Incentive

When the White House sent a last-minute invitation for Asif Ali Zardari to attend the two-day NATO summit, they were taking a highly public gamble. Would sharing the spotlight with President Obama and other global leaders induce the Pakistani president to allow vital supplies to reach alliance troops fighting in Afghanistan? But long before the summit ended Monday, the answer was clear: No deal. Zardari's refusal to reopen the supply routes left a diplomatic blot on a summit that NATO sought to cast as the beginning of the end of the conflict in Afghanistan.

That ray of light you see peeking through all the clouds darkening California's future? That's the sun. More specifically, solar power, in which California is the hands-down national leader. The state's installed solar generating capacity of about 1.2 gigawatts - the equivalent of two big conventional power plants and enough to fill the electrical demand from nearly 200,000 homes for a year - easily outstrips the next 10 highest-ranked states. It's also the fastest-growing solar market in the country.

Auto leasing deals abound these days, with offers that often seem too good to be true. How about a well-equipped Honda Accord for $250 a month with no down payment or any other drive-off fees? Or better yet, $199 a month for a Chevrolet Malibu? So, what's the catch? There isn't any if you know what you're getting into. There are always details. You need top-tier credit to qualify. You pay a penalty if you turn that Honda in with more than 36,000 miles. And the payment is not $250 a month because of that little matter of tax. It is more like $275, depending on where you live.

Americans eat too damn much. And we all pay a rising cost for this gluttony in the form of higher insurance premiums and lost productivity. A study last year by the Society of Actuaries calculated the total economic cost of an overweight and obese population in the United States and Canada at about $300 billion a year (with 90% of that figure attributable to America's dietary issues). Now comes word from the American Journal of Preventive Medicine that, if current trends continue, about 42% of the U.S. population will be obese by 2030.

American International Group Inc., the insurer criticized by lawmakers for giving bonuses to executives after a U.S. bailout, started an incentive plan that will give the top 10% of employees the largest awards. AIG's plan will rank employees on a scale of 1 to 4 based on performance compared with colleagues, a spokeswoman said. About 10% of the New York- based company's workers will be placed in the top rank, getting the biggest incentive payments, while 70% will fall in the middle tiers, she said.

It took just one day for the California Film Commission to allocate all $100 million in subsidies the Legislature provided to lure film and TV crews to the state this year. The commission granted tax credits to 30 productions; at least 30 more landed on a waiting list, where they're not likely to stay. Instead, they're expected to set up shop in other states with competing subsidies. That's the reality of the film business today — it's a mobile industry that can take much of its work to whatever state or country that makes the most sense economically.

Re "Merit Pay Proposed for L.A. Teachers," March 4. In this front-page article you report that the teachers, in order to do a proper job for us, need a $7,000 incentive bonus. To level the playing field perhaps they should give back some of the money they have received over the years for not doing what they were paid for. The results have been less than stellar. In the same edition you report that these same teachers who are so underpaid decided to fight campaign finance reform Proposition 25. They had authorized their union to spend $6 million to accomplish the job. In their last-minute panic they authorized another $640,000, same purpose.

I just got my invoice from the Dodgers for my four "MVP Field Box" season tickets. The bill was for $24,560. These are seats (used to be five rows from the field, now nine) that have been in our family since the inception of Dodger Stadium. Two years ago the same four seats and parking pass were $12,450. I've decided I need the help of Scott Boras. I figure with the Dodgers' postseason record, we could offer them the following contract: We'll pay $12,450 guaranteed. We'll pay an incentive bonus of $50 a game if the team makes it to the NLCS, an additional $50 a game if they make it to the World Series and one more $50-a-game incentive clause for winning the Series.

I'm 82. My eyes and hearing aren't as good as they used to be. Both knees need replacing. So today I reported for jury duty at 7:45 a.m., along with 61 other unlucky citizens. The elevators were out of order, so there were what seemed like a million stairs to climb. We all sat in a nondescript room till noon. We returned at 1:30 the next day for the remainder of this exciting procedure. If we do not return tomorrow I will be paid a total of 30 cents travel expense. (Jurors don't get paid the first day; that is probably why they'll draft a new group tomorrow.

Alf Jackson, 92, has won a reward for his loyalty to an inn in this northern English village where he has been drinking almost every day since 1914--and he now has a strong incentive to live a lot longer. The brewery that runs the Providence Tavern has decided to give the widower a free glass of its best ale every day for the rest of his life.

SACRAMENTO - You might think a tax law that rewards companies for killing California jobs and resurrecting them in another state would be dumped. Very quickly. Especially if it also rewards them for selling off property here and rebuilding elsewhere. Or, put another way, if the law provides a tax incentive not to hire or invest in California in the first place. You'd repeal it. A no-brainer. Makes no sense, except for the companies using the loophole while profiting from selling their products here in the nation's largest consumer market.

If it is built, the proposed 72,000-seat Farmers Field stadium in downtown Los Angeles will bring many benefits but also major traffic congestion. Despite an optimistic estimate that 20% of patrons will ride public transit on a weekday, and 15% on weekends, the project's environmental impact report says almost 20,000 cars will also arrive for events there. Anschutz Entertainment Group, the stadium's developer, has promised to accommodate all these cars. But AEG should also give patrons an incentive to ride public transit and leave their cars at home.

The Los Angeles City Council is considering granting economic incentives to the local hotel industry to encourage modernization projects and better pay for workers. In a motion introduced on Tuesday, the council agreed to ask several city departments for reports on how "public benefits" and other incentives could be used to help strengthen the local tourism industry, which the motion said is "lagging behind where it can be. " Hotels, the measure said, are aging and falling behind in energy efficiency, and hotel workers are largely "underpaid and overworked.

Homeowners more deeply underwater on mortgages handled by five major U.S. banking firms are prime candidates for getting help from a $25-billion nationwide settlement over alleged foreclosure abuses. That's because the settlement gives the nation's largest mortgage servicers more incentives to help those who owe 40% to 75% more than the value of their homes, according to details of the settlement filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Washington. In a complex series of formulas designed to maximize the effect of the deal reached last month, banks will get more than six times the credit for reducing loans for severely underwater borrowers than they would for helping those who owe 5% to 15% more than the value of their homes.

Executives from the U.S. hydropower, geothermal and biomass power industries called Wednesday for the passage of a congressional bill that would extend production tax credits to all renewable-energy projects. The leaders were referring to H.R. 3307, the American Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit Extension Act of 2011. The bill has been offered by Reps. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and has drawn bipartisan support from more than 60 co-sponsors. Failure to pass the bill, the executives said, would put thousands of jobs across the country at risk, stall active energy projects and make it very likely that few new projects would get the funding necessary to begin.

If her birth control pills are covered, why aren't my vitamins? That's the point reader Robert Filacchione of Fullerton raised in objection to The Times' editorial Sunday supporting President Obama's proposal that all healthcare plans, including those affiliated with religious organizations, provide access to contraception with no co-payment or deductible. Filacchione wrote: "You say this latest act will preempt potentially serious medical problems. I am a fit, healthy man. I work at it by eating right and running 35 to 40 miles each week.

Hyundai Motor America said it would launch an incentive program that guarantees the price of gas at $1.49 a gallon for a year for U.S. consumers who buy or lease its vehicles by Aug. 31, as the automaker seeks to win over customers uncertain about the direction of fuel prices. The incentive, dubbed the Assurance Gas Lock program, kicks off today and is the latest incentive from the South Korean automaker that takes aim at issues of consumer confidence and uncertainty that have plagued the auto industry over the last year.

Certificates worth $5,000 and good through June 30 were offered to the 150,000 owners of 1984 to 1986 Audi 5000 models wanting to buy or lease a 1987 model. The effort represents Audi's latest attempt to bolster its image and U.S. sales following allegations that 5000S models with automatic transmission have been involved in accidents, some fatal, related to sudden acceleration. Owners have filed class-action lawsuits against Audi and related firms.

Struggling homeowners are set to get more help from the federal government as the Obama administration extends its key foreclosure prevention plan for a year. The administration also will expand those eligible for the program to include investors and will increase incentives for large banks to modify more troubled mortgages. Originally set to expire in December 2012, the administration's Home Affordable Modification Program will be extended for another year, government officials said Friday.

For politicians betting on electric vehicles to drive job growth, the view from inside Think City's plant here is their worst nightmare: 100 unfinished vehicles lined up with no word on whether they will be completed. Only two years ago, the tiny Think cars (two can fit in a regular parking space) were expected to bring more than 400 jobs to this ailing city and a lifeline to suppliers who once made parts for gas-guzzling recreational vehicles. "We've said we're out to make Indiana the electric vehicle state.