seeitnow—Empathizing with the rich? They dont need my empathy. Thats the easy way out.

Disabled, elderly, children, anyone that is at a disadvantage will be further disadvantaged. Its a measure of a society and ours doesnt meaure up.

I thought maybe California did.

By seeitnow, July 18 at 4:44 pm
“”...seem to be implying that it is the fault of the rich that there is a budget problem in California.”“
****************************************************

The problem IS the rich but it is the government that is the money problem for providing needs for the ‘less fortunate’ and unfortunately for california, their stupid legislature requires a 3/4 majority vote for passage of at least the funding/spending bills which conveniently allows a just small enough miniority of a party to stop the measure which is just another part of the people’s government doing their job of protecting those with the money as if they were ‘a’ or ‘the’ national treasure(s) that deserve absolute protection of their incomes and money.

Break this up and the playing field becomes a bit more level and equatible or at least it sounds that simple.

seeitnow—Yes. I find your views to be morally objectionable.

You are certainly not alone in still believing in the “US, mertitocracy”—but you are quickly becoming a minority.

I think that a rich society has a moral obligation to legislate egalitarianism and to take care of fellow citizens when they cannot take care of themwelves. If you do not, you have a moral deficit, in my opinion.

Cutting off disabled people while others make millions is not objectionable to those without a conscience. Is that you?

****************************************************

This is a national thing and the republican’s desire, very strong desire, to regain the control they once enjoyed, though here again, there ain’t much difference in a democrat and a republican, but in california as I have read it, news is that even though the repubs are severely ‘out numbered’ in the state legislature, THEY are preventing any meaningful funding legislation from passing for the those ‘poor and disabled’ and from what I see and read the ‘faux’ rivalry of both parties indicate a national similarity.

If I am reading the information wrong someone tell me, I don’t like being ignorant any more than anyone else and I don’t want poor or disabled people to not get services they need just because an ‘elite’ class of jackass politicians subvert the system at ANY and all levels of government which I have tried, admittedly only at election times, to remind voters that even as prioritized and important the presidential race is, it is also a time to elect in most or some areas the local governments and the state governments which are as small as they seem in comparison to the national government, they are extremely important and not just popularity contests for corporations.

seeitnow—to pretend that Ca’s unwillingness to pay for social services, in a state with so many rich people,is an issue of “affordabillity” is absurd. It is a matter of moral will.It is an issue of priorities.

What would you have the kids and poor and disabled do? or maybe you just dont care.

I know the pain of trying to work with people with severe problems, for a low salary, only to find out your budget will be cut. I enjoyed doing it, but, if I wasnt doing it, people like you might have to deal with the problem yourself.

But, I suppose you dont even want to pay for school for kids…I will never understand people like you.

By Karen, July 16 at 5:41 pm

The republicans are out to make the whole economy so bad or seem so bad that they think the will be returned to power in 2010 and 2012 but with a little careful thought about the other parties(anything besides democrat or republican) could just squeak some new blood in washington and I am not just talking about the president but also your senators, if they are up for election this time, and also your representative in the house, same goes for your state officals running for office and it has a good shot of breaking up the lobbying scandal in washington that should have been investigated and prosecuted long time ago because it is criminal bribery.

Karen -
Well stated!  Thanks

As goes california, so goes the nation.

I have a couple of suggestions to revive California:

1.  Legalize boo.

2.  Advertise California as the Death Capitol of the United States.  Are you terminally ill?  Come to California and die in the sun.  Start to build hospices, hundreds of them, that are a cross between Club Med and Disneyland.  Sounds vulgar?  Of course it is.  But it will work.

If you dig down to the bottom of that trash barrel, homeless lady,  you’ll probably find Arnold’s and a few other Republican souls.

Hey, whats with my picture on the top of the page and first I am no lady, second I am not homeless and I was placing my fish and chips garbage in the can, yeah that’s it, in the can!

California does has a left-leaning electorate, but the Left has been far too weak in stopping the bullish advance of the extreme Right in the State.

Now we have fascist Arnold at the helm, what a mess!

The Left needs only to mobilize in California, we could solve this mess!!

rockinrobin -
My point exactly, but it is not the politicians that own the corporations, it is the other way around. Clinton didn’t have much of anything until he left Arkansas.  If you think the politicians own the corps, explain Exxon.  Exploitation is not the problem, it is the expression of capitalism in its purest form.  You can put lipstick on a pig it is still a republican/democrat/capitalist/fascist.
Humanity as a whole will never benefit from this economic model, the longer it goes on the less our chances of surviving our own undoing.

And “BANKS” have decided to stop cashing the IOUs!

California’s “plan” seems to be the entire US “plan”!

The “health care plan” will cut Medicaid and Medicare , and all states are cutting help for the poorest of the poor.

If the US population hasnt had enough yet, it must be brain damaged, by mercury in the water.

Idarad—-yes….youre right, sadly or not…I am so sick of seeing the elites try to prop it up, maybe it will take the “middle class” suffering as the working classes do, for anything to change…

GOP always cuts education. It’s easier to get people to vote against their own self interests if they don’t understand what they are voting for.

This may be what it takes for reality to shine in the face of the deniers.  As long as there is the continued attempt to have private armies funded by corporations, governments that are owned and beholden to the corporations, there is but one word that describes that society and it is fascism.

The California system that allows a majority of uninformed voters to legislate at the ballet by direct democracy (actually by those who still vote to enfranchise a corrupt system) will lead to its demise.  California is the posterchild if you will of what happens when social “values” become ballot issues.  You can’t decide human rights at the ballot box.  You can’t run a state’s budget at the ballot box. California is a disaster of its own making and a result of pure greed.

The good news at this point in time, is the true nature of capitalism and greed is reaching its apex, and its demise is soon to follow.  The bad news is all the viable alternative systems attempted in the past, some better some worse, were destroyed before they could provide valuable lessons to humanity.  We will now need the courage to reformulate our relationship as a member of a fragile world, a delicately balanced ecosystem that can either provide for the well being of its inhabitants, or that will simply say, in its own way “enough is enough” and shake off the cancer that afflicts it.

Undoubtedly the greedy will continue to try to patch a broken system, but all they offer is more of the same. The patches are patching patches.  The new beginnings are approaching.  Hang on for the ride, it will be a hell of a journey!

If there was ever a state where the American workers need to rise up and take power, it’s California.