What would it mean if California went bankrupt?
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
California has some serious money troubles.
Voters have rejected five out of six propositions that were meant to pull the state out of a deepening budget crisis. The measures were a combination of spending reforms, higher taxes, and changes in borrowing and funding. The only proposal that passed would prohibit pay raises for lawmakers during deficit years.
With the failure of these proposals, it's now estimated California's budget deficit could balloon from about $15 billion to more than $21 billion.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had said if these measures failed, he'd have to make drastic cuts... This could include shortening the school year by a week and a half, cutting tens of thousands of education jobs, eliminating health insurance for 250,000 needy children, laying off 1,700 firefighters, withholding $2 billion from local governments - which could mean cuts in police forces and other services - and freeing almost 40,000 inmates from San Quentin prison.
The results of yesterday's special election mark a new low for the Republican Schwarzenegger, who had promised to restore fiscal stability to the state.
Meanwhile the three major credit rating companies reduced the grade on around $60 billion of California's bonds to the lowest rating of any U.S. state. There's no question the recession and record budget deficits are causing critical damage to California's economy - which would be the world's eighth largest if it were a separate country.
Here’s my question to you: What would it mean if California went bankrupt?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Should airports do away with whole-body scans?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Privacy groups want the government to get rid of whole-body imaging machines at airports - because they say the security technology performs a "virtual strip" search and produces "naked" pictures of passengers.
A TSA officer reviews a passenger's carry-on items during a whole body scan at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
These sci-fi looking scanners were first introduced at a Phoenix airport in 2007. There are now 40 of them being tested and used in 19 airports. Some airports use them as a primary security check option instead of metal detectors; while others use it as a secondary option instead of a pat-down.
The Transportation Security Administration says the machines detect metallic and nonmetallic "threat items" to keep people safe, and that the technology is proven and they're highly confident in its detection capability. They also say this option is faster.
TSA officials say they're committed to respecting passenger privacy. The system uses a pair of security officers. The one who works the machine never sees the image, which is viewed behind closed doors by another officer, who never sees the passenger.
Also, the passenger's face is blurred. Officers can't bring cameras or any recording device into the room; and the machines automatically delete the images.
But critics are calling for more oversight, full disclosure for air travelers of what's going on here and legal language that would protect passengers and keep the TSA from changing its policy later on. The ACLU says we shouldn't pretend "being groped and being stripped" are our only options.
A bill was introduced in the House last month to ban these machines.
Here’s my question to you: Should airports do away with whole-body scans because they show "everything"?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Willing to travel abroad for medical care?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
While Washington looks at trying to solve the nation's health care crisis, many Americans aren't waiting. They are willing to take matters into their own hands by seeking medical treatment elsewhere.
A new Gallup poll shows 29 percent of those surveyed would consider traveling outside the U.S. for treatment in a foreign country. 24 percent would travel for cancer treatment or diagnosis. 15 percent for a hip or knee replacement. 14 percent for heart bypass surgery. And 10 percent for plastic surgery.
When people are asked if they would consider treatment abroad, assuming the quality was the same and the costs much cheaper, those numbers jump by an average of 12 points.
Medical travel used to be considered a luxury for the rich, but with health care costs at home skyrocketing and an estimated 48 million uninsured Americans, that may no longer be the case. In fact, this poll shows people without insurance are more likely than those with coverage to think about going abroad for medical treatment.
When it comes to regions of the country, those in the West are the most willing to travel while people in the Midwest and South are less likely to go abroad.
Meanwhile if there are improvements in insurance reimbursements, hospital quality and cheaper costs abroad - more Americans could start traveling elsewhere for health care.
Here’s my question to you: Would you be willing to travel to another country to get medical care?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Time to buy a Chrysler or GM car?
(PHOTO CREDIT: JIM WATSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
If you're looking for a new set of wheels, there are lots of deals out there - as two of the big three automakers close thousands of dealerships around the country.
789 Chrysler lots have a deadline of June 9 to unload more than 40,000 cars and trucks. The dealers have to sell the Chryslers, Dodges and Jeeps before then - or risk losing thousands of dollars.
Chrysler, which has filed for bankruptcy, doesn't have the money to buy back the vehicles. But the company says that dealers being cut will get warranty reimbursement and sales incentives like rebates and low-interest financing until June 9. After that, they won't get either... and that's why dealers are in a hurry to sell, even if it's at a loss.
Over at General Motors, the situation isn't quite as bad - at least not yet. Although the company is cutting 1,100 dealers, GM isn't in bankruptcy yet so dealers have more options. They also have more time to sell their cars - and the company is still required to buy back some of the cars and trucks.
Experts say before going to a dealership, you should find out about incentives and other deals, and make a low-ball offer. Of course - People can wait until the deadline gets closer and dealers are perhaps even more desperate - but keep in mind that inventory could be lower then and you may not get your first choice.
Here’s my question to you: Is now the time to buy a Chrysler or GM car?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Would you notice if your daily newspaper disappeared?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
There are plenty of contenders, but San Francisco might become the first major American city without a daily newspaper. The San Francisco Chronicle continues to lay off staffers in an attempt to stay afloat. The city's mayor, Gavin Newsom tells the British magazine The Economist that if the newspaper does disappear, "People under 30 won't even notice."
The mayor's office later clarified those comments, saying Newsom was talking about the physical version of the paper; and that lots of young people get their news online, like on the San Francisco Chronicle's web site.
And that's exactly the point. The internet and the recession are threatening the survival of newspapers around the country. As they see fewer advertising dollars coming in, more personnel including reporters get laid off.
Several cities have already lost the print versions of a daily newspaper; like the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Denver's Rocky Mountain News. And the health of even larger newspapers - including The New York Times - has been called into question.
The Economist asks whether it matters if the daily newspaper is killed. After all, technological change has destroyed lots of popular products, and we've survived. But news isn't just a product; in a democracy, the press exists to investigate and criticize the government.
And local newspapers are the best source of aggressive reporting on local issue - school boards, municipal courts, city councils and the like.
Nonetheless, the end of the daily newspaper wouldn't necessarily mean the end of news organizations. Instead they'll have to find a business model that works online. Right now, most online news content is free. That doesn't pay the bills either.
Here’s my question to you: Would you notice if your daily newspaper disappeared?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Time for Pelsoi to step down as House Speaker?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The pressure is mounting on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when it comes to the debate over torture - what she knew and when she knew it. Top Republicans are calling on the Speaker to come clean about all this and either apologize or possibly lose her leadership post.
Newt Gingrich says Pelosi has "defamed everyone" in the intelligence community by claiming they misled her. He says he can't see how Pelosi can serve as speaker if it turns out she lied about national security to Congress and to the whole country.
House Minority Leader John Boehner says that if Pelosi is accusing the CIA of lying or misleading Congress, she could come forward with the evidence so these officials can be prosecuted. If not, Boehner says she should apologize to the intelligence community.
CIA Director Leon Panetta weighed in on all this last week and challenged Pelosi - saying it's not the agency's "policy or practice to mislead Congress. That is against our laws and our values."
Gingrich suggests that Panetta's comments put "strong, clear pressure" on the House to start a formal investigation of the speaker - who is third in line to be president.
Meanwhile, Pelosi responded to Panetta by shifting her criticism from the CIA to the Bush administration. She also continues to insist she was briefed on interrogation techniques only once and that she was told the techniques weren't being used.
But critics say Pelosi was fully briefed on waterboarding in 2002 and 2003.
Here’s my question to you: Is it time for Nancy Pelsoi to step down as Speaker of the House?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Complete investigation of Bush admin and Iraq war inevitable?
Pictured here is one of multiple cover sheets for intelligence briefings prepared for Defense Sec. Rumsfeld in the early days of the Iraq war. The sheets featured biblical quotes and battle images. (COURTESY: GQ MAGAZINE)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It's been almost four months since former President Bush left office, and many would like to leave his administration in the past. But that may not be possible since there's a constant dripping of information about what really went on during those eight years.
The latest comes by way of GQ Magazine, which has released a series of cover sheets for intelligence reports written for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top Pentagon brass during the early days of the Iraq war.
They featured "triumphant, color images" like soldiers praying or in action or a tank at sunset along with Biblical passages. For example: "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."
Besides the obvious question of appropriateness, what if these covers had leaked out at the time? The Muslim world could have interpreted the war as a religiously-driven battle against Islam. You think they were upset about Abu Ghraib?
But the general who thought up the covers told anyone that complained about them that his seniors, including Rumsfeld and President Bush, appreciated them. In fact, GQ says Rumsfeld hand-delivered many of these reports to President Bush.
The magazine suggests the mixing of Crusades-like messages with war imagery might not have been Rumsfeld's style - but he likely saw it as a way to connect with the deeply religious President Bush.
This is just another in a growing list of questions, and just like torture and the reasons for invading Iraq, they don't seem to be going away.
Here’s my question to you: Is a complete investigation of the Bush administration and the Iraq war becoming inevitable?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
More Americans 'thriving' than 'struggling'
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
More Americans say they're thriving than struggling for the first time since February 2008. A Gallup poll found that in April, 50 percent of Americans said they were thriving and 47 percent said they were struggling.
Ever since last spring, the opposite had been the case, with more people struggling, and that trend only got worse as the financial crisis affected more people. The percentage of Americans thriving hit a low of 37 percent last November.
Gallup says that the percentage of Americans who are thriving seems to increase in relation to those who say their standard of living is getting better. April was also the first month since last summer that the percentage of Americans who thought their standard of living was improving topped those who thought it was getting worse.
If people's attitudes about the economy and their personal financial situation continue to improve, these things could be a leading indicator that Americans are mentally bouncing back from the shock of the recession.
And if that happens, it could possibly lead to a turnaround in consumer spending - something that business owners across the country have been waiting for and something that has to happen in order for the economy to turn around.
Here's my question to you: What does it mean if more Americans are "thriving" than "struggling" for the first time in more than a year?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How to stop proliferation of nuclear weapons?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The number of countries with nuclear weapons could more than double in the next few years unless the major powers take serious steps towards disarmament. So says the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog agency... Mohamed El Baradei tells the British newspaper The Guardian that the current international regime that limits the spread of nuclear weapons is in danger of collapsing.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director Mohamed El Baradei is pictured at the 'Managing Global Insecurity' conference in Berlin.
The 1970 nuclear non-proliferation treaty was supposed to restrict membership in the nuclear club to the U.S., Russia, China, the U.K. and France. But it has been less than successful. For the last 40 years, Israel, India, Pakistan and North Korea have all been developing nuclear weapons outside of this framework.
El Baradei predicts the next wave of proliferation will include so-called virtual nuclear weapons states - countries potentially like Iran, who can produce plutonium or highly enriched uranium - and know how to make the weapons, but haven't gotten there quite yet. He says soon there could be nine nuclear weapons states and another 10-20 virtual weapons states.
El Baradei suggests the only solution is for established nuclear powers to live up to non-proliferation guidelines and disarm as quickly as possible. Only then will the major powers have the moral authority to go to these wannabe weapons countries and ask them to stop.
Here’s my question to you: What can be done to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons?
Tune in to the Situation Room at 5pm to see if Jack reads your answer on air.
And, we love to know where you’re writing from, so please include your city and state with your comment.
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Do you believe Nancy Pelosi or CIA on waterboarding?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Nancy Pelosi seems to have a new story every day when it comes to the debate over torture. In fact, more focus is now on Pelosi than on the Bush administration, which authorized the use of waterboarding in the first place.
Cafferty: House Speaker Pelosi's story keeps changing regarding what she knew about so-called enhanced interrogation techniques.
The Speaker of the House is now claiming that the CIA misled her during a September 2002 briefing by telling her waterboarding hadn't been used yet on detainees. She says the CIA briefers gave her inaccurate and incomplete information when asked if they lied to her - Pelosi nodded her head 'yes'.
That's a pretty serious accusation. The CIA says: "It is not the policy of this agency to mislead the United States Congress." A former senior intelligence official says it's inconceivable that the CIA would not have talked about interrogation methods already being used.
Republicans insist that Pelosi and other Democrats knew waterboarding was being used all along, but said nothing. House Minority Leader John Boehner says Pelosi's comments "continue to raise more questions than provide answers." Rep. Peter Hoekstra calls Pelosi's account: "Version 5.0 from Nancy on what happened" in that 2002 meeting.
Meanwhile Pelosi finally admitted she learned waterboarding was being used in 2003, but says she wasn't personally briefed on it at the time.
Here’s my question to you: When it comes to waterboarding, whom do you believe: Nancy Pelosi or the CIA?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
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