By the way, ubrayj02, I was schooling some conservative councilman today on livable streets and the futility of widening roadways. So don’t think I’m some car loving jerkoff.

Oh, fake Spokker, you’re the best.

The bottom line is that people want services but don’t want to pay for them. Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.

Mad Cow disease, FTW!

Not wanting to be taxed is a natural thing for people to desire. Our government is quite well funded, and it performs rather well most of the time. We need to make it run better, and the problem is not necessarily that we don’t have the means, nor that we lack a clear picture of what we ought to be doing.

We, as a people, have no political means to get where we need to go. Too many people are fighting to kill social welfare programs at the same time they are fighting to preserve police and prions budgets. We’re cutting transit service when people need it most and fighting hard to expand highways. It is politics and group psychology that is stopping us, not bloody Prop 13.

There is the 2/3 vote required to raise taxes which is one thing.

Then there is a 2/3 vote required about how that money is spent. If a minority party wants to dictate public policy determined through spending priorities, they should have to win a majority at the ballot box.

Repeal term limits. Repeal Props 13, 98 and all ballot box budgeting. Expand the Assembly to 160 members to reduce district size and the amount of money neeeded to run for election, and bring in publicly financed campaigns to reduce the role of special interest money overall. Give local governments control over their own money.

NONE of this will happen of course. But since we are dreaming of good governance, I just thought I’d throw in my two cents.

Of all the changes to make, repealing the 2/3 budget rule is the one most needed.

SEIU, who ran a cynical campaign against the recent budget fix measures because they oppose caps on spending

the anti-tax zealots for pretending their ideology is viable and clogging debate with mis-statements etc. while being useless about any useful reform of government

The voters, who have created the dysfunctional structure of governance by endorsing Prop 13, 98 and other robobudget measures plus term limits

Advocates for transit etc. – we just haven’t done the job to promote our issues at the state level

Democrats for cutting a crooked deal for status quo district lines aftyer the 2000 census that meant the Republicans were guaranteed just enough votes to thwart any revenue measures etc. Also the legislature has been too generous in labor negotiations, reckless raised pensions to state workers, have been usless about fixing the way the state operates, etc.

Republicans for being captives of the far right and being willing to repeat b.s. about the consequences of the all cuts budget fix

The Governor, who blew a multi-billion hole in the budget by eliminating the car tax which he campaigned on doing during the recall without being honest about the consequences

I do look for positive stories because I don’t want people to come to Streetsblog for their daily downer. That being said, I don’t think I paint an overly rosy picture. I think there’s a lot of good stuff going on out there, most of it DIY and unofficial, and I want to make sure people know it. I sort of think that things are slowly getting better, but it’s not like we’re living in a utopia.

I would love to write only good stories, but that’s because I’d love the material to do so; not because I’m someone that looks for the silver lining in everything.

While you were being sarcastic with the tone of this blog it wouldn’t be shocking if you weren’t being sarcastic. And that’s not me being a jerk, this is me telling you the feeling I get when I read this blog.

I love Streetsblog. I come here everyday. I think the transit community needs lots of voices. This blog in general seems more like on the look at the bright side when it has to do with people’s lives outside of cycling. And that’s not bad, because no one is really looking out for that demographic.

And seriously, sorry, I truly didn’t get that you were being sarcastic.

In LA most people like talking about happy stuff. I think even you said you’d like to report happy stuff all of the time if you could (was that sarcasm, because if I said that I would have been being sarcastic) so oops, truly didn’t get the sarcasm.

Well as you know I took the who is Newton quiz and only got two questions right, so I’ll be looking more closely in your posts for sarcasm and I’m not being sarcastic about that.

When I talk about sarcasm it sounds like I am being sarcastic, but I swear this is an honest response.

Browne

The U.S. is stuck in a mentality that cars and deeply subsidized car-only roads are the only possible way to create a high standard of living. This is clearly not the case. I see a silver lining in the “starving of the beast” taking place now if, perhaps, reason and sanity can enter the discussion about lowering the capital costs of transportation state-wide.

Yes, the suburbs will lose. Yes, the car-based consumer culture will lose.

There are plenty of other, less expensive, means by which we can secure a high quality of life for ourselves.

I had a couple of emails asking what was “saved” by Villaraigosa and the City Council’s efforts to lobby the legislature on transpo cuts. While I’m happy that they managed to save some local dollars, it’s certainly not an overwhelming victory.

As problematic as majority rule can sometimes be, minority rule is even worse (i.e. the minority of Republicans in the legislature are effectively deciding how we balance our budget).

You know most people who take public transit in LA are going to be truly fucked by this budget.

There isn’t in my opinion a silver lining to this budget. There isn’t anything positive about this. California has one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation. We have no more jobs. People are actually going hungry. I know people who that had jobs that are sending random emails in regards to how do they apply for food stamps.

Browne

How did people who lived through the Depression forget their troubles by going to the picture show? Or is that all a bunch of crap? Because nothing can get my mind off the clusterfuck that is California right now.

This budget fucking sucks. No one has anything to celebrate about it – big or little. I know this isn’t Japan, so Harry Carry isn’t an option, but at least they should be hanging their heads in shame.