Republican lawmakers of California laid out their budget plans on Saturday which propose wider spending cuts and borrowing against lottery funds to tide over the $15.2 billion-plus deficit in state budget.

California’s Republican legislators released their own plans in response to criticism from Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democrat lawmakers that they have been repeatedly stalled the passing of the state budget without offering viable alternatives to close the state’s huge budget deficit.

The plans laid out by state Republicans advocate borrowing $2 billion from future lottery revenue and tapping the $350 million unused fund from redevelopment agencies. They favor an additional $1.5 billion spending cuts to what the Governor has already proposed.

Other GOP measures to close the state deficit without raising taxes include doing away with health care benefits for illegal immigrants and legal immigrants residing here for less than five years , in-home support services for the aged and disabled as well as stopping payment to counties for child welfare.

The Republican proposals immediately encountered criticism from Democrat lawmakers on grounds that further spending cuts would severely harm education and health services for poor besides increasing the deficit burden in the future. The state budget of California is yet to be passed and is more than 60 days late.

Lehman Brothers, one of the best-known investment banks in the US, is seeking to settle a deal with the Korea Development Bank this week which will bring in billions of dollars in exchange for a stake in the Wall Street firm.

Even though there was no official announcement from the state-run KDB, the online edition of Korea Economic Daily cited an anonymous government source saying that officials are still evaluating Lehman’s survival potential and public sentiment on the buyout. Media reports in Korea have repeatedly pointed out that an investment in Lehman Brothers would offer KDB a great opportunity of gaining a foothold in global financial market.

However the Vice Chairman of Financial Services Commission, South Korea said that as yet KDB had not submitted any proposals to the regulatory body whose approval is necessary in case of major investments abroad.

Lehman Brothers intend to raise as much as $6 billion from KDB in exchange of a stake in the firm besides offloading multi-billion real estate loans in the form of separate unit to shareholders and external investors.

Along with KDB, Lehman Brothers is also in talks with other global companies like the Chinese brokerage firm Citic Securities as well as sovereign wealth funds from Middle Eastern nations like Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

The movement of Hurricane Gustav into the Gulf of Mexico has forced two Carnival ships to remain at sea for at least another two days. The cruise liners were scheduled to return to their ports along the Gulf on Monday.

According to company officials, the stay of Carnival Fantasy based in Mobile, Alaska and Carnival Ecstasy based in Galveston, Texas will be extended by two days at sea in order to escape the churning waters of Gulf of Mexico stirred up by Hurricane Gustav.

The delayed return of the two cruise liners to their home ports will lead to a restricted schedule of upcoming voyages. The five-night cruise on Carnival Ecstasy scheduled to start on Monday will be cut down to three nights while the itinerary of Carnival Fantasy will be shortened to a four-night cruise. Customers however will be able to claim a refund of 50% and 25% for the respective shortened cruises or an entire refund on cancellation of a trip.

Among other Carnival cruises which have had to change their routes to avoid being barreled by the approaching hurricane are Carnival Inspiration and Carnival Conquest.

Yet another developing storm in the Atlantic Ocean, Tropical Storm Hanna, has forced Royal Caribbean to change the schedule of three of its Florida-based liners while Norwegian Cruise has altered the destinations of its New York-based Norwegian Spirit and Miami-based Norwegian Sky.

Democrat presidential nominee Sen. Obama has threatened to stop tax breaks for US companies that outsource jobs to foreign destinations. This stand forms a major plank of his economic policy which is committed to keeping jobs within the country in order to prevent further lay offs in a stagnant economy.

In his first major election campaign after the Democrat Convention at Denver, Colorado last week, Sen. Obama stressed that he and his running mate Sen. Joseph Biden are serious about cutting off tax breaks for those companies which ship jobs overseas. Instead he said, that tax incentives will go to those companies that invest and create more jobs in the US.

Speaking at an election rally in Dublin, Ohio Sen. Obama made a strong anti-outsourcing pitch and criticized the Bush administration for economic policies which have not only put thousands of American out of jobs but has also meant loss of healthcare and pension. Obama further railed at the Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of being a clone of the Bush government who was sure to carry on the same policies of the past two presidential terms.

The state of the US economy has proved to be hotbed of election issues with both presidential candidates accusing the other of pursuing policies which would push the country further into stagnation.

Growing instances of identity theft in the US in recent years have left many customers at the deep end of financial debt. This has however led to the entry of several identity theft protection services in the market which offer to safeguard the customer’s personal information in exchange of a fee.

There are mainly two types of services covered by identity theft protection providers. First is credit monitoring which includes warning the customer of any suspicious credit or account activity and patrolling suspect websites for personal information. All three credit bureaus offer credit monitoring for $15 a month which generally covers unlimited access to the customer’s credit report and warning about any change in the credit file.

Another major aspect of identity theft protection services is identity theft insurance. Several major credit card and insurance companies offer to insure the customers against identity theft for a fee which is generally less than that charged for credit monitoring. However most of these policies provide coverage only for expenses associated with identity theft and do not reimburse the stolen money.

Finally, the only foolproof way to protect oneself from identity theft is for the individual to take actively safeguard all details of his or her personal information. But for those with more money than time on their hands, identity theft protection services might perform some of the legwork.