House approves oil spill legislation
Posted in News, Politics, economy, what on July 31st, 2010 by admin – Comments Off
In its most sweeping response to the gulf oil spill, the House on Friday approved legislation that would impose new environmental safeguards for offshore drilling, remove a liability cap for spill damages, and slap industry with a new tax to fund conservation projects nationwide.
The Democratic-drafted legislation passed on a largely party-line 209-193 vote but faces trouble in the deeply divided Senate.
“The Deepwater Horizon explosion and the subsequent damage that has occurred over the past 102 days is indeed a game-changer,” said Nick J. Rahall II (D-W.Va.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.
Barbara Boxer strikes familiar theme and touts value of incumbents
Posted in News, economy, what on July 8th, 2010 by admin – Comments OffAs she campaigns for a fourth term in the U.S. Senate, Barbara Boxer faces a dual challenge — fending off the aggressive blows of a well-funded opponent while defusing voters’ impatience with the pace of the economic recovery and Democratic programs that have yet to have a direct impact on many voters’ lives.
To that end, Boxer this week returned to her theme in past campaigns, that she is a fighter “in the corner” of struggling Californians. At the same time, the Democrat argued that despite voters’ disgust with elected leaders in Washington, there is actually some value to having a long-term incumbent in office.
For months, her Republican opponent Carly Fiorina has contended that Boxer is a “failed senator” with little to show for her time in the Senate. Fiorina’s supporters tailed Boxer on Wednesday with signs bearing that message, and her spokeswoman, Julie Soderlund, kept up the criticism by accusing Boxer of trying to “rewrite the facts about her record and pretend she has actually accomplished something for the people of California.”
California welfare cards can be used in many casino ATMs
Posted in News, gaming on June 24th, 2010 by admin – Comments Off
California welfare recipients are able to use state-issued debit cards to withdraw cash on gaming floors in more than half of the casinos in the state, a Los Angeles Times review of records found.
The cards, provided by the Department of Social Services to help recipients feed and clothe their families, work in automated teller machines at 32 of 58 tribal casinos and 47 of 90 state-licensed poker rooms, the review found.
State officials said Wednesday they were working to determine how much money had been withdrawn from casino ATMs by people using the welfare debit cards.
