Stories From This Week's Episode: May 11, 2012
News Panel: Obama On Same-Sex Marriage, Proposition 29, Facebook IPO
The political fallout from President Obama's historic announcement in support of same-sex marriage remains to be seen. The immediate response was celebration in the gay rights community and $1 million in campaign donations just ninety minutes after the statement was released. With the threat of further cuts to education in Gov. Brown's revised budget due May 14, the United Educators of San Francisco took the first of two strike votes on Thursday in the face of the district's demands to cut $30 million from salaries and benefits over the next two years, while the school board voted to send pink slips to more than 200 teachers. Television ads have hit the air waves for both sides of Proposition 29, which would increase the cigarette tax by $1 a box to go toward cancer and heart disease research. Opponents call it an example of "ballot-box" budgeting and say it will create a new bureaucracy that's not accountable to the state. It's expected to be the largest technology IPO, but how significant an impact will Facebook's initial public offering have on the Bay Area economy and will it provide a much needed boost in tax revenue for the state?
- Scott Shafer, KQED Public Radio
- Jill Tucker, San Francisco Chronicle
- Marisa Lagos, San Francisco Chronicle
- Michelle Quinn, Politico

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Photos of Belva Davis by Greg Habiby, © KQED 2009. All rights reserved.





