Finally a yes vote, but what price?

I was initially happy to get that Able yes vote, but the more I look at the details, the more annoyed I get.
I don't want to parse it here and now, but I think there are larger issues at play in the land.
It is curious that no one is going to trial for some of the excesses on the national scene, and no one seems to be paying anything more than HOME ARREST, ie., Bernie Maddoff. Wouldn't you think his ass would be slapped in jail by now?
I find Bill Maher to be a real jackass, and his new show last night really affirmed that, but finally at the end, he put it on the line...some people need to be held responsible...like executed! Or at least have a hand chopped off, or maybe fingers, digit by digit.
And get them out of their damn penthouses!!! How are they paying the rent with other peoples money!

ONE MORE YES VOTE!!!

Come on Able Maldonado...I know you can do it. Give up your salary, make the rest of them look like fools and do the right thing tonight!
I might even move to Santa Maria to vote for you next time! Not!!!
DO THE RIGHT THING

One 100 Days and still waiting!

I love this photo which was apparently taken yesterday. I just visited the Press Democrat site today (a Saturday by the way) hopeful that the Assembly had finally taken some action, but as of an hour ago, nada! They were to begin meeting at 9 a.m. today. The Senate is to meet at 5 p.m. also today presumably to vote on the same bill.

What I really loved after reading the paper this morning was the comment by Abel Maldonado, R-Santa Maria who stated that "This could be a career-ender for folks on both sides."

What does that tell us? Could it be that the people of California are sick and tired of this particular batch of politicans, all politicans, or only those politicians who vote based on whether or not it might be a career ending move for them? I think sometimes politicians have to think beyond their own narrow CAREER interests, and even the expressed opinions of a small but mighty vocal minority, and do the RIGHT thing! Even if it may turn out to be a CAREER ENDER!

Pay Now or Pay Later

Well, here's some more for the list of how we are going to be paying for the ineptitude of our legislative body for years to come. In a recent article sent by my son, his local irrigation district has decided to postpone infrastructure projects (as well as leave unfilled positions vacant) in an effort to trim $2.8 million dollars from their budget. But ...

Postponing maintenance projects now won’t make the work go away. In coming years, the projects could become more expensive capitol costs, Nelson said. “We know we have aging infrastructure needing more and more maintenance all the time,” Nelson said.

Oh, well, let's put our thumb in the dike for now. What's being left off the list? Pipeline replacement and painting projects - but what's some pipe and paint? Maybe the paint will flake into the pipes and they can drink it.

Next is a little closer to home. We received notification that our local transit company wouldn't be able to make flex stops to deliver students to our parenting teen program - without extra compensation and some strict rules. Thinking this was some bizarre unfairness, I went to speak to the transportation manager. What I found out was that in an effort to trim costs and prepare for funding cuts, our local transit company is evaluating all transit costs and, as the old saying goes, trying to get "the greatest bang for their buck" (a saying I personally detest and they didn't use!). What I hear the state funding bodies saying is let them eat cake - opps, wrong era - let them find their own way to school. So, we, once again, leave those with the least, with less. These are students who are struggling, who will cost us soooo much more if we can't educate them and provide them with parenting skill. They will remain dependent on subsidy programs while the big boys take payments for expenses that they refuse to realize are just a different kind of subsidy. Will it end? Not with just a new round of cuts and taxes. This is not a battle that will end today, even if the budget is passed. We will pay for a long time and not just with greenbacks.

I do give up!

I have been diligently reading the papers and trying to find hopeful signs, but from Sacramento to Washington DC, I find little HOPE for any meaningful CHANGE! What is going on with all of these fools?
I think in many ways I am more annoyed with the damn Democrats, especially on the national level. Talk about partisan politics and pork barrel stuffings. It is disgusting. I think we are seeing politics at its very worst. As some one mention to me, it appears that the Democrats in Congress are suffering from a mass Stockholm Syndrome...only they are try to outdo the Republicans as pay back from six years in the wild hinterland. Disgusting!

Have We Given UP!

I'm not sure if the title just doesn't say it all. We, once again, watch another week, or is it two now, of empty promises made by legislative millionaires about how they are going to give us a sensible solution to the crisis they created by bipartisan bickering and minority rule. Promises made while Rome burns.

A Big FAT Zero!!!

A Big FAT Zero!!!
Originally uploaded by Rexfree_99

I know it is a Saturday and no one in Sacramento is working, but DAMN IT, why not?
Why did they have the nerve to attend the Inauguration this week instead of hunkering down and working on the problems right here at home?
Today we had headlines of record unemployment, and what are they doing?
Nothing!!! Zero, a BIG FAT ZERO to quote Olga Telonicher Griswold. ZERO!