The “Cash for Clunkers” program is a $1 Billion plan meant to help the environment, automakers and drivers trade out their old gas guzzling clunkers into something a little bit more eco-friendly.

Tax payer money will be used to give people a credit of up to $4,500 to replace their clunkers with the idea that they will buy certain new vehicles that are more fuel efficient and eco-friendly.

“The program already has about 16,000 registered auto dealers signed on; and some say showroom traffic is already up since the program’s official start on July 1.”

“About 250,000 cars are expected to be junked through this program before it ends on November 1. This will hopefully jump start auto sales — which have been down about 35-percent across the industry.”

The plan is not met without opposition though. There are some stating that the program is bad for business.

Auto recyclers for example are saying that they will lose a lot of money due to destroying old engines and parts as opposed to selling them.

The plan also can hurt lower-income buyers who can’t afford brand new cars, even with the government credit, because these motorists will be forced to pay higher prices for spare parts.

Check out the original article: Is cash for clunkers a good idea?

RealDealDocs.com is a division of Practice Technologies, Inc. the creators of SmartRules.com. SmartRules provides step by step guides to local rules and civil procedure for state courts & federal courts throughout the country.

Popularity: 5% [?]

There has been a lot of  talk in California about the possibility of legalizing marijuana and taxing the states biggest cash crop to help pull the state out of its’ current financial mess.

The California tax board says that the state could reap about $1.4 billion dollars by the tax, but there are doubts about the estimates, which were based on “hazy ’studies’ conducted by marijuana advocates”.

With California’s summer school programs and state parks sitting on the chopping block, the state tax board took a look at the plan to raise $1.4 billion dollars in an analysis that was published last week.

The tax board simply  “asked the question: What in blazes were they smoking?”

“To reach that amount, the board apparently relied on a source that relied on a source that misquoted a book that misquoted a study, all involving a hazy mix of out-of-date numbers, high margins of error and complete guesswork that could be a mere $700 million off the mark.”

California’s Board of Equalization published its analysis last week advocating a bill that would tax pot like alcohol. It would levy a $50 fee for every ounce  of green.

The bill’s sponsors  say that the state can’t afford to pass on this.

“It defies reason to propose closing parks and eliminating vital services for the poor while this potential revenue is available,” State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano said in a statement.

According to the tax commission’s report, Californians consume 16 million ounces of pot every year — 1 million pounds exactly — a suspiciously round number the report said was derived from a “literature review” of “law enforcement and academic studies.”

The number could go up if it became legal because prices would drop.

Foxnews.com took a look at the numbers and found a $700 million discrepancy.

The board appears to have based its 16-million-ounce guess on a problematic “study” conducted by the founder of a pot-growing university in Oakland and by the director of California’s branch of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

But the fact is, no one — not even law enforcement agencies — really knows how much weed gets smoked in California, because self-reported users can and do lie on government surveys.

Check out the original article: California’s $1.4 Billion Pot Tax Hopes May Be Up in Smoke

RealDealDocs.com is a division of Practice Technologies, Inc. the creators of SmartRules.com. SmartRules provides step by step guides to local rules and civil procedure for state courts & federal courts throughout the country.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Two Trial Courts in California are closing their courtrooms and furlough staff once a month in an effort to save some money in the states financial crisis. Closing these courts on the third Wednesday of every month for the next fiscal year is supposed to save the state over $18 million dollars.

Local leaders were waiting for the state to coordinate a statewide closure plan to emerge from all of the budget negotiations, but they couldn’t wait any longer.

Los Angeles County Superior Court officials expected to have just 43 of 600 courtrooms open countywide to process restraining orders, in-custody arraignments, juvenile dependency cases and other time-sensitive matters. Ninety-three percent of the court’s 5,000 employees will be furloughed, spokeswoman Mary Hearn said.

The closures have left attorneys like those at the Children’s Law Center scrambling. Wednesday is typically the busiest day of the week for the agency that represents more than 20,000 Los Angeles County children in dependency court. Cases brought into the foster care system on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday must be filed in court by the following Wednesday to meet a three-day statutory deadline.

Just two of 20 dependency courts are expected to be operating in Los Angeles on Wednesday. On top of that, the Children’s Law Center, faced with its own $1.2 million budget cut, will have only a skeleton crew of 20 attorneys working, said Executive Director Leslie Starr Heimov. Other attorneys and staff will be taking a furlough day, she said.

Even though many courtrooms will be closed, LA courthouse doors will remain open so attorneys can file papers. The closure is not considered a holiday and paperwork dropped off by 4:30 will receive filing stamps.

Check out the original article: Los Angeles to Close 557 Courtrooms

RealDealDocs.com is a division of Practice Technologies, Inc. the creators of SmartRules.com. SmartRules provides step by step guides to local rules and civil procedure for state courts & federal courts throughout the country.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Anti-Illegal Immigration activists are making a push for a ballot initiative that would end many state benefits for illegal immigrants and their children.

The measure, if passed, would challenge the citizenship of illegal immigrants’ U.S. born children, cut the welfare payments to those children, and impose new birth certificate requirements.

Advocates for the ballot set up shop in a stretch of desert just north of the U.S.-Mexican border at the base-camp they simply know as “Camp Vigilance”. Dressed in khaki’s and colors of the American Flag, activists discussed what the next phase in their “war on illegal immigration” will bring.

“We will be out in full force to qualify this initiative,” said Barbara Coe, who helped develop Proposition 187, the 1994 measure that would have ended benefits to illegal immigrants but was ruled unconstitutional. “Illegals and their children are costing the state billions of dollars. It’s invasion by birth canal.”

“The target: Illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children who receive public benefits.”

“The plan: a California ballot initiative that would end public benefits for illegal immigrants, cut off welfare payments for their children and impose new rules for birth certificates.”

The plan, which was recently unveiled by San Diego political activist Ted Hilton, hopes to challenge the citizenship of the children of immigrants that are here illegally.

“The 14th Amendment states that “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and the State wherein they reside.” Backers of the initiative argue that illegal residents are not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the United States and that, as a result, their U.S.-born children should not be citizens.”

“Before Hilton, Coe and their allies can argue that point in court, however, they have many hurdles to overcome. Whether the initiative will even make it to the ballot remains to be seen. Organizers have just begun to collect the 488,000 voter signatures required to qualify the measure for the June 2010 election. So far, Hilton said, they have raised about $350,000 — far short of the $4 million generally needed to pay signature gatherers to get a statewide initiative over that hurdle.”

I’ll keep my eyes open for upates.

Check out the original article here:
Activists push ballot initiative to end state benefits for illegal immigrants and their U.S.-born children

RealDealDocs.com is a division of Practice Technologies, Inc. the creators of SmartRules.com. SmartRules provides step by step guides to local rules and civil procedure for state courts & federal courts throughout the country.

Popularity: 3% [?]

A Federal Judge has struck down two Northern California city ordinances that bans the military recruitment of minors.

“Voters in the cities of Arcata and Eureka passed laws last November called the Youth Protection Act. But the Justice Department promptly sued, arguing that they interfere with the government’s ability to raise an army and protect the country.”

The U.S. District Judge that oversaw the proceedings agreed with the federal government and invalidated the laws. Judge Saundra Armstrong also tossed out a counter-suit filed by Arcata and Eureka claiming that government employees violated the constitutional right of some of the cities residents.

Click to view the original article of the judge shooting down the laws that banned military recruitment of minors.

RealDealDocs.com is a division of Practice Technologies, Inc. the creators of SmartRules.com.
SmartRules provides step by step guides to local rules and civil procedure for state courts & federal courts throughout the country.

Popularity: 5% [?]

A Southern California man is accused of impersonating a lawyer while on supervised release from a prison for….. wait for it…. wait for it….. pretending to be a lawyer.

“Harold Goldstein, 64, of Newport Beach, Calif., posted an ad on Craigslist claiming to be a retired attorney looking for lawyers to do contract work. When someone responded, Goldstein asked for the attorney’s letterhead and business cards, federal authorities said.”

Goldstein was arrested on June 7th, which was about one month following his release after serving the majority of a seven-year sentence. The seven year sentence was for lying in court. Goldstein stated in court that he was a licensed attorney, “stealing the identity of a real lawyer in Northern California, and sending letters to inmates advertising his legal services.”

“He was taken into custody based on information received by agents that he had violated the terms of his supervised release,” said Laura Eimiller, spokeswoman for the FBI in Los Angeles. She said Goldstein was being held without bond in downtown Los Angeles.”

Goldstein arrives back in court on June 22nd where he faces another two years in prison if convicted on these charges.

RealDealDocs.com is a division of Practice Technologies, Inc. the creators of SmartRules.com. SmartRules provides step by step guides to local rules and civil procedure for state courts & federal courts throughout the country.

Popularity: 7% [?]

OK…so, the economy is crashing but hope is suddenly among us. A handful of law firms, for example, are enthusiastic about using this financial slump to their advantage. With California’s alternative energy generation growing and the new state toxic chemical regulation, Cali’s “green rush” means new jobs for lawyers.

“California is a great market,” said Richard Gittleman, who moved from Washington six weeks ago and orchestrated the plan to bring five lawyers with him by the end of the year to help Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s large utility clients get into some of the renewable energy developments.

“The need is there, and we recognized in our own large client base a reluctance to jump into the renewables swimming pool because they didn’t understand it,” he said. Akin Gump also brought on Vic Fazio, a 20-year Democratic representative who represented the Sacramento, Calif., area, to lobby in Washington on energy issues, as well as Bill Paxton, a former Republican representative who represented the Buffalo, N.Y., area.

Many more firms are going to follow in Akin Gump’s footsteps. Change is in the air as doors are opening.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Few protestors revealed themselves when same-sex couples walked down the aisle in the state of California, however, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Rather than choosing to stand outside with pickets, head of the National Organization for Marriage-California, Brian Brown, stated, “Being on the streets doesn’t accomplish our goal. We’re organizing to pass it [marriage amendment], and that’s where all our energy is going right now.”

By striking down Proposition 22, which is the gay-marriage ban approved in 2000, the Supreme Court’s 4-3 decision to back unions has created quite an uproar for some. Why? I have no idea. However, it has and these traditionalists aren’t happy.

According to Wendy Wright, who runs the Concerned Women for America group and supports biblical values, “Children need a mother and a father clearly committed to one another. A man can’t be a mother; a woman can’t be a father.”

Now, if we were living in biblical times, that argument might slide. However, with a 50% divorce rate and extreme child abuse issues on the rise, same-sex parents are the least of our problems, wouldn’t you say?

According to Shirley Phelps-Roper with the Topeka, Westboro Baptist Church, “Gay marriage is another in-your-face, smashed-mouth, flipping-off affront to God for which you’ll pay dearly.”

“In the book of Genesis,” commented Wright, “God recognized that a man alone is not good, so he created woman as partner. And both old and new scriptures describe homosexuality as a sin.”

And who wrote these scriptures?

Man.

Why are we allowed to decide what is wrong or right in the eyes of God?

We aren^‘t.

Marriage is a symbol of love. And that’s all it is. By not allowing same-sex couples the option to marry, we take away their legal rights as human beings. And by using God’s name as a reason to lash out on others, well there^‘s the real sin.

Popularity: 7% [?]