Free Republic

SACRAMENTO — As of today's broken deadline for a deal, four crucial weeks in California politics have slipped away with no pact between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders on his Nov. 8 state government "reform" election. The Democrat-dominated Legislature returns today from summer recess with members set to promote bills on pressing issues such as health care, transportation, housing and energy, while leaders and the Republican governor supposedly focus on an agreement regarding his special election. Though recess talks to avoid a divisive ballot fight stalled early on, Schwarzenegger saidrecently, "I'm optimistic and I continue working to make sure...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United States strongly criticized a revised blueprint charting reforms of the United Nations on Tuesday, saying the document is too long, poorly organized and doesn't focus on President Bush's main concerns. Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, speaking on behalf of the European Union, reacted far more favorably. He called the latest draft a good basis for the final document and said he hoped much of it was in its final form. Diplomats have haggled for weeks over the language of the draft outcome document which is supposed to be approved by world leaders at...

The West was smitten overnight by the Ukrainian revolution last year. It was a brief affair, though. The West became quickly disenchanted after taking a better look at the product in the orange wrapper. The European press were initially raving about "progressive," democratic" reformer Viktor Yushchenko. The media changed its outlook for Ukraine"s glorious future eight months after the coup d'etat. The West will not help Mr. Yushchenko out Below are some recent headlines printed by the world's leading periodicals: "Ukrainians' euphoria faded away" (Financial Times Deutschland); " 'Orange' impotence" (Die Tageszeitung, Germany); "Orange revolution loses its splendor" (The Financial...

Last week, along with my colleague John Cornyn of Texas, I introduced comprehensive legislation designed to secure America's borders and deal with the fact that more than 10 million people are living illegally in the United States. A lot of people ask me: "Why should we believe this will be any different than other ill-fated immigration 'reforms'?" It is a question that should be asked of any proposal that claims to resolve these issues. The primary reason I believe our bill represents a genuine solution is that it contains tough, overlapping new measures to enforce the law at our borders...

Los Angeles—Arnold Schwarzenegger and I first met in January 1978, a meeting that had a profound impact on my life. Over the years, he has been a wonderful role model for me as I have watched him reach every goal he has ever set. Since that first meeting, Arnold’s example and encouragement have inspired me to maintain a lifetime of physical fitness. He inspired me to start my own business, Creators Syndicate, which is now one of the largest newspaper and Internet syndication companies in the world. And there are a half-dozen areas where his example influenced my life, including...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - A U.S. congressional committee has drafted a bill that threatens to withhold tens of millions of dollars in dues from the United Nations unless the world body conducts wide-ranging reforms, possibly setting the stage for a funding battle like the one that plunged the U.N. into financial crisis a decade ago. The "United Nations Reform Act of 2005" targets a panoply of issues that have troubled critics of the United Nations, particularly Republicans, for years. Among other things, it would seek to cut funding for programs seen as useless and bar human rights violators from serving...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United Nations chose a State Department finance expert as its new management chief Tuesday and announced a series of reforms in response to the oil-for-food and sexual exploitation scandals and staff concerns about the organization's leadership. The package announced Tuesday includes protection for whistleblowers, an anti-fraud and corruption policy, a unified standard of conduct for peacekeepers to prevent sexual abuse, and expanded financial disclosure requirements for senior officials. Christopher Bancroft Burnham, currently acting undersecretary of state for management, was hired as the world body's management chief and charged with strengthening "accountability, ethical conduct and management...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger promised to wage a great battle this fall in a special election showdown with unions, special interests and — most of all — the Democrats. AP Photo But with polls showing his popularity in decline and a key petition deadline looming, there is growing uncertainty about whether Schwarzenegger still wants the confrontation. "This has been a catastrophe from beginning to end," said Raphael Sonenshein, a political scientist at California State University, Fullerton. "He's proposed a year of warfare with the Democrats on issues that unite them against him — this is not a great way to govern...

Thousands of protesters have staged a series of pro-reform demonstrations across Egypt in defiance of the government's warning.Protesters demonstrated in Cairo, Alexandria and at a Nile Delta university on Wednesday, but large numbers of police officers stopped the participants from reaching the parliament in Cairo, their main target. About 400 protesters, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, walked about 1.5km across Cairo from the police cordon at parliament to the Press Syndicate, where they chanted slogans against President Husni Mubarak on the building's steps. "Enough, enough," they sang, using a familiar opposition refrain against a new term for the veteran...

The hate mail I got for my op ed, ‘Ten Reasons to Change Social Security,’ got me thinking hard about why I want real change, right now. Annually, the Social Security Administration sends me a report that shows I’ve worked and paid Social Security taxes every year since I was 16 years old. I’m 54 now. Shouldn’t I be more grateful to government for providing for us working people? Consider these pro-Social Security testimonials found in their name-calling email. 1. I Hate Poor People. Any savings plan – any, every, all, each – provide more return on investment. Social Security...

World will see a transformed Ukraine: Yushchenko BERLIN: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Wednesday strongly supported Ukraine’s quest for closer economic ties with Europe but refused to offer any timeline for when the country could join the European Union. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, speaking after talks with Schroeder, thanked the German leader for supporting his victorious push for fair elections last year and said, "Germany is partner No. 1 for Ukraine in Europe.’’ "Nothing is impossible, my friends,’’ Yushchenko said later in a speech to the German parliament. "There is a new Ukraine.’’ Schroeder said Germany supports Ukraine’s push to...

The chairman of the most popular party, Civic Platform (PO), and best guess for Poland's next Prime Minister, Jan Rokita has begun to paint a picture of what a government under his leadership would look like-and what he's saying has caught the ear of the business community. Until recently, Rokita was known as the man who coined the unfortunate "Nice or death" slogan, which embodied his controversial hard-line approach to EU negotiations. At the same time, PO has been accused of abandoning its stated pro-market economy values and drifting leftwards. Last week, the potential PM answered that criticism by setting...

We hope his talk of negotiating doesn't mean he is scaling back on his bold reform plans California's multiple crises of budget and governance must be addressed this year. They cannot be put off another year. That's why our major concern with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is that he not repeat what he did in 2004, which was to compromise so much that implementing real solutions to problems was postponed. He told us yesterday that he remains committed to his slate of reforms this year. We were part of a conference call that included about 10 editorial writers, the governor and...

OLYMPIA, Wash. - A task force has found that public trust in Washington state's election system was damaged by last year's tight gubernatorial race that took two months to resolve, and it recommended a package of reforms. The task force, created by Gov. Christine Gregoire in the wake of her razor-thin victory, recommended moving the primary date to earlier in the year, requiring voter identification at the polls, and color-coding provisional ballots so they won't be counted before voters' registration is confirmed. In a 23-page report obtained by The Associated Press, the task force declared that imperfections and mistakes in...

Yesterday, Jan Rokita, a leader of the Civic Platform (PO), during a meeting organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Warsaw, described his future economic policies if he become prime minister. He described himself as a liberal politician who strongly supports free market solutions and stated his government would make tackling the problems of public finance its top priority. Rokita would like to reform state expenditures mainly through reducing public spending in all areas except for health care. Rokita strongly advocated the introduction of a flat tax rate, however, he added the changes would have to be introduced gradually,...

The California Highway Patrol's explanation for a high rate of disability claims among its chiefs doesn't add up, according to a report released Thursday by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. The report recommends that the Legislature require the CHP to investigate why 80 percent of its chiefs get medical pensions, compared to about 60 percent of rank-and-file officers. A CHP report in October noted the discrepancy but suggested it was because chiefs retire at later ages with more years of service - factors that could lead to a higher rate of workplace injuries. But the Legislative Analyst's Office, in its...

SACRAMENTO -- With a March 1 deadline for action on the verge of going unmet, Californians can expect to see a massive campaign for their signatures unfold as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger attempts to meet a narrow timetable for putting his government-overhaul package on the ballot. Schwarzenegger's commitment to put his reforms before voters this year means he'll have just seven weeks to collect the 1.2 million signatures he needs -- for each initiative -- to qualify his measures for the ballot in a November election. If the governor wants to call a Nov. 8 special election, state law requires him...

State and local government pension costs have shot through the roof and are threatening the funding of essential programs throughout California. It is time for action to stanch the bleeding. There are growing signs that this will be a front-burner topic for the state Legislature in 2005. Taxpayers are well-advised to watch developments closely. Thanks to significant news coverage, particularly in The Sacramento Bee, the Legislature is scheduled to conduct a special hearing on January 24 in Sacramento. The Bee has uncovered outrageous abuse of disability retirements among top officers of the California Highway Patrol. Also, there are alarming numbers...

UNITED NATIONS - Facing scandals over U.N. operations from Iraq (news - web sites) to Congo, embattled Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) has launched a major public relations offensive with the message that he is tackling mismanagement and promoting major reforms of the United Nations (news - web sites). While calls for Annan's resignation from U.S. lawmakers have died down, criticism of the world body by members of Congress has intensified, especially following last week's report by former U.S. Federal Reserve (news - web sites) Chairman Paul Volcker citing U.N. mismanagement, cover-ups and political meddling in the oil-for-food...

SHANGHAI - Everywhere in developed, urban China - Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou - the message was the same. The next "counterrevolutionary rebellion" - as the Communist Party defined the student uprising in Tiananmen Square in 1989 - if it happens, will be a peasant revolution. Foreign diplomats and Chinese scholars in Beijing or young, urban, 'Net-connected professionals in Guangzhou have told Asia Times Online in unmistakable terms: nobody from the party's "fourth generation" leadership wants to go back to the Maoist model of economic autarky and foreign-policy isolation. A constant pattern emerges: if a villager, for instance, accuses a local party...