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Spain's Budget minister, Cristobal Montero, said the government would have a new credit line and provide an early infusion of $10 billion to aid financially troubled regions. Many of the regions are in such financial straits that they are unable to pay suppliers, and this is putting many small businesses in serious difficulties. Spain's prime minister Rajoy says the Spanish government needs to be concerned about what is happening in the regions, and that he would help regions as long as they meet their budget goals. Spain adopted a decentralized model after the years of the Franco dictatorship, and regions handle education, health care and social services, culture and providing services. With the economic crisis following years of free spending by the regions, the extent of this autonomy and the lack of budget controls is being called into question. Officials from regions such as Aragon, Valencia and Murcia have called on the federal government to play a bigger role.

LyrArc Article Gist
Questions raised about reservation processing charges for national parks for over $100 million that go not to the National Park Service work or activities for keeping up park trails but to a private company Booz Allen. Park goers question whether the government negotiated a payment structure that is in the public's interest, says this WSJ report. The park does not charge for using the park when making a reservation on site Recreation.gov. Yet the government pays $2 for every park reservation made on that site to Booz Allen, a private company.