I Call BS!

From 2001 to 2007, the area’s population jumped 25 percent. But local government expenditures – adjusted for inflation – grew about 50 percent…On top of that spending, many local governments also accumulated a mountain of debt…
Are we surprised? This is the way most Americans manage their home finances so is it any surprise that, [...]

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Insurance
Local herb farmer Rose Loveall-Sale says that if her health insurance premiums continue rising she’ll have to consider a career change. It’s a plight shared by farmers and ranchers statewide, a new survey shows.
Okay, rising health care costs, including the premiums, are hurting a lot [...]

With the recent ICE raid in Postville, the hiring of illegal immigrants is again in the news.
Instead of rehashing what is already all over the web, let’s take a look at the sequela of a previous raid. All emphasis is added.
In December 2006 a multi-state raid that included Swift & Co. netted more than [...]

By JIM ABRAMS, Associated Press Writer
 
The Federal Reserve and other regulators are moving Friday to crack down on “unfair and deceptive” practices in the credit card industry that have added billions in debt to people already struggling to cope with the economic downturn.
In the most far-reaching crackdown on the credit industry in decades, the Fed [...]

By Steve Hargreaves, CNNMoney.com staff writer
http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/01/news/companies/exxon_earnings/?postversion=2008050109
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Record oil prices netted Exxon Mobil a $10.89 billion profit in the first three months of the year, sharply higher than a year earlier but short of Wall Street estimates and below what was needed to set a new all-time profit record.
The profit was still enough [...]

Thousands of Bay Area businesses - from boutique hotels to mammoth oil refineries - are poised to pay some of the nation’s first fees tied to greenhouse gas emissions under a plan proposed by regional air pollution regulators.
If the proposal is approved next month, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District would charge 4.2 cents [...]

Kelly Zito, Chronicle Staff Writer
Marin County residents want more solar and wind power. San Francisco officials think they might be able to strike better energy deals. Some cities in the San Joaquin Valley want to build their own power plants.
From the North Bay to Hollywood, California communities are trying to exert more power over, well, [...]