Peace Voyager
06-30-2009, 03:15 PM
Dear Community,
Your involvement is still very needed to get the results necessary to keep our towns, states, and country efficiently funded and healthy.
Please read this letter sent to the Ed Schultz show and take action until we get the kind of government we already voted for. Thank you!
In peace,
Colleen
>Hi Ed, Wendy & Staff,
Thank you for your show topics today and keeping the important issues alive.
I believe I can validate every point you brought up by way of example.
BTW, I was born a South Carolinian, and I'm not stupid; there may be more than one more which meet my description. Please don't judge a whole state based on a bad Governor; CA still has that problem too, for different reasons and not just the ones in the story below.
Here is a part of my platform when I ran for US Senate in 2006 during the California Primary:
Campaign for Peace
Priority Issues
Restore Our Military for Defense, not optional conflict. Return the National Guard now; our troops next.
No type of nuclear weapons or use of torture.
A Trustworthy Voting System.
A Sustainable United States - Promote the local economy & living wage using smart development with a focus on natural resource preservation, climate protection, green building, affordable housing and clean, renewable energy. Provide a government supported health care system for all US citizens, and affordable higher education.I was the CA equivalent of Ned Lamont in challenging Feinstein, a DINO - what the Progressives taught me is "Democrat In Name Only". I came in 2nd; here's what is significant about that; I did it with no experience, very little help, less than $5000, working part-time for only 3 months!
The reason for my late start was that Cindy Sheehan made it known that she was thinking about running; in my book, true Progressives don't compete, so I had to wait awhile until she got off the fence.
Part of why I did so well with so little resources is due to left-wing talk radio. At the CA Democratic Primary that year, I met Mike Malloy, who was taken with my campaign and had me on the air a couple of times. After that, I started getting small donations from all over the country, in addition to the support from Californians.
The other reason for my nearly 200,000 votes, was that I ran as a Candidate for Peace; supporting only using our military for operations of defense, not offense.
Challenging a well financed incumbent is not as hard as people might think. The result I was working for was not for me to win, but for our state and country to win. The victory I worked to promote, was to use all those votes, and the vast amount of specific communications I urged everyone to send to Feinstein, resulted in Feinstein putting out a bill to end PL 107-243 in the first year she was re-elected. It died in committee.
Now that she is Chair of the Intelligence Committee, and there is a Democratic majority, there is NO reason we can't change this unholy, unsustainable course of Bush-lite Doctrine.
Please urge your listeners to see the DVD by Phil Donahue called "Body of War". It documents the consequences of going to war, without a declaration of war (PL 107-243), without limits to what country we offensively attack, and without any accountability to how much it costs, or how it's been misspent & even lost. This film demonstrates very well why Senator Byrd, Congress members Kucinich, McKinney & others, are true American heroes.
What I need to relate to your listeners is proof of what you said today; the solution for legislating health care, not (un)declared warfare IS achievable, and is in every citizen's hands. The House and Senate just let us down by passing the supplemental war spending then doing nothing for health care. This is not a partisan issue, it is, as someone mentioned on your show today, a patriotic issue; and for many low income single mothers like me, a matter of life or death, not just quality of life.
I have no health care at all, and several life threatening conditions. I used to have good health care via the US government as a result of my father's Air Force service. I also used to have good health care as a result of our County and State system; here for the elderly, and low income, MediAid and MediCal, then there's SSI for the disabled.
Just like your callers and guests said, we have a good system, it's just underfunded. My county (Sonoma) ran the numbers and found out how this single payer system provides a 30% savings just in the administration costs alone. Before the many cuts to our system, we even had wellness care, I could choose my doctor, and even someone educated about reccomending natural remedies with far less side effects than pharmaceuticals.
The 30% admin savings, combined with the very large group discounts we could get on everything related to health care, would result in affordable enrollment for all, even those with pre-existing conditions! Let's see a private system compete with that.
Big congrats to Senator Al Franken; his example of putting yourself in the race to serve the balanced best interest of the people, combined with patience and persistence in a very tough situation, is a lesson for every American to follow and support.
Please have me on and let me help inspire your listeners, as well as, share how a declaration of a cease-fire is the only safe way out of Iraq for our honorable service men and women. I can prove how Muslims and Jhiadist will honor a cease fire.
We can never eliminate all the violence, but we can easily, cheaply, and vastly decrease the casualties for our troops, the coalitions', and the innocent civilians.
Fighting terrorism with terrorism = continued terrorism. Annihilation is not a solution.
Cease fire = Victory.
Now that Stephen Colbert declared victory in Iraq, we must call for a cease fire to bring them home safely, and lessen the hate which perpetuates the violence.
My additional call to action for everyone is this - ask all your elected officials, top to bottom, to bring the National Guard home NOW; they are not the InterNational Guard. I am very concerned about earthquakes and other natural disasters threatening my state, with limited readily available guard deployed on our own soil.
Fighting them over there, has made us less safe over here. I've witnessed the budget cuts of many cities and counties causing many police and firefighters to be laid off, and stations to be closed.
As you let your elected officials know what we need to do to solve all our budget and security issues, let them hear your commitment to the consequences of them not doing it now; that you will be will be challenging them in the next election, or you will work to find and support someone else who will.
:usflag: :doc:
THANK YOU!,
Colleen Fernald
Mom for a safe, clean world
Sebastopol, CA
Campaign for Peace (https://www.campaignforpeace.org)
Portable Solar Generator
Solman :: Portable Solar Energy (https://www.sol-man.net)
FYI:
California is the 6th largest economy in the world; San Francisco has a single payer option, but look at how we are sliding into a dysfunctional abyss leading to financial peril ...
From the Progressive Democrats of America website Progressive Democrats of America (https://www.pdamerica.org:)
California on the brink
Armageddon. Apocalypse. Disaster: These are the words being used to describe California's staggering $24 billion budget deficit. With a midnight deadline to balance the budget, state lawmakers are facing a daunting task: Find a way to bridge the gap or start issuing $3 billion in IOUs (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=AkcCHmVuvO0IlAENErMQ3F8Eq594;_ylu=X3oDMTE5dGtuODc3BHBvcwM0BHNlYwN5bl9zdG9yeV9wcmludF9jb250ZW50BHNsawNpb3Vz/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090627/ap_on_re_us/us_california_budget) this week to cover the bills.
Almost every state is suffering from the effects of the recession, but not every state accounts for 12 percent (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=AkjH6AfrJL3DTKZMD_UzITwEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFlczk2NnFuBHBvcwM1BHNlYwN5bl9zdG9yeV9wcmludF9jb250ZW50BHNsawMxMnBlcmNlbnQ-/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_california_why_it_matters) of the national gross domestic product. According to AP (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=AilXpVCcCpR.ASHvwId6y5QEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTE3Y2pkNzZtBHBvcwM2BHNlYwN5bl9zdG9yeV9wcmludF9jb250ZW50BHNsawNhcA--/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_california_why_it_matters), if California goes down, so goes the nation: California's annual $1.7 trillion economy is the world's eighth-largest economy and provides a significant chunk of tax revenue for the government; California alone funds many social programs for the entire nation.
Like the Big Three automakers, California may be "too big to fail." If the state implodes, the ripple effect could slow the entire nation's recovery from the recession. Burt P. Flickinger, a retail consultant, tells (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=Atb5t_xzqq6DUpUmFJIwwOgEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFhOGl0OGxrBHBvcwM3BHNlYwN5bl9zdG9yeV9wcmludF9jb250ZW50BHNsawN0ZWxscw--/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090629/ap_on_re_us/us_california_why_it_matters_3) AP:
"California is the key catalyst for U.S. retail sales, and if California falls further you will see the U.S. economy suffer significantly."
How did California dig itself such a huge hole? The recession certainly didn't help, but Time's Kevin O'Leary (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=Asa59KcMBK6uawTsrD5yNhYEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFnZGVnOTV2BHBvcwM4BHNlYwN5bl9zdG9yeV9wcmludF9jb250ZW50BHNsawNrZXZpbm9sZWFyeQ--/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090627/us_time/08599190493800) writes that California's financial troubles can be traced back to the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978. An antitax measure, Prop 13 makes it extremely difficult to raise taxes or pass a budget unless a 2/3 majority in both state houses agree a virtually impossible task. California Rep. Zoe Lofgren tells (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542/SIG=11meii66k;_ylt=Ai7waEOGGp4tQJU64flgAP8Eq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFhcTg2dHJrBHBvcwM5BHNlYwN5bl9zdG9yeV9wcmludF9jb250ZW50BHNsawN0ZWxscw--/*https://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24266.html) Politico:
"If we [in Congress] had to do what the California legislature does, we would never send a bill to the president of the United States, she said.
If the political wrangling over the budget isn't resolved by midnight tonight, Californians will be feeling the pain on every level, big and small. Just a few of the proposed spending cuts:
State employees will be forced to take another day of unpaid leave a month, in addition to the two days leave they were forced to take starting in December. (NYT (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542/SIG=128am2vm8;_ylt=Aj6Pn1n1nXq6ubrD.dZqgW8Eq594;_ylu=X3oDMTE5Y2Y4N3I2BHBvcwMxMARzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDbnl0/*https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/us/28california.html?ref=global-home))
Funding for the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement will be slashed by $20 million. The "little-known unit" has played a key role in several of the state's high-profile cases: The bureau's agents helped arrest Scott Petersen for the murder of his wife and unborn child, and their investigation led to charges in Anna Nicole Smith's overdose death. (AP (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=AkuB0v7Gj8ql2WGUeDSzCLgEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTE4Njc4dnVzBHBvcwMxMQRzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDYXA-/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090627/ap_on_re_us/us_california_budget_narcotics_team))
80 percent of state parks would be closed, 25 in the Bay Area alone, including several beaches along the peninsula. Park visitors spend an estimated $2.6 billion a year in and near state parks, but closing the parks would save only .26 percent of the $24 billion deficit. (SF Chronicle (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542/SIG=12iauno7o;_ylt=AqmZfyPjiT8qhYpYomhgj5MEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFodGZlNTM5BHBvcwMxMgRzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDc2ZjaHJvbmljbGU-/*https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/28/MNLE17S12M.DTL&tsp=1))
Education funding would be reduced by $5.3 billion. School districts have already laid off 30,000 employees. Class sizes are expected to surge from 20 to 30 students and many after school programs, arts and music classes will be cut. A national education survey conducted this year ranked California 47th in per-student spending. (AP (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=Ao.GKQhzNdXxnu5lBGgqMbYEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTE4MGdwNWpyBHBvcwMxMwRzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDYXA-/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090621/ap_on_bi_ge/us_california_broken_schools_2))
Gov. Schwarzenegger is proposing to eliminate the state's $1.3 billion welfare program. Frank Mecca, the head of the County Welfare Directors Association of California, tells (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=AjaiEbPLyEKs6Ax6Qw14WQYEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFiZnZsMmtjBHBvcwMxNARzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDdGVsbHM-/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090618/us_time/08599190493600) Time, "California could become the only state in the First World without subsistence benefits for poor children."
So far, the government is using a "wait and see" approach to California, or as a recent Politico headline (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542/SIG=11meii66k;_ylt=Aju52ZproswfhgG0WWs9jH0Eq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFlbmlqMnUzBHBvcwMxNQRzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDaGVhZGxpbmU-/*https://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24266.html) stated more bluntly "Washington to California: Drop dead." Earlier this month, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=AqNFcjqMNKOUpRRY0GSjZX8Eq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFhaGo5bnIzBHBvcwMxNgRzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDc2FpZA--/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090616/pl_nm/us_california_whitehouse_5) that the administration would "monitor" the situation, but that California's "budgetary problem unfortunately is one that they're going to have to solve."
(Think you can do a better job at balancing the state budget than the governor or state lawmakers? The Los Angeles Times is letting the common folk try their hand with a "You balance the budget" interactive (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542/SIG=12be4l1lc;_ylt=AlDAVScsYrG_HjXc9JQemakEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFoc2xoYWl2BHBvcwMxNwRzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDaW50ZXJhY3RpdmU-/*https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-statebudget-fl-2,0,6957202.htmlstory).)
- Lili Ladaga
Your involvement is still very needed to get the results necessary to keep our towns, states, and country efficiently funded and healthy.
Please read this letter sent to the Ed Schultz show and take action until we get the kind of government we already voted for. Thank you!
In peace,
Colleen
>Hi Ed, Wendy & Staff,
Thank you for your show topics today and keeping the important issues alive.
I believe I can validate every point you brought up by way of example.
BTW, I was born a South Carolinian, and I'm not stupid; there may be more than one more which meet my description. Please don't judge a whole state based on a bad Governor; CA still has that problem too, for different reasons and not just the ones in the story below.
Here is a part of my platform when I ran for US Senate in 2006 during the California Primary:
Campaign for Peace
Priority Issues
Restore Our Military for Defense, not optional conflict. Return the National Guard now; our troops next.
No type of nuclear weapons or use of torture.
A Trustworthy Voting System.
A Sustainable United States - Promote the local economy & living wage using smart development with a focus on natural resource preservation, climate protection, green building, affordable housing and clean, renewable energy. Provide a government supported health care system for all US citizens, and affordable higher education.I was the CA equivalent of Ned Lamont in challenging Feinstein, a DINO - what the Progressives taught me is "Democrat In Name Only". I came in 2nd; here's what is significant about that; I did it with no experience, very little help, less than $5000, working part-time for only 3 months!
The reason for my late start was that Cindy Sheehan made it known that she was thinking about running; in my book, true Progressives don't compete, so I had to wait awhile until she got off the fence.
Part of why I did so well with so little resources is due to left-wing talk radio. At the CA Democratic Primary that year, I met Mike Malloy, who was taken with my campaign and had me on the air a couple of times. After that, I started getting small donations from all over the country, in addition to the support from Californians.
The other reason for my nearly 200,000 votes, was that I ran as a Candidate for Peace; supporting only using our military for operations of defense, not offense.
Challenging a well financed incumbent is not as hard as people might think. The result I was working for was not for me to win, but for our state and country to win. The victory I worked to promote, was to use all those votes, and the vast amount of specific communications I urged everyone to send to Feinstein, resulted in Feinstein putting out a bill to end PL 107-243 in the first year she was re-elected. It died in committee.
Now that she is Chair of the Intelligence Committee, and there is a Democratic majority, there is NO reason we can't change this unholy, unsustainable course of Bush-lite Doctrine.
Please urge your listeners to see the DVD by Phil Donahue called "Body of War". It documents the consequences of going to war, without a declaration of war (PL 107-243), without limits to what country we offensively attack, and without any accountability to how much it costs, or how it's been misspent & even lost. This film demonstrates very well why Senator Byrd, Congress members Kucinich, McKinney & others, are true American heroes.
What I need to relate to your listeners is proof of what you said today; the solution for legislating health care, not (un)declared warfare IS achievable, and is in every citizen's hands. The House and Senate just let us down by passing the supplemental war spending then doing nothing for health care. This is not a partisan issue, it is, as someone mentioned on your show today, a patriotic issue; and for many low income single mothers like me, a matter of life or death, not just quality of life.
I have no health care at all, and several life threatening conditions. I used to have good health care via the US government as a result of my father's Air Force service. I also used to have good health care as a result of our County and State system; here for the elderly, and low income, MediAid and MediCal, then there's SSI for the disabled.
Just like your callers and guests said, we have a good system, it's just underfunded. My county (Sonoma) ran the numbers and found out how this single payer system provides a 30% savings just in the administration costs alone. Before the many cuts to our system, we even had wellness care, I could choose my doctor, and even someone educated about reccomending natural remedies with far less side effects than pharmaceuticals.
The 30% admin savings, combined with the very large group discounts we could get on everything related to health care, would result in affordable enrollment for all, even those with pre-existing conditions! Let's see a private system compete with that.
Big congrats to Senator Al Franken; his example of putting yourself in the race to serve the balanced best interest of the people, combined with patience and persistence in a very tough situation, is a lesson for every American to follow and support.
Please have me on and let me help inspire your listeners, as well as, share how a declaration of a cease-fire is the only safe way out of Iraq for our honorable service men and women. I can prove how Muslims and Jhiadist will honor a cease fire.
We can never eliminate all the violence, but we can easily, cheaply, and vastly decrease the casualties for our troops, the coalitions', and the innocent civilians.
Fighting terrorism with terrorism = continued terrorism. Annihilation is not a solution.
Cease fire = Victory.
Now that Stephen Colbert declared victory in Iraq, we must call for a cease fire to bring them home safely, and lessen the hate which perpetuates the violence.
My additional call to action for everyone is this - ask all your elected officials, top to bottom, to bring the National Guard home NOW; they are not the InterNational Guard. I am very concerned about earthquakes and other natural disasters threatening my state, with limited readily available guard deployed on our own soil.
Fighting them over there, has made us less safe over here. I've witnessed the budget cuts of many cities and counties causing many police and firefighters to be laid off, and stations to be closed.
As you let your elected officials know what we need to do to solve all our budget and security issues, let them hear your commitment to the consequences of them not doing it now; that you will be will be challenging them in the next election, or you will work to find and support someone else who will.
:usflag: :doc:
THANK YOU!,
Colleen Fernald
Mom for a safe, clean world
Sebastopol, CA
Campaign for Peace (https://www.campaignforpeace.org)
Portable Solar Generator
Solman :: Portable Solar Energy (https://www.sol-man.net)
FYI:
California is the 6th largest economy in the world; San Francisco has a single payer option, but look at how we are sliding into a dysfunctional abyss leading to financial peril ...
From the Progressive Democrats of America website Progressive Democrats of America (https://www.pdamerica.org:)
California on the brink
Armageddon. Apocalypse. Disaster: These are the words being used to describe California's staggering $24 billion budget deficit. With a midnight deadline to balance the budget, state lawmakers are facing a daunting task: Find a way to bridge the gap or start issuing $3 billion in IOUs (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=AkcCHmVuvO0IlAENErMQ3F8Eq594;_ylu=X3oDMTE5dGtuODc3BHBvcwM0BHNlYwN5bl9zdG9yeV9wcmludF9jb250ZW50BHNsawNpb3Vz/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090627/ap_on_re_us/us_california_budget) this week to cover the bills.
Almost every state is suffering from the effects of the recession, but not every state accounts for 12 percent (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=AkjH6AfrJL3DTKZMD_UzITwEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFlczk2NnFuBHBvcwM1BHNlYwN5bl9zdG9yeV9wcmludF9jb250ZW50BHNsawMxMnBlcmNlbnQ-/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_california_why_it_matters) of the national gross domestic product. According to AP (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=AilXpVCcCpR.ASHvwId6y5QEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTE3Y2pkNzZtBHBvcwM2BHNlYwN5bl9zdG9yeV9wcmludF9jb250ZW50BHNsawNhcA--/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_california_why_it_matters), if California goes down, so goes the nation: California's annual $1.7 trillion economy is the world's eighth-largest economy and provides a significant chunk of tax revenue for the government; California alone funds many social programs for the entire nation.
Like the Big Three automakers, California may be "too big to fail." If the state implodes, the ripple effect could slow the entire nation's recovery from the recession. Burt P. Flickinger, a retail consultant, tells (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=Atb5t_xzqq6DUpUmFJIwwOgEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFhOGl0OGxrBHBvcwM3BHNlYwN5bl9zdG9yeV9wcmludF9jb250ZW50BHNsawN0ZWxscw--/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090629/ap_on_re_us/us_california_why_it_matters_3) AP:
"California is the key catalyst for U.S. retail sales, and if California falls further you will see the U.S. economy suffer significantly."
How did California dig itself such a huge hole? The recession certainly didn't help, but Time's Kevin O'Leary (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=Asa59KcMBK6uawTsrD5yNhYEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFnZGVnOTV2BHBvcwM4BHNlYwN5bl9zdG9yeV9wcmludF9jb250ZW50BHNsawNrZXZpbm9sZWFyeQ--/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090627/us_time/08599190493800) writes that California's financial troubles can be traced back to the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978. An antitax measure, Prop 13 makes it extremely difficult to raise taxes or pass a budget unless a 2/3 majority in both state houses agree a virtually impossible task. California Rep. Zoe Lofgren tells (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542/SIG=11meii66k;_ylt=Ai7waEOGGp4tQJU64flgAP8Eq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFhcTg2dHJrBHBvcwM5BHNlYwN5bl9zdG9yeV9wcmludF9jb250ZW50BHNsawN0ZWxscw--/*https://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24266.html) Politico:
"If we [in Congress] had to do what the California legislature does, we would never send a bill to the president of the United States, she said.
If the political wrangling over the budget isn't resolved by midnight tonight, Californians will be feeling the pain on every level, big and small. Just a few of the proposed spending cuts:
State employees will be forced to take another day of unpaid leave a month, in addition to the two days leave they were forced to take starting in December. (NYT (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542/SIG=128am2vm8;_ylt=Aj6Pn1n1nXq6ubrD.dZqgW8Eq594;_ylu=X3oDMTE5Y2Y4N3I2BHBvcwMxMARzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDbnl0/*https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/28/us/28california.html?ref=global-home))
Funding for the Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement will be slashed by $20 million. The "little-known unit" has played a key role in several of the state's high-profile cases: The bureau's agents helped arrest Scott Petersen for the murder of his wife and unborn child, and their investigation led to charges in Anna Nicole Smith's overdose death. (AP (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=AkuB0v7Gj8ql2WGUeDSzCLgEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTE4Njc4dnVzBHBvcwMxMQRzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDYXA-/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090627/ap_on_re_us/us_california_budget_narcotics_team))
80 percent of state parks would be closed, 25 in the Bay Area alone, including several beaches along the peninsula. Park visitors spend an estimated $2.6 billion a year in and near state parks, but closing the parks would save only .26 percent of the $24 billion deficit. (SF Chronicle (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542/SIG=12iauno7o;_ylt=AqmZfyPjiT8qhYpYomhgj5MEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFodGZlNTM5BHBvcwMxMgRzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDc2ZjaHJvbmljbGU-/*https://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/28/MNLE17S12M.DTL&tsp=1))
Education funding would be reduced by $5.3 billion. School districts have already laid off 30,000 employees. Class sizes are expected to surge from 20 to 30 students and many after school programs, arts and music classes will be cut. A national education survey conducted this year ranked California 47th in per-student spending. (AP (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=Ao.GKQhzNdXxnu5lBGgqMbYEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTE4MGdwNWpyBHBvcwMxMwRzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDYXA-/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090621/ap_on_bi_ge/us_california_broken_schools_2))
Gov. Schwarzenegger is proposing to eliminate the state's $1.3 billion welfare program. Frank Mecca, the head of the County Welfare Directors Association of California, tells (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=AjaiEbPLyEKs6Ax6Qw14WQYEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFiZnZsMmtjBHBvcwMxNARzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDdGVsbHM-/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090618/us_time/08599190493600) Time, "California could become the only state in the First World without subsistence benefits for poor children."
So far, the government is using a "wait and see" approach to California, or as a recent Politico headline (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542/SIG=11meii66k;_ylt=Aju52ZproswfhgG0WWs9jH0Eq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFlbmlqMnUzBHBvcwMxNQRzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDaGVhZGxpbmU-/*https://www.politico.com/news/stories/0609/24266.html) stated more bluntly "Washington to California: Drop dead." Earlier this month, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/news/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542;_ylt=AqNFcjqMNKOUpRRY0GSjZX8Eq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFhaGo5bnIzBHBvcwMxNgRzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDc2FpZA--/*https://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090616/pl_nm/us_california_whitehouse_5) that the administration would "monitor" the situation, but that California's "budgetary problem unfortunately is one that they're going to have to solve."
(Think you can do a better job at balancing the state budget than the governor or state lawmakers? The Los Angeles Times is letting the common folk try their hand with a "You balance the budget" interactive (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ynews/ts_ynews/storytext/ynews_ts418/32548542/SIG=12be4l1lc;_ylt=AlDAVScsYrG_HjXc9JQemakEq594;_ylu=X3oDMTFoc2xoYWl2BHBvcwMxNwRzZWMDeW5fc3RvcnlfcHJpbnRfY29udGVudARzbGsDaW50ZXJhY3RpdmU-/*https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-statebudget-fl-2,0,6957202.htmlstory).)
- Lili Ladaga