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Say NO to Cuts

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JPMorgan, Lehman, UBS Named in Bid-Rigging Conspiracy

March 26 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and UBS AG were among more than a dozen Wall Street firms involved in a conspiracy to pay below-market interest rates to U.S. state and local governments on investments, according to documents filed in a U.S. Justice Department criminal antitrust case.

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None of the firms or individuals named on the list has been charged with wrongdoing. The court records mark the first time these companies have been identified as co-conspirators. They provide the broadest look yet at alleged collusion in the $2.8 trillion municipal securities market that the government says delivered profits to Wall Street at taxpayers’ expense

I'm moving this paragraph to the top to summarize what he's doing

The Attorney General's wording uses the word "taxes" four times, associated with the words "raise" and "increase". It includes the conservative language "spending and tax increases," usually used to vilify liberals. His title and summary raises voters' fears that their taxes could be raised. It replaces the intent of the initiative to promote democracy via majority vote by a purported but untrue intent to raise taxes on individual voters.

Brown v. Democracy

By George Lakoff UC Berkeley

With the California Financial Crisis at stake, the impartiality of the California Attorney General has come under scrutiny.

Proponents of the California Democracy Act, a ballot initiative that would restore a majority vote for revenue and budget in the legislature, are asking Jerry Brown, the Attorney General, for a new title and summary. An exhaustive poll has shown that Brown's title and summary changed the meaning and intent of the proposed initiative by one of the largest margins ever seen in a poll.

I don't know if there's a description for doing this with bonds, but, it sure looks as though what they did was a sort 'naked short sell.' Watch the video for a description and example of how it works

What they did, was play off the state of California's budget woes to sell derivatives (bets) to their other clients that California was a credit risk (I wonder if any obstructionist Republican legislators invested in those derivatives?). They took brokerage fees (millions of dollars?) from the state of California on the one hand and sold the state short on the other; the banks didn't own the bonds, or borrow them, but they made $12.4 Million from a deal that just happened (wink, wink) to fall through last Oct.. More below ...

Five UC students protesting budget cuts are arrested at Capitol
By Laurel Rosenhall - lrosenhall@sacbee.com
Published: Monday, Mar. 1, 2010 - 11:43 am
Last Modified: Monday, Mar. 1, 2010 - 4:58 pm

Five University of California students have been arrested in the state Capitol for disrupting state business and demonstrating without a permit, according to the California Highway Patrol.

They're among about 100 who had gathered outside the office of Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Yuba City, to protest state budget cuts in higher education. CHP Sgt. Steve Stone said officers asked the large crowd to disperse, and most students did.

I think #7 is the most important

Ten New Year’s Resolutions for a Fiscally Responsible California

I’m a big believer in New Year’s resolutions. I have one list for home, one for work, and a separate list for my favorite hobby. In honor of the new decade, here’s another list: one aimed at setting the state on a fiscally responsible path for the year ahead.

How To Close The Budget Gap In Ten Steps

Ending Minority Rule in California: One Sentence Can Do It
George Lakoff - Author and Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics at UC Berkeley

California is in deep trouble because it has a dysfunctional system of government. Much of the problem can be change by one sentence.

I have sent to the attorney general a ballot proposition for the 2010 ballot called The California Democracy Act, the content of which is the following: All legislative action on revenue and budget must be determined by a majority vote.

It would change two words in the Constitution, turning "two-thirds" to "majority" in two places. It is simple, understandable and it is about democracy.

Watch "California Closed" and then help stop the horrific budget deal that prioritizes oil company profits over children and the disabled
Tell California legislators to save lives and tax oil companies

Secret DMV Office

A so-called secret California Department of Motor Vehicles office should shut down to save cash and restore taxpayers’ trust, according to a taxpayer group. The office in question is No. 121, and is located across the street from the state Capitol inside 1020 N. Street.

The groups are upset because the taxpayer-funded office is not open to the public. However, it is open to state lawmakers and their staff to conduct personal DMV business, according to a KCRA 3 investigation. “Quite frankly, it looks like something they are trying to hide from the taxpayers,” Common Cause spokesman Derek Cressman said.

The office is tucked away at the end of a very long hallway. It has no sign and it isn’t listed on the building directory. But it does have a security peephole. Dennis Clear from the DMV said the main purpose for the office isn’t for personal business, but to educate and help lawmakers and staff with new DMV legislation or complaints. “I agree, we do not want to create the impression that this is a secret office,” Clear said.

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