Brother, can you spare a dime?
Carin sent me an e-mail this morning asking that I write my state legislators and tell them that we should keep the parks open. The Governator has proposed shutting most of them down to keep California finances from falling into the Pacific.
Now I like trees as much as the next guy. But I have so many requests to contact my legislators that I don’t know where to start. Food for the home-bound, health care for the indigent, school class sizes smaller than the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, help for single mothers with a dozen or more kids housed at Motel Six, prison guards who won’t be able to spend their normal two weeks on the French Riviera, and my own local library that may have to burn its books. What’s a guy to do?
Budget cuts are rampant. The Democrats, held hostage by minority Republicans who are the beneficiaries of the super-majority requirement bestowed on them by us, are catatonic and incapable of doing anything but closing down the state.
As the NY Times reported…
The Democratic-controlled Legislature has been uncharacteristically silent on most of the cuts, most likely because lawmakers know that tax increases are not politically palatable, that huge cuts in some form are in the offing no matter what, and that any program they wish to spare will quite likely have advocates among their ranks.
Letters to the editor abound. “About time someone took an axe to the state budget. The voters have spoken. No tax increase. Cut out the waste. A pox on their houses.” Many cite the evidence of the overwhelming defeat of the recent unintelligible ballot propositions as clear evidence that tax increases are unacceptable. Maybe. Maybe not.
Less than a third of California registered voters participated in the election. Last week American Idol polled about 100 million votes. I’m proud to say that I voted in the election. I’m also proud to say I’ve never seen American Idol.
I voted against all of the propositions, even the one that passed. The one that punishes the legislature if we run a deficit. I’m not sure why the legislature should be punished. We’re the ones who’ve hamstrung them. Maybe we should get a pay cut too.
I thought a long time about the propositions. Maybe ten minutes which, at my age, is a significant commitment. I realized that passage would be a band-aid on the real problem only to be followed by more ballot propositions. And we would continue our role as the state’s budget experts and chief financial planners. A dubious honor, the silliness of which is supported by any discussion overheard at Ojai Coffee Roasting.
No, I voted against the propositions in the hope that the Rapture would begin. A wholesale slaughter. The coming of the Messiah. A cataclysmic event that would move the electorate. An event so overwhelming and distasteful that we would admit to our wickedness. And beg for change. Beg that we change the way this state is run. Beg that the legislature take over from us, the incompetent. Beg that, unless we are trampling on individual rights, that a majority of our legislature enact the law.
So, please don’t ask me to tell my elected representatives to keep the parks open. Don’t ask me to make donations to keep the schools open. Don’t ask me to take over the legitimate responsibilities of our elected representatives. Do ask me to vote for a change to the way this state is run. Do ask me to support legitimate public services by paying my fair share.
Meanwhile, brother, I can’t spare a dime.
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Comments (4)
Good work Fred. It is a challenge and everyone may be effected by this current crisis. Yes, I want the parks to stay open (just got back from 3-days at Refugio; one if the targeted closures). Yes, I want schools/colleges to remain available to all. Yes, I want health insurance for those children who are without. Yes, I want animals to have five extra days before euthenization. Yes, I think the wealthy should pay more in taxes a the poor because we have a social obligation to humanity.
But what if we have to choose? Living children or open parks? Hmmmm.
Pretty tough. We need systemic change and it will be painful to accomplish. Maybe it's time for this 7th largest economy in the world to fail in order to have a systemic change? q
Comment #1 Posted by: Kenley | June 3, 2009 05:00 PM
Systemic change = change the constitution. Go to http://www.repaircalifornia.org/index.php for info on a Constitutional Convention. On the FB page, there is a link to a great study: http://www.ppic.org/content/pubs/report/R_1208BCR.pdf
Comment #2 Posted by: judy k | June 3, 2009 05:07 PM
Great piece, Fred -- I'm thoroughly enjoying your sense of humor!
About the parks -- if you look at the numbers, there is actually a much easier fix: up the entry fees to make up the shortfall.
It's been a couple of days since I've looked at the numbers, but I'm remembering that we'd save $70 million this year if the parks were closed. The parks bring in 80 million visitors a year -- average a buck more per person and we're in business with a surplus.
I know any cuts are painful, but this one truly doesn't make sense to me -- every dollar spent on the parks generates money in tourist dollars for CA -- ranging from $2.25 on the dollar to $10.00 on the dollar depending on how wide the rubric is.
Then, I think about areas like Big Sur, which almost completely depend on tourism in state parks -- they're already reeling from the effects on tourist traffic after the fire last year (we were able to get a room at Deetjens last summer with about two weeks notice -- unheard of). This could finish them off.
At least 2,000 Californians would lose their jobs if the parks close.
So, I don't think we have to chose between children and parks.
(And then, as my pretty straight laced husband suggested last night -- the real answer is to legalize CA's largest cash crop...).
Comment #3 Posted by: Leigh | June 3, 2009 06:32 PM
Legalizing Marijuana would bring in great revenue for the state, but the big savings would be when the busts are ended. These raids and incarceration of illegal nationals costs the state an enormous amount of money. The recent bust in Matillija-I'd love to see the price tag on that one, including the amount of revenue wasted for burning or burying or what ever it is they do with it once confiscated. END THE DRUG WAR- that alone will fix our budget.
Comment #4 Posted by: legalize it | June 4, 2009 06:59 AM