Letter: Who, really, is the bigger thief? (March 3)
Well, I really have seen it all. When will Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and all the people involved in cutting the school budgets get a clue?
The continued intimidations and using our children as the source to make their point is really getting old. How come it comes down to the “school budgets” every time the State of California budget has to be fixed?
There is no communication on cutting future projects, or closing the loopholes in the tax code. What has happened to simple logic, like, children need their education to become self-sufficient adults, but that new buildings or new fuel economy cars for the state workers, could wait until the economy turns around? Why haven’t we heard about the projects up for funding which will be placed on hold until the economy has turned around? Why haven’t we heard about wage freezes, which I experienced many times in the private industry, as a way to cut costs during downturns?
Or, here is an idea — no more meetings out of town, with reimbursements going through the roof for golf, food, etc.? Or, Nancy Pelosi only getting one trip to Washington on a private jet, every month with tax funds.
Why are we still hearing about adding top executives with great benefits, and taking away the basics for our children? Where does this all end up? It is never, “we will do what it takes to make sure our children have the skills they will need to become productive adults.”
Instead, it is, “we will cut this, and close that, and have the kids ride buses for more hours, and less educational time for the kids, unless you give more of your tax dollars so government can make sure that they have the latest fuel economy car, and their lives are not disrupted at all.”
What will be the fuel cost for busing the children from the country into the city? Give me a break. Why haven’t the newspapers shown the budget, and where the dollars are currently going? How many “special projects” are still in the budget so “under the table deals” can be made? How much will be spent on increased costs for fuel, and expenses for moving children from their current school to somewhere else?
What has happened to the common-sense people in the world, wherever they are? We need to find them, and place them in positions which would make common-sense decisions about California and the economy.
We were sold a bill of goods, that if we allowed the gambling casinos to be built, our schools would have more than enough money to take care of current and future needs for our children. Where has that idea gone, as a friend recently told me, “out the back door.” What does that mean?
I’m so tired of hearing about reallocation of funds. Again, common sense is, if we voted on something for the money to be placed in a fund for that reason, then do it.
This whole situation with reprioritizing where the money from the casinos is now going is the same situation that has happened to our Social Security funds. Go in as deductions from our wages for our senior years, “go out the back door” for special projects, but no one can actually say what the project was about, or doesn’t feel it is our business.
Our governments are so corrupted with lies and cheating, I’m not sure whether we should be locking up the thief on the streets first, or all of the people in our government who say one thing, and do another.
Who really is the bigger thief? Why is it possible for Oprah to live in California so many months out of the year and not have to pay the same taxes we have to pay? All these loopholes need to come to an end. Closing the loopholes in our tax code alone would probably pay for our children’s educational needs. And they want us to blindly now give government the authority to determine our health care needs.
Where are the people we voted in, who with confidence we gave them the authority to look at all these situations, and make choices for the whole of California, not just for their buddies, who would make sure they got back into office? Sure Oprah will back so and so, because she knows he/she will make sure she has no disruptions in her lifestyle, but make the children pay the consequences. No new taxes for those guys, right?
How much change will be made to those in Hollywood? Will their children be bused across town, or their schools closed? I think not. I sure would like to see the revenue from taxes from Hollywood, versus the farmers in the valley. It is time for disclosure, not destructive decisions.
Cecelia Jones,
Madera
This letter is in response to the letter of March 3 by Cecelia Jones of Madera. In my humble opinion, Ms. Jones made some very valid points. As a matter of fact, I read her letter over several times and could not find one thing that I disagreed with. So why am I writing? Let me clarify.
People are too complacent, they feel it doesn’t matter whom they vote into office, because they are all crooks anyway. That attitude is what has gotten us into the situation that we are in now.
As Ms. Jones stated, we need some good, old common-sense people in our elected offices. People who are not politicians. People who don’t owe big developers favors. People who don’t have the support of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), or any other union, because they refuse to be making a living, pay their bills, support a family, live with a budget and make ends meet.
Of course, if someone like this would actually consider running for office, the big bucks would try to crush that person like a bug. But it’s going to take people just like this to make a difference and put us back on the right track.
We have an election coming up June 8, and I for one am going to take a long hard look at the candidates. If I can find one that fits even some of what I am looking for, I might even support them with more than just my vote.
Ron Ogella,
Madera