottom-up economic theory” – Commentary by ROBERT REICH (San Francisco Chronicle,
--Robert B. Reich
The Mother of All Bailouts may be necessary to unfreeze our capital markets, but it won’t unfreeze the American economy.
Bailout or no bailout, we’re heading into deep recession. One of the first initiatives that Congress and the next administration will need to take will be an economic stimulus package. But not even this will remedy the underlying problem: The earnings of most Americans haven’t kept up with the cost of living. That means there’s not enough purchasing power to keep the economy going….
The last time the top 1 percent took home 20 percent of total income was 1928. After that, the economy caved in….
The only way to keep the economy going over the long run is to increase the real earnings of middle- and lower-middle-class Americans….
Robert B. Reich is a UC Berkeley professor
of public policy, former
41. “Bay Area leaders playing key roles in
campaigns of McCain and Obama: Bay Area’s Brain Trust” (Mercury News,
By Mary Anne Ostrom
… [M]ore than any other election to date, Bay
Area residents — business leaders and scholars — are playing key roles at the
highest levels of the John McCain and Barack Obama campaigns. They have taken
on high-profile media roles. They have been at the elbows of the candidates as
McCain and Obama responded to the financial chaos and
No matter who wins on Nov. 4, there’s a good chance at least a few of the people we’ve highlighted will end up with White House jobs. Here’s a snapshot of some of the most influential….
Team Obama:
[Laura D’Andrea] Tyson, former chairwoman of Bill
Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers, was one of four high-profile economists
who advised Obama on how to respond to the recent financial collapse…. Fellow
42. “Wall Street meltdown the turning point for
Obama” (The Toronto Star,
By David Olive, Special to The Star
This is the week Barack Obama, son of an
erstwhile goat herder in
The turning point was the current Wall Street meltdown, yet another potent symbol of public governance gone awry. The administration of George W. Bush, whose approval rating sank this week to a record low of 22 per cent, has been overtly in service to what Andrew Jackson called the “moneyed power.” …
Yet it has been a colossal and preventable
failure, one for which McCain is perceived as culpable because of his
association with Bush and a long record of opposing the more sophisticated
regulatory supervision by which
43. “
By Margaret Wente
… Stock markets are in turmoil. Banks are
failing. The Western world is in total financial panic. But in
Tax breaks for wooden arrow-makers aren’t the
only flaw in the big bailout plan. The biggest flaw is that it provides no
relief to homeowners facing foreclosure. Nor will it bail them out of all their
other debt. “While the bailout bill may avoid economic Armageddon, it won’t
avoid a severe deterioration of the American economy in the months ahead,”
warns Robert Reich, who was secretary of labour in the
… “As long as Americans remain at the end of their ropes, the American economy will continue to decline,” writes Mr. Reich….
44. “Berkeley profs call
for quick economic action” (San Francisco Chronicle,
--Carolyn Said, Chronicle Staff Writer
(10-02)
“Fixing this program is now very urgent,” said Barry Eichengreen, professor of economics and political science. “ … What’s at stake here is everyone’s employment and prosperity, not simply the bonuses and golden parachutes of bankers.” …
His colleagues at an overflow-capacity panel discussion at the law school agreed that there now is a systemic risk to the economy.
“That means that we cannot wait the time it would
take for this stuff to work itself out,” said John Quigley, an economics professor and interim dean of the [Goldman]
He added that the proposal now wending its way through Congress is conspicuously missing a key factor: the chance for struggling homeowners to refinance into long-term fixed-rate mortgages. “This does absolutely nothing for the housing market,” he said. “That’s needed not for its own sake but to prevent a collapse in demand and consumption.”
But once the government buys up troubled mortgage-backed securities, it “will be in a position to do this—offer owners of properties the opportunity for appraisal and refinance—even if we own a tiny part of their mortgage,” he added….
A QuickTime video of the panel discussion is available at www.law.berkeley.edu/files/bclbe/20081002-gfmt-bclbe-ref.mov
45. “Saving Energy on the Cheap” (Wall Street
Journal [*requires registration],
By Gwendolyn Bounds, columnist
Harry
Campbell/WSJ
![[Harry Campbell]](nov2008_files/image054.jpg)
… Energy experts have preached these
tactics for years—from dumping an old upright freezer for a chest model, to
unplugging printers, TVs and cellphone chargers when they aren’t needed—yet
I’ve always wondered just how much I’d really save.
The good news: The little steps work. My electricity consumption this year has dropped 687 kwh from the same period a year ago; in the past two months alone, I saved about $86. Keeping that up, I’d be on target to save roughly $500—or nearly 40% of last year’s electricity bills—over the next 12 months….
Here are eight steps I’ve taken: …
Unplugged
Why it helps: There’s a hidden price tag to the DVRs,
iPods and cellphones proliferating at home. Even when fully charged or in off
or standby mode, many plugged-in devices still draw, or “leak,” power to
operate remote controls, clocks and other needs. That costs the average
household about $100 each year. The worst offenders: TVs and computer printers,
according to Dan Kammen, professor in
the Energy-Resources Group at
Savings: Eliminating “leaking” could save 9% to 12% on monthly electricity bills, according to Mr. Kammen.
46. “Minor relief felt after Senate passed bill”
(KGO TV,
By Lisa Amin
There is reaction on all sides to the new version
of the bailout, including reluctant support from experts who were highly
critical of the original three page plan.
Action taken on Capitol Hill Wednesday night has garnered strong reaction from
top Bay Area economists who understand the ins and outs of the bailout plan.
“If the choice is between this bill and economic Armageddon, this is a good
bill,” says Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert
Reich, a U.C. Berkeley economist.
Reich by no means loves this plan,
but in the end he supports it.
“This plan is much better than what Hank Paulsen originally proposed. The
three-page blank check, ‘Give me everything’ and no questions asked, that’s what he wanted. He did not get it and that would
have been a terrible bill,” says Reich....
47. “Nuclear weapons: Countdown to zero?
By Robert Sanders
Despite the financial meltdown, despite the
ongoing war in
That was the sobering consensus of a Sept. 26 Commonwealth Club panel convened to honor Berkeley geophysicist Raymond Jeanloz, the 2008 recipient of the Hans Bethe award of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) for his work assessing the nation’s aging nuclear stockpile….
“It is time for [the
With his characteristic ponytail, Jeanloz stood
in contrast to his pinstriped and formal fellow panelist George Shultz, former
U.S. Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan. They were joined by Harold Smith Jr., a
Though unheeded by current President George Bush, these recommendations were echoed by panelists as must-dos for the next president: lobbying Congress to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which is now more enforceable thanks to new monitoring technologies; strong steps to renew the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia, which Bush decided to let expire in December 2009; and a serious reconsideration of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), now 40 years old.
A resurgent
Disarmament may seem scary when
[This Commonwealth Club panel was broadcast on
KQED Radio on
Oct. 1 Robert Reich was interviewed about the economy and financial bailout on “Insight with Brian Oxman and Kathryn Milosky” on AM830 KLAA radio; audio link
Oct. 1 Robert Reich commented on the federal
bailout package on BBC World News, BBC Domestic News, Canadian Broadcasting,
Air America Radio—Rachel Maddow. CNBC TV—The Call, To the
Point with Warren Olney, KCBS News Radio, Air
Oct. 16 Robert Reich appeared on “The Daily
Show with Jon Stewart” (he comes on about minute 15): http://www.hulu.com/watch/39630/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-thu-oct-16-2008
Oct. 20 Robert Reich gave the keynote address
at the Winning Service Strategies in a Shifting Global Economy conference,
sponsored by Association for Services Management International, Service &
Support Professionals Association, and Technology Professional Services
Association,
Oct. 22 Richard Scheffler discussed his new
book, “Is There a Doctor in the House? Market Signals and Tomorrow’s Supply of
Doctors” – hosted by University Press Books,
Oct. 31 Dan Kammen testified on “Availability of Fuel or Other Energy Sources for Transportation” before the California State Assembly Transportation Committee.
New this month:
ROBERT REICH talks
about the creative process in the Berkeley Writers at Work series. The event
was webcast and viewable at: <http://webcast.berkeley.edu/event_details.php?seriesid=9089fddb-a11c-44ea-9b7f-058fd9856c92&p=1&ipp=15&category=>
To view a complete list
of GSPP videos, visit our Events Archive at: http://gspp.berkeley.edu/events/webcasts
Recent events viewable
on UC Webcast: http://webcast.berkeley.edu/events/archive.php?select2=36
If you would like further information
about any of the above, or hard copies of cited articles, we’’’’’’’’d be happy
to provide them.
We are always delighted to receive your material for inclusion in the Digest. Please email the editor at wong23@berkeley.edu .
Sincerely,
Annette Doornbos
Director of External Relations and Development