With government budget's dwindling (so bad, the Mayor took a furlough day yesterday), Southern California leaders met yesterday to discuss transit funding for the 25 million residents in the area. And they expect millions more to move in over the next 30 years. So how to pay for it? Here are some their ideas as reported by the Daily News:

• State transportation bills, if passed, could allow for bonds to be passed on the ballot by a 55% marging instead of the current two-thirds.
  
• A bill to allow Metro "to adopt the half-percent sales tax increase and extend it for 30 years."
  
• A bill to allow Metro to add a carbon emission fee for cars.
  
• Tolls/congestion pricing at LAX

Many believe, including the city of Los Angeles that the war in Iraq is diverting too much federal funding away from local projects, such as public transportation. As of this 5-year anniversary since the start of the war, $522 billion has been spent, with another $70 billion expected this year. "There is no longer any doubt that the Iraq War is a moral and strategic disaster for the United States. But what has not yet been fully recognized is that it has also been an economic disaster," a report at Planetizen states.