America will face Riots, Marches, and Revolution

[Ryan Ruck]

Jeez... Sounds like Maywood is going the way of Highland Park Detroit.





Coming soon to a neighborhood near you, it's the Obamanation!

[American Patriot]

No no no. Highland Park, MICHIGAN. lol

[Ryan Ruck]

No no no. Highland Park, MICHIGAN. lol

Come on Rick... Semantics, semantics... Highland Park is only completely surrounded by Detroit!

It is similar to a couple areas in Cincinnati. Small municipalities surrounded by the larger city.

Oops... Had to fix the pictures. Guess the site didn't like hotlinking.

[vector7]

Meanwhile...

California welfare cards can be used in many casino ATMs

Times review finds that in more than half of the state's casinos and gaming rooms, welfare recipients can get cash from state-issued EBT cards. Officials say they're moving to block such transactions.



By Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times June 24, 2010

Times review finds that in more than half of the state's casinos and gaming rooms, welfare recipients can get cash from state-issued EBT cards. Officials say they're moving to block such transactions.


Los Angeles Times June 24, 2010

Reporting from Sacramento —


California welfare recipients are able to use state-issued debit cards to withdraw cash on gaming floors in more than half of the casinos in the state, a Los Angeles Times review of records found.

The cards, provided by the Department of Social Services to help recipients feed and clothe their families, work in automated teller machines at 32 of 58 tribal casinos and 47 of 90 state-licensed poker rooms, the review found.

State officials said Wednesday they were working to determine how much money had been withdrawn from casino ATMs by people using the welfare debit cards.


Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who learned of the issue when asked to comment for this story, promised to take immediate action.

"We have instructed our vendors to prohibit these cards from being accepted at ATMs located in casinos and card rooms," Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said Wednesday. "It is reprehensible that anyone would use taxpayer money for anything other than its intended purpose."

Administration officials said the social services agency contracts with a private ATM network to handle the electronic transfer of benefits to people on welfare, and hadn't noticed that the taxpayer money was being withdrawn at gambling establishments.

McLear said the system of paying out welfare benefits via bank cards was created under Schwarzenegger's predecessor, Democrat Gray Davis. Since the late 1990s most states have adopted this system, which is a viewed as a more efficient way of distributing and tracking government aid.

Schwarzenegger has been wrangling with lawmakers over other efforts to combat waste and fraud in the state's social services programs. He fought back a legislative effort to discontinue fingerprinting of food stamp recipients, a system designed to prevent double-dipping and other abuses.

Casino ATMs account for a handful of the thousands of machines in the contractor's network, and the amount withdrawn from them by welfare recipients almost certainly would comprise a tiny fraction of the state's multibillion-dollar welfare spending. But the issue is likely to come up as lawmakers fight over how best to close their historic budget deficit.

Schwarzenegger had already threatened to eliminate the state welfare program in his May budget proposal, and that was before he and his Republican allies in the Legislature knew that the cash could be accessed by people strolling from poker games to blackjack tables.

"In a time when we have a $19-billion deficit, and we're taking a serious look at the future of many safety-net programs, it's appalling to think that welfare beneficiaries can use their cards in a casino," said Seth Unger, spokesman for the Assembly Republican Caucus.

Democratic leaders, who have vowed to protect the state's fraying social safety net, also began calling for reform Wednesday.

"In these tough times, when so many children and vulnerable families depend on the safety net, we have to make sure food stamps and other services are being used the way the people of California intended them to be," said Shannon Murphy, spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D- Los Angeles). "Other states have closed this loophole, and the Assembly will work with the Schwarzenegger administration to make that happen."

The casinos are listed on a Department of Social Services website that allows welfare recipients to search for addresses of ATMs where they can withdraw cash provided under the Temporary Aid for Needy Families program. The monthly grant ranges up to $694; most of the ATMs impose a withdrawal limit of about $300 per day.

The Times compared the addresses on that website with lists of tribal casinos and state-licensed poker rooms published on the California Gambling Control Commission's website.

It's not clear which casinos are most frequently patronized by welfare recipients because social services officials denied a January request from The Times for data showing transaction information from all of the ATMs in their network. Department lawyers argued that federal law prohibits the state from releasing financial information about merchants who accept cards issued to welfare recipients.

Those cards, known as Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, look and work just like ordinary debit cards. They allow welfare recipients to access two accounts: the cash offered so needy parents can provide a home for their children while they train for better jobs, and an electronic version of food stamps that comes with rules governing where and how the benefits can be spent.

The cash benefits, however, can be withdrawn and spent just about anywhere.

The Capitol Casino, which occupies a pair of small rooms a few blocks from the legislative chambers in Sacramento, appears on the social services website showing where clients can get money. Each room has an ATM: one is so close to a poker table that a player with long arms could lean back and withdraw cash without leaving his chair; the other is a few steps from the blackjack table.

At the Casino Royale on the outskirts of Sacramento, the first thing patrons pass as they walk to the gaming floor is the ATM with a sign next to it saying, "Exceed your ATM daily limit here!!"

Faye Stearns, a part-owner of Casino Royale, said she had no idea people on welfare could withdraw taxpayer dollars from the machine, and would not oppose a measure to prohibit it.

"I'm sure we wouldn't want to be taking money from children," Stearns said. "The adults? Hey, that's their problem. But kids? No."

The cash portion of California's welfare benefits comes from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. Each year, California gets $3.7 billion from the federal government for the program, while state and local governments kick in an additional $2.9 billion.

The state of New Mexico and at least one company that supplies ATMs to the gaming industry have already taken steps to make sure their machines in casinos reject welfare benefits cards.

"I think it makes social sense," said John Monforte, executive director of the New Mexico Gaming Control Board. "There's a balance with gaming. There are wonderful things [casinos] do for tribal governments, but the reality is there are also negative social impacts."

Global Cash Access, a Las Vegas firm that provides ATMs and other equipment for more than 1,000 casinos in the United States, started programming their machines to reject welfare cards more than a decade ago.

"Unless a state tells us to allow access to their EBT cards, we will continue to block these cards from being accepted at our devices," said Katie Lever, the firm's general counsel. "It's really easy to do."

[American Patriot]

hehehe

Highland Park, however, in my days of living there (In Detroit, and helping Dad deliver wine to HP) the place was a pretty high class location. Surrounded or not.

[Ryan Ruck]

California welfare cards can be used in many casino ATMs

First thought... Whew, sure glad they used NCR ATMs in their piece!

Second, $700 cash on the card?!?! That's a sizable sum of cash.

Third, I'm not surprised that .gov would allow the cards to be cashed in at casino ATMs. After all, the money the casino takes in and winnings are all taxed so .gov gets to double dip.

[vector7]

Jobless aid, tax bill fails in U.S. Senate

WASHINGTON
Thu Jun 24, 2010 5:41pm EDT

WASHINGTON June 24 (Reuters) - A Democratic plan to provide additional aid to jobless workers, businesses and cash-strapped states failed in the U.S. Senate on Thursday in the face of solid Republican opposition.

The bill, which would have extended a set of popular business tax breaks and raised taxes on investment fund managers, fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance in the 100-member Senate. Democrats had hoped the package, which would have provided additional jobless aid for hundreds of thousands of unemployed workers, would help boost fragile economic growth. But Republicans argued it would have added too much red ink to the $1.4 trillion budget deficit. (Reporting by Donna Smith; Editing by Dan Grebler)

[vector7]

Cost-Cutting Detroit Will Close 77 Parks

By ALEX P. KELLOGG

DETROIT—The city of Detroit plans to close 77 public parks as part of a bid by Mayor Dave Bing to cuts costs due to a budget deficit pegged at hundreds of millions of dollars.

Roughly 1,400 acres of parkland will be affected by the closures, which are scheduled to take place July 1.
View Full Image



Andre J. Jackson/Detroit Free Press Detroit's Scripps Park, a public park slated for closure by the mayor.

"Basically, this was how can we close the lowest number of places," said Dan Lijana, spokesman for the mayor. "Some of these are the largest, most sprawling parks in the city, and some of the most scenic."

Mr. Bing pledged more fiscal responsibility when he took office in May 2009, and has been pushing for cuts citywide to stave off financial insolvency. He has won concessions from just over half the city's public-sector unions but he hasn't seen eye-to-eye with the city council, which has pushed for even deeper cuts than he is proposing.

Detroit has closed dozens of schools in recent years and cut back on other city services, such as busing, as the city as a whole has begun to respond to a decline in population that has left whole blocks and neighborhoods sparsely populated.

When Mr. Bing came into power, the city had about 13,000 employees and a deficit of more than $300 million. He has let go more than 2,000 people since then and forced roughly 1,500 nonunion workers to take pay cuts, moves he said have saved the city millions. The city has also instituted furlough days for employees.

Park closures include Rouge Park, covering 455 acres—about the size of 345 football fields—on Detroit's west side. Palmer Park, which is close to some of the city's remaining prime neighborhoods, is also scheduled to close.

Mr. Lijana said parking lots will be barricaded, trash bins will be removed and all activities will be disallowed in the parks slated for closure.

"They're a very vital part of the community," said city-council member James Tate, who opposes the closures and hopes for last-minute cuts elsewhere instead. "I don't want to say it's over until it's over."

The city chose larger parks that are more costly to maintain, while keeping open those that offer children's programs or are directly next door to homes, to avoid directly affecting residents nearby.

Mr. Lijana said parking lots will be barricaded, trash bins will be removed and all activities will be disallowed in the parks slated for closure.

[vector7]

Thursday, June 24, 2010

June 24 2010: The magic yellow brick wall

Detroit Publishing Co. 1905
"New York City, Gotham and St. Regis hotels, Looking south along Fifth Avenue at East 56th Street. On the right, the Gotham rising behind Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church"

Ilargi: It makes no difference whether the stock markets go up or down or sideways anymore, except for those actively playing them. The demise of the American economy continues unabated regardless. Here's the real economy for you:

Unemployment: Outlook Grim For Jobs Bill Ahead Of Vote

Democratic leaders in the Senate have apparently failed to win enough support to overcome a Republican filibuster of a bill to help the poor, the old and the jobless, despite making a series of cuts to the measure over the past several weeks to appease deficit hawks [..]

The legislation, known as the "tax extenders" bill, would reauthorize extended unemployment benefits for people out of work for six months or longer, would protect doctors from a 21% pay cut for seeing Medicare patients, and would provide billions in aid to state Medicaid programs. Come Friday, 1.2 million people will lose access to the extended unemployment benefits, a number that will grow by several hundred thousand every week after that. Fifty million Medicare claims from June are currently in process at the reduced rate, which the AARP says has already caused some of its members to have trouble finding a doctor.[..]

That is the most accurate portrait of the real America you will find. The country is deliberately creating un underclass below its underclass. And that will have severe consequences.

Initial jobless claims fall 19,000 to 457,000, total beneficiaries rise 155,000 to 9.7 million

First-time applications for state unemployment benefits fell by 19,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 457,000, the lowest in six weeks, the Labor Department reported Thursday, confirming that U.S. labor markets remain weak. [..]... the total number of people collecting unemployment benefits of any kind rose by 155,000 to 9.66 million in the week ending June 5 from 9.51 million.

In other words, all the White House job-creating plans continue to fail, initial claims go up or down a few thousand margin-of-error jobs each time we look, but if this were a recovery, they'd be nowhere near 450,000. Moreover, total benefits paid out keep rising, while the total number of people falling off the back of the train, who no longer get a penny, rises more than we care to look at. Hundreds of thousands of additional Americans will be added to that category every single week from now on in. This is a recipe for disaster, not just for them, but for society as a whole. You can't have a successful society where people are starving by the side of the road.

The link between unemployment and real estate is undoubtedly clear for all of you who are regulars at this joint. You should therefore not be surprised to see numbers like these:

New-home sales plunge 33% to record low in May

Sales of new single-family homes plunged 33% in May to a record-low level after a federal subsidy for home buyers expired, according to data released Wednesday by the Commerce Department. Sales dropped to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 300,000, the lowest since records began in 1963. April's sales pace was revised down to 446,000 compared with the 504,000 originally reported. March's sales were also revised lower.

Still, new homes are a tiny part of the market. Existing homes are what counts. Well, they are down too:

Existing-home sales dip 2.2% in May

Resales of U.S. homes and condominiums fell 2.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.66 million in May despite the boost from a federal tax credit for home buyers, according to National Association of Realtors data released Tuesday.

Please note that these sales are falling while there's still a tax credit in place. Which is about to run out.

And sure, it may be extended another time. Or it may not. The same goes for the extended emergency unemployment benefits mentioned earlier. But so what? It’ll have to stop sometime, and as long as the real economy keeps sinking the way it does, there’ll neither be anywhere near enough jobs to either satisfy the demand for them, nor to keep desperate owners in their homes. Which will in turn further depress home prices, which in turn will cost more jobs. There is no way out anymore.

And while this is going on, the logical outcome is that state governments are pathetic participants in the squeeze and be squeezed game. TIME Magazine of all sources has this:

Inside the Dire Financial State of the States

Twenty-two states have instituted unpaid furloughs. At least 28 states have ordered across-the-board budget cuts, with many of them adding deeper cuts in targeted agencies. And massive shortfalls in public pension plans loom as well. Almost no one — and no place — is exempt. Nearly everywhere, tax revenue plummeted as property values tanked, incomes dwindled and consumers stopped shopping. Falling prices for stocks and real estate have made mincemeat of often underfunded public pension plans. Unemployed workers have swelled the demand for welfare and Medicaid services. Governments that were frugal in the past are just squeaking by. Governments that were lavish in the good times, building their budgets on optimism and best-case scenarios, now risk being wrecked like a shantytown in an earthquake.[..]

Many taxpayers might say that it's about time spending dropped. But then they start hearing the specifics. Government budgets contain a lot of fixed costs and herds of sacred cows. K-12 education absorbs nearly a third of all spending from state general funds. Add medical expenses, primarily Medicaid, and it's over half. Prisons must be maintained, colleges and universities kept open, interest on bonds and other loans paid. Real cuts provoke loud howls, and you can hear them rising in every corner of the country. College students have marched in California, firefighters have protested in Florida, and on June 10, Minnesota saw the largest one-day strike of nurses — some 12,000 — in U.S. history.

And don't count on the shaky economic recovery for relief. After plunging in 2009, tax receipts are stabilizing in many places — but the next big shoe is fixing to drop. Having poured billions of dollars into state coffers through the stimulus act of 2009, the federal government is poised to close the tap. President Obama made an unusual Saturday night request to Congress last week for $50 billion in emergency aid to the states to stave off layoffs of teachers, firefighters and police. [..]

On the grand scale, this fiscal fiasco is playing out in California and New York. Both states boast economies far larger than that of Greece, which so disturbed the world economy this spring. And both are paralyzed by structural deficits far larger than their politicians seem able to grasp. The impasse in California between Republican governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democrats controlling the legislature appears set in concrete. Last year, the Golden State was reduced to issuing IOUs; this year's budget, some $19 billion in the hole, is once again a shambles. In New York, Democrats control all the levers, but they can't find a cost-cutting deal acceptable to the public-employee unions that helped elect them. The deficit in Albany is $9.2 billion.

[..] .... a majority of states will have reserves well below safe levels recommended by the National Association of State Budget Officers. Leery of broad tax hikes in a bad economy, governments have instead chosen to shake the sofa cushions and punish the naughty, closing loopholes, cracking down on tax evaders and raising levies on tobacco, alcohol, gambling, soda pop and candy — even bottled water in Washington State. Nearly half the states have hiked fees for higher education, court services, park access, business licenses — or all of the above.

These are the tried-and-true responses to dips in the business cycle, but as the woes drag on from year to year, the job of closing budget gaps grows more difficult. Now larger issues and harder choices are being laid bare, beginning with the sprawling mess that is Medicaid. Created by Congress, administered by the states and paid for by a patchwork of federal, state and local governments, the health care system for America's poor is a jumble in the best of times. With enrollments growing rapidly, that jumble is becoming a train wreck.

What's going to give? Prepare for a free-for-all. The states are pressing Washington to maintain the emergency Medicaid supplement that was part of the stimulus package. So far, congressional moderates are blanching at the price tag. If the Beltway budget hawks win that battle, states plan to squeeze the patients, who are currently protected by strings attached to the stimulus money. No federal supplement means no more strings. Already various states are contemplating tighter eligibility rules, lower benefits, higher co-pays and other restrictions. And then there's the ongoing fight between the states and the medical system. Governments are wringing money from doctors and hospitals coming and going: first they are cutting payments for Medicaid services, and then they are raising fees on Medicaid providers.

Really, do you need it any clearer than that? Do you now still think you and yours will be spared? There is no magical way out. Your federal, state and municipal governments will start taxing you ever more, trying to save their own jobs and asses, at the very moment that your incomes will begin to decline.

Paul Krugman and his Keynesian "Spend, spend, spend" ideas and followers, like Obama and his buddies Larry Summers and Tim Geithner and the rest of Washington base their notions and measures on one grand idea: that the economy will start growing again, and strong, and soon.

But the economy isn't growing, and if they wouldn't have thrown your grandchildren's tax revenues at the magic yellow brick wall, this would be evident to everyone today. All they have achieved, apart from a prolongation of their own careers in power, is that it will be even more, and far more brutally, evident in the future.

It’s about to blow up in your face, guys, literally, the whole thing, your entire lives. And it really doesn’t matter whether it does so in two weeks or two months or two years, does it? If it would take two years, you'd just get sucked even deeper into the hologram.

What matters is that everyone begins to understand that this thing is inevitable, and that the consequences will be beyond anything you've ever known.

The city walls of Dodge are crumbling as we speak, and we urge you to get out before they flatten you.

[vector7]

Sunday, June 27th, 2010 | Posted by Stephanie Lee
Unemployment Extension Unsuccessful; Americans turn on Each Other



The Senate’s unsuccessful bid at approving an unemployment extension has caused unemployed Americans to become more desperate for a lifeline. Unfortunately, to make matters worse for these Americans, they are becoming victims of harsh words online by other Americans and even companies.

After researchers from U.S. Chronicle reviewed comments posted by users on opencongress.org — a site dedicated to aggregating data and information about Congress from the web — there appears to be an increase in the number of users who verbally abuse other users seeking an unemployment extension.

One user posted a comment asking why people were dependent on the government to help them. The user further went on to state, “The whining for government benefits is embarrassing and pathetic.”

In a separate incident reported earlier this month by the Huffington Post, The People Place, a job recruiting company, reportedly posted a job description with a message along the bottom that read, “Client will not consider/review anyone NOT currently employed regardless of the reason.”

Another incident occurred with Sony/Ericsson, where the company posted a help wanted ad, with the the following message, “NO UNEMPLOYED CANDIDATES WILL BE CONSIDERED AT ALL.”

Until the unemployment figures take a turn, many unemployed Americans will likely continue to face the abuse.

Last week, the Senate failed to pass the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010, also known as HR 4213.

According to data released by the U.S. Department of Labor, nearly 2 million people will be without any unemployment benefits.

There is no word when the Senate will meet to discuss any sort of unemployment extension.

[American Patriot]

I think people are forgetting something.

The Federal Government, the Senate, House, SCOTUS and yes, even the President's jobs are laid out clearly and concisely in the Constitution.

Nowhere in the Constitution does it state that these offices will "create jobs".

Period.

They need to STFU and get back to work in DC on protecting this country.

That means cutting military funding is out. Increase it.
That means that giving more money to the Social System is out. DECREASE IT.

That's an order. From your boss. A citizen.

[vector7]

The 18 States Facing The Most Brutal Austerity Cuts

Gus Lubin | Jun. 28, 2010,

Even the sober Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says 46 states are facing a Greek-like crisis.

These state governments must inaugurate an austerity regime to cut spending by $112 billion for FY2011.

FY2011 begins on Thursday.

States have already cut over $300 billion from budgets in the past two years to make up for rising costs and disappearing revenue. For California and New York, this means some of the bloodshed is over. For other states, it's getting much worse.

Unlike the Federal government, states can't just print their way out of a crisis. Except for Vermont, all states MUST balance the budget.


Utah -- 16% Cuts


FY2011 shortfall: $700 million
% of FY2010 budget: 15.6%
Previous cuts:$1.0 billion in '10; $620 million in '09
Source: CBPP


Pennsylvania -- 16% Cuts


FY2011 shortfall: $4.1 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 16.3%
Previous cuts:$5.9 billion in '10; $3.2 billion in '09
Source: CBPP


Iowa -- 19% Cuts


FY2011 shortfall: $1.1 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 18.6%
Previous cuts:$1.3 billion in '10; $484 million in '09
Source: CBPP


Colorado -- 21% Cuts


FY2011 shortfall: $1.5 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 21.2%
Previous cuts:$1.6 billion in '10; $1.1 billion in '09
Source: CBPP


Florida -- 22% Cuts


FY2011 shortfall: $4.7 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 22.2%
Previous cuts:$6.0 billion in '10; $5.7 billion in '09
Source: CBPP


South Carolina -- 23% Cuts


FY2011 shortfall: $1.3 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 22.6%
Previous cuts:$1.2 billion in '10; $1.1 billion in '09
Source: CBPP


Georgia -- 24% Cuts


FY2011 shortfall: $4.2 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 24.3%
Previous cuts:$4.5 billion in '10; $2.4 billion in '09
Source: CBPP


Wisconsin -- 25% Cuts


FY2011 shortfall: $3.4 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 25.3%
Previous cuts:$3.2 billion in '10; $1.7 billion in '09
Source: CBPP


Minnesota -- 26% Cuts



FY2011 shortfall: $4.0 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 26.4%
Previous cuts:$3.4 billion in '10; $1.6 billion in '09
Source: CBPP


Oregon -- 29% Cuts*


FY2010/11 shortfall: $4.2 billion
% of FY2008/09 budget: 29.0%
Previous cuts:$442 million in '09
*Oregon has a biennial budget.
Source: CBPP

Connecticut -- 29% Cuts

Image: AP

FY2011 shortfall: $5.1 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 29.2%
Previous cuts:$4.7 billion in '10; $2.7 billion in '09
Source: CBPP


North Carolina -- 31% Cuts


FY2011 shortfall: $5.8 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 30.5%
Previous cuts:$5.0 billion in '10; $3.2 billion in '09
Source: CBPP


Vermont -- 31% Cuts


FY2011 shortfall: $338 million
% of FY2010 budget: 31.1%
Previous cuts: $306 million in '10; $141 million in '09
Source: CBPP


Maine -- 32% Cuts

Image: dougtone on flickr

FY2011 shortfall: $940 million
% of FY2010 budget: 32.1%
Previous cuts:$1,900 million in '10; $265 million in '09
Source: CBPP


Arizona -- 35% Cuts


FY2011 shortfall: $3.1 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 35.3%
Previous cuts:$5.1 billion in '10; $3.7 billion in '09
Source: CBPP


THIRD WORST: Illinois -- 36% Cuts


FY2011 shortfall: $13.5 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 36.1%
Previous cuts:$1,4.3 billion in '10; $4.3 billion in '09
Source: CBPP


SECOND WORST: New Jersey -- 37% Cuts


FY2011 shortfall: $10.7 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 37.4%
Previous cuts:$11 billion in '10; $6.1 billion in '09
Source: CBPP


THE WORST: Nevada -- 57% Cuts


FY2011 shortfall: $1.8 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 56.6%
Previous cuts:$430 million in '10; $1.6 billion in '09
Source: CBPP


BONUS: New York


FY2011 shortfall: $8.5 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 15.5%
Previous cuts:$21 billion in '10; $7.4 billion in '09
Source: CBPP




BONUS: California


FY2011 shortfall: $9.0 billion
% of FY2010 budget: 9.1%
Previous cuts:$54.6 billion in '10; $37.1 billion in '09
Source: CBPP

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1.5 Million Californian workers lose unemployment benefits

“Some 200,000 jobless Californians have already lost their unemployment benefits, and that figure is expected to rise to 1.5 million by the end of the year without an extension from Congress. California’s unemployment rate stands at 12.4 percent, among the highest in the nation.

California’s unemployed will also feel the pinch. Cheryl Hunt, a tech support worker from Berkeley who lost her job last year, said she recently received a letter from the state unemployment office that her benefits are about to expire. — Mercury News

“I’m totally dependent on this extension,” said Hunt, who is trying to refinance her mortgage. “I’ve exhausted my savings.”

Some 200,000 jobless Californians have already lost their unemployment benefits, and that figure is expected to rise to 1.5 million by the end of the year without an extension from Congress. California’s unemployment rate stands at 12.4 percent, among the highest in the nation.

The bill also included provisions that directly affect Silicon Valley. A research and development tax credit long employed by high-tech firms expired Dec. 31 but would have been extended an additional year. It now could be lost for good, said Ralph Hellmann, a senior vice president at the Washington, D.C.-based Industry Technology Industry Council.

Tech firms “rely on these incentives to keep and expand research and development here in the U.S.,” Hellmann said.

On the other side of the ledger, the measure’s defeat gave the venture capital industry a reprieve from a proposed tax increase on so-called “carried interest.”

Both of California’s senators, Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, voted in favor of the jobs and tax bill.

Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, who is running to unseat Boxer in November, said through a spokeswoman that she would have sided with Republicans in blocking the measure.

“While there are some worthwhile programs that are funded under this legislation,” the spokeswoman, Julie Soderlund, said in a statement, “it needs much more work to ensure that it does not further hinder job creation.”

Soderlund said Fiorina favors extending unemployment benefits and making permanent the research and development credit, but she believes both items should be offset with spending cuts.

California’s constitution requires a 2/3 majority in the legislature to pass any tax increase. Despite returning solid majorities of Democrats to the legislature election after election there is a very hard core cadre of die-hard Republicans who manage to say above 1/3 of the legislature and absolutely will not vote for any tax increase for any reason.

Further, California has a property tax freeze (since the 1970s) which freezes your taxes at the last sale price. If you live in your home for 20 years, you’re essentially not paying a realistic amount to cover your community’s goods and services. Overtime, this has bled the state’s income.

So 1/3 of the state gets to hold the other 2/3 hostage. It is profoundly undemocratic and has led, inexorably to this result. The Republicans want to return to an 1800s vision of the State, where it is everyone for themselves.

So the choice facing the democrats was to let the government shut down completely, or agree to the demands of a bunch of well off people with no consciences who represent wealthy parts of the state.

California is about to become a 3rd world country. This is entirely the fault of the two party facade who have engineered this “shock doctrine” tactic. Many people are delighted to see the elderly and disabled cut off from support and the poor denied health care.

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Will Thousands Of Police Layoffs Unleash Chaos And Anarchy Across America?



Thousands of police officers have been laid off all across America since the current economic crisis began. Thousands more are getting ready to be laid off. So could we be on the verge of a new era of chaos and anarchy in America as crime runs wild and there are just far too few police to respond to it all? That is the message that one blood-smeared billboard in Stockton, California is trying to get across. Paid for by the Stockton, California police union, the message of the billboard is chillingly clear: "Welcome to the 2nd most dangerous city in California. Stop laying off cops." As state, city and local governments across the United States continue to be devastated by the ongoing economic crisis, budget cuts are becoming much deeper and police forces have suddenly become a very popular target.

Officer Steve Leonesio, the president of the Stockton Police Officers Association, has announced that the police union plans to spend approximately $20,000 on at least 20 more billboards.

Why is the union putting up all of these billboards?

Well, it turns out that Stockton has been considering a plan to lay off 53 police officers in an effort to eliminate a $23 million budget deficit.

But law enforcement in Stockton has already been cut to the bone. Recently, the Stockton Police Department dropped this bombshell....

"We absolutely do not have any narcotics officers, narcotics sergeants working any kind of investigative narcotics type cases at this point in time."

Do you think drug dealers will be flocking to Stockton after they hear that?

But the truth is that so many of these local governments around the nation are just flat broke at this point.

Even major cities are having to admit that they have accumulated such large debts that they cannot even afford to provide the most basic services any longer.

In Oakland, California the battle over police layoffs has made national headlines over the past couple of weeks. Oakland has laid off 80 police officers, and now the police chief says that there are some crimes that his department simply will not be able to respond to.

In fact, Chief Anthony Batts has compiled a list of exactly 44 situations, including grand theft, burglary, car wrecks, identity theft and vandalism, that his officers will not be available to handle any longer.

What in the world?

Once upon a time in America you could get a police officer to come out for just about anything - including for getting a cat down out of a tree.

But those days are long gone.

Today it is very hard to get a police officer to come out for anything short of murder.

The following is a partial list of crimes that police officers in Oakland will no longer be responding to....

* burglary
* theft
* embezzlement
* grand theft
* grand theft: dog
* identity theft
* false information to peace officer
* required to register as sex or arson offender
* dump waste or offensive matter
* discard appliance with lock
* loud music
* possess forged notes
* pass fictitious check
* obtain money by false voucher
* fraudulent use of access cards
* stolen license plate
* embezzlement by an employee (over $ 400)
* extortion
* attempted extortion
* false personification of other
* injure telephone/power line
* interfere with power line
* unauthorized cable tv connection
* vandalism

Not that Oakland wasn't already a mess, but now how long do you think it will be before total chaos and anarchy reigns on the streets of Oakland?

But Oakland is far from alone.

The sheriff's department in Ashtabula County, Ohio has been slashed from 112 to 49 deputies, and there is now just one vehicle remaining to patrol all 720 square miles of the county.

So what are the citizens of that county supposed to do to protect themselves?

Well, when asked about what they should do, Judge Alfred Mackey gave this stunning piece of advice....

"Arm themselves."

So is that what we are left with?

Is American society degenerating into a "Road Warrior-style" wasteland where we are all left to fend for ourselves?

It gets really frightening when you start considering just how many police are actually being laid off across the United States....

*Acting State Police director Jonathon Monken has announced that the Illinois State Police will lay off more than 460 troopers and close five regional headquarters by this fall.

*Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford has proposed a plan to lay off 40 police officers.

*The police department in Vallejo, California will temporarily suspend its K-9 and SWAT programs at the end of the month in a move to delay officer layoffs.

*Last year, 18 special police units in Toledo, Ohio - including the gang task force and the mounted patrol - were eliminated or downsized in an effort to replace the 130 patrol officers who were laid off because of a $20.7 million budget deficit.

*Of 315 municipalities the New Jersey State Policemen's union canvassed, more than half indicated that they were planning to lay off police officers.

*Four police officers in one town in New Jersey were greeted at work this past Monday morning with notices informing them that they will be laid off on August 31st.

*Police in Phoenix, Arizona have been told that more than 400 officers could be impacted by layoffs if "the worst case scenario" plays out.

*Police and firefighters in Flint, Michigan decided that layoffs were preferable to taking a 15 percent pay and benefits cut.

*The city of Maywood, California laid off all 68 of its employees July 1st and is now "contracting out" police services.

*In Colorado Springs, dozens of police positions are going unfilled and the police helicopters were put up for sale on the Internet.

The sad thing is that as local police forces across America are being stripped down or dismantled, many communities are opening their arms wide to increased federal law enforcement "assistance".

In recent years, we have seen a large number of examples where the U.S. military is being used for domestic law enforcement, which is supposed to be against the law. In addition, federal government agencies are increasingly taking over the financing, training and even command of local police.

But is this "federalization" of local law enforcement a good thing?

Of course not.

Unfortunately we live at a time when almost everything is being centralized under federal government control. Of course this is completely contrary to everything that our founders intended, but most of our "officials" don't seem too concerned about actually following the Constitution these days.

So what are you seeing in your own local community? Is the police force being slashed where you live? Is crime on the rise? Feel free to leave a comment with your opinion....

Comments

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Schwarzenegger Orders Minimum Wage for State Workers

Rich Pedroncelli / AP

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

Schwarzenegger orders minimum wage for state workers

By Jon Ortiz

jortiz@sacbee.com
Published: Thursday, Jul. 1, 2010 - 4:37 pm
Last Modified: Thursday, Jul. 1, 2010 - 5:01 pm

The Schwarzenegger administration today ordered State Controller John Chiang to reduce state worker pay for July to the federal minimum allowed by law -- $7.25 an hour for most state workers.

The instructions from the Department of Personnel Administration exclude roughly 37,000 state workers in six bargaining units that recently came to tentative labor agreements with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Some employees, such as doctors and lawyers, would get no pay because federal exempts them from any minimum wage requirement. Managers, supervisors and others who don't get paid for working more than 40 hours per week would receive $455 per week until a budget deal got done.

Schwarzenegger has invoked a 2003 state Supreme Court decision as grounds for the move. That ruling, White v. Davis, held that without a budget that appropriates money for state payroll, employee wages can be withheld to the federal minimum. That condition exists today, which is the start of the 2010-11 fiscal year and the state is without a budget. The back pay would be paid once a budget is enacted.

The administration issued similar instructions to Chiang during a budget impasse in 2008. The controller refused to comply over concerns that doing so would violate federal law. He also asserted that the state's decades-old computerized payroll system couldn't handle the complexities of changing the pay for 240,000 state workers affected by the governor's instruction.

Calls to the Controller's office seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/07/01/286...#ixzz0sUFyGMW2

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Layoffs to gut East St. Louis police force

BY NICHOLAS J.C. PISTOR • npistor@post-dispatch.com > 314-340-8265 314-340-8265 | Posted: Friday, July 30, 2010 2:15 pm | (47) Comments



David Carson July 30, 2010--East St. Louis police Officer Carlos Coleman reacts Friday as people walk out of a City Council meeting where plans to lay off close to 30 percent of the city's police force were finalized. Coleman will retain his job, but he is concerned about the safety of patrolling the city with fewer officers. (David Carson | dcarson@post-dispatch.com)

• Related: Gallery: East St. Louis lays off 19 police officers

EAST ST. LOUIS • The Rev. Joseph Tracy said he’s tired of going to funerals. And now, he suspects he’ll be going to more of them.

"It’s open field day now," said Tracy, the pastor of Straightway Baptist Church here. "The criminals are going to run wild."

Gang activity. Drug dealing. Cold-blooded killing. Tracy worries that a decision to shrink the police force by almost 30 percent will bring more of everything.

The pastor voiced his concern on Friday at a raucous special City Council meeting at which East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks announced that the city will layoff 37 employees, including 19 of its 62 police officers, 11 firefighters, four public works employees, and three administrators. The layoffs take effect on Sunday.Parks said the weak economy has robbed the city of badly need money. For example, revenue from the Casino Queen was $900,000 below budget expectations last year. There are no signs of improvement, Parks said.

"I want our citizens to know we have some of the bravest police officers and firefighters in the country," Parks said. "But we don’t have the money to pay them. We have to have fiscal responsibility."

City officials wanted police and fire unions to accept a furlough program that would have required employees to take two unpaid days in each twice monthly pay period. If accepted, emergency responders would have seen a pay cut of about 20 percent for the rest of the year.

Parks said the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement. On Friday, he stared at a standing-room only crowd and told his emergency response chiefs words they didn’t want to hear: "Tell your workers to start packing their things."

The news spurred shouts from the crowd.

"The blood is on your hands," yelled Michael Hubbard, an East St. Louis police officer.

Hubbard said he will be the lone patrolman for East St. Louis’ midnight shift when the cuts go into effect.

"This is devastating," Hubbard told a reporter after the meeting.
East St. Louis has been crippled by crime and poverty for decades. Police officials say the cuts will mean fewer officers for patrols, investigations and juvenile cases. Fire officials said the region should be upset because the department will have fewer people at the ready to fight fires on some of the region’s major highways and bridges.

The police already rely on other agencies to handle some of the heavy case load. For example, the Illinois State Police routinely work on the city’s homicide investigations.

Capt. Steve Johnson, of the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department, said his agency has no plans for stepping up work in East St. Louis.
"We don’t do calls for service in East St. Louis," Johnson said. "But, if we’re called for assistance, we will help when we can."

Worries about East St. Louis’ crime rate got little sympathy from Councilman Roy Mosley, who gave a 10-minute speech on Friday blasting the city’s police officers.

"We don’t have the money," Mosley said. "You lay off when you don’t have the money. The money’s gone."

Mosley complained that police officers take patrol cars home, park them in other jurisdictions, and misuse the city’s gasoline.

"I’m only telling the truth," he shouted.

The crowd jeered.

"You can see how disrespectful they are," Mosley said while pointing at the police officers. "You see what they’re doing to me right now."

Richard V. Stewart Jr., an attorney for the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police union, said Mosley’s claims are untrue.

Stewart said the words amounted to nothing more than "political grandstanding."

"Unfortunately, this is what I expected," Stewart said.
The union plans to fight the layoffs and work to get the jobs back.

Bad blood already exists between the two sides. An arbitrator has ruled that the city improperly imposed unpaid furlough days on its employees earlier this year. The city was ordered to pay $500,000 back in lost wages.

On Friday, the city approved a proposal to defer bond payments until next year in order to free up $500,000.

"Next year is a different situation," Mayor Parks said.

[Ryan Ruck]

Hubbard said he will be the lone patrolman for East St. Louis’ midnight shift when the cuts go into effect.

That sure sounds like a death sentence! I would be out of there so fast it wouldn't even be funny.

[Backstop]

That sure sounds like a death sentence! I would be out of there so fast it wouldn't even be funny.

Holy hell.

[Ryan Ruck]

Holy hell.

I should revise that... Sounds like a death sentence, unless you are this guy:

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Glenn Beck-08/05/10-B

Cities that would rather cut police and firefighters than special interest projects


Glenn Beck-08/05/10-C

What do those cities all have in common?