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Gas prices climbing despite hefty supply

Sandy Shore and Chris Kahn

AP Business Writer

 

February 5, 2011

Updated 14h 25m ago |

Retail gasoline prices are likely to creep higher as anti-government protests continue in Egypt and concerns remain about the stability of the Middle East.

 

Paul Sakuma, AP

This Chevron station in Mountain View, Calif., had prices well over $3 on Jan. 28, 2011.

 

The national average for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.124 on Friday, according to AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service.   That's up 2.4 cents in the past week.   Analysts expect prices to stay at $3 a gallon or higher — perhaps rising as much as 8 cents over the next two weeks — until the conflict in Egypt is resolved and tensions ease in neighboring countries.

The pump increases come at a time when U.S. gasoline inventories are at an 18-year high of 236.2 million barrels. 

Crude oil imports are up, too, averaging 9.1 million barrels a day in the past four weeks, which is 641,000 barrels a day more than the four-week period in 2009.  At the same time, motorists are staying off the roads, with demand up less than 1% in the past month, as winter storms hit many parts of the country. 

"We will continue to have an amply supplied gasoline market all the way up through the spring and summer," energy analyst Jim Ritterbusch said.   "But it's a market that remains subject to the vagaries of geopolitics."

Without the uncertainty about the Middle East region, it's likely retail gas prices would have fallen from 5 cents to 10 cents recently, PFG Best analyst Phil Flynn said.  Much of the concern that has kept oil prices higher lies in the stability of the region. 

Egypt controls the Suez Canal and a nearby pipeline that, combined, carry about 2 million barrels of day from the Middle East to customers in Europe and America.  That's a relatively small amount, compared with the 87 million barrels consumed worldwide every day, but traders fear the protest will spread to nearby OPEC-producing countries.  It was a volatile week for oil prices.

Crude started just below $89 a barrel on Monday and shot up to almost $93 the same day.   The rest of the week, prices stayed between $92 and $90 a barrel before dropping again on Friday, back to Monday's level.  Oil prices fell after the government reported a sharp drop in the January unemployment rate, which helped the dollar strengthen against other currencies. 

Commodities like oil are priced in dollars, so a stronger dollar makes oil less attractive to buyers with foreign currency.  Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery fell $1.62 to $88.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, Brent crude lost $1.88 at $99.88 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Saturday, February 5th 2011, 12:30 PM

Robert Michelson, 21, was busted by Farmington Conn. cops after he called 911 to ask a dispatcher how much trouble he'd get in for growing marijuana.

A Connecticut man's plan to grow marijuana went up in smoke after he called 911 and asked how much trouble he would get into for growing the drug.

"I was just growing some marijuana and I was just wondering what, how much, you know, trouble you can get into for one plant," a not-so-bright Robert Michelson asked on Thursday night.

When the dispatcher asked if there was an active crime in progress, the 21-year-old answered "possibly."

Dispatchers traced the call to Michelson's home in Farmington, where cops found drug paraphernalia and a small amount of pot.

Michelson admitted he bought seeds and equipment online for growing.

He was released on a $5,000 bail. As he left the police station, he gave dispatchers two middle fingers.

"Presumably for doing such a good job," police said.

LINK TO 911 CALL:

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/video?id=7940992

GOP leader calls for end to earmarks, wants them for her district

Haddaway-Riccio has sought $1.4 million for Eastern Shore projects

Annie Linskey

The Baltimore Sun

9:29 PM EST, February 4, 2011

 

Washington Examiner

 

J.P. Freire

Feb 5 2011 - 10:46am

Obama sells out U.K. to Russia despite his popularity there

 

In news certain to shock the United Kingdom, where President Obama is popular, every Trident missile supplied to Britain by the U.S. will be known to Russia as part of Obama's arms control deal, according to information obtained by Wikileaks. From the Daily Telegraph:

A series of classified messages sent to Washington by US negotiators show how information on Britain’s nuclear capability was crucial to securing Russia’s support for the “New START” deal.

Although the treaty was not supposed to have any impact on Britain, the leaked cables show that Russia used the talks to demand more information about the UK’s Trident missiles, which are manufactured and maintained in the US.

Washington lobbied London in 2009 for permission to supply Moscow with detailed data about the performance of UK missiles. The UK refused, but the US agreed to hand over the serial numbers of Trident missiles it transfers to Britain.

During the negotiations, somebody must have told Obama to lie back and think of England. Unfortunately, it looks like he did. Most galling is the willingness of U.S. negotiators, and thus President Obama, to use Britain to secure the support of Russia for an arms control treaty that puts America at a disadvantage.

In fact, Britain has up until this moment had very strong sentiments for Obama. During the 2008 election, a British poll found that 53 percent felt certain Obama would make the best president:

Barack Obama is overwhelmingly Britain's choice to be the next US president, five times more popular than his Republican rival, John McCain, a Guardian/ICM poll shows today. Carried out ahead of the Democratic candidate's visit to Britain next week, the poll reveals that 53% feel certain he would make the best president, with only 11% favouring McCain; 36% declined to express an opinion.

There wasn't much question from region to region either:

The survey, carried out late last week, found that Obama's support is strongest among male voters - 57% of whom want him to be president. There are small regional variations in support: 50% back him in the south-east, against 57% in the north of England. But overall enthusiasm for an Obama presidency is solid across people of all ages and backgrounds. Unlike the US, there is no evidence of young Britons being keener on Obama than older people.

Even an article in the Daily Mail in December still boosted for Obama, headlined, "Finally something to smile about: Obama's popularity is on the rise as Sarah Palin's takes a tumble." And the London Times reported in July 2009 that British support for the U.S. following Obama's election was up 16 points from the previous year, at 70 percent:

Europeans have grown fonder of the US since Barack Obama became President, but Israeli affections have cooled and the Muslim world has barely noticed the new man in the White House.

These are the findings of a global opinion survey published by the Pew Research Centre yesterday. The poll found the biggest change in mood in Western Europe.

In Britain and most European countries, sentiment towards the US has returned to levels not seen since before the Administration of George W. Bush.

The French love America, with 75 per cent pronouncing themselves favourably disposed towards the US. Britain rings in second with nearly 70 per cent, up 16 points since last year.

This isn't the first time Obama has spurned the British. Within days of becoming president, he returned a bust of Winston Churchill that was a gift to the U.S. He gave the Queen an iPod and the Prime Minister some DVDs.

In other words, here's how Obama has cultivated the "special relationship:" By treating the Brits like a  dog.

The Jobs Report, and America's Two Economies

Robert Reich

Huffington Post

02.04.2011

At a time when corporate profits are through the roof, the Dow is flirting with 12,000, Wall Street paychecks are fat again, and big corporations are sitting on more than $1 trillion in cash, you'd expect jobs be coming back. But you'd be wrong.

The U.S. economy added just 36,000 jobs in January, according to today's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Remember, 125,000 are needed just to keep up with the increase in the population of Americans wanting and needing work. And 300,000 a month are needed -- continuously, for five years -- if we're to get back to anything like the employment we had before the Great Recession.

In other words, today's employment report should be sending alarm bells all over official Washington. Granted, unusually bad weather may have accounted for some of the reluctance of employers to hire in January. But even considering the weather, the economy is still terribly sick. (Technical note: The official rate of unemployment fell to 9 percent from 9.4 percent, but that's because more workers have left the labor market, too discouraged to continue looking for work. The official rate reflects how many people are actively looking for work.)

We have two economies. The first is in recovery. The second remains in a continuous depression.

The first is a professional, college-educated, high-wage economy centered in New York and Washington, that's living well off of global corporate profits. Corporations continue to make money by selling abroad from their foreign operations while cutting costs (especially labor) here at home. Wall Street is making money by taking the Fed's free money and speculating with it. The richest 10 percent of Americans, holding 90 percent of all financial assets, are riding the wave. And their upscale spending has given high-end retailers and producers a bounce.

The second is most of the rest of America, and it's still struggling with a mountain of debt, declining home prices, and job losses. In coming months most Americans will also be contending with sharply rising prices of food and fuel.

Our representatives in Washington see and hear mostly the first economy. The business press reports mainly on the first economy. Corporate and Wall Street economists are concerned largely with the first economy.

But the second economy will determine our politics in 2012 and beyond.

And not even the first can be sustained permanently on its own. Corporate profits cannot continue to rise on the basis of foreign sales (which are slowing as Europe adopts austerity and China raises interest rates), the purchases of the richest 10 percent of Americans (which are dependent on a rising stock market), and cost-cutting measures at home (which are necessarily limited). Without a strong and broadly-based middle-class recovery, America's big money economy will fall in on itself. A major stock market "correction" is a certainty.

 

 

Atlanta —

From council rooms in small towns to the marble corridors of Capitol Hill, Americans are rightly focusing on ways to halt the tide of red ink.

Facing huge budget shortfalls, states like California and New York are considering radical cuts to balance their books. President Obama acknowledged the seriousness of the problem in his State of the Union message, calling it a "mountain" that could bury us and urging a five-year partial budget freeze. The president is right to admonish us about the magnitude of the problem that he helped mightily to exacerbate. Political leaders who are serious about fiscal discipline deserve some credit for finally acting to correct course.

But even the most aggressive measures to reform federal spending won't address the underlying cause of our public debt.

That's because the deficit that matters most is not denominated in dollars at all. Its currency is of the heart and mind. It's a manifestation of the values with which we circumscribe our actions, our purposes, and our values. I speak of a deficit of character, which arguably is the root of all of our major economic and social troubles today.

Your character is not defined by what you say you believe. It's defined by the choices you make. History painfully records that when a people allow their personal character to dissipate, they become putty in the hands of tyrants and demagogues. Such tyranny often takes the form of actual rulers, but it can also involve the serfdom of our nobler nature to a lord of lustful impulse. Decadence can destroy democracy as surely as dictatorship.

Among the traits that define strong character are honesty, humility, responsibility, self-discipline, courage, self-reliance, and long-term thinking. A free society is not possible without these traits in widespread practice.

When a person spurns his conscience and fails to do what he knows is right, he subtracts from his character. When he evades his responsibilities, foists his problems and burdens on others, or fails to exert self-discipline; when he allows or encourages wrongdoing on any scale; when he attempts to reform the world without reforming himself first; when he obligates the yet-unborn to pay his current bills for him; when he expects politicians to solve problems that are properly his own business alone; he subtracts from his character – and drags the rest of us down, too.

Mountainous debts, unconscionable deficits, irresponsible bailouts, and reckless spending: These are all economic problems because they sprang first from character problems.

Reform starts with recognition. Not the easy kind that points out flaws in others, but the hard kind that reflects on, then roots out, errors in ourselves.

Is it wrong to take a dollar from the responsible and give it to the irresponsible? Of course it is, which is why so many of us decry the billion-dollar bailouts given to reckless but politically well-connected government agencies and private firms. Yet how many of us accepted taxpayer-funded aid when we fell behind on mortgage payments for homes we never should have bought?

We would express outrage at parents who, after borrowing heavily to buy gadgets and expensive meals, canceled their children's preschool when the bills came due. So why do we cheer for government "stimulus" that will similarly hurt our children? What is it about doing these things a trillion times over that makes it right?

Once upon a time in America, most citizens expected government to keep the peace and otherwise leave them alone. We built a vibrant, self-reliant, entrepreneurial culture with strong families and solid values.

Somewhere along the way, we lost our moral compass. Like the Roman republic that rose on integrity and collapsed in turpitude, we thought the "bread and circuses" the government could provide us would buy us comfort and security. We have acted as if we really don't want to be free and responsible citizens, so we get less responsibility from our leaders and less freedom for us.

The good news is that Washington's profligacy sometimes shocks us into sobriety.

In 1890, American voters raged against the Republican-dominated House of Representatives for its lavish spending. They punished the "Billion Dollar Congress," cutting the GOP roster in the House by more than 90 seats. A similar backlash occurred this past fall, when Republicans gained 63 seats after Democrats (with some GOP complicity) spent hundreds of billions of dollars we didn't have.

In both cases, voters seemed mindful of Thomas Jefferson's warning: "We must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty or profusion and servitude."

Heeding that exhortation takes more than punishing spendthrift incumbents in Congress once in a while. Our federal government is ultimately a reflection of our self-government, so Americans who are serious about fixing the country's fiscal mess must begin by fixing their own character.

 

These resolutions make a good starting point:

•I pledge myself to a lifetime of self-improvement so I can be the model of integrity that friends, family, and acquaintances will want to emulate.

•I resolve to keep my hands in my own pockets, to leave others alone unless they threaten me harm, to take responsibility for my own actions and decisions, and to impose no burdens on others that stem from my own poor judgments.

•I resolve to show the utmost reverence and respect for the lives, property, and rights of my fellow citizens. I will remember that government money is really my neighbors' money, so I will not vote to loot them. I will stand on my own two feet, behave like an adult in a free and civil society, and expect the same of my children.

•If I need help, I will ask my family, friends, faith network, neighbors, local charities, or even strangers first – and government last.

•If I have a "good idea," I resolve to elicit support for it through peaceful persuasion, not the force of government. I will not ask politicians to foist it on others because I think it's good for them.

•I resolve to help others who genuinely need it by involving myself directly or by supporting those who are providing assistance through charitable institutions. I will not complain about a problem and then insist that government tinker with it at twice the cost and half the effectiveness.

•Finally, I resolve that the highest authority in which I place my strongest faith will not be the United States Congress.

Lawrence W. Reed, an economist and historian, is president of the Foundation for Economic Education.

Wednesday, February 2nd 2011, 4:23 PM

Acker/BloombergThe Apple Inc. iPad is displayed for a photograph. The popular tablet was part of an $1 million scam... ...as were several other valuable Apple products.

 

A Rikers Island inmate ran a nationwide cyber-crime ring from behind bars that forged fake credit cards to buy $1 million in iPads and  Apple computers, officials said Wednesday.

Shaheed "Sha" Bilal, 28, directed the massive syndicate, instructing his girlfriend and three younger brothers on how to encode the magnetic strips on credit cards with stolen financial information, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said.

An army of underlings then went on shopping sprees with the phony plastic, buying up iPads and MacBook laptops that were later sold at a discount to a fence for cash.

Vance's office charged 27 members in the nearly three-year operation, including Bilal's 29-year-old sweetheart, Ophelia "Philly" Alleyne, whom he deputized acting boss after getting busted on a separate charge.

Officials said he would coach Alleyne by telephone from jail.

Aside from employing his brothers, Bilal even kept the name of his illegal operation in the family: He dubbed the conspiracy "S3" in honor of his baby boy, according to a law enforcement source.

"This was, in essence, a family affair," Vance said at a press conference Wednesday.

According to officials, Bilal's gang would purchase stolen credit-card information from websites based overseas.

Using inexpensive credit-card encoders, Bilal's brothers then programmed the information onto the magnetic strips of credit cards.

Investigators said the scam - which lasted from June 2008 to December 2010 - went undetected for so long because the counterfeit credit card had the criminals' names, not the victims'.

The ring spanned 13 states and the District of Columbia. It was so easy and lucrative that one gang member who was a shopper branched out to form his own syndicate, prosecutors said.

Officials said that the conspiracy compromised hundreds of bank accounts.

The bust was the work of a joint investigation between Vance's office and the Secret Service.

Over the 18-month probe, investigaters deployed their own modern technology, including electronic eavesdropping and GPS technology, to track the gang's activities.

The ring created email accounts to store and circulate stolen card numbers with which they manufactured the fake plastic.

One account, created by Bilal when he was released from prison in December, was "rightbackonit@yahoo.com, Vance said.

Nine members of the criminal gang including Bilal and Alleyne, were hauled before a Manhattan judge Tuesday on conspiracy and grand larceny charges. Prosecutors said other members are still being rounded up.

It was not immediately clear if Bilal's brothers Ali Bilal, Isaac Bilal, 25 and Rahim Bilal, 21, have appeared before a judge.

The three were also in charge of recruiting shoppers and running the fake credit card production, officials said.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/02/02/2011-02-02_rikers_island_inmates_alleged_credit_card_scam_netted_1_million_from_ipads_and_a.html#ixzz1D1eKpETl

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/9056802/

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1353547/Mother-banned-taking-pictures-newborn-baby-Maryland-hospital.html

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/02/03/super-bowl-the-3-new-ads-that-everyone-will-be-buzzing-about/?hpt=C2

How Cowboys owner Jerry Jones found a way to profit on the Super Bowl

 

 

In the NFL  , an owner and his team don’t profit directly from hosting a Super Bowl  . The league takes over the stadium rent-free and treats the host the same as every other club. All 32 teams share equally from the sale of tickets, concessions and merchandise.

“There is really no direct benefit,” said Bill Prescott, chief financial officer of the Jacksonville Jaguars  , who hosted the 2005 game. Other recent hosts say the same.

But Jerry Jones will be an exception.

Because of his ownership stakes in the concessions company that operates at Cowboys Stadium  , and dozens of Papa John’s stores in North Texas, the Dallas Cowboys owner benefits from every food and beverage item sold at the stadium and every pizza ordered from his Papa John’s stores by fans converging on the area.

In addition, the Super Bowl will produce nearly $10 million in ticket and parking taxes dedicated to paying off a portion of stadium debt that Jones guarantees.

In a news conference this week, Jones talked about the game lifting “all boats” economically in the region. As one of the most innovative owners in the NFL, he just happens to have more boats.

Cowboys spokesman Brett Daniels acknowledged the owner’s private business connections with this game but said, “You really host a Super Bowl for the region, prestige and global exposure, not for the money.”

Indeed, hosting the game can cost an owner money. Super Bowl preparations have tied up Cowboys Stadium since mid-January, Daniels said, precluding other possible revenue-generating events during that time.

Long term, the biggest potential payoff for the Cowboys owner could come if his stadium — and, therefore, Legends Hospitality Management, the stadium’s concessionaire — is picked to host the Super Bowl on a regular basis.

“Having that sort of revenue and profit boost every four to five years increases the value of the company significantly,” said Mike Rawlings  , chief executive of Legends.

Jones owns about a third of Legends, giving him a large interest in the company’s market value and profits, including from the Super Bowl.

Concessions

Rawlings expects Super Sunday sales of food and beverages at the stadium to approach $5 million or more. Proceeds will be divided between the NFL and Legends. During the regular season, Legends splits revenue with the Cowboys.

Rawlings wouldn’t reveal that split, but typical agreements can give teams 35 percent to 50 percent of revenue, depending upon the category of item sold.

The concessions company was founded two years ago in partnership with the Steinbrenner family, owner of the New York Yankees  , two investment firms and the Jones family.

Legends’ annual revenue is at least $150 million, Rawlings said. If the company continues its rapid growth, the enterprise has the potential to be worth several hundred million dollars, based on a comparison with a competitor, Centerplate  , which was once publicly held.

Asked in a brief interview after his news conference if he agreed with The Dallas Morning News’ analysis of the potential valuation for Legends, Jones said, “Yes.”

For regular-season games, Legends also handles merchandise sales at Cowboys Stadium. But the NFL brings in a separate company for the Super Bowl.

Pizza sales

On the pizza front, Papa John’s International expects a super boost from the Super Bowl, nationally and in North Texas, said John Schnatter, the company’s founder, chairman and co-chief executive.

The Jones family owns a 49 percent stake in 75 Texas Papa John’s stores, primarily in North Texas. Papa John’s, a sponsor of the Cowboys and the NFL, owns 51 percent. Nationwide, Papa John’s has 2,875 stores.

“I think we’ll have a record week in Dallas,” Schnatter said, boosted by out-of-town fans here for the game.

Super Sunday is one of the biggest days for pizza in America. Schnatter predicted his company would sell 1 million pizzas nationwide on Sunday, up from 900,000 a year ago. He estimated, roughly, that Jones’ stores would sell about 26,000 pizzas. Most of those would be sold even if the game weren’t played in North Texas.

Papa John’s declined to say how much revenue those numbers would produce. But multiplying by $10 (the special price for any large Papa John’s pizza in the days leading up to the game) offers at least a ballpark idea of possible revenues: a quarter of a million dollars for Jones’ stores and $10 million companywide.

Schnatter said Jones and the Cowboys have been good business partners. “I wish I had 30 more Jerry Joneses, frankly,” Schnatter said. “I couldn’t find a better partner.”

Jones acquired his stake in the Papa John’s stores in mid-2004, when they were losing money. “We’re talking about going from millions and millions of dollars negative to millions and millions of dollars positive,” Schnatter said of Jones’ stores, declining to be more specific. “He’s by far the most talented businessman I’ve ever met.”

Ticket tax

Arlington contributed $325 million to the cost of Cowboys Stadium, funded primarily through an increase in the local sales tax. An additional $148 million of the original stadium debt involved bonds issued by Arlington and backed by Jones.

That obligation has two dedicated funding sources: a 10 percent ticket tax on stadium events and a $3-per-vehicle parking tax that produces minimal revenue.

The NFL estimates that the ticket tax for the game will total about $9.5 million, said Bill Lively, president and chief executive of the North Texas Super Bowl Host Committee. According to the committee’s agreement with the league, the NFL pays the tax to the city, and the committee reimburses the NFL. It’s the host committee’s single largest expense.

The ticket tax ultimately benefits Jones by paying down a debt that he guarantees.

Extra tickets

Indirect benefits for the host owner and team go beyond prestige and exposure. Even though the NFL gets all the revenue, the extra tickets that the host receives can benefit current ticket holders and be used as marketing incentives for season ticket and suite renewals.

The Jaguars, according to Prescott, the team’s CFO, were able to increase renewal rates because of Jacksonville’s Super Bowl.

As host, the Cowboys receive 5 percent of Super Bowl game tickets. The two participating teams each receive 17.5 percent of the tickets, the 29 other teams each receive 1.2 percent and the NFL gets 25.2 percent.

Also, every suite holder at Cowboys Stadium is entitled to buy his or her full allotment of tickets, half in a suite (not necessarily their own), half elsewhere in the stadium. These tickets come out of the NFL’s allocation.

“The Super Bowl enhances value for everybody,” Jones said, and makes the stadium more attractive for events in the future.

Last year, less than three weeks before the Super Bowl, Sun Life became the naming rights sponsor for the Miami Dolphins’ stadium. Some think hosting the game helped the timing of that deal, which directly benefited the Dolphins.

That won’t happen this year for Cowboys Stadium. But New York Giants co-owner John Mara has said that hosting a Super Bowl could help his new stadium attract a named sponsor.

New Meadowlands Stadium  , shared with the Jets  , hosts the 2014 game. Still, Mara said last year after the site announcement: “You do not make any money hosting the Super Bowl. You are lucky if you break even.”

He could take some tips from Jerry.

JOHN BOEHNER SEX PROBE

 

National Enquirer

February 4, 2011

 

New Speaker of the House JOHN BOEHNER is embroiled in a bombshell sex scandal - involving at least two different women, The ENQUIRER has learned!

Capitol Hill insiders and political bloggers have been buzzing about an upcoming New York Times probe - detailing an alleged affair that the 61-year-old married father of two had with pretty Washington lobbyist LISBETH LYONS.

And an ENQUIRER investigation has uncovered a bedroom encounter that Boehner - second in line of succession to the presidency - allegedly had with LEIGH LaMORA, a 46-year-old former press secretary to ex-Colorado Congressman JOEL HEFLEY.

The Ohio native, a congressman for 20 years, and his wife Deborah, 62, have been married for 37 years.

But she has shunned the capital's social scene, and he is often seen out on the town without her.

"Deborah normally stays back in Ohio while John spends most of his time in D.C.," said an insider. "It is not uncommon for Boehner to attend parties and events without his wife."

Contacted by The ENQUIRER in late January about the cheating charges, Deborah stood by her man and would not comment about the explosive allegations.

But The ENQUIRER learned that Deborah was nowhere to be seen when the ruggedly handsome congressman attended a casino party at the home of a D.C. lobbyist in August 1997 - and reportedly hooked up with pretty congressional press secretary Leigh LaMora.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2011-02-04-fedaidimpact04_ST_N.htm#

Lawmakers say guards union is a key obstacle in effort to keeping cellphones out of prisons

 

The guards' contract has a clause that would cost the state millions if they had to be stopped and searched on the way into work, lawmakers say, and it's prison workers who are mainly to blame for inmates like Charles Manson possessing phones.

Jack Dolan

Los Angeles Times

February 3, 2011, 1:48 p.m.

Lawmakers struggling to keep cellphones away from California's most dangerous inmates say a main obstacle is the politically powerful prison guards union, whose members would have to be paid millions of dollars extra to be searched on their way into work.

Prison employees, roughly half of whom are unionized guards, are the main source of smuggled phones that inmates use to run drugs and other crimes, according to legislative analysts who examined the problem last year. Unlike visitors, staff can enter the facilities without passing through metal detectors.

While union officials' stated position is that they do not necessarily oppose searches, they point to a clause in their contract that requires corrections officers to be paid for "walk time" – the minutes it takes them to get from the parking lot to their posts behind prison walls.

Putting metal detectors along the route, with an airport-like regimen involving removal of steel-toed boots and equipment-laden belts, could double the walk time, adding several million dollars to officers' collective pay each year, according to a 2008 Senate analysis.

Since then, cellphones have proliferated exponentially in California's state lockups. This year, state Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) is calling on Gov. Jerry Brown to "put the [search] issue on the table" in contract negotiations with the California Correctional Peace Officer Assn.

"Everybody coming into the state Capitol building has to go through a metal detector….You even get searched when you go to a Lakers game," said Padilla, who for three years has sponsored unsuccessful legislation to crack down on the contraband phones. "Why don't we have that requirement at correctional facilities, of all places?"

Brown, whose campaign received generous financial support from the union and who made one of his few public appearances between the November election and his January inauguration at the union's annual convention in Las Vegas, would not say whether searches are under review.

"Our office does not discuss the details of pending contract negotiations," said Brown spokesman Evan Westrup, who noted that the prison system is testing technology to block cellphone calls in prisons.

More than 10,000 cell phones made their way into California prisons last year -- up from 1,400 in 2007, said corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton. Two of those wound up in the hands of Charles Manson, who is serving a life sentence for ordering the ritualistic murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others in 1969.

The phones can fetch as much as $1,000 each behind prison walls, according to a recent state inspector general's report, which detailed how a corrections officer made $150,000 in a single year smuggling phones to inmates. He was fired but was not prosecuted because it is not currently against the law to take cellphones into prison, although it is a violation of prison rules to possess them behind bars.

Padilla had a bill in 2008 that would have required searches of prison staff, but it died after union officials pointed out the extra pay that would follow.

This year, Padilla, who also gets financial support from the union, has steered clear of it by omitting staff searches from a bill that would impose a $5,000 fine on anyone caught trying to smuggle a phone to an inmate. The proposal would also lengthen sentences for prisoners caught with phones by up to five years if it can be shown that they used them to commit crimes.

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a similar bill last year, saying the penalties weren't stiff enough.

Such punishment might not deter an inmate like Manson, who in all likelihood will die in prison, but the threat of added time might make other prisoners think twice about keeping a phone, Padilla said.

Prison officials added 30 days to Manson's sentence after guards found an LG flip phone under his mattress in March 2009. They found him with a second phone, equipped with a camera, on Jan. 6, Thornton said. She declined to provide details about where Manson got the phone, saying the case is still under investigation.

Analysts for the Senate Public Safety Committee who studied last year's legislation left no room for doubt about who they believed was responsible for most of the unauthorized phones.

"All indications are that the primary source of cellphones being smuggled into prisons is prison staff," they wrote. "The committee has been presented no evidence of visitors who are properly screened through metal detectors being responsible for the problem."

Guard union spokesman JeVaughn Baker said pointing the finger at corrections officers is all wrong.

"Sure, there are instances where officers have brought them in," Baker said. "But to say that prison staff are the most likely smugglers of cellphones is simply inaccurate."

Asked whether union members would be willing to forgo extra pay for standing in line at metal detectors, Baker said, "The law demands that individuals are compensated for the time that they work."