Legislative junkies take note–the budget worksheets comparing House and Senate positions are available online. These worksheets identify line item agreements and disagreements that are being negotiated in conference. Feel like an insider by getting a look at what they’re fighting over.

The House Judiciary Committee (the one in D.C., that is) held a hearing on Tuesday, “”A New Age for Newspapers: Diversity of Voices, Competition and the Internet”. An audio recording of the hearing as well as the written statements submitted by panelists are available online from the committee.

This snippet comes from a Boston Globe story assessing the chances of a local buyer emerging to rescue the newspaper.

The problem is not only a rapid decline in ad revenue – The New York Times, for example, yesterday reported a 27 percent drop in the first quarter of this year alone – but the crushing debts that many owners incurred to purchase the newspapers in the first place.

Without those debts, some struggling newspapers would be profitable, said Tom Fiedler, dean of Boston University’s College of Communication. One upside of the cratering newspaper economy, he said, is that new buyers may be able to avoid the highly leveraged deals that got other recent owners in trouble, given the low prices that newspapers are commanding these days.

But can newspapers survive the deleveraging process? Hawaii’s hotels did when the Japanese investment bubble collapsed and prime resort properties sold off for pennies on the dollar. Newspapers may survive, if they can be unloaded in time, but their current owners might not.

The Newspaper Guild is for the first time organizing freelance writers. The California News Workers Guild has created a unit for freelancers.

According to one report:

And while health insurance is a top priority (do you have any idea how much healthcare costs in Cali? Yikes), the guild’s more ambitious than that. They’re looking into tax return preparation help, insuring equipment, and financing maternity leaves; freelance members will also have the same access as other Guild members to job listings, contract advice, professional development classes, and more. And the freelancers unit is also looking into projects that promote fair working conditions for freelancers. Though freelancers can’t really go on strike or demand a minimum wage, the guild’s thinking about things like press passes for independent journalists, a blogger’s code of ethics (this has been tried before), and promoting fair rates to local media outlets.

Then I’ve got a question: Is Jay Bybee, the judge on the 9th Circuit who is now mired in controversy over his role in the “torture memos”, related to Honolulu attorney and former state rep Ed Bybee?

A NY Times editorial this week had a harsh assessment of Judge Bybee:

These memos make it clear that Mr. Bybee is unfit for a job that requires legal judgment and a respect for the Constitution. Congress should impeach him. And if the administration will not conduct a thorough investigation of these issues, then Congress has a constitutional duty to hold the executive branch accountable.

We made our early walk to the beach this morning, despite the rain, and it actually stopped raining about midway down the beach. No sun anywhere in sight. When it stopped raining, it looked a lot like it did yesterday in this photo.