AB 32 Threatens Small Business
As the Air Resources Board prepares to vote on its Scoping Plan for implementation of AB 32, there are many outstanding concerns from academics, business owners, and community members about the cost impacts that remain unaddressed. The costs associated with reducing greenhouse gas emissions are enormous – requiring billions of dollars in capital investments and annual operating cost increases – yet the Air Board is still focusing only on the potential benefits of the plan and not the certain challenges ahead.
According to Dan Walters (Sacramento Bee, December 10, 2008) the implementation of AB 32 “amounts to a huge wager, involving countless billions of public and private dollars, on an outcome that will only become apparent many years after Schwarzenegger has left the Capitol. And it’s coming amid what may be the worst economic recession since the Great Depression.”
Small businesses are joining the Legislative Analyst’s Office in asking for a more thorough review of cost-effective options before CARB locks in a major program that could have serious ramifications for our economy.
The LAO stated that under AB 32 “some businesses could lose money or go out of business.” With the national financial industry crisis and growing state fiscal problems, we need to do all that we can to help keep businesses in California, keep our workers employed, and grow our economy. Now is not the time to make it even harder to do business in California.
For Sale: One Slightly Used Senate Seat
While I often write here of things monetary, of BailOuts, economic freefalls and the current recession that is trying all of our patience this Holiday season, I could not resist this headline-hijacking story breaking early this week. Perhaps it might even cheer up somebody somewhere struggling with this economic crisis to know that somebody else is having a harder time of it, all self-induced and due entirely to his own human foibles. Bring on the circular firing squads!
The Gods of Felony Dumbness and Arrogance met, mated and had a bouncing baby boy whose name is hard to spell, but whose hairdo, for a 52-year old, is truly awe-inspiring, and who just happened to become the current Governor of the Great State of Illinois, Land of Lincoln.
And boy, does he have a deal for you! Better than all the Bridges, swampland in Florida, Nigerian email schemes, and other investment scams – you can now, for a limited time only, buy your very own Senate seat – only slightly used by a Senator who spent much of his freshman term jetting about the country in a nearly two-year long, and ultimately successful campaign, to become our next President.
And, if you act now, we will throw in these handy kitchen towels and this steak knife.
What A Waste
Back in 2005 when Governor Schwarzenegger was still attempting to
govern, he submitted his reorganization plan, the California
Performance Review, to the Little Hoover Commission and the people of
California. The Governor promised that implementing the plan (which
never happened) was going to save us billions of dollars by
streamlining California government and making it more effective. The
plan recommended the elimination of 88 boards and commissions that
were unnecessary and costly to the people of California.
Among the 88 is a little-known group, the California Integrated Waste
Management Board. In case you were not aware, the Board promotes
“Zero Waste California” in partnership with local government,
industry, and the public. Not only did the California Performance
Review recommend eliminating the board, it said the following about
the board members: “In this particular case, an independently
appointed board of full-time, term appointed members creates an
obstacle to full integration of these functions with a coordinated,
collaborative environmental cleanup strategy.”
Just what good are recessions, anyway?
Last week we were told we are officially in a recession. That brings up a question: Just what good are recessions, anyway?
The biggest benefit is that they drive down inflated prices, a task this recession is carrying out with cruel efficiency. When prices get so low that buyers can’t resist the bargains, buying activity resumes, and the cycle begins anew.
The good news is that we’re seeing that occur already. Despite terrible retail sales generally, Black Friday results were better than anyone expected, thanks to one thing: low prices. And even Los Angeles’ beleaguered homes are now priced so low they’re moving briskly.
As you can see in the real estate section of the current issue of the Los Angeles Business Journal, the number of homes that traded hands in November in L.A. County was 48 percent higher than the same month last year.
These examples are the early stirrings of the recovery that will follow.