Developing: State Capitol Evacuated due to Bomb Scare
I just heard from multiple Assembly staff this morning that the State Capitol has been evacuated due to a bomb scare. I’m told the evacuation interrupted an Assembly floor session. Developing…
UPDATE: Same sources claim that a bomb squad robot has been brought in.
UPDATE II: A just-posted SacBee article by Steve Wiegand provides some further details
UPDATE III: Hearing reports of an explosion, most likely a safety detonation. 1PM: Bomb experts detonate package on Capitol grounds (SacBee)
SAG Sinks After Split
When you sit down to negotiate – whether it’s over a union contract, a business transaction or a marriage proposal – you must have leverage.
It can be the threat of a strike, the promise to pay more money, or a plausible bluff. Regardless, if you don’t have some leverage – some weapon sitting beside you on the table – you’re gonna get rolled.
I bring this up because of the perplexing way the Screen Actors Guild gave away its leverage over the last year or so, but kept acting as if it had plenty.
Sure enough, the actors union got rolled. The proof came out about a week ago when the guild’s divided board voted 53 percent to 47 percent to recommend basically the same contract that the board turned down last year.
A Municipal Atomic Bomb
By 2015, the City of Los Angeles will need $2 billion every year to fund its public employee pension plan, four times as much as the current $530 million budget deficit. To put that number in perspective, $2 billion equals the combined budgets of the city fire department, police department and sanitation bureau. The message to city residents and taxpayers is clear – Los Angeles will likely go bankrupt within five years unless significant structural changes are made to the pension system.
All pension funds suffered horrible market losses over the past two years, but the economic downturn simply accelerated an inevitable crisis. Six years ago, pension fund contributions as a percentage of total city revenue were less than 4 percent. It is 8 percent this year, and the percentage is projected to exceed 20 percent by 2015. That means 20 cents of every taxpayer dollar will fund retiree pensions instead of actual city services.
Stop the Personal Injury Lawyer Stimulus Package
On April 28th, the personal injury lawyer lobby swept down upon Sacramento for its annual lobby day, making sure that its $4.1 million dollar investment during the 07/08 election cycle is paying off. These are good times for the personal injury lobby. They delivered nationally for Barack Obama and Congress and they even had a pretty decent year in California. Their ship has come in and the first thing the President did for them was to sign the Ledbetter legislation into law.
The Consumer Attorneys of California’s website states "special interest lobbyists are using the economic downturn as cover for passing their anti-consumer, anti-patient, anti-worker and anti environmental agendas. Lobby Day is our opportunity for Consumer Attorneys to unite with one strong voice, reminding legislators why a fair legal system is so important and why we must fight to protect it." Give me a break. Was this written by Erin Brockovich?