As we continue to pour money into the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, cities are continuing to shutdown for lack of money (here). The latest such story comes from Philadelphia where officials are facing a shutdown of the entire court system due to budget shortfalls. Mayor Michael Nutter is also threatening the cutting of 1000 police officers and 200 firefighters.
The city is demanding the right to increase sales taxes and change how it pays pensions.
Given the right to a speedy trial, a shutdown of the court system could result in the release of dangerous felons.
Chicago recently shutdown for a day in our steady return to a state of nature.
For the latest article, click here
Maybe the upcoming referendum in Iraq will finally have the Iraqi people telling the U.S. to get the hell out of their country even earlier than the end of next year. If we can just keep the president from sending all those troops and money into the hellhole that is Afghanistan, we may end up with a little budgetary breathing room here at home.
Dear Philly Voter,
Say, that’s a nice police force you’ve got there . . . be a shame if sumptin’ were to ‘appen to it . . . you know, say it were to catch on fire?
Signed,
The Mayor
Gyges,
No slight toward cream cheese was intended. Indeed, no bagel is complete without it, be it plain or exotically flavored. Should this dairy product ever need a character reference, I would gladly vouch for cream cheese.
To me this is and is not a scare tactic. While it may be a tactic at this time, eventually it will be the reality we face. Societies show their moral choices on where they spend their money. Right now, our money is maintaing a corrupt empire of blood throughout the world. Our money also maintains the most wealthy and corrupt members of society. For this to happen, everyone else can and will suffer. I hope you will be able to hear out these two videos. They show clearly what values the oligarchy intends to persue with the remaining money they may squeeze from the poor and middle class. If the actions of our overlords do not scare you, you aren’t paying attention. Here’s a little bit of the article and the website which links to the video:
“”What we know now, if this is true, is that Blackwater was part of the highest level, the innermost circle strategizing and exercising strategy within the Bush administration,” Schakowsky told The Nation. “Erik Prince operated at the highest and most secret level of the government. Clearly Prince was more trusted than the US Congress because Vice President Cheney made the decision not to brief Congress. This shows that there was absolutely no space whatsoever between the Bush administration and Blackwater.”
As The Nation has reported, Blackwater continues to operate on the US government payroll in both Iraq and Afghanistan, where it works for the State Department and the Defense Department. The CIA will not confirm whether Blackwater continues to work for the agency (or, for that matter, if it ever has).”
http://rebelreports.com/
Buddha,
Don’t be underestimating the importance of Cream Cheese.
We have a similar situation in Illinois. The governor wants a income tax increase, and since he can’t get one he is cutting essential services as a scare tactic.
Health departments, prisons, and police are the first to see cuts in an effort to scare people into accepting higher tax rates. The sad thing is, the governor just authorized tens of billions of dollars in infrastructure spending, and refuses to allow layoffs at massively over-employed state agencies. After a few state employees WERE dismissed, the governor relented at the insistence of state labor unions.
Courts, police, fire, and local health departments are legitimate functions of government. There is a lot of fat in government that can be trimmed before we touch the essential functions. Anyone who says otherwise has an over-broad interpretation of the term “essential.”
I predict that local police will eventually be federalized.
This actually will be welcomed by local governments as a way to stay afloat financially. Police costs routinely run more than 25% of budgets, and sometimes much more. The federal government would salivate over their new span of control, and they have a printing press with unlimited dollars to throw at problems like this one.
I think we are not yet at the point where this could be pulled off politically, but we’re getting closer quickly. I think a prerequisite will be a series of shocking violent acts or catastrophes that occur in several cities running on reduced police services. It can probably be done as quickly as the TSA was created under the guise of national security.
The shutdown of police and fire services by cities and towns is the best way to coerce taxpayers and other governments to put more cash into their budgets. I’m hopeful that some municipalities might declare Chapter 9 bankruptcy or disincorporate in order to exit the ridiculous contracts that have frequently been promised to police, fire, and scores of municipal employees. This is the other side of the tax revenue problem. Here’s an example from San Francisco on what cities face with these problems. This table is name, job title, and compensation, NOT INCLUDING the cost of pensions and other benefits:
http://myprops.org/content/S.F.-is-gonna-be-broke-whether-you-like-it-or-not/
It is a scare tactic to get money from the government. The Federal aid is gone the state aid too. The property taxes are down, so how best to get you to give more to law enforcement? Shut it down, or the threat of.
Philly.
Are you racing Patterson, NJ to find out which one will be declared a militarized zone first? Or as the Prof suggests in re Chicago, the first one to be retaken by raccoons and deer? The kinds of guys who used to hang out in Philly would be taking the Federal government to task about why the people who illegally engineered the invasion of Iraq and ushered in our mangled and declining economy aren’t on trial for war crimes and treason yet. What happened to you, City of Brotherly Love? Surely you want a better legacy to leave than just cheesesteaks and cream cheese.