Dodger Blues

Red ink at Chavez Ravine:

The Dodgers currently do not have enough cash to meet payroll through this month, potentially accelerating a showdown between owner Frank McCourt and Major League Baseball. The cash shortage was confirmed Tuesday by two people familiar with the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the possibility of McCourt filing suit against MLB. McCourt received a $30-million loan from Fox last month, which provided funding for the Dodgers' two April payrolls and is expected to carry them through the first May payroll. The second May payroll, due at month's end, is the one that appears problematic at this time. If McCourt were to fail to meet payroll, the league would cover the expenses and would have the option to seize the Dodgers from him, according to one of the people familiar with the situation.

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The South Bay's Gloomy Summer Continues (UPDATED)

From the L.A. Times, the AVP gets stuffed:

The AVP Tour has canceled the rest of its beach volleyball season, including next weekend's Manhattan Beach Open, because it has run out of money and was unable to find new investors.
Last month, The Times broke the news that the tour was in financial trouble.
“On behalf of AVP staff we want to express our sincere gratitude to fans, players, partners and sponsors,” Jason Hodell, the tour's chief executive, said in a statement. “Words cannot express our profound disappointment."
In a separate statement, AVP Commissioner Mike Dodd said, “Through the course of this investor search we have encountered individuals and groups with intelligence, common sense and a passion for the game of beach volleyball. Unfortunately, the time constraints were such that pulling the trigger on the amount of money necessary to salvage this season were too great. Ironically this sad news comes as we approach the 50th anniversary of the Manhattan Open, our sport’s crown jewel and the one event that showed us all we could dream big. The Open has seen its ups and downs over the years and always persevered. I’m sure our sport will do the same.”
Created in 1983 as a players' association, the first AVP Tour was held in 1988.

UPDATE: The Open will happen, and it'll go old-school:

The Times has more:

The most storied tournament in beach volleyball was in jeopardy on Friday — but only for a few hours.
Less than a week before play was set to begin at the 50th Manhattan Beach Open, the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals announced that it is no longer financially viable and canceled the rest of the season.
The timing of the AVP announcement meant little time for the city of Manhattan Beach and the California Beach Volleyball Assn. to save the tournament.
"I think the most important information to get out to everybody is that the tournament will happen," CBVA President Chris Brown said. "Unfortunately, the details are a little hazy."
He said the tournament will run from Friday to Sunday as planned and would return to its roots — no stadium seating, no grandstands. "No bells or whistles," Brown said.

Filthy Lucre.

If you thought that campaign ads funded by corporations intent on buying their way in had reached their saturation point during the last election cycle, you ain't seen nothin' yet, compliments of the conservative-controlled Supreme Court of the United States.

Corpocracy in action, now turbocharged to the nth degree by five fuckwads in flowing robes.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Viewers in media markets nationwide are already well familiar with being bombarded with ads either supporting or criticizing candidates for Congress and the White House in the months before an election. But that could be nothing compared with what today's landmark Supreme Court campaign-finance decision appears to invite, experts say.

The ruling removes limits on corporations from spending their money on federal races, meaning that companies -- and probably labor unions -- will be free, for instance, to buy up advertising time days and weeks before an election to support or attack a potential candidate, perhaps creating slick spots with high production values similar to drug or car ads, or purchasing large blocks of network time.

Previously, federal law prohibited corporations and unions from using their treasuries to advocate for a specific candidate, allowing them to express themselves only through political action committees that were tightly regulated. They will still be prevented from donating money directly to campaigns even after today's decision.

What remains to be seen is how many corporations avail themselves of their new freedom. Right now, many already chose to contribute to groups such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a form of campaign advocacy. They may continue do so to avoid being so closely identified with a specific candidate or race.

Before today's decision, groups such as the chamber, as well as labor unions, could not run ads expressly to support or defeat a candidate and were required to air so-called issue ads instead. Critics have long charged, however, that those ads acted as simple proxies for direct campaign ads, and some say today's ruling will simply result in an even greater proliferation of such ads.

Democrats and campaign finance reform advocates were highly critical of the court's decision.

"The Supreme Court just predetermined the winners of next November's elections," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) "It won't be Republicans. It won't be Democrats. It will be corporate America."

Schumer and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the chairman of the Democratic House reelection effort, said they would offer legislation to try to scale back the reach of the decision before November's congressional elections.

More money, more cash, more hoes...

Dirty Money.

H/T: LobbyBlog/HuffPo.

Take A Bite Outta Slime.

     Matt Taibbi in Rolling Stone:

     The most galling thing about this financial crisis is that so many Wall Street types think they actually deserve not only their huge bonuses and lavish lifestyles but the awesome political power their own mistakes have left them in possession of. When challenged, they talk about how hard they work, the 90-hour weeks, the stress, the failed marriages, the hemorrhoids and gallstones they all get before they hit 40.

     "But wait a minute," you say to them. "No one ever asked you to stay up all night eight days a week trying to get filthy rich shorting what's left of the American auto industry or selling $600 billion in toxic, irredeemable mortgages to ex-strippers on work release and Taco Bell clerks. Actually, come to think of it, why are we even giving taxpayer money to you people? Why are we not throwing your ass in jail instead?"

     But before you even finish saying that, they're rolling their eyes, because You Don't Get It. These people were never about anything except turning money into money, in order to get more money; valueswise they're on par with crack addicts, or obsessive sexual deviants who burgle homes to steal panties. Yet these are the people in whose hands our entire political future now rests.

     Good luck with that, America. And enjoy tax season.

     Read the whole article here. And check this out, too.