I Am Curious (Meg)

Republicans, ever the stately bunch, has a candidate in place to replace California's Arnold Schwarzenegger, star of Kindergarten Cop.  It is Meg Whitman, known as the head of eBay.

In keeping with California's tradition of unpleasant looking governor's, Meg looks to be part man, party cyborg and part walking dead.  She carries herself well, and you can say what you want about eBay, but who doesn't love a site where you can get a DVD for a penny?

Meg started an ad campaign earlier this month that was meant to get her name out there.  The campaign is being paid for by herself because she has millions at her disposal, which of course keeps her in touch with average Californians.  Her ad campaign, which has the mandatory talking points, focuses on creating jobs, cutting government spending and fixing education.  Who can argue with that?

Meg, whom I'm sure will be looking for a presidential run if she wins, is, luckily, no Sarah Palin.  She is, however, your typical politician.

One of Meg's well-thought out plans for creating jobs kind of goes against cutting government spending.  Meg wants to get rid of 40,000 state government jobs.

Brilliant.

Eliminate 40,000 jobs that have healthcare benefits, retirement and pay a living wage.  We all know the private sector offers those things in abundance, so those businesses that aren't hiring now will be hiring under Meg's plan and offering all those same opportunities and benefits.

Again.  Brilliant.

It's more race to the bottom where the ultimate result is economic slavery in the form of debt and check-to-check survival.  Unions will be gutted (a good thing for anti-labor forces).  The average joe will think that less government jobs means less taxes (which I can find no evidence of ever having happened as that money saved just goes to other projects).  And now, people struggling to find decent paying jobs in an economy that cannot be fixed by government alone will now have even more competition.  Some of those displaced workers will most likely go on government aid, thus increasing the burden on that system.

A race to the bottom is always messy.

Meg will be unable to create enough viable jobs to absorb that load.  It is nearly impossible for reasons such as lack of public faith, lack of funds, generations of short-term thinking, and a political system at odds with itself.

I agree that changes must be made.  I don't think that cutting jobs is the answer.  Not now.  Not with the economy this bad.  Cutting government spending, however, is essential.  Just as essential as raising taxes by a slight percentage, actually enforcing taxes on corporations, and creating new taxes from things like decriminalization of pot and prostitution.

So where will government spending be cut?  First, it's important to see what Californians think.

A series of polls down earlier this year showed that California's citizens want control over the budget.  They don't trust the politicians to do it.  I don't trust them, either, but if you continue to examine the polls you quickly see you also can't trust the people because they actually have little to idea what the state spends its money on or how it gets it.

Not good for people who want to make the economic decisions.

Most Californians said the money to run the state comes from the sales tax, with personal income tax, corporate taxes, and car fees coming into place in that order.  In 2009 55% of California's revenues actually came from personal income taxes (remember those 40,000 jobs, Meggie).  Next up, at 31%, was sales tax, 10% corporate tax and 2% from car fees.

Yes, the public was off, but not by that much.

So what does the public think California spends money on?  49% think prisons get the most money.  24% said health and human services (which is more than welfare).  That is followed by K-12 education and then higher education.  The spending does not follow the public's line of thinking, though.  (And for the record, I thought prisons would be high [not first] on the list, too.)

Forty-one percent goes to K-12 education (which, when based on the how bad our school system is, Meg is right in thinking education needs to be fixed).  30% of the money goes to health and human services.  Thirteen percent to higher education and 10% to prisons.

As far as health and human services go (and in full disclosure, I am part of that system ), when the economy goes down the toilet, the need for those services goes up.  Cutting them takes a dire situation and makes it critical.  It's like having a terrorist attack and thinking that is a good moment to close hospitals, shut down fire stations and fire the police.  You can't yank away the life vest in the time of most need.

Our schools are constantly doing fund raisers, yet they get the most money.  What is wrong there?  Mismanagement of funds?  An overburdened system?  That's something for another time.  This is about Meg.

Meg wants to cut government spending, a move I think a lot of Californians would agree with (including myself to a degree).  The interesting thing, though, is that government spending in California has been cut ... drastically.

California is spending billions less now than it did four to five years ago.  Billions.  And we are still in a crisis (perhaps aided in part by budget cuts made by those who don't pay attention to the long term problems).  Where must those cuts come from?

If the state gets most of its money from personal income taxes, cutting jobs is not the way to fix the problem.  Not only must we concentrate on keeping the jobs we have, we have to create new ones.  If we create new jobs, personal income taxes go up, all the programs get more money.  To create new jobs we have to make California attractive to businesses.  Government infrastructure jobs need to be created, and they must be created with long term thinking in mind.

If we can modernize the way the state government runs, we can save money in the long term.  Going paperless saves on paper costs, copier repair, toner replacement and so on.  Creating that system creates jobs.  Changing all government buildings to use green technologies with solar and rain water collection, along with eco-friendly roofs saves energy and water bills and helps to clean the air.  It also creates jobs to create these things.  The money for these things is already in the budget, it's how it is spent that creates problems.  Government would do best to ask its employees how to save money.  They have wonderful ideas.  Since they are in the trenches they can easily see where time (money) is being wasted.

Meg's three tier plan for a better tomorrow is only spot-on on two points.  Fixing education and creating jobs.  Her plan for cutting government spending sounds good until you realize that taking 40,000 well-paid jobs out of a system that relies upon that personal income tax money is like cutting one's throat.  If she seriously thinks she can turn this state around, she needs to realize that drastic actions combined with short-term thinking is what got us into this position to begin with.  If we set up a system that looks ahead ten years, getting to that point will start to solve the problems.

Making pot (and really all drugs) and prostitution legal instantly creates new jobs and more personal and corporate income tax.  Remember, over half of California's revenue comes from those personal income tax dollars.  Over half.  Cutting 40,000 jobs or creating thousands of new ones?  It seems simple to me, but then again, I'm no Meg Whitman, and I'm not buying my way into the government, which poses another question.

Democrats are the ones always accused of throwing money at problems.  Aren't Republicans a little worried that the approach Meg is taking to her campaign (throwing money at it, and willingly stating that she is willing to throw a lot of money at it in order to drown out the other candidates) perhaps indicative of how she'll approach running the government?  I know what she says, but actions speak louder than words, and those Republicans who think cutting funds is the answer may want to give a second look to someone who thinks throwing money around is a viable way to run things.

Another Open Letter to Governor Arnie

Dear Arnie,

As I was driving home tonight, Black Flag and GG Allin dancing through my car speakers, I couldn't help but think of you. I used to be mad that you have, once again, threatened to cut off aid to those California citizens who need it the most (the poor, disabled and elderly -- often one in the same), and then I got wise. I used to think you only thought short term, and then I saw that you really do have a plan in mind.

Ironically, as I write this, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is on my television. Surely you know of it? It has one of the most memorable (and arguably greatest) scores in motion picture history. I believe you or your underlings even used Leone's movie as a reference to the budget situation.

You know, my friends from out of state have asked about you. They've wondered how our state could be in such bad shape. I used to remind them that it is really the citizens' fault. You know, the voters with questionable movie tastes put a man with an admiration for Hitler and a problem with groping women against their will into office. And besides, look how the last actor we elected turned out to be. I'd tell them the only saving grace was that you couldn't run for President. Who knows who you'd fondle then!

But I've changed my tune. Seen the light, if you will. I realize that while pot smoking may have damaged your short term memory capacity, your long term goal setting skills are firmly in place. I can see your plan, too, and I have to agree it's a good one.

Let's say you get your way and you cut off, oh, what everyone refers to as welfare. Money for poor families in the usual guise of single moms. Let's say you cut that program. What will happen?

Mary is a fictitious young mother of one who is one "welfare." You and your cigar buddies, when not pining for the days of the Sonderkommando, probably refer to her as a "leech." It's haunted her all her life, but with a kid, a boyfriend who split, and a state where unemployment is the new employed, Mary had no alternative but to get on public aid. Sure, she could move, but her mom lived down the street, and seemed to be getting weaker by the day, so that wasn't really a feasible plan.

So Mary swallowed her pride, promising herself she'd only be on it as long as she needed it. She'd use it for all it was worth, too. She'd use it to help her find a job, put food on the table, and make sure her kid gets her shots. It was an awkward system at best, but it beat being on the street or sleeping on her mom's couch.

And then you took it away ... or so this future goes.

Mary was terrified. Her mom, who was barely making it on Social Security Disability for a back injury that happened twenty years ago and never got better, helped out as much as she could. She even hired Mary to do her laundry. It was a small gesture, but she had been getting weaker for months now, and was afraid to tell Mary why. Mary's mom, you see, was defecating what looked like blood, and she was dying.

Mary knew something was wrong, and she knew her mom was seeing a doctor. It wasn't the best care, but you do what you can, right? One day while folding laundry, however, Mary found out just what was wrong with her mom. Small blood stains in the panties. Mom was in menopause. Mary, not being a dumb cookie, knew that meant Bad News.

At that point Mary decided she needed to do something. And she vowed to get into school to become a nurse. And she did. She applied for every loan, scholarship and every single bit of financial aid she could. She had to work, too. Part-time jobs when she could find them. Crap jobs. Hell, one time she was almost fired when she didn't give the assistant manager at Taco Bell a blow job. She struggled, and she missed her baby. Missed her first steps because she was waiting tables. Missed doctors appointments because she was in school. Missed her first words because she was doing schoolwork.

She missed other things, too. Free time. A social life. The kiss from a boyfriend she didn't have time for. Her mom's health. Soon her mother wouldn't be able to watch little Patty. Mary didn't know what she would do when that happened, but she would manage. Becoming a nurse meant everything to her. It meant getting out from this life of poverty.

She graduated. She got a job at a hospital. And she got good at it.

And she still missed things as the years went on.

More poor people with no medical coverage meant longer hours. Longer hours meant she missed her daughter's plays. Longer hours meant that boyfriend would have to wait, too. Longer hours meant she knew less and less of her little girl, and even less of the woman she was becoming.

But Mary succeeded. She pulled herself up by her proverbial bootstraps and transferred to a good hospital in Southern California for good money. Gone were the days of not being able to let her daughter join a sports team because money was tight. Gone were the days of worrying about whether or not the car would break down and then she wouldn't be able to fix it. Gone were those days.

And then Patty graduated and went off to college. She was going to go into social work. She was going to help people like her mom. It was something she learned from Mary. Mary was proud of her, too. She wasn't going to miss that graduation.

Mary got to work with the dying. Her compassion, empathy and skills meant that she got to work with those patients who needed companionship more than medicine because they were on their way out, and that's where she met you, Arnie.

No, you don't look the way you look now. The cancer got you pretty good. Started in your lungs. All those cigars and L.A. smog really did a number. Maria, bless her soul, passed on a few years before you. Auto accident.

Mary was astonished to see you. Even more astonished that you had so few visitors other than vampires with cameras and the occasional family member. Mary got to spend a lot of time with you ... alone.

She did most of the talking because you couldn't. The most you could manage was a smile or a gasp or two. But Mary did enough talking for the both of you.

She told you about her life after you took the tiny check from her hands. The check she used to depend on. She told you how she had to stretch the money to make it last, but that she was grateful for it. She told you what happened after you decided the state didn't need to take care of its poor anymore. She told you how she spent night after night crying and studying because her daughter didn't seem to recognize her anymore. She told you how she once found two lumps in her breast and didn't go to the doctor for months because she thought that with Medi-Cal being cut so drastically she'd have no care. She told you of how she used to count the change she found in the couch to see if she could buy her daughter a soda. She told you of the time she dated a mechanic because she knew her car was breaking down and that if it did she wouldn't be able to get to school or work and how badly that would fuck things up. She told you, in polite terms, how he knew she was desperate and often demanded sexual favors she wasn't quite up to performing but did anyway because "I can maybe put that alternator in, hon, but if not it's gonna cost you a lot at some shop." She told you of how her daughter eventually got a job to help out around the house because the nursing gig wasn't paying all the bills when you considered the braces that weren't covered by Medi-Cal, and how she quit after three months because the boss kept touching her. Mary told you how she cried that night ... a situation that happened far too often ... because she remembered thinking how things never change. She told you how her daughter caught her crying and promised she'd do better next time, and how she felt bad she couldn't help out with the groceries anymore.

Mary told you a lot. The anger. The pain. The tears. The rage at not having a helping hand when she needed it most because you decided to make her and people like her a line item on a budget you could barely understand because you never so much as balanced your checkbook. She told you how much it hurt to not be there for her daughter growing up, and how much it tore her up because she had to miss her mother's funeral because it meant not going to work, and the electric was that close to being shut off.

And she asked if you knew what any of that was like. She asked if you had any clue what it was like to really struggle. Not struggle like you were, riddled with cancer and unable to pee on your own, but struggle just to put soup on the table.

Then she asked if you knew what the definition of "easy" was. Then she described it. Easy was leaving a zero off a chart, or adding a 6 in the right place. Easy was reporting you gave certain medicines but actually forgot to. It was easy because Mary was good at her job and trusted. She was a compassionate nurse. Never hurt a fly. She had struggled, sure, but nobody knew why she really struggled. And that's what easy was to her. Easy was being in the position to help the helpless and then doing harm.

And Arnie, I must say, you never looked weaker than at that moment. Lying there in that bed, all ninety-eight pounds of you. Skin like paper on your skull. Muscles that had turned to jelly quite some time ago. Tubes in your nose and penis. IVs feeding you pain meds and something that substituted for food in sci-fi movies like you used to star in. Unable to talk or even turn your head too far. Sometimes your lips were speckled with God-knows-what that came up from your lungs, and Mary always wiped it away as gently as she wiped it away from everyone else.

Easy.

So easy.

So easy to be the one in charge of helping the helpless and then doing harm. So easy to just forget whatever legacy you leave behind and commit the worst of crimes without any retribution because you can.

Easy.

Easy to forget to do something, to flub a number, to mess up a chart. Hell, all the doctors knew your clock had stopped ticking quite some time ago. They were just waiting for you to figure it out.

Easy.

Mary could've taken the high road. She could've used this as an example for her daughter and said, "... and that is why you treat people with respect no matter what they've done."

Easy.

Mary did the right thing that day. She treated you just like you treated her when the roles were reversed. And she never looked back. Nobody ever said "boo."

Easy.

You may not care about your legacy, Arnie, but others do. Others whose lives are directly affected by your cavalier attitude toward the most helpless of California's citizens. I don't believe in karma, and the way you're acting says you don't either, but I do believe that people get what's coming to them. Ever see Fight Club? Of course you have. You were -- sorry -- are an actor. Do you remember that scene were our heroes all got jobs serving the likes of you and all the wonderful things they did?

You may lead a privileged life, Arnie. One you may think you earned and deserve. But remember this: Your privileged life doesn't keep you from coming into contact with people whose lives are affected by things like insane budget cuts that make no real long-term sense. Take five minutes and think about the people who bring you your food in restaurants, who fix your brakes, who come into your home, who give you your medicine when you're dying of cancer.

And remember that while it is easy to make those dollars disappear, it's just as easy to say, "Turnabout is fair play."

Easy.

A Missed Opportunity: California Could've Had a New Governor!

I was going to be writing for Associated Content tonight, but I don't think that site will want what I'm about to write. It needs to be said, though, so with Movie Star Junkies blaring in the background, I will do my best.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger visited Eureka, California today. He came to glance at the damage caused by Saturday's 6.5 earthquake. He spoke in Old Town. Pontificated about helping those in need, coming to the aid of those in emergency situations, referenced Haiti (which is only an emergency situation when something like a 7.0 quake happens -- which is all part of the problem). He smiled. Promised that monetary concerns come second.

I hope the irony wasn't totally lost.

Why is it that longterm, perpetual economic policies that hurt the disenfranchised, poor, elderly and disabled are budget cuts, but acts of nature are emergencies -- as if the two don't sometimes go hand in hand?

I guarantee that Schwarzenegger's economic policies, which have resulted in 200,000 state workers losing 14% of their pay, massive cuts to social programs and little else, have done more damage than Saturday's earthquake. Yet, somehow, this was not brought up. Not even part of the discussion, and most likely not part of the thought process.

And then there's Haiti, a country were poverty is the national status quo. Had the nation had more real economic support (and far less corruption), perhaps the buildings wouldn't be in such a state of disrepair that the dead line the streets and crowd carports while children sleep amongst the rotting bodies.

Yeah, our earthquake caused problems. A hip was broken. Lots of property damaged. To have this governor come drop in for a visit, though, and claim he's going to make everything all right is akin to getting reassurance from John Wayne Gacy that the teen boy's home he's going to oversee is in good hands. Actions speak louder than words, and past actions often dictate future results.

Fortunately for Arnie, people suffer from short term memory loss.

Why, after all our experiences with the last actor we elected, would Californians elect a man who openly supported and admired Hitler, of all leaders to run one of the biggest economies in the world? "I admire Hitler," he said in the past. "... because he came from being a little man with almost no formal education, up to power. I admire him for being such a good public speaker and for what he did with it."

Mirror and I went to lunch today. I was driving. We passed near where Arnie was speaking. I beeped. It was that or drive my car through the crowd to run his ass over. I have a child, though, whom I love dearly and jail just isn't in my future. (They'll never take me alive!)

It was a good thought, though. Payback, if you will. Yeah, I support politically motivated assassinations as acts of self-defense because the average citizen in the face of what amounts to economic terrorism at the hands of a man with all kinds of uncomfortable ties to National Socialism have little recourse but to use violence. The average Joe can't hurt Arnie and the other politicos pulling the strings economically, but violence is a great equalizer ... just ask the U.S. government.

(As an aside, at least one person jokingly asked if I had plans today, in reference to Arnie. I had found out about his speaking far too late, or I would've taken the day off to protest and call him out on his shit. I wouldn't have really tried to run him over for the reasons stated, but if someone would've taken a shot, I would have only clapped.)

Our "leaders," the people we "elect" have done nothing to benefit the average citizen since I can remember. Even the great hope that is Obama has been nothing but a talking head failure whose policies follow far too closely in the previous administration's footsteps. This is Arnie's last year. Once gone he will hopefully, like the Hitler mustache his father used to sport, go out of style. I just fear the legacy he leaves will cripple California even worse than it is now. I hope he leaves with his tail between his legs instead of kicking us in the balls one more time.

Seeing his smug face on the news reminded me of how much people are afraid to actually say something like, "Good thing you're here. Nice to be noticed, and thanks for helping. But what about the 364 days out of the year where you are doing your absolute best to piss in the face of people confined to wheelchairs and families who can't afford medical care? Where's the emergency help there? Just because a building isn't falling doesn't mean lives aren't damaged and turning to shit. Open your fucking eyes and see through that cloud of cigar smoke. You are directly ruining people's lives, and yet you throw around words like 'help' and 'aid' as if you mean it."

Nobody. Not a soul. Not a word. At least not that I heard.

Leaders, those people in power who are there in an unjustified position, need to be grilled, need to be confronted, need to be made to feel uncomfortable. Instead, they feel sacrosanct. Untouchable. Sublime.

The day Reagan died was a day of great joy in my house.

I'm having a glass of wine the day Arnie dies. I'm going to watch Total Recall and sip away as I think of all the people he harmed through his wanton acts of budgeting. And then I'll lament the day I could've hit the gas and plowed forward. I wouldn't want to harm innocents, and luckily I'm not a Nazi sympathizer like California's governor with the belief that the end justifies the means.

I guess he can be thankful that not everyone is as big a prick as he is ... and that some of us don't forget.

Destiny Will Be Kind

Another tired post. The The have this great lyric. I hope I got this right. "Everyone 'round here thinks they're somethin' special/That destiny will be kind." I like it because it's true ... and destiny is rarely kind.

I was told today that I was compassionate, and that people liked dealing with me. Then the question was thrown out there: How long can your psyche handle what you are dealing with? I think a year ... and that's thinking that destiny will be kind.



And then I saw this ...

A man on television was asked what he does for a living (I have no idea what is on television). He replied, "I'm more of a socialite." The woman said, "So you do nothing then?" Ain't that right. If you consider being a "socialite" as doing something, then you pretty much have announced to the world that you are using vital oxygen and resources to keep your unproductive ass going. If I met this guy and he told me he was a socialite, I would be hard pressed not to either A) hit him, or B) make him explain that to me in a way that would make me not want to hit him.

I don't know why that bothered me so much, but it did. I think I just had it with people who thrive on and create drama, who create their own problems and then freak out when they come to a head, and those who slither through life sucking dry the mental, physical, emotional and financial stocks of those around them. I've had friends like that. It's always bugged me.

A socialite. Seriously. Said with pride. I'm more of a socialite. I think if I ever said that seriously, and not in my usual sarcastic, mocking way, the sound that would follow would be that of a the gun going off in my mouth. What a way to announce to the world that you are a waste of space. Cancer. Suicide. Victim of a terrorism attack. Do something already. Jesus.

And for you Eureka residents, KIEM news just reported that the water and sewage rate hikes (which were set to be financially crippling -- I had already had plans on how to deal with and make up the money) were put on hold for now because City Hall filled up with seniors who were protesting the hikes. The hikes were going to double (at the least) people's water and sewage bills. It's back to the drawing board now because one group of voters you don't want to piss off is seniors. (You can wait for them to die, but more take their place every day.)

Tomorrow our governor, that drooling madman, will deliver his State of the State address where he is sure to talk of new ways of fucking the poor and disabled up the ass with his herpe-sore riddled penis. It'll be good for them, he'll say. It'll force them to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, like he's had to do. When the fuck are we going to stop hiring actors to pretend to be politicians? This guy is a psychopathic clown with a hard-on for wrecking people's lives. Hell, the furloughs are under attack. So he talks lay-offs. The state is facing a $21 billion deficit. He will talk about how the poor suck that from CA's tit through those welfare programs that are making people rich. He won't, I'm sure, talk about tax loopholes for the wealthy and corporations. That's the difference between "special interests" and "national interests" (or in this case "state interests"). Special interests benefit people. National (or state) interests benefit corporations. This economic crisis the country is in wasn't caused by the poor. Last I checked, an unchecked Wall Street decided to really play pimp to the whore in us all, and in turn savaged itself, too (something that is delicious on a few different levels). Tomorrow's speech will be interesting. We'll see what happens, but I think things will be bleak until he's no longer employed by the public he continues to keep fucking without protection.

Let's Hear it for the Good Ol' Days (aka Justice With a Knife)

. This Monday is not working out very well. Not very well at all. It'll be better once I have my daughter with me tonight, but until then I feel like I'm on a real short fuse and probably should not be going to work. I should probably hole myself up in the house and keep away from people until this dark mood passes.

I feel like dealing with people the way they need to be dealt with, and that won't go well at all.

On a brighter note, people who are unemployed in California are being told they may want to look to moving out of the state as other states have more job opportunities. More program cuts are coming to my state, too, because, as we all know, the Enron-like accounting tricks used on the last budget are only going to compound the deficit problem we have. Not since Reagan kicked all those mentally ill out has California faced such a potential disaster as thousands of disabled people face losing the places they call home. Imagine places like Ukiah, San Diego, and even Eureka looking like Calcutta with better scenery. People in failing electric scooters, rusting leg braces, shirts stained with drool and feces with their hands out begging for whatever change you can spare. And those are just the ones who can beg. There are others who will be wandering the streets like zombies, and still others propped up in corners.

Obviously that is an exaggeration, but the budget woes do mean that people with disabilities may lose their place to stay as a lot of the programs that house them are forced to shut their doors. Those unemployed care providers may be able to move out of state and find other jobs, but what about the people they care for? They will not be so lucky.

Yeah, this Monday is shaping up to be quite a day. Justice like a knife.

A Whirlwind of Broken Glass and Shattered Dreams

Christmas Eve. The sushi is consumed. Reindeer food and cookies laid out. Gifts under the tree. Work was work, though very mellow today. Tomorrow I get to spend part of the day with my girl. The other part? I'll spend it with myself. Not always the best place to be, but I should be coasting off her excitement for a good part of it. I want to rest so this cough goes away, but if it is like everyone else's, I'll have this for a month.

Our governor, that mush-mouthed motherfucker who governs as well as he acts, is attacking all things Social Services (re: special interests) again, and playing Enron-like games with the budget. Next year is apparently his last year in office (unless something like cancer or a bullet ends it earlier). It can't some soon enough. The guy constantly attacks the poor as if they are the reason California's budget is in the fucking toilet. It's not. There are several reasons why it is broken (deregulation of the power industry, out of control worker's compensation cases, the housing crisis to name just a few), but the poor is not one of them.

Schwarzenegger is supposed to present his budget by January 8. One can only imagine what will be in this one. For a guy that comes across as a moderate Republican, he acts like an Italian dictator trying to operate within a democracy.

Cancer or a bullet. God I hate this fucker.

This Wasteland

The governor of California, who lacks the effectiveness of his National Socialist role models, is apparently using his veto power to strike down parts of the budget and is calling for more cuts to healthcare and welfare services. Time for honesty and brutality.

It's easy to cut these services. After all, the members of society who use them the most are looked at as "unproductive." There is some truth to this in general terms. They don't pay as much in taxes (a quality they share with another useless group of society -- the rich). They don't vote, so there is little chance of political repercussion. There are many who can't/won't work, so they also don't contribute much in the way of income tax. In other words, they are looked at as a drain upon society.

Of course, what isn't looked at is what happens when these services are cut, though plenty of healthcare and welfare providers have pointed it out. In short, it becomes a disaster. A bad situation becomes worse. People who can't eat aren't just going to go away. People who don't get their monthly rent money from the counties just don't disappear to go live somewhere else. In times of economic crisis substance abuse goes up, domestic violence goes up, crime goes up, health goes down (this happens across all economic sectors). The California governor, Schwarzenegger, may look upon these people as unimportant and unproductive, but the ecologist in me sees a disaster that will cripple the state even more than the legislators inability to act

There are tough decisions to made. No argument there. I just think that many people, myself included, are having a hard time seeing how these budget cuts really spread the misery, as those politicians have proclaimed. Perhaps they weren't referring to the cuts themselves but rather the outcome of those mercenary decisions.

California Budget Talks Delayed Again

We wait with crossed fingers and hope in our hearts. Our faces turned toward the sun, wishing that the answer, like a majestic California condor, will fly by and relieve us of our worry. When, oh dear saintly governor, will there be a budget.

Not today.

As Californians wait to hear if they'll lose healthcare, have a job or even be able to afford gas, the state's legislators have once again postponed a meeting because Speaking of the Assembly Karen Bass had other plans.

How long until we can get rid of all these fuckers? They should be locked in a room, not flying off to meetings. Maybe they should be made to feel the stress we all feel. Citizens can pay a nominal fee (which will go into the state's coffers) to go in there and hold a gun to the head of their chosen politico.

"Start negotiations, bitches!" Gun pressed harder against the temple. Ahh, the sweet smell of fear. It's the same smell all those Welfare-to-Work receipents have been giving off these past few months.

Now there apparently won't be any news until Monday morning around 11 a.m.. Splendid. Another day. Another billion dollars.

These people can't be trusted with choices, let alone the world's eighth largest economy. Take it away from them. Send them off to where they will be semi-functional (like Eureka's Taco Bell). Do it, and do it soon. At this point, I'm pretty sure the Taliban could do a better job.

Police Use Scare Tactics To Get Their Way

California, as many of you know, is in the depths of a budget crisis the likes of which is almost unimaginable. In case you haven't heard, the state is giving out IOUs in lieu of cash. (It's a great idea! I'll be paying my bills that way.)

Almost everything is on the chopping block. The poor, as is usually the case, are targeted, as are libraries, city services, police, fire and state parks. Furloughs have been extended to yet another Friday, and astute citizens are beginning to choke on fear as it were an oversized penis being slowly shoved down the throat of the populace.

The police are not taking this sitting down.

Instead, police are doing the usual. They claim they won't be able to "serve and protect" (which we already know is a joke), and 9-1-1 calls won't be answered in a timely manner (and in some places already aren't). Talk has been made of issuing more concealed weapons permits. They are painting images of the poor accosting citizens in the streets and drug dealers breaking into your home to fondle you and make off with your flat screen television.

It's the same images they only use, only know they paint them with the budget crisis brush.

Why should the public fall for this other than the whole public be sheep angle? The answer is: They shouldn't. When the police have had larger budgets most still haven't been able to do anything with crime. The reason is fairly simple in that police aren't the reason crime drops. Yes, they can change their tactics (not increase their budget) in order to target crime better (something which has worked), but police presence just drives crime somewhere else. Crime drops for various different reasons, and police have so very little to do with it.

Citizens need to protect themselves. End of story there. The police, who as a group seem to enjoy fanning the flames of fear, need to take their cuts like the poor they most fear. Mayors, who are no strangers to the fear mongering, need to do the same.

Or do they?

Are these cuts to the budget necessary? California has other avenues of revenue. Avenues that are starting to be looked at, and while they may not help with this budget crisis (treated like a game of Risk by our elected officials who should be strung up by their intestines at this point and beat like pinatas). Decriminalizing drugs and prostitution and paying serious attention to green energies could be the key out of this. God knows that if you tax pot and poon you'll get a decent chunk of money (and can help keep those ladies disease free making less likely that dad brings home HIV to the wife). Drug users won't stop using pot because it's taxed. And green energies are the future.

Of course, police will balk at this. They will use the same tired arguments meant to boost their budgets, ranks and egos. Most of the public will buy it, shivering with fear behind closed doors as reruns of Two and a Half Men tickle their child-like funny bones.

At some point in this budget crisis, my job may be on the line. Because elected officials (those same ones who deserve the lynching) can't stop pissing in the sandbox, my daughter and I and a lot of my friends may suffer. The people whom we call our clients will suffer. And heads haven't rolled yet.

Maybe we should start using the police's tactics. Start telling the politicians that if they don't pass a reasonable budget, we'll be sneaking into their houses and making way with their computers, credit cards and attractive females. We'll be shooting up in their bathrooms, leaving dirty needles and heroin vomit in their tubs. The wolves will come home to feast.