Water Bond Agreement Can’t Slip Through Sacramento’s Hands
It is absolutely essential to the state economy and to the quality of life for all Californians that we pass a comprehensive water bond now, to ensure that water continues to flow to California’s homes, farms and other facilities for the foreseeable future.
The $9.3 billion bipartisan water bond proposed by Governor Schwarzenegger and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein earlier this month provides a solid framework for tackling California’s water challenges, and a much welcomed shot in the arm for an issue that’s been on the backburner for too long.
I’ve been working with my colleagues at the Capitol and in Washington for almost two years to arrive at a comprehensive water plan that would increase water storage, improve how that water is transported across the state, and revitalize the ailing Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Everyone agrees that California urgently needs to address California’s critical water woes, and as the saying goes, admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery. As is often the case in complex policy issues, the devil is in the details.
While I agree with Senate Pro Tem Don Perata that we should spend the as-yet-unallocated $872 million in funds from previous water bonds, we have to approach our water problems in a comprehensive, rather than piecemeal, manner. We cannot afford to let this vital issue be waylaid by partisan politics.
Small Business Looks at the Budget
The small business community is being asked by all parties – the Governor’s Office, Speaker’s Office and Democratic and the Republican Legislators what our position is on the budget mess. I have had the opportunity to discuss this with small business owners from all over California and all seem to approach the problem the same way — how would we treat the budget problem the state faces with lessons we’ve learned as small business owners?
When a small business owner has more dollars going out than coming in we take the
following steps:
First, take very good care of our existing customers. We don’t want to make it harder for our customers to do business with us; in fact, we would prefer to make it easier. Don’t put burdensome regulations and higher prices on the conditions for doing business in California that might force businesses to go to another State for a better deal. Make sure that taxpaying businesses are treated respectfully. For example, don’t have a small business person hang on the phone to a state agency for more than an hour to get an answer from a government official that the business person needs to operate the business.
The Product Police Are At It Again
If State Senator Carol Migden has her way we could one day see a story like this one.
State Food and Product Police Smash Illegal Can and Plastic Bottle Smuggling Ring – Special Agents of the California Regulatory and Police Division (CRAP) of the Department of Consumer Affairs, arrested 100 suspects and seized 4 tons of illegal cans of vegetables and baby bottles when they busted a BPA smuggling ring outside of Barstow. “We will hunt down these criminals who are trying to poison our kids wherever they might hide”, said Consumer Affairs Director Jack “Nosy” Snoopington.
What is BPA you might ask? Bisphenol-A or BPA, is a common chemical used to make polycarbonate, a rigid clear plastic for everything from baby bottles to bicycle helmets. It is also an ingredient in resins that are used to coat the inside of food and drink cans. BPA has been used successfully since the early 1950s. Chances are that by the time you have read this article you will have come in contact with some product that contains BPA.
If you are a baby boomer you have probably ingested over your lifetime a lot of BPA. Anyone feel sick?
Not so Fast on Food Ban
When I was in college, I often wolfed down a Whopper between classes or gnawed on some Kentucky Fried Chicken while studying. Sure, it wasn’t the healthiest stuff to eat. But I didn’t have the time to get enough sleep, let alone prepare nice meals for myself. I didn’t have the money to eat at finer restaurants. For me, it was Taco Bell or starve. Besides, I was too skinny anyway.
Now? I rarely touch fast food. All that cholesterol. Besides, I need to lose weight.
The point is I figured out for myself the best era in my life to eat fast food and the best era to avoid it. I didn’t need the government or anybody else to figure it out for me.
That’s why it’s troubling that Councilwoman Jan Perry has decided to inject government into the decision-making progress. As reported recently in the Business Journal, she wants to ban future development of fast-food restaurants in a 32-square-mile area of southern Los Angeles. If approved, it would be the nation’s biggest fast-food ban.