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California’s budget crisis may seem like an overwhelming lost cause to some, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is putting up a fight. His latest plan to get some emergency money to fight the state deficit is the Great California Garage Sale.

The state is now using online resources including Craigslist and eBay to advertise items for sale at the Great California Garage Sale, which takes place this weekend at the surplus property warehouse. Items for sale include a huge collection of unclaimed and confiscated items.

It’s all about the marketing

Items that become property of the state after being confiscated are always for sale, but the difference for the Great California Garage sale is promotion. The items are for sale on familiar, commonly used sites that everyone knows about and knows how to use. Buyers will be able to pick up their items at the Great California Garage Sale this weekend at designated booths.

The process of buying state property through police auctions is a daunting idea for most people without experience with them. But Craigslist and eBay are comfortable for most people to use. The other key to making the Great California Garage Sale a hit is publicity. Advertising is key in the success of any event, so Schwarzenegger is hoping that turning the Great California Garage Sale into a well-publicized event rather than  just another police property auction will get attention and make money.

Using social networking

The Great California Garage Sale is being promoted using social networking media, so it seems appropriate that the idea for it was actually submitted to the California state government through Twitter. The government created a web site called MyIdea4CA.com, which indexes tweets submitted on how to combat the state’s budget problems.

One person suggested that he should autograph some state-owned cars and bicycles for sale, and that’s just what he’s going to do at the Great California Garage Sale. Of course, there will be plenty of other items for sale, too. You can view photos and a list of everything available at the Department of General Services web site.  The list includes items such as jewelry, surfboard, racing bike and an antique piano.

Ideas for California

This web site for ideas to submit to the State of California sounds kind of cool. GovTech.com writes:

Myidea4ca.com scoops up tweets tagged with #myidea4ca, and people can then give a thumbs up or thumbs down to each idea — a function that’s commonplace on social bookmarking Web sites like Digg and Delicious. Users also can submit comments about the ideas, which are searchable by keyword, Twitter username, category, most popular, most commented and most recent.

Leave it to California to stay ahead of the curve — or at least with it, depending on how you look at it.

A Twitter fan favorite for California

GovTech also says that legalizing and taxing the sale of marijuana is the most popular idea on the site. This is not surprising, but it’s also not something that will happen this decade. However, the Great California Garage Sale is practical, doable and realistically could be successful.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver (Photo: wonkette.com)

The primary characteristic required of a human being who wants to make a positive difference in their society is the capacity to care about the welfare of others. That, coupled with the determination to mobilize those concerns into action, can create a formidable force for change.

Money doesn’t hurt, either – and I’m not being cynical in the least. If you have the monetary resources available to begin helping the largest amount of people in the shortest amount of time – and you choose to do so – you are a tribute to humanity. Even those who don’t have money can help. In fact, if people work with the spirit and determination of a Eunice Kennedy Shriver, they can move mountains. If no fax payday loans and cash advances provide the necessary financial punch to get things moving, then people should make dirt fly.

These may be her final days

According to the Boston Globe, Eunice Kennedy Shriver — founder of numerous philanthropic organizations like the Special Olympics and member of America’s royal family (the Kennedy clan) — is in intensive care at Cape Cod Hospital. Her condition at this writing is “critical, but stable” and her entire family is with her.

Eunice Kennedy Shriver is the sister of current Senator Edward M. Kennedy, late Senator Robert F. Kennedy and late President John F. Kennedy. She is the mother of NBC news personality Maria Shriver, who is the wife of famous actor and California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Eunice Kennedy Shriver is 88 years of age.

Facts you may not know about her

In 1968, Eunice Kennedy Shriver founded the Special Olympics with husband Sargent Shriver and Ann McGlone Burke. Mr. Shriver was the very first director of the Peace Corps, American ambassador to France and a one-time vice presidential candidate. Eunice received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Ronald Reagan in 1984 for her work with the developmentally disabled via the Special Olympics, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and various other facilities.

The Kennedy clan, 1931. Eunice is third from the left, beside Robert and John (Photo: nps.gov)

According to Wikipedia, Eunice Kennedy Shriver is the first and thus far only woman to have her portrait appear on a U.S. coin during her lifetime. It was the 1995 commemorative Special Olympics silver dollar.

Immortalized in portraiture

In addition to the coin, Eunice Kennedy Shriver achieved a milestone on May 9, 2009. On that day, the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., unveiled a portrait of her with four Special Olympics participants. The painting was commissioned by David Lenz, and it is most significant as being the only portrait in the Smithsonian gallery that was not of a United States President of First Lady.

Reach out and help others

My best wishes go out to Eunice Kennedy Shriver and her family during this difficult time. I am certain that her efforts to help others and recognize their accomplishments have inspired countless others to go forth and pursue philanthropic endeavors. Furthermore, I am also certain that if these are her last days, the great woman will be missed. She may have taken highly publicized stances on other political matters with which I cannot agree (namely a woman’s right to abortion), but that does not change my estimation of the great things she has accomplished. Eunice Kennedy Shriver found it inside her to care, which is an admirable trait we all can admire.

Remembering what I said about no fax payday loans and cash advances, if you are in a position to help but need just a little bit of money to get things rolling, apply here for that short term assistance. You’ll pay it back in two weeks and keep moving forward, but you’ll always remember the small thing that led you to bigger, better things.

Related Video:

Maria Shriver organized Women's Conference 2009.

On the web site for Women’s Conference 2009, it says “The Women’s Conference, The Nation’s Premier Forum for Women.” It also has prices for tickets to Women’s Conference 2009, most of which you cannot buy.

Other than that, the information available is slim at the moment because too much traffic has crashed the site. However, there are other sources of information about Women’s Conference 2009 out there, and for your reading convenience I have found them for you.

When is Women’s Conference 2009?

This year the “largest meeting of women in the country,” according to the San Francisco Gate, will take place Oct. 27. The event is scheduled for 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. However, if you want to get tickets for the whole day, you’ll have to start hitting up craigslist and other third-party ticket hawking sites.

Full day tickets are sold out, and this year there’s an additional conference day before the main event, Women’s Conference 2009, which takes place Oct. 26 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. I’d need a cheap payday loan to buy one, but you probably won’t. They cost $75. The event is called A Day of Transformation. I just checked the web site, and that event is now sold out, too. In case you can find a third-party seller, here’s the program for A Day of Transformation:
Morning Sessions

• How to Make Your Job Matter or Get a New One
• How to Break the Cycle of Stress in Your Life
• How to Start a Non-Profit Business or Keep Yours Afloat in Difficult Times

Afternoon Sessions

• How to Write Your Own Book and Get it Published
• How to Start Your Own Business
• How to Sell Yourself

Where is Women’s Conference 2009?

Just like conferences in the past, Women’s Conference 2009 will be held at the Long Beach Convention Center. The center is located in Long Beach, California.

Conference events — including A Day of Transformation, Night at the Village, Women’s Conference 2009 and the Minerva Awards — take place in The Village Exhibit Hall at the Long Beach Convention Center.

They’ll still take your money

Though the full day tickets to Women’s conference 2009 are sold out, there are still tickets to other events, besides the Day of Transformation. The evening of Oct. 26 from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., you can attend Night At the Village for $25. You can register to buy tickets at the Women’s Conference 2009 official web site.

There will probably be a waiting period before you can register, but it goes by quickly if you just leave that browser window open and then go check out your favorite sites for a while in a different window. You can also purchase tickets to the Minerva Awards, which are Oct. 27 from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. and cost $40.

Beware overcharging scalpers

If you want to try to find some tickets to the full conference, here ’s a price list so you have an idea of what others paid for them:

• Table of 12 on the floor, $3,600
• Loge seat, $200
• Balcony seat, $150
• Balcony seat — partial view, $125

The Women’s Conference history

The Women’s Conference is a non-profit, non-partisan organization and annual forum for women. The women-focused event first began in 1986 as a California government initiative for working professionals and women business owners. Since 2004, The Women’s Conference has been under the leadership of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver and has grown into a “blockbuster” event.

Friday, Arnold Schwarzenegger signed California’s much-debated budget, which includes quick loans, hefty tax increases and deep spending cuts. So what’s next?

The tax man cometh

New income taxes, sales taxes and vehicle license tax will kick in on April 1, according to the Los Angeles Times. The dependent tax credit will be reduced, which will apply when Californians do their 2009 tax returns.

Switcheroo

Strangely, about seven weeks after the tax increases go into effect, California voters will get a chance to approve or deny them.  Voters must agree pay the tax increases for the next two years. Well, the next one year and 10 months or so.

Banking on the lottery

On May 19, the same day they vote on the tax increases, voters will weigh in on all ballot measures related to the budget. This is where the quick loans come in.

In addition to the tax increases, Californians will vote on whether to borrow $5 million against future lottery proceedings. That way the state can spend future lottery purchases now.

How much?
Sales tax will go up by 1 cent on the dollar. Obviously, how much this tax costs individuals depends on how much money they spend. The vehicle license fee will double, bringing the total fee to 1.15 percent of the car’s value.

Income tax will go up 0.25 percent. For those on the lower end of the income scale, this will cost about $53 per year. For those making $1 million or more who have two dependents, it will cost about $2,250. The dependent tax credit will be reduced by $210 for everyone.

“According to a legislative analysis of those four tax increases, an average family of four with an annual income of $75,000 would pay $963 more a year in taxes.”

More budget ballot

There will be a few more items for Californians to vote on come ballot time. The budget proposes reducing spending on mental health programs by $226. It also takes $608 million from programs aimed at children younger than 5 years old. Voters will have to approve these measures for them to go into effect.

Another ballot measure would put a cap on future state spending — if the voters say the tax hikes can stay in place four years instead of two.

No free lunch for legislators

State leaders’ salaries could take a hit, too.

A constitutional amendment on the ballot would “eliminate salary increases for state officers, including the governor and Legislature, in years with a projected budget deficit.”

Vote heard around the world

Budget negotiations in California were not pretty this year. California requires that two-thirds of legislators approve the budget. After two weeks of debates and battles, they were still coming up one vote short.

Democrats gave some last-minute concessions and won the vote of Republican Sen. Abel Maldonado. According to Central Coast News, Maldonado became “an instant celebrity.”

What happens?

If Californians vote down the tax increases and spending cuts, it will be up to the legislature to figure out how to fix the hole in its spending plans. The legislature may need to try to find more ways to get quick loans in order to avoid another deficit next year.

Michael Bloomberg

As promised, your source for a quick payday loan brings you some high-profile job cuts announced today.

The third-most populated state in the country has hit quite the rough patch. Wednesday New York Schools Chancellor Joel Klein announced that if the governor’s current budget passes, the state might need to lay off 15,000 educators.

Apparently those educators will come from Staten Island. The City of Staten Island today announced that under Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed budget they may have to cut as many as 23,000 city employees. That figure includes the 15,000 teacher jobs. It gets worse. This number is in addition to the 7 percent that Bloomberg already ordered agencies to cut from spending.

California losing its cool

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday said California was in a stage of emergency. Check out the details in this article from your quick payday loan source. Friday the City of Sacramento announced it may need to cut 500 city jobs to close its deficit. It currently faces a $50 million deficit.

Granted, surrounded by the astronomical numbers of workers that are being laid off from other institutions, 500 might seem like small potatoes. But I have a feeling this is only the first in a long string of announcements we will see about government layoffs in California. Also, with a $50 million deficit, I have a feeling we’ll be hearing more out of Sacramento.

Caterpillar job cuts crawling higher

On top of the massive job cuts Caterpillar has announced, the company said Friday it will lay off an additional 2,100 production workers. That brings the company’s total job losses to about 22,000.

Caterpillar is the world’s largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment. Reuters reports that “worldwide economic weakness (is) gutting orders for it earth-moving equipment.” Workers in three plants in Illinois will be affected by the new cuts.

More on Monday

Layoffs generally don’t happen over the weekend, but these days, who knows? I’ll be back at your quick payday loan source Monday to share new reports about big companies making big job cuts.

Government workers in California might find themselves needing payday loans if Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is allowed to force them to take off two unpaid days per month. However, if the governor does not get his way, he warns, the results will be far worse.

Schwarzenegger says that without the furloughs, he will be forced to lay off government employees instead. State employee unions are saying Schwarzenegger doesn’t have the authority to mandate the unpaid leave. Some union. I’m sure, given the choice, that most state workers would chose having a slightly lower salary above having no job at all. As long as you’re still getting a paycheck, payday loans can help if funding gets tight.

Banking on a bailout

Earlier this month Schwarzenegger said that California was in a “state of emergency” because of its $42 billion budget deficit. Fortunately for Schwarzenegger, and Californians in general, help might just be on the way. About two-thirds of the $819 billion economic stimulus package will go to aiding states.

That means if the current plan passes California could get $63.4 billion. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan has already been approved by House. It now faces a vote by the Senate.

Facing the consequences

Schwarzenegger says the mandated unpaid vacation will save the state $1.4 billion. The governor has told the unions that if they don’t back him on the furloughs or find another way to save $1.4 billion he will be forced to cut jobs. He may not have the authority to force people to take unpaid days off, but he can fire people.

“The fact of the matter is, in the end I have the authority as the governor to, if they don’t go along with the furlough, lay off the amount of people necessary so that we have a savings of $1.4 billion, so that’s what I will do,” Schwarzenegger said.

My advice to the government workers of California is to take the two days off and grab payday loans if they run into financial problems; that would sure beat unemployment.

California Hit Hard By Recession

California’s budget shortfalls are due to the current recession.  In the wake of the downturn of the American economy that began in December 2007, the state began to bleed funds.  It certainly didn’t help that during this summer, Southern California was home to a series of natural disasters in the guise of one the largest wildfires in the Western United States.  Thousands of homes went up in flames, and many families were displaced or turned out with few options.  The state of California having to rebuild in the wake of disaster combined with recession is not a good mix for a balanced budget, and the state’s budget is in need of quick payday loans.  The Golden State’s economic woes are certainly not helped by the current climate.  Jobs are being lost at a rate not seen for over 20 years.  The housing market, long one of the most lucrative industries in the state due to California’s outrageously high priced housing market, has begun to topple over in the wake of the foreclosure epidemic and the freezing of the consumer credit markets.  Since property taxes and real estate sales taxes are some of the biggest sources of income for most of the state governments in the U.S., many states besides California have also begun to suffer the loss of state income due to the housing bubble being burst.
But the most populous state in the union can ill afford it when one of the largest sources of its income is no longer generating the same income, and they have an infrastructure to maintain.  Schwarzenegger is already asking President Elect Barack Obama for aid in the form of an infrastructure investment to boost job creation.  He is also contemplating laying off public employees, and he’s trying to figure out a way to trim the budget egregiously, without doing irreparable harm to the educational system as well as other state programs.

Governor Asks for Legislature to act Fast

The governor has asked legislators into session to deal with this problem now, after admonishing them for stalling in dealing with the problem, and rightly so.  Finances, especially running a budget, are vital, and if you are running into problems you can’t afford to stall.  The faster you act the better off you will be.  Those in need of emergency cash can turn to quick payday loans to tide them over during an emergency.

Victims and evacuees of the California wildfires are seeking refuge from the flames, and they should know quick payday loans are a valuable resource in times of emergency. There’s never enough warning to prepare for the destruction left in the wake of a natural disaster. In most situations, you have to come up with quick solutions as to what items you will take with you when you evacuate and where you will evacuate to. Quick payday loans are the quick solution to the unexpected costs associated with natural disasters.

State of Emergency Declared

California wildfires have destroyed more than 700 homes

High winds up to 70 miles and hour are to blame for the spread of the Southern California wildfires. The fires have destroyed more than 700 homes, and they could continue burning through the middle of this week. Damage has been done from Santa Barbara to Anaheim, with Los Angeles taking the brunt of the devastation; over 500 homes were lost in Sylmar, a district of Los Angeles. California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, declared a state of emergency in the four counties affected by the fires.

Not a Californian?

It is easy to sit back and watch when another part of the country is being ravaged by a natural disaster. If you weren’t in Louisiana or the surrounding areas when Hurricane Katrina hit, it’s likely that it didn’t even feel real to you. If you’re not a Californian, you may be indifferent to the situation because in reality, the fires probably don’t affect your life directly. However, every part of the nation has the potential for natural disasters. Earthquakes and tsunamis are a threat to the West Coast, tornados and snow storms frequent the Midwest, and hurricane season often takes a toll on East Coast and southern states. With that being said, emergency preparation is essential, no matter where you live.

Anyone and Everyone

Natural disasters do not discriminate between income, race, gender, age, or religion. When disaster hits, it hits hard, and it hits everyone. The California wildfires burned trailers and mansions alike; celebrity neighbors of Oprah Winfrey even lost their homes. Anyone and everyone can be affected by Mother Nature, which means everyone needs to be prepared. The United States Department of Homeland Security has great tips on how to prepare you and your family for impending natural disasters. Some of the tips for emergency preparation are having a plan and getting an emergency kit with food and water.

Additional Preparation

Not only is it important to be prepared for an emergency with water, food, and other survival basics, it’s also necessary to have a financial plan. Emergencies are one reason to have a well-established savings account. However, in economic times like these, it’s safe to assume that your budget is already stretched to the max and your savings account is dwindling, or even non-existent. Your financial plan may need a backup plan. That’s where quick payday loans come in. When an emergency or natural disaster comes your way, quick decisions on how to cover costs are required. If you need help to get you through an emergency, quick payday loans are available at your convenience.