Free Republic

Buried in the details of the deal to close California's $19-billion budget deficit is a roughly $30-million tax break crafted to benefit a company owned by members of one of the state's richest and most politically influential families, according to a legislative analysis obtained by The Times. The provision, which will allow the Humboldt Redwood Co. to deduct $20 million in old losses from future taxes, is also expected to cover penalties and interest for the firm co-owned by three sons of Donald G. Fisher, founder of the Gap and Banana Republic, said company Chairman Sandy Dean. The tax break...

SACRAMENTO - Donald Fisher, founder and chairman emeritus of Gap, Inc., was appointed to another term on the State Board of Education by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Friday. Fisher, 76, founded the retail clothing chain in 1969 with his wife Doris. Previously, he was a partner in Fisher Property Investment Co., a general contracting and real estate management firm. The Republican businessman and philanthropist was first appointed to the board by then-Gov. Gray Davis in 2001. Fisher, of San Francisco, is a board member of Boys and Girls Clubs of America, EdVoice, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the California...

...Voters will consider 163 initiatives and referendums in 34 states.... Gay Marriage: This is the social issue du jour, and measures to ban it will appear on ballots in 11 states, including the battlegrounds of Michigan and Ohio. Proponents have their work cut out; ballot measures defending traditional marriage have never lost and tend to be approved by wide margins.... [W]hat's important is that the decision is left to the electorate and their representatives, not dictated from the bench by activist judges.... Tort Reform: The medical liability reform initiatives on the ballot in no fewer that four states -- Wyoming,...