Free Republic

An extra €11.2 billion ($14.4 billion) is needed to cover unpaid bills from the EU budget, the European Commission said on Wednesday (March 27). Budget commissioner Janusz Lewandowski said he tabled the amending budget in a bid to plug gaps in the 2012 and 2013 spending plans. The request for cash “cannot come as a surprise,” he said, adding that earlier postponement of payments had created a “snowballing effect of unpaid claims transferred onto the following year.” …

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hard-times budget proposal to balance the state’s books hinders California’s efforts to curb global warming and weakens the state’s principal environmental law, environmentalists contend. Fears of an economic meltdown appear to be driving the shift, which conflicts with the governor’s public image as a warrior to curb greenhouse gases. “He seems to be panicked. Instead of moving ahead calmly and deliberately, he is throwing possible solutions out there, giving a sense that he is spooked by the economy. There is a sense of panic, and I think it’s out of character,” said Gary Patton, general counsel of...

SACRAMENTO – Barely a month after lawmakers passed an overdue state budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will call them back to Sacramento to tackle California's worsening economy and revenues that already are $3 billion lower than expected. The administration said the special legislative session will work on two levels, addressing the shortfall in this year's budget and debating how to stimulate California's economy. During a news conference Tuesday in Southern California, Schwarzenegger said state government should try to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure and put billions of dollars in voter-approved infrastructure bonds to use. “I think it is the best thing...

Los Angeles (AP) -- Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is making plans to lay off city workers to help close a looming budget gap. The mayor's office said Wednesday that the layoffs are expected to come after July 1. The mayor's office did not say how many of the city's approximately 40,000 workers would be cut loose to help close a spending hole as big as $500 million.

Texans are generally gung-ho for law and order. They support the death penalty for capital crimes and tough prison sentences meted out to drug users and multiple offenders. That enthusiasm doesn't seem to extend to automated traffic enforcement systems that can videotape cars zooming through red lights and then mail tickets to the vehicle owner later. It's the rare Houston motorist who hasn't narrowly escaped being struck by an impatient driver trying to beat a red light. Police officers joke that Houstonians believe a red light means only three more cars can go through the intersection. Places of business as...

<p>It's a new year, with a new governor and a statewide election looming, but the California Legislature reconvened at the Capitol on Monday with the same gigantic headache: massive debt.</p> <p>Many of the same money woes remain on the table, largely unresolved by last year's marathon of political infighting, accusations, finger-pointing and the first gubernatorial recall in state history.</p>