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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (15887)	11/11/2003 2:31:07 PM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793707

California Insider A Weblog by Sacramento Bee Columnist Daniel Weintraub November 11, 2003 The budget fix Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to be creeping closer toward a plan to restructure the state’s accumulated debt and borrow some more to ease the way to a balanced budget. As we reported here Oct. 9, such a bond -- possibly as large as $20 billion -- is the only plausible way for him to fulfill all of his campaign promises on the fiscal front, given the budget and political realities he confronts.The Times today reports that this approach is drawing protests from some Democrats while getting support, or at least acquiescence, from Republicans and anti-tax activists. Critics say it’s a cop-out, and are especially skeptical of the plan to cut the car tax and then put the first-year bill for that move on a credit card. Count me among the skeptics. I see nothing wrong with Schwarzenegger's plan to restructure the Davis debt and present it to the voters to protect the state from a legal challenge now pending. I would argue that it is prudent to get voter approval, as the constitution requires, rather than risk a court ruling that would strike down the deficit bonds adopted last summer and send the state into yet another crisis. I could even imagine adding a few other elements of existing, internal borrowing to the new debt measure in order to wipe the slate clean. But I think it would be folly to cut taxes and cover the difference with borrowing. Here is the problem, though. Schwarzenegger was just elected, convincingly, after a campaign during which he pledged to do pretty much this. He said over and over that he would cut the car tax. He said he would restructure the debt. And he said he would rein in state spending with a new constitutional spending limit that would prevent California from ever again getting itself into this kind of fix. I don’t think people who lost the election, or whose party lost the election, have the standing now to demand that the winner renege on his promises. Remember these elements: Rescind the car tax increase. Restructure the debt. Protect education. Adopt a “never again” spending cap. That’s what Schwarzenegger promised. Let’s see if he delivers. sacbee.com

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (15887)	11/11/2003 7:30:37 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793707

Major "Cave" for the BBC. Israeli Pressure was part of the cause. BBC appoints man to monitor 'pro-Arab bias' By Tom Leonard, Media Editor News - Telegraph The BBC has appointed a "Middle East policeman" to oversee its coverage of the region amid mounting allegations of anti-Israeli bias. Malcolm Balen, a former editor of the Nine O'Clock News, has been recruited in an attempt to improve the corporation's reporting of the Middle East and its relationship with the main political players. Mr Balen, who left the BBC three years ago, will work full-time with the official title of "senior editorial adviser". It is the first time the corporation has made such an appointment. Insiders say it is a signal that senior executives feel that the Middle East is an area over which the BBC needs to take particular care. Relations between the corporation and the Israeli government hit a low point this summer when the latter "withdrew co-operation" in protest at a BBC documentary about the country's weapons of mass destruction. Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, later barred the BBC from his meeting with the British press during a visit to London. The BBC has also been the target of Downing Street accusations that it toed a pro-Baghdad line over the Iraq war and that it influenced the Today programme's handling of the dossier story that is the subject of the Hutton Inquiry. A BBC spokesman said: "Malcolm is a hugely experienced senior programme editor whose appointment will help us on our relations with all parties in the region." The decision to appoint Mr Balen was taken jointly by Richard Sambrook, the director of BBC News, and Mark Byford, the head of the World Service. The latter's Arabic Service has been singled out by some critics as the most anti-Israeli source of the corporation's Middle East output. The BBC denied that the appointment amounted to an admission that it had "got its coverage wrong" but conceded the corporation was sensitive to criticism. He said it was "no longer the case" that the Israelis were refusing to co-operate with BBC journalists. An accusation frequently levelled against the corporation is that it reports the Arab-Israeli conflict too much from a Palestinian point of view. Its reluctance to describe suicide bombers as "terrorists" has proved particularly controversial, recently prompting the Simon Wiesenthal Centre to pull out of a BBC series about Nazi genocide. The corporation faces increasing scrutiny of all areas of its activities during the run-up to the renewal of its royal charter in 2006. telegraph.co.uk