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Blog Directory Del's Perspective: Apr 13, 2009

Monday, April 13, 2009

The Unemployed Denied, The Elite Win Out

I watched in dismay when S. Carolina Governor Mark Sanford proudly stated that he would not take part in the stimulus package offered by the federal government in spite of the fact that he has thousands standing in unemployment lines. Much like sheep, the unemployed and concerned citizens hadn't pilloried him with anything other than a wet noodle before they felt the shears of an uncaring politico.
Then came the state legislature of Virginia that sang in one voice that they just couldn't accept the stimulus package money either lest they be excoriated by the national far-right conservatives. The logic they offered for the rejection was simple: If they took more money for unemployment compensation, for example, and at some point in the future if said money drained away they would be required to force businesses to pay a greater amount into the system (they have one of the lowest payout in the nation). In other words, they pandered to big business (again) and have now taken on the role as its mouthpiece. One can almost hear them chanting to the unemployed: "Get over it, we can't help you".
Using logic with more holes in it then Caesar's punctured body, both Sanford and the state of Virginia have taken the intransigent attitude of "No further discussion about our reasons", a sort of "Stare decisis, damn it! We'll decide what is right and we won't hear about it again".

Rewards adults, Ignore the Kids - Tulsa's Sad Model

In a story that only Scrooge could love, the corporate world rules with a heavy hand when it comes to adults getting the new toys and the children getting absolutely zilch. Is this story occurring in your city? See if this scenario is happening in your city or town.

The city of Tulsa has a wonderful minor league baseball park . The parking is spacious, the ballpark is clean and in great shape, the park attendance hovers at about 1/4 capacity. But this otherwise ideal situation wasn't good enough for the city leaders (both Demo and Repub) who went into a frenzy looking for ways to find erect a new ball park with a horrible location, pitiful parking, and a cost of about $20 million.

The cost will be more than the $20,000,000 (I am sure you knew this was coming). Yep, in order to help the city recover from the tailspin in revenues the decision just had to be made to save money and, by God, the kids will have to do their share. How's that? Of the 23 public swimming pools only 7 will be allowed to open this summer. All summer camps will be closed including the only one that brings joy to special needs children. But, yeah, the corporate icons will have a ballpark paid for by Tulsa citizens in the form of taxes. And, yes, the corporate sponsors will get huge tax exemptions.

I am quite sure one could carve a better mayor and city council out of a bunch of bananas.
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