Overhaul

If you're thinking of visiting a Disney park in Anaheim this summer, be warned that the price is about to jump by between $7 and $150 depending on the ticket deal. The annual summer price hike for tickets to Disneyland and the Disney California Adventure Park were announced Friday and take effect Sunday. For example, a ticket for one day at either Disneyland or California Adventure had cost $80 for parkgoers who are 10 or older. The new price, starting Sunday, will be $87, up nearly 9%. The biggest increase will hit people who buy the premium annual pass that includes parking.

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.

Overhaul: An Insider's Account of the Obama Administration's Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry. Steven Rattner Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 336 pps., $27

Republicans and Democrats agree that the federal tax system is broken, but they couldn't disagree more strongly about how to fix it. That's true largely because each side clings to a different set of theories about how taxes affect the country, only some of which bear much relationship to reality. Hoping to dispel a few of the myths pervading the debate, a Washington think tank offered a report this week laying out a dozen facts about tax reform. The bottom line: Good fiscal policy comes at a steep political cost.

Reform plan Highlights of Sen. Christopher J. Dodd's financial regulatory overhaul proposal: Creates an autonomous consumer protection bureau within the Federal Reserve Grants the government power to seize and dismantle large firms if they're near collapse Establishes a council of regulators to monitor the economy for signs of major risks Adds new regulations for hedge funds and derivatives markets ...

Overhaul plan Key provisions of the Senate financial regulatory overhaul proposal: Creates an autonomous consumer protection bureau within the Federal Reserve Grants the government power to seize and dismantle large firms if they're near collapse Establishes a council of regulators to monitor the economy for signs of major risks Adds new regulations for hedge funds and derivatives markets Takes away the...

The president on Wednesday signed into law the most sweeping reform of financial rules since the Great Depression, saying, the "American people will never again be asked to foot the bill for Wall Street's mistakes." The signing ended the arduous, yearlong effort to push the lengthy bill through Congress in the face of heavy lobbying by the financial industry and nearly unanimous opposition by Republicans. And it sets the stage for midterm elections this fall, when Republicans hope to make significant inroads into the Democratic majority.

Re: Thomas Cahill's review of Howard Gardner's book, "To Open Minds" (Book Review, Jan. 14): To Cahill's comment that Gardner "goes off the rails entirely" in calling for "individual-centered learning," and that educational theorists are "not in any schools in the real world," I would reply that those who are busiest home-schooling their children are living and proving the worth of such an idea. A short look back in our history reveals a similar scheme working in countless one-room schoolhouses.

In the March 5 article, "State Says It Has No Plans To Close Hospitals," Stephen Mayberg, director of the state Department of Mental Health, says: "We haven't ruled out anything. But I think that if we come up with better approaches or strategies, I'd rather have better utilization of our facilities than less facilities. There are no plans to shut any hospital down." I wasn't convinced of anything. Better approaches or better strategies? Come on, Mr. Mayberg, you can do better than that.

The House passed the most sweeping changes to the patent system in nearly 60 years, a rare bipartisan accomplishment pushed by major businesses bent on reducing a huge backlog of applications and aligning U.S. procedures with most of the rest of the world. The legislation would change long-standing law to grant a patent to the first person to file an application, not to the original inventor. It has become harder to determine and easier to challenge in court who first invented a product or procedure.

SACRAMENTO — Officials Monday announced an overhaul of California prisons that would cut spending by billions of dollars, cancel some construction projects, close one lockup and bring back 9,500 inmates housed in other states — all while meeting court orders to reduce crowding and improve medical care. If state lawmakers and federal judges sign off on the proposals, California's long-troubled prison system would look significantly different by 2016 — smaller, cheaper and more autonomous.

SACRAMENTO — The two biggest players in California's workers' compensation system — labor unions and large employers — are quietly crafting the biggest overhaul of the mandatory insurance program in a decade. The goal: provide more care to injured workers without raising premiums for businesses. The negotiations are focused on squeezing waste from California's $15-billion system, which, while huge, often delays or denies compensation and medical care that could get injured workers back on the job. Average compensation paid to California workers in cases of permanent partial disability was $12,000 last year.

WASHINGTON - In a vote that will help define the Republican Party in this election year and beyond, the GOP-led House approved a 2013 budget that would cut taxes for the wealthy, revamp Medicare and slash federal spending. Thursday's 228-191 vote, mostly along party lines, will fuel the robust debate that is playing out not only in Congress but also on the campaign trail. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has embraced the GOP proposal, which is sharply at odds with President Obama's blueprint that includes higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations.

WASHINGTON - Even before the Supreme Court heard arguments about the constitutionality of the federal healthcare law, President Obama's campaign had begun targeting key voter groups that might be most affected by a loss. If the justices rule against the law - an outcome that many think they strongly signaled during arguments Tuesday and Wednesday - the way those slices of the electorate respond could go a long way toward determining the political impact. The decision will land in the middle of the 2012 presidential campaign, and although striking down the health law would be a huge policy defeat for Obama, analysts in both parties say that under some scenarios, he could gain politically by losing judicially.

A conclave of Central American presidents meeting in Guatemala to discuss a major overhaul of their drug laws — including legalization or decriminalization — failed to arrive at a consensus Saturday and agreed to meet again soon in Honduras. Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina had invited five counterparts to discuss what he described as growing frustration with Washington's anti-drug policy, which many in the region say is exacting too high a price in crime and corruption.

Throwing a political curveball, Republican lawmakers on Wednesday lined up behind Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to overhaul public pensions — and called on Democrats to do the same. Echoing Brown's concerns about ballooning obligations to current and future retirees, they introduced a series of bills that mirror the 12-point plan the governor released last fall. So far, they noted at a Capitol press conference, Democrats have failed to heed Brown's call to put his proposals into legislation.

If your typical breakfast consists of leftover chocolate cake washed down with a swig of Coke, you may be a candidate for a nutritional makeover. We're looking for volunteers to participate in our "Pantry Raid" series, in which we overhaul diets and give you practical suggestions for eating and cooking more healthfully. We'll come to your house with a registered dietitian, who will go through your refrigerator, freezer and cabinets and suggest ways to improve your eating habits.

The move this week to downgrade a proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency to lure bipartisan support instead appears to be undermining the Obama administration's effort to overhaul the nation's regulation of the entire industry. The overhaul, aimed at preventing a repeat of the economic meltdown that helped send the nation and world markets into a deep recession, now might be moving closer to the junk heap of congressional bills than to a significant new law. Creating a powerful and independent consumer agency, which is strongly opposed by the financial industry and Republicans, has been the major roadblock in drafting a bill that could pass in the Senate.

President Obama wants to significantly lower the top corporate income tax rate to 28% as part of a broad overhaul that would raise an additional $250 billion from businesses over the next decade by eliminating many loopholes and other breaks, according to a senior administration official. Full details of the administration's long-awaited corporate tax reform plan will be released later Wednesday morning by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, touching off an election year debate about how much corporations should pay in taxes.

The numbers released by the city's leading pension hawk were meant to shock: a retired assistant city attorney with an annual pension of $307,758; a chief librarian receiving $234,091; an 80% increase in the last two years in the number of retired city employees with pensions of more than $100,000. "At a time when roads are falling apart, services are being cut and private-sector taxpayers are facing difficult economic realities, these pension payouts are simply offensive," Councilman Carl DeMaio, a candidate for mayor, said at a news conference last week.