A federal judge has ordered California to increase payment rates immediately to thousands of foster parents, noting that it has been more than 2 1/2 years since he ruled that the state’s reimbursement levels failed to cover the costs of raising a child.
State officials “have now had a full and fair opportunity to come into compliance with federal law. They have not done so,” U.S. District Judge William Alsup of San Francisco said Friday.
Federal law … does not bend to accommodate state law legislative hurdles,” the judge said.
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Those legislative hurdles include lack of money.
But the unelected life tenured judge knows best.
That proposed ban on circumcision on November’s ballot really isn’t so only-in-San Francisco after all.
We may be the first city in the country to see the ban make it onto the ballot, but opponents of male circumcision certainly hope we’re not the last. In fact, they just took out papers to qualify the same ban for the 2012 ballot in Santa Monica, too.
The nonprofit MGM Bill stands for Male Genital Mutilation.
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Well with SF and Santa Monica in, can Berkeley be far behind.
A regulatory merry-go-maze in New York City to get permission for a simple restautant!
to get licenses is a Merry-Go-Maze
A Merry-Go-Maze:
“In New York City, applying for the “right†to open a restaurant requires dealing with the conflicting demands of at least eleven municipal agencies, plus submitting to 23 city inspections and applying for 30 different permits and certificates. Not including the state liquor license.
Recognizing that this could all get very complicated, the city set up a new bureaucratic body to help you negotiate your way through all the other bureaucratic bodies.” Mark Steyn
—————————————————– And this is before the state and the fed jump in.
Here’s an inexpensive, effective program for non-violent inmates that will leave prison for California County systems.
I'm HERE & not THERE!
Soon to happen: numerous non-violent felons head HERE (to a California County) from THERE (a state prison).
Here’s a program so ex-inmates rehabilitate themselves and contribute back to society. The proposed program costs a pittance compared to the average $47,000 a year cost for prison in California.
We want the I’m HERE & not THERE! program for ex-inmates well publicized. Hence, all back-from-prison inmates will wear white t-shirts with bold lettering on front and back.
On the front of the t-shirts are the words, I’m HERE & not THERE! On the back, a telephone number to call. Thus, it’s easy for the public to give feedback as to how well the program is working.
All inmates will be tracked electronically 24 hours a day. By e-mail the cost is about $5 a day. Double the cost if exact position tracked on a computer.
Chemically dependent persons need to learn better ways to get high. How? Walk! Pedometers cost around $30. Let inmates literally walk off their time to a less restrictive probation. And, done under medical supervision, walking more than likely will improve their health.
A highly structured day is vital. So, all must attend 1-3 AA -type meetings a day.
Housing: No home to go to? The state parks could house inmates. Time spent cleaning up litter and clearing trails allows ex-inmates to contribute back to society. And hard work that is productive is a way for ex-inmates to feel good about themselves.
Try out now Ryan’s “premium support” by offering it to seniors age 55+ who have a private medical plan. Select a fixed number by lottery and try it out. If good enough for your Congressman it is good enough for the average citizen.
The Achilles heel weakness: In Ryan’s medicare reform plan the federal government imposes it by fiat on all recipients of a certain age There is a way to fix this weakness.
Instead of years out, offer the medicare reform plan now.
Instead of imposing it on millions, try it out by lottery on a few thousand people.
Instead of denying “premium plus” to those over a certain age, off it now to any senior age 55+ with current health insurance and wants to switch.
Dip Ryan’s “premium care” plan now into the healing waters of voluntary use by seniors age 55+.
This will heal the Achilles heel of Ryan’s medicare plan. When seniors who are not permitted coverage under Ryan’s plan (as too old) embrace it as good that will provide factual proof of its utility.
Who could set this up? There is a woman who, thwarted from political office in New York, created a terrific charter school in Harlem, New York. Students get entry to that school by lottery. That school competes successfully with the top private schools in New York City.
This is the kind of person who could quickly put together the necessary resources to try out a voluntary form of Ryan’s “premium support” medicare reform. What is her name?
DrCameronJackson@gmail.com
I for one, a licensed psychologist in California, welcome the Ryan “premium care” plan. Let’s try it out on a voluntary basis. I think it will work.
It’s time to cut up the federal government’s credit card, pay off what is due and save for rainy days ahead. Let’s face real death and ignore the phony death threat scare tactics put out by Democrats.
There’s much that happens unexpected in life and we need to be prepared. Just days ago, a tornado flattens an American town and hundreds of real people are truly dead.
In contrast, the Democrats create phony death and use scare tactics. Recently, the Democrats put out an ad depicting grandma in a wheel chair pushed off a cliff by Republican Ryan’s budget proposal to overhaul Medicare.
Real deaths are coming:
The real deaths that will occur are when your or my grandchild is denied a life saving procedure because 15 bureaucrats running ObamaCare or WhatEverCare decide that it is not cost effective and our grandchildren cannot have that medical procedure.
Another real death that’s happening is the declining value of the American dollar. Will we stop printing the $1.00 bill as it has the value of a nickel?
Instead of scare death threats against granny let’s deal with real issues in a grownup manner.
If a family had out of control debt and went to a debt counselor they would be told to stop adding to their debt. Likewise, the government must be told by voters to stop adding to the 14 trillion dollar debt.
Likewise — this is what we must tell our politicians and the government:
Cut up the credit cards. Figure out how to consolidate all debt. Prioritize what gets paid first. Work out arrangements with those you owe when to pay them back.
Because entitlements account for such a large part of the budget — about 50% —entitlement reform must happen.
So, read up on Ryan’s budget plan. It is sensible and foresighted.
The Democrats have offered no budget. The Republicans are offering one. Everyone needs to get into the conversation.
I for one think that the way to improve the Ryan plan for Medicare reform is to implement it on a trial basis. Let anyone age 55 plus who currently has health insurance the opportunity to switch to “premium plus”. By lottery select, say, 2000 persons. Then put the pedal to the metal and see how the program works.
The total number that want a chance to get selected will show how popular the Ryan “premium plan” actually is. And within a year or so we will have real data as to how senior citizens actually like the program.
This is a voluntary way to “try out” Ryan’s Premium Plus plan with seniors who — according to the Ryan plan — are stuck with Medicare as they are too old. Let the older folks age 55+ decide based on real experience.
The “Premium Plus” Ryan medicare reform plan is largely the same as what Congress persons get.
In my view, what is good enough for Congressman Sam Farr, age 69, is good enough for all of the citizens of California. And all U.S. citizens.
Let American citizens age 55+ with private medical insurance try out the Ryan “premium suppot” plan. Let all who want apply. Randomly select 2,000 and enroll them. This will test out how popular the Ryan plan is and also whether the plan delivers quality medical care at an affordable rate.
Choice for Ryan's Premium Care health plan for Americans age 55 Let seniors age 55+ voluntarily try out Ryan’s “premium care” health plan. The plan is quite similiar to what Congress gets.
To cut the huge federal deficit of $ 14 trillion, we must engage in entitlement reform. Ryan’s budget plan which includes entitlement reform is bold and imaginative.
The time is ripe to try out Ryan’s “premium care†health care on a trial basis. Can Ryan’s “premium care†plan provide senior citizens with quality medical care at an affordable price for taxpayers?
Let’s ask Congress to implement Ryan’s “premium care†plan on a small, trial basis. Akin to the school vouchers for 1,700 Washington DC students which Congress authorized, Congress can set up a block grant to test the popularity and success of Ryan’s plan.
What the Ryan plan is: Per the Ryan “premium support†plan, each enrollee has a fixed supplement paid by the government directly to the private insurance plan chosen by the individual. The fixed supplement is adjusted by age, income and health status. The Ryan plan is quite similar to the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan which Congress gets. In the FEHBP plan the government contributes 72% of the average premium. In the Ryan plan the average supplement is roughly $15,000 per individual and raises are tied to inflation in the general economy.
Let’s see if Ryan’s plan is popular with seniors and how well it works: Offer any senior age 55+ with current private health insurance the opportunity to switch to Ryan’s “premium care†plan. Publicize the plan. Let all seniors who qualify and sign up via internet.
The number who sign up will indicate how popular the plan is with seniors over age fifty-five. Then, on a lottery basis, randomly select 2,000 seniors. Then put the pedal to the metal and see how well the plan works.
I, for one, would jump at the chance. I’m in my 60’s, work as a licensed psychologist and have private health insurance. I like working and don’t plan to stop. I also realize that so long as I work and have private health insurance I can stay off the rolls of Medicare.
I plan to have private medical insurance as long as possible. Why? My doctors do not take new Medicare patients. A 2008 survey found that seniors have considerable difficulty finding physicians who will take Medicare. I don’t want a Panel of Fifteen bureaucrats — whether it’s ObamaCare of Medicare – to ration my medical care or that of others. Philosophically I don’t want the federal government via ObamaCare taking over one sixth of the economy.
I, as many working seniors do, want choice. I’d like the voluntary choice to try out Ryan’s “premium care†program. Right behind me are the 76 million Baby Boomers who are starting to retire. They too may want to, or feel they must continue to work, given the hair cut their retirement suffered.
Rein in collective bargaining. Taxpayer forced to s pick up 100% of costs for 1,600 of 2,000 Santa Cruz County employees who are SEIU members and all SEIU members forced to pay $6 that went for polical agenda of SEIU. $40 million by SEIU to Obama. Califonia needs a Right to Work law to protect employees. Right to Work states allow union members to opt out of union dues.
What is known about the SEIU? In 2008 all members were forced to pay a fixed amount ($6) for political campaign purposes. Then the SEIU gave Obama $40 million towards his election.
It’s time that California enacts a Right to Work law to protect employees from coercive union practises. Let Califonia employees choose whether to join a union and whether to pay union dues.
Four out of five Santa Cruz County’s employees (1,600 out of roughly 2,000) are represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU).
Though they are designated to contribute 7 percent of their salary for pension costs in fact government SEIU members contribute zero. For about the last ten years taxpayers paid 100% of the cost of SEIU pensions (more than $5 million a year).
Exactly when did 1,600 Santa Cruz County employees stop paying towards pensions? From the Santa Cruz County article 5-22 all we know is that about ten years aglo lots of people showed up and the County CEO caved.
So what might be different if Califonia becomes a Right to Work state? California might attract businesses which have left due to the high costs of labor and heavy restrictions. More businesses means more private sector job growth for California not dependent upon government. California can well use more people with real life experience running business who can contribute their perspective to running local government.
The following is from the Right to Work website.
The following states have a Right to Work law:
Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.
Under federal labor law and the state’s Right to Work law, you have the right to resign from membership in a union at any time. If you resign from membership, you may not be able to participate in union elections or meetings, vote in collective bargaining ratification elections, or participate in other “internal” union activities. If you resign, you cannot be disciplined by the union for any post-resignation conduct.
If you resign from union membership, you are still fully covered by the collective bargaining agreement that was negotiated between your employer and the union, and the union remains obligated to represent you. Any benefits that are provided to you by your employer pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement (e.g., wages, seniority, vacations, pension, health insurance) will not be affected by your resignation. (If the union offers some “members-only” benefits, you might be excluded from receiving those.)
The Foundation neither encourages nor discourages you from resigning. The decision is yours alone.
If you choose to resign and stop paying dues, and are on automatic “dues check off,” you should notify both the union and your employer in writing that you are resigning and revoking your authorization for automatic dues check off. While you may resign from union membership at anytime, you may be limited to a specific “window period” before you are able to end the automatic dues deductions. If that is what you are told, ask the union for a copy of the actual dues deduction card that you signed, and contact the Foundation for further information.
Your choice is protected by federal labor law and the state’s Right to Work law. If you have any questions, or feel that your legal rights need to be protected, please call the Foundation’s toll-free number, 1-800-336-3600.
—————————- What protections are there for California employees who are forced to join a union and don’t want to pay union dues or support SEIU’s political agenda?
road hog hybrids lose privlege of car pool lane soon.
hybrids lose special treatment
From 2005 through 2007, the state of California made a pretty tempting offer to get drivers behind the wheels of hybrid cars: Buy one and you’ll get a sticker that allows you to cruise in the carpool lane without having to have that annoying other passenger (or mannequin) next to you.
It was like a VIP pass on the highway. But those halcyon days are about to end.
On July 1, that yellow sticker adorning around 85,000 hybrid cars in California will only serve as a reminder to those drivers that they must now not act like snobs just because they drive overly expensive, underpowered,Tinker Toys.
A San Francisco man who apparently overdosed on medical-marijuana cookies has been sentenced to five years’ probation for pulling down his pants on an airline flight and otherwise interfering with the crew, authorities say.
Chan told FBI agents who met the plane that he had eaten two medical-marijuana cookies — twice his prescribed amount — before boarding the flight.
Chan said he had been prescribed marijuana in California for carpal tunnel syndrome.
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My wrist hurts. Have a California drop cookie!!
