Thursday 17 May 2012

Poor at Risk as US State Mulls Austerity

Jerry Brown, Califronia's governor, has called on state assembly members to adopt austerity measures and urged citizens to approve tax increases in a speech outlining a revised budget. Brown proposed on Monday $8.3bn in spending cuts for education, health care and welfare programmes in a plan aimed at combating the state's severe budget deficit amounting to $15.7b. But critics say the plan will hurt the poor the most. Al Jazeera's Rob Reynolds reports from Los Angeles.