Saturday, June 20, 2009
Iran Government Has Restricted The Flow Of News But Protests Continue
I'm following on Twitter, #IranElection , and also at the Huffington Post .
Friday, June 19, 2009
Mission Shrink: We've Gone From Saving Wall Street in Order to Save Main Street to Just Saving Wall Street
I knew even before he won the election that Obama was possibly right of center and the accusations of his being "socialist" were certainly false.
Oh, I'm not happy. I wish he would save MY life and enact single payer health care, for which we are already paying more than what would cover us all well (http://www.hr676.org/ .)
But Obama is what we make him. The progressive half of the country has not had the back of those who try to stand up to the radical right machine running this country since c. 1980.
We do not have massive marching in the streets when fellow citizens face death due to misguided government policies ( http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget28-2009may28,0,1322149.story ), when youth are killed in war held in the wrong country, etc.
Until we PERSONALLY are affected, for fear of losing what little we are clinging to-- whether that be the health insurance from which we haven't (yet) been dropped ( http://www.care2.com/causes/health-policy/blog/health-insurance-ive-got-mine/ ) , or our children's education which hasn't (yet) been destroyed by budget cuts -- we do butkis until we're hit.
We are divided from those for whom the bell has already tolled... divided, and therefore conquered.
And we get the economy http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12699486/paul_krugman_on_the_great_wealth_transfer/ ) , and government we PERMIT to rule over us.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Oh, I'm not happy. I wish he would save MY life and enact single payer health care, for which we are already paying more than what would cover us all well (http://www.hr676.org/ .)
But Obama is what we make him. The progressive half of the country has not had the back of those who try to stand up to the radical right machine running this country since c. 1980.
We do not have massive marching in the streets when fellow citizens face death due to misguided government policies ( http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-budget28-2009may28,0,1322149.story ), when youth are killed in war held in the wrong country, etc.
Until we PERSONALLY are affected, for fear of losing what little we are clinging to-- whether that be the health insurance from which we haven't (yet) been dropped ( http://www.care2.com/causes/health-policy/blog/health-insurance-ive-got-mine/ ) , or our children's education which hasn't (yet) been destroyed by budget cuts -- we do butkis until we're hit.
We are divided from those for whom the bell has already tolled... divided, and therefore conquered.
And we get the economy http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/12699486/paul_krugman_on_the_great_wealth_transfer/ ) , and government we PERMIT to rule over us.
About Barack Obama
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
Saturday, June 13, 2009
All this arguing about a public option for health insurance
Lord, give me strength.
The thing wouldn't let ME finally be allowed to work.
Tell them they had their chance to agree to one and now that chance is gone.
The thing wouldn't let ME finally be allowed to work.
Tell them they had their chance to agree to one and now that chance is gone.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
The Health Care Debate Rages On
I found myself participating in this discussion. It's always interesting to encounter my fellow citizens on days when I'm stuck in bed and can't be an advocate for positive change in any other way. I can't even volunteer to make phone calls right now; I've got a very hoarse voice again. Good old lupus and Sjogren's Syndrome.
Anyway, I get out there and do my best, but then I have to take breaks. There are a lot of people who are not very nice to those of us who have had absolutely no choice but to use government-paid health care. No matter where I go, I always run in to at least one of them!
As a nation, we didn't always fear change so much. It seems amazing to think we were begun by a revolution, when I look at people clinging to the most expensive health care system in the world which still lets many of its citizens die, while leaving many others uncovered or undercovered.
Anyway, I get out there and do my best, but then I have to take breaks. There are a lot of people who are not very nice to those of us who have had absolutely no choice but to use government-paid health care. No matter where I go, I always run in to at least one of them!
As a nation, we didn't always fear change so much. It seems amazing to think we were begun by a revolution, when I look at people clinging to the most expensive health care system in the world which still lets many of its citizens die, while leaving many others uncovered or undercovered.
Monday, June 1, 2009
California Needs Help -- A Call For Volunteers
Well, the Golden State is morphing into brass.
Yet another massive state government budget deficit yawns in front of us like a chasm from the nether world, threatening to swallow up what was once a nice place to live. The elected officials on whose watch this happened seem to be collectively wringing their hands, except for our governor, who is facing the wind seemingly alone, making a list of potential solutions grim enough as to seem right out of a Dickens novel.
Clearly, this state needs help. And can't afford to pay anybody. Hence we need volunteers.
Let's get out there and get some volunteers. (Hey. You. You don't look like you're all that busy right now.)
I'm proposing we begin with finding folks who will perform these services:
Is there an economist in the house? There are a few questions for one that just little old me was able to dream up while just sitting here typing, instead of getting some real calorie-burning exercise after eating, so one can only imagine the many things that the citizens of this state would like to know--should anyone ever be available to answer their queries.
My own first question would be: how much more can the state government be cut in the short term without sending our economy into one of those circle-the-drain negative spirals which feed on themselves? (Cuts! layoffs! >less spending! but then, less revenue for the businesses which were patronized by those cutted. Then the businesses themselves respond with...cuts! layoffs! and then THOSE people don't spend as much at the businesses THEY formerly frequented. And then...guess what? Lather, rinse AND repeat! And I didn't even mention the subprime mortgage crisis once!)
We aren't exactly in boom times here, with about 12% unemployment. I read one estimate which said the state government will have ended up cutting about 1/5 of its size if current plans proceed through to a conclusion. That's a real whopper of a contraction. Can we handle a megacontraction? If not, aren't we justified in asking our federal government, to whom we send more money than any other state, for a loan at reasonable interest (no no no not more long-term borrowing; calm down everybody; take a deep breath and a chill pill) to get us past our deadline of THIS COMING JUNE 15? Does anybody else see just how scarily imminent that is? Doesn't anyone else out there have a desk calendar?
So should we be cutting more, and that fast, or would we be the very first Herbert Hoovers of the new millennium if we did so?
Ok. Now. For my second question: do the illegal immigrants present in our state now create a net cost to our economy or a net benefit? A lot of people believe the former, but I heard of one study somewhere which supports the latter. Well, we need to know. Or it will be very hard to set rational financial policy concerning their presence. All emotions aside, from a bean counter perspective...which is it? Thanks in advance. Until we know the answer I think we have to wait before we slash them from state programs. Although I admittedly do not know why we shouldn't extradite illegal aliens who are prisoners. Can't their home countries have them back? Why do we have to provide the three hots, a cot, and health care?
Some of the proposals I have read about for cuts to be made immediately are so abhorrent that I don't see why we shouldn't have something set up online for people to try to come up with better ideas. On an unpaid basis, of course. It almost seems like there have to be better ideas, if only because some of these are so totally over the top.
Firstly, I do not see why there are any proposals whatsoever to deny anyone health care which they need for survival. This is still a rich country and a rich state. I was told there is a proposal to stop treating women on state health care for breast cancer if they reach the oh-so-venerable age of 65. (Some of our mothers are 65. Some of our sisters are 65. We may even have friends who are all of 65. Dare we say some of us could even be 65 or older? I know one thing; we aren't all 25.) Some might qualify for Medicare then; ok, fine. But some won't.
Before we murder our fellow citizens, I really think we can try a few other things out first. Otherwise we have pretty much abandoned the idea of having a civilization. Not to mention that some of those "welfare scum" are probably our neighbors who were laid off and whose COBRA ran out just in time for their cancer diagnosis. It IS the economy, stupid. (That's a quote. I'm not really calling anybody stupid. Yet.)
Just as an aside, if our government health care is in that dire need of extra funding, one could shut down the insurance companies with their CEO pay and 35% administrative costs and get some of the young and healthy to pay their premiums to the government, instead of having the taxpayer alone foot the bill for the poor, the elderly, and the disabled/chronically ill (you know, the ones who pay less and cost more) while the private companies rake in the money from the healthy folk. But, if unwilling to do this, then there have to be other things we can try before we pass out death sentences. I am positive that if we all put our thinking caps on, we can come up with something better.
Secondly, I do not see why we have to toss children off of their health insurance. I know they don't vote, and I don't happen to have any of my own, but I kind of like them anyway. Just how expensive can it be to insure a bunch of kids, mostly, I presume, healthy ones? (And if it IS really expensive, then why? Just who is getting rich off of doing it? Inquiring minds would like to know.)
Taken together, the two points I raise above, for me, are the tip of the iceberg. The general theme is this: if anyone has to threaten the lives of citizens in any way (as in denying what is needed for survival) in order to balance the budget...they are in the wrong job. Hire a bean counter. Oops, I mean find a volunteer bean counter.
Speaking now privately (in a whisper) to my fellow bean counters: can any of us possibly think of anything that could be tried first instead of threatening the survival of California citizens? Do we really need to contemplate murder to balance the budget? Do we want or need that blood on our hands? Heck, what about karma and all that stuff? There's just not a single cent anybody can think of to cut anywhere first?
Well, I'm not going to be winning any popularity contests by saying what comes next, but I never win those, anyway. Once you get to know me better, you'll see why I'm no fun at parties.
Here goes: I think there are a LOT of potential cuts we just haven't explored. First of all, our state legislature is supposedly still the highest-paid in the country. If we had the money, I wouldn't begrudge them their pay. It's probably a hard job. However, before we look at killing folks, I think we could make a case that our elected officials should be making some serious sacrifices right along with the rest of us. Heck, throw in government workers, as well.
Now, I need some volunteers with calculators and who are good at accessing boring data. What I want to know is: what would we save if everyone who worked for our state government had their salary immediately brought down (if the salary is higher than) to the median income for the city in which they work?
No, I am NOT kidding. Before you kill anybody, dear government workers, you can have, without paying anything extra for it, the valuable experience of learning how the rest of us live! This will help you in your jobs! You can thank me later!
Along the same lines, there seem to be a lot of people who work for the government who have been defending vigorously the current setup we have in this state and in this country for citizens who are seeking health insurance and health care. It breaks my heart to see that we are paying for the health care of these wise ones and keeping them from the private insurance market they love so much. Let us immediately bring them closer to it. Again, what a learning experience. Cheaper and faster than getting a health economics degree. So, what about no more health care for government? Let government experts show us how to maneuver our way through the health care access morass. We await eagerly await their shining examples.
Bet you know what I'm going to talk about next! PENSION PLANS! How many of us peons out here don't have one? Loads, I'm guessing. Government pension plans are threatening to break our system anyway, as the population ages. Best not to continue to incur those kinds of long-term obligations. We've already got a heck of a lot of bonds to pay off. So, no more government pension plans. How much would we save? Admittedly, I'm not sure we can get out of the ones already promised, without horrific legal costs. Unless there are some citizen attorneys out there willing to volunteer their time?
Just GUESS what I think about the usage of free government cars. And the gas for them. Unless we are paying someone to do something like inspect buildings for safety...or plumbing...or to fight crime or fire...ok give those folks all a pass. But if someone's job is pushing paper, they don't have to go anywhere. Heck maybe they could telecommute and we could turn the utilities off and sell the buildings. Most of us have to pay for our own cars, since the public transportation in this state is lousy.
Let's look for other perks! What can we find? I don't know yet but there could be a real gold mine waiting to be discovered! I'll bring the red pencils if you bring the reading glasses! Let's cut freebies! Paperwork! Let them sweep up their own offices and take out their own trash! Starting with the most highly paid first, cos their example will be so motivating!
Is it true that if state parks are closed, for every $1 saved the economy loses over $2? If so, is closing the parks a smart idea? (I would say maybe, well, no.) What about the effect of closure upon attracting tourism and business to our state? Revenue, that is. The stuff we need more of.
Oh, and not to mention, maybe the parks keep enough of us citizens happy so we don't revolt and start nationalizing everything in sight, or refusing to pay any taxes at all, or just taking to the streets and making a big mess? The great beauty of our state and access to the outdoors is why many people live here. Maybe taking some of that away could send housing values down. We already saw what happens when those go down too fast, didn't we? Do we have to go through that again?
And why is it so expensive to maintain parks? Can't we volunteer to pick up trash? Aren't there any land use experts who care enough to volunteer their time to direct our efforts? We've got adopt-a-highway, why not adopt-a-park? Does everybody have to be paid every time they lift a little finger, or can we take a little time maybe to read about when we were a nation that worked together and raised each other's barns and stuff like that? Hmm, reading, bet they're closing the libraries...wouldn't surprise me....
And then there is education. Our per-pupil spending is still a tad on the low side. We've got an awful lot of pupils, though. And we are in a budget crisis. I don't see why it would be so dangerous to cut school days back to the number we had when I graduated high school in 1980. My use of apostrophes is a lot better than the present generations even with the abject misery I suffered by having a longer summer vacation. And maybe "teaching to the test", something my teachers didn't have to put up with, is what we can't afford right now. Also, rumor has it that there ARE cost savings we could find, if we look, in our education budget--in administrative costs, not classroom costs. Oh, and some of us WOULD volunteer as community tutors, you know. Ask us.
Supposedly if any politician comes out and tells the people the TRUTH, which is that this stupid deficit is so big and so stubborn we are going to need spending cuts, user fees, cash donations, volunteers, some low-interest borrowing and debt consolidation from somewhere, prayer, channeling of healing energies, starting at least seven different new state lotteries, renegotiation with those Indian casinos, AND TAXES (see? I said it, and lightning did not strike me down!), they will not get re-elected.
Guess I was hoping there would be a few real statesmen/women, the kind that rise up in a crisis and go down in the history books, who would care more about saving the state than getting re-elected. You know, there ARE other jobs one could do after doing the right thing. But no matter. Those of us who have little to lose are going to have to say it, then. TAXES. TAXES. TAXES.
I don't care if it was Democrats who overspent in the past or Republicans who wouldn't even close a yacht tax loophole or if aliens from outer space are controlling us all in secret. If you used a public good today, and you did, you are going to have to pay your taxes and suck it up. Only if you are self-sufficient and also don't depend on any customers or clients who are not self-sufficient (maybe some of you live in undiscovered mountain gaps?) do I want to hear whining about taxes. We ALL hate paying them. Why should anybody like them?
But I have found that aside from extremists, who terrify the representatives of our gerrymandered districts but who don't scare me much, most people really would be willing to pay a little more to get rid of this boomerang deficit we are SO, SO SICK OF EVEN HEARING ABOUT. Get rid of the damn thing already.
But we want to really be RID of it. And we don't want our money WASTED. We want it treated with a caution bordering on sheer reverence. If an official drops a quarter in a sewer, they'd better go get it, because that is a hardworking TAXPAYER'S quarter. Americans now work more hours than the citizens of any other nation in the world. On our time off we try to do laundry, grocery shopping, pay bills and re-introduce ourselves to our spouses and our children. We are tired and are having to make decisions like can we keep a child in college, or have a child, or feed the child we have, or even feed ourselves. The economy sucks. We're having a hard time. We want sympathy and we want the spenders to account for every single blood-and-sweat-soaked cent. Twice. With a paper trail.
Oh, and despite what has been assumed by some, we aren't completely dim. We know we need a more stable source of tax revenue than just the income tax, which fluctuates widely. Some of us never meant to vote in Prop. 13 savings for commercial property, btw. We could consider phasing that one out, but maybe not right now. (Recession. It's a bad one. Don't forget that.) We also are not averse to a "rainy-day" fund. It's just that this IS a rainy day (figuratively; it actually rarely rains in the summer), so it's not a great time to establish one.
We also don't need to be alone with Rhode Island and Arkansas in requiring a 2/3 vote of the legislature to pass a budget, since budget delays cost us money. We don't want to lose any more money on budget delays. We also would like to have our legislators work on more than just budget budget budget all the time. Rhode Island, as I can tell you because my family comes from there, is pretty small. 2/3 of the legislature probably goes to your block party, when you live there. I don't know much about Arkansas. But I doubt we need to use them as a model for our budget procedures. So we want this stuff fixed. We don't care if it's hard to fix. It's not impossible. We tamed a continent. We went to the moon. We invented velcro (well, someone did, somewhere.) We can fix stupid procedural stuff.
We want what we know we deserve to have. We want our kids in decent schools, our universities teeming with brilliant minds to attract research and development to our state, our sick people getting health care, our poor people allowed enough to keep from dying in the streets, our parks open, our economy back to work, our violent offenders locked up, our police and fire protection well-funded and ready at all times, our absentee ballots dammit since a lot of us have to, you know, work on voting days (betcha you all didn't know they were planning on taking those ballots away to save money), our roads drivable, our environment clean, and clear and steady progress made towards getting us out of the mess overborrowing helped to get our state into. We want our leaders to cut paperwork, duplication, waste, streamline administrative costs, bring down high salaries, slash perks. Then the silent majority of the sane will consider something like maybe a small and better-be-temporary sales tax increase, which no one likes, most don't want, is regressive, is not so hot for our economy overall, and we will most certainly all spit on it, but: we will suck it up if and only if those who work for our government do their part first.
I exempt the Governor from the call for cuts, since he is not drawing a salary. For this I wish to thank him.
However, I can't nominate him for sainthood. Two big strikes against him waiting at the pearly gastes: 1. he didthis , by stealth. Kicking the folks who are already choosing between food and medication isn't very nice. This was done so fast, btw, that not only was their no time for public comment, but some of the agencies involved found out about it first from their clients.
He's cut and is cutting state programs down to such a low level of funding that we lose the federal funds we would otherwise qualify for. In some cases those funds would pay for the majority of the program. And in all cases, the taxpayers I know want all the money back from Washington we can possibly get to be used right here in OUR state. Why should we be funding stuff in other states instead? Someone please tell Arnold to stop disqualifying us from our federal money! (I would wag a finger at him, but after years of prednisone therapy am not attractive enough to get away with it.)
Admittedly, not everyone who works for the government can afford to live with no salary like our governor does, and we don't want to restrict government service to only the wealthy. But again, before they kill citizens, before they shut the state down, that median income limit for them all is looking awfully good to me.
Or, we could replace a lot of 'em with volunteers. I personally would be happy to work on the Let's Balance The State Budget Now! Online Email Working Group. Salary $0.00. Meet me on a Yahoo list. I'll keep the light on (one tiny bulb, all the others turned off for frugality) for ya.
P.S. I know I left the illegal alien issue out. Remember, we need to know about cost/benefit. We can't afford to ignore cost/benefit right now. All other passions aside, unfortunately, this has to be about money.
P.P.S. Yeah, I'm ok with legalizing marijuana. If someone can convince the DEA to lay off because I don't want to waste any money fighting with them. And if the stuff can only be used on licensed premises, subject to a nice hefty licensing fee naturally, and of course taxed the hell out of. I'm ok with putting gangs, who seem to be doing quite well right now based on the Al Capone business model, out of business. However, I don't think kids should be exposed to marijuana, even at home. And it's got to be illegal to drive under the influence of it. And I don't want to be exposed to it. Judging by what happens to me every time I try to attend a concert, I think I'm allergic. Achoo.
P.P.S. I'm ok with gay marriage, too. Let's have those expensive celebrity weddings here in our state! Celebrants can invite everyone they know from all over the world to SPEND WILDLY! Hey, I know how to do photo editing, cheap...excuse me while I step out to make some business cards...
Try Your Hand At Balancing The Budget. I Got A Surplus, Did You? :) Oh, and you'll learn why Prop. 98, while it helps education funding, is really annoying. It's like two steps forward one step back every time you try to cut anything.
Looney. Tunes.
We can do better than this. Because we have to do better than this.
Contact California's GovernorNOW.
CA residents, please also contact your state representatives.
With lives on the line, there is no time to lose.
Yet another massive state government budget deficit yawns in front of us like a chasm from the nether world, threatening to swallow up what was once a nice place to live. The elected officials on whose watch this happened seem to be collectively wringing their hands, except for our governor, who is facing the wind seemingly alone, making a list of potential solutions grim enough as to seem right out of a Dickens novel.
Clearly, this state needs help. And can't afford to pay anybody. Hence we need volunteers.
Let's get out there and get some volunteers. (Hey. You. You don't look like you're all that busy right now.)
I'm proposing we begin with finding folks who will perform these services:
Is there an economist in the house? There are a few questions for one that just little old me was able to dream up while just sitting here typing, instead of getting some real calorie-burning exercise after eating, so one can only imagine the many things that the citizens of this state would like to know--should anyone ever be available to answer their queries.
My own first question would be: how much more can the state government be cut in the short term without sending our economy into one of those circle-the-drain negative spirals which feed on themselves? (Cuts! layoffs! >less spending! but then, less revenue for the businesses which were patronized by those cutted. Then the businesses themselves respond with...cuts! layoffs! and then THOSE people don't spend as much at the businesses THEY formerly frequented. And then...guess what? Lather, rinse AND repeat! And I didn't even mention the subprime mortgage crisis once!)
We aren't exactly in boom times here, with about 12% unemployment. I read one estimate which said the state government will have ended up cutting about 1/5 of its size if current plans proceed through to a conclusion. That's a real whopper of a contraction. Can we handle a megacontraction? If not, aren't we justified in asking our federal government, to whom we send more money than any other state, for a loan at reasonable interest (no no no not more long-term borrowing; calm down everybody; take a deep breath and a chill pill) to get us past our deadline of THIS COMING JUNE 15? Does anybody else see just how scarily imminent that is? Doesn't anyone else out there have a desk calendar?
So should we be cutting more, and that fast, or would we be the very first Herbert Hoovers of the new millennium if we did so?
Ok. Now. For my second question: do the illegal immigrants present in our state now create a net cost to our economy or a net benefit? A lot of people believe the former, but I heard of one study somewhere which supports the latter. Well, we need to know. Or it will be very hard to set rational financial policy concerning their presence. All emotions aside, from a bean counter perspective...which is it? Thanks in advance. Until we know the answer I think we have to wait before we slash them from state programs. Although I admittedly do not know why we shouldn't extradite illegal aliens who are prisoners. Can't their home countries have them back? Why do we have to provide the three hots, a cot, and health care?
Some of the proposals I have read about for cuts to be made immediately are so abhorrent that I don't see why we shouldn't have something set up online for people to try to come up with better ideas. On an unpaid basis, of course. It almost seems like there have to be better ideas, if only because some of these are so totally over the top.
Firstly, I do not see why there are any proposals whatsoever to deny anyone health care which they need for survival. This is still a rich country and a rich state. I was told there is a proposal to stop treating women on state health care for breast cancer if they reach the oh-so-venerable age of 65. (Some of our mothers are 65. Some of our sisters are 65. We may even have friends who are all of 65. Dare we say some of us could even be 65 or older? I know one thing; we aren't all 25.) Some might qualify for Medicare then; ok, fine. But some won't.
Before we murder our fellow citizens, I really think we can try a few other things out first. Otherwise we have pretty much abandoned the idea of having a civilization. Not to mention that some of those "welfare scum" are probably our neighbors who were laid off and whose COBRA ran out just in time for their cancer diagnosis. It IS the economy, stupid. (That's a quote. I'm not really calling anybody stupid. Yet.)
Just as an aside, if our government health care is in that dire need of extra funding, one could shut down the insurance companies with their CEO pay and 35% administrative costs and get some of the young and healthy to pay their premiums to the government, instead of having the taxpayer alone foot the bill for the poor, the elderly, and the disabled/chronically ill (you know, the ones who pay less and cost more) while the private companies rake in the money from the healthy folk. But, if unwilling to do this, then there have to be other things we can try before we pass out death sentences. I am positive that if we all put our thinking caps on, we can come up with something better.
Secondly, I do not see why we have to toss children off of their health insurance. I know they don't vote, and I don't happen to have any of my own, but I kind of like them anyway. Just how expensive can it be to insure a bunch of kids, mostly, I presume, healthy ones? (And if it IS really expensive, then why? Just who is getting rich off of doing it? Inquiring minds would like to know.)
Taken together, the two points I raise above, for me, are the tip of the iceberg. The general theme is this: if anyone has to threaten the lives of citizens in any way (as in denying what is needed for survival) in order to balance the budget...they are in the wrong job. Hire a bean counter. Oops, I mean find a volunteer bean counter.
Speaking now privately (in a whisper) to my fellow bean counters: can any of us possibly think of anything that could be tried first instead of threatening the survival of California citizens? Do we really need to contemplate murder to balance the budget? Do we want or need that blood on our hands? Heck, what about karma and all that stuff? There's just not a single cent anybody can think of to cut anywhere first?
Well, I'm not going to be winning any popularity contests by saying what comes next, but I never win those, anyway. Once you get to know me better, you'll see why I'm no fun at parties.
Here goes: I think there are a LOT of potential cuts we just haven't explored. First of all, our state legislature is supposedly still the highest-paid in the country. If we had the money, I wouldn't begrudge them their pay. It's probably a hard job. However, before we look at killing folks, I think we could make a case that our elected officials should be making some serious sacrifices right along with the rest of us. Heck, throw in government workers, as well.
Now, I need some volunteers with calculators and who are good at accessing boring data. What I want to know is: what would we save if everyone who worked for our state government had their salary immediately brought down (if the salary is higher than) to the median income for the city in which they work?
No, I am NOT kidding. Before you kill anybody, dear government workers, you can have, without paying anything extra for it, the valuable experience of learning how the rest of us live! This will help you in your jobs! You can thank me later!
Along the same lines, there seem to be a lot of people who work for the government who have been defending vigorously the current setup we have in this state and in this country for citizens who are seeking health insurance and health care. It breaks my heart to see that we are paying for the health care of these wise ones and keeping them from the private insurance market they love so much. Let us immediately bring them closer to it. Again, what a learning experience. Cheaper and faster than getting a health economics degree. So, what about no more health care for government? Let government experts show us how to maneuver our way through the health care access morass. We await eagerly await their shining examples.
Bet you know what I'm going to talk about next! PENSION PLANS! How many of us peons out here don't have one? Loads, I'm guessing. Government pension plans are threatening to break our system anyway, as the population ages. Best not to continue to incur those kinds of long-term obligations. We've already got a heck of a lot of bonds to pay off. So, no more government pension plans. How much would we save? Admittedly, I'm not sure we can get out of the ones already promised, without horrific legal costs. Unless there are some citizen attorneys out there willing to volunteer their time?
Just GUESS what I think about the usage of free government cars. And the gas for them. Unless we are paying someone to do something like inspect buildings for safety...or plumbing...or to fight crime or fire...ok give those folks all a pass. But if someone's job is pushing paper, they don't have to go anywhere. Heck maybe they could telecommute and we could turn the utilities off and sell the buildings. Most of us have to pay for our own cars, since the public transportation in this state is lousy.
Let's look for other perks! What can we find? I don't know yet but there could be a real gold mine waiting to be discovered! I'll bring the red pencils if you bring the reading glasses! Let's cut freebies! Paperwork! Let them sweep up their own offices and take out their own trash! Starting with the most highly paid first, cos their example will be so motivating!
Is it true that if state parks are closed, for every $1 saved the economy loses over $2? If so, is closing the parks a smart idea? (I would say maybe, well, no.) What about the effect of closure upon attracting tourism and business to our state? Revenue, that is. The stuff we need more of.
Oh, and not to mention, maybe the parks keep enough of us citizens happy so we don't revolt and start nationalizing everything in sight, or refusing to pay any taxes at all, or just taking to the streets and making a big mess? The great beauty of our state and access to the outdoors is why many people live here. Maybe taking some of that away could send housing values down. We already saw what happens when those go down too fast, didn't we? Do we have to go through that again?
And why is it so expensive to maintain parks? Can't we volunteer to pick up trash? Aren't there any land use experts who care enough to volunteer their time to direct our efforts? We've got adopt-a-highway, why not adopt-a-park? Does everybody have to be paid every time they lift a little finger, or can we take a little time maybe to read about when we were a nation that worked together and raised each other's barns and stuff like that? Hmm, reading, bet they're closing the libraries...wouldn't surprise me....
And then there is education. Our per-pupil spending is still a tad on the low side. We've got an awful lot of pupils, though. And we are in a budget crisis. I don't see why it would be so dangerous to cut school days back to the number we had when I graduated high school in 1980. My use of apostrophes is a lot better than the present generations even with the abject misery I suffered by having a longer summer vacation. And maybe "teaching to the test", something my teachers didn't have to put up with, is what we can't afford right now. Also, rumor has it that there ARE cost savings we could find, if we look, in our education budget--in administrative costs, not classroom costs. Oh, and some of us WOULD volunteer as community tutors, you know. Ask us.
Supposedly if any politician comes out and tells the people the TRUTH, which is that this stupid deficit is so big and so stubborn we are going to need spending cuts, user fees, cash donations, volunteers, some low-interest borrowing and debt consolidation from somewhere, prayer, channeling of healing energies, starting at least seven different new state lotteries, renegotiation with those Indian casinos, AND TAXES (see? I said it, and lightning did not strike me down!), they will not get re-elected.
Guess I was hoping there would be a few real statesmen/women, the kind that rise up in a crisis and go down in the history books, who would care more about saving the state than getting re-elected. You know, there ARE other jobs one could do after doing the right thing. But no matter. Those of us who have little to lose are going to have to say it, then. TAXES. TAXES. TAXES.
I don't care if it was Democrats who overspent in the past or Republicans who wouldn't even close a yacht tax loophole or if aliens from outer space are controlling us all in secret. If you used a public good today, and you did, you are going to have to pay your taxes and suck it up. Only if you are self-sufficient and also don't depend on any customers or clients who are not self-sufficient (maybe some of you live in undiscovered mountain gaps?) do I want to hear whining about taxes. We ALL hate paying them. Why should anybody like them?
But I have found that aside from extremists, who terrify the representatives of our gerrymandered districts but who don't scare me much, most people really would be willing to pay a little more to get rid of this boomerang deficit we are SO, SO SICK OF EVEN HEARING ABOUT. Get rid of the damn thing already.
But we want to really be RID of it. And we don't want our money WASTED. We want it treated with a caution bordering on sheer reverence. If an official drops a quarter in a sewer, they'd better go get it, because that is a hardworking TAXPAYER'S quarter. Americans now work more hours than the citizens of any other nation in the world. On our time off we try to do laundry, grocery shopping, pay bills and re-introduce ourselves to our spouses and our children. We are tired and are having to make decisions like can we keep a child in college, or have a child, or feed the child we have, or even feed ourselves. The economy sucks. We're having a hard time. We want sympathy and we want the spenders to account for every single blood-and-sweat-soaked cent. Twice. With a paper trail.
Oh, and despite what has been assumed by some, we aren't completely dim. We know we need a more stable source of tax revenue than just the income tax, which fluctuates widely. Some of us never meant to vote in Prop. 13 savings for commercial property, btw. We could consider phasing that one out, but maybe not right now. (Recession. It's a bad one. Don't forget that.) We also are not averse to a "rainy-day" fund. It's just that this IS a rainy day (figuratively; it actually rarely rains in the summer), so it's not a great time to establish one.
We also don't need to be alone with Rhode Island and Arkansas in requiring a 2/3 vote of the legislature to pass a budget, since budget delays cost us money. We don't want to lose any more money on budget delays. We also would like to have our legislators work on more than just budget budget budget all the time. Rhode Island, as I can tell you because my family comes from there, is pretty small. 2/3 of the legislature probably goes to your block party, when you live there. I don't know much about Arkansas. But I doubt we need to use them as a model for our budget procedures. So we want this stuff fixed. We don't care if it's hard to fix. It's not impossible. We tamed a continent. We went to the moon. We invented velcro (well, someone did, somewhere.) We can fix stupid procedural stuff.
We want what we know we deserve to have. We want our kids in decent schools, our universities teeming with brilliant minds to attract research and development to our state, our sick people getting health care, our poor people allowed enough to keep from dying in the streets, our parks open, our economy back to work, our violent offenders locked up, our police and fire protection well-funded and ready at all times, our absentee ballots dammit since a lot of us have to, you know, work on voting days (betcha you all didn't know they were planning on taking those ballots away to save money), our roads drivable, our environment clean, and clear and steady progress made towards getting us out of the mess overborrowing helped to get our state into. We want our leaders to cut paperwork, duplication, waste, streamline administrative costs, bring down high salaries, slash perks. Then the silent majority of the sane will consider something like maybe a small and better-be-temporary sales tax increase, which no one likes, most don't want, is regressive, is not so hot for our economy overall, and we will most certainly all spit on it, but: we will suck it up if and only if those who work for our government do their part first.
I exempt the Governor from the call for cuts, since he is not drawing a salary. For this I wish to thank him.
However, I can't nominate him for sainthood. Two big strikes against him waiting at the pearly gastes: 1. he didthis , by stealth. Kicking the folks who are already choosing between food and medication isn't very nice. This was done so fast, btw, that not only was their no time for public comment, but some of the agencies involved found out about it first from their clients.
He's cut and is cutting state programs down to such a low level of funding that we lose the federal funds we would otherwise qualify for. In some cases those funds would pay for the majority of the program. And in all cases, the taxpayers I know want all the money back from Washington we can possibly get to be used right here in OUR state. Why should we be funding stuff in other states instead? Someone please tell Arnold to stop disqualifying us from our federal money! (I would wag a finger at him, but after years of prednisone therapy am not attractive enough to get away with it.)
Admittedly, not everyone who works for the government can afford to live with no salary like our governor does, and we don't want to restrict government service to only the wealthy. But again, before they kill citizens, before they shut the state down, that median income limit for them all is looking awfully good to me.
Or, we could replace a lot of 'em with volunteers. I personally would be happy to work on the Let's Balance The State Budget Now! Online Email Working Group. Salary $0.00. Meet me on a Yahoo list. I'll keep the light on (one tiny bulb, all the others turned off for frugality) for ya.
P.S. I know I left the illegal alien issue out. Remember, we need to know about cost/benefit. We can't afford to ignore cost/benefit right now. All other passions aside, unfortunately, this has to be about money.
P.P.S. Yeah, I'm ok with legalizing marijuana. If someone can convince the DEA to lay off because I don't want to waste any money fighting with them. And if the stuff can only be used on licensed premises, subject to a nice hefty licensing fee naturally, and of course taxed the hell out of. I'm ok with putting gangs, who seem to be doing quite well right now based on the Al Capone business model, out of business. However, I don't think kids should be exposed to marijuana, even at home. And it's got to be illegal to drive under the influence of it. And I don't want to be exposed to it. Judging by what happens to me every time I try to attend a concert, I think I'm allergic. Achoo.
P.P.S. I'm ok with gay marriage, too. Let's have those expensive celebrity weddings here in our state! Celebrants can invite everyone they know from all over the world to SPEND WILDLY! Hey, I know how to do photo editing, cheap...excuse me while I step out to make some business cards...
Try Your Hand At Balancing The Budget. I Got A Surplus, Did You? :) Oh, and you'll learn why Prop. 98, while it helps education funding, is really annoying. It's like two steps forward one step back every time you try to cut anything.
Looney. Tunes.
We can do better than this. Because we have to do better than this.
Contact California's GovernorNOW.
CA residents, please also contact your state representatives.
With lives on the line, there is no time to lose.
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