plus 4, Ron Paul's bill to audit Fed goes to House floor - San Francisco Chronicle

Ron Paul's bill to audit Fed goes to House floor - San Francisco Chronicle
All sides brace for slashed budget - Tacoma News Tribune
Giordana to tackle Italo terrorism pic - Variety
Great deal on Ugg boots; now, does anyone speak Latvian? - Tacoma News Tribune
California Nonprofits Receive More than $4 Million from Bank of ... - CNBC

Ron Paul's bill to audit Fed goes to House floor - San Francisco Chronicle

Posted: 09 Dec 2009 08:52 AM PST

Many of his bills fail to attract a single co-sponsor.

But one of his perennial causes is headed to the House floor today with widespread support: to audit the Federal Reserve. That measure, which he first introduced in 1983, has the backing of more than 300 legislators and won bipartisan approval last month in the House Financial Services Committee.

The proposal would subject the Fed to unprecedented scrutiny by allowing the Government Accountability Office to audit all central bank operations, including its decisions on interest rates, lending to individual banks and transactions with foreign central banks.

Fed officials and private economists say the measure would threaten economic stability by undermining the central bank's independence.

"I'd like to know who they bail out and why," said Paul, who brought together a small cult following across the political spectrum in the last presidential election. "I'd like to know how much they pay for securities that they buy. Did they overpay? Why did Goldman Sachs come out well and Lehman Bros. go bankrupt?"

This article appeared on page A - 10 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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All sides brace for slashed budget - Tacoma News Tribune

Posted: 09 Dec 2009 07:40 AM PST

Gov. Chris Gregoire is set to release her cuts-only budget at 9 this morning in an attempt to bridge a projected $2.6 billion shortfall that keeps growing.

Deep cuts are expected for health care, education and a raft of other government programs, some of which could be eliminated. Gregoire, a second-term Democrat, has expressed discomfort about the cuts but said she is meeting her legal obligation to write a budget that does not rely on new revenue.

She plans to announce a package of tax, or revenue, proposals in early January.

"We're bracing our folks for bad news," said Tim Welch, a spokesman for the Olympia-based Washington Federation of State Employees, which is fighting off proposals to shut down the Maple Lane juvenile prison and other facilities.

"We're saying, 'This is not the end of the story.' We believe the public is ready to consider revenue increases or closing tax loopholes as an alternative to the huge cuts that took place earlier this year. I think that is a lesson learned from the I-1033 campaign," Welch added, referring to the voters' rejection last month of Tim Eyman's spending-caps initiative.

An advocacy coalition representing the elderly, public schools and health care groups plans a news conference at 10:30 a.m. today to outline the horrors they expect to see.

Human services lobbyists and some Democrats are toying with a variety of tax ideas that they think are needed. Republicans led by Sen. Joe Zarelli of Ridgefield and Rep. Gary Alexander of Thurston County are pushing to streamline government and hand over more state programs, such as liquor sales, to the private sector.

Democratic Sen. Tim Sheldon of Potlatch and Republican Sen. Curtis King of Yakima already have introduced a measure, Senate Bill 6204, that would privatize liquor sales by 2012.

"We haven't examined all the opportunities. I'm not ready to talk about revenues until we have exhausted all the opportunities for reducing this budget," Alexander, the top GOP voice in the House on budgets, said Tuesday. "I expect the Democrats to come up with a revenue package – whether they do it (Wednesday) or wait until the governor gets back from her trip" to Copenhagen.

Zarelli, on the other hand, criticized the governor, saying her budget office is not telling the truth when it says state worker pay has been frozen. Zarelli said in his monthly "Budget Tidbits" column that the state is giving 5 percent "step," or longevity, pay increases for workers under an agreement Gregoire worked out with state worker unions after the 2009 legislative session.

Zarelli estimated the cost of those step increases at $83 million, a figure the governor's office later said is closer to $38 million. Zarelli said the increases were against the spirit of 2009 legislation meant to hold the line on worker pay and other spending, and he noted that Gregoire's effort to hold down the worker share of health care costs might be driving a $140 million shortfall at the Public Employees Benefits Board.

Gregoire spokesman Glenn Kuper disputed the claim, saying that step increases were part of the state's wage arrangements even before collective bargaining began in 2004. Kuper said agencies "are expected to absorb the cost of step increases" out of allocations they've received, so it does not add to the shortfall.

A coalition of health care and human services advocates – including Eldercare Alliance, the SEIU Healthcare Local 775 NW, and Arc of Washington – was bracing for ugly cuts in Gregoire's budget. In the most recent legislative session, the group was unable to block cuts in services for the disabled and elderly who are cared for at home.

State Rep. Brendan Williams, D-Olympia, blasted Democratic leaders earlier this year for not making tax increases a more viable part of the budget discussion. He said he's working with labor and human services groups to see what kind of proposal might be launched, and he'd like to see as much of the $2.6 billion shortfall covered by new revenue as possible.

But he said during a tour of the Thurston County Food Bank on Tuesday that he would be "impressed" if Democrats actually mustered votes to approve taxes for half of the gap.

House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle, put out a statement last week saying, "Revenue is part of the equation to get all of us a fair shake, not just those on Wall Street." He didn't offer specifics.

Brad Shannon: 360-753-1688

bshannon@theolympian.com

www.theolympian.com/politicsblog

On TV

The public-affairs network TVW will carry Gov. Chris Gregoire's budget announcement live at 9 a.m. today on Channel 23 in Thurston County.

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Giordana to tackle Italo terrorism pic - Variety

Posted: 09 Dec 2009 08:59 AM PST

Cattleya film looks at Piazza Fontana bombing

ROME -- Italo helmer Marco Tullio Giordana, best known internationally for terrorism-themed epic The Best of Youth, will tackle Italys most infamous act of postwar political terrorism, the Piazza Fontana massacre, in a high-profile film being developed by Cattleya, the indie stable in which Universal holds a stake.

Cattleya topper Riccardo Tozzi has announced that the hot-button project, which will have Oliver Stones JFK as its cinematic point of reference, will start shooting in August 2010. The A-list Italo cast is still being decided.

Pubcaster RAIs RAI Cinema is on board as co-producer and local distributor of the pic, which has the working title Piazza Fontana, via its 01 Distribuzione, while talks are also underway for Universal to distribute internationally.

The Piazza Fontana bombing in Milan in 1969 at the headquarters of a big national bank killed 17, wounded 88, and triggered a series of other deadly bombings in other Italian cities over the ensuing three decades, now known as the countrys years of lead. That period culminated with the 1978 kidnapping and assassination of prime minister Aldo Moro by Red Brigades guerrillas.

The Piazza Fontana bombings, and others, have been widely ascribed to a ploy by the countrys secret services known as the strategy of tension to prevent the countrys Communist Party from taking power, with the CIA also reportedly involved.

Top-notch Italo scribe duo Stefano Rulli and Sandro Petraglia (The Best of Youth, Crime Novel) are penning the fact-based screenplay.

Separately, Giordana will also be helming a six-part Piazza Fontana TV docu for RAI.

The spirit of the film and the documentary will be to offer a great opportunity for national reconciliation and closure, said Tozzi.

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Great deal on Ugg boots; now, does anyone speak Latvian? - Tacoma News Tribune

Posted: 09 Dec 2009 08:16 AM PST

They were Ugg boots, in black, with zippers up the back. I'd been looking at them on the Internet since last season, when I saw them on a cool-looking woman on a First Friday. They had a sophisticated-sounding name, "Women's Knightsbridge," and seductive online marketing paragraphs about bare feet and warm sheepskin and "fresh, fashion-forward style." I had been wearing fashion-backward knockoffs from Old Navy for years. I am over 30 now. I wanted big-girl boots.

But they came at a big girl price. And it was not really in my budget.

Then, one Sunday in October, it struck me that surely in that vast sea of online commerce, there had to be one pair of Knightsbridge boots, in size 5, on sale. I eBayed and Googled. Same price. Same price. Same price. Then, bingo.

"Discount UGGs Boots!" the Web site beckoned, displaying the official Ugg logo and a Better Business Bureau "accredited business" symbol. I scanned a testimonial from "Kimberly in Fort Worth," gushing, "Your customer service is the BEST!" Did they have the Knightsbridge? Yes, they did! In my size! At 40 percent off! Free 10-day shipping! Incredible. I keyed in my credit card number.

No sooner had I pushed enter when my phone rang. A friendly female robot voice was on the line: "This is your bank. Did you just make a charge in ...," there was a pause, and then an unfriendly male robot voice finished the sentence with a flat effect, "... LATVIA." I heard clicking. A human operator came on.

"Did you just make a charge at www.sweatboots. com?" she asked.

"No. Or, yes. I guess," I said. It sounded ridiculous when I heard it out loud. "I didn't know it was in Latvia. Should I cancel it?"

"I can't tell you that." She sounded uninterested and I detected an Indian accent. "If you authorized the charge, we can't reverse it."

I hung up. I decided not to worry. It was a great deal. The Ugg is made of Australian sheepskin. Maybe they had a warehouse in Latvia, or a factory, or even a satellite flock of Australian sheep. It was a globalization thing. They just needed to unload some inventory in their Eastern European division.

And so I waited. Ten days passed. Nothing. I went to the Web site and called the customer service number. No one picked up. That's when I noticed the site was a little funny.

"Do you know now it is an environment to buy Cheap UGG Knightsbridge Boots? Hope you can buy you satisfied products," it read. "We dedicated to bring buyers the top grade ugg boot."

I found a customer service e-mail address and sent a message asking about my order. I called my bank.

"And what did you purchase at sweatboots.com?" asked the banking agent.

"Uggs," I said. "Forty percent off."

"Really?" she said. "Dang. That's a good deal."

Then she told me they couldn't do anything until a month passed without delivery.

The next day, an e-mail appeared in my inbox. It read something like, "Please do not worry about your order. Boots is still in factories. Do not cancel your order. Sincerely, Dirk."

I went back to the Web site, where I noticed a tiny "About us" link at the bottom of the page and found this: " 'UGG' is not a brand name but an age old generic term for this style of Australian-made sheepskin boot."

I was starting to understand what I was dealing with. It was age-old and generic. A scam. High-priced, counterfeit Uggs. I wrote another e-mail, asking to cancel my order. But I doubted I would see the money again.

Sometimes you have to pay money to learn an obvious lesson. I think of it as tuition for the university of adulthood. In hindsight, this lesson was so obvious it hurt. Pick your commerce cliche. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You get what you pay for. Read the fine print. Caveat emptor.

And so I did what I should have done in the first place. I went to the real Ugg Web site and ordered real boots. Three days later, they were on my porch. Exactly what I wanted.

As I was slipping my bare foot into fog-colored sheepskin, a reply to my cancellation e-mail arrived from Latvia: "txs for your letter and sorry for later reply. as hot sales, you order is out of stock after your make the payment. we had strive to pick up from other factory, sorry for that. b.rgds."

Dirk was still answering e-mails! Maybe I could get a refund. Perhaps he didn't understand my English, so they didn't know to cancel my order. My friend Erik actually speaks Latvian. He composed an e-mail on my behalf.

"Uz kuram ta var attiekties (To whom it may concern), Ludzu atmaksa manu naudu. (Please refund my money.) Mani zabaki nav ieradies, un tagad vinus vairs negribu. (My boots have not arrived and I do not want them.) Viens menesis is pagajis kops mana pasutijumu. (It has been one month since my order was placed.) Paldies. (Thank you.)"

But then, later that day, I came home from work to find a pink slip from the post office in my mailbox. The next morning at the downtown post office, I was given a beat-up package. The mailing label said it came from China.

I brought it to work and opened it at my desk. There was an authentic-looking UGG shoebox. Inside that, the boots. They were a dead-on match for the real ones, right down to the pattern on the soles and the little metal tag on the heel. But inside them, there was no fog-colored sheepskin. Instead, it was cream-colored fur of indeterminate origin. One of the guys I worked with picked them up and stroked the inside.

"It's probably endangered species," he said.

Sending them back seemed out of the question. How? Writing another Latvian e-mail? And to where? China? Imagine the shipping costs. I put them on my desk. They stayed there for a month.

Then one day a young friend of mine came into the office. I saw her looking at the box. I asked her if she wanted to try them on. They fit like a glove. Her face lit up.

"It's your lucky day," I told her. "They're yours."

Julia O'Malley writes a regular column. Read her blog at adn.com/jomalley, find her on Facebook or get her Twitter updates at www.twitter.com/adn_jomalley.

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California Nonprofits Receive More than $4 Million from Bank of ... - CNBC

Posted: 09 Dec 2009 08:23 AM PST

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 09, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- The Bank of America Charitable Foundation today announced it has provided $4.3 million in grants to California nonprofits this year, as part of its strategic focus on supporting organizations providing critical services to populations disproportionately affected by the economic downturn.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050720/CLW086LOGO-b ) Bank of America augmented its focus on basic human services in 2009 as a response to nonprofits experiencing record demand for these services and reduced funding from other sources to meet these demands. The grants were provided across California to a variety of organizations, such as regional grant-making institutions like the Northern California Grantmakers, to newly created emergency relief programs like the East Bay Emergency Relief Fund, and directly to nonprofits such as East Valley Community Health Centers in Los Angeles, San Diego Rescue Mission, and Second Harvest Food Bank Orange County.

The Nonprofit Finance Fund's 2009 Recession Study, for example, showed that 93 percent of "lifeline" organizations providing essential services anticipate an increase in demand in 2009. By adapting its philanthropic strategy to allocate emergency funding to address critical human services, such as access to health care, housing and food, and enable organizations that provide these services to keep their doors open, Bank of America is complementing its ongoing efforts to strengthen the communities it serves.

"In the current economy, Bank of America's focus on providing meaningful and relevant support to the communities we serve has never been more important, and is critical to our long-term business goals," said Janet Lamkin, California President, Bank of America. "This focus provides significant funding to address the basic needs of people who have been hardest hit by the economic downturn." In addition to grants, Bank of America in California continues to help provide ongoing counsel and expertise to nonprofits about ways to cut costs and increase revenues. More than 1,500 nonprofit leaders participated in nine workshops held across the state throughout the year, called 'Surviving and Thriving During Tough Economic Times,' led by CaliforniaVolunteers and Bank of America.

Participating nonprofits were advised on how to restructure finances, share back office resources and needs with other community partners, and selling assets not in use as opportunities to reduce costs and increase revenue.

"When nonprofits across the state were seeing a steep increase in demand while revenue was being cut across the board, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation was one of the very first foundations to step up to address the needs of these safety net organizations," said David Greco, Western Region Vice President, Nonprofit Finance Fund. "As nonprofits continue to face a challenging and uncertain economic environment, this effort will enhance the ability of these organizations to continue to provide critical services in our communities not only now but into the future. We are proud to partner with them as we work together to improve the financial sustainability of community-based organizations. " Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy Building on a long-standing tradition of investing in the communities it serves, Bank of America this year embarked on a new, ten-year goal to donate $2 billion to nonprofit organizations engaged in improving the health and vitality of their neighborhoods. Funded by Bank of America, the Bank of America Charitable Foundation gave more than $200 million in 2008, making the bank the most generous financial institution in the world and the second largest donor of all U.S. corporations in cash contributions. Bank of America approaches investing through a national strategy called "neighborhood excellence" under which it works with local leaders to identify and meet the most pressing needs of individual communities. Bank associate volunteers contributed more than 900,000 hours in 2008 to enhance the quality of life in their communities nationwide.

For more information about Bank of America Corporate Philanthropy, please visit www.bankofamerica.com/foundation.

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