Economic Policy

Video: Nader Blasts Obama at SF State

The Audacity of (No) Hope: Cindy Sheehan's Quixotic Quest

Tom Ammiano Compares Capitol to "Alice in Wonderland" -- and He's Alice

San Franciscans already know that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't the only Sacramento politician with a background in film. That was Assemblyman Tom Ammiano playing himself in Milk -- and while it wasn't a stretch for Ammiano to play Ammiano, his next project may call for a bit more range. When ask ... More >>

Bay Area Profs Speak Out Against Stimulus

Did stimulus really help them?Washington's elected officials and punditocracy have of late been consumed in hashing out the shape of an economic stimulus package. While no love has been lost between Republicans and Democrats in the pit fight over the bill's final shape, both sides say they recognize ... More >>

Obama's Visage Now So Ubiquitous Even SFSU Campus Republicans Are Using It

Truly, Obama can be used to sell anythingBarack Obama's stimulus package may or may not cure what ails this nation. But the other Barack Obama stimulus -- a windfall of presidential merchandising for hucksters of all races, creeds, and colors -- has been a truly American spectacle. When it comes to ... More >>

Get a Job: White House Report Details Employment Boosts in Each Congressional District. Check Out Yours Here.

Every morning about this time/ she get me out of my bed/ a-crying get a job. After breakfast, everyday, she throws the want ads right my way/ And never fails to say, Get a job Sha na na na, sha na na na na -- The Silhouettes, "Get a Job." It may not do the mind well to note that the members o ... More >>

U.S. Moves Thrift HQ From S.F. to Dallas to Ensure Corruption-Free Oversight. Could Outsourcing Local Government Be Next?

Will the last vestige of government to leave please lower the flag?Scandal-plagued regional bank regulators' headquarters have been moved from South San Francisco to Dallas, suggesting the Bay Area is simply too corrupt and incompetent a site for serious watchdogs. Last month, the director of the Of ... More >>

Del the Funky Homosapien Records Stimulus Address

Funkin for free: Del Taking a cue from President Obama, our own beloved Hiero hero Del the Funky Homosapien  has recorded his own stimulus address. "As we all know, funk is depleting rapidly in America," he says, describing the current musical and cultural crisis affecting this country. "Ther ... More >>

SEIU: Mayor Agrees to Push 'Tax Hike' For November Ballot

Following a marathon negotiating session with the mayor's office, the SEIU last week agreed to a series of concessions that could save the city scores of millions of dollars. The details of those concessions were not released to the public, but SF Weekly tracked down an inside SEIU source who explai ... More >>

Transit Spotting

A transportation activist points to inefficient and costly projects like the Central Subway.

Hope, Change, and Parking

How support for a modest condo project should give us all hope for the city's future.

The American Dream's $700 billion price tag

How support for a modest condo project should give us all hope for the city's future.

The Tax Man Cometh

The federal government looks to eliminate abusive tax shelters, and it may cost San Francisco tens of millions of dollars

The Migden Chronicles

One of the last standing Democrats writes the treatment for a flick in which a befuddled sci-fi hero helps California to a better future

Unintended Consequences

Right-wingers cooked up the Gray Davis recall only to see it hijacked by a political moderate named Arnold

Business as Usual

The problem today isn't shoddy corporate ethics -- capitalism was built on corruption. The problem is America's bias against government regulation.

The Perfect Crime

As we're now finding out, Gov. Davis may be the only one who won't have to pay for his mishandling of the energy crisis

California Voters Emulate Mel Brooks Song. Yes, Things Have Gotten Out of Hand.

Let's put it this way: When the Howard Jarvis anti-tax zealots are crowing in victory and San Francisco voters roundly reject a series of ballot measures -- well, something was out of kilter in this election universe to begin with. The straightforward portrayal of this as an anti-tax voters' uprisi ... More >>

Advanta Corp.'s dubious investment offer in the Chronicle

Let's put it this way: When the Howard Jarvis anti-tax zealots are crowing in victory and San Francisco voters roundly reject a series of ballot measures -- well, something was out of kilter in this election universe to begin with. The straightforward portrayal of this as an anti-tax voters' uprisi ... More >>

Porn and Perverts: Are Stimulus Funds Showered on 'Stimulating' Art?

​That paragon of quality news reporting, Fox, ran a story on its Web site today about two local arts organizations that  received federal stimulus funding for "...Saturday night 'pervert' revues and the airing of pornographic horror films at art houses in San Francisco." The two organizations ... More >>

Too Big to Fail

​That paragon of quality news reporting, Fox, ran a story on its Web site today about two local arts organizations that  received federal stimulus funding for "...Saturday night 'pervert' revues and the airing of pornographic horror films at art houses in San Francisco." The two organizations ... More >>

Meat Stars in a Pair of Affordable Prix-Fixe Offerings -- Like You're Not Getting Enough

spiffydamnpoodle/FlickrIt's so like that.​If you've been hungry for meat lately, indulge your fleshy appetites at a pair of prix-fixe offerings. First, another Pig Booze dinner goes off tonight between 5 and 10 p.m. at Orson (508 Fourth St. at Bryant, 777-1508). Wallow through a pork belly ... More >>

In environmental terms, Cash for Clunkers is a jalopy

spiffydamnpoodle/FlickrIt's so like that.​If you've been hungry for meat lately, indulge your fleshy appetites at a pair of prix-fixe offerings. First, another Pig Booze dinner goes off tonight between 5 and 10 p.m. at Orson (508 Fourth St. at Bryant, 777-1508). Wallow through a pork belly ... More >>

Obama's stimulus money will increase traffic, but not bridge safety

spiffydamnpoodle/FlickrIt's so like that.​If you've been hungry for meat lately, indulge your fleshy appetites at a pair of prix-fixe offerings. First, another Pig Booze dinner goes off tonight between 5 and 10 p.m. at Orson (508 Fourth St. at Bryant, 777-1508). Wallow through a pork belly ... More >>

Stimulus Wreckage

Despite having been accused of deceptive business practices by the attorney general, former students, and ex-employees, Corinthian Colleges are getting millions in federal stimulus dollars.

No Justice

Despite Obama's promises of change, corporate crooks are still going unpunished for their roles in the financial collapse.

Civil Rights, Transit Advocates Urge BART to Abandon Half-Billion Dollar Airport Connector

The community groups whose advocacy led to the federal government threatening to withhold $70 million from a planned BART connector to Oakland Airport moments ago made their case that the project is a costly boondoggle that does nothing for the poor and minority communities living near the airport ... More >>

Oakland Airport Connector Lives to Be Controversial For Another Day

​The regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission moments ago voted to stay the course, applying $70 million in endangered federal funds not to the Bay Area's moribund transit agencies but a controversial, half-billion dollar proposed BART extension to Oakland Airport. "Closer than I thought, b ... More >>

City Economist: Mayor's Payroll Tax Plan Would Create Thousands of Jobs -- Cost City $72M

But it's going to take money -- a whole lot of money -- to do it right, child​A report moments ago sent out by the city's chief economist, Ted Egan, claims that Mayor Gavin Newsom's proposed payroll tax revision will spur the creation of perhaps 4,300 jobs over the next two years -- but at a cost ... More >>

Transit Advocates Rejoice as $70M Shunted From Airport Connector to Muni, BART, Others

Celebrate good times -- BART and Muni won the lottery!​Public transit advocates are all but dancing in the aisles of public transit following a ruling that yanked $70 million in federal funding away from the controversial Oakland Airport Connector and led to moribund local transit agencies being s ... More >>

New City Program Helps Homeowners Slash PG&E Bill

Look! Green! Green!​But Some Consumers May Be Better Off Looking Elsewhere To Fund Green Home Improvements, Program's Architect AcknowledgesMayor Gavin Newsom this evening will hold an "Internet town hall" to tout a new program helping property owners pay for energy-saving improvements. Dubbed Gre ... More >>

Guardian Editor: How Dare You Call Me Anti-Tax?

The San Francisco Bay Guardian's Tim Redmond today called us with some spirited criticism of an item we ran last week stating the paper's editors would personally benefit from Prop. 13 legislation they endorsed.In the item, we noted that the paper had endorsed Assemblyman Tom Ammiano's AB 2492, whic ... More >>

Bleeding Green

Forget about Sharp Park’s endangered frogs and snakes. The real problem with the golf course is its enormous cost to the city.

SF Weekly Letters

Forget about Sharp Park’s endangered frogs and snakes. The real problem with the golf course is its enormous cost to the city.

City Has $2.6 Million Stimulus Surplus Burning Hole in its Pocket

Program's implosion leaves San Francisco with millions to spend and nothing to buy.That was fast...​As City Hall struggles to close a $483 million budget gap, bureaucrats a block away at the San Francisco Department of the Environment are faced with the opposite quandary: They must figure out how ... More >>

Hunters Point, Taxes Get Supes' Approval

​San Francisco's Board of Supervisors didn't need to wait until the wee hours of the morning this time to give the greenlight the massive Hunters Point Naval Shipyard redevelopment, as was the case earlier this month. Yesterday, the supes approved the Environmental Impact Report for the project at ... More >>

California Academy's $1.9 Million in Stimulus Funds for Ant Study Angers Republicans

$1.9 million to study lil' old me? ​Scientist says he's putting people to work -- and compiling vital environmental dataEarlier this month, Republican Senators Tom Coburn (whom you haven't heard of) and John McCain (whom you have) fired off a 74-page compendium of what they claim are the most wast ... More >>

Why Obama's mortgage-relief program failed

$1.9 million to study lil' old me? ​Scientist says he's putting people to work -- and compiling vital environmental dataEarlier this month, Republican Senators Tom Coburn (whom you haven't heard of) and John McCain (whom you have) fired off a 74-page compendium of what they claim are the most wast ... More >>

SF Weekly Letters

$1.9 million to study lil' old me? ​Scientist says he's putting people to work -- and compiling vital environmental dataEarlier this month, Republican Senators Tom Coburn (whom you haven't heard of) and John McCain (whom you have) fired off a 74-page compendium of what they claim are the most wast ... More >>

Jobs Now! Workers Keep Working -- Thanks to Grants

​You may have heard that federal funding for the Jobs Now! -- the program that allows employers to pay workers with federal stimulus dollars -- expired Friday, waiting for Congress to pass a bill to renew the program. While employers nationwide expected they'd have to let go employees hired under ... More >>

The Mad Quest of Mr. Wu

How a wannabe banking magnate from S.F. built an empire on deception.

Subject Yourself to Rob Schneider -- for a Good Cause

How a wannabe banking magnate from S.F. built an empire on deception.

Obama Asks San Francisco "Are You In" for 2012?

Are you FB friends with Obama?​After a short and public visit to Facebook in Silicon Valley, President Barack Obama headed up to San Francisco yesterday evening where he drove past the Golden Gate Bridge on his way to the Masonic Center in Nob Hill.  "One of the greatest views in the world," ... More >>

Timothy Geithner, Treasury Secretary, Catches a Wave Near San Francisco -- on 4/20

Would love to surf the Mavericks, we assume​Keeping the nation from falling into another Depression is not easy feat, and so U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner deserves a little R&R. And while you might expect Geithner's version of taking it easy to be nothing more than reading the finan ... More >>

Mayor Ed Lee's New Port Commissioner Clarifies Role in 2009 S.F. Bank Failure

What did Doreen Wu Ho Know About Tommy Wu? And When Did She Know It?​Earlier this month, Mayor Ed Lee appointed a new port commissioner, which raised many eyebrows here, given that Doreen Woo Ho was a top official at the failed United Commercial Bank. In November 2011, United Commercial Bank was s ... More >>

Congressman Pete Stark Aims to Save Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Big Bucks

You've got a friend in high places​As if raids from gun-toting Drug Enforcement Agency agents weren't enough to make stoners paranoid, California's medical marijuana clubs can also be shut down real fast by the IRS. That's because the Internal Revenue Service has declared that California's legal m ... More >>

Clean Energy Stimulus Cash Is Slow to Be Spent

You've got a friend in high places​As if raids from gun-toting Drug Enforcement Agency agents weren't enough to make stoners paranoid, California's medical marijuana clubs can also be shut down real fast by the IRS. That's because the Internal Revenue Service has declared that California's legal m ... More >>

Feds File Suit Against Disgraced Chinatown Banking Magnate Tommy Wu

​The federal government filed criminal charges and civil suits yesterday against several top officials of United Commercial Bank, a San Francisco financial institution that did hefty business among Chinese-American immigrants before it collapsed in 2009.Tommy Wu, the bank's CEO, was the subject of ... More >>

Tea Party Warrior: Report Medical Marijuana Clubs to the IRS and Get Rich

facebook.com/pages/Paul-Chabot-for-Assembly/Paul Chabot Wants YOU to Call the IRS on Pot Clubs​For Paul Chabot, the War on Drugs is personal indeed: Before he became a Navy man, a campus cop, and a former National Drug Control Policy staffer, he was in drug rehab for alcohol and marijuana addictio ... More >>