The Chamber of Commerce provides news and information for a variety of sources that may be of interest to the membership. Sources include the Los Angeles Times, Pasadena Star-News, Los Angeles Business Journal, New York Times, Wall Street Journal and others. Click on the headline to read the entire story from the original source. The story is in bold, our comments unbolded.
The big story this week is the House of Representatives’ passage of health insurance reform. Business spokespeople across the country decried the new lay as onerous to business, a threat to jobs and a further drain on the economy. I am most concerned that this legislation again puts California at a disadvantage, first by reducing Medicaid payments so that our local healthcare providers won’t be able to get full reimbursement for treatment. In the rush to appease rural states, California again gets the opportunity to pay full freight while Nebraska gets its costs paid by, among others, California. The Senate promises to rectify that when it amends the bill.
Health Vote is Done, but Partisan Debate Rages On
By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and ROBERT PEAR
Published: March 22, 2010
WASHINGTON — As jubilant Democrats prepared for President Obama to sign their landmark health care legislation in a big ceremony at the White House, Republicans opened a campaign on Monday to repeal the legislation and to use it as a weapon in this year’s hotly contested midterm elections.
Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times
An aide removed a copy of the health care reform legislation after it was signed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as House Whip James Clyburn, left, talked to reporters on Monday.
Will the health bill fundamentally alter the American social safety net?
“We will not allow this to stand,” Representative Michele Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota, promised Monday afternoon as the House reconvened, a day after the bitterly partisan vote.
Democratic leaders hailed the passage of the bill as a towering achievement.
After health insurance, NY Times reports efforts grow to reform financial oversight and LA Times says plan to alter student financial aid is moving to the floor:
Bank Panel Clears Bill on Overhaul
By SEWELL CHAN
Published: March 22, 2010
WASHINGTON — The Senate Banking Committee voted on Monday to send to the full Senate a Democratic bill to overhaul the nation’s financial system, deferring, for now, an anticipated partisan fight over the legislation.
Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg News
Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg News
Christopher Dodd, chairman of the banking committee, was successful in having the panel vote before the recess.
Although the vote was along party lines, with all 13 Democrats voting yes and all 10 Republicans voting no, senators said the decision would give both sides more time to shape a compromise that could attract broad support on the Senate floor.
So far, a deal “continues to elude us,” Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the top Republican on the committee, said. “However, that does not mean that an agreement is out of reach.”
Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat who has played a leading role in negotiations over the legislation, told reporters, “A straight party-line vote on the mark-up may actually enhance the chances for a bipartisan bill on the floor.”
Fresh off a hard-fought victory on health care legislation, the Obama administration stepped up pressure on Congress on Monday to complete the regulatory overhaul. The House enacted its version of the legislation in December, largely along party lines.
Student aid overhaul passes House
Private lenders would no longer provide federally subsidized college loans — it would all come straight from the U.S. government.
By Walter Hamilton and Larry Gordon
March 23, 2010
The federal government is moving toward the most sweeping overhaul of college financial aid in decades.
The House of Representatives voted for the measure as part of its passage of healthcare legislation Sunday.
Under the proposal, private lenders would no longer make federally subsidized student loans. Instead, the government would make all such loans itself, instead of only some as it does now.
Eliminating the middleman would save the government an estimated $61 billion over the next decade. About $36 billion of that would be used to increase so-called Pell grants for lower-income students. The legislation also allocates $2.5 billion to historically black colleges, $2 billion to community colleges and at least $10 billion to reduce the federal deficit.
The Senate is expected to take up the measure as early as this week.
Opportunities to support economic growth, even proven and cost-effective ones, are being neglected:
A source of assistance for entrepreneurs needs some help
Three dozen small-business development centers in California are threatened by budget cuts and scrambling to find new funding sources.
 Linda Ikeda, founder of Jumpstarter Bodyfuel in Long Beach, relied on a small-business development center for advice on writing a business plan, cutting costs and marketing her energy bars. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times / March 17, 2010) |
She is a sole proprietor, but Ikeda said she had the advantage of working with Phil Glover, a business consultant from the small-business development center at Long Beach City College. He met with Ikeda monthly for more than a year, giving her free advice on how to write a business plan, cut production costs and sell her bars to Whole Foods Market stores and other businesses.
“It has been eye-opening,” said Ikeda, one of the 17,481 people last year who used the free consulting services offered by three dozen small-business development centers across California, which are now threatened by budget cuts.
Despite a slow economy, there are some signs of recovery:
Tiffany profit soars in the fourth quarter
The jeweler said robust holiday sales helped quadruple its profit for the period to $140.4 million, compared with $31.1 million a year earlier.
Associated Press
March 23, 2010
New York
Rising sales, particularly during the holidays, helped quadruple jeweler Tiffany & Co.’s fourth-quarter profit, the company said Monday, indicating wealthy customers are willing to spend more as fears about the economy ease.
The quarter that ended Jan. 31 produced more than half of Tiffany’s fiscal 2009 profit, and the company, known for its signature turquoise boxes, forecast fiscal 2010 earnings ahead of Wall Street’s expectations.
Tiffany earned $140.4 million, or $1.10 per share, compared with $31.1 million, or 25 cents, a year earlier. Excluding a restructuring charge, Tiffany earned 86 cents a share a year ago. There were no one-time items in the current quarter.
Its revenue rose 17% to $981.4 million with growth in all regions.
According to the LATimes, gas prices are beginning their seasonal spike:
Gas prices should be near peak for the year, analysts say
After a 3-cent rise nationally and in California over the last week, a plentiful supply and strong dollar bode well for motorists.
By Ronald D. White
March 23, 2010
Retail gasoline prices climbed by about 3 cents a gallon nationally and in California over the last week, the Energy Department said Monday as oil prices appeared to be stuck in a range of $80 to $85 a barrel.
The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in California rose 3 cents to $3.091, according to the Energy Department’s weekly survey of filling stations. Nationally the price rose 3.1 cents to an average of $2.819 a gallon.
Both averages were considerably higher than they were at this time last year when California gasoline was averaging just $2.154 a gallon while most Americans were paying about $1.962 a gallon.
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