Another California city wants bankruptcy shield

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – In this sweltering Southern California city, officials tried to keep the budget in check by selling assets, cutting spending and asking public employees to take a hit as tax revenues shrank.

But San Bernardino officials found themselves staring at a bleak prospect Tuesday night: Vendors hadn’t been paid and cash was running out to make payroll, threatening to shut down the city altogether.

That prompted elected officials in the city of 210,000 people to take the sudden move of authorizing the city attorney to seek federal bankruptcy protection, becoming the third California city poised to do so in less than two weeks.

San Bernardino is facing a budget shortfall of $45 million and annual deficits over the next five years. That’s even after the city slashed the workforce by 20 percent over the last four years and negotiated $10 million in annual concessions from employees in each of the last three years.

Republicans block quick vote on Obama tax plan

WASHINGTON – Republicans have blocked a Democratic effort to hold a Senate vote on President Barack Obama’s plan to renew expiring tax cuts for all but the highest-income Americans.

The move was a reversal from earlier Wednesday, when Democrats blocked a vote on Obama’s proposal.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid proposed holding separate votes on Obama’s plan and a rival GOP proposal extending the tax cuts for everyone, including the wealthiest earners.

Reid’s condition: Letting either measure pass with a simple majority, instead of the 60 votes demanded for many Senate roll calls.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell objected, saying he had not seen details of the bills.

Reid can usually count on votes from 51 Democrats plus two independents, though some Democrats in close races are leery of Obama’s proposal.

Groupon’s stock hits lowest level since IPO

NEW YORK – Groupon’s stock hit its lowest level Wednesday since the online deals company went public last November amid concerns about traffic to its website and its exposure to Europe’s weak economy.

Internet trends tracker ComScore Inc. said traffic to Groupon declined 15 percent in June from a year earlier. Groupon.com had about 12.2 million unique visitors last month down from 14.5 million in June 2011.

In addition, Mark Mahaney, a Citi Investment Research analyst expressed some concerns about Groupon’s exposure to Europe and its weak economy.

While Groupon may not be able to top analyst estimates for the April-June quarter, Mahaney said Wall Street expectations are “reasonable.” According to a poll by FactSet, analysts are expecting earnings of 3 cents per share on revenue of $576.5 million.

Shares of Groupon Inc. fell 54 cents, or 6.5 percent, to close at $7.77 on Wednesday. Earlier it hit an all-time low of $7.72. Groupon’s stock priced at $20 in the Chicago company’s initial public stock offering.