July 21, 2009

U.S. state budgets:

California officials said a deal was reached to cover a $26 billion state budget shortfall while many other states are also feeling an acute financial pinch.

The Rockefeller Institute of Government issued a report saying 45 states received less in revenues in the first quarter of the year with overall tax collections off a record 11.7 percent. The institute said preliminary figures for April and May indicate a decline of nearly 20 percent.

States have received money from the federal stimulus package but have still had to cut government jobs among other tactics to address the lack of funding.

Governors from both parties said congressional Democrats' plans for healthcare reform are becoming a concern, since they fear they will be given orders to pay for coverage for more citizens but not given funds to do it.

"I think the governors would all agree that what we don't want from the federal government is unfunded mandates,'' Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas, a Republican, told The New York Times. "We can't have the Congress impose requirements that we are forced to absorb beyond our capacity to do so.''

The National Governors Association said the states have projected deficits totaling $200 billion in the next three years.

The Los Angeles Times said the California budget deal could mean the loss of healthcare coverage for "tens of thousands" of children and senior citizens, a drop in state assistance to cities, a cut in welfare, millions of dollars less for the prison system and a sharp cut in funding provides to schools.

California has been issuing IOUs to cover its operating expenses since July 1.

Afghanistan offensive:

Taliban forces answered the southern Afghanistan coalition offensive with attacks of their own against cites in the eastern part of the country.

Both sides are trying to make military statements a month before Afghan elections Aug. 20 but have different messages to convey. The U.S.-led coalition wants to show a country united and able to function on its own. The Taliban wants to prove that's not the case.

Attacks in Jalalabad and Gardez by suicide bombers and charging militants resulted in at least 10 deaths -- most of them reported to be attackers. The Taliban said it had sent 15 suicide bombers in the attacks.

In southern Helmand province, officials at the coalition offensive said four U.S. service members and a U.K. soldier were killed Tuesday. It was the 18th British combat death in Afghanistan this month. Thirty U.S. personnel have been killed in August, making it the deadliest month for U.S. forces in Afghanistan since the country was invaded in 2001.

Japanese parliament dissolved:

Japan will join Afghanistan in having key elections in August following Prime Minister Taro Aso's decision to dissolve parliament.

Aso's Liberal Democratic Party, a center-right party that has led Japan for most of the time since its founding in 1955, has seen defeats in recent local elections. Polls indicate the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, made up of social liberals, could take over control of the Japanese government, the BBC reported.

Japan is one of the countries most affected by the global economic downturn and Aso's efforts to turn that around haven't had much effect. The DPJ said it would try to spend its way out of the economic doldrums, a tack Japanese voters previously refused to follow.

Guantanamo Bay report delay:

The White House said it needs more time to develop a report in the closing of the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

U.S. President Barack Obama ordered the prison closed by next January but a report from a Justice Department task force will be delayed up to six months. It had been expected Tuesday.

Administration officials, who gave briefings late Monday, said the delay was because the investigators wanted to "make sure we make the right decisions."

Obama's announcement on the Gitmo closure was well received last January but has been gummed up by problems of what to do with the more than 200 prisoners there. Many are feared to return to militancy if released; others could face death if handed over to their home countries. A handful has been offered homes in third countries.