"Such a deal!"
California Taxpayers, get to pay $35,000. per month for another year to house Mr. James Lamb in a spacious home located on River Road. This deal comes with round the clock protection, rent, utilities, food allowance, two personal aides, psychiatric counseling etc., etc. at an annual cost of more than $420,000.
What
if: our Congress reduced taxes on the rich - they would then hire thousands of
people, who in turn would spend thousands of dollars causing a greater demand
for products which would lead to more jobs and before you know it the
government would get so much tax revenue that they could pay off the national
debt!!!
Or .. . how about this
one: Our Congress could cut
funding for Social Security and Medicare because it is a
terrible burden on the Federal budget - which would then result in those
retired persons dropping their canes, jumping out of their wheel chairs and
going back to work - earn more money which in turn would generate more tax
revenue and suddenly our government would be able to balance the budget and pay
down the national debt - ah yes . . .
if only pigs could fly!!!!
Last June 27, 2011, State
Senator Anthony Cannella, R-Ceres,
had a guest commentary in the Monterey Herald in which he declared
California's pension system was broken and requires fixing but hastened to add:
". . . the whole process confirms that real pension reform isn't going to
happen legislatively. Real pension
reform must happen by a vote of the people." This makes you wonder why bother to elect any State
Legislator if solving serious budgetary problems is not a part of their sworn
duties.
It seems to be a well-established technique to first declare an increase in Social Security benefits and then a few days later announce healthcare costs have gone up which will result in increased Medicare charges to be deducted from Social Security; hence, what the right hand giveth, the left hand taketh away.
It was in December, 2006, that an L.A. Times news article criticized the massive overtime charges submitted by prison guards because of prison overcrowding. At that time 174,000 felons were incarcerated in 33 prisons designed to hold 100,000 inmates. Currently, by order of a federal judicial mandate, California must release 30,000 of these inmates within the next two years, and it appears various counties are willing to accept these prisoners. Assuming California's inmate overpopulation is still 74,000, and not higher, one wonders how releasing 30,000 inmates solves this problem?