Here a report and video on the Zocalo Public Square panel I moderated last night in Los Angeles. The subject was the human cost of state budget cuts. We were joined by Mike Herald of the Western Center on Law & Poverty, journalist and activist Marta Russell, parent and advocate Michelle Wolf, Community Clinic Assn. of LA County chief Gloria Rodriguez, and state Sen. Gilbert Cedillo.

And here's a link to my story in Saturday's Wall Street Journal on the possibility of major tax changes in California.

At the very end of this Wall Street Journal story on Texas businessman R. Allen Stanford, who is being investigated for fraud and whose empire is being seized by the federal government, comes this bit of news: the politician at the state level who received the most from Stanford was former California Gov. Gray Davis. Among the donations was $100,000 to defeat the 2003 recall.