Independent Probe into UC Davis Police Misconduct Needed
By State Senator Leland Yee
As our country remains mired in economic doldrums, the act of public protest has returned to the front pages of newspapers across the country. The Occupy Wall Street movements have given voice to people who feel that the political process as it stands leaves their viewpoints marginalized and ignored.
While this movement defines itself and their agenda, as Americans we can all have our own opinions as to whether or not their concerns are valid. But there should be unanimous support of their right to stand in the public square and make their voices heard, as it is laid out in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. And this is why I am appalled at the response to student protestors at UC Davis and why I am demanding accountability from its leadership.
Billionaire Wants To Shift Tax Burden to Middle Class
By Robert Cruickshank
If you look up "tone deaf" in the dictionary right now, you might find a photo of Nicholas Berggruen. He's the billionaire investor who founded the "Think Long Committee for California" last fall to revive corporate friendly "reform" policies. In news that should shock nobody at all, their tax proposals involve shifting the burden away from the rich and corporations and onto what's left of the middle class. From Capitol Alert:
A coalition backed by some of the biggest names in California politics and a billionaire financier is readying for the ballot a sweeping overhaul of the Golden State's tax system....
Californians would pay sales tax on all services except health care and education starting in July 2013.
"We the People”: Occupy Wall Street “99ers”Petition California Governor to Declare a “Financial State of Emergency”
By Patrick Porgans and Seth Sandronsky
In California, foreclosures continue to batter homeowners, averaging out at 1,866 a day, 77 an hour each day the past 10 months, or 1.3 foreclosures per-minute. That’s surely on the minds of many Occupy Wall Street “99ers.”
According to Shum Preston, spokesman for the California attorney general’s office, there was a recent “surge in foreclosures” between July and August bringing an additional 560,000 homes into the foreclosure process.
Reportedly, “settlement negotiations” between the 50 state attorneys general and the nation’s five largest banks – Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Co., Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial Inc., commenced in the fall of 2010, around abuses related to mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices