“War of All Against All” Gets Closer
I read with interest John
Seiler’s column last week in CalWatchDog.org in which he described the
plans of the California Federation of Teachers to raise taxes – many taxes:
higher income taxes on the rich; oil severance taxes; business property taxes;
taxes on services. Seiler was quoting from an article written by Marty
Hittelman, president of the CFT.
What particularly caught my attention was Hittelman’s
comment from the magazine article that passing Proposition 25 for a majority
vote budget last year was only a first step. The goal is to lower the two-thirds
vote for taxes.
I debated Hittelman a number of times on Prop 25 when it was
on the ballot. I pointed out Prop 25’s flaws, that it opened up the possibility
to new taxes and that the ultimate goal was to get at the two-thirds vote on
taxes. Hittelman denied this.
Putting American Workers and Businesses Back In the Fast Lane
This post was co-authored by Maria Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.
Nothing is more important right now than creating good jobs and putting people back to work. But doing so is difficult in a time when leaders get caught up in heated rhetoric and sidetracked by intense partisanship. We lose sight of what Americans need most: JOBS. If you sharpen your focus on job creation, you can see—despite the red versus blue debates—a shining example of hope and collaboration that promises to generate over a million jobs and build our country’s infrastructure. It’s a plan called America Fast Forward (AFF).
AFF calls for increasing and leveraging the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) to support the private sector in creating jobs now by building projects on a faster timeline.
Just this week, the Democratic and Republican Senate leaders in public works and transportation outlined legislation to reauthorize our federal transportation programs that allow local municipalities to strategically leverage funds with federal dollars to immediately generate jobs.
Where has the CA Commission on Disability Access Gone?
On June 7th, 2010 I
blogged about the California Commission on Disability Access (CCDA) and SB 1608,
noting how CALA felt that little or nothing was happening since the Commission
was created back in the fall of 2008 by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Well, I wish I could
report to you that the Commission is meeting regularly and that ADA lawsuits
against small businesses have vanished and there is peace in the valley. Sadly,
that is not the case. Nearly three years have passed since SB 1608 was signed
on September 28th, 2008 and little or nothing has been done.
As I write, the CCDA
has yet to even hire an Executive Officer. They had offered the position to an
individual, but it did not work out. So they had to go back to the drawing
board, but should be announcing something shortly. So at least after nearly
three years the Commission will have its own staff. Since 2008, it has
had to use the Building Standards Commission staff.
Memorial Day at Gettysburg
I found myself observing Memorial Day at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania yesterday, the site of the decisive battle of the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln months later in his Gettysburg Address outlined the “New Birth of Freedom” secured by the soldiers of that battle — a freedom that has been continuously defended by America’s soldiers and sailors that we honored and remembered yesterday.
Gettysburg has one of the oldest, continuous Memorial Day parades.
Below are a few quick phone/camera shots from yesterday.