Privatization

It's a common mantra among free-market-loving conservatives that government regulations hinder business growth and cost workers jobs. That may be true for some regulations, and it never hurts to go back and rethink old rules. But it's also clear that many regulations are undeniably necessary to protect consumers from unfair, unsafe or downright reckless business practices. One example was the overhaul of financial regulations after leading banks trashed the global economy with their irresponsible dealings.

The leadership of the Los Angeles teachers union is roiled over whether its officials made a private deal with a Board of Education candidate whom critics view as an ally of anti-labor forces. The dispute centers on an alleged understanding worked out between candidate Antonio Sanchez and Gregg Solkovits, a union vice president. According to people with knowledge of the matter, Solkovits has said that Sanchez, if he wins, would let United Teachers Los Angeles choose his chief of staff.

SACRAMENTO - As Gov. Jerry Brown returned this week from his trade mission to China, his decision to have his travel and that of 10 staffers paid for by special interests was raising eyebrows. The dozens of delegates who joined Brown on the tour for $10,000 each - footing their bills and that of the governor's entourage - included about 15 groups that lobby the state for favorable treatment on their agendas. The California Hospital Assn., Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, the California Beer and Beverage Distributors and other interests sent along representatives - in one case a lobbyist - affording them face time with the governor during layovers, meals and receptions.

The lending landscape shifted measurably this month when the standard-bearer for first-time buyers and low-to-moderate income borrowers became more expensive than its private business counterpart. On April 1, fees for low-down-payment mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration rose for the third time in two years. The hike in fees serves a twofold purpose: to help shore up the FHA's sagging mortgage insurance fund, which is dangerously low; and to reduce the government's footprint in the mortgage market.

Fans can have one last look at works by Jean-Michel Basquiat before they go on sale. More than 30 pieces -- from simple crayon on paper to sophisticated, colorful canvases -- will be on display May 2 through June 9 at Sotheby's galleries in New York. Most are then bound for a private sale. Pieces by the Brooklyn-born painter, who died of a drug overdose in 1988, have continued to fetch high prices at auction. ART: Can you guess the high price? Christie's in November sold Basquiat's 1981 untitled portrait of a fisherman for a record $26.4 million, and next month the auction house is asking between $25 million and $35 million for "Dustheads," a 7-foot acrylic painting of two figures.

Consider some of the things that have bound our nation together: Universal postal service at a flat rate, whether you live in Santa Monica or Sitka, Alaska. Interstate highways, built with taxpayer funds and free of tolls. Regulated phone and electric service, with lifeline rates for the economically disadvantaged. These were all based on a social contract honoring the notion that essential infrastructure should be available to all - indeed, that those normally left by the side of the economic road might be most in need.

BEIJING - In Washington, it is said, the definition of a gaffe is accidentally saying what you really think. That may be doubly true in Beijing, as Deng Yuwen can attest. Deng, an editor at the weekly newspaper run by the Central Party School, the main training institute for future Communist cadres, has taken on controversial topics in the past: deploring corruption and censorship, advocating political reform. But when he published a column calling for China to abandon its alliance with North Korea, he found himself out of a job within 48 hours.

Pastor Rick Warren's family has opted for a private memorial service for their son Matthew, who killed himself late last week at their Orange County home, a church spokeswoman said Tuesday. “Your kind words and sensitive notes to Kay and me have been such a blessing and encouragement,” Warren said in a statement. “Many are asking about a funeral, and our family decided on a simple private memorial. "Please continue to pray for the entire family.” Warren is pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest and a nationally known evangelist and author of "The Purpose-Driven Life.

In May 1943, President Franklin Roosevelt met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill at the White House. It was 17 months after Pearl Harbor and a little more than a year before D-Day. The two Allied leaders reviewed the war effort to date and exchanged thoughts on their plans for the postwar era. At one point in the discussion, FDR offered what he called "the best way to settle the Jewish question. " Vice President Henry Wallace, who noted the conversation in his diary, said Roosevelt spoke approvingly of a plan (recommended by geographer and Johns Hopkins University President Isaiah Bowman)

Organized labor's lopsided support for Wendy Greuel in the Los Angeles mayor's race has started shifting as unions begin pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into an independent campaign backing her rival, Eric Garcetti. The $300,000 in new labor donations for Garcetti - the first installment of what union leaders say will be more than $1 million - still leaves the city councilman far behind Greuel in the contest for union money. But it highlights a dramatic split within labor, often the driving force in Los Angeles elections.