Jobless Don't Qualify for Aid

Photo: Patrick Sabey, 4, and his mother, Caroline, who recently lost her job, make lunch at their Oak Park apartment.

The Los Angeles Times follows the story of single mother as she struggles financially to support herself and her son. She worked at a $55,000-a-year job and was laid off in February. She now has to resort to other means to gain money, seeing the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services. Middle income families across the Unites States are facing similar challenges and are struggling for aid. Many of these families are discovering that because of their status and how much money they made they do not qualify for aid because the program is intended for families that are really poor and if anything puts them at a disadvantage. Food stamp denials went up 14%, general relief denials went up 10%, and Medi-Cal denials went up 7%.

Today, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, state finance officials are accounting whether California will receive enough federal funds to avoid a $3 billion in tax increases. Whether or not California will get relief is undecided until tomorrow. The state, however, will go ahead with a $1.8 billion personal income tax increase as well as a $1 billion cuts to health care, human services, public university systems and state courts.

The San Diego Tribune informs that the San Diego county is experiencing tough times due to the economy. Its unemployment went up from 8.7% to 8.8% and will continue to go up as more and more people lose their jobs. "The sectors losing the most jobs included construction, down 10,100 jobs; retail, 8,600; administrative and support services, 5,700; manufacturing, 5,200; wholesale, 3,400; leisure and hospitality, 2,900; and finance, 2,500."

Ivan Lopez

US Stimulus is the Road to Hell

Today, the head of the European Union slammed President Obama's plan to spend nearly $2 trillion to push the U.S. economy out of recession as "the road to hell" that EU governments must avoid. The San Francisco Chronicle followed the story and went over how other European countries reacted to the comments made. President Obama is said to visit Europe next week to thrash out reforms to the global financial situation. The United States is concentrating its efforts on economic stimulus and and plans to spend heavily to try and lift itself out of the recession with a $787 plan of tax rebates, health and welfare benefits, and extra energy and infrastructure spending. The plan also includes spending $1 trillion on the banks' "toxic assets" in order to get the banks to loan money again.

The LA Times explains the plan from Obama's Administration presented by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner. He told Congress on Tuesday that the government neededed broad new powers to seize and dismantle large financial institutions that would seriously damage the economy if it were to collapse. The plan would give AIG money to prevent it from going bankrupt because it is such a big insurer.

On another note San Diego Tribune focuses on the increasing levels of unemployment. California's unemployment rate will soar to between 12 to 15 percent by next spring and remain until at least the beginning on 2012. A directory of UCSB forecasted that "this will be a nasty recession, but not a depression, although the possibility that we could get to a depression has increased." It is also predicted that the economy will worsen regardless of Obama's plan to keep or create new jobs for another two years.

Photo: Timothy Geithner, U.S. treasury secretary, left, and Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, look over papers before a House Financial Services Committee hearing.

Ivan Lopez

Bank Rescue Plan

Due to the economy many big companies have done what is only the next step to save money. Begin giving out pink slips to workers informing them that they will be laid-off. The San Francisco Chronicle stated that General Motors corporation is shrinking its workforce so it can be profitable at lower sale levels. 160 of its workers will be laid off beginning April and plans to cut 18,000 more of its workers by the end of the year.

In the Los Angeles Times goes over how the Obama Administration came up with a plan to fix the core problem to the financial crisis. Treasurer Secretary Timothy F. Geithner explained the administration's plan which is to invest alongside private firms to buy as much as $1 million of the troubled assets clogging the balance sheets of financial institutions. This plan is said to boost available funding for al kinds of loans that the bank provides. As of now there is a $700-billion financial-system rescue fund but Obama included in his budget that he hopes to request for another $750 billion in 2010.

The San Diego Tribune further explains the Obama Administration's plan in fixing the financial problem. The plan will liberate banks from bad home loans and mortgage-related securities. This new plan has shown some improvement as the Dow Jones industrial average ended the day up 500 points.

Photo: President Obama -- flanked by, from left, Lawrence H. Summers, chairman of the National Economic Council; Christina Romer, head of the Council of Economic Advisors; Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner; and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke -- speaks after an economic briefing in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.

Ivan Lopez

Southern California average median home drops 39 percent

With spring season just around the corner the housing market gets ready for what they believe will bring buyers back into the market. According to the Los Angeles Times, “Home prices in Southern California held steady in February for the first time in nearly a year...” This in relationship to the average median home price in Southern California dropped 39 percent. In the San Diego Union Tribune, “The price in a six-county region of Southern California plunged to $250,000 last month, compared to $408,000 in February of 2008...” Homes at a cheaper price give bargain hunting buyers the chance of buying homes at higher end communities. However in the San Francisco Chronicle argues that higher end communities have been lagging to sell as do in lower end communities as a result lower end communities need to start selling before anything else can.

Photo: Associated Press

Is Our Budget Being Spent Wisely?

Within the last few days, lawmakers have created new tax and fee measures that will help California deal with the current budget crisis. However, imposing new taxes appears to be just the beginning of what Californians should expect. Programs like Health care will suffer even more budget cuts, living thousands without adequate health coverage. According to the San Diego Union Tribune, “As the financial crisis takes a toll on local health systems and job losses spike the number of uninsured, health providers are finding it increasingly difficult to meet the needs of those they serve.” Yet, while those who deserve proper health care and being neglected for the government is putting some money into the care system provided at state prisons. In the San Francisco Chronicle, Paul Mello, a lawyer for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the following statement, “California is "putting its money where its mouth is... spending $14,000 per inmate on health care each year - more than any other state - and more than $2 billion overall.” Somehow, health care for prisoners results in a better offer than the lives of those who have harm no one.

Photo: Graciela Barrios gets ready to check her blood sugar at her home in Sacramento. Barrios is an undocumented immigrant that relies on her county health clinic for the tests and medication for her diabetes and may lose this help due to budget-related cuts to county health care services. (AP Photo/Steve Yeater)

Are New Taxes Enough To Save California?

A month later after legislators passed a $12 billion tax increase to help overpass the $41 billion budget deficit; Democratic lawmakers are now proposing more tax and fee measures that could help even out the devastating cuts to state programs. Under the new proposals, plastic bags will include a 25 cent fee; 50 cents per ounce on marijuana, tax on alcohol and pornography. In the Los Angeles Times, “beverages such as Smirnoff Ice are supposed to be taxed as liquor”. However manufactures are changing their recipes to continue being held without tax. This move was to make about $38 million in annual revenue for the state. With fire season approaching, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans on even raising property insurance to 2.8 percent annually. According to the San Diego Union Tribune, this measure will generate 28 dollars per homeowner annually. All these new fees and taxes are to help California’s educational system which according to Assemblyman Curren Price in the San Francisco Chronicle, “should be our main priority ... we frequently are shipping funds away from education”. Imposing new taxes will generate California more money annually but leave its people bankrupt.

Looming $8 Billion Deficit

photo: Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor displays a copy of his office's overview of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed 2009-10 state budget during a news conference in Sacramento Jan. 8. (Rich Pedroncelli / AP)

Today, three weeks after Governor Schwarzenegger and California lawmakers passed the proposed budget that would repair state’s deficit, budget analysts predict that the budget will be insufficient. Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor stated in The San Francisco Chronicle that “California's economy in is such bad shape…residents' combined personal income will be lower this year than it was last year, leading to fewer tax dollars for state coffers”. Taylor was mentioned in The San Diego Union-Tribune saying that the budget “appeared to close a $42 billion deficit, revenue already has fallen well below projections, creating a new $8 billion budget gap”. The Los Angeles Times quoted Taylor saying that the deficit could be worse if three of the six ballot measures are not passed. This budget relies heavily on taxes and borrowing money from state operations. It appears that these three publications reported the story in very similar if not identical manners. Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor was cited in the three stories and each story highlighted taxes, borrowing money and the probability of this budget’s failure.

K.A.L.