Texting while driving: everything you need to know about the new law | Technology | Los Angeles Times

On New Year's Day, it will become illegal to text message while driving in California. You probably have a lot of questions about what precisely that means: Can you still use your BlackBerry to get directions while driving? What about checking Major League Baseball scores? Can you text while stuck in horrible traffic on the I-5?

The very patient Jaime Coffee, an information officer with the California Highway Patrol, has responded to our Twenty-plus Questions concerning just about every possible way the new law may be put to the test. Turns out you can't browse the Web while driving or text while sitting at a red light. But checking Major League Baseball scores or texting while riding a bicycle seem to be OK. Here's an edited transcript of our e-mail conversation with Coffee.

Q: Is it illegal to send an e-mail from your mobile device while driving?
A: Yes. Please refer to VC 23123.5 (b) (PDF download). As used in this section "write, send, or read a text-based communication" means using an electronic wireless communications device to manually communicate with any person using a text-based communication, including, but not limited to, communications referred to as a text message, instant message or electronic mail.

Q: Is it illegal to browse the Web while driving?
A: Yes. Refer to VC 27602 (a). A person may not drive a motor vehicle if a television receiver, a video monitor or a television or video screen, or any other similar means of visually displaying a television broadcast or video signal that produces entertainment or business applications, is operating and is located in the motor vehicle at any point forward of the back of the driver's seat, or is operating and visible to the driver while driving the motor vehicle.

Q: Is it illegal to type directions into a digital map or GPS program on your phone while driving?
A: No. The law does not say you can't type directions into a map or GPS program on your phone.

Q: If you are texting a company or website, such as MLB.com, as opposed to a person, is it still illegal to text while driving?
A: Technically speaking ... if the text-based communication is not going to another "person" you're not in violation. The new law addresses two-way communication. However, we don't encourage or condone any activity that could place you in jeopardy or harm's way. If sending this message causes the driver to become distracted, and affects the safe operation of the vehicle, an officer can pull the driver over and cite for unsafe operation of a motor vehicle, etc.

Q: If you are stopped at a red light, can you text while sitting at the red light?
A: No, it's against the law. If you are stopped at a light or a stop sign, you are still in control of that vehicle and need to be able to react.

Q: If you are sitting in a traffic jam and your car is not moving, is it illegal to text while driving?
A: Yes, it is still illegal. Again, you are still in control of the vehicle and should focus 100% of your attention to its safe operation.

More questions and answers, including whether it's legal to text while parked, after the jump.

Q: If you have parked your car in a parking space, but the car is still running, are you allowed to text while driving?
A: Since you are legally parked, you can send your text.

Q: What about if the car is off?
A: If the engine is off, you are no longer operating the vehicle. Hopefully you have pulled over and parked in a safe location.

Q: If you have pulled over to the side of the road but are not in a parking space, and the car is still running, is it illegal to text while driving?
A: Technically, if you were pull over to the side of the road you're not driving. As long as the vehicle is stopped in an area that is not prohibited. We recommend that you pick a safe place to stop -- for example, a parking lot -- and remember to never stop on the freeway.

Q: Is it illegal to read directions from your map or GPS program on your phone while driving?
A: No. However, we do not recommend that you do this.

Q: Is it illegal to type directions into a GPS device that is separate from a phone while driving?
A: No. Again, however, we do not encourage or recommend that you do this.

Q: Is it illegal to read texts that you receive while driving?
A: Yes. Texting (composing, sending or reading) while operating a vehicle on public roadways is illegal.

Q: Is it illegal to read e-mails that you receive while driving?
A: Yes.

Q: Is it illegal to type in a phone number that you then call with your hands-free device?
A: No. You can still dial, and the new law doesn't prohibit you from dialing. However, as soon as you hit send, you must be hands-free. If you've got voice-activated dialing, it's even better.

Q: Is it illegal to text while driving a motorcycle or a bicycle?
A: A motorcycle has a motor, so it would be illegal to text while driving a motorcycle. A bike doesn't have a motor, therefore it is not illegal. But if you're riding a bicycle, you should be paying attention to your surroundings.

Q: If you have a service that allows you to recite text messages that are typed onto the phone by voice recognition software, is that illegal to use?
A: If you are using a hands-free device, that is using voice-recognition software ... technically you're hands-free, so you'd be OK.

Q: What if you have already composed the text messages but you just need to press send?
A: Yes, it is still illegal to "send" the text regardless of when it was composed. So send it before you head out in your vehicle.

Q: Is is illegal to type a text message into a touch-screen device such as an iPhone?
A: Yes. Texting (composing, sending or reading) while operating a vehicle on public roadways is illegal, no matter what type of device you're using.

Q: Does the law pertain to devices with a QWERTY keyboard, rather than just a number screen?
A: Yes. It applies to any electronic wireless communications device used to write, send or read a text-based communication. It's the distraction [of texting] the law is attempting to eliminate while you're driving.

Q: What are the penalties for texting while driving?
A: They are similar to the cellphone law that went into effect July 1, 2008. The base fine for a first violation is $20; subsequent violations are $50. However, the total cost of the citation will be significantly higher than the base fine with the addition of local court costs and program fees. The exact penalty varies from county to county.

Q: If you get in an accident while texting while driving, are the penalties harsher?
A: The penalty for violating that law remains the same. However, if your texting contributed to the collision, the officer could charge you with a host of other violations including reckless driving, unsafe speed for conditions, etc. If the collision should involve bodily injury or great bodily injury, you could also be charged with violation of VC 21070, which includes an additional base fine of $70-$95 (plus penalties and assessments).

Robert Aragon Charged with Murder After Daughter Dies During Walk in Snow

The father of an 11-year-old girl who died on Christmas Day while trying to walk 10 miles in the snow has been charged with second degree murder and felony injury to a child.

Robert Aragon was with his daughter Sage and 12-year-old son Bear when his truck got stuck in the snow in south-central Idaho. The 55-year-old let Sage and Bear walk to their mother’s home 10 miles away. He and another adult stayed behind to free the truck.

The children set out for their mother JoLeta Jenk’s house but never arrived. Bear was found at a rest area near highway 75, about 4.5 miles from where he began walking. After walking several miles Sage decided to turn back. Her body was found covered in snow about 2.7 miles from where she began walking. She died of hypothermia. Bear was treated for hypothermia and released from the hospital.
Aragon is being held in a Blaine County jail on $500,000 bond.

Merry Christmas to ME!!

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – A family didn't realize it had an unexpected Christmas guest until a man who had been in their attic for days emerged wearing their clothes, police said.

Stanley Carter surrendered Friday after police took a dog to search the home in Plains Township, a suburb of Wilkes-Barre about 100 miles north of Philadelphia. He was charged with several counts of burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and criminal trespass.

"When he came down from the attic, he was wearing my daughter's pants and my sweat shirt and sneakers," homeowner Stacy Ferrance said. "From what I gather, he was helping himself to my home, eating my food and stealing my clothes."

Police said the 21-year-old Carter had been staying with friends who are Ferrance's neighbors in a duplex. He apparently accessed the shared attic through a trap door in a bedroom ceiling.

Carter disappeared Dec. 19, and the friends filed a missing person report a few days before Christmas.
Ferrance said she had heard noises but thought they were caused by her three children. She notified police on Christmas Day when cash, a laptop computer and an iPod disappeared, then called police again the next day when she found footprints in her bedroom closet, where the attic trap door is.

Carter kept a list of everything he took, said Plains Township police Officer Michael Smith.

"When we were going through the inventory of what he did take, we found a note labeled 'Stanley's Christmas List' of all the items he had removed from the residence and donated to himself," Smith said.

Carter was in jail Sunday at the Luzerne County jail with a preliminary hearing set for Jan. 5. He did not yet have an attorney.

New legislation to target 'cyberbullying' at schools

A new law aimed at deterring the proliferation of cyberbullying at public schools goes into effect Jan. 1, bolstering educators' ability to tackle the problem head-on.

The law gives school administrators the leverage to suspend or expel students for bullying other students by means of an electronic device such as a mobile phone or on an Internet social networking site like MySpace or Facebook; the law, however, only applies to bullying that occurs during school hours or during a school-related activity.

The new law also incorporates the term "cyberbullying" into the lexicon of the California Education Code, which better equips school and law enforcement officials to educate students and parents on the issue.

California is one of only two states in the U.S., the other being Arkansas, that has passed legislation specifically addressing cyberbullying in its education code, said Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-El Segundo, who authored the legislation, Assembly Bill 86, signed into law by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sept. 30.

"We hope that other states copy this law," Lieu said. He called cyberbullying "a growing problem."
Educators and law enforcement officials have taken aggressive steps to address the dilemma of cyberbullying and its potential deadly consequences.

In November, a federal jury, in an unprecedented criminal case, convicted a 49-year-old Missouri mother of misdemeanor computer crimes after she intentionally tormented a

13-year-old girl on MySpace, leading the teenage girl to believe she was engaged in an online romance with a 16-year-old. The girl, Megan Meier, later killed herself after Lori Drew, posing as the boy, wrote Megan saying, "The world would be a better place without you."

Prosecutors in that case, however, failed to convince a jury to convict Drew of a felony conspiracy charge that could have sent the woman to prison for a maximum of 20 years.

According to i-SAFE, a nonprofit organization specializing in Internet safety education, 42 percent of children have been bullied while online, and one in four has had it happen more than once.

According to a 2005 study by at UCLA psychology professor Jaana Juvonen, nearly three in four teenagers said they had been bullied online at least once during a 12-month period, and only one in 10 reported the incidents to their parents or other adults. Her research was based on a Web survey of 1,454 participants between the ages of 12 and 17 between August and October 2005.

Juvonen said the new California law may help dispel longstanding acceptance among many that bullying, in any manner, is just a part of growing up and something kids need to learn to deal with.

"This is a very clear message to the community at large that these incidents shouldn't be taken lightly," said Juvonen. "It protects the right for kids to go to school without being fearful of other kids harassing them or intimidating them."
School districts across the Inland Empire have been taking steps to inform teachers, students and parents of the new law. Some established cyberbullying policies of their own long before Lieu's bill was signed into law.

At the Ontario-Montclair School District, a task force composed of teachers, administrators and classified staff is being created to review the new law and develop a new district policy, said James Kidwell, the district's deputy superintendent of human resources.

In Redlands, officials are considering holding assemblies, sending out letters to parents and including the information in school newspapers, said Jon Best, director of student services for the Redlands Unified School District.

At Beattie Middle School in Highland, Assistant Principal Chris Ruhm posted a letter on the school's Web site in November informing parents of the forthcoming law.

Some school districts have already taken steps to address the issue.

Last spring, all middle school and high school counselors for the San Bernardino City Unified School District received new curriculum on cyberbullying, which included suggestions for holding group discussions on the dangers of cyberbullying, how to report cyberbullying and basic tips for Internet safety, said Linda Bardere, district spokeswoman.

This year, the district adopted a new program called "Too Good for Violence," a curriculum addressing bullying, drugs, alcohol and violence, Bardere said.

As with the case of Megan Meier and others in the not-too-distant past, the tragic tales associated with bullying illustrate its potentially deadly consequences.

In October 2004, 15-year-old Pacific High School student and San Bernardino resident Velia Huerta Victorino hung herself in her living room after years of relentless bullying at school. Before she took her life, she left a heartbreaking note for her mother. It read, "Sorry for what I did, but I had to. No one liked me anymore.

"All my friends left me because of what some people were saying."

In September 1998, 13-year-old Pasco, Wash., resident Jared High called his father to say good-bye, then fatally shot himself while still on the phone with him. He had been victimized repeatedly and assaulted by bullies at his school.

Jared's mother, Brenda High, founded Bully Police U.S.A., a nonprofit watchdog organization advocating for bullied children.

She's impressed with California's new law, but stressed it may fall short.

Educators, High said, must stress the importance of documenting every bullying incident that occurs on a school campus in order to track problem students and their victims.

"The really good schools are going to have a really good reporting procedure," High said.

She said Florida has one of the best mandatory reporting laws on bullying, and the state threatens to pull funding if schools don't comply.

Still, California appears to be off to a really good start, she said.

"The state has done its job by having this law passed, and now the job is up to the educators," she said.

Tumor in Colorado newborn's brain contained foot

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – A pediatric neurosurgeon says a tumor he removed from the brain of a Colorado Springs infant contained a tiny foot and other partially formed body parts.

Dr. Paul Grabb said he operated on Sam Esquibel at Memorial Hospital for Children after an MRI showed a microscopic tumor on the newborn's brain. Sam was 3 days old and otherwise healthy.

Grabb said that while removing the growth, he discovered it contained a nearly perfect foot and the formation of another foot, a hand and a thigh.

"It looked like the breach delivery of a baby, coming out of the brain," Grabb said. "To find a perfectly
formed structure (like this) is extremely unique, unusual, borderline unheard of."

Grabb isn't sure what caused the growth but says it may have been a type of congenital brain tumor.
However, such tumors usually are less complex than a foot or hand, he said.

The growth may also have been a case of "fetus in fetu" — in which a fetal twin begins to form within another — but such cases very rarely occur in the brain, Grabb said.

Sam's parents, Tiffnie and Manuel Esquibel, said their son is at home now but faces monthly blood tests to check for signs of cancer or regrowth, along with physical therapy to improve the use of his neck. But they say he has mostly recovered from the Oct. 3 surgery.

"You'd never know if he didn't have a scar there," Tiffnie Esquibel said.

Cake request for 3-year-old Hitler namesake denied - Yahoo! News

EASTON, Pa. – The father of 3-year-old Adolf Hitler Campbell, denied a birthday cake with the child's full name on it by one New Jersey supermarket, is asking for a little tolerance. Heath Campbell and his wife, Deborah, are upset not only with the decision made by the Greenwich ShopRite, but with an outpouring of angry Internet postings in response to a local newspaper article over the weekend on their flare-up over frosting.

"I think people need to take their heads out of the cloud they've been in and start focusing on the future and not on the past," Heath Campbell said Tuesday in an interview conducted in Easton, on the other side of the Delaware River from where the family lives in Hunterdon County, N.J.

"There's a new president and he says it's time for a change; well, then it's time for a change," the 35-year-old continued. "They need to accept a name. A name's a name. The kid isn't going to grow up and do what (Hitler) did."

Deborah Campbell, 25, said she phoned in her order last week to the ShopRite. When she told the bakery department she wanted her son's name spelled out, she was told to talk to a supervisor, who denied the request.

Karen Meleta, a spokeswoman for ShopRite, said the Campbells had similar requests denied at the same store the last two years and said Heath Campbell previously had asked for a swastika to be included in the decoration.

"We reserve the right not to print anything on the cake that we deem to be inappropriate," Meleta said. "We considered this inappropriate."

The Campbells ultimately got their cake decorated at a Wal-Mart in Pennsylvania, Deborah Campbell said.

About 12 people attended the birthday party on Sunday, including several children who were of mixed race, according to Heath Campbell.

"If we're so racist, then why would I have them come into my home?" he asked.

The Campbells' other two children also have unusual names: JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell turns 2 in a few months and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell will be 1 in April.

Heath Campbell said he named his son after Adolf Hitler because he liked the name and because "no one else in the world would have that name." He sounded surprised by all the controversy the dispute had generated.

Campbell said his ancestors are German and that he has lived his entire life in Hunterdon County. On
Tuesday he wore a pair of black boots he said were worn by a German soldier during World War II.

He said he was raised not to avoid people of other races but not to mix with them socially or romantically.

But he said he would try to raise his children differently.

"Say he grows up and hangs out with black people. That's fine, I don't really care," he said. "That's his choice."

Suck it up you big cry baby!!

Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller accuses ref of using profanity

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Sabres goalie Ryan Miller on Tuesday accused an NHL referee of using a profanity in response to a question the player asked during Buffalo's 4-3 win at Pittsburgh a night earlier.

Miller told several reporters after practice that the exchange occurred during the second period Monday, after he said he respectfully asked a referee a question.

Miller wouldn't say which of the two referees working the game - Tim Peel or Justin St. Pierre - had made the comment. He also didn't say what he had asked the official.

"To be honest, I was respectful," Miller said.

In an e-mail to The Associated Press, NHL spokesman Frank Brown said he was checking with the league's hockey operations department regarding Miller's complaint.

The goalie raised the issue after he was asked what he discussed with coach Lindy Ruff at the end of practice.

Miller said he joked with Ruff that the exchange with the official might have played a factor a few minutes later when the Sabres were issued a bench minor penalty for arguing an interference penalty against Thomas Vanek.

Ruff wasn't available for comment because he had spoken to reporters before Miller.

The complaint comes a week after Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery was suspended for six games by the NHL for making crude comments regarding his ex-girlfriends dating other hockey players, using the term "sloppy seconds."

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman deemed Avery's behaviour as unacceptable and detrimental.
Avery has apologized for his remarks and has agreed to be evaluated for anger management.
Though he's eligible to return Dec. 16 against Phoenix, the Stars have not yet determined whether to allow him to remain on the team.

Knuckledragger (Posted 2008-12-10 11:06:14)Hey Miller... so what you whiner ! Refs swear all the time at every level of hockey as do players and coaches. When does all this whaaaaaaa a political correctness end... suck it up man! As my Mom would say "Mind your business.." I can't even beleive an adult can be such a suck !!! It's whining on an extreme level when a guy mentions something this trivial to the media ! WWhhhaaaa.... mommy the ref swore at me... gimme a freakin' break !

Ollie (Posted 2008-12-10 10:47:57)Miller should worry about improving his performance not a ref using naughty words. Memo to Ryan Miller:......STAY FOCUSED on what you're being paid big money to do. The ref actually might have been simply critiquing Miller's performance in goal this year.
Bill (Posted 2008-12-10 10:45:48)Miller has always been a whinner, just like the baby Crosby (shut your mouths)!

Mark Smith (Posted 2008-12-10 09:34:50)So maybe the ref' had just been cussed out by one of the other players out there as they so often are.Ted is right you can hear the colorful language at the stadiums and I'm really glad that my 9 and 10 year old boys can't read lips when we're watching on TV! If the players are treating the ref's like that then it seems odd to have a player--even if he doesn't let the ref's have it--complain about such behavior; surely he's heard what the ref's have to deal with.

Felix MacLean (Posted 2008-12-09 23:32:37)I don't think Miller watched last summer's playoffs. In just about every game they played, Pittsburgh benefitted from a bad call and/or non-call. The worst of it didn't even occur in the finals, which suffered from such lopsided (and apparently pro-Pittsburgh) officiating that the Canadian media picked up on it.

nard (Posted 2008-12-09 23:13:11)its not the players that are being spoken about here, its the officials. the officials are supposed to be unbiased referees, not swearing and going over the top at players. and the avery comment.. thats because he pretty much called all his girlfriends whores and i guess the AP think thats the same as swearing i assume

Ted (Posted 2008-12-09 22:42:19)Who cares, I'm sure almost every player in the league uses profanity on the ice despite the fact they're all at their workplace. I've been to games and heard profanity from the ice despite the fact there is a family environment in the crowds. If Miller has a problem with officials using profanity I suggest he crusade to ban it league wide for players, coaches, management and officials. And like that'll ever happen.

Jordan (Posted 2008-12-09 22:15:01)How did this turn into an article about Sean Avery? Anyway, I think Miller is being way too vague for the league to take action. "I asked the ref a question nicely and he swore at me." Hopefully we can learn more on this issue later.

Hang him from the rafters boys - About time a judge had balls!!!

O.J. Simpson sentenced to at least 15 years

LAS VEGAS – A broken O.J. Simpson has been sentenced to at least 15 years in prison for a Las Vegas hotel armed robbery by a judge who rejected his apology and said, "It was much more than stupidity."

Simpson stood stone-faced Friday when Judge Jackie Glass quickly rattled off his punishment after he pleaded with her that he didn't mean to steal from anybody when he tried to retrieve memorabilia.

He appeared ready to break down in tears as he told that he was "sorry and confused" before going into a rambling and emotional 5-minute declaration.

"I didn't want to steal anything from anyone ... I'm sorry, sorry," he said.

Glass ruled before sentencing that Simpson cannot be freed on bail pending possible appeal.

Employers cut 533K jobs in Nov., most in 34 years

WASHINGTON – Skittish employers slashed 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years, catapulting the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent, dramatic proof the country is careening deeper into recession.

The new figures, released by the Labor Department Friday, showed the crucial employment market deteriorating at an alarmingly rapid clip, and handed Americans some more grim news right before the holidays.

As companies throttled back hiring, the unemployment rate bolted from 6.5 percent in October to 6.7 percent last month, a 15-year high.

"These numbers are shocking," said economist Joel Naroff, president of Naroff Economics Advisors. "Companies are sharply reacting to the economy's problems and slashing costs. They are not trying to ride it out."

The unemployment rate would have moved even higher if not for the exodus of 422,000 people from the work force. Economists thought many of those people probably abandoned their job searches out of sheer frustration. In November 2007, the jobless rate was at 4.7 percent.

The U.S. tipped into recession last December, a panel of experts declared earlier this week, confirming what many Americans already thought.

Since the start of the recession, the economy has lost 1.9 million jobs, the number of unemployed people increased by 2.7 million and the jobless rate rose by 1.7 percentage points.

President-elect Barack Obama said the dismal job news underscored the need for forceful action, even as he warned that the pain could not be quickly relieved.

"There are no quick or easy fixes to this crisis ... and it's likely to get worse before it gets better," Obama said. "At the same time, this ... provides us with an opportunity to transform our economy to improve the lives of ordinary people by rebuilding roads and modernizing schools for our children, investing in clean energy solutions to break our dependence on imported oil, and making an early down payment on the long-term reforms that will grow and strengthen our economy for all Americans for years to come."

To provide relief, the Bush administration will continue to concentrate on ways to bust through a credit jam that is feeding prominently into the economy's problems, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez told The Associated Press in an interview. "We're going to stay focused on that like a laser," he said.

On Wall Street, stocks slid. The Dow Jones industrials were down more than 180 points in morning trading.

Job losses last month were widespread, hitting factories, construction companies, financial firms, retailers, leisure and hospitality, and others industries. The few places where gains were logged included the government, education and health services.

The loss of 533,000 payroll jobs was much deeper than the 320,000 job cuts economists were forecasting. The rise in the unemployment rate, however, wasn't as steep as the 6.8 percent rate they were expecting. Taken together, though, the employment picture clearly darkening.

The job reductions were the most since a whopping 602,000 positions were slashed in December 1974, when the country was in a severe recession.

All told, 10.3 million people were left unemployed as of November, while the number of employed was 144.3 million.

Job losses in September and October also turned out to be much worse. Employers cut 403,000 jobs in September, versus 284,000 previously estimated. Another 320,000 were chopped in October, compared with an initial estimate of 240,000.

Employers are slashing costs to the bone as they try to cope with sagging appetites from customers in the U.S. and in other countries, which are struggling with their own economic troubles.

The carnage — including the worst financial crisis since the 1930s — is hitting a wide range of companies.

In recent days, household names like General Motors Corp., AT&T Inc., DuPont, JPMorgan Chase & Co., as well as jet engine maker Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp., and mining company Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. announced layoffs.

Fighting for their survival, the chiefs of Chrysler LLC, General Motors and Ford Motor Co. returned to Capitol Hill Friday to again ask lawmakers for as much as $34 billion in emergency aid.

Workers with jobs saw modest wage gains. Average hourly earnings rose to $18.30 in November, a 0.4 percent increase from the previous month. Over the year, wages have grown 3.7 percent, but paychecks haven't stretched that far because of high prices for energy, food and other items.

Worn-out consumers battered by the job losses, shrinking nest eggs and tanking home values have retrenched, throwing the economy into a tailspin. As the unemployment rate continues to move higher, consumers will burrow further, dragging the economy down even more, a vicious cycle that Washington policymakers are trying to break.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected ratchet down a key interest rate — now near a historic low of 1 percent — by as much as a half-percentage point on Dec. 16 in a bid to breathe life into the moribund economy. Bernanke is exploring other economic revival options and wants the government to step up efforts to curb home foreclosures.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, whose department oversees the $700 billion financial bailout program, also is weighing new initiatives, even as his remaining days in office are numbered.

Obama, who takes office on Jan. 20, has called for a massive economic recovery bill to generate 2.5 million jobs over his first two years in office. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has vowed to have a package ready on Inauguration Day for Obama's signature.

The measure, which could total $500 billion, would bankroll big public works projects to create jobs, provide aid to states to help with Medicaid costs, and provide money toward renewable energy development.

At 12 months and counting, the recession is longer than the 10-month average length of recessions since World War II. The record for the longest recession in the postwar period is 16 months, which was reached in the 1973-75 and 1981-82 downturns. The current recession might end up matching that or setting a record in terms of duration, analysts say.

The 1981-82 recession was the worst in terms of unemployment since the Great Depression. The jobless rate rose as high as 10.8 percent in late 1982, just as the recession ended, before inching down.

Given the current woes, the jobless rate could rise as high as 8.5 percent by the end of next year, some analysts predict. Projections, however, have to be taken with a grain of salt because of all the uncertainties plaguing the economy. Still, the unemployment rate often peaks after a recession has ended. That's because companies are reluctant to ramp up hiring until they feel certain the recovery has staying power.

Home loan troubles break records again - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON – A record one in 10 American homeowners with a mortgage were either at least a month behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of September as the source of housing market pressure shifted to the crumbling U.S. economy.

The Mortgage Bankers Association said Friday the percentage of loans at least a month overdue or in foreclosure was up from 9.2 percent in the April-June quarter, and up from 7.3 percent a year earlier.

Distress in the home loan market started about two years ago as increasing numbers of adjustable-rate loans reset to higher interest rates. But the latest wave of delinquencies is coming from the surge in unemployment.

Employers slashed 533,000 jobs in November, the most in 34 years, catapulting the unemployment rate to 6.7 percent, the Labor Department said Friday.

"Now it's a case of job losses hitting more across the board," Jay Brinkmann, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The U.S. tipped into recession last December, a panel of experts declared earlier this week. Since the start of the recession, the economy has lost 1.9 million jobs.

Job losses are already having an impact in rising delinquency rates for traditional 30-year fixed rate loans made to borrowers with strong credit. Total delinquencies on those loans rose to 3.35 percent in September from 3.07 percent at the end of June, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

There were some modest signs of stabilization. The number of loans that entered the foreclosure process totaled 1.07 percent of all loans in the third quarter, flat from the second quarter.

Though that number likely reflects changes in state laws that delay or extend the foreclosure process and efforts to work out or modify loans that could still fall back into foreclosure

Clinton's nomination popular, but is it constitutional? - CNN.com

There is hope that she will not put into this post - Whoo-Hoo!!


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Polls show that Americans overwhelmingly approve of Sen. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, but will the founding fathers veto this popular addition to Barack Obama's "team of rivals"?

President-elect Barack Obama named Sen. Hillary Clinton as his choice for secretary of state Monday.

Yes, according to one conservative interpretation of the Constitution.

Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution says the following: "No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time."

Translation: A lawmaker cannot fill a position if the salary for that position has been raised during that lawmaker's term in office.

In January, President Bush signed an executive order increasing the salary for the secretary of state and other Cabinet positions by $4,700. Hillary Clinton has been in the Senate since January 2001.
Case closed, says the conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch.

"There's no getting around the Constitution's ineligibility clause, so Hillary Clinton is prohibited from serving in the Cabinet until at least 2013, when her current term expires," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement.

"No public official who has taken the oath to support and defend the Constitution should support this appointment."

Not so fast, most legal scholars say.

In the past, lawmakers have found a way around the clause, with Congress changing the salary of the office in question back to what it originally was.

It happened when Ohio Sen. William Saxbe was named President Nixon's attorney general in 1974 and again when Texas Sen. Lloyd Bentsen became President Clinton's Treasury secretary in 1993.

"There are many ways around this problem," CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin noted. "One is for Congress to vote a lower salary. Another way is for Hillary Clinton simply to accept a lower salary. Another way is simply to ignore the problem on the idea that no one has the right, has the standing, to sue to stop her from being secretary of state. "This is not going to be an impediment to her being secretary of state," Toobin argued.

One Clinton aide said that both Clinton and Obama were aware of the issue when he announced her as his choice for secretary of state. And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office said congressional Democrats are moving forward with a measure similar to what has been done before.
Judicial Watch takes issue with the precedent.

"We think it's inadequate," Fitton said. "You can't amend the Constitution through legislation like that. ... The Constitution doesn't have any caveats. It's plain as day."

Fitton pointed to what President Reagan did when facing a similar situation.

"Ronald Reagan took a look at this clause and decided against appointing Orrin Hatch, who was a senator and still is, to the Supreme Court," he noted.

Whatever the activists, scholars or pundits say, the public has apparently made up its mind.

A CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll conducted December 1-2 indicated that 71 percent of Americans approve of Obama's nomination of Clinton as his secretary of state. Democrats overwhelmingly approve of the choice, with two-thirds of independents agreeing and Republicans split evenly on the pick.

America's 'other' auto industry | csmonitor.com

In the South, host to foreign-owned plants, there is little sympathy held for Detroit.

West Point, Ga. - The US auto industry is throwing bolts, but here in Georgia's Chattahoochee Valley a South Korean car company is building a massive new manufacturing plant along the new Kia Parkway, replacing abandoned textile mills. The recently opened Korean BBQ House now vies for customers with Roger's Pit-Cooked Bar-B-Que. And in an indication of just how welcome Kia's nonunion jobs are, some 43,000 people applied for 2,600 positions – with starting wages of $17 an hour – as the plant gears up to turn out its first model next November.

The expansion of this "other" auto industry – one that's foreign-owned, nonunion, and based largely in the South – stands in stark contrast to this week's dire reports from America's own Big Three, whose CEOs laid out plans for a dramatic downsizing before traveling to Washington to plead for $34 billion in federal aid.

Two-thirds of "foreign imports" are, in fact, built in the United States in nonunion shops, where it costs at least $2,000 less in labor to build each vehicle.

Critics charge that the Japanese, Korean, and German auto companies are taking advantage of desperate communities and a longstanding distrust of unions in the South. But among people in West Point, Ga., the vision of a foreign-owned Southern car industry standing on its own two feet while Detroit teeters comes down to this: the worth of a day's work, and the role – or nonrole – of unions like the United Auto Workers (UAW).

"Workers [in the South] understand that in order for them to have a job these companies have got to make money, because if they don't, they're not going to have a job," says Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R), who represents this river city in Congress and who could be asked as soon as next week to vote on a bailout to keep Chrysler and General Motors afloat. "That's the first issue [Detroit auto executives] need to address before they come to Congress asking for a bailout or a loan or whatever it is," he says in a phone interview.

Around the South and especially here on Interstate 85 – nicknamed the "autobahn" for the prevalence of foreign-owned car plants along its stretch – the manufacture of foreign vehicles has jumped 450 percent since 1986. While the Big Three have shed more than 600,000 jobs since 1980, foreign automakers have created about 35,000 jobs in the same period.

The gap between union and nonunion compensation is big: Total benefits put union workers at $36.34 per hour compared with $25.65 per hour. The Big Three's "legacy costs," some economists say, push UAW members' total compensation much higher. That gap, moreover, figures into Southern residents' views on Detroit's worthiness to be rescued from the brink of bankruptcy.

"If you're making $60 or $70 an hour, I can see how you don't want to work for $20," says West Point barber Dewey Rayley, who reports that most of his customers look unfavorably on a federal bailout for the American auto companies. "But that's the thing: What makes you think it's worth so much just to build a car?"

The UAW, for its part, has tried to unionize the international plants in the South, to no avail. Its membership is down 17 percent from 2007, to 464,910 – the lowest since the Great Depression.

With the stakes rising, the once tough-minded union is now "a shadow of its former self," says Nelson Lichtenstein, director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor and Democracy in Santa Barbara, Calif.
On Wednesday, UAW head Ron Gettelfinger said the union will discontinue a controversial jobs bank – a kind of private unemployment program – and allow the Big Three to postpone payments into a healthcare trust for workers. It's the second offer to reopen contract negotiations in three years.

The UAW concession "is significant and unprecedented," says Harley Shaiken, an expert on labor and the global economy at the University of California, Berkeley. "The fact that the union is willing to jettison [the job bank] shows that they want to clear the political air for a reasoned discussion on why the industry survival is important to the entire economy."

A prevalent right-to-work philosophy isn't the only reason foreign companies like Toyota have located plants in the South. There's also the proximity to a car-loving region with little mass transit and a population that totals that of the Midwest and New England combined. Moreover, the Southern autoworkers are fairly young, meaning few qualify for pensions. General Motors, for instance, supports 400,000 retirees; Toyota supports 700.

While Detroit and the UAW are locked in what Mr. Lichtenstein calls a "failed marriage," the Asian firms, in particular, have flirted effectively with a South big on states' rights and individual liberties. With different work styles and no union rules with which to comply, foreign-car companies can be more flexible and responsive to customers – though union shops get top marks on seven of eight quality and productivity standards. Unlike in the Detroit-owned plants, workers at foreign-owned facilities eat in the same cafeterias as the brass – a kind of egalitarian mind-set that fits well with Southern social graces, leaving workers few incentives to unionize.

"The auto industry has for the most part transformed the South's economy, and it's because you're empowering [workers]," says Mike Randle, editor of Southern Business and Development magazine in Mountain Brook, Ala. "If you go to any of these foreign auto plants in the South, it looks like a rural high school parking lot – just a bunch of kids. Where are these young men or women going to get a job with a year of community college [experience]? Wal-Mart? Now they're starting at $17 an hour, and we're talking about thousands and thousands of jobs."

But there are troubling implications, too. Like some of the old textile-mill magnates, a Honda plant in Alabama threatened workers with closure if they unionized, says Mr. Randle. Last year, Toyota in Georgetown, Ky, fired two workers for releasing an internal document that discussed lowering wages.
The demise of one or more of the big US automakers stands to benefit the foreign companies, as would the continued weakening of the UAW, whose existence indirectly boosts nonunion wages.

Labor historians note that President Franklin Roosevelt helped to raise wages across the board to get the US out of the Great Depression. Today, they say, many conservative Democrats and Republicans from the South, like Representative Westmoreland, are lobbying for the opposite to rescue Detroit.

"If and when the UAW is destroyed, what will happen to the transplants, like the Toyota plant in Kentucky and this new Kia plant, is that these companies will start offering Wal-Mart wages," says Lichtenstein.

Even here in West Point, where a new interstate exchange the state built for Kia opens Dec. 10, not all is well. Retired textile worker Jim McKee frets that "some of the cultural changes like the [Korean] restaurants are shocking and worrying to a lot of people."

What's more, Detroit may be a competitor, but most people in West Point drive Buicks, Chevys, and Fords. "I'm a Buick man, but, who knows, I might be buying a Kia soon," says Harris Nader, who owns an "old-time" music shop in West Point.

And not everyone blames the unions. The problem is "that the executives with these companies made mistakes down through the years in not producing fuel-efficient cars, not what the union was being paid," says Don Gilliam, a West Point city councilor. "Now it's essential that you give them help, not because of their mistakes, but for the sake of the general economy."

Ford asks Congress for $9B line of credit

Ford Motor Co. is asking Congress for a $9 billion "stand-by line of credit" to stabilize its business, but says it doesn't expect to tap it.

Unless one of Detroit's other Big Three auto companies goes bust, Ford expects to have enough money to make it through next year without government help, it said in a plan that projected the firm will break even or turn a pretax profit in 2011.

Detroit's automakers, making a second bid for $25 billion in funding, are presenting Congress with plans Tuesday to restructure their ailing companies and provide assurances that the funding will help them survive and thrive.

General Motors Corp., Ford and Chrysler LLC said they would refinance their companies' debt, cut executive pay, seek concessions from workers and find other ways of reviving their staggering companies.

The Big Three executives also are offering a series of mostly symbolic moves to burnish their images, badly tattered after they arrived in Washington D.C. last month on three separate private jets to plead for a federal lifeline for their struggling companies. All three companies offered separate plans for hearings that will be held Thursday and Friday.

That approach the auto executives took last month led Democratic congressional leaders to declare they didn't come prepared to justify their pleas and they told them to go back home and ready a new plan.

This week, the automakers are going out of their way to show deference to lawmakers and a willingness to flog themselves for past mistakes. "I think we learned a lot from that experience," Ford CEO Alan Mulally told The Associated Press in an interview.

Mulally said he'd work for $1 per year if his firm had to take any government loan money. The company's plan also says it will cancel all management employees' 2009 bonuses, scrap merit increases for its North American salaried employees next year, and sell its five corporate aircraft.

And for this week's appearances here, all three company chiefs will skip the lavish travel arrangements. Mulally is coming by car from Detroit for this week's second round of congressional hearings on government help for the Big Three. GM Chief Rick Wagoner will drive a Chevrolet Malibu hybrid sedan for the 520-mile trek from Detroit to Capitol Hill, spokesman Tony Cervone said Tuesday. And Chrysler LLC CEO Robert Nardelli won't travel by corporate jet, but a spokeswoman declined to elaborate on his travel plans, citing security reasons.

The unions were preparing to make sacrifices as well. United Auto Workers leaders summoned local union leaders from across the country to an emergency meeting Wednesday in Detroit to discuss concessions the union could make to help auto companies get government loans.

U.S. automakers are struggling to stay afloat heading into 2009 under the weight of an economic meltdown, the worst auto sales in decades and a tight credit market. General Motors, Ford and Chrysler went through nearly $18 billion in cash reserves during the last quarter, and GM and Chrysler have said they could collapse in weeks.

Meanwhile, the auto companies released new sales numbers that underlined the punishing business environment facing the Big Three. Ford said its November U.S. light vehicle sales tumbled 31 percent amid a continued slump in consumer spending and tight credit markets. Sales at Toyota, Japan's No. 1 automaker, fell 34 percent despite its extension of zero-percent financing on a dozen vehicles.

Ford's blueprint said it would invest $14 billion over the next seven years to boost its vehicles' fuel-efficiency, and improve the overall efficiency of its fleet by an average of 14 percent next year. And Ford is calling for a new partnership among automakers, parts suppliers and the government to develop new battery technologies domestically, so the U.S. doesn't have to rely on foreign batteries — as it now does on foreign oil — to power its cars.

GM will outline efforts to negotiate swapping some of the company's debt for equity stakes in the automaker, either shares or warrants for them, said two people briefed on the company's plan.

With eight separate brands, GM will also discuss efforts to shed brands but it would prefer to sell them instead of shutting down Pontiac, Saturn or Saab, said one of the people briefed on the plan. Killing off brands, like GM did with Oldsmobile in 2004, would require cash the company doesn't have, the person said. The people briefed on GM's preparations didn't want to be identified because the plan hadn't been completed.

Chrysler is expected to outline changes that would include a swap of debt in the company for equity stakes and reductions in some vehicle models, according to a person who was briefed on the plan. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private.

GM, according to its quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, owes creditors $45 billion and it must pay more than $7.5 billion early in 2010 to a UAW-administered trust fund that will take over retiree health care payments.

Ford owes more than $26 billion, with $6.3 billion due to its UAW trust fund at the end of 2009. Chrysler, a private company, does not have to open its books, but its CEO, Nardelli, has said it would be difficult for the company to make it without federal aid. All three likely are negotiating with the UAW for delays in payments to the trusts.

The companies are resisting calls for bankruptcy, arguing that no one would buy a car from an automaker that may not survive the life of the vehicle. (can someone say Duh??)