"We can't get through this deficit without very terrible cuts," Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear told reporters in Sacramento. "We don't believe that raising taxes right now is the right thing to do." California's revenue in April, when income-tax payments are due, trailed the governor's estimates by $3.6 billion, or 26 percent. The gap wiped out gains from the previous four months, leaving collections $1.3 billion behind projections for the budget year that ends in June.

Schwarzenegger's newest plan will revise the proposals introduced in January to account for the tax-collection shortages. In January, the governor said California may have to eliminate entire welfare programs, including the main one that provides cash and job assistance to families below the poverty line, without an influx of cash from the federal government.

The fiscal strains have left California with the lowest credit rating among US states. A taxable California bond maturing in 2039 traded for a yield of 7.08 percent today, up from an average of 6.87 percent on May 6, according to Municipal Security Rulemaking Board data.

US President Barack Obama has urged Mr Zapatero to take "resolute action". Mr Obama called the Spanish PM on Tuesday, with the White House saying he was actively engaged in lessening the global impact of Europe's debt crisis. The BBC's Sarah Rainsford in Madrid says Spain approved an austerity package in January but that since then little has happened and Madrid is now under pressure from the European Commission to deliver, with new talk of penalties if it does not.

The European Union is anxious to see more fragile European economies including Spain, Portugal and Greece impose tougher austerity measures. On Sunday it agreed a massive 750 billion euros ($975 billion; 650 billion pounds) rescue package to prop up European economies struggling with large debts. Spain has come under pressure to act more quickly to cut borrowing. Its tougher measures are expected to include big cuts to spending, as well as higher taxes.

There is also expected to be a freeze on recruitment in the public sector, as outlined in the January measures. But the current socialist government could face stiff domestic opposition to tougher measures, with protests against cuts earlier in the year.

He discovered that on weekends, hospitals admit elderly people who require nursing care or are confused because their children bring them there so that they can take a few days of vacation. This, of course, drives up healthcare costs.

He also discusses an administrative office called Kopais, named after the lake of the same name near Thebes, which was established in 1957. The purpose of the office was to prepare for the draining of the lake so that roads could then be built in the lakebed. In that same year - which is now over half a century ago - the lake disappeared forever. But there are still 30 employees working at Kopais today. When employees retire or are let go, their positions are filled with new employees, who are paid monthly salaries of up to 2,500 euros ($3,175). They supposedly work on drainage issues, but no one knows exactly what those issues are or who benefits from their work.

Rakintzis has stories to tell that take place throughout Greece, and some are downright unbelievable. For example, the government agency that was created to manage a bid to make Greece's second-largest city, Thessaloniki, a European cultural capital in 1997 is still humming away. Its employees are supposedly working on winding down the major event and settling up the accounts - 13 years later. How many people work there? "I don't know. Not even the government knows that," says Rakintzis. He adds, in an almost threatening tone: "Not yet." Rakintzis and his staff are now in the process of investigating about 4,000 government offices and agencies in similar situations.

Greece has more than five times as many civil servants per capita than the United Kingdom. The country's inflated government apparatus consumes tens of billions of euros a year. It's money the Greek state doesn't have - and actually never did. The government has been borrowing fresh funds on the international capital markets for years, generously and cheerfully spreading the wealth among its citizens. The introduction of the euro made it even easier to incur debts because, by joining the common currency, Greece qualified for lower interest rates than anyone would ever have thought possible.

But now the bubble has burst. Greece threatens to turn into another Lehman Brothers - except on a whole new scale. The 300 billion euros in debt that the country has accumulated poses a threat to the entire European community.

Mr Brown is also stepping down as Labour leader and as an MP with immediate effect. His decision comes as the Tories and Liberal Democrats are poised to agree a deal to form a government. Mr Brown said he had taken the decision to resign after concluding he would not be able to form a government after days of talks between the parties.

Mr Brown also said he would stand down as Labour leader with immediate effect. Mr Brown succeeded Tony Blair as prime minister in June 2007 after spending ten years as chancellor of the exchequer. His resignation follows Thursday's general election in which no party won an overall majority but the Conservatives won the most seats and votes.

Both Labour and the Tories have since been trying to persuade the Lib Dems to join them in a coalition government to run the country. Mr Brown had previously said he would resign as Labour leader, but stay on as prime minister until September, if Labour could agree a deal with the Lib Dems. But after this possibility ended, the BBC's Political Editor Nick Robinson said Mr Brown decided he could not form a government and should stand down.

On top of that came Sunday's drubbing at the ballot box in a regional vote which has undermined her domestic authority. That result, which her conservatives blamed on the Greek debt crisis, may make her even more reluctant to show leadership in the EU. "We cannot push through our culture of stability in Europe," wrote Die Welt, a centre-right daily. "The euro zone is dominated by countries for whom currency stability is not so important. And leading the opposition is President Nicolas Sarkozy, whom the weakened chancellor could little oppose." In the last few months, Merkel's stance on the debt crisis has zigzagged as she has sought to balance national interests - protecting German taxpayers from bailing out Greece - and saving the credibility of the euro.

First, she refused to consider a bailout, then she shifted to a half-hearted agreement. Then she went into reverse and played for time before eventually bowing to intense market pressure and the threat of contagion to take urgent action. At Friday's summit of EU leaders, Merkel arrived to a "fait accompli" rescue package trumpeted by Sarkozy, say EU diplomats. She resisted the package due to worries about the legal basis of aid and the role of the European Central Bank. Germany has always been adamant the ECB's independence is paramount.

One veteran CDU member, Willy Wimmer, has already called for her resignation and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung quoted one state premier as saying her lack of leadership would not be tolerated. This could bode ill for the EU as Merkel may feel she has to push even harder in Europe for budget consolidation. Yet Merkel's more defensive stance on the EU is consistent with a deeper shift in Germany's European politics, say experts.

"Germans no longer automatically assume their national interest coincides with that of the EU," Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, told Reuters.

One City expert described the possibility of a 'rainbow' coalition as 'absolutely terrifying'. Commentators fear such a coalition would fail to tackle Britain's 163 billion pounds deficit. Currency traders hit the panic button at the prospect of the Tories failing to win the keys to Number 10. Sterling started the day around $1.483, soared above $1.50 as the prospect of a deal with David Cameron grew - but then fell to trade at around $1.4850.

Harry Adams, from the foreign exchange firm Schneider, said: 'The fall confirms that the market is looking for a Conservative government - and anything else won't do. If it doesn't happen, the pound will tumble even further. The fall in sterling is the clearest message that the market can send that it wants a Tory administration.' David Buik, a partner at the broker BGC Partners, said: 'A Labour-Lib Dem coalition would be an unmitigated disaster for the markets because of the lack of a plan to tackle the deficit immediately.'

The stock market had closed by the time Mr Brown made his statement just after 5 pm. But David Jones, chief market strategist at the spread betting firm IG Index, predicted that it will fall this morning. 'This is more indecision,' he said. 'Mr Brown's statement throws everything up in the air again - and the market hates indecision.'

In the three days after the election, the lobby group British Chambers of Commerce asked around 500 business leaders who they would prefer at Number 10 'given the inconclusive result'. Around 45 per cent said their first choice was a Conservative-led coalition. The second most popular option was a minority Conservative government. Only 14.8 per cent said they would like a Labour-led coalition.

However, while senior Conservatives described Mr Clegg's behaviour as "sordid", former Labour home secretary David Blunkett compared him with a "harlot". "Can we trust the Liberal Democrats?" Mr Blunkett asked. "They're behaving like every harlot in history." Adding that the Conservatives were in a stronger position to form a stable Government, he urged his party's leadership to accept a period in opposition rather than an unworkable coalition.

"I don't think it will bring stability, I think it will lead to a lack of legitimacy and I think it will make people think that we haven't listened to them," he told the BBC. In a bid to entice the Lib Dems, Gordon Brown yesterday offered to step down as part of a deal which would also see a comprehensive overhaul of the electoral system. However under the arrangement, Mr Brown would cling to power until the Labour conference in September, when a new leader would be chosen by party members. If accepted, the proposal would mean Mr Brown remaining in Downing Street for another five months and voters being presented with a second unelected prime minister in a row.

The pound dropped yesterday as Mr Brown's announcement raised the prospect of Labour retaining its grip on power. Terry Smith, chief executive of broker Tullet Prebon, said the prospect of a Labour and Lib Dem coalition scared investors because both parties were less ambitious about tackling the deficit than the Tories. "Markets are quite nervous and look as though they will continue falling unless there's a resolution that leads to someone who is going to address that problem," he said.

US stock futures fell 0.9 percent, with early losses accelerating heading into the European market open. The euro, which had initially surged on the news of the weekend package put together by EU finance ministers, central bankers and the IMF, eased on Tuesday and was well off its Monday high as investors grew cautious.

The single currency dipped 0.6 percent to $1.2705 by early afternoon from late US levels on Monday. The rescue package, together with a pledge from the European Central Bank to buy government bonds, helped ease worries that Greece's debt problems would engulf other weak countries in Europe and spark another global credit crisis.

In response, markets soared worldwide. Stocks in fiscally weak Greece, Spain and Portugal jumped by double digits and their risk premiums on their debt tumbled against benchmark German bunds. Wall Street racked up its biggest one-day gain in more than a year. But while the safety net may have eased fears of a Greek debt default in the near term, longer-term concerns remained over whether Greece and other euro zone countries with large fiscal deficits will be able to deliver on tough fiscal austerity measures and avoid debt restructuring. Moreover, the crisis has highlighted deep-rooted political divisions and structural economic problems across the 16-country euro zone and broader European Union.

BP, the well owner, blames the failure of a big set of valves on the sea floor, known as the blowout preventer, to halt the blowout once it started. A different account comes from Halliburton, a contractor in the drilling. This account is corroborated to some extent by Transocean, as well as by two workers on the drilling rig, the Wall Street Journal has determined. This account describes a failure to place a cement plug within the well. The plug is designed to prevent gas from escaping up the pipe to the surface.

Before such a plug is placed, the job of keeping underground gas from coming up the pipe is done by heavy drilling fluid inside the well, commonly known as "mud." The plug is normally put in before the mud is removed, but according to the account of Halliburton, Transocean and the two workers, in this case, that wasn't done - drilling mud was removed before a final cement plug was placed in the well.

It is not clear why such a decision would have been made. Rig owner Transocean says that BP, as owner of the well that was just being completed, made key decisions on how to proceed. BP declined to comment on this account of the drilling procedures.

There are some 83 federal agencies that enforce tens of thousands of regulations over American industry. There is no business that is free from federal regulation. The influence of regulators over Americans' business affairs is far greater than that of any politician elected to office. Indeed, regulators have the luxury of ruling without need for election, without need for real accountability to Congress, and without ever having to answer in a serious way for agency abuses. The heads of the independent federal regulatory agencies are the New Totalitarians.

To be the head of an independent regulatory agency is to rule with imperial power over a segment of the American marketplace. No elected official possesses comparable power (none has, as do the agency heads, combined legislative, executive, and judicial power). The directors and commissioners who reign in their appointed positions are dictators who accuse, judge, and try. Their word is law and to violate it is to face their wrath, including fines, injunctions against sale, and incarceration. It is time to end these abuses and replace the bureaucratic oligarchy that now rules so tyrannically with the limited federal republic that the founding fathers gave us in defense of individual liberty.

See full article - http://www.newswithviews.com/Emord/jonathan131.htm

By signing international treaties on gun control, THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION CAN USE THE US STATE DEPARTMENT TO BYPASS THE NORMAL LEGISLATIVE PROCESS IN CONGRESS. Once the US Government signs these international treaties, all US citizens will be subject to those gun laws created by foreign governments. These are laws that have been developed and promoted by organizations such as the United Nations and individuals such as radical billionaire George Soros and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. "The laws are designed and intended to lead to the complete ban and confiscation of all firearms," according to Sharon.

"The Obama administration is attempting to use tactics and methods of gun control that will inflict major damage to our 2nd Amendment before US citizens even understand what has happened," she added. Critics believe Obama will appear before the public and tell them that he does not intend to pursue any legislation in the United States that will lead to new gun control laws, while cloaked in secrecy, his Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is committing the US to international treaties and foreign gun control laws.

"We will wake up one morning and find that the United States has signed a treaty that prohibits firearm and ammunition manufacturers from selling to the public. We will wake up another morning and find that the US has signed a treaty that prohibits any transfer of firearm ownership. And then, we will wake up yet another morning and find that the US has signed a treaty that requires US citizens to deliver any firearm they own to the local government collection and destruction center or face imprisonment," Ms. Sharon stated.

A group of bishops travelled to Rome last week to hold face-to-face discussions with officials from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the most powerful department of the Vatican. The Right Reverend John Broadhurst, the Right Reverend Keith Newton and the Right Reverend Andrew Burnham, the bishops of Fulham, Richborough and Ebbsfleet, discussed how clergy could convert to Catholicism, it was reported. The move is likely to raise tensions between the two churches, ahead of Pope Benedict's visit to Britain in September.

One bishop was said to have compared the summit to 'a declaration of war'. More than 1,300 clergy have written to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, threatening to leave if women are consecrated as bishops. The Church of England has voted in favour of female bishops but has yet to work out how the legislation will be implemented.

Plans for the Pope's visit have already been mired in controversy because of the child abuse scandals and the leaked Foreign Office memo, suggesting Pope Benedict launch a condom range and visit an abortion clinic during his time here. An email sent by Bishop Burnham earlier this year revealed the degree of secrecy surrounding the Vatican talks. 'It has all felt a little bit like Elizabethan espionage,' he wrote. 'This is not known about fully in England and Wales... Hence the cloak and dagger.' The Vatican opened the doors for Anglican clergy to convert last year, when it set out detailed plans to allow them to serve as Roman Catholic priests.

At least 750 billion euros! This weekend, Europe's politicians came up with an unprecedented rescue package in their bid to gain the upper hand on the financial markets. In the language of the capital markets: The politicians are once again ahead of the curve. The partly euphoric reaction on the markets also speaks in favor of a turnaround. The euro even rose strongly against the dollar.

Was this massive rescue action necessary? That question is difficult to answer. There is no way of assessing the value of any alternatives - or to let the rescue package for Greece have an effect first. However, we know from previous crises that simply running after the markets brings little success. One has to succeed in surprising them and in rapping the protagonists on the knuckles. That is exactly what the European Union can finally do now. If the euro climbs in value in the coming days, then many speculators will have to react and end their bets on it to ensure that they don't end up losers themselves.

Under the postulate that politicians had to act now, the finance ministers of the 27 EU states gave out the right signal late into Sunday night: They erected one of the biggest stop signs for speculation ever built. The European Commission and the member states are making 500 billion euros ($641 billion) available in loan guarantees to struggling countries, augmented by at least 250 billion euros ($320 billion) from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This sum is designed to calm the markets and end the speculation against the euro.

Whether the rescue package will protect the euro from collapsing in the long term depends on how seriously the deficit countries are about consolidating their budgets. If discipline is lacking, despite the IMF oversight, then the currency union could still break apart. Countries like Germany that had a strong currency before the euro could then feel forced to leave the euro zone and push forward with a smaller and stronger currency union. That, however, looks far less likely after this weekend's events. Greece, Spain and Portugal have now agreed to make even more of an effort to clean up their public finances.

The European Commission's injection was supported by a powerless Chancellor Alistair Darling, in a deal that could be Labour's final legacy to the British people. Britain pays 10 per cent of the Commission's bill and if the loan fund had to take the strain, Britain's share of the liability would be 43 billion pounds.

Mr Darling said he had spoken to Shadow Chancellor George Osborne and his Liberal Democrat counterpart Vince Cable during the negotiations. He refused to disclose details of his discussions with Mr Osborne and Mr Cable but the bailout could become a major stumbling block in reaching any deal between the euro-sceptic Tories and the pro-European Lib Dems. Although Mr Darling was powerless to stop the rescue package as the decision was taken by majority voting, Tory sources said that Mr Osborne is highly sceptical about the plan that he would inherit if he became Chancellor.

As he arrived in Brussels, Mr Darling made clear that the UK would not sanction such a move - which required unanimous support - but said the eurozone countries could take that step on their own if they wanted. He said Britain would 'play our part' in helping to 'stabilise the situation', but added: 'When it comes to supporting the euro, obviously that is for the eurozone countries.' But he was effectively forced to support the separate balance of payments loan fund after other EU leaders made clear that under the Lisbon treaty Mr Darling was powerless to stop it being passed.

Critics warned that EU leaders were taking advantage of the confusion over the status of the British government. Mats Persson, director of Open Europe, a Brussels reform think tank, said: 'What we're were told would never happen has now occurred. British taxpayers have become directly liable for the mess created by the failed euro experiment. While it's in everyone's interest for Europe's economy to stabilise, this deal could easily spiral out of control.'

Treasury officials stressed that the fund Britain is signed up for will not involve putting in any money up front. The UK would only be landed with a multi-billion pound bill if there were defaults.

Under the three-year aid plan the EU Commission will make 60 billion euros available while countries from the 16-nation eurozone would promise backing for 440 billion euros. The IMF would contribute an additional sum of at least half of the EU's total contribution, or 250 billion euros. Britain's involvement in the bailout could cost taxpayers 15 billion pounds. The country was already exposed to a potential 7 billion pounds cost under the original scheme and its ultimate liability under the enhanced plan will be a further 8 billion pounds, Treasury officials say

The Chancellor told the BBC's Today programme that there was "no way that non-eurozone countries should be asked to underwrite the currency". He said: "It is a good deal for Europe and we have minimised our exposure and that is a very, very important feature of what I managed to agree last night."

In a further sign of the cash squeeze facing Europe's banks, the US Federal Reserve agreed today to re-open its emergency provision of dollars to central banks around the world, including the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. The emergency measure seems to have been triggered by a sudden jump on Friday in the rate banks were charging each other to borrow dollars. The cost of interbank three month dollar loans jumped at its fastest in 16 months. It was a similar jump in the rate banks lent to each other that heralded the start of the global financial crisis at the end of 2007.