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California Cities and Counties Facing Major Shortfalls

When he reduced the vehicle license fee on his first day in office, Governor Schwarzenegger promised cities and counties he would find the $4 billion needed for local police, firefighters, parks and libraries. But he can-t do it all on his own, and Democrats in the Assembly and Senate won-t take up Republican bail-out proposals until they see Schwarzenegger-s budget. Though most of the Legislature-s gone home for the holidays, leaving cities and counties to rely on their credit cards, San Francisco Democrat John Burton, the Senate's President Pro Tem, had a meeting today with the Governor. We get an update from Burton, Republican Senator Roy Ashburn, the League of California Cities, and a spokesman for Governor Schwarzenegger. Making News: National Labor Leaders Unite in California Grocery Strike Southern California-s striking grocery workers are getting nowhere with the big supermarket chains so they've decided to go national. Rick Icaza, president of United Food and Commercial Workers' Local 770, reports on today's strategy session that won a $4 million strike-fund commitment from over 200 unions, an agreement to extend the picket lines, and plans for a one-day closure of the Port of Long Beach in support of the strike. Reporter's Notebook: Saddam, the Paranoid Narcissist Former President George H. W. Bush once compared Saddam Hussein to Adolph Hitler, but USC Professor Richard Dekmejian, an expert in political leadership, terrorism and genocide, says he was more like Joseph Stalin. Dekmejian was asked twice to write books about Saddam Hussein. Now, he-s working on Profiles in Power, a psycho-political profile that-s not what Saddam was looking for. (This segment was originally broadcast earlier today on To the Point.)