Illustrating Absurdity
In the ongoing battle for the fiscal survival of the city of Los Angeles and the State of California, we have both Mayor and Governor trying to salvage their "legacy", while simultaneously saving the local and regional economy. "Rock," meet "Hard Place."
Schwarzenegger has issued another veto which effectively stalled the process to close the $20-billion state budget deficit. A pull quote:
"[H]e planned to veto $1.1 billion in projected savings realized largely through cuts to public transit. Democratic lawmakers had approved the measure as part of a package they said would have addressed $4 billion of California's estimated $20-billion deficit.
"Combined with Schwarzenegger's veto last week of a larger component of the plan, the announcement puts Capitol politicians back at square one on the deficit."
Schwarzenegger to veto Dems public transit cuts.
Meanwhile, Smilin' Tony is in Washington, D.C. (does the man EVER stay in Los Angeles for any length of time?) groveling for federal money to fund city public transportation projects, while irking his constituents by continuing his quest to be the Greenest Mayor on the planet. May-V plans to push forward with his DWP Renewable Energy Plan, which will raise residential power rates again. May-V claims it will only be an increase of $2.50 a month, but LAist, the Los Angeles Times and the Daily News beg to differ. From LAist: L.A. to be powered by 20% renewable energy by end of the year? and L.A. Times: DWP rates may rise 8% and 28% to pay for Mayor's green initiative.
A DWP Board, whose membership is composed solely of mayoral stooges, will vote on moving this forward before it hits the City Council. I bet if we cut the salaries of that board and Smilin' Tony, we'd fund his legacy projects and solve our fiscal issues in one fell swoop.
And my good laugh for the week, Faith and Reason blog touts Rediscovering the Sabbath on 'National Day of Unplugging'. On March 20, a non-profit group called Reboot invites you to join them in turning off your Smart phone, computer or other electronic appendages, and get back to basics. The group has dedicated an entire website to a Sabbath Manifesto--10 Principles to help you carve your "timeout."
At the bottom of the 10 Principles list, the site has links to follow them on Twitter and Facebook! The comments on the Faith and Reason article are the most interesting. A sample: "Good. Now I know when I'll have the best service and fastest download times. Thanks."
Agreed.