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The Sacramento Citizen Team

If you ask readers of  The Sacramento Business Journal, the answer is unfortunatley, not very good.

Fifty-one percent of companies say the economy continues to be “brutal,” while 48 percent of executives surveyed say the “recession is easing up,” according to a just-released quarterly report by Pacific Staffing.

The Sacramento company contacted 71 companies for its survey, with the economic forecast heavily dependent on the industry.

For example, construction companies are the most pessimistic about an economic turnaround, with 13 percent expecting economic hardship to continue, while 2 percent are optimistic for a recovery soon. Retailers — one of the hardest-hit industries — are the most optimistic, with expectations of a much-improved fourth quarter. Manufacturers and service companies were split on their outlook.

Also, 52 percent of companies contacted expect to hire during the fourth quarter, but much of the demand is because of attrition. But companies expect to hire more during the next three months than any period this year, and a dramatic improvement from a record-low outlook in the first quarter.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has secured a special deal protecting his state against the costs of expanding Medicaid under one of the major health care bills moving through Congress.  While his actions may be good news for the people of Nevada, it’s bad news for cash strapped California.

Facing a difficult challenge in his re-election campaign next year, Majority Leader Reid’s side deal protects the citizens of Nevada from a significant portion of the costs contained in the health reform legislation being pushed by Congressional Democrats.  Unfortunately, according to the New York Times the changes came at the expense of not only California but also Florida and Illinois, which would see significant increases in state Medicaid spending under the new formula.

From the New York Times report:

The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, has secured a special deal protecting his state against the costs of expanding Medicaid under one of the major health care bills moving through Congress.

…Under Mr. Baucus’s original proposal, the federal government would have paid 87 percent of the new costs in Nevada. Under the modified version, the federal government would pay 100 percent of the new costs…
…
Now Mr. Baucus has modified the bill to spare Nevada and three other states, and Mr. Reid, who faces a potentially difficult race for re-election next year, is taking credit for getting a “major increase” in federal money for his state.

All of the versions of Obamacare currently in Congress cover more uninsured Americans by expanding Medicaid. But the Baucus bill keeps its total price tag below $1 trillion by shifting the most cost to the states.

That super-soft toilet paper you’re fond of using?  According to environmentalists, it’s an ecological disaster.

A new campaign by Greenpeace seeks to raise consciousness among Americans about the environmental costs of their toilet habits and counter an aggressive new push by the paper industry giants to market so-called luxury brands.

“Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age,” Hershkowitz said. “Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution.”

The Washington Post reports:

Honda Motor Co has unveiled an electric battery-powered personal transporter, a unicycle shaped like the number eight that riders steer by leaning in the direction they want to travel.

The “U3-X,” which Honda will show at the Tokyo Motor Show next month, is the latest to join a growing number of futuristic transportation devices, such as the much bigger Segway.

The single wheel on the U3-X is made up of many tiny motor-controlled wheels, packed inside the bigger wheel, allowing the device to swerve in any direction.

Honda’s prototype has an internal self-balancing system–the single large wheel is actually made up of a number of smaller motor-control wheels that allow the U3-X to move forward, backward, diagonally and sideways without toppling over.  The vehicle, has a maximum speed of 3.7 mph.  

The UK’s Daily Mail has a video HERE. 

The latest Gallup poll of American adults shows overwhelming satisfaction with current medical care and insurance plans, which explains why most of them would like to improve the existing system rather than put government in charge of it:

Americans are broadly satisfied with the quality of their own medical care and healthcare costs, but of the two, satisfaction with costs lags. Overall, 80% are satisfied with the quality of medical care available to them, including 39% who are very satisfied. Sixty-one percent are satisfied with the cost of their medical care, including 20% who are very satisfied.

There is a clear gulf in these perceptions between the health insurance haves and have-nots. According to a Sept. 11-13 USA Today/Gallup poll, the 85% of Americans with health insurance coverage are broadly satisfied with the quality of medical care they receive and with their healthcare costs. At 79%, satisfaction with costs among Medicare/Medicaid recipients is particularly high.

The 15% who are uninsured are far less satisfied with the quality of their medical care (50% are satisfied), and only 27% are satisfied with their healthcare costs. (Sixty-nine percent are dissatisfied with their costs.)

The bottom line from Gallup is that Americans are much more skeptical than optimistic about the likelihood that healthcare reform will reduce their own healthcare costs.

Due to concerns over the conditions at Arco Arena, the NCAA has bypassed Sacramento’s bid for hosting the regional round of the men’s collegiate basketball tournament through 2013.  Local officials have been told the city won’t be considered until it replaces ARCO Arena.

The Mayor made the announcement on his blogthis morning calling the news “devastating” and “embarrassing”.  Sacramento has been in rotation to host the first and second round games since 1994.  Arco was host to to the tournament in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2007.  

According to officials, when Arco hosted the tournament in 2007, fans filled the arena, and the event injected $4 million into the local economy.

The NCAA rejection message supports what the owners of ARCO Arena have been saying for a number of years. Built in 1988, ARCO is the oldest arena in the NBA.

New reports from the Tax Foundation show that President Obama’s policy proposals will increase the financial dependence of middle-income Americans on the federal government.

Specifically, by 2012, if President Obama’s proposals on taxes, health care and climate change become law, 70 percent of American families will, as a group, be receiving more in federal spending than they pay in federal tax.

Currently the bottom 60 percent of the income spectrum receives more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes.“Attempts to put ‘price tags’ on health care and cap-and-trade proposals vary among government agencies and think tanks,” said Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge, “but one vital question has been left unanswered: Counting all federal taxes and spending, how would these policies affect American families’ financial ties to the government? The foundation’s new ‘fiscal incidence model’ answers that question.”

“Currently the bottom 60 percent of the income spectrum receives more in federal spending than they pay in federal taxes,” said Hodge. “By 2012, if President Obama’s proposals on taxes, health care and climate change become law, 70 percent of American families will, as a group, be receiving more in federal spending than they pay in federal tax.”

In fiscal year 2010, the lowest-income families will receive $10.44 in federal spending for every dollar in taxes they pay. Middle-income families, who are the targeted beneficiaries of many Obama policies, will receive $1.15 in government spending benefits for every dollar they pay in taxes.

The Tax Foundation also reported:

When only taxes are analyzed, Obama’s policies lead to tax increases for a curious mix of rich and poor families. Families earning less than $23,700 are disproportionately affected by regressive cap-and-trade policies and higher tobacco taxes, and those earning more than $280,000 will see their tax payments go up because of higher income tax rates. On net, however, when spending is included, the lowest-income households gain more than $2,200 while the highest-income families lose more than $127,000.

You can see the full press release from the Tax Foundation HERE. 

The ongoing controversy over the community organizing group ACORN – spurred by a series of undercover videos shot for  biggovernment.com — has shaken the world politic.  The bombshell investigation into the community organizing group ACORN has highlighted Acorn employees apparntly blithely encouraging prostitution and tax evasion. 

The undercover videos showed a scantily dressed young woman, Hannah Giles, posing as a prostitute, while a young man, James O’Keefe, played her pimp. They visited Acorn offices in Baltimore, Washington, Brooklyn and San Bernardino, Calif., candidly describing their illicit business and asking the advice of Acorn workers. Among other questions, they asked how to buy a house to use as a brothel employing under-age girls from El Salvador.

The story has quickly become one of the biggest of the year… all uncovered by two young amatuer activists.

In our clip of the week The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart takes the main stream media to task asking the mainstream media… “WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?”

WATCH THE VIDEO CLIP HERE: http://www.hulu.com/watch/95851/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-the-audacity-of-hos

In response to the Acorn videos, an instant hit on YouTube, the Senate voted 83 to 7 on Monday to prohibit the Department of Housing and Urban Development from giving federal housing money to the organization. The bill’s advocates said the group had received $53 million in such financing since 1994.

Last Friday, the Census Bureau dropped Acorn as one of 80,000 national unpaid “partners” helping promote the 2010 census, saying the group’s involvement might “create a negative connotation” and discourage participation in the population count.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked the attorney general to investigate ACORN’s activities in California in the wake of a video showing a volunteer giving advice on setting up a brothel.

On the site BigGovernment.com two activists have posted videos of their visits to ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) offices around the country in which they posed as a prostitute and a pimp seeking advice. The series of videos highlights Acorn employees exhibiting outright disdain for the law.

The most recent video was released Tuesday and reveals a San Bernardino, California ACORN worker telling undercover filmmaker James O’Keefe and his associate Hannah Giles about how she ran a prostitution business, how she shot and killed her husband, and how on a daily bases she talks to multiple lawmakers including Sen. Barbara Boxer and California State Senator Negrete-McLeod.

ACORN is a national organization that serves low-income residents and has been involved in controversial efforts to register Democratic voters. More than 37,000 members make up California ACORN. With exposes now public from three different offices, pressure is mounting on state officials to investigate potential illegal activities and misuse of state funds by ACORN offices.

Through the short memo, Schwarzenegger has now officially asked Brown to launch a “full investigation” into the activities in San Bernardino. His spokesman, Aaron McLear, said the governor wants to find out whether the organization has engaged in criminal activity.

“Over the past few days, I have seen a series of news stories regarding the ACORN organization that have concerned me greatly,” Schwarzenegger wrote. “As you may be aware, the most recent report has come out of San Bernardino. Given this, I believe it is appropriate that your office launch a full investigation into ACORN’s activities in California . My administration stands ready to assist in any way necessary.”

Whether or not the Attorney General will pursue such an investigation is unclear, but the Sacramento Citizen has obtained exclusive information regarding the question of whether or not state funds have been issued to ACORN.

The most likely state agency to have issued fund would be the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), the statewide agency with the mission of providing “policies and programs to preserve and expand safe and affordable housing opportunities.” Through various bond and grant monies the Department frequently provides funding opportunities for local governments, groups and organizations which can help to meet the goal of creating and preserving more housing in the state.

HCD shows no record of ACORN receiving any awards from the Department in bond funds, federal funds or from the General Fund. However, the Sacramento Citizen has learned that the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA), which provides financing and programs tot create affordable housing opportunities for individuals within specified income ranges, reported that in 2008 they did award federal NeighborWorks grant dollars to ACORN offices in California.

NeighborWorks is a national nonprofit organization created by Congress to provide financial support, technical assistance, and training for community-based revitalization efforts.

Last year NeighborWorks made grant funding available for various housing projects. CalHFA applied for a portion of those funds on behalf of California. There were several criteria to be met to make an entity eligible to then apply for those federal funds either directly through Neighborworks or through CalHFA. One of those requirements is that the entity must be a “qualified counseling intermediary” – which means they had to be HUD approved. ACORN met that eligibility requirement, and therefore was eligible to apply for funding the federal funding through CalHFA.

Of the $8 Million in federal monies that CalHFA made available through the first round of funding in 2008 only $611,340 went to ACORN offices in California. Apparently while CalHFA has now opened applications for Round 2 of funding and no ACORN groups have applied for funds.