The new spending plan for California, approved late Tuesday night by both chambers of the state Legislature, accomplishes many things, but its main achievement may be that it gives state residents a reason to believe their government is firmly on the right track.Throughout the second half of the 1990s and into the new century, Sacramento was riven by bitter disputes among its top office-holders. Seemingly endless partisan fighting made it almost impossible for elected officials to address the real and growing problems facing California.
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The latest regional highway congestion statistics confirm a common judgment of longtime commuters: Traffic volume is again rising steadily towards the truly irritating and productivity-draining levels experienced during the dot-com peak of 2000.As last Tuesday's announcement of the annual report by Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission put it: "If your drive to work seems to be taking longer than it did a couple of years ago, it's no illusion."
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The telephone companies are spending millions of dollars on advertising and lobbying to convince everyone — consumers, businesses, reporters, editorial boards and legislators — that competition is the answer to all of our video and broadband needs. Competition will bring consumers greater choices in programming, lower prices and more responsive customer service. Why does this sound familiar?
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San Francisco might well be among the world's most popular visitor attractions, and one of the greatest centers of technological entrepreneurship and cultural innovation. But itis certainly no Elk Grove — at least in terms of attracting new population.The Sacramento suburb grew by 11.6 percent last year, making it America's fastest-growing city, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In contrast, San Francisco was tied for No. 40 on the Census Bureau's list of fastest-shrinking cities, reportedly losing half of one percent of its populace last year.
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Tough luck, California taxpayers — another $55 million has just been added to your 2006-07 state budget obligation, an expense that benefits only state and local government employees. This additional tax obligation was not arrived at via open legislative debate. Instead it was imposed Wednesday by vote of the California Public Employees Retirement System board.
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The longtime trend of City Hall routinely ignoring the effect its new laws would have on San Francisco’s economy and businesses has picked up steam in recent months. It has reached the point where major business groups took the unprecedented step of suing The City to force it to abide by the will of the voters and consider the economic impacts of legislation before it is passed.
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The San Francisco school board recently introduced a resolution with the intent of disbanding the district’s Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, which would do a great disservice to students. Five of the seven school board members appear to be backing it.As students, we have seen the beneficial effects of the program on our peers. We have met and known individuals whose lives have been changed as a result of the confidence, pride and leadership instilled in them by JROTC.
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It’s time for San Francisco to re-assert its place among the great cities of the world. It’s time for The City to host the Olympics.San Francisco is currently one of five cities being considered by the United States Olympic Committee as a candidate for the 2016 summer games, along with Houston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles. USOC officials say they will decide by the end of the year whether they will put forth a candidate to compete against other international cities.
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This month the Bay Area will celebrate the third anniversary of a major accomplishment: the opening of the BART extension to San Francisco International Airport and Millbrae. BART’s service to the airport is more visible than ever, thanks to bronze-colored train cars sporting the message, "Take BART to SFO." The train cars are part of a new marketing agreement that is providing BART with $700,000 worth of advertising at no cost to taxpayers.
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More than 80,000 San Francisco residents are uninsured, and that lack of insurance is contributing to increasingly unmanageable emergency medical costs that have reached crisis levels. But how a system of universal health care access should work — and who pays for it — are tough questions without easy answers.
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