Free Republic

Michigan slides toward partial government shutdownBy Kathy Barks Hoffman, Associated Press Writer – 12 mins ago LANSING, Mich. – One of the nation's most economically battered states stumbled toward a partial government shutdown Thursday as Michigan lawmakers failed to agree on a spending plan in one of the only states without a budget in place. A deal to fill a nearly $3 billion shortfall with federal recovery dollars and more than $1 billion in cuts fell through, as many lawmakers discovered they couldn't stomach deep cuts to schools and local services such as police and fire protection in the stricken...

Philadelphia's court system will face a "virtual shutdown" if the cash-strapped city does not get state approval for a sales tax increase and changes to how it makes its pension payments. That's according to Mayor Michael Nutter and court officials at a news conference Wednesday. Philadelphia is facing a $1.4 billion five-year budget deficit. The city has asked the state to approve a temporary sales tax increase in Philadelphia and allow changes to how the city makes its pension payments. Without those changes, Nutter says nearly 1,000 police officers and 200 firefighters would be cut. District Attorney Lynne Abraham says...

Chicago shuts down for a day to save money The city of Chicago has shut down all "non-essential" public services for a day in an attempt to claw back a $300m (£184m) budget deficit. Published: 8:44AM BST 18 Aug 2009 In the first of three Reduced Service days, rubbish collections were suspended and libraries and health centres were closed. Workers have been asked to take an enforced unpaid holiday in a move the authorities hope will save $8.3m. Chicago's Mayor Richard M Daley thanked state employees for their "sacrifice". "Every dollar we save from these measures helps to save jobs,...

WBZ-TV 4 newscast now saying the paper will continue to publish for now. The Times Co. says they won't issue a WARN notice. The biggest union has walked away from talks.

Boston Globe negotiators gave union leaders copies of a 60-day shutdown warning notice they said they would file Monday if talks were not successful with one hour left to go before the midnight deadline. The notice, required by the federal Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, gives workers 60 days warning before the closure of a business. “Filing the WARN notice is a difficult step that we would like to avoid but, unfortunately, given the state of the negotiations, it is one we must be prepared to take if negotiations are not successful,” the Globe said in a statement. Negotiators...

Prepare not only for steep pay cuts but “a large number” of layoffs, a Boston Globe union boss told the troubled broadsheet’s Newspaper Guild members during a crowded meeting today. With a midnight deadline for a tentative accord looming tonight, Guild leader Daniel Totten told staffers that the pain will continue even if they accept the company’s demand for $10 million in concessions from the 732 Guild members. “Time and time again” talk of layoffs has come up during recent bargaining, Totten said, according to two people present at the meeting at the Boston Teachers Union hall in Dorchester. He...

I just heard a “save the globe” radio spot on WTKK-FM (96.9) and it slams New York Times Co. execs for their high salaries and big bonuses. The Boston Newspaper Guild, the Globe’s biggest union, is also sponsoring spots on WRKO-AM (680) and WBZ-AM (1030). The commercial goes like this: Person 1: Can you believe how many companies are still paying out high salaries and bonuses to their executives during these tough times? Person 2: I know. In fact, The New York Times Company paid its CEO more than $5 million last year. Yet it’s losing money every day. Person...

DETROIT -- Two people briefed on the plan say General Motors Corp. will close most of its U.S. factories for up to nine weeks this summer because of slumping sales and growing inventories of unsold vehicles. The people did not know exactly when the shutdowns would occur, but both say they will include the normal two-week closure in July to change from one model year to the next. Neither person wanted to be identified because workers have not been told of the shutdowns.

SACRAMENTO — With Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's historic furlough of more than 200,000 state employees set to begin Friday , a major labor union warned that the state is ill-prepared to handle the work stoppage. Leaders of SEIU Local 1000, which represents at least 80,000 employees being furloughed, reviewed dozens of memos directed to state workers by management this week and concluded the directives are rife with "chaos and contradictory information." "There's mass confusion," union President Yvonne Walker said, adding that many employees late Thursday didn't know if they should show up for work Friday because they were unsure if their...

The state's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office confirmed Wednesday that California could run short of cash as soon as Feb. 1 unless lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger immediately cut spending and raise revenues.The LAO's Michael Cohen and Jason Dickerson said the following:• California faces the "double whammy" of a severe drop in revenues coupled with an inability to borrow because credit markets are frozen. • The longer lawmakers and Schwarzenegger go without adjusting the budget, the more difficult it becomes to determine whom to pay.Schools and creditors have first claim on the state's revenues, while state worker salaries and benefits, Medi-Cal...

California will close most state offices on the first and third Fridays each month starting in February, padlocking DMV outlets and other services while reducing state worker pay to help survive a massive budget problem, according to a state Department of Personnel Administration memo. Only offices deemed critical, such as state hospitals and prisons, will remain open under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's twice monthly furlough plan. Employees at those state operations will still be required to take two days off each month at different times. State parks generate revenue and will not close, but employees will have to take two days...

Fund managing Ross Perot's money closes - report Wed, Nov 26 2008, 07:13 GMT http://www.afxnews.com Nov 26 (Reuters) - Parkcentral Capital Management, an investment firm that manages money for the family of Ross Perot, is liquidating a fixed-income hedge fund because it is "no longer viable," Bloomberg reported. This year through October, Parkcentral Global Hub's assets fell as much as 40 percent, to $1.5 billion, the news agency said. The Plano, Texas-based fund is selling its remaining holdings to pay creditors, Eddie Reeves, a spokesman, told Bloomberg. Perot, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. president in 1992, and members of his...

Russian markets closed until Friday Russia ordered its main stock exchanges closed for another day Thursday as President Dmitry Medvedev called for pouring 500 billion rubles ($20 billion) into financial markets in an effort to stabilize them. The government is struggling to stem a dizzying plummet in share prices and restore confidence in the economy _ a plummet that has revived memories of the 1998 financial collapse. "We have sufficient reserves and a strong economy, which guarantees the avoidance of any shocks," Medvedev said in televised comments.

Senate Republicans are resisting calls to shut down the government if Democrats try to keep a longstanding offshore drilling ban intact. Despite the party’s election-year rallying cry that expanding offshore drilling would lower high gas prices and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, several GOP senators said holding up a must-pass continuing resolution (CR), which may include an extension of the drilling ban, is not yet in the calculus. “Obviously, there will be an interest for getting a vote on drilling in the CR, but it’s not going to lead to any dramatic event,” said Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), an...

The showdown on Capitol Hill over expanding offshore drilling could lead to a threatened government shutdown when Congress returns from its five-week summer break in early September. Some Republicans say they are prepared to vote against a resolution to fund the federal government for the 2009 fiscal year unless Democrats agree to lift an offshore drilling moratorium.

Last week, we published Babba Zee's Anti-Obama Blogs Shut Down by Google, Obamabots. Thurday, Blogger locked our original (and still quite robust) site, DBKP at Blogger for being a spam blog. One would think Blogger would have a system in place before shutting down blogs with any kind of Google Page Rank. After all, your average spam site doesn't acquire much of a page rank. But, apparently, one would be wrong. Our original site is PR-5. Were Obama supporters behind this latest round of blog shutdowns, as they were last month? In Obama's Netroots Supporters Continue "Blog Burning", Confederate Yankee...

The only uncensored Chinese-language TV network broadcasting in China says its satellite company has shut down its signal because of pressure from the Chinese government. The satellite company, Paris-based Eutelsat, says the signal to China was cut because of a technical problem. But New Tang Dynasty Television, an independent station with offices in 70 U.S. cities, including Palo Alto, says Eutelsat cut its signal at the request of government officials in China. NTDTV covers a number of human rights issues, including the Falun Gong spiritual movement, repression in Tibet and China's underground Christian movement. In China, news is controlled by...

Brokerage-firm failure has to be an option: Paulson By Greg Robb, MarketWatch Last update: 1:09 p.m. EDT July 2, 2008 WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will stress in a speech later Wednesday that federal regulators must craft a system to allow brokerage firms to fail without threatening the overall financial system. "For market discipline to constrain risk effectively, financial institutions must be allowed to fail," Paulson said in excerpts of a speech he will deliver in London. "It is clear that some institutions, if they fail, can have a systemic impact, so we must give regulators the authorities...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Taliban attacks on telecom towers have prompted cell phone companies to shut down service across southern Afghanistan, angering a quarter million customers who have no other telephones. Even some Taliban fighters now regret the disruptions and are demanding that service be restored by the companies. The communication blackout follows a campaign by the Taliban, which said the U.S. and NATO were using the fighters' cell phone signals to track them at night and launch pinpoint attacks. About 10 towers have been attacked since the warning late last month — seven of them seriously — causing almost $2...

Chrysler to shut down for fortnight as sales plunge Andrew Clark and Mark Milner The Guardian, Friday March 14 2008 The American carmaker Chrysler has told its 70,000 workers to take a two-week holiday in July, in a company-wide shutdown reflecting plunging sales of vans and lorries. Chrysler, which is owned by the private equity firm Cerberus Capital, is smaller than rivals Ford and General Motors, and is being squeezed by soaring petrol prices. In an internal memo, Robert Nardelli , chief executive, asked staff to approach the idea "with an open mind and a team spirit". He wrote: "In...

German politicians ditch their Nokias By Hugh Williamson in Berlin Published: January 18 2008 21:09 | Last updated: January 18 2008 21:09 German politicians on Friday declared that they were ditching their Nokia mobile phones as anger grew over the Finnish company’s decision to move a factory from Germany to Romania at the cost of 2,000 jobs. Peer Steinbrück, finance minister, accused Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone maker, of “caravan capitalism” while a spokesman for Angela Merkel, the chancellor, said that she was expecting “more information” on Nokia’s motives. Many Germans appeared shocked at Nokia’s announcement earlier this week...

Anti-Nokia opinions gathering momentum in Germany Public exhorted to avoid buying Nokia handsets in the wake of Bochum closure decision Mobile phone manufacturer Nokia is running into heavy weather in Germany, as a veritable national movement is beginning to rise against the decision earlier this week to close the Nokia handset assembly plant in Bochum on the Ruhr. An anti-Nokia campaign is being put together with considerable alacrity. The decision to shut down the plant and move production to Romania threatens directly to put more than 2,000 people out of work, with a further two thousand jobs in jeopardy as...

LANSING, Mich. -- The state Legislature agreed early Monday to raise the income tax and expand the sales tax to services in a historic deal with the governor that quickly ended a partial state government shutdown. For just over four hours early Monday, fewer state police were on Michigan highways, campgrounds were closed, road construction projects and lottery sales were stopped, and more service interruptions were on the horizon for later in the day until the final pieces were sent to Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm. Four Republican senators voted for the higher income tax -- Patricia Birkholz of Saugatuck, Tom...

Taxes rise, Michigan government shutdown ends LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The partial shutdown is over after the state Legislature agreed to a mix of income tax and sales tax increases. Fewer state police were on Michigan highways, campgrounds were closed, and road construction projects and lottery sales were stopped for more than four hours today. Applause broke out in Governor Granholm's office when the final vote was announced at 4:18 a.m. The deal prompted Granholm to call off the partial shutdown. Lawmakers agreed to raise Michigan's income tax rate from 3.9% to 4.35% and expand the 6% sales tax to...

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Michigan's state government partially shut down early Monday with no budget deal in place for the new fiscal year. Gov. Jennifer Granholm was still awaiting key votes in the Republican-controlled Senate after 12:01 a.m., the deadline for approving a state budget. The state has no authority to spend money without a budget in place. Parts but not all of a temporary budget fix that would have avoided a shutdown were approved Sunday, but the Legislature was still working when the clock struck midnight on tax increases to help fill a $1.75 billion deficit. Granholm was waiting...

Per FR policy address only. http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070930/UPDATE/709300367

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...

From Michigan State Police: Partial Shutdown of the Michigan State Police Per Executive Directive 2007-20, the Michigan State Police (MSP) will implement a partial shutdown of operations on October 1, 2007. During the shutdown, the MSP will retain 222 uniform troopers, 15 sergeants, three lieutenants and 27 emergency dispatchers to provide basic law enforcement services on an emergency basis. This represents a 90 percent reduction in MSP staff. During the shutdown, all MSP work sites will be closed, including posts. MSP specialized services will only be activated if the service is deemed necessary to protect imminent threats to public safety,...

LANSING, Mich. -- Lawmakers and Gov. Jennifer Granholm said Thursday night they were still working on a deal to avoid a partial government shutdown next week, but the specter of a shutdown still hovered over the talks. Granholm said in a five-minute televised address that played on TV and radio stations around the state Thursday evening that she was taking the first steps toward shutting the government down, but remained hopeful an agreement could yet be reached Thursday night. Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop, the lead Republican in budget negotiations, said during his televised address from a Capitol hallway that...

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Governor Granholm plans to give a five-minute televised address at 6:05 this evening to outline budget negotiations and what could happen if there's a government shutdown on Monday. State leaders were still talking today to try and avoid the shutdown. Granholm already has warned that state parks could close, and Detroit casinos and liquor sales could take a hit if she has to shut down government because a budget deal isn't reached today. State programs that protect citizens' health and safety, such as state police patrols, could continue. The Democratic governor, Democrat-controlled House and Republican-controlled Senate...

Per FReep rules address only. http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070926/NEWS01/309250003

All vehicle and pedestrian traffic at the city's border crossings may be blocked Friday during demonstrations in Mexico over that country's pension laws, U.S. authorities said. U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Wednesday urged travelers to avoid the border crossings during the protests, citing Mexican news reports that traffic in both directions may be blocked for up to six hours at San Ysidro, the nation's busiest border crossing, and at Otay Mesa. The California Highway Patrol plans to close all southbound traffic on interstates 5 and 805 just north of the San Ysidro crossing at 8:30 a.m. Friday. CBP will...

SOUTH BARRINGTON, IL – In perhaps the most extreme example to date of churches halting ministries during the traditionally slower summer months, Willow Creek Community Church – one of America's prototypical mega-churches – has decided to close its doors until after Labor Day.

BDA denies wrongdoing on N Korean funds By FT reporters Fri Mar 16, 1:35 AM ET Banco Delta Asia, the Macao bank accused by the US of laundering money for North Korea, on Friday denied any wrongdoing over handling Pyongyang's funds and vowed to regain management control from the government. The US Treasury on Wednesday banned American banks from dealing with BDA, saying it had found evidence that the bank had turned a "blind eye" to illicit activity by North Korea. "The money is still in the bank", Stanley Au, chairman of BDA, said at a press conference, referring to...

U.S. brushes off Iran offer on nuclear shutdown Tue Feb 20, 2007 11:18AM EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Tuesday brushed off Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's offer to close down nuclear fuel production facilities if the United States and its allies do the same. "Do you believe that's a serious offer?" said White House spokesman Tony Snow. Ahmadinejad had told a rally broadcast on Iranian state television that, "If they say that we should close down our fuel production facilities to resume talks, we say fine, but those who enter talks with us should also close down their...

Vietnam already shut down N.K. accounts in past few weeks: ICG Seoul director WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (Yonhap) -- Vietnamese banks have already closed down North Korean accounts over the past few weeks, most likely forcing Pyongyang to move its money to its last remaining haven, Russia, said Peter Beck, head of the International Crisis Group's Seoul office, on Tuesday. Beck said Nigel Cowie, general manager of North Korea's Daedong Credit Bank in Pyongyang, e-mailed him last week and said Vietnamese banks have shut down Daedong's and other North Korea-held accounts. Daedong expected such a move by Vietnam after U.S. Treasury...

BHP shuts world’s biggest copper mine after blockade Posted online: Saturday, August 19, 2006 at 0000 hours IST AUG 18: BHP Billiton shut the world’s biggest copper mine after striking workers in Chile blocked all roads to the site, cutting off metal supplies at a time of surging demand. Copper prices jumped 2.7% after BHP Billiton, the world’s largest mining company, said it called off talks with the union following the blockade. A 12-day-old strike by 2,052 miners seeking higher pay at the Escondida mine had already cut production to as little as 40% of capacity. Prices of copper, used...

AMLO's sympathizers block access to bank offices Civil resistance impedes the passage of employees at the offices of the Bancomer1 Center on Universidad Avenue, Banamex2 on Venustiano Carranza Avenue, and HSBC3 on the Paseo de la Reforma Avenue. The For the Good of All coalition4 initiated at 7:00 a.m. today a series of blockages at the central offices of the Banamex, Bancomer, and HSBC banks. Groups of the followers of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador left their encampments at the Zocalo capital plaza to direct themselves, first to the Banamex bank building, located on the street corner of Isabel La...

Bangor landmark's closure blamed on smoking banFriday, August 04, 2006 - Bangor Daily News  Diana Miller (left to right), Cindy Marsters and Debbie Merritt share a laugh at Pat's Cafe on State Street in Bangor. Merritt's father, Del Merritt, owns Pat's, which is closing its doors after decades of serving as the neighborhood's bar. Longtime patrons gathered on Thursday afternoon for the final last call. BANGOR DAILY NEWS PHOTO BY KATE COLLINSBUY THIS PHOTO NOW   BANGOR - Beers and tears and lots of laughter in between. Pat's Cafe, Bangor's last neighborhood beer joint, officially closed its doors after...

New Jersey government workers who were idled this week because of the state shutdown might end up with an extra week of paid vacation. Unions representing the 45,000 state workers ordered to stay home during the historic government shutdown are pushing for full pay for the lost work week. "We feel we should not be penalized - we were willing and able to come to work," said Lisa Ciccone, business representative of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers-Local 195 which has 6,500 members. More than half of the state's 84,000 workers had been deemed "non-essential" during the crisis...

TRENTON, N.J. -- The budget dispute that closed New Jersey's government and threatens to shutter Atlantic City casinos centers on the governor's plan to increase the state sales tax. He says a 1-cent increase will earn New Jersey $1.1 billion. Lawmakers, fearing a voter backlash, either don't want to raise taxes, or want to use some of the revenue for other spending. But more than half of the money Gov. Jon S. Corzine wants to raise by increasing the tax is already owed to the state. And no one is collecting it. State estimates show New Jersey loses about $600...

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - New Jersey's casinos ushered the last of the gamblers away from slot machines and tables Wednesday, and janitors locked the doors behind them as a state government shutdown claimed its latest victims. In the first mass closure in the 28-year history of Atlantic City's legalized gambling trade, all 12 casinos were dark. Gov. Jon S. Corzine addressed the Legislature at the Statehouse Wednesday morning, defending his position as a stalemate over the state budget entered its fifth day with no deal in sight. Corzine wants to raise the state sale tax from 6 percent to 7...

N.J. Gov. tells lawmakers to end shutdownBy TOM HESTER Jr., Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine speaks to the media at the New Jersey Statehouse Monday, July 3, 2006, in Trenton, N.J. about the state's ongoing budget impasse. Corzine said state lawmakers must report to the Statehouse on the July Fourth holiday and stay there until they adopt a budget.(AP Photo/Mel Evans) TRENTON, N.J. - Gov. Jon S. Corzine hauled lawmakers in to work on the July Fourth holiday, imploring them to end a budget standoff that has shut down many government services, while...

When Gov. Jon S. Corzine looks back at the Budget Crisis of '06 and begins to ponder re-election, he may be able to say that his tough-medicine plan to increase the sales tax was the right way to turn around the state's troubled finances. But as New Jersey braced for the fourth day of a government shutdown ordered on Saturday by Mr. Corzine — at a cost of several million dollars a day to the state coffers — he is the person residents seem to be holding responsible for the loss of services. Some have been heard to grumble that...

"State shutdown simply 'puzzles' many in North Jersey" (but no doubt causes death by last Friday in a Republican Administration) Listen to the tone of this puff piece from this shameless simpleton on the NJ Gov't shutdown. The poor would have been dying in the streets last friday if the Republicans controlled the Gov't. It took all weekend but they close with a 'blame republicans' soundbite for the sheeple to parrot. From the Meadowlands to the malls, New Jerseyans were perplexed and conflicted Sunday by Governor Corzine's decision to shut down many state services in a bid to end a...

TRENTON, N.J. -- New Jersey lurched into a financial crisis Friday as the midnight deadline to adopt a budget neared and a dispute over the governor's plan to increase the sales tax remained unresolved. Gov. Jon S. Corzine was expected Saturday morning to order an unprecedented state government shutdown after an hourlong meeting Friday night between Corzine and top legislative officials ended without agreement and significant differences remaining. "Over the last several days the administration has worked on contingency plans for the orderly shutdown of state government," Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley said. "At this time, it looks like we may...

(English-language translation) After two weeks away from work due to the impasse between the executive and legislative branches, thousands of [Puerto Rico government] employees returned to their jobs yesterday in a relatively peaceful mood. In a survey EL VOCERO conducted at the Minillas Government Center at noon, several of the employees interviewed told this daily that they were encouraged by their return to work but that they will not let their guard down given what may happen in the future. Planning Board employee Carmen Serrano said that few members of the public came to her office but that the employees...

(English-language translation) The anguish of over 90,000 public employees [in Puerto Rico] who have been out on the street for almost two weeks will end on Monday. Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, Senate President Kenneth McClintock, and House of Representatives Speaker José Aponte abided yesterday by the recommendations the so-called Consensus Commission presented to them to solve the government’s fiscal crisis. The Commission worked for two days in search of a solution to the island’s fiscal crisis that compromised the government’s operations. “The report recommends that the Government Development Bank (BGF) grant the Department of the Treasury a loan of up...

(English-language translation) Moody's degraded Puerto Rico's credit rating today, thus aggravating the crisis that has left 90,000 public employees in the island without a job. "This action reflects Puerto Rico's tense financial situation, the continuing political conflict, and the lack of agreement to [take] the necessary measures to end years of financial deterioration by the government," Moody's stated in a release. The majority of the bonds, which were [originally] classified "Baa2", decreased to "Baa3", which is the limit for bonds [considered] healthy for investment. However, according to Secretary of the Governor's Office Aníbal José Torres, the ratings firm degraded some...

Union leaders in Puerto Rico threatened Friday to call a general strike that could paralyze the island unless lawmakers found a way to end a government shutdown that has put 100,000 people out of work. If no agreement is reached, unions representing more than 50,000 electricians, truckers and other private-sector workers would strike Tuesday to show solidarity with the thousands of teachers and other public employees thrown out of work this week because of the government's fiscal crisis. "It's time to end this injustice and abuse against our people," Ricardo Santos, president of the Electrical Industry Workers Union... Meanwhile, more...