Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa called for shutting down non-essential agencies two days a week Tuesday as he and City Council members remained locked in a standoff over the intertwined issues of electricity rates and the city's worsening budget shortfall. If they're non-essential why do they have them?
Villaraigosa's action topped another day of threats and name-calling at City Hall. I love it when they curse each others' moustaches.
During a morning news conference, the mayor said the council had caused the latest financial crisis by engaging in the "politics of 'no' " and accused it of "the kind of demagoguery you see in the Congress."
Those were "the kind of scare tactics you saw around the healthcare debate," he said.
Councilman Bernard C. Parks, who chairs the Budget Committee, brushed aside the mayor's assertions and said city leaders should be focused on stabilizing city finances.
"I think we have to get beyond the issues of name calling and get to the issue of financial stability of the city," Parks said. He added: "I'm not going to trade names with the mayor. He can call us whatever he wants."
The latest escalation of the financial crisis began Monday when the Department of Water and Power took steps to withhold a promised $73.5-million payment to the city's depleted treasury.
Villaraigosa blamed the action on the council's rejection of an electricity rate increase, which DWP officials said was necessary to cover the DWP's fluctuating fossil fuel costs and the mayor's renewable energy agenda.
City Controller Wendy Greuel has warned that, without the DWP payment, Los Angeles could run out of money to pay its bills and employees within weeks.
The political feud between Villaraigosa and the council -- and the threat to shut down services and stop paying employees -- flabbergasted some officials. Councilman Paul Koretz called the mayor's threat "bizarre" and warned that Villaraigosa and the council were engaging in "a crazier and crazier game of chicken."
"It's absolutely a manhood contest. That's what it's been from the very beginning," said Koretz, who represents much of the Westside.
The mayor directed acting City Administrative Officer Ray Ciranna to prepare to shut down parks, libraries and other general fund services starting Monday. Public safety, trash collection and revenue-generating agencies would be exempt.
"I am duty bound to make sure that I'm not in a position to make people work if we don't have the cash to pay them," Villaraigosa said. Union leaders questioned whether the mayor had the authority to enact what amounts to a furlough program in which thousands of city workers would see their paychecks cut by two-fifths.
"We take this absolutely seriously," said Julie Butcher, regional director for Service Employees International Union Local 721, which represents more than 10,000 city employees. "The mayor's endangering services and people's lives."
As Villaraigosa was addressing the media at City Hall, a few doors away the council was voting unanimously to ask DWP board members to "honor their commitment" to hand over the promised $73.5 million. They also called on the mayor to work with board members, whom he appoints, to find the money within the DWP's cash reserves.
Council members grilled interim DWP head S. David Freeman about the agency's refusal to transfer money from the utility's Power Revenue Fund. Several members noted that as recently as March 1, DWP officials promised to make the $73.5 million payment of "surplus revenue" -- which ultimately comes from ratepayers. At the time, they did not link that payment to a rate increase.
The council agreed last week to allow the DWP to increase bills by 0.6 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity consumed. DWP board members rejected that, however, and said they wanted an increase of 0.7 cents per kilowatt hour instead. The council then killed that proposal.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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It's the old gag--cut the parks and libraries while ignoring the real money sinks.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
04/08/2010 0:11 Comments ||
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#2
Boy, if it gets any worse they'll have to cut off health care, the department of education, the EPA, . . . .
#3
Following a familiar pattern. Last to be looted....public utilities. Following that, power outages and garbage in the streets. Welcome to Zimbabwe democratic voters, you've earned it!
The big assumption is that the average city pol really understands what is essential. It's a lot like watching Congresscritters talk without knowing what the Constitution actually reads. They really don't know.
Kids playing many of the City Builder series of games probably understand the basics, of what needs to be in place in sequence in order to build or sustain a community, far better than these adults.
If you get into a car accident and 911 is called, you may get billed for the emergency response. Cash-strapped communities are sending out bills to cover the costs of fire trucks responding to crashes. As CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini reports, often times it does not matter whether you caused the accident or are the victim. If we don't pay taxes for 911 services why do we pay taxes?
Cary Feldman received one of these bills last summer. He was driving his motor scooter in Chicago Heights when he was struck from behind. He was fine, but someone else called 911, and a fire truck was sent to the scene.
Feldman says it was unnecessary. "There was no fire, there was no explosion, there was no debris," Feldman said. "From what I saw, they came, they saw, and they left." The fire department then sent him a $200 bill for that fire truck response. "We're paying taxes for these services," said Feldman. "We don't need to have a second tax."
But perhaps the first tax should be higher to match the actual cost of having the service.
Motorists across the country are calling these fees a "crash tax" -- alleged strong arm tactics angering many, especially when the accidents they are being billed for are not their fault.
Nine states have created laws banning these fees. Illinois has no ban on these so-called "crash taxes." In fact, pending Illinois legislation would allow municipalities to charge up to $250 an hour for an emergency response.
Illinois Representative Karen Yarbrough is working on this issue and wants the pending legislation killed. "Bad bill, very bad bill," said Yarbrough. "This is just another way to reach into a consumer's pocket."
"I think the State of Illinois needs to take some actions to stop this from happening," said Feldman.
Aside from the cost, there is concern that people will be afraid to call 911. That's what happened last month in South Carolina. A couple tried using a hose to put out their house fire in order to avoid being billed by the fire department.
Once you're billed, as Feldman learned, there is no process to fight it. There is no court date. You just have to pay the fee, or the consequences.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
And what if someone called 911 to show up at the Chicago Mayor's house because they thought they heard screaming?
#2
But perhaps the first tax should be higher to match the actual cost of having the service.
Perhaps if we 'outsourced' the entire service maybe it'll have a lot less overhead. Companies bid on service like hotels bid on Priceline with an automated reroute on the line to the best offer by qualified carriers at the time of the call.
#3
Me: "Okay, I won't pay a penny over 65 dollars for that ambulance run to take me to the hospital for my heart attack!"
Shatner: "Attaboy, Steve, now you're negotiating the Priceline way!"
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/08/2010 11:21 Comments ||
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#4
That's what happened last month in South Carolina. A couple tried using a hose to put out their house fire in order to avoid being billed by the fire department.
I wonder if that's the whole story. When I lived in Savannah you had to pay a seperate fire dept fee. If a fire happened the fire dept responded and ensured the fire didn't spread from the non payer to those that had paid the fee.
#5
P2K, that is how it used to be. People paid a subscription for the fire department to show up to your house. Cities saw that it would be for the public good to make it a municipal service - Chicago and London fires make great examples. Thing is, firefighter unions don't like volunteer services, so they would detest the concept of private fire service.
This all was predicted a few weeks ago when that city in CA was considering an emergency response charge. In the places this catches on, you will find the fire department showing up for every single call they can get a truck there - and can justify it by the diverse set of skills and tools fire departments offer. All they have to do is show up and check in before the incident is over, even if just minutes before the official conclusion of incident. You are going to just love it when detained 15 minutes longer than necessary for a fire truck to show up, take a look, give all clear, and travel off in their suburban mobile tool set vehicle to the next call.
#6
Don't forget its common for a mayor or city council to first budget their own 'pet' project then give whatever is left to Police / Fire / Medical.
Then they go to the voters for a 'special levy' (because they don't have the budget....) for the services they should have budgeted first. Knowing that most people won't vote against essential services.
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D.-Fla.) is insisting that the new health care law she voted for last month does not mandate that individuals buy health insurance, despite language in the law that plainly says otherwise.
At an April 5 town hall meeting in Fort Lauderdale (see video below), a constituent asked Wasserman Shultz where the Constitution authorized Congress to mandate that individuals buy health insurance. She responded that the new health care law did not require individuals to buy health insurance.
In a written statement to CNSNews.com on Wednesday, her press secretary, Jonathan Beeton, said it was true that the health care law did not mandate that individuals buy health insurance and that Wasserman Schultz stood by her assertion at the townhall meeting.
We actually have not required in this law that you carry health insurance,' Wasserman Schultz said at the townhall meeting.
Yes, this is accurate,' Beeton said in his statement to CNSNews.com. You have a choice of insuring yourself with affordable coverage, or paying an assessment that will offset the burden you place on other insured Americans and taxpayers by not being insured.'
Wasserman Schultz said at the townhall meeting that instead of an individual federal mandate, the law merely created new tax categories that would reflect who carries insurance and who does not. What we did is that--just like when you're treated--that they categorize you differently in terms of your tax return when you're married versus single, just like we categorize you differently when you're a homeowner versus someone who doesn't own a home; just like we've categorized you differently when you have children versus not having children,' she said.
Is anyone besides me growing tired of the multi-millionaire Wassermans, Cohens, Wexlers, Franks, Feinsteins, Frankens, Schumers, Boxers, Spectors...etc, telling me what is or isn't good for me?
#2
I cannot wait until the SCOTUS asks counsel to explain this provision:
"You have a choice of _________________ with affordable _______, or paying an assessment that will offset the burden you place on other insured Americans and taxpayers by not being ____________."
Fill in the blanks with any purchase requirement - a car, a toothpick, an umbrella, a bowling ball, a new shirt.
If the Rep. wants to start with kids and a house as a comparison, where does the constitution stop?
(Bloomberg) -- Former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine's office got U2 and Bruce Springsteen seats the public couldn't buy last year, at the same time the state was suing brokers over ticketing practices, according to documents showing 22 elected officials received special treatment. That's because they're important. And we're not. The Boss knew who was boss ...
Corzine's office reserved 57 tickets for U2, Springsteen and the Jonas Brothers at Giants Stadium and IZOD Center from July to October 2009 through the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, agency records show. The documents, evidence in a state lawsuit against ticket Web sites, indicate more than 350 seats for 15 concerts were set aside for elected officials.
Officials got a jump on some of the season's hottest shows by obtaining seats through the state agency, which operates the two venues. At the same time, New Jersey was suing online brokers over marketing tactics including taking orders before tickets are on sale. Tapping the agency for tickets may violate ethics rules that bar officials from taking "unwarranted privileges," the head of the state ethics commission said.
"The means by which the tickets are secured has everything to do with undue access and using official position to secure an unfair advantage," said Paula Franzese, chairwoman of the state Ethics Commission. "I would like to see an investigation."
The documents were provided to Bloomberg News by a person with knowledge of the state lawsuit. The individual declined to be identified because the case is pending. The New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, the state agency that runs Giants Stadium and IZOD Center, confirmed their authenticity.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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Sir, sir, sir! Please permit me to help. Somewhere behind me is the end of the line. Please get in it.
"We cannot always oblige; but we can always speak obligingly." - Voltaire
Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) seems to have momentarily forgotten which party he belongs to. Evidence, if any was needed, that you're always the last to notice when your mind goes. He's, what? 88 years old? It's probably time, since we can't get term limits, for a mandatory retirement age for pols.
In this video, the party-switching senator notes that he has been endorsed by the college Republicans, except that the more applicable endorsement for him right now would be the college Democrats. Whoops.
It's not the first time Specter has slipped up on his new party affiliation. Shortly after the switch, he suggested he was rooting for GOP Sen. Norm Coleman (Minn.) in his recount effort.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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WHAT: Sestak received $10,000 from Rep. Charles Rangel's National Leadership PAC, the political action committee of the powerful New York Democrat who was chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee that writes tax law.
WHY IT'S DIRTY: Rangel is being investigated on multiple issues by the House ethics committee, including failure to report income from properties he owns in New York and the Dominican Republic. A company that gave $1 million to a New York school facility that will bear Rangel's name subsequently received lucrative tax breaks, and he has reportedly solicited political contributions on official stationery. Rangel has been admonished by the House ethics committee and forced to give up his Ways and Means Committee chairmanship.
WILL SESTAK GIVE IT BACK? Sestak's communications director told the Examiner that Sestak had not returned the money and was waiting to find out the results of the ethics investigation.
THE SCORE:
Number of Democrats who have given it back: 19
Number of Republicans who have given it back: 0 Number of Publicans who got any?
DONATED THIS OR OTHER DIRTY MONEY WATCH-HIGHLIGHTED CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHARITY: Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., Rep. Ed Perlmutter, D-Colo., Rep. David Price, D-N.C., Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Calif., Rep. Gary Peters, D-Mich., Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., Rep. Debbie Halvorson, D-Ill., Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Ohio, Rep. Larry Kissell, D-N.C., Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-Fla., Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y.
Golly, not one Republican in that list. No wonder the Republicans have given it back!
YOUR TURN: You can reach Sestak's Washington office at 202-225-2011.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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Want to help the deficit [sarcastically speaking], make all such national oriented election and reelection funds dump all holdings into the Treasury 90 days after the election. Consider it the Incumbent Revenue Relief Act. They can start at the same 'social justice' level of equality for their future opponents from that date on. It's all about being 'fair', right? /rhet question.
Barack Obama beat John McCain in Pennsylvania by 11 points (55% to 44%) in 2008. A new poll by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling shows Obama's approval rating in the Keystone state at 46%, with 50% of voters disapproving. Only 42% of voters say they support "President Obama's health care plan," and 49% oppose it. Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey leads Democrat Arlen Specter 46% to 43%. In a world that made any sense Snarlin' Arlen wouldn't even be making the needle move on the approval gauge.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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Namaqua chameleon (Chamaeleo namaquensis)
A unique family of lizards, chameleons exhibit some bizarre traits. With a large, triangular head, conical, independently-moving eyes, laterally compressed body and fused toes, the chameleon has looks as strange as its behaviour.
#2
Better get poll watchers at the polls to watch for multiple votes, names of Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse, dead voters, immaginary voters, voters from other States, ACORN, SEIU (and others), Black Panthers, and other criminal elements.
Be sure to count absentee votes from our military voters.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is used to sailing with the prevailing political breeze, but this year she is heading into a storm. Does that mean we'll be allowed to stop calling her 'Senator'?
"Certainly I think this year is different than previous years for Boxer," said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll in California.
Last month, the Field Poll found Boxer virtually tied with each of three potential GOP opponents and she actually lagged behind one, former Rep. Tom Campbell, by a point. I'd like to see her lose the primary to Mickey Kaus ...
The day the poll was released, Boxer assured reporters she could handle the challenge, telling them, "All my races have been hard."
But this race could be different, say analysts. "I don't believe there has ever been a time when she was trailing in any measure," DiCamillo said. "I would label this seat this year as very competitive and a tossup seat."
Boxer's threatened re-election bid is tied to her image among voters, which has worsened in recent months. The Field Poll in January found registered voters viewed her favorably, 48 percent to 39 percent. But those numbers nearly reversed themselves by March, with Boxer's unfavorable rating rising to 51 percent and her favorability score dropping to 38 percent.
DiCamillo says Boxer was damaged in part by the passage by Democrats of the president's massive health care program. Other political analysts say Boxer has sagging poll numbers because of the anti-Washington sentiment across the country. California is suffering from 12.8 percent unemployment and a massive state budget deficit.
John Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College, said Boxer has never been a strong candidate and won her last three races because of favorable outside political circumstances, including backlash against the impeachment of President Clinton in 1996 and the state's rejection of President Bush in 2004. "She's had three lucky cycles," Pitney said. "Now it's a much different environment for her and the polls are reflecting that."
Complicating matters for Boxer, energy companies and an anti-tax group are pushing a November ballot measure that would delay California's plan to impose a statewide cap and trade system aimed at curbing carbon emissions, arguing that it would kill jobs and raise utility rates. Boxer, who is chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, moved an unpopular nationwide cap-and-trade bill through her panel this year.
"If they do get it on the ballot you've got to expect the proponents will tie her to it," said Jennifer Duffy, senior editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
Duffy and other political analysts believe Boxer's prospects for a fourth term will depend mostly on who wins the June 8 Republican primary. Campbell, a pro-life moderate, polls the highest. But Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive who is a few points behind Campbell, is likely more capable of raising enough money to mount a challenge against Boxer. A third contender, state Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, is lagging in the polls.
Duffy pointed out that either Fiorina or Campbell would pose a new challenge to Boxer because "she has never run against a woman and she has never run against a pro-life Republican, which changes the equation."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/08/2010 00:00 ||
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The local press started doing damage-control for Boxer yesterday morning.
#4
All wishful thinking. As the election nears, watch Barry permit Boxer to orchestrate a huge Federal bail-out for California. All will be forgiven as federal dollars rain down upon the financially beleagured state. Timing is everything.
#6
As the election nears, watch Barry permit Boxer to orchestrate a huge Federal bail-out for California.
Maybe. However, that would PO about 40 other states and their citizens for the election. It's only one Senate seat in a field of 1/3rd of the whole Senate. As the old sarg would say, keep your head down and don't attract fire. Everyone else in the other states would take the opportunity to point out the platinum plated state government of California and decry the whole process another bailout for the rich just like they bailed out Wall Street. Not smart strategic politics at this time.
#8
The larger problem is that The People's Republic of California is the Dems grand socialist experiment, and therefore too big to fail - and it is indeed failing horrifically. I don't see Obama letting that happen on his watch. The other states are going to fume regardless, so why not protect the botox'd one?
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
04/08/2010 13:01 Comments ||
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With P2K. Ain't enough money in Washington to bail out CA-- the state is well and truly fooked.
A more likely strategem is to rally the latinos, supported by SEIU etc bully boy shock troops. Watch for rapid movement on amnesty legislation from Barry.
#10
Not enough money? You all still have jobs right? Who do you think you're working for? What they can't take from you, they'll just print.
In the end, yes there's not enough real money. The scenario outlined by lex will certainly be deployed, always is. If Obama waits, then he's vulnerable. A November blowout where the Trunks take both House and Senate would most likely doom any bailout. If we've learned anything, it's that Obama & Co will employ every hammer in the sack, consequences be damned.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
04/08/2010 14:00 Comments ||
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#11
Amnesty + a smear campaign claiming that Carly or Tom is an anti-latino racist
#17
"As the election nears, watch Barry permit Boxer to orchestrate a huge Federal bail-out for California"
I know Bambi thinks he can just spend our money at will, but a budget amendment would have to be passed for a bailout to happen.
I've no doubt Bambi and Boxcar would try it, but I have a hard time imagining they'd get enough DemoncRats from the other 56 states* to vote for it. And NO Republicans, not even the RINOs.
*Yes, I do know we have only 50 states - but apparently he doesn't. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/08/2010 21:28 Comments ||
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The option favored by public interest groups is for the FCC to take the drastic course of formally reclassifying broadband as a regulated service, reversing the position it held and defended just a few years ago.
The FCC should immediately start a proceeding bringing internet access service back under some common carrier regulation similar to that used for decades,' said Gigi Sohn, the president of the pro-net neutrality group Public Knowledge. In our view, the FCC needs to move quickly and decisively to make sure that consumers are not left at the mercy of telephone and cable companies.'
The FCC's own statement on the decision acknowledges it will have to do just that.
Today's court decision invalidated the prior Commission's approach to preserving an open internet,' said FCC spokeswoman Jen Howard in a written statement. But the Court in no way disagreed with the importance of preserving a free and open internet; nor did it close the door to other methods for achieving this important end.'
Other methods' obliquely refer to either Congress passing a law giving it the power (a process that would likely take years) or the FCC reclassifying broadband as a telecommunications service in legal terms, moving broadband from Title I to Title II of the Telecommunications Act. "Above all else, we must control what is seen and heard by the proletariat."
#7
The range of controls being actively promoted by this current FCC board is both pernicious and ugly. Unless you're plugged into the FCC through some intermediary--like a broadcaster's association--the very nature of the FCC's proceedings are archane and masked under layers of bureaucratese that are anything but transparent.
Oh, and they're idiots.
Just take a look at their proposal to shift the daisy-chain of the current EAS system to an internet system. But no one can seem to answer the question, what happens when the internet isn't available? It happened here, in December, 2007. No telcom or 'net for weeks following the Dec 4 storm. "Emergency" alert system? On a platform that wasn't/may not be accessible?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
If you get into a car accident and 911 is called, you may get billed for the emergency response. Cash-strapped communities are sending out bills to cover the costs of fire trucks responding to crashes. As CBS 2 Investigator Dave Savini reports, often times it does not matter whether you caused the accident or are the victim. 
(Bloomberg) -- Former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine's office got U2 and Bruce Springsteen seats the public couldn't buy last year, at the same time the state was suing brokers over ticketing practices, according to documents showing 22 elected officials received special treatment.
WHO: Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa.
Barack Obama beat John McCain in Pennsylvania by 11 points (55% to 44%) in 2008. A new poll by the Democratic firm Public Policy Polling shows Obama's approval rating in the Keystone state at 46%, with 50% of voters disapproving. Only 42% of voters say they support "President Obama's health care plan," and 49% oppose it. Republican Senate candidate Pat Toomey leads Democrat Arlen Specter 46% to 43%.
Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is used to sailing with the prevailing political breeze, but this year she is heading into a storm.
