Month: January 2008

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY – 2008

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. DAY – 2008

“Martin Luther King Jr. Day offers Americans an opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to eradicating racism in all its forms,” said Thomas Bowden, an analyst at the Ayn Rand Institute.

Ayn Rand once wrote: “Racism is a doctrine of, by and for brutes. It is a barnyard or stock-farm version of collectivism, appropriate to a mentality that differentiates between various breeds of animals, but not between animals and men.” The essence of racism, she explained, is “the notion that a man’s intellectual and characterological traits are produced by his internal body chemistry, which means, in practice, that a man is to be judged, not by his own character and actions but by the characters and actions of a collective of ancestors.”

“Achievement of a truly color-blind society will require not only that private individuals reject racism but that government policies and programs cease to favor some citizens over others on the basis of skin color,” Bowden said. “The solution to racism in government does not lie in further race-conscious, affirmative action programs that generate de facto quotas, nor in multicultural education that locates personal identity in one’s ethnic group. Because such policies are themselves racist, they are part of the problem.

“A model of good government policy is President Truman’s executive order ending segregation in America’s military services. Issued 60 years ago, Executive Order 9981 declared ‘that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin.’

“This official policy exemplifies a government’s proper attitude toward its citizens,” Bowden said. “Every law-abiding adult has an equal right to serve in government, provided he or she can satisfy the position’s objective requirements. In setting standards, government agencies must be forbidden by law from making irrational distinctions among citizens, as by favoring some soldiers over others on the irrelevant basis of skin color.

“In a famous speech, Martin Luther King Jr. eloquently envisioned a world without racism: ‘I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.’ Americans should be proud of their nation’s historical achievements in ending slavery, Jim Crow laws, segregated schools, and many other forms of institutionalized racism. On this holiday, we should embrace the challenge contained in King’s eloquent remarks and recommit ourselves to the task of fully eradicating racism from this nation’s public policies.”

 

VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION "S"

In typical political double-speak, the City of Los Angeles has put a measure on the ballot titled, “”Reduction of Tax Rate and Modernization of Communications Users Tax”, as Los Angeles City Measure Proposition “S”.

I don’t know how it is going to modernize communications but I can tell you for sure it is anything but a “Reduction of Tax Rate”. While the City has been collecting a 10% tax on cellular phone service service, the courts have declared the tax invalid because, in violation of Prop. 218, the City did not get voter approval for the imposition of the tax. The City is appealing that decision, but in case they lose, which they probably will, they have decided to bring out Proposition S. If you vote NO for Proposition S, and the City loses in the courts, there will be NO tax on electronic communications.

Prop S does reduce the tax rate from the invalid 10% rate to a 9% rate. But actually, if the city loses its appeal the rate will be 0%. Prop S also imposes the tax on a host of new electronic communications that were not included before, such as using the internet, DSL, VOIP, PCS and other electronic services.

The tax is estimated to raise approximately $270 Million for the city of Los Angeles. The City is disingenuously claiming that without the tax it won’t be able to hire new police, or, run the city. The City of Los Angeles has a budget of $6.7 Billion. The tax would produce another 4% of revenue for the City.

My thoughts are that they can certainly find $270 Million to cut in the budget.

City Controller Laura Chick recently stated, “we shouldn’t think of asking taxpayers for more money until we get our house in order.”

City Hall squanders your money on wasteful programs (e.g., sphincter-control classes for civil servants), gives away millions in “pork” for special interests (e.g., millions in subsidies for downtown developers), and fails to guard against embezzlement (e.g., over $1 million from the housing agency). (For more examples of waste, look at the “Spreadsheet of Shame.”)

The special election itself is an example of waste: instead of putting Prop S on the ballot during the general elections in November 2004, 2006 or 2008, City Hall spent $5.1 million to add it to the presidential primary in February 2008.

Further, nothing in Prop S requires City Hall to spend the money on hiring more police. Rather, Prop S is a general tax, which means Villaraigosa and the City Council can squander your money on anything they want. Why trust them with even more money?

VOTE NO ON PROPOSITION S