Is Everything Really Local?

I live in the Northwest part of the San Fernando Valley in a community called Canoga Park. Most of the Valley is within the city limits of Los Angeles. It’s a one hour drive to downtown Los Angeles. That is the location of city hall and where the city council meets. This is not a convenient location for most residence in the San Fernando Valley.

As a result, city decisions about this community are made with little input from Canoga Park residents (most are at work during city council meetings). To give each community in the city a sense of participation the city charter requires the government to create local neighborhood councils. However the local councils have no authority to affect any services provided to the communities. The councils only have advisory authority. I posted a blog entry about neighborhood councils on August 27, 2007.

The consequence of this government arrangement is local participation in neighborhood councils is minimal. After all, who wants to be a part of a group that cannot accomplish anything? Despite this predicament, a home owner three blocks from me is trying to organize a local group that might be able to influence the downtown bureaucracy with respect to maintenance of the neighborhood (street paving, tree trimming, street cleaning, etc.).

I have visited many of my neighbors to encourage them to participate in this endeavor. Some have said they are interested. This will be an ongoing effort. I will post success or failures here.

Balancing Los Angeles City Budget

There are 39 separate categories (departments or commissions) listed in the Los Angeles city budget. However 28 of those categories have budgets in the current fiscal year that are higher than last year’s budget. Those budgets are anywhere from 8% higher to 100% higher. The city clerk department has a budget that is twice last year’s budget.

I obtained this information from the mayor’s city budget website, http://www.lacity.org/mayor/budget/. I downloaded the information into an Excel spreadsheet and proceeded to do a little analysis. I am not an accountant but the information was just easy to acquire, as it should be, and did a little reading and sorting of data.

Here is another bit of surprising information. This year’s actual spending is exceeding the budget in 14 of the 39 departments.

I questioned why many of the departments exist. The housing department caught my eye. The department costs over $38 million dollars in salaries and another $6 million in operating expenses this year. ”The Los Angeles Housing Department has four program areas, housing, rent, code enforcement and compliance” The department also manages the Displaced Tenant Relocation fund that is estimated to be $500,000 this year. The total budget for this department in 2005-06 year was $36 million. That is a 22% increase in just one year ($38 million dollars plus $6 million).

The city’s elected officials know that there is a budget issue but have done little to stem the unbudgeted spending. Many are taking their pay raises with claims that they will donate the money to charity but the money for those raises is not really available. Worse are recently negotiated pay raises for all city employees. The police department’s new headquarters has seen its cost double from approximately $200 million dollars to $400 million. Many millions of dollars is being allocated for a new children’s museum.

Now the mayor has declared an emergency that enables the city to ask city voters for a new phone tax that only requires a majority yes vote to pass। If it wasn’t an emergency passing the tax would require a vote of at least 66.6%.

The lack of responsibility among city council members and the mayor is the emergency.

Presidential Debates Have Been Disappointing

How boring! Most of the candidates in each party’s debates (they are really forums) mimic each other. The contenders of each party try to catch their opponents in an error. The one exception is Ron Paul. He is a Republican who actually brings his own thought to those utterly uninspiring debates. He has raised enough money to actually become a contender.

The Democrats are particularly unanimous in their views. Each of them tries his/her very best to avoid taking a stand on any issue. Actually they try to avoid all issues. The best example is providing a commitment to issue driver’s licenses to illegal aliens. Hilary Clinton flipped on this issue for two weeks and then said no. At the November 15 debate Barak Obama used 192 words before finally saying “yes”.

The Republicans also take the same views with the exception of Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani. Unlike Ron Paul the other Republicans subscribe to the idea of not telling voters anything about their views. Rudy Giuliani’s social liberalism and Mitt Romney’s religion have become talk show fodder. I find it utterly dismaying that Mitt Romney’s religious belief have become an issue. That Romney’s Mormon religion is being discussed is an indicator that bigotry still exists in the United States or that it is at least important in the Republican party. No wonder I have become an Independent. I personally dis-associated myself from a friend who showed himself to be a bigot and I would not be part of any group that stood for any bigotry.

I like Rudy Giuliani. His social liberalism makes him an excellent candidate for president against any Democrat. He could win next November. He and Hillary will have to take firm stands on real issues to win.

Political Junky

I am a political junky. Some people love sports so much that they stay home to watch every game no matter what the sport. I would watch political show all the time if it wasn’t for my lovely wife. Even as I am watching This Week on ABC, I am recording Meet The Press on NBC. The DVR is a wonderful thing! I listen to talk radio all the time, even when I do not agree with the hosts. Know thine enemy would be my reasoning. I admit I have been watching all the Dancing with the Stars programs but that’s because of Julieanne Hough. This only proves that there are some things that will distract me (please don’t tell my wife, she never reads these blogs).

I do not have access to any of the politicians so everything I write is based upon all of those columnists that I admire. I put together the pieces by reading their commentaries and adding the news reports.

I read blog writers become recognized by writing almost daily. That is now my objective. Yes I am envious of the columnists in Newsweek, Business Week, the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and the Washington Post. I am not earning a dime but I am having fun doing these postings.

Ann Coulter, Political Conservative Commentator and Author

Her words tell us more about her than anything I can say.

Some things she has said or written:

“If we took away women’s right to vote, we’d never have to worry about another Democrat president,” Coulter told The New York Observer। “It’s kind of a pipe dream, it’s a personal fantasy of mine, but I don’t think it’s going to happen. And it is a good way of making the point that women are voting so stupidly, at least single women.”

In one of her books she lashed out at 9/11 widows, saying, “I’ve never seen people enjoying their husbands’ deaths so much।”

On advertising guru Donny Deutsch's CNBC show "The Big Idea."
In response to a question from Deutsch asking Coulter if "it would be better if we were all Christian," the controversial columnist responded: "Yes."
"We should all be Christian?" Deutsch repeated.
"Yes," Coulter responded, asking Deutsch, who is Jewish, if he would like to "come to church with me."
Deutsch, pressing Coulter further, asked, "We should just throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians?" She responded: "Yeah."
Coulter deflected Deutsch's assertion that her comments were anti-Semitic, matter-of-factly telling the show's obviously upset host, "That is what Christians consider themselves: perfected Jews."

The Iran Nuclear Issue – It’s All About the Oil

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to New York to do what? If he was trying to win friends and influence people he said everything he could to scuttle that objective.
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070926/D8RSTOS00.html.

We all support freedom of speech. Ahmadinejad’s purpose in speaking at the U.N. and Columbia University is to convince us that he really has no ulterior motives. http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070924/D8RS0GKG1.html. It is the same methodology used by Hitler before WWII.

Iran’s goal is to acquire a nuclear capability. The reason is to gain control of all the oil producing nations in the Middle East. In a localized sense Israel and Iran would be at a standoff if both had nuclear weapons (I assume Israel already has them). Iran’s statements about destroying Israel are an appeal to Arab nations to join Iran in opposing their common enemy. In joining together Iran would likely also become the leader of the Arab world against the West. That in turn would give Iran the overwhelming power to effect the West because of their combined oil resources.

The free world needs a leader like this!!

Prime Minister John Howard - Australia

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday to get out of Australia , as the government targeted radicals in a bid to head off potential terror attacks। A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to Australia and her Queen at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his Ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown। Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not accept that Australia was a secular state, and its laws were made by parliament। 'If those are not your values, if you want a country which has Sharia law or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you', he said on National Television 'I'd be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws governing people in Australia : one the Australian law and another Islamic law that is false. If you can't agree with parliamentary law, independent courts, democracy, and would prefer Sharia law and have the opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then, that's a better option', Costello said. Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other country. Education Minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who did not want to accept local values should clear off. 'Basically people who don't want to be Australians, and who don't want to live by Australian values and understand them, well then, they can basically clear off', he said. Separately, Howard angered some Australian Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the nation's mosques. Quote: 'IMMIGRANTS, NOT AUSTRALIANS, MUST ADAPT. Take It Or Leave It. I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali , we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.' 'However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the 'politically correct' crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to Australia . However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand. This idea of Australia being a multi-cultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. And as Australians, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom. We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society . Learn the language! Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing, political push, but a fact, because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture. We will accept your beliefs, and will not question why. All we ask is that you accept ours, and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us. If the Southern Cross offends you, or you don't like 'A Fair Go', then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your culture, but do not force it on others. This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE, and we will allow you every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about Our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs, or Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great Australian freedom, 'THE RIGHT TO LEAVE'. If you aren't happy here then LEAVE. We didn't force you to come here. You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU chose.'