A proposal to extend the Green Line to LAX overcame its first hurdle in Sacramento this week, when it passed through the Senate Transportation Committee.

The bill, by Sen. Jenny Oropeza, still faces significant obstacles: most notably, the likely opposition of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Oropeza's bill, SB 1722, would create a separate construction authority with an independent mandate to build a two-mile link to Los Angeles International Airport.

The MTA has opposed such efforts in the past - most recently when Assemblyman Ted Lieu proposed the same idea last year - because a new entity would compete with the MTA for funding and control of the county's transit agenda. Lieu's bill died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee last summer.

A construction authority could help clear any political hurdles by bringing the MTA, LAWA, the county and the city of Los Angeles together on a governing board with a common purpose.

Led in part by former Gov. Pete Wilson and two major political donors from Orange County, a group of moderate Republicans will announce Wednesday a new organization focused on recruiting the "next generation" of GOP candidates for statewide office, including governor and the U.S. Senate.

The organization, called California Republicans Aligned for Tomorrow, was created to turn around the GOP's dismal record in those contests since 1994.

Underlying the campaign effort is the feeling among some influential Republicans that the state party has bent too far to the right, helping Democrats gain a firm grasp on the Legislature, the state's congressional delegation and statewide offices.

The state party's fundraising efforts also have languished in the last year…

California's budget problems deepened today as the state reported that tax receipts plummeted nearly $1 billion last month due to plunging corporate profits.

The news comes as the state moves closer to the July 1 deadline for lawmakers to close California's budget gap, which had earlier been estimated at $16.5 billion. There is little agreement in the Capitol about how to go about doing that.

Democrats have been calling for multibillion-dollar tax increases. Republicans have signed pledges vowing never to vote for new revenue, demanding instead that the budget be balanced with steep spending cuts.

Based on everything he has said since he was first a candidate for governor, Schwarzenegger does not really seem to care whether California legalizes [same-sex] [“]marriage[“] or not, whatever his personal feelings on the subject might be.

The Republican governor has always said that he believes marriage should be between a man and a woman. But he has never been adamant about his stand.

Schwarzenegger has supported state-sanctioned domestic partnerships that give [same sex couples*] almost all of the rights that married people have. And while he has said the state and local governments must abide by the voter-approved ban on [counterfeit] marriage known as Proposition 22, the governor also has said he would not be upset if the voters or the courts legalized [counterfeit] marriage in California.

If the Supreme Court does strike down Proposition 22 and the voters do not reinstate the ban, Schwarzenegger will be put in an uncomfortable position. The Democrat-controlled Legislature is sure to pass another measure legalizing gay marriage in the state, and the governor would no longer have the voters' will as a shield. He would have to either sign or veto the bill on its own merits.

Dr. Bruce A. Chernof, whose relationship with the Board of Supervisors had grown acrimonious, told officials his exit was unrelated to the failed negotiations over Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital.

He leaves as the county Department of Health Services faces a projected budget shortfall of $750 million over the next two years and undertakes the knotty task of moving County-USC Medical Center from its Depression-era facility to a new, smaller complex.

The county operates the second-largest publicly funded healthcare system in the nation, with an annual budget exceeding $3.3 billion, three general hospitals and a network of clinics that together treat about 700,000 patients a year, most of them uninsured.

Chernof had been promoted to the top department job in 2006 after a series of directors left with short tenures.

Based on a variety of health indicators, the South Los Angeles area remains among the most disadvantaged communities in the nation. More people die of lung cancer, stroke, diabetes and heart disease there than in any other place in L.A. County.

The county has long had a hard time keeping health services chiefs. Officials have a history of publicly browbeating them and second-guessing their actions to try to right the beleaguered system.

At times, Molina and fellow supervisors' frustration over County-USC and other issues has boiled over during public tongue-lashings directed at Chernof, especially after state inspectors said patients at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center were in "immediate jeopardy" because of an overcrowded emergency room.

Supervisors repeatedly complained that health officials provided few answers to their questions. And when reports were produced, supervisors complained they were confusing and inaccurate.

Democrats should be ashamed of themselves. They claim to represent the working class, yet they advocate programs that will literally subsidize inflated home values. This serves the dual purpose of rewarding cheaters and punishing those who were responsible. Letting prices fall back to their natural levels before this Ponzi scheme started would help millions instead of the relatively few a bailout would serve. Responsible workers would be more able to afford a home instead of being trapped with escalating rents that make it harder to save for a down payment.

Further, if this legislation passes, how will any level of government justify "affordable housing" programs? While we're busy using tax dollars to keep prices artificially high, we're also supposed to use tax dollars to subsidize the purchase of homes for lower-income people because prices are too high? Are you kidding me?

Let's get our semantics correct. The people living in homes are occupiers and buyers, not owners. The financial institutions that lent money hold the deeds. Those who made small or no down payments have little or nothing to lose. They pay the equivalent of rent but, unlike renters, receive a tax deduction. Those who scrimped and saved to make a substantial down payment should not be paying taxes to bail out those who chose to take on a risk. It is not fair to burden the frugal with the cost of others' poor judgment.

High school seniors, on average, answered correctly only 48.3 percent of questions about personal finance and economics, according to a nationwide survey released Wednesday by the Federal Reserve.

With home foreclosures at record highs, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke stressed in a speech that young people must sharpen their financial knowledge so they are in a better position to make sound investment decisions throughout their lives.

In this year's survey, only 16.8 percent correctly answered that stocks likely would offer the higher growth over 18 years of saving for a child's education, while 37.3 percent thought a U.S. savings bond — one of the most conservative investments - would offer the highest growth.

Nearly 53 percent said they would have no liability if their credit card was stolen and a thief ran up $1,000 worth of debt. (Liability is limited to $50 after the credit-card issuer is notified.) Only 13 percent knew they might have to be responsible for $50.

The surveys, done every two years, were sponsored by the Jump$tart Coalition for Personal Financial Literacy, which wants students to have the skills to be financially competent.

I have been dating a woman in Phoenix -- where we both lived -- for the past three years. We were in an exclusive relationship, but not living together because I was going through a divorce when we met. Throughout our time together I have helped "Jackie" with rent and cash gifts.

I have since moved to California,

and Jackie would like to come and live with me.

I thought it would be nice, but a cohabitation agreement would be necessary because I have a lot of assets and she has very few.

After some discussion, she came up with an agreement, but I feel the benefits package she's asking for is too high. She's asking me to pay all living expenses, housing, food, health insurance, a new car with auto insurance and an allowance of $3,000 a month.

I balked on this "deal" because it seems more like a rental agreement rather than a loving relationship.

She maintains that she needs a "cushion" in case the relationship doesn't work out because she'll be leaving her job and friends behind.

If the relationship does not work out, the consequences would affect her financially for the rest of her life.

I had been out of the dating scene for a while, but finally found someone I really like and think would be a good match for me. We get along great and I get the sense there is mutual interest. I have kept matters on a friendly basis thus far because (and herein lies my dilemma) her longtime boyfriend committed suicide a couple of months ago.

I can tell there are some personal issues she is still working out because of it, and I don't want to push anything too soon.

Let things continue on a friendly basis and be whatever kind of friend she needs you to be -- which I suspect, for now, is a buddy to lean on.  When she is ready, I am guessing your relationship with this woman could blossom into the romance you desire.

I'm not sure how to start this, but my husband confuses me. We have been together for five years (married almost three), and in that time we've had the same argument over and over again about "fulfilling his needs."

I've never been a sex kitten and his libido always seems to be in overdrive.

When I give in to appease him, he complains that he's not interested in "mercy sex," but he's too impatient to wait until I'm in the mood.  He normally ends up frustrated and gives me the silent treatment, while I've just become annoyed at this point.

I love him dearly and enjoy his company, but sex just doesn't do much for me, not to mention I have a highly stressful job that leaves me exhausted most of the time.

Humans are widely believed to have arrived in North America from Asia over a land-bridge between Alaska and Siberia during a warmer period. A variety of dates has been proposed and some are in dispute.

I am 37 and got married two years ago.

My wife's children were 6 and 8 at the time.

At first, the kids slept in our bed. I didn't say anything for about a month, but then I said that was not acceptable.

I also catch hell if I try to discipline her son, now 8, when he pouts or plays her to get things his way.

These sleeping arrangements are for the birds, but they are merely indicative of a larger problem.

You might ask your wife how many men she thinks would marry a woman so that four people could sleep in the bed.

Help! I am engaged to a man with three kids -- a 7-year-old girl and 9-year-old twin boys -- and soon to become a stepmom. He has them about half the time.

I like his children, but I have three of my own. One is grown; two are teenagers. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and do not want to start over again raising someone else's kids.

Can I marry this man and not have to raise his kids? Or is that what a stepmother does? I would be happy just being their friend.

Of course you will have a hand in raising those children -- it goes with the territory. If that's not what you are willing to sign on for, you should not marry him.

A controversial proposal to allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages for struggling homeowners is not expected to be included in the compromise measure.

The compromise bill is likely to include a provision that will allow state and local government housing agencies to issue up to $10 billion in tax-exempt bonds to refinance sub-prime loans.

It is also expected to provide more money to counsel homeowners threatened with foreclosure, and a requirement that lenders disclose more information to consumers taking out loans.

"The Senate needs to take steps to help families with distressed mortgages, but without providing taxpayer-funded bailouts to real-estate speculators who took irresponsible risks," Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said.

Tuesday's bipartisan agreement was a dramatic turnaround from just a few weeks ago, when Senate Republicans blocked consideration of a similar proposal that included the provision to allow bankruptcy judges to change mortgage terms.

Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) said he told Senate Republican leaders that, based on what he heard from constituents, "I did not think that doing nothing was an option."

Democrats also want the bill to include $4 billion for local governments to buy and renovate abandoned properties, a provision that could benefit California, which has been hard hit by foreclosures.

Explaining the sudden stampede to take up the bill, Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) said, "Everyone was home for a couple of weeks, and if they heard what I heard in Florida, I think that they realize this is a serious, serious problem."

Democrats sought to ratchet up pressure on Republicans to act by pointing to the Fed's rescue of Bear Stearns.

Congressional action comes as foreclosures skyrocket across the country. In California, 31,676 homes were seized in foreclosure in the fourth quarter of 2007, a 421% increase over the same period a year earlier.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is proposing billions of dollars a year Wednesday to keep jobs from being shipped abroad as she appealed to blue collar workers in Pennsylvania, the next big primary contest where she hopes to trim rival Barack Obama's lead.

But the former first lady showed no signs of quitting as she focused on job creation and challenges to the U.S. economy at campaign appearances across Pennsylvania, which holds the next primary contest on April 22 with 158 delegates at stake.

At an economic summit in Pittsburgh on Wednesday organized by her presidential campaign, Clinton was expected to propose the elimination of tax breaks for companies that move jobs to other countries and use the savings to provide $7 billion a year in tax incentives to persuade companies to "insource" jobs in the United States

Pennsylvania and other states holding upcoming primaries, including Indiana and Kentucky, have suffered the loss of manufacturing jobs in recent years and have yet to transition to new industries and other ways of expanding their economies.

Clinton's plan would offer new tax benefits for research and job development. It would also create "innovation and research clusters" and provide $500 million annually in investments to encourage the creation of high-wage jobs in clean energy.

"Senator McCain has been saying I don't understand national security, but he's the one who wants to keep tens of thousands of United States troops in Iraq for as long as 100 years," Obama said.

"One hundred years in a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 may make sense to George Bush and John McCain but it is the wrong thing to do," Obama said, drawing applause at the town-hall session.

McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said Obama's remarks showed his "complete lack of preparedness to be commander in chief."

"His attempt to paint McCain's position as something else is nothing but the disingenuous, old-style politics that he claims to reject," Bounds said.

Clinton assaulted McCain as a candidate who would stand back and watch as the U.S. economy spiraled downward and blamed Bush for the nation's deepening financial difficulties.

She announced support for a plan to create 3 million new jobs to rebuild the U.S. infrastructure.

Obama latched onto the same theme, promising to create jobs by using $60 billion he said would be saved by ending the Iraq war.

In a series of advertisements in newspapers and business journals that portray California in cartoons, the Nevada Development Authority is trying to lure California enterprises across the state line.

The ads crow that Nevada, long a haven for businesses seeking refuge from taxes, has no corporate income tax, no personal income tax and no inventory tax -- plus, it has lower workers' compensation rates and a pro-business attitude.

The move by Nevada officials, who say they will spend about $1.5 million placing the ads in publications and on billboards, has been met with some annoyance among California lawmakers.

"Businesses are here because they appreciate the powers of this economy," said state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles), who is among the Democrats arguing for a tax hike. "I suspect Nevada wishes it could be ranked as among one of the top economies in the world."

The campaign includes at least seven ads, most labeled "More Tales of the California Tax Bear…" In one, the bear has a leash around a businessman's neck and orders him to "keep dancing." In another, the animal is greedily devouring a pot of honey labeled "profits."

One of the ads doesn't include the bear at all, but instead takes direct aim at the state's movie-star governor. A giant hand snatches the wallet out of a businessman's pocket; under the quote: "I'll be back!"

The Public Policy Institute of California last year released a report that said California's relatively high tax burden and intense regulatory environment had not sparked an exodus of businesses from the state. It found that 11,000 jobs per year were relocating outside of California, fewer than the number of jobs being created in a state with more than 18 million jobs.

Schwarzenegger administration officials say other states can't compete with California, which has an economy roughly the size of Italy's. They say policies championed by Schwarzenegger, including state support for [embryonic only] stem-cell and alternative-fuel research, have made California increasingly attractive to corporations.

To view the Nevada advertisements, go to www.latimes.com/nevadaads