Free Republic

When armed carjackers last month relieved state Senate Pro Tem Don Perata of his state-owned vehicle, it raised two eyebrows -- one for the brash daylight crime on a North Oakland street, the other for the flash of Perata's ride. While more lawmakers are going hybrid-green, the Capitol's most powerful Democrat was rolling candy-apple red in a $38,600 Dodge Charger with 22-inch rims, yo. Turns out Perata, D-Oakland, was far from alone among state lawmakers -- and not even in the top 10 -- in his taste for gas-slurping automotive luxury at mostly taxpayer expense. More than half the senators...

WASHINGTON - Two U.S. lawmakers scheduled to meet Thursday with former Pakastani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and President Pervez Musharraf were advised to leave the country after Bhutto's assassination. Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said in a telephone interview from his Islamabad hotel room that he and Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., were to dine with Musharraf and meet later in the night with Bhutto. He said he heard about the attack on Bhutto as he was dressing for the dinner with Musharraf. "Our foreign policy had relied on her presence as a stabilizing force," Specter said, emotionally describing her death as...

AUSTIN -- House Speaker Tom Craddick has asked lawmakers to review the Texas Department of Transportation's multimillion-dollar ad campaign promoting toll roads and the Trans-Texas Corridor. Craddick, R-Midland, included a review of the Keep Texas Moving campaign on a list of topics that the House State Affairs Committee will study leading up to the 2009 legislative session. Craddick also asked the Appropriations Committee to review transportation spending over the past five years and study alternatives for funding future transportation needs. The transportation matters were among the "interim charges" that Craddick assigned last week. Other matters to be reviewed in advance...

DES MOINES, Iowa - Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson is endorsing a tough immigration measure being pushed by Iowa Congressman Steve King. Under King's measure, businesses would not get a tax deduction for wages paid to an illegal immigrant. King says Thompson's endorsement means he understands that Internal Revenue Service regulations can be as important as Homeland Security procedures in enforcing immigration laws. King, who represents western Iowa's 5th District, has been a vocal critic of the nation's immigration policies. The issue is an important one in the contest for the Republican presidential nomination, and King's call for tougher laws...

AUSTIN — Two state lawmakers are requesting formal inquiries into whether the Texas Department of Transportation is improperly spending money on advertising. Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, and Rep. Ken Paxton, R-McKinney, question whether an estimated $7 million to $9 million TxDOT is spending on its "Keep Texas Moving" campaign is a proper use of resources. The lawmakers have asked Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and House Speaker Tom Craddick look into the matter. Paxton said he is concerned that the transportation department is spending the money to argue its case before the public in response to lawmakers' questions about projects such...

That Southern charm may soften the appearance of the actor-senator’s hardened conservative views. Last month brough the moment in the presidential campaign I’d been dreading. The popular conservative from my home state, fellow Tennessean Fred Thompson, entered the Republican primary. The pundits and “insiders” have dismissed the actor and former senator even before he declared his candidacy on late-night TV. Some claim he’s a Hollywood lightweight, but I’ve heard that before (Ronald Reagan). Some dismiss him as a Southern simpleton, but I’ve heard that before (George W. Bush). And I’ve even heard some claim he has a wealth of sexual...

Department of Corrections: $2.078 billion in gross spending, compared to $1.940 billion enacted the previous year. Department of Labor and Economic Growth: $1.301 billion, compared to $1.231 billion enacted the previous year. Higher Education: $1.896 billion, compared to $1.787 billion enacted the previous year. Department of Community Health: $12.048 billion, compared to $11.196 billion enacted the previous year. Department of Human Services (Welfare): $4.588 billion — an increase of more than $80 million, plus 171 new employees.

Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.) woke up at 2:30 on Tuesday morning to see the hillside behind his house glowing with fire and flames shooting as high as 50 feet in the air. He then watched as the fire ran to the top of the ridge of the hill and raced back down the other side. McKeon, who returned to Washington on Tuesday afternoon, said in a phone interview that 25 structures had been destroyed and maybe 15,000 people evacuated from his district. According to Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger reported late Tuesday that 750 homes had been totally...

Sunday, 30 Sep 2007, 7:27 PM EDT LANSING, Mich. (AP) -- The hours ticked away Sunday as lawmakers struggled to reach a budget deal that would avert a partial shutdown of state government and the worst budget debacle since the payless paydays of 1959. The state House was stalled trying to put up the votes needed to change the way some teacher and state worker health benefits are handled. It had failed earlier Sunday afternoon to pass a measure that would place the state's 6 percent sales tax on a wide range of services, clearing the voting board without the...

A lawmaker said Tuesday he will press the government for the release of a black teenager held in the "Jena 6" case that spurred one of the biggest civil-rights demonstrations in years. Other activists said they planned more protests if the teen is not immediately pardoned. "Our first responsibility is to get young Mychal Bell out of prison," said Rep. John Conyers, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, who said he will pressure the Justice Department to take a hard look at "the miscarriages of justice that have occurred in Jena, Louisiana." Conyers spoke after he and several other...

FORT HUACHUCA — If some Army captains had their say, senior military officers would not be put in the position of having to testify before congressional committees, as Gen. David Petraeus did Monday and Tuesday before the House of Representatives and the Senate. After watching the general, commander of the Multi-National Force-Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker testify before the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, the consensus of the 16 captains attending the career course at the Intelligence Center at this Southern Arizona Army post was that the senators were talking and not wanting to...

And now for a message on global warming from your Georgia Legislature: Don't sweat it.

Members of Congress recently under scrutiny by federal authorities: ___ Senate Republicans: _Ted Stevens of Alaska, sixth term. Stevens is under a federal investigation for his relationship with Bill Allen, an oil field services contractor who was convicted this year of bribing state lawmakers. Agents from the FBI and Internal Revenue Service searched the senator's Alaska home on Monday. ___ House Republicans: _Don Young of Alaska, 18th term. Young is under federal investigation as part of an ongoing corruption probe, according to a federal law enforcement official. Part of the Young investigation involves his campaign finance practices. _John Doolittle of...

Legislative leaders on Thursday rushed to close a deal on the state's $140 billion spending plan before lawmakers' summer recess, which is supposed to begin Friday. While a final deal remained elusive, lawmakers met throughout the day and Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, called a floor session for 8:15 p.m. He was scheduled to brief Assembly Democrats on the status of budget negotiations immediately before the session. Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, scheduled a floor session for Friday night, and aides in his office said they did not expect a breakthrough Thursday. The four legislative leaders have...

SACRAMENTO -- A state Senate hearing not only confirmed Wednesday that the governor's administration purchased a fleet of alternative fuel vehicles that have yet to burn anything but gasoline, but lawmakers also suggested that the vehicles were purchased to benefit a specific automaker that has a cozy relationship with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: General Motors. Auto manufacturers and state officials confirmed that the contract specifications for the fleet purchases were dramatically changed two years ago in such a way that only GM cars met the requirements. "What they did was create a sole source contract," said Sen. Dean Florez, D-Bakersfield, who...

WASHINGTON - Republican and Democratic congressional leaders both forecast a change in President Bush's Iraq war policy as the president prepared to sign legislation Friday providing funds for military operations through Sept. 30. "I think the president's policy is going to begin to unravel now," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (news, bio, voting record), who described the just-passed measure as a disappointment because it did not force an end to U.S. participation in the conflict. At a separate news conference, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (news, bio, voting record) predicted a change, and said Bush would show the way. "I...

CRAWFORD, Texas (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Saturday acknowledged lawmakers' doubts about a U.S. immigration proposal, but argued it will help resolve the status of 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States. With the proposal taking fire from both Republicans and Democrats, the Senate is expected to begin debate on immigration next week. Bush used his weekly radio address to open what is likely to be an intense effort to persuade Americans to support the plan as the answer to long-simmering U.S. immigration problems. "It will help us resolve the status of millions of illegal immigrants...

WASHINGTON - Republican and Democratic senators huddled Thursday trying to close in on an immigration compromise to grant quick legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants while fortifying U.S. borders against new ones. A group of lawmakers that has been haggling over the terms of agreement for weeks were reviewing language negotiated Wednesday night to determine if there is a "deal or no deal." But two of the lead negotiators, Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., booked time for Thursday afternoon in the Senate's radio-TV gallery for an announcement. Kennedy earlier described Thursday...

HARTFORD — Legislative advocates for expanded gay rights withdrew a pending bill Friday that would have provided marriage rights for same-sex couples. The decision came in the afternoon, when lawmakers realized that while the bill might pass the Senate, there weren't enough votes in the House and Gov. M. Jodi Rell promised to veto it. The bill will die on the House calendar. On Monday, the state Supreme Court hears a challenge from gay-rights groups to the 2005 civil union law that provides civil-rights protections for same-sex couples. "We obviously asked leadership not to call the bill," said Rep. Michael...

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2007 – Legislators serving in the Iraqi Council of Representatives have accomplished much in the body’s first year of existence, but additional important and difficult decisions still need to be made, according to a Multinational Force Iraq statement. “The council’s most important work lies ahead of it,” officials said in a statement the command released yesterday. Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, who took command of the Baghdad-based command on Feb. 10, is the architect of the current surge of U.S. and Iraq forces into Baghdad and parts of western Iraq to tamp down insurgent violence and...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Legislators hoping to avoid a federal takeover of California's overcrowded prisons approved a $7.3 billion plan on Thursday to add beds and beef up rehabilitation programs. The bill, negotiated by Democratic and Republican leaders, passed unanimously in the Assembly but barely got the required two-thirds majority in the Senate with a 27-10 vote. The plan, which now goes to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, would add 53,000 beds for inmates, including 13,000 at county jails. It would also boost rehabilitation programs, including education and job training, and let the governor continue to transfer thousands of inmates out of state....

CONCORD, N.H. - New Hampshire lawmakers voted Thursday to authorize civil unions and sent the measure to Gov. John Lynch, who announced last week that he would sign it. "This legislation is a matter of conscience, fairness and of preventing discrimination," said Colin Manning, a spokesman for the Democratic governor. "It is in keeping with New Hampshire's proud tradition of preventing discrimination." Three other states already offer civil unions for gay couples: New Jersey, Connecticut and Vermont. Neighboring Massachusetts in 2004 became the only state to allow gay marriage. Unlike other states, there was no active court challenge to push...

Racing a court-imposed deadline, California's top legislative leaders on Wednesday said they had reached a wide-ranging, $6.1 billion deal to ease severe overcrowding in the nation's largest state prison system. The agreement adds 53,000 beds, requires improvements to rehabilitation programs and allows Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to continue his strategy of transferring thousands of inmates out of state. "The Legislature does not want a court takeover of the system ... but we will not blindly give a blank check and throw good money after bad," Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata said in letter to the...

After months of buildup, lawmakers may finally begin the debate this week on how to provide health coverage to an estimated 6.5 million uninsured Californians. Californians could learn more about the potential costs and details of Democratic leaders' competing bills, which are the most likely vehicles if major changes are to be enacted this year. But among all the weighty issues, the basic debate could come down to how much health coverage a person really needs. At the very least, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- whose own sweeping proposal has yet to be written into any bill -- would like to...

MADISON, Wis. — Beer lovers of Wisconsin, rejoice! You're a step closer to getting a free half-can of suds. Both chambers of the Legislature unanimously gave key approval Tuesday to allow grocery and liquor stores to hand out beer samples up to 6 ounces to a person of legal drinking age. "It's a good bill. It's a Wisconsin bill. It's a beer bill," said Republican Rep. Scott Newcomer one of the measure's main sponsors.

WASHINGTON -- The Democratic leaders of California's state legislature told congressional lawmakers Thursday that the nation should follow California's lead in acting to curb global warming emissions. "This wasn't easy to do in California, it was tough," Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, testified before a Senate committee hearing, saying Congress shouldn't wait for other countries to act. "If we wait for them to act and don't play a central role at the global level, as a nation there's a lot to lose," said Nunez. Nunez and state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata appeared before a hearing of the...

California politicians say they want an early presidential primary so the nation's most populous state can play a greater role in the nominating contest. But it's an open secret here that what they really want is to keep their jobs a little longer. The early election, which could scramble the dynamics of the presidential race, is the fulcrum of a complicated deal between Democratic leaders and Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that has nothing to do with presidential politics and everything to do with term limits on state lawmakers. Moving California's presidential primary from June to February next year would give...

Two campaign consultants with close ties to the Legislature and governor proposed a ballot initiative Thursday that would modify California's term limits and give some current lawmakers a shot at an additional four to six years in office. The measure, which supporters hope to put on the ballot in February, would let lawmakers serve up to 12 years, spending all their time in one house or splitting it between the two chambers. State law now limits lawmakers to six years in the Assembly and eight in the Senate. They can serve a total of 14 years with stints in both...

California lawmakers are poised to vote on legislation to counter a U.S. Supreme Court ruling invalidating the state's criminal sentencing law. Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero, the proposal's chief architect, said SB40 is set to go before the state Senate on Tuesday. Her announcement Thursday came a day after the California Supreme Court also weighed into the dispute and urged lawmakers to respond to the Jan. 22 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. At issue is a California law that currently demands that judges "shall" sentence inmates to the middle of three options unless factors, many that did not go...

Assembly Democrats convened this week for their annual policy retreat, choosing a luxury resort renowned for its world-class golf course in the heart of California's wine country. Republicans, meanwhile, are holding their annual policy retreat in more modest accommodations in a former Sierra Gold Rush town in Calaveras County. The Murphys Suites charges $95 a night and boasts a coin-operated laundry and a microwave in every room. Despite the differences in the locations this year, the annual caucus retreats regularly lead to questions about how they are funded and whether corporations and the wealthy are buying influence with state lawmakers....

WASHINGTON - Congressional leaders displayed eroding patience in the Iraqi government on Sunday, adding pressure on President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to find a faster path to peace when they meet this week. "It is not too late. The United States can still extricate itself honorably from an impending disaster in Iraq," Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel (news, bio, voting record) of Nebraska, a potential presidential contender in 2008, said in urging for a planned withdrawal of U.S. troops. "If the president fails to build a bipartisan foundation for an exit strategy, America will pay a high price...

WASHINGTON - More than 70 House lawmakers are urging the human rights group Amnesty International to reject a proposal that would end its neutral position on abortion and instead support the termination of pregnancies when women are victims of rape or other violence. "To in any way condone or support abortion, which many of your supporters believe is actually a human rights abuse, would significantly undermine Amnesty's reputation and effectiveness," 74 lawmakers, including Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio wrote in a letter to Amnesty International USA Executive Director Larry Cox. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., an opponent of abortion who...

With Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in Mexico on a high-profile trade mission, his chief of staff and a bipartisan delegation of state lawmakers quietly embarked Friday on a 12-day trip to South America to study alternative-energy technologies. Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, and high-ranking members of both the Senate and Assembly were accompanied by representatives of energy companies and others with lobbying interests in Sacramento. The trip will take the delegation to Argentina, Brazil and Chile. That includes a three-day break next weekend at a luxury hotel in Buenos Aires during which no work is...

WASHINGTON - A congressman who admitted to having an affair and a senator accused of using racial slurs will get some political help from President Bush next week. Bush will make campaign stops Thursday in Pennsylvania and Virginia to help the two troubled Republicans as the GOP struggles to maintain its endangered grip on the House and Senate. "The President has made a commitment, and he's going to fulfill the commitment," White House press secretary Tony Snow said Friday. Bush's appearances are intended to give a boost to four-term Rep. Don Sherwood (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., and Sen. George...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Lawmakers across party lines Tuesday endorsed the prime minister's new plan for stopping sectarian killings, but Shiite and Sunni leaders still must work out details of how to put aside sharp divisions and work together to halt the bloodshed. At least 33 people died in violence around Iraq, including a suicide attack on a fish market in Baghdad that killed three people and wounded 19. A bomber detonated a belt rigged with explosives in the outdoor market in the primarily Sunni area of Sadiyah in southwestern Baghdad, police Lt. Maitham Abdul Razzaq said. Meanwhile, the U.S. command...

GRAND RAPIDS -- Spectrum Health and Saint Mary's Health Care will require all their employees to not use tobacco at any time during their work shift beginning January 1. The staffs of both hospitals will need to arrive without smelling of smoke, and they can't use any tobacco products until they leave hospital property after their shift. Metro Health is also joining in the Smoke-Free Work Day Every Day campaign. In 2003, the Grand Rapids hospitals became the first in the country to jointly declare their hospital campuses smoke-free. Today, more than 30 Michigan hospitals have smoke-free campuses. This...

SEATTLE -- Non-tribal casinos have already lost tens of millions of dollars because of Washington’s new indoor smoking ban. A new financial study, conducted by our own KIRO Team 7 Investigators, discovers taxpayers could loose millions as well. Card-rooms, charity bingo halls, and some bars and restaurants are required to report financial information to the state every year. The state hasn't had a chance to look at the figures since the smoking ban took effect. I have. It looks like "no smoking" means economic devastation for the non-tribal gaming industry. If there was ever any doubt that gamblers are also...

WASHINGTON - The saga of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s spying scandal — which has toppled the company's chairwoman, two other directors and at least two high-ranking executives — deepened in intrigue Thursday as lawmakers exploring the imbroglio summoned comparisons to Watergate and Enron. Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee demanded to know how investigators for the respected Silicon Valley anchor could use tawdry tactics such as "pretexting," or impersonating HP directors, employees and journalists to obtain their phone records. In one key document cited by the panel, an HP investigator had warned higher-ups, including the company's now-fired chief ethics officer,...

Following are actual statistics reflecting examples of the negative impact upon individual businesses following the recently instituted smoking ban ordinances, effective in Springfield, Illinois and surrounding unincorporated Sangamon County this September 15, 2006 (less than two weeks ago). When small businesses account for about two-thirds of our country's economic growth and new jobs, it is difficult to comprehend elected officials' reasoning in voting to implement an intrusive ordinance which will hurt those same business owners. A restaurant owner who does not permit smoking will see it as a violation of his property rights if a coalition uses the political...

Delaware County's ban on smoking in most work places has become a problem for some nursing homes, which are both work places for employees and homes for the residents. The smoking ordinance does not prevent people from smoking in their homes, but it does ban smoking in most public buildings and work spaces. If a nursing home bans smoking, they could lose federal funding for failing to comply with regulations, but if they allow smoking they could face fines or a lawsuit from the county health department, officials said. Federal regulations state that if a nursing home changes its...

Churchill Downs could be hurt financially if it is forced to go completely smoke free, a company official said Wednesday. Kevin Flanery, Churchill Downs Inc.’s vice president for national public affairs, told a Louisville Metro Council committee considering a new, tougher smoking ban, that the race track is already facing heavy competition from Indiana and from computer and telephone betting services.And he said the company’s experience at a Florida track shows some people will stop betting when a smoking ban takes effect. But the former head of the Greater Louisville Medical Society testified that his group favors a complete...

A private smokers club in Smiths Falls challenged Ontario's indoor smoking ban with its grand opening Friday — and Ontario officials did not brave the fumes to attend. Instead, the club's founder was charged under the province's Smoke-Free Ontario act the day before it opened. Since Ontario's indoor workplace and public smoking ban went into effect, ashtrays and cigars have been illegal in bars. The grand opening of Do' Little's pub as a club for members of a private smokers association took place at noon at the Comfort Inn on Centre Street in Smiths Falls, about 65 kilometres south of...

Park Ridge aldermen will resume discussion of the city's public smoking ban, following complaints from three restaurant owners that their businesses have been adversely affected by it.The restaurant owners spoke briefly to the City Council Monday night, prompting Mayor Howard Frimark to ask the aldermen if the smoking ban should be brought back before the Procedures and Regulations Committee. Alderman Jeannie Markech agreed that it should, and made a motion for the discussion. Eight aldermen voted in favor of the issue going back to committee and five voted against. One alderman was absent.The next meeting of the Procedures and Regulations...

There have been a bunch of books about the mistakes made after the American invasion of Baghdad, George Packer's Assassin's Gate and Thomas Ricks' Fiasco being the two best in my opinion.Yesterday, the Washington Post published an excerpt from Rajiv Chandrasekaran's effort. He was their bureau chief there for a few years and his book, Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone, will be released tomorrow.I haven't read the book, but the excerpt is as damning as anything could be. It outlines how people were recruited to serve in the Coalition Provisional Authority, the group that ran...

Hispanic lawmakers question absence of immigration in new Dem agendaBy Alexander Bolton House Democratic leaders passed around to colleagues Tuesday a plan they would focus on if their party wins control of the lower chamber on Election Day, but although the document was drafted to achieve consensus, it has already angered Democratic Hispanic leaders. The cause of the consternation is not something the Democrats included in the agenda. Instead, it’s something lacking: any mention of immigration. While Republican candidates around the country are trying to make immigration one of the biggest issues of this fall’s elections, Democrats appear to be...

Jobs are being eliminated by special interest activist organizations Now that air quality test results by the likes of the American Cancer Society are proving that the secondhand smoke kills argument is completely fabricated. http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2004/04/american-cancer-society-test-results.html It's time for lawmakers to investigate why this fallacy has permeated the local government debate.....and specifically who is funding and spreading that false information. http://www.rwjf.org/about/founder.jhtml The "who" is in large part the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. And since RWJF is an affiliate of the Johnson & Johnson Company (the manufacturer of competing nicotine product interests Nicoderm & Nicoderm CQ), it stands to reason that the...

Robin Brayman, a 44-year-old Greenfield resident, thought she had saved quite a bit of money buying cigarettes online, until she received a bill from the state demanding more than $2,000 in unpaid sales and cigarette taxes. "I had no idea. When I first started buying, the Web site said the cigarettes were tax-free, duty-free. You assumed you didn't have to pay anything," Brayman said. Brayman, like many other smokers, purchases cigarettes online because they are offered at a deep discount. A carton of Marlboro Full Flavor 100s costs $29.45 plus shipping from BuyCheapCigarettes.com, the site Brayman patronized. The same...

MEXICO CITY - Dozens of opposition lawmakers took control of the stage at the Mexican Congress Friday minutes before President Vicente Fox was scheduled to deliver his last state-of-the-nation address. The lawmakers held placards calling the Mexican leader a traitor to democracy and refused to leave until authorities removed police barricades that had been set up in advance of Fox's annual speech. The lawmakers ignored demands that they return to their seats, shouting "Vote by Vote" — a rallying cry for leftist presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's bid for a full recount in the July 2 election. Thousands of...

Students who came to the country illegally could apply for state financial aid when they attend California colleges and universities under legislation approved Tuesday by the Assembly in a party-line vote. Supporters said immigrant children who have graduated and completed at least three years of high school in California should not be penalized for their parents' decision to bring them to the U.S. illegally. "It is one small measure to help these kids that are working their butts off to live the American dream," said Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate. The bill would build upon existing state law...

SACRAMENTO - Giving an election-year boost to millions of lower-income Californians, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative Democrats reached a deal Thursday that will require prescription drug companies to offer set discounts for medications or face possible sanctions. The California Prescription Drug Initiative will give discounts of about 40 percent for name-brand drugs and 60 percent for generics to people who otherwise would have to pay full retail price. The enrollment fee will be $10 a year. The plan, announced earlier this week but formally approved Thursday, will affect more than 5 million uninsured, lower-income individuals, Schwarzenegger said in a statement....