Deficit

You look fat in that. Of course I'll be late. Your baby reminds me of Gollum's uncle. This is what the 2013 Subaru BRZ might say if it could talk. The all-new, rear-wheel-drive sports car starts at $26,265, and boy is it honest - perhaps more so than any other car on the market today, save for its mechanical twin, the Scion FR-S. The two were jointly developed by Subaru and Scion's parent company, Toyota, with both assembled by Subaru in Japan. The question about the BRZ is, can you handle the honesty?

... and the results, as usual, are ugly. Former Sen. Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.) has made a name for himself by lowering the tenor of debate over Social Security with his intemperate and vulgar attacks on the program's advocates -- not to mention with his ignorant grasp of the subject. What makes him especially dangerous is the credibility he has gained as an author of the so-called Bowles-Simpson anti-deficit proposal. The charmless Simpson directed his most recent blast at the California Alliance for Retired Americans, an Oakland group that claims to represent 950,000 retirees as an umbrella organization for numerous advocacy groups.

The Kings are headed to the Stanley Cup finals. It's a foregone conclusion, up 3-0 in the Western Conference finals. It is nearly impossible for the Phoenix Coyotes to come back at this point. The Kings, though, remain wary. They don't have to stray from their dressing room to find a couple of guys who did the near impossible. Forwards Jeff Carter and Mike Richards helped the Philadelphia Flyers rally from a 3-0 deficit to eliminate the Boston Bruins in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals.

Here's one indication how far the Galaxy has fallen since winning the Major League Soccer Cup six months ago: Last year it led the league with 17 shutouts en route to the title. Wednesday it couldn't protect a two-goal lead for 18 minutes, losing to the San Jose Earthquakes, 3-2, at the Home Depot Center. The game-winner came four minutes into stoppage time when second-half substitute Alan Gordon cut in front of Galaxy defenders A.J. DeLaGarza and Sean Franklin and headed a bouncing pass over keeper Brian Perk.

State lawmakers are scheduled to vote Thursday on a budget proposal that would close California's $19.1-billion deficit partly by: Assuming funds from Washington ? $5.3 billion Cutting public school funds ? $3.1 billion Reducing state workers' pay and benefits ? $1.5 billion Assuming tax collections based on nonpartisan budget analyst's projections ? $1.4 billion Suspending business tax break ? $1.2 billion Cutting prisons budget ? $1.1 billion Selling state buildings ?

June 6, 1944, deficit: $50 billion. June 6, 1994, deficit: $500 billion. SAM PRATT Temecula

California is rich. Even in the midst of a drought, we have lots of water, and in the midst of a recession, we have lots of money. The problem is one of distribution, not of actual scarcity. This is the usual problem of the United States, which is not just the richest and most powerful nation on Earth now, but on Earth ever, and one of the most blessed in terms of natural resources. We just collectively make loopy decisions about how to distribute the money and water, and we could make other decisions.

PHOENIX — Those were quite the exciting games Tuesday, two rowdy Arizona crowds on the edge of their seats and at the top of their lungs in creating a hostile environment for the visiting team from Los Angeles. Beat L.A.? Maybe another year. The NHL's Coyotes? Done, thanks to the Kings. The Diamondbacks? They might be just about done, thanks to the Dodgers, and to an increasingly unlikely cast of characters. "I've got to go clean my hair now," Ivan De Jesus said.

The Kings are headed to the Stanley Cup finals. It's a foregone conclusion, up 3-0 in the Western Conference finals. It is nearly impossible for the Phoenix Coyotes to come back at this point. The Kings, though, remain wary. They don't have to stray from their dressing room to find a couple of guys who did the near impossible. Forwards Jeff Carter and Mike Richards helped the Philadelphia Flyers rally from a 3-0 deficit to eliminate the Boston Bruins in the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals.

Slow and steady. Nice and easy. Efficient and unspectacular. That's what impressed the Clippers so much about playing against the San Antonio Spurs. "They play the same way whether they are down 20 or up 20," Blake Griffin said. "And they always play hard. " In fact, the Clippers had the Spurs down by 24 points in the second quarter of Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals at Staples Center on Saturday. The Spurs cut it to 10 by halftime and took the lead in the third, never turning back.

SACRAMENTO - Efforts to ease California's foreclosure woes, among the worst in the nation, are running into roadblocks at the state Capitol. A rare legislative conference committee called to rescue a pair of stalled foreclosure-prevention bills is bogged down in marathon sessions. Meanwhile, Gov. Jerry Brown is pushing to use some of California's share of the $25-billion national mortgage settlement to plug holes in the state's budget, dismaying housing activists. Since the start of the real estate bust, foreclosures have been a persistent drag on the state's homeowners and economy.

The end is near, no matter what the Clippers say, no matter which cliche they attempt to utter, no matter how much more stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin try to coax out of their bodies. And the end of the Clippers' season could come as soon as Sunday, as soon as they are finished playing Game 4 to complete a rare playoff back-to-back at Staples Center. In what Paul described as a "devastating" defeat, the Clippers squandered a 24-point second-quarter lead and were pushed to the brink of elimination by the San Antonio Spurs, who defeated them, 96-86, Saturday afternoon in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.

California's budget deficit may be more than $1 billion larger than even Gov. Jerry Brown's latest estimate, the Legislature's financial advisor said Friday. Brown announced last weekend that the deficit had swelled from $9.2 billion to almost $16 billion. But the nonpartisan legislative analyst's office said there may be less money available than the governor assumed, possibly increasing the budget gap to at least $17 billion. The bulk of the difference lies in questions over money from defunct local redevelopment agencies.

There is a bit to cheer in the proposed budget that the City Council could take up as early as Friday. An uptick in property tax revenue provided a badly needed bit of room to maneuver. Cutbacks in services that might have led to the elimination of 600 jobs now may end up claiming about two-thirds as many. A modest increase to the city's reserve fund may also be possible. Those are the results of a thoughtful and meticulous process engaged in by the council's new Budget and Finance chair, Councilman Paul Krekorian.

California's labor market stumbled in April as employers in a wide swath of industries trimmed their payrolls, shaking the state's long-sputtering economy. Employers shed 4,200 jobs last month from such diverse industries as construction and hospitality, ending eight months of employment gains, according to figures released Friday from the state's Employment Development Department. The unemployment rate, however, dipped last month to 10.9% from 11% in March, the result of discouraged workers leaving the labor force, according to the department.