Government Programs

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday sent lawmakers his plan to trim more than $5 billion in spending by dismantling or drastically curtailing state programs that provide Californians with healthcare, higher education, welfare, parks, AIDS treatment and counseling, prisoner rehabilitation and other services. The cuts came atop other severe spending reductions in a separate $16-billion plan that the governor unveiled two weeks ago.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked lawmakers to blow up the boxes of government, and on Wednesday they obliged -- though not exactly as he envisioned. A legislative budget committee delayed action on many of Schwarzenegger's proposals for cutting waste, and instead took an ax to operations managed by the governor. They voted to get rid of entire departments and agencies under his authority.

President Obama billed it as an adrenaline jolt -- a $787-billion stimulus package that not only would put people back to work, but also underwrite construction and energy projects the country had long neglected. But with the economy still sputtering and some experts doubting the program was meeting its goals, Obama vowed Monday to accelerate stimulus spending with the goal of creating or saving 600,000 jobs by summer's end.

Congress is about to approve a new federal program to pay car owners up to $4,500 for trading in gas-guzzling automobiles for more fuel-efficient cars, to the applause of the struggling auto industry. But the program is drawing heavy criticism from an unlikely quarter: environmentalists who are sworn enemies of big, old clunkers that get poor mileage.

Los Angeles County officials must do more to protect, treat and support at-risk youths, according to an annual report released this morning by the county's Civil Grand Jury. More than a fifth of county youths -- about 400,000 between the ages of 12 and 24 -- live in poverty, according to the panel. Many rely on county child welfare, medical and employment programs that could be better coordinated to save money and protect children from abuse, the panel found.

A veterans outreach organization in Long Beach was named one of 17 groups nationwide Wednesday to receive a share of $7.5 million to train veterans for green jobs. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis announced the agency grants to provide about 3,000 veterans with training and employment in green jobs. In California, the Long Beach site will get $500,000 to train more than 100 veterans in Los Angeles County and find work for them.

The Obama administration continued its push for a legal workforce Wednesday with an announcement that federal contractors and subcontractors would soon be required to verify that their employees are eligible to work in the U.S. Beginning Sept. 8, the government will award contracts only to companies that enroll in E-Verify, an online program that uses federal databases to check whether employees are in the country legally and authorized to work.

The Obama administration significantly downsized its program to buy toxic mortgage-backed securities while naming nine private investment companies to purchase the assets with the help of government money. The announcement formally launched a long-awaited initiative to help clean the balance sheets of financial institutions, allowing them to expand credit and help the economy to recover.

With surprising swiftness, the government's "cash for clunkers" program has burned through its $1-billion budget in less than a week as car buyers swarmed dealerships, and federal officials were scrambling late Thursday night to find more money to keep it going.

Anxious buyers were rolling into Southern California car dealerships Friday, eager to snag a cash-for-clunkers deal while they still had the chance. And some dealers said they were girding for a hellish weekend with a lucrative twist. At Galpin Ford in North Hills, where huge banners promised "Big ca$h for your clunker," the showroom was packed with people. "I've never worked so hard," said Galpin salesman Brian Fraleigh, who said he worked selling cars until 3:30 a.m.