The U.S. economy is suffering under crippling deficits, massive debt, and record unemployment. The country needs fresh ideas, novel solutions, and unorthodox measures to stimulate job growth, pay down debt, and balance its budget. Independents will be watching for policy proposals and candidates, who think outside the box, can make the tough decisions, and challenge the status quo when it comes to leading the economy out of a recession.
California continues to struggle economically even as other states may be starting to slightly recover. Sure, these are tough times, but Bill Watkins at Newgeography says California’s problems are made worse by DURT: Delay, Uncertainty, Regulation, and Taxes.
As congressional leaders cut an 11th hour bipartisan deal to avert a government shutdown last week, recent figures from the Pew Center for the People and Press show that President Obama suffers a lack of support from independents regarding the resuscitation of the U.S. economy.
The federal Central Valley Project (CVP) will be delivering more water to farmers this spring thanks to a wet March. Farmers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta should receive 65 percent of contract water supplies according to the Bureau of Reclamation. This is a 10 percent increase from the Bureau’s March 22nd projection.
Unbelievable as it may seem, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), the sixth largest public pension fund in the country, now has a pension shortfall of $56 billion, up $15.5 billion from last fiscal year. That’s an increase of almost 25% in one year.
Today, Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) will be unveiling the establishment GOP’s ten-year plan to make $6 trillion in spending cuts. Critics are already calling the proposal “radical,” but Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) said last month that the Republicans’ ten-year budget plan will actually do very little to meaningfully address the out-of-control spending in Washington.
Not only are there no good options for passing a budget before the money runs out, there aren’t even any bad options. As too often happens, negotiations and machinations over the budget could go on for many more months before an agreement is reached.
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Half Moon Bay has joined the growing list of California cities that have abolished their municipal police forces in order to fill gaping budget gaps.
Last year, we took notice when Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) returned $100,000 of his Congressional office budget to the United States Treasury. CAIVN editor and contributing author Ryan Jaroncyk wrote:
Gov. Brown’s plan to have a special election in June to ask voters to extend a tax hike and approve a draconian budget now appears unlikely to occur. Special ballot measures like these either require approval by the legislature or signatures from voters.
The cornerstone of any local food economy is the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. These organizations connect consumers directly to farmers. They allow the consumer to purchase shares in a farm’s produce and provide the farmer with the security of knowing they have a stable, local market.
