Free Republic

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Angering environmentalists and consumer groups, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sided Friday with his business allies and announced his support for Proposition 64 and his opposition to Proposition 72. Meanwhile, state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi endorsed Proposition 72, calling it "an important step" toward providing health insurance for all Californians. Proposition 64 would limit use of the state's Unfair Competition Law to sue businesses for practices that would allegedly give them an unfair advantage over their competitors or defraud consumers. Supporters, which include a long list of major corporations, say it would prevent law firms from filing "shakedown lawsuits"...

Critics: Dean-backed tax-cut program is like Bush's By David Gram The Associated Press MONTPELIER -- Democratic presidential contender Howard Dean criticizes President Bush for giving unneeded tax breaks, but as Vermont governor, he supported a program critics say did much the same for corporations. The Vermont Economic Progress Council, which Dean signed into law in 1998 to provide tax credits to businesses promising to expand, has approved more than $80 million in such credits, according to a report by the state auditor. Companies had claimed about $25 million of those credits by the end of the 2001 tax year. Both...

Duane Moore, chairman of the Kern County Democratic Central Committee, has a possible cure for Gov. Gray Davis' recall headache. Resign. Quit. Clear out your desk. But leave the lights on for the new guy, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. Quitting now would bring the recall effort to a screeching halt and derail Republicans' plans to hijack the governor's office for Darrell Issa, Arnold Schwarzenegger or somebody else with a more conservative bent. It would acknowledge what pundits from both parties have been suggesting for months: Davis' political future is about as promising as Dan Lungren's, no matter what the outcome...