Free Republic

SACRAMENTO – With scattered rationing punishing cities and farms statewide, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein Thursday jointly unveiled a $9.3 billion water bond proposal, convinced that fears over prolonged shortages and environmental collapse in the vital Sacramento delta will be enough to overcome resistance to building dams and a north-to-south delivery canal. Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and Feinstein, a Democrat, plan to aggressively push lawmakers to approve taking the bond measure to voters in November. The plan still faces tough odds. The ballot is already crowded with controversial initiatives addressing same-sex marriage, abortions for minors and caged farm...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will propose borrowing against future state lottery revenue to help close a $15.2 billion budget deficit in the next fiscal year. Administration officials told The Associated Press that the governor on Wednesday will propose raising $15 billion over the next three years by selling bonds based on anticipated lottery revenues and using about $5.1 billion in the 2008-08 fiscal year to help erase the deficit. The other $10 billion would be left in a rainy day fund the governor wants to create as part of a budget reform proposal to ease the effect of...

Jefferson exit spurs new rulesBy Josephine Hearn Several House Democrats have proposed significant changes to their party’s caucus rules, with at least two of the changes prompted by internal caucus controversy over the recent ouster of a caucus member from the Ways and Means Committee. Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) has written a proposal to handle situations in which leaders may seek to revoke a lawmaker’s committee assignment while he or she faces government investigation. Butterfield and others were upset that Democratic leaders ousted Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) from the committee while he faces a federal corruption probe. The proposal would...

EU to propose 'bold' Iran package Solana says Iran will find it hard to refuse the "generous" EU package The EU is preparing a new package of measures that it hopes will convince Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions, top EU diplomat Javier Solana has said. The "bold" package would include economic, nuclear, and possibly security guarantees, Mr Solana said. The incentives would be difficult for Tehran to refuse if what it really wanted was nuclear energy, he said. EU foreign ministers are meeting in Brussels, partly for discussions on Iran's nuclear programme. The EU and the United States fear...

SACRAMENTO - Frustrated by the federal government's inability to stop the flow of illegal immigration, the state's Republican lawmakers are attempting to put the squeeze on millions of undocumented workers, students and parents in ways unseen since the movement that led to Proposition 187 more than a decade ago. Assembly and Senate Republicans have proposed 25 measures this legislative session that would restrict illegal immigrants' access to college, block state-funded benefits and encourage police officers to act as immigration agents. Some of the measures will be vetted at committee hearings in the coming weeks and it's almost certain that most...

HILLSBORO, N.D. - It's the thought that counts when it comes to a marriage proposal. ADVERTISEMENT Chris Mueller, 25, was nearly finished etching the big question into a harvested soybean field when he realized the 'm' in 'marry' took up too much room. Since he couldn't erase a plowed field, he had a decision to make. "I figured it would look better to spell it wrong and get a laugh out of it, rather than botch it all," Mueller told the Grand Forks Herald. "I could have fit all the letters in, but it would have looked tacky." Instead, it...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United Nations reacted warily Wednesday to a bill proposed by two U.S. Senators that gives the United States the right - but not the requirement - to withhold dues if the United Nations doesn't enact wide-ranging reforms. The bill, which was introduced Tuesday, got a better reception than a House measure, which requires the dues withholding if there are no reforms. Yet even the latest threat was enough to make the United Nations wary. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric called it a "tough piece of legislation." "Any such withholding would only hamper attempt to make the organization...

To prove his love, a 38-year-old man set himself on fire before getting down on one knee and asking his girlfriend to marry him. About 100 people gathered to watch Todd Grannis perform the flaming stunt on Monday, which involved wearing a cape soaked in gasoline. Grannis climbed up a 10-foot scaffold, was set on fire and then plunged into a swimming pool, dousing the blaze. Emerging unscathed, he got down on one knee and proposed, as a friend standing nearby slipped him the engagement ring. "Honey, you make me hot," he told his sweetheart, Malissa Kusiek. "I hope I'm...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Setting the stage for a bitter summer budget fight, Assembly Democrats on Tuesday proposed adding $3.1 billion to schools and paying for it with an income tax hike on the state's top earners. The proposal puts Democrats at odds with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been locked in a fight with educators since January over the amount of money due schools. The governor also has vowed to balance the state's budget without raising taxes. Schwarzenegger has proposed an increase of $3 billion in school funding over last year. But the state's powerful education lobby claims public schools...

MEXICO CITY (AP) - Mexican lawmakers have proposed a bill to stop Mexicans from traveling to dangerous border areas, a measure some say is needed to save lives but others say violates the right of free movement and bows to U.S. interests. For decades, Mexico has said its constitution prevents it from stopping its own citizens from migrating illegally to the United States. But the proposal challenges that tradition in a country that both relies on and regrets migration, that mourns migrant deaths but does little to prevent them. Promoted as a humanitarian measure rather than a move to restrict...

WASHINGTON - House Republicans will propose tacking about $1.8 billion in extra defense spending onto the $81.9 billion package President Bush (news - web sites) wants for the wars in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites), according to data obtained by The Associated Press. At the same time, GOP lawmakers will propose cutting about $2 billion from the State Department and foreign aid portion of the measure, including some Afghan reconstruction aid, said a congressional aide familiar with the emerging bill. The measure also includes disaster-relief aid for Indian Ocean countries hit by last December's...

If the San Jose City Council votes today to censure fellow council member Terry Gregory, Mayor Ron Gonzales is proposing to strip Gregory of most of his official duties, saying Gregory would no longer be fit to represent the city at large and no longer trustworthy with taxpayer money. Pending a vote for censure, Gonzales said Thursday that he would direct city officials to not allow any expenditures or reimbursements for travel by Gregory. And he said that next month, he would further penalize Gregory by recommending he not be assigned to any standing council committees, not serve as a...

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Group to Propose New High-Speed Wireless Format Thu Aug 12,12:46 PM ET LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A group of technology companies including Texas Instruments Inc. (NYSE:TXN), STMicroelectronics (STM.PA) and Broadcom Corp. (Nasdaq:BRCM), on Thursday said they will propose a new wireless networking standard up to 10 times the speed of the current generation. The group says they are submitting a plan for a new standard for a popular short range wireless networking technology known as Wi-Fi -- which is used in airports, hotels and coffee shops to access the Web without wires. The group, calling itself "WWiSE," said their version...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Three Capitol Hill legislators proposed a sweeping amnesty for between eight million and 12 million undocumented immigrants who live, work and pay taxes in the United States. The measure would ease family reunions, create two types of temporary work visas and offer a path to permanent legal residency and eventually citizenship for those who opt to live in the country. According to the National Council of La Raza, a leading defender of Hispanic rights in the United States, the measure "would fix our broken immigration system." The measure "is incredibly important to the Latino community, many of...

ASHINGTON, March 25 — Responding to widespread anxiety about the movement of American jobs overseas, Senator John Kerry plans to propose on Friday a sweeping revision of international corporate taxes intended to prompt companies to invest more money in the United States. Aides said Mr. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, would also challenge President Bush by saying his administration would spawn 10 million additional jobs over four years. Democrats often point out that more than two million jobs have been lost since Mr. Bush became president. In a speech he is scheduled to deliver at Wayne State University in...

<p>President Bush (news - web sites) will propose immigration law changes to allow workers from Mexico to enter the United States if they have jobs waiting for them, officials said Monday in previewing an election-year measure intended to bolster support among Hispanic voters.</p>

<p>In hopes of breaking a budget impasse, Senate Republicans on Thursday said they will propose a flood of spending cuts in coming days and demand that Democrats debate their merits on the Senate floor.</p> <p>Word of plans to introduce dozens of budget amendments, likely on Monday, came as budget negotiations remained at a standstill and the days dwindled leading up to a new fiscal year next Tuesday.</p>