Air Pollution Controlling the Market?

An initiative to suspend air pollution control laws to help boost the the economy has been gathering momentum.

According to the measure prepared by the Attorney General of California suspending air pollution control laws that require major polluters to report and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming would possibly help businesses and California get out of debt.

The initiative would stay in effect until the unemployment rate drops back to 5.5 percent or less for four consecutive quarters.

Their thought is while protecting the environment is important, they want to balance such regulation with the ability to maintain jobs and protect the economy.

Another point according to the initiative is at the time theses environmental measures were passed California's unemployment rate was at a low 5.5 percent and now it has skyrocketed to more than 12 percent.

The result is instead of spending billions of dollars complying with theses environmental laws as well as the new costs of increasing gasoline, electricity, food and water; that the saved money could be used to get our economy back on track and create more jobs.

Health Care

President Obama signs healthcare bill Tuesday putting into affect, insurance coverage to an estimated 32 million uninsured Americans and bumps up coverage for all.

After almost a year of debate about this healthcare bill that will effect millions, it passed with a vote of 219 to 212 in the House of Representatives on Sunday night.

"Today, after almost a century of trying, today, after over a year of debate, today, after all the votes have been tallied, healthcare insurance reform becomes law in the United States of America," Obama said.

Most parts of the healthcare bill do not go into effect until 2014 but some parts of the bill are immediate. Tax credits for small businesses offering health insurance to employees will be implemented this year.

Also children with preexisting medical conditions can gain insurance coverage and insurance companies are no longer able to drop insurers because they are ill. The coverage will be extended to adults in 2014.

Another immediate effect is children are allowed to stay on their parent's policies until they are 26 and senior citizens who are in a coverage gap are now covered under Medicare.

"Tonight, at a time when the pundits said it was no longer possible, we rose above the weight of our politics," the president said.

Majority Rules

Measures to pass an initiative changing the legislative vote requirement has been put into motion. The initiative supports changing the legislative vote necessary to pass a budget from two-thirds to a simple majority.

The measure called the "On-Time Budget Act of 2010" and would force legislature to meet it constitutional duty to pass a Budget act by June 15. Previously, the Budget Acts were not passed till August and in 2008, the Budget Act was passed three months late on September 16.

The late budget passage can have a sudden and devastating effect on individual Californians and California businesses. Individuals and families can be deprived of essential governmental services.

The main cause for this delay is the inability of the Legislature to pass a budget in a timely manner because there is a super majority two-thirds vote required to pass a budget. With political party leaders refusing to compromise to solve the State's budget problems and the need for the two-thirds vote requirement the budget act is subject to delay.

Only three states in the country, California, Rhode Island, and Arkansas, abide by the require a vote of two-thirds or more of the legislature to pass a budget.

The purpose of the initiative would require Legislators to forfeit their pay if the Legislature fails to pass the budget on time with a majority vote instead of a two-thirds vote.

Students Protest for Day of Action to Defend Public Education

Close to a thousand students and faculty member with banners and signs marched to E. James Brotman Hall from the top of campus for the Day of Action to Defend Public Higher Education.

The march is in protest to the student fees that have risen 45 percent since 2007. As well class sizes are bigger and the Student-to-Faculty ratios are growing. Faculty and students are angered also about the 1.4 billion cut from CSU budget in the past two years and the shortage of classes offered.

Walking up to the starting point of the march you could hear speakers shouting, “Movements start small and end big.”

Painted signs were everywhere saying, no more apathy, don’t be a douche, together, or more class fewer prisons. Some screamed, “stop the cuts” while they danced in the drum circle to the band playing.

After hundreds had amassed at the top of CSULB on the grass area speakers came on to preach about the school system’s latest budget cut and how California needs to push hard to keep schools safe and public. They speakers also talked about the CSU plan to cut enrollment by 40,000 students and how student fees are up 182 percent since 2000.

One drummer, Johnny Shams, was walking to up to the grass area out of curiosity saying, “I’m contemplating ditching class.”

Behind the speaker podium supporters were selling T-shirts to help raise awareness.

Once the speakers finished they called upon the student and faculty to march down to Brotman Hall.

Daniel Ramirez a marcher said, “Education is important why mess with it.”

Once the stream of people had made it to the Brotman Hall they circled around the huge fountain where speakers talked more, “Public education is a right and central to a flourishing democracy and so is free speech.”

Face-painted students continued to scream as they poured into Brotman hall.

One student, Brandon Johnson said, “Education is the future why we throwing it in the trash.”

Huge banners almost shouted, “Deprive our schools deprive our minds.”

The march ended peacefully with the students and faculty chanting, “The people united will never be defeated.”

Legislator's term

The Attorney General of California has proposed to reduce the total amount of time a person may serve in the state legislature from 14 years to 12 years.

The initiative is to allow a person to serve a toatl of 12 years either in the Assembly, the Senate, or both. The intitiative applies only to legislators first elected after the measure is passed.

Austin Kelly, signature gather says, "The intiative will give more power to the people and make state legislators more accountable."

Cigarette Tax

California is trying pass an intitiative measure on imposing additional tax on cigarettes for cancer research.

According to the measure despite continuing advancements in medical treatment and prevention, cancer remains a leading cause of death in California, reponsible for nearly one in every four deaths each year. Medical experts expect more than 140,000 Californians will be diagnosed with cancer each year.

The intitiative statute imposes an additional five cent tax on each cigarette distributed as well as other tabacco products, to fund cancer research. The research will focus on detecting, preventing, treating, and curing cancer.

Cigarette smoker Ariean Hayward says, "I don't like the idea of cigarettes costing more but if it is going to help prevent cancer then I guess I am for it."

The increase in the new cigarette tax is hoped to amass revenues of about $855 million annually by 2011-12.