9-23-08

 9-23-08Merced Sun-StarMore Merced coverage in The New York Times...Scott Jasonhttp://notebook.mercedsunstar.com/more_merced_coverage_in_the_new_york_times"The Pain of Selling a Home for Less Than the Loan" shows how families, such as Mike and Linda Kelly in Merced, are faced with selling a home at a loss. About a year ago, I got a call from a woman who was in a similar situation. She owned a home but couldn't sell it because the market had tanked.While this article focuses on the real estate market, it also touches on the area's unemployment problem, which is only getting tighter. The Pain of Selling a Home for Less Than the Loan...David Streitfeld, New York Times...9-19-08Mike and Linda Kelly at their Merced, Calif., home, which is now worth significantly less than the $300,000 balance that they owe the bank.http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/business/19short.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print Many Americans are discovering an unfortunate twist to the housing crisis: even after selling a home and moving away, they might have to keep paying on it for years, even decades.With home prices tumbling, millions of people owe more on their mortgages than the houses are worth. If a new job or other life change compels them to sell, their choices include bringing a pile of cash to the closing to make the bank whole, going into foreclosure or cutting a deal with the lender to pay off the balance of the loan over time.How sellers will react when confronted with these unappealing options is one of the biggest questions hanging over Wall Street as it tries to move beyond the carnage overwhelming such venerable firms as Lehman Brothers, American International Group and Merrill Lynch. A sale for less than the value of the mortgage on a property is known as a “short sale,” because the transaction leaves a homeowner short of the funds needed to settle the debt. Agents and lenders say the number of short sales is rising markedly.Reluctantly, banks are agreeing to let some short sales go through. But instead of writing off the unpaid portion of the debt, they want homeowners to sign a note promising to pay some or all of the balance due.This was the situation confronting Mike and Linda Kelly, who needed to sell their house in the foreclosure-plagued Central Valley of California when Mr. Kelly got a new job 75 miles away. The Kellys owe $300,000 on their house, which has a pool in the back, crepe myrtle bushes in front and, because Mr. Kelly is a ham radio buff, a 40-foot antenna above it. But the best offer they could get gave the bank $220,000. CitiMortgage said it would approve a sale at that price, but at the last minute told the Kellys they needed to pay $166 a month for the next 20 years, a total of $40,000...Moody’s Economy.com estimates that about 10 million homeowners have negative equity, a condition known colloquially as being upside down or underwater. By next June, the forecasting company expects the total to rise to 12.7 million — a quarter of all homeowners who have mortgages...“The first wave of foreclosures involved a lot of investors who just disappeared,” said Lance Churchill of Frontline Seminars, which teaches real estate agents how to negotiate with lenders on short sales. “Now, homeowners with jobs and assets are underwater and want to sell. The banks want as much as they can get, today or in the future, and the owners want to get away clean.”This clash is a central aspect of the financial crisis engulfing Wall Street. During the boom, millions of mortgages were bundled into bonds that were sold to investors and banking houses. But with real estate prices falling and mortgage defaults rising, it has become nearly impossible to calculate the worth of those bonds, and investors are fleeing them.Lenders like Citi — which has already lost more than $50 billion in ill-advised real estate-related ventures — are walking a tightrope. If they do short sales without trying to extract anything from the sellers, everyone in the country who is upside down could try to wriggle out. The banks and bondholders will take a fresh wave of hits; some might not survive. But if a lender drives too hard a bargain, the owner can default, leaving the bank worse off than if it had taken the short sale...While there are no authoritative national numbers on short sales, a related statistic — the number of people selling their homes for less than they paid — is rising rapidly, at least in California...The Kellys had to jump through many hoops, surrendering their financial documents and explaining why they merited approval for a short sale. Only when a buyer was in hand and a price had been negotiated did Citi demand the $40,000 promissory note from the Kellys...“Lenders always say, ‘Don’t stick your head in the sand, come work with us,’ ” Mr. Kelly said. “I have found the truth to be absolutely the opposite. They have fought us every step of the way.”...Foreclosure laws vary among states but in some circumstances, a bank can go after borrowers for the balance due on a mortgage even after it has taken possession of the house. That has not begun to happen in large numbers, but many people believe it will...“Your credit report is going to be equally bad with a short sale as a foreclosure,” said Maxine Sweet, a vice president of the credit bureau Experian. It is true, however, that people who sign a promissory note may have an easier time buying a new house than people who have gone into foreclosure; guidelines imposed by Fannie Mae, the mortgage giant, treat foreclosure as a particular black mark in getting a fresh mortgage.As the summer began, Mr. Kelly was getting tired of commuting for several hours every day to his new job. He asked Citi if it would accept half of what it was demanding, or $20,000. Before the lender could answer, their buyer backed out. Feeling trapped, the Kellys are increasingly angry at Citi and other financial firms. “They damaged our economy and don’t take any of the responsibility, not really,” Mrs. Kelly said. Nevertheless, on Aug. 26, she mailed in the September mortgage payment.A few days later, Mr. Kelly was abruptly laid off, along with 20 of his colleagues. He landed a new job on Monday but the offer was withdrawn on Wednesday. Too much economic turmoil for us to be adding staff, the company said.Only one thing gives Mrs. Kelly any satisfaction. “Citi should have taken care of this when they could have,” she said. “Now there’s going to be nothing for them to get.” Letter: Fearing foreclosure...ABEL AND LINDA GOMES, Los Banoshttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/180/story/466037.htmlEditor: In 2004, we moved back to the Valley to care for both of our aging mothers. In 2006, my wife and I decided to build our last home.County Bank agreed to do the construction loan, but we had to get pre-approved for the long-term loan for the rollover. We qualified with flying colors for both. The home was completed in six months. We changed the house from a four bedroom to a two bedroom by removing the closets, making an office and a game room. We made the entire house handicapped accessible. We were building on land that has been in my family for more than 100 years.The home was finished in October 2007. Then, low and behold, the rollover loan was not there. The bank said it was only good for 30 days. So now we had to re-qualify. We wanted to refinance immediately because of the high-interest construction loan. But the house had to be landscaped first.So now it is the end of February before we could landscape and guess what, the bottom started to drop out of the real estate market and nobody would loan money. County Bank had the house reappraised in March, of course, it had gone down from the original plan appraisal, which was well over $900,000. The bank requested that we pay down the note $140,000 and we did. Now in September they want another appraisal. Guess what? The appraisal came back $200,000 less than the one six months ago, and $400,000 less than the original plan appraisal. All we want to do is make a house payment and pay back the bank, but they will not let us. Our credit scores are over 700. The income is there, but still no luck. You would think that with all the foreclosures they would jump at the chance.The home is more than 4,000-square-feet, sits on 1.2 acres of a 52-acre farm. The house is also next to a dairy, the bank would most likely not be able to sell this house if they foreclosed.We are good people. We pay our bills and take care of both of our elderly mothers. Help us understand this. All we want is to make a house payment to County Bank.Central Valley's Hispanic population rises on birth rateThe report finds immigration is on the decrease across the nation...RUSSELL CLEMINGS, The Fresno Beehttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/466035.htmlNew U.S. Census Bureau figures show that immigration tapered off nationally last year. But the San Joaquin Valley continues to grow more Hispanic, with almost two-thirds of children younger than 10 falling into that ethnic group.The nation added about a half million immigrants in 2007, down from more than 1.8 million the year before, according to the new American Community Survey estimates.That gave the country an estimated total of more than 38 million immigrants -- of whom slightly more than 10 million were in California, up 122,000 from 2006. Like the nation, California's rate of increase also slowed last year from the prior year, although it appeared to drop less than the national rate.Several San Joaquin Valley counties showed gains as well, although the survey's small sample size made it impossible to say whether the increases were real. In any case, Hispanics now make up the largest racial or ethnic group in each central San Joaquin Valley county. In some, they have become the outright majority. In the others, they soon will be the majority as the population ages.In Merced County, 39 percent of families speak Spanish primarily in their homes. And 17 percent of all residents are not U.S. citizens. The median age in the county is a sprightly 29 years old, compared to 37 for the United States as a whole.In Fresno County, Hispanics now make up about 48 percent of the population, but an estimated 53 percent of people in their 20s, 56 percent of teens, and 60 percent of children under 10. The under-10 proportion is even higher in most counties -- as high as 73 percent in Tulare County, for example...For the central San Joaquin Valley, the numbers amplify a trend that has been building for the past couple of decades. The existing population, whiter and older, is gradually being replaced by younger generations that are mostly Hispanic.It's a demographic change that creates challenges for schools, which must teach children who may hear only Spanish at home, and for a labor force that must prepare to absorb a generation that dwarfs the postwar baby boom...Modesto BeeCensus: Valley residents younger, less-educated than restResidents less educated, younger than rest of U.S....J.N. SBRANTIhttp://www.modbee.com/local/story/439028.htmlCensus takers get to be nosy. They ask questions polite people don't. How much do you earn? What language do you speak around the dinner table? Did you drop out of high school? What's your monthly mortgage? Are you unmarried and living with a "partner"? Do you have a mental disability?...The 2007 American Community Survey was released today for communities with 65,000 residents or more, including Modesto, Turlock and Merced.The statistics reveal just how different the Northern San Joaquin Valley's population is from the rest of the country. Valley residents are younger, have more babies and larger families. They're less educated, too, and are far less likely to have graduated from college.There's a much higher percentage of foreign-born residents and a much lower percentage of U.S. citizens living here than elsewhere in the United States. Valley residents are more likely to speak Spanish.Thousands of such social statistics about each community can be accessed online.West Side sleuths trying to solve cemetery mystery...TIM MORANhttp://www.modbee.com/local/story/439055.htmlCROWS LANDING -- People lose car keys all the time, and eyeglasses. Some even lose wallets. But on the West Side of Stanislaus County, a cemetery was lost, and a group of intrepid people is determined to find it.The cemetery in question dates to 1870, and is small, perhaps 25 graves. It was near here and local historians believe it became part of the Crows Landing Naval Air Station during World War II, about 65 years ago.At some point, the headstones were removed and stacked in a pile, and then carted off... Patricia S. Snoke, the director of the Gustine Museum and Gustine History Center, has more than a passing interest in the missing cemetery. Her great-grandmother, Ellen Bird Niddrie, was buried there, along with one of her great-grandmother's sons, Joseph Bird.Snoke has been trying to locate and preserve the site of the cemetery for at least 15 years, writing letters each time the air station property changed hands -- from the Navy to NASA to Stanislaus County.Now she has an ideal opening. The 1,527-acre air station property is part of the proposed 4,800-acre PCCP West Park LLC business and industrial park. The project is in the early stages of a required environmental review, a process that requires the county and the developer to respond to all questions raised about the project.In a hand-written letter, Snoke asked what precautions will be taken to assure that the grave-sites won't be disturbedCounty hires expertsCounty officials say they have been aware of the old cemetery, and have found references to it in old news accounts and documents. But they admit they can't pin down where it might be."It's something we do need to know," said interim county planning director Kirk Ford. "We have a general idea of where it was supposed to be, but nothing specific."...Others have been trying to track down the location for decades. Patterson residents and local historians Claude Delphia and Ron Swift have been on the case for years, tracing threads from pioneer family diaries, documents and news accounts.Both are vocal critics of the West Park development but say their interest in the cemetery long predates West Park and has nothing to do with their opposition to the project. Preserving a small cemetery site shouldn't cause much disruption for the massive West Park project, they say...A lawn and a baseball field... Does Navy have records?...Mexico port or West Park?...KEITH THURSTON, Turlock...Lettershttp://www.modbee.com/opinion/letters/story/439069.htmlI am wondering how practical the West Park project is. Why? An Aug. 29 article ("Bidding begins on Mexico's port plan," Page D-3) said the president of Mexico is seeking financing for a state-of-the-art container port 150 miles south of San Diego. The $5 billion project includes a railroad running north to our border.The port would employ up to 80,000 workers. It would siphon business from Los Angeles and, I would presume, Oakland-San Francisco and Seattle. It would be shipping north to Chicago.I hope our government will not allow any of this to happen. I hear there are also plans for a toll road for trucks from the border to Kansas City. We do not need to lose 80,000 good-paying jobs. Those jobs would pay a lot less in Mexico.I also read that Wal-Mart was very interested in this project. It could save them a bundle in port charges. If this project materializes, then every container should be inspected with an appropriate fee.BIDDING BEGINS ON MEXICO'S PORT PLAN:...The Buzz On Business...8-28-08http://www.modbee.com/business/story/411201.htmlPresident Felipe Calderón opened bidding Thursday for construction of a huge seaport that could eventually compete with Los Angeles-Long Beach, the largest port complex in the United States. Mexico's $5 billion Punta Colonet project would transform a wind-swept bay 150 miles south of the U.S. border into a booming port city, creating an estimated 80,000 jobs, drawing freighters from Asia and funneling manufactured goods north. A planned railroad would link Punta Colonet to the United States, allowing freight to skip Southern California traffic and head directly to points across the Midwest, including Chicago. Planners have yet to determine where the tracks would cross the border -- although El Paso, Texas, and Yuma and Nogales, Arizona, have been mentioned. At Punta Colonet, Calderón is seeking private bidders to build the port and accompanying railroad before running it on a 45-year operating lease. The bidding should conclude late next year, and the port should start operating in 2012, said Jose Rubio, project director for Mexico's Baja California state, which is working with the federal government to develop the port.Environmental laws wedge state into hydrological corner...GEORGE RADANOVICH and JIM COSTAGeorge Radanovich, R-Mariposa, represents California's 19th Congressional District, and Jim Costa, D-Fresno, represents the 20th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.http://www.modbee.com/opinion/community/story/439057.htmlOver the past 40 years, California has slowly painted itself into a corner by reprioritizing water supplies to the environment while ignoring the need for improving our water supply, infrastructure and storage.By failing to invest in adequate water infrastructure and storage such as the Peripheral Canal and Temperance Flat Dam, next year California may well face the worst water shortage in its history. Our growing state is ill-equipped to cope with dry years that bring decreased rainfall and reduced snowpack.In addition, court decisions based on the Endangered Species Act have further cut our water supplies -- reallocating water to fish and taking it from agricultural needs. These factors combined this past year to create a "perfect storm" and even led to water rationing in some districts. Next year may very likely be worse, particularly given how low our stored water supply is due to last year's shortages.Most recently, in Natural Resources Defense Council v. Kempthorne, a federal judge ordered pumping from the two Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta pumps to be reduced by one-third from December through June due to Endangered Species Act protections on the diminishing population of the delta smelt, a two- to three-inch fish that lives only in the delta. Despite the absence of conclusive scientific data to suggest the delta pumps are the cause of the decline in population, the ESA still mandates reduced pumping, which last year resulted in 900,000 acre- feet of water lost to the ocean. This is already having a devastating effect on the Central Valley's agriculture industry and could soon lead to water rationing in Southern California households.State and federal contracts provide for export of up to 7.5 million acre-feet of water from the delta pumps each year. About 83 percent of this water is used for agriculture and the remainder for urban uses in central and Southern California.Further, more than two-thirds of California's population get at least a portion of its drinking water from the delta. It would be irresponsible for any public official to allow the pumps to sit idle again this year as thousands of acre-feet of water flow toward the ocean.We can no longer afford to succumb to irrational environmental policies and judicial decisions. It is time for action. It is time to identify the problem and implement a solution.One of the main problems is the Endangered Species Act and its lack of flexibility in light of the drastic impact of its mandates on the economy of an entire state, and, most importantly, on human beings and their livelihoods. The immediate solution on this front is the bipartisan legislation that we introduced last week with other members of the California delegation. The California Drought Alleviation Act gives the secretary of the interior the ability to temporarily exempt the delta pumps from the ESA during times of extreme water shortage -- such as now -- in order to fill reservoirs to provide for agriculture and urban use.Additionally, the CDAA protects the delta smelt by ordering the secretary of the interior to work in cooperation with the state Department of Fish and Game to develop a "conservation fishery" with the goal of preserving the smelt until we learn more about what is harming the population and how to best preserve it.Californians are tired of the divisive politics of water. No longer can they afford political gamesmanship on an issue of such far-reaching importance. They need a consistent water supply to provide for their families, sustain jobs, fuel our economy and continue California's tradition as the breadbasket of this country.Congress needs to pass the CDAA, temporarily suspend the ESA and allow the delta pumping stations to store water in the San Luis Reservoir and prepare California for what could be a devastating 2009 for agriculture and urban water users.We are ready and willing to continue to work toward a long-term solution to California's water needs, but in the meantime we cannot afford to let our state dry up and blow away simply for the sake of protecting a few small fish.Envy: Is it green light for road tax?Supporters point to successes elsewhere...GARTH STAPLEYhttp://www.modbee.com/local/v-print/story/439029.htmlCounties with transportation taxes are accomplishing wonders with the extra cash. Measure S supporters say the same could happen in Stanislaus County, if voters agree in November...Nineteen of California's 58 counties have given themselves higher taxes, raising some $35 billion to improve transportation systems.But some critics insist leaders in Stanislaus County can't be trusted. Others note that a common selling point in some successful sales tax bumps -- public transit -- is all but absent from Measure S.Keeping up with the Joneses was a 2006 campaign theme in Stanislaus County before a transportation initiative failed to garner the required two-thirds approval. The envy motive didn't work then, but might now, as more drivers pass new interchanges in Ripon, Manteca and Stockton and watch Interstate 205 being widened on the all-important route to the Bay Area, said Measure S campaign co-chairman Paul Van Konynenburg.All of those San Joaquin County projects, and many more, are using half-cent sales tax proceeds to leverage an extra $400 million in state and federal transportation money. Officials at higher levels award comparatively little to counties like Stanislaus, that haven't agreed to share in the burden."The No. 1 argument sold to reluctant people is, 'Look what can be done when you're a self-help county,' " Van Konynenburg said. "It's a powerful message."..."It's hard to imagine any of this would be done without Measure K," said Wil Ridder, senior regional planner with the San Joaquin Council of Governments. He referred to that county's sales tax increase, approved in 1990 and renewed two years ago on the same day that others in Merced and Stanislaus and counties was defeated...The League of Women Voters of Stanislaus County recently endorsed Measure S -- with reservation, because it provides nothing for public transportation...Community over politicsStanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District board members recently backed Measure S. And the county's Republican Party leaders are bucking a long tradition of tax opposition with a rare endorsement...But Stanislaus Taxpayer Association board members recently came out against Measure S.Former group president Dave Thomas said board members reviewed Modesto's finances and concluded that the city is spending a fraction of street maintenance revenue on pavement work. The rest goes to curbs, gutters, sidewalks, trees, power and electrical work."If you starve the streets, then ask for a tax, we don't like that," Thomas said. "Trust is a real important thing and we don't trust these guys."7 companies ordered to pay for groundwater cleanup...last updated: September 22, 2008 08:59:33 PMhttp://www.modbee.com/state_wire/story/438912.htmlSeveral businesses have been ordered to either pay $500,000 to clean up a contaminated site in the San Fernando Valley or prevent the contamination from reaching drinking water wells.The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday cited seven North Hollywood companies that refused to participate in a $1.3 million settlement the agency reached with other companies to clean up the site.A system to remove contaminants from groundwater has been in place in North Hollywood since 1989. But the EPA says the companies must contribute their fair share of the cleanup costs or find a way to prevent contaminants from reaching drinking wells.Most of the businesses are recycling companies.Fresno BeeWestlands 'mistake'...Carolee Krieger, President, Board of directors, California Water Impact Network, Santa Barbara...Opinionhttp://www.fresnobee.com/277/story/886335.htmlThe full page political advertisement in The Bee (Sept. 16) by Westlands Water District grower Jack Stone claims "it was us farmers who paid for a delivery system that brought water to our farms in the Westside." Mr. Stone, a former member of the Westlands board of directors, needs a reality check. Westlands growers still owe the American taxpayers nearly half a billion dollars on the interest-free loan for constructing the nation's biggest federal irrigation project. The Westlands' Cadillac water delivery system should have been completely paid off by now, 41 years after water deliveries began. And the federal government now says it will take another $2 billion to solve the intractable selenium-poisoned drainage water problems for the district's 600-700 "growers," most of whom don't even live on their "family farms." Some of those so-called family farms exceed 20,000 acres in size. History will record the Westlands debacle as the most expensive and polluting mistake in the history of taxpayer-subsidized federal irrigation efforts. Now Mr. Stone wants to gut the Endangered Species Act so it will be easier for Westside agribusiness to kill off the Delta fishery by overpumping. Enough is enough.With air fee lawsuit tossed, developers need to move on...Editorialhttp://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/story/886084.htmlA federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging fees developers must pay to mitigate the pollution caused by their projects. It's time to move on from this contentious issue and continue with the task of cleaning the Valley's air. The fees were established by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District in 2005, and have been charged since March 2006. Builders are required to measure the added pollution that comes from new development, such as residential tracts or large commercial projects, from construction and later from such sources as traffic in and out of the developments. The fees can be offset by incorporating air-friendly measures such as energy-efficient construction and appliances, bike and walking lanes and outdoor outlets for electric mowers. Builders complain that the fees only add to the cost of homes and other buildings, and they're right, no doubt, though the actual increase is difficult to measure.But poor air quality carries a high cost as well. The Valley's poor air is estimated to add more than $3 billion annually to health costs in the region, and that's just one measure of pollution's high price. The builders who brought the lawsuit have said they'll study Friday's ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence J. O'Neill and decide whether an appeal is in order. We hope they'll decide to let it go. Every sector of the Valley's economy bears part of the responsibility for our bad air, and every sector must be part of the solution. It's time to focus on real efforts to clear the air, not endless legal battles. Feds ask to put wolves back on endangered list...MATTHEW BROWNhttp://www.fresnobee.com/641/story/886429.htmlFederal wildlife officials have asked a judge to put gray wolves in the Northern Rockies back on the endangered species list - a sharp reversal from the government's prior contention that the animals were thriving. Attorneys for the Fish and Wildlife Service asked U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy in Missoula to vacate the agency's February finding that more than 1,400 wolves in the region no longer needed federal protection. The government's request Monday follows a July injunction in which Molloy had blocked plans for public wolf hunts this fall in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho pending resolution of a lawsuit by environmentalists. "What we want to do is look at this more thoroughly," Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Sharon Rose said. "We definitely have a lot of wolves out there, but we need to address some of (Molloy's) concerns in a way that people feel comfortable with." At issue is whether a decade-long wolf restoration program has reversed the near-extermination of wolves, or if - as environmentalists claim - their long-term survival remains in doubt due to proposed hunting...The government's request to remand, or reconsider, the issue was filed in response to an April lawsuit from a dozen environmental and animal rights groups. "I would call that victory. What they're requesting is to go back to the drawing boards," said Doug Honnold, an Earthjustice attorney representing the plaintiffs. They include the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, the Humane Society of the United States and other local and national groups.If Molloy goes along with the government's request, the Fish and Wildlife Service would embark on a re-evaluation of wolves that could last for months or even years. The agency would again open the issue to public comment before returning with a new decision...A recent inventory of wolf populations in the three states showed their population in decline this year for the first time in more than a decade. Federal biologists say the decline occurred because wolves had filled up the best habitat in the region...Under the federal rule that took the animal off the list in February, authority over the region's wolf populations had passed to state agencies in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. In his July injunction, Molloy put that authority back in federal hands. The judge questioned whether wildlife laws within the three states - particularly Wyoming - would be enough to protect wolves from excessive or indiscriminate hunting. Molloy also questioned whether packs had been intermingling enough to avoid inbreeding - a concern raised by recent research into wolf genetics. Calif. tribe fears losing land if dam is raised...SAMANTHA YOUNGhttp://www.fresnobee.com/641/story/886379.htmlThe federal government is considering enlarging a dam to boost the state's water supply, which would flood what little land remains above water where a Native American tribe had fished and farmed for centuries. Nine-tenths of the ancestral land of the Winnemen Wintu was submerged in 1945, when the federal government built a 602-foot dam downstream of their ceremonial and prayer grounds. Now the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is considering enlarging Shasta Dam, flooding the remaining 22 miles of rocky, steep canyon shoreline, including two sacred rocks involved in coming-of-age rituals... The desire by the few remaining tribal members to preserve the remnants of their homeland is running headlong into the desires of Central Valley farmers, the main beneficiaries of the federal proposal to enlarge Lake Shasta.When it was filled to capacity, the lake flooded 46 square miles where tribal leaders say some 20,000 Winnemen Wintu once lived along the McCloud River...Lake Shasta is the starting point for the federally run Central Valley Project, a system of 21 reservoirs, canals and aqueducts that funnel water to some 3.2 million acres of farmland and supplies water to about 2 million people. Supporters say an enlarged lake is needed to meet the needs of California's growing population. The larger reservoir also would be able to store more cold water, which is needed to help the salmon that used to migrate to cooler water upstream before the dam blocked their path, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The bureau is studying whether to raise the dam by 6 1/2 to 18 1/2 feet, which would enlarge the reservoir by more than a tenth of its current size. That's enough water to serve the city of Los Angeles for more than year...A higher dam also would provide more hydropower, flood protection along the upper Sacramento River and combat future water shortages expected to come with climate change, according to a recent bureau report.Although the price tag is steep - with preliminary costs ranging from $531.3 million to $854.9 million - it's far less than the cost of building a new dam. For example, the state estimates it could cost $3.6 billion to build a reservoir in a valley north of Sacramento that would store roughly the same amount of water as would be added behind a taller Shasta dam. That makes it an attractive solution for California's farmers and municipal water agencies whose water supplies have dwindled after two dry winters and a federal court order that greatly reduced water diversions to protect threatened delta fish...Sacramento BeeEl Dorado County to vote on modified Measure Y...Cathy Lockehttp://www.sacbee.com/101/v-print/story/1257938.htmlAfter 10 years of rancorous debate, Measure Y is back on the El Dorado County ballot with a few changes designed to keep the peace.Measure Y, approved by nearly 61 percent of voters in 1998, was intended to keep new developments from causing traffic congestion. It levied fees on developers to fix traffic problems caused by their projects, and, among other things, prohibited using county funds to fix such problems without voter approval.Its provisions were incorporated in the general plan, the county's blueprint for growth. But Measure Y has had unintended consequences.While it ensured that developers paid for roads needed for growth, it also made it tougher for the county to reach its affordable housing goals and attract commercial development.Measure Y included a sunset clause saying it should go back to voters this year. After several meetings organized by Supervisors Jack Sweeney and Ron Briggs, representatives of factions that backed and opposed the original measure persuaded the Board of Supervisors to place a modified version on the ballot...Amendments to the measure include:• Making it clear that the ban against projects that would result in gridlock, or stop-and-go traffic congestion, applies only to single-family subdivisions of five or more parcels of land.• Allowing the Board of Supervisors, by a four-fifths vote, to make additions to the list of roads allowed to operate with stop-and-go conditions, without seeking voter approval.• Clarifying that non-tax sources of revenue, such as federal and state grants, can be used to fund road projects to serve new development. It also deletes the prohibition against using county tax revenues to fund road projects to serve new development.According to the county counsel's analysis, the measure would still require that developer fees, together with other revenue sources, fully pay to relieve the traffic impacts of new development...Although no formal opposition has emerged, some people argue that the original measure should be on the ballot..."People are not being given a choice," he said. "We're being given a new Measure Y tweaked to the benefit of the developers."...The original Measure Y was intended to prevent the "unbounded spread of 'McMansions' and mega developments," Center said, and that remains in the 2008 version.Kobus said there will always be some dissension.But, he said, "Hopefully, (the 2008 measure) will stop a lot of the land-use wars and foster a better business climate."Editorial: Preventing floods, preserving farmshttp://www.sacbee.com/110/v-print/story/1257552.htmlCan cities and farm regions in the Central Valley work together to preserve and protect both of their economies? They can, and the preservation of a 1,682-acre ranch in Yolo County shows how it can be done.Helped by $5 million in state flood control bond funds and $3 million from the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, the Sacramento Valley Conservancy and the Yolo Land Trust have completed purchase of the Knaggs Ranch north of West Sacramento.Knaggs Ranch sits directly across the Sacramento River from North Natomas. Keeping this land in agriculture is essential for the protection of most of Sacramento.If this ranchland were ever developed, its levees would have to be significantly upgraded. That would increase water pressure and flood risk on the levees in Natomas and other communities downstream. It would also divert funds that would be better spent on safeguarding existing urban areas.Instead, the $11.9 million purchase of Knaggs Ranch – and a conservation easement placed on the land – ensures that it will remain in farming forever. Farmers can continue to grow walnuts, grain and other crops there, while getting help from SAFCA and other agencies.As part of the deal, SAFCA will assist in maintaining local levees and will work with state agencies on upgrading those levees to a standard suitable for agriculture. And the flood agency will help farmers with relief from flood insurance bills and compensate Yolo County for lost property taxes.Even with these deal sweeteners, some in Yolo's agricultural community view the land deal with alarm. Critics fear Sacramento has a grand plan to intentionally flood the basin during big storms and take farmland out of production.Not so. SAFCA and the Sacramento Valley Conservancy have been clear that this is a agricultural easement, not a flood easement. Part of the land cleared in the 1970s will be restored to forest, but the bulk of it will still be farmed.Indeed, by helping shoulder some of the costs that farmers now face, SAFCA is demonstrating that urban areas can be a partner in preserving a way of life.Stockton RecordAuditors ax Delta hearingBond inquest will take place out of public eye...Alex Breitlerhttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080923/A_NEWS/809230332/-1/A_NEWSSTOCKTON - Auditors investigating San Joaquin Delta College's use of bond money will do so privately, despite the objections of at least two members of a citizen oversight committee.Last week, the California Controller's Office said it would consider conducting part of the audit in public, asking questions of committee members during a special meeting scheduled for Monday night.That meeting was canceled Monday afternoon."We determined we needed to conduct the audit per protocol," which means confidential interviews, said Hallye Jordan, a spokeswoman for the Controller's Office. "These are questions that will be part of a public report once it's formalized." That report is scheduled to be finished Oct. 1...The audit was requested by state Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden, after a grand jury report asserted that Delta trustees wasted millions of dollars by approving a south county campus in Mountain House rather than Tracy.Many other bond projects also are costing more than originally anticipated. As a result, trustees this month killed a Lodi campus that had been planned on Highway 12.The oversight committee was criticized on two points in the grand jury report: failing to post meeting agendas in accordance with the law and failing to question Measure L expenditures other than those deemed to be outright illegal...San Francisco ChronicleMass. court reinstates lawsuit against Wal-Mart…APhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/09/23/financial/f094322D73.DTL&hw=wal+mart&sn=001&sc=1000BOSTON, (AP) -- The highest court in Massachusetts has reinstated a lawsuit against Wal-Mart by employees who claim the world's largest retailer pressured them to work off the clock and denied them rest and meal breaks.In 2006, a Superior Court judge decertified the case as a class-action lawsuit representing 67,000 employees of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Massachusetts and dismissed many of its claims.But the state's Supreme Judicial Court overturned that ruling on Tuesday and cleared the lawsuit to proceed as a class-action case, finding that the lower court was wrong to exclude testimony from a statistician whose data backed up employee claims.The claims are similar to those made by Wal-Mart employees in other lawsuits around the country.Los Angeles TimesFederal officials struggle to maintain order at toll road hearingRaucous crowd of thousands of supporters and opponents packs a hot, stuffy hall at the Del Mar Fairgrounds for Monday's hearing...Susannah Rosenblatt and Mike Antonhttp://www.latimes.com/news/local/traffic/la-me-tollroad23-2008sep23,0,5868584,print.storyDEL MAR, CALIF. — Federal officials hoping for decorum laid down the rules at the outset of Monday's public hearing on whether to build a toll road through a state park: no booing, no cheering.The public's response: Boos and cheers reminiscent of February's raucous marathon public meeting here in which the California Coastal Commission turned down the proposed road through San Onofre State Beach.A crowd estimated at more than 6,000 ...Advocates say the proposed $1.3-billion extension of California 241, which would slice through San Onofre State Beach and connect Rancho Santa Margarita with Interstate 5 in San Diego County, is needed to ease traffic congestion in growing south Orange County. They also argue that it would create jobs and provide an alternative transportation link in the event of wildfire or other disaster.Opponents say the six-lane road would spoil one of California's most popular parks, endanger animal species and ruin the world-famous Trestles surf break."The immense harm from this road would far outweigh any alleged benefit," said Jim Moriarty, chief executive of the Surfrider Foundation...The battle over the toll road extension has dragged on for decades.Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez has until Jan. 7 to decide if its benefits to the nation -- including national security -- outweigh its adverse effects and whether there are viable alternatives to the proposed route. His ruling will not decide the issue, however. The losing side is expected to appeal whatever decision Gutierrez makes in federal court.UC seeks civil penalties against tree protestersThe 16 tried to block a sports facility planned for a grove at UC Berkeley. They also may face criminal penalties....Richard C. Paddockhttp://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-trees23-2008sep23,0,6500848,print.storyThe University of California is seeking maximum civil penalties against 16 people who took part in a 21-month tree-sitting protest at UC Berkeley in the hope of deterring similar demonstrations in the future, UC officials said Monday.The protesters, including the final four who were removed from a 90-foot redwood earlier this month, face fines of $1,000 each and potential attorneys' fees ranging from $3,000 to $10,000, said Michael Goldstein, a UC attorney."We are seeking the maximum penalty against all of them," Goldstein said. "We want to make it very clear to them and anyone else who is contemplating this kind of action that we are not going to tolerate it."...In the civil action, the protesters are accused of violating a judge's order to come down from the trees. Penalties levied in civil court will be in addition to any fines or jail time they may face in criminal court, where many of them also are being prosecuted. The protesters had sought to keep the university from removing 43 trees, many of them 85-year-old oaks, to make way for a training facility for student athletes. UC Berkeley officials say the protest cost the campus $1.5 million in increased security and police costs...Lennar revenue falls by half in fiscal 3rd quarter, but loss narrows...ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writerhttp://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/ats-ap-earns-lennarsep23,0,3208358,print.storyLennar Corp., one of the nation's largest homebuilders, said Tuesday its third-quarter loss narrowed as it cut costs, but revenue fell by more than half amid a prolonged housing slump.The Miami-based company's loss for the quarter ended Aug. 31 was $89 million, or 56 cents per share, compared with a loss of $513.9 million, or $3.25 per share a year ago.Revenue fell 53 percent to $1.11 billion from $2.34 billion...Deliveries of homes fell 49 percent in the quarter and the average sale price of homes fell 9 percent."While we expected the housing market to remain constrained throughout the third quarter, the weakness in the market actually accelerated as a result of increased foreclosures, weakened consumer confidence and tightened mortgage lending standards," Chief Executive Stuart Miller said in a statement.Miller said that the landmark housing stimulus bill enacted in July, which included a temporary, $7,500 tax credit for first-time homebuyers, has failed to stabilize the skid in U.S. home prices. He said more government intervention is needed.Lennar has homebuilding operations in 14 states, including California and Florida, the hardest-hit housing markets in the nation.Like other builders, the company's business has been hurting due to the combination of weakened demand for new homes, tightening mortgage lending standards and buyer uncertainty over how long home values will continue to drop. The business is also is facing mounting competition from deeply discounted, foreclosed properties and other preowned homes on the market...San Diego Union-TribuneRaucous hearing draws huge crowd...Terry Rodgers and Mike Lee http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20080923-9999-1s23road1.htmlDEL MAR – Two goals that Southern Californians hold dear – curtailing freeway gridlock and preserving the environment – collided yesterday during a 10-hour hearing in Del Mar about the proposed extension of state Route 241. The 16-mile stretch of toll road probably would reduce traffic on Interstate 5 by creating an alternate connection between southern Orange County and San Diego County, but it would slice through a nature reserve and San Onofre State Beach. The project has aroused fervent opposition from environmentalists, surfing groups and dozens of members of the state Legislature. It also has generated intense support from labor and business leaders, along with state officials such as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. More than 1,000 people showed up yesterday at the fairgrounds to give or hear testimony before the U.S. Department of Commerce. The agency is reviewing an appeal of the state Coastal Commission's decision in February to reject the tollway proposal...Reviews of Coastal Commission rulings on federally related projects are rare. The Commerce Department has received 14 appeals of the commission's decisions since 1976. It has overturned five of the rulings, upheld two others, and settled, withdrew or dismissed the rest.  The Commerce Department can override the commission if it finds that a project would significantly further the “national interest” and those benefits would outweigh the adverse effects. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez has until Jan. 7 to issue his decision on the toll-road proposal. His agency has received more than 35,000 written comments on the $1.3 billion project. Whatever Gutierrez decides will have limited impact because his ruling almost certainly will be subject to litigation. Yesterday, Commerce Department officials gave no clues about their leanings in the case. They focused on hearing from the public, whose testimony exposed the schism between state agencies, commissions, politicians and interest groups.Schwarzenegger has endorsed the toll road despite a unanimous vote by his own Park and Recreation Commission opposing the project. Contradicting the governor's stance yesterday was Milford Wayne Donaldson, the state's historic preservation officer... ...State Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman outlined reasons for endorsing the toll road. He hailed the project in part because the Foothill-Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency has agreed to pay $100 million for park and natural-resource improvements...San Onofre State Beach is used by 2.4 million people a year, making it the fifth-or sixth-most visited state park, said Elizabeth Goldstein, president of the California State Parks Foundation. She said the tollway would damage the park significantly and set a poor precedent for other land-use decisions... Duane Cave, vice president of the board for the San Juan Capistrano Chamber of Commerce, said the tollway would relieve congestion and support the regional economy... Cave's testimony was countered by Susan Jordan, director of the California Coastal Protection Network in Malibu. “This road is not in the national interest, and it will not reduce traffic congestion or serve as an evacuation route” in the case of an accident at the San Onofre nuclear power plant, she said. Washington PostPaulson and Bernanke push bailout as Lehman assets sold...Jason Szep, Reutershttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/23/AR2008092300679_pf.htmlNEW YORK (Reuters) - The architects of a $700 billion bailout for the U.S. financial system tried to head off opposition to the plan in the U.S. Congress, while Japan's largest brokerage agreed to buy Lehman Brothers' European arm as the next step in the industry's dramatic transformation.Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson stressed the dire consequences of failing to move quickly on the plan for the government to buy up hundreds of billions of dollars of tainted mortgage-related securities...U.S. stocks opened slightly higher, with the Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) up 0.22 percent, following losses in European and Asian markets on uncertainty over what price the government will pay for the securities, when the buying would begin, and how confidence in the U.S. financial system can be restored."Action by Congress is urgently required to stabilize the situation and avert what could otherwise be very serious consequences for our financial markets and our economy," Bernanke said in remarks prepared for delivery on Tuesday to the Senate Banking Committee.He said global financial markets "remain under extraordinary stress.Paulson said market turmoil was already spilling into the broader U.S. economy. "We must now take further, decisive action to fundamentally and comprehensively address the root cause of this turmoil," he said.Democrats are pushing back. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd said lawmakers must limit executive pay for companies participating in the bailout or risk the wrath of voters. The bailout plan, he said, was "stunning and unprecedented in its scope and lack of detail".U.S. lawmakers and the Bush administration are trying to resolve differences over the legislation that would authorize the Treasury to buy $700 billion in bad assets and hold them until they could be sold at a later date.On the Democrats' wish list: assistance to homeowners struggling to pay their mortgages, curbs on executive pay at companies that use the program to unload toxic assets, and the government taking equity stakes in banks that use the program. Markets suspect the debate could drag into next week."I just don't think the American public is sold," said David Dietze, chief investment officer of Point View Financial Services in New Jersey. "I think they are skeptical of the need and they are fearful of the cost."JAPANESE RUSH ON U.S. ASSETSJapanese firms are leading the rush to acquire U.S. investment banking assets. Nomura Holdings (8604.T) agreed to buy bankrupt Lehman Brothers' equities and investment banking business in Europe and the Middle East, and said it expects to retain "a significant proportion" of the 2,500 staff employed in the businesses.Previously, Japan's top bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (8306.T), said it would buy up to 20 percent of Morgan Stanley (MS.N) for as much as $8.5 billion, and Nomura bought Lehman's franchise in Japan and Australia, with some 3,000 employees.Speculation is growing that Goldman Sachs (GS.N), which like Morgan Stanley is transforming itself into a commercial bank, might turn to Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (SMFG) (8316.T), Japan's No. 3 bank, with which it has a long relationship...Insurance giant American International Group Inc (AIG.N) should have a list of assets it wants to sell by next week, new Chief Executive Edward Liddy said. Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) was among those weighing a bid for Washington Mutual Inc (WM.N), a source familiar with the situation said.Singapore sovereign fund GIC said it still has plenty of cash after investing nearly $18 billion in UBS (UBSN.VX) and Citigroup (C.N) and would consider opportunities to invest in U.S. distressed assets.BAILOUT JITTERSSome analysts and investors harbor deepening doubts over whether Paulson and Bernanke can steer the world's largest economy out of its worst crisis of confidence since the Great Depression of the 1930s."You two gentlemen have been wrong about the housing crisis, missed the leverage problem, and understated the derivative issue," said Barry Ritholtz, director of research at Fusion IQ, an investment firm in New York. "Indeed, you two have been wrong about nearly everything since this crisis began years ago. Why should we trust your judgment on the largest bailout in American history?"...New York TimesForeign Nations Pledge Support, but Not Financing...Mark Landler and Carter Dougerty http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/business/23global.html?ref=business&pagewanted=printWASHINGTON — The United States, having expanded its proposed rescue of the financial sector to include foreign banks, has not yet found any other country willing to join the landmark bailout.The Treasury Department still hopes to marshal a worldwide effort to cleanse the balance sheets of banks. But Europe and Japan have signaled that they are not ready to mount a rescue of the kind being debated here.Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. continues to solicit support from foreign governments. His department plans to prod them by giving preference to banks from countries that show a willingness to help the American effort, a senior administration official said Monday.“We expect other countries to do their part, but we’re not insisting their programs be exactly like ours,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “We’re certainly not prepared to put ourselves in a position where there’s a free-rider problem.”Given that the mortgage collapse began here and that most of the distressed debt is held by American banks, specialists said it was not clear that the United States had much leverage in forcing others to take part.“There’s a view in Europe that this is a U.S.-made problem, and that it should be solved in the U.S.,” said Charles H. Dallara, the managing director of the Institute for International Finance, a group of more than 300 global banks.Several banks raised concerns after a draft of the rescue plan limited eligibility for selling mortgage-related loans to the Treasury to banks with headquarters in the United States. The language was changed a day later to include foreign banks with significant American operations.The change did not reflect lobbying pressure, officials said, but Mr. Paulson’s judgment that helping all banks with contacts to American consumers would better stabilize financial markets.It did not, however, build support for a bailout in Europe, a day after finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of 7 industrialized countries discussed the proposal in a conference call.While the group pledged in a statement to “enhance international cooperation,” it affirmed that the countries were free to go their own way in responding to the crisis. “None of the other six G-7 members will adopt a similar program to the U.S.,” the German finance minister, Peer Steinbrück, said.The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, criticized the United States and Britain for opposing German attempts to put greater regulation, or at least reviews, of the financial sector on the international agenda last year, when she was leading the Group of 7.“Everyone who produces a real product knows what it looks like and what standards it is up to,” Mrs. Merkel said, while traveling in Austria. “One also needs to know with a financial product what’s involved. Otherwise, these sorts of things happen that we then all have to pay for.”In fact, Germany and Britain have already bailed out some banks that got into trouble because of deteriorating mortgage-related loans, though on a scale much smaller than the proposed American plan.British officials made clear that they would not create a government fund to buy bad assets, although Alistair Darling, the chancellor of the Exchequer, did promise new rules.“We are putting in place both here in the U.K. and internationally the tougher financial regulation no one can doubt we need,” Mr. Darling told the governing Labor Party’s annual conference in Manchester. “I will continue to do whatever it takes to maintain financial stability.”Some economists said Europeans would be forced to take more sweeping action. “Germany has more toxic exposure than any other country,” said Adam S. Posen, the deputy director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. “The only one that may stay out of this is France.”President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, who holds the rotating European Union presidency, has on many occasions complained about the structure of global economic regulation.On Monday, Christian de Boissieu, chairman of the French prime minister’s council of economic analysis, said: “The U.S. must take charge of the budgetary costs of the crisis. I’m all for trans-Atlantic solidarity, but this doesn’t include financing the bailout.”The Japanese finance minister, Bunmei Ibuki, said after the Group of 7 statement that he saw no need for Japan to set up an American-style rescue scheme to help its own banks rid themselves of bad assets, Reuters reported.Apart from a lack of sympathy for a crisis they view as made in America, European governments are also constrained by rules within the 27-nation European Union that limit budget deficits and public debt.“Europe won’t do anything because they haven’t got the room for maneuver,” said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, an equity strategist with Charles Stanley in London. “They ran themselves into a cul-de-sac.”A study by the Federal Reserve in August concluded that losses of foreigners holding mortgage-backed securities could be as low as $75 billion, though paper losses would be higher before the market stabilizes.The Association of German Banks hinted that it would oppose the bailout plan if it gave American rivals a sudden advantage.“We need to assure that disadvantages for foreign institutions do not arise from the U.S. program,” Manfred Weber, the general manager of the association, said. “It was, after all, American products that created the crisis and that created the contagion effects.”A spokesman for the association, Heiner Herkenhoff, said the group was still studying the details of the plan, such as they were available, but that it should define eligibility through the nationality of the product. If the mortgage-linked security in question was from the United States, he said, it should be eligible to be purchased, no matter which bank held it.That appears to conflict with the plan to limit eligibility to foreign banks with significant American operations. Such a rule would include major banks like Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, but many of Germany’s smaller banks did not meet that criterion, Mr. Herkenhoff said.CNN MoneyBank stocks down againIndustry in wait and see mode as Senate panel ends hearing on proposed $700 billion bailout...Aaron Smithhttp://money.cnn.com/2008/09/23/news/companies/bank_stocks/index.htm?postversion=2008092314NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Shares of most large banks and finance firms slumped Tuesday as the Senate Banking Committee's hearing on the $700 billion Wall Street bailout came to an end without alleviating investor concerns.Dismayed investors are still throwing a "hissy fit" that the deal wasn't completed when they came into work Monday morning, said Matt McCormick, portfolio manager with Bahl & Gaynor Investment Counsel, a money management firm. "Wall Street clearly wants a deal done yesterday, regardless of what's actually in the deal," said McCormick. "They don't really care about what's in the details. They don't care about discussing the long-term effects on the economy. They just want it done." McCormick added, "As the deal changes hourly, nobody knows what the rules are."The S&P Banking Index was down 2% in late afternoon trading, led by losses in regional banks Wachovia (WB, Fortune 500) and Wells Fargo (WFC, Fortune 500) and battered savings and loan Washington Mutual (WM, Fortune 500).Shares of top banks JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500), ,Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS, Fortune 500) also were trading lower. But Goldman rival Morgan Stanley (MS, Fortune 500) bucked the downward trend and was up 2%. The gains came one day after Morgan Stanley agreed to sell up to one-fifth of its company to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, one of Japan's largest banks.Brad Hintz, analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein, said that most bank stocks were down due to a combination of fears about further disruption in the credit markets as well as worries that the government may not approve a bank bailout.Politicians grilled Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke about the bailout Tuesday.Paulson said the bailout is necessary for "the very health of the economy." He said it should be big enough to have "maximum impact and restore market confidence" and it should also have transparency and oversight.Bernanke also spoke in favor of the bailout: "We believe that strong and timely action is urgently needed to stabilize our economy."Proponents of the bailout believe that it is necessary in order to save the economy. But others believe it is too expensive and baseless.Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney, one of the most influential banking analysts on Wall Street, said in a report published Tuesday that the bailout was too late to save the credit and lending markets."A virtual suction of liquidity has occurred in the credit and lending markets, and consumer and corporate credit is already showing the effects," Whitney said. "What started last summer has accelerated and intensified so much so that we believe any government bailout plan has little hope of improving core fundamentals over the near and medium term," she added. -------------------------------------------------------------CENTRAL VALLEY SAFE ENVIRONMENT NETWORKMISSION STATEMENTCentral Valley Safe Environment Network is a coalition of organizations and individuals throughout the San Joaquin Valley that is committed to the concept of "Eco-Justice" -- the ecological defense of the natural resources and the people. To that end it is committed to the stewardship, and protection of the resources of the greater San Joaquin Valley, including air and water quality, the preservation of agricultural land, and the protection of wildlife and its habitat. In serving as a community resource and being action-oriented, CVSEN desires to continue to assure there will be a safe food chain, efficient use of natural resources and a healthy environment. CVSEN is also committed to public education regarding these various issues and it is committed to ensuring governmental compliance with federal and state law. CVSEN is composed of farmers, ranchers, city dwellers, environmentalists, ethnic, political,and religious groups, and other stakeholders.