Industrial polluters from outside of California, including Koch Industries, are stepping up the pressure to kill AB 32, California's landmark climate change law, by flooding millions of dollars into the campaign set to derail the landmark legislation.

Some sort of Medicare-for-all program remains the only equitable way that every American can be provided with adequate and affordable coverage. This wouldn't be socialized medicine and it wouldn't be state-run healthcare.

A company owned by oil billionaires Charles and David Koch has contributed $1 million to Proposition 23, a November ballot initiative to suspend California's groundbreaking 2006 global-warming law.

Senate Bill 797, a proposal to ban BPA - bisphenol A - in baby bottles and sippy cups that was supported by labor and environmental groups but opposed by the American Chemistry Council and a coalition of business groups. The bill died by two votes in the Senate.

Five out of nine members of a scientific panel that advises the state on toxic chemicals have been fired in recent weeks, following disputes with the chemical industry and a conservative group that targets environmental laws.

A November ballot initiative to implement a two-thirds majority vote requirement on all new fees imposed by the state took in a big chunk of change from some not-so-small businesses - including big tobacco and alcohol interests.

Putting a white hat on a November ballot measure funded almost exclusively by big oil, tobacco, and alcohol companies is no easy task, but the Yes on Proposition 26 campaign found a way. If approved by voters, the measure would make it much tougher for state or local government to collect industry-specific mitigation fees on business activities that cause harm to the environment or public health.

What will it take to protect the nation's food supply? Apparently the recall of a half billion eggs and 1,500-and-counting cases of salmonella. Add in the scofflaw conduct of a major egg producer and a slow moving federal bureaucracy. The sum total may finally spur action.

In an effort to tackle national obesity, the FDA's draft guidelines require any businesses with more than 20 locations to post the calorie information in the same size type as the menu item or price.

The most important vote Californians cast in November may not be in the governor's race but on Proposition 23, the measure to suspend the state's landmark global warming law. The initiative would devastate efforts to create a vibrant clean-energy sector and have a disastrous impact on the state's economy.

The subprime-driven foreclosure crisis has been disastrous for some minority communities, and its ripple effects have brought economic calamity to much of the country. As federal officials develop regulations to govern the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, they must invest it with the authority to prevent such abuses in the future.

Bankrolled by a couple of Texas oil companies that operate large refineries in California and are among the state's biggest polluters (and greenhouse gas emitters), Proposition 23 is designed to gut AB 32. If it passes, it would halt implementation of AB 32's mandate until California's unemployment rate falls below 5.5 percent.

Overall, the repayment rates at these for-profit schools was only 36% in fiscal 2009, according to an analysis of the data conducted by the Institute for College Access and Success, a student-advocacy group. By comparison, the repayment rate at private nonprofit schools was 56%, the group found. At public state colleges and universities, the rate was 54%.

A November ballot measure that would suspend California's landmark global-warming law could also end up rolling back some of the state's other sweeping environmental standards -- including rules that require utilities to generate a third of their electricity from renewable sources and programs requiring oil refineries to make cleaner-burning fuels.

"It shouldn't matter if you're buying or renting - the car should be safe," said Rosemary Shahan of Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, based in Sacramento. "There should be a uniform standard." The group has approached State Sen. Ellen Corbett, D-San Leandro, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, to propose a bill to require repairs of rental cars in California if there is a safety recall.

But you have to wonder: How much could it really cost to digitally record some value on the magnetic strip of a piece of plastic? A few taps on the keyboard, a swipe through the machine — that's a few bucks' worth of service?

Wells Fargo garnered more than $1.4 billion in overdraft fees just in California from 2005 to 2007, according to court documents. Nationwide, banks and credit unions collected almost $24 billion in overdraft fees in 2008, according to the Center for Responsible Lending.

...Sacramento has little control over health care rates, largely because industry lobbyists have killed efforts to change a rules-free marketplace....health insurance interests have given $800,218 over the last three years to members of the state Senate, where showdown votes on insurance controls are due this month.

Two of the worst toxic polluters in the state are also the two largest contributors of the campaign for Proposition 23, the ballot initiative that would stall the state's landmark climate legislation.

Public interest and consumer groups didn't feel like they had much of a say in the commission's discussions, and they surely won't feel like they had much of a say in whatever proposal Google and Verizon bring to the table. This is a huge problem - the future of the Internet belongs to the public, not just a few companies.

The business lobby has long wanted to make it harder for the government to charge fees on their products and services; oil, tobacco and alcohol interests have largely funded the Proposition 26 campaign thus far.

Oropeza wants to expand the credit card ban to include debit fees, which she contends amount to false advertising because they make the purchase price higher than the listed cost. The charges are harmful...in part because many government assistance programs - including veterans' and Social Security benefits - are often paid with debit cards.

...the Schwarzenegger administration opposed three bills that would have banned potentially-dangerous chemicals. In each case, the administration recommended that any chemical bans "be postponed until the Secretary of the Environmental Protection has developed a comprehensive set of recommendations pursuant to the Cal/EPA Green Chemistry Initiative."

Countrywide Financial Corp., which epitomized the home-loan industry's boom and bust, has agreed to pay $600 million in the largest settlement yet of shareholder lawsuits stemming from the mortgage meltdown.

Prop. 23, largely bankrolled by two Texas oil companies ( Valero and Tesoro) that operate refineries in California, would significantly hamper this state's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

...BPA [1], a toxic chemical found in many of the products we use every day, may still be a big part of your life. That's because massive amounts of BPA are found on many store receipts. And according to a recent study [2], BPA easily makes the transfer from receipt to skin, where it penetrates at such a deep level that it can't be washed off.

The LAO's nonpartisan analysis released last week revealed that Proposition 26 would nullify the "Gas Tax Swap" approved by the legislature in March, and eliminate about one billion dollars annually in anticipated revenues from the general fund for schools and other programs.

The driving force behind the initiative is the oil industry, which has contributed more than $2.3 million to getting it passed. The biggest single contributor is San Antonio-based Valero Energy ($1.05 million, according to the latest state campaign disclosures), with San Antonio-based Tesoro Corp. in second place with $525,000.

The tart tactic is in play by business interests and conservative ideologues against Proposition 25 on the November ballot. The initiative is sponsored by public employee unions and endorsed by the League of Women Voters.

It creates a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with a director appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate and independent rule-making and enforcement authority. Inexplicably, Congress chose to put it in the Federal Reserve; a truly stand-alone agency would have been preferable, particularly in the regulation of mortgage and credit card practices.

But there were immediate worries that the proposals do not go far enough to correct problems exposed this month by the newspaper probe, which documented a sharp increase in the percentage of sponsored bills, and the likelihood they will pass, since term limits took hold in the 1990s.

The legislators with the most sponsored bills collect the most contributions. Of the 14 legislators in the 2007-08 session who received $20,000 or more from private interest sponsors, 13 carried five or more private interest bills in that session.

A state Senate panel says the agency has largely turned its back on the telecom market since 2006. AT&T and Verizon control about 85% of the market, with prices for some services up as much as 600%.

...more recent studies have generated enough legitimate concerns for California to reconsider. The Legislature and Congress have enough new information to support proposed bans of its use in products for children younger than 3 years old.

In short, if servicers make errors or don't follow through on their modification programs, there's no accountability. That's why California lawmakers should pass and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should sign Senate Bill 1275.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein's insistence that a sweeping food safety bill include a ban on bisphenol A, a chemical widely used to line food cans, threatens a top White House priority. The California Democrat contends that any legislation aimed at protecting food safety should include limits on the compound, known as BPA.

Assemblyman Dave Jones...is trying to put a check on the double-digit premium increases of recent years with a bill that would require health insurers to justify their rates, similar to current rules for auto insurers.

Corporate taxes accounted for 15.4 percent of the general revenue collected by California in 1976. By 2014, after the breaks take hold, corporations would account for 9.4 percent of general tax collections, the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office says.

Having failed in its bid to hike premiums for individual health insurance policies up to 39%, Anthem Blue Cross announced this week a revised plan to raise them up to 20%. That's still a staggering percentage...

BPA has been linked with health problems such as infertility, autism, asthma, hyperactivity and breast cancer. In January, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reversed its long-held position that BPA posed no concern, calling for more studies of the artificial hormone that often is used in shatter-proof plastic baby bottles, sippy cups and linings of cans, including those containing baby formula.

Torrico and the other dozen nonvoters will have one last chance to redeem themselves when SB797 comes up for reconsideration today. For several years, the bulk of the independent evidence has suggested that these products pose a risk to young children - and the scientific case keeps growing stronger with each year.

Builders favor the inexpensive, light-weight plastic material for its ease of installation, but foes - including construction unions and environmentalists - believe at least one version of the plastic pipe leaches chemicals and poses a health threat.

...Senate Bill 1275 aims to curb foreclosures when "a loan modification or other alternative is a viable and economically desirable option for both the borrower and the holder of the loan."

It was the second time in as many months that the department uncovered flaws in calculations used by a major health insurer - intensifying calls by industry critics clamoring to give state regulators the authority to review rates before they are imposed on consumers.

The Kaiser Family Foundation, which conducted the research this spring, found that about three-fourths of the country's 14 million people who don't get group coverage, many of them self employed, faced premium increases to keep their coverage.

The efforts center around Senate Bill 797, a law that died in the Assembly last year but is expected to come up for a vote next week. It would ban the chemical Bisphenol A, known as "BPA," from baby bottles, sippy cups and the linings of liquid and powder baby formula containers.

...companies such as Google and Facebook may know more details about their personal interests than their families does. That's fine as long as users don't mind. But those who want to protect their privacy should be able to do so — easily.

The governor is asking the Legislature to take such draconian steps as eliminating CalWORKS, the state's principal family welfare program ...Meanwhile, corporate welfare programs such as tax breaks for some of our largest companies and "incentives" for our largest industries are to survive.

...consumers should know...that those emissions from various cell-phone models can range from 0.2 watts to the limit of 1.6 watts per kilogram. Consumers also should know that the FCC recommends that cell-phone users limit their exposure to these emissions by using hands-free devices.

In the wake of a series of privacy missteps by Google, Facebook and other companies, a growing chorus on Capitol Hill is calling for major online privacy legislation and Silicon Valley companies are girding for the battle.

...California voters rejected Proposition 16, a statewide ballot initiative that PG&E spent $46 million to promote. Outraged at that use of ratepayer revenues, state Sen. Mark Leno...announced legislation that would prohibit PG&E from using ratepayer funds for future political campaigns.

New federal rules, expected to be formally proposed in coming days, would tighten oversight of the industry. One...proposal would cut federal aid to for-profit schools...if graduates spend more than 8 percent of their starting salaries to repay loans.

PG&E and Mercury Insurance were in a contest to see which would stoop the lowest to buy a law through the ballot box. Voters saw through PG&E's $46 million spending spree on Prop 16 and Mercury Insurance's $16 million contribution to Prop 17.

The bills approved in the Legislature this week would prohibit health insurers from denying coverage because of a preexisting condition, create an exchange through which individuals could buy health insurance, and extend maternity coverage to more women.

The Antioch Chamber of Commerce? PG&E gave it $27,000 last year. It has endorsed Proposition 16. The California State Conference NAACP? Alice Huffman, head of the organization, said PG&E gave $25,000 to its conference in 2009.

Prop 15 sets up a voluntary pilot program of public financing for the Office of Secretary of State. Handcock says over 80 percent of Connecticut's politicians have been elected with public financing.

(SB 1275) would bar a lender or loan servicing company from starting a foreclosure until after a modification application is denied. It's a modest change that wouldn't require lenders to change the terms of any loan modification effort.

A June 2008 study found that California's extensive number of small public power agencies provided cheaper electricity than the three major private utilities. Saving money is crucial to California business and residential users, who pay some of the highest electricity rates in the country, opponents of Proposition 16 contend.

A bill would let the state insurance commissioner review increases in health care rates, a super-heated topic in the wake of Anthem Blue Cross' bid to boost premiums by double-digit percentages for 800,000 Californians.

"When politicians have to run their campaigns on money from their special-interest donors that want something in return, the public, the taxpayers pay the price," said Trent Lange, chairman of Californians for Fair Elections, the Yes On 15 Campaign.

The initiative is a moderate approach, establishing a time-limited, narrowly focused experiment in public financing. We believe it deserves a chance. Vote Yes on Proposition 15!

Insurance oversight should be part of the health care picture. Putting the insurance commissioner in charge will ensure that increases are studied carefully and approved objectively, not by insurers alone.

...SMUD's publicly posted electricity rates for residential customers are 30 percent lower on average than PG&E's. On reliability, SMUD again tops PG&E...SMUD relied on renewable energy for 22.2 percent of retail sales...compared with just 14.4 percent for PG&E.

So what exactly makes a smart meter smart? Why are utilities across the country and around the world racing to install them? And what benefits are there for consumers?

Tesla Motors Inc., bolstered by a $50-million investment from Toyota Motor Corp., will start making electric cars next year at a recently closed plant in Northern California.

Backers of Proposition 15 say it would reduce the corrupting influence of special-interest money. Opponents say it would be a costly mistake, full of loopholes allowing politicians to continue benefiting from moneyed supporters.

It's ironic that Facebook initially branded itself as the "safe" choice for people who wanted to stay in touch...After an endless series of changes to its privacy policy very little about Facebook seems safe at all.

Supporters of Proposition 15 don't have much money to get their message out but think Meg Whitman and the U.S. Supreme Court have done a pretty good job for them.

It's not just the influence that big contributors have on public policy, it's also the impact that money has on the candidates' activities. They spend too much of their time seeking money...vote "yes" on Proposition 15.

The state researchers found that readmissions added $31 billion to the charges billed to Medicare, amounting to half of what the federal insurance program pays for all hospital admissions in California...accounting for 49 percent of Medi-Cal hospital costs, accounting for nearly $10 billion in expenditures.

A Sacramento bill, SB933 by Sen. Jenny Oropeza, a Long Beach Democrat, would bar the debit card surcharges. It's built on basic fairness: debit plastic should operate with the same rules faced by credit cards.

One of California's largest insurers has sunk upward of $10 million into ads and efforts supporting Proposition 17...in what consumer advocates are calling a "David and Goliath" battle that they say could affect consumers for years.

In California, Jones is pushing a bill that would extend Proposition 103 to health insurers. The proposition was ratified by voters in 1988 and allows the insurance commissioner to review auto and property insurance rates.

With California mired in a budget crisis, some lawmakers are eyeing revisions to Proposition 13, the state's landmark law limiting property-tax increases, considered the untouchable third rail of California politics.

California utility regulators Monday warned Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to stop using telephone and direct-mail tactics that could derail competition from the state's first nonprofit group to offer electric service.

Proposition 15 is a big step in the right direction. It spells the beginning of the end for big money in California politics. It's time to stop the dominance of wealthy candidates and donors and ensure that elections will be won, not bought.

...insurers will have to offset the expected revenue loss from the new discount by raising rates on the people who don't qualify for it...Proposition 17 is at least the fourth attempt by Mercury to undermine Proposition 103...and it's spending millions of dollars on the campaign...We urge a no vote...

SB1212, which is awaiting a full Senate vote, would require the listing of radiation levels at stores and on Web sites where phones are sold. Senators should help assure that consumers have this information when they compare phones.

"...PG&E's basic message has been 'We are 100 percent right, and our customers are 100 percent wrong,'" said Mark Toney...of...TURN. "Today they acknowledged some widespread technology problems, which is what they should have done in the first place."

The beauty of Proposition 15 is that it targets an office that should be well insulated from fundraising dependence on parties and interest groups. Californians have seen what can go wrong when the secretary of state is not an honest broker.

Proposition 15 frees up state and local governments to explore public funding of campaigns, and it authorizes a test case so we can see how it works. Big money has played an outsized role in politics (and, as a result, governance) for too long.

How much does it cost to buy an election in California? Northern California utility Pacific Gas & Electric aims to test that question with Proposition 16, the most odious piece of special-interest electioneering to come around in, oh, a year or so.

Candidates for office have to raise so much campaign money that they become beholden to the big-spending interests that fund them rather than to the voters who elect them. But there's an alternative.

Proposition 16 is the worst of the worst of the measures on the June ballot. This initiative would rewrite the state constitution to restrict municipal electric utilities from expanding service unless voters approved it by a two-thirds vote.

The bottom line of Prop. 16 could not be more apparent. If it passes, the beneficiary would be PG&E's bottom line. The regulated utility...would effectively shield itself from competition from local governments looking to go into the energy business.

The Mercury Insurance Group is promoting a ballot measure that would allow it to offer discounts to the vast majority of California drivers. What's wrong with this picture? Plenty, on closer inspection.

This is a special-interest initiative, pure and simple...It strains credibility to believe that a profit-making company such as Mercury...would spend $3.5 million to qualify and support an initiative simply to benefit consumers.

News last week that some of PG&E's SmartMeters do have a flaw - some of the wireless units fail to transmit use data, so the utility uses estimates to prepare the electric bill - continues to cast doubts on how PG&E is handling the rollout of the new Smart Grid technology.

Net neutrality...is the principle that any Internet service provider, such as your cable or phone company, should be largely blind to whatever data flow to your computer from the websites you access -- your service provider shouldn't interfere with your Web searches, say, by giving Google preferential routing (and thus faster speed to you) over Yahoo.

Mercury failed to correct information about accidents to charge consumers correctly...(and) routinely "barred from coverage people in certain occupations - bartender, liquor store owner, painter, cocktail waitress/waiter and artists who didn't meet additional underwriting standards that were not applied to people in other occupations."

Candidates spend so much time fundraising that they don't have time to talk to voters. Politicians become so beholden to contributors that they can't - or won't - do what's right for constituents. Proposition 15 is a pilot project that attempts to remove the corrupting influence of money in one race.

California energy regulators delivered a rare rebuke to Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on Thursday, banning some of the hardball tactics the utility has used in its efforts to derail Marin County's new public power agency.

If you're one of tens of thousands of Californians facing foreclosure or who has already lost a home, help may soon be on the way from Sacramento. Lawmakers are working on three proposals they say are aimed at about 87,000 Californians facing foreclosure and nearly 500,000 who received default notices last year.

Riled by the recent Supreme Court decision that removes caps on corporate contributions and the record cash in this year's governor race, supporters of the measure want public funds to be used for political campaigns in exchange for strict limits on candidate spending and fundraising.

The bill, co-authored by Sens. Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, would make lenders do more to modify loans before filing a notice of default, the first step in the foreclosure process.

Each clean money candidate would be able to spend far more time talking with voters than they do under the current broken system, which forces them to be constantly on the phone dialing for dollars.

The competition is on this year to see which company - Mercury Insurance or PG&E - is responsible for the worst abuse of California's initiative process...Mercury Insurance is doing its best...pumping $3.5 million into the campaign to convince voters that Proposition 17's change in insurance regulation is in their best interests.

...Hollywood director, producer and political activist Robert Greenwald - of "Outfoxed" fame - may have hit the sweet spot with his spoof ad on Prop. 17, the coming insurance ballot initiative backed largely by Mercury General Insurance.

The abandonment of the Nummi plant represents a grim departure from the spirit of "The Toyota Way" that transformed the old General Motors facility on 380 acres off Interstate 880 into a highly productive facility with a unionized workforce.

Proposition 15 authors spent years studying how the strengths and flaws of other states' systems would relate to a big state like California. What they've proposed will make government more accountable to people, not special interests.