This week's feedback

Soak the rich

I have to say that, while I agree with most of what the editorial in the June 3 issue says, I do not agree that we need the federal government to bail us out of our own mess in California.

Bailouts breed more bailouts, as I am sure you must have noticed. We need to stop this bleeding right now, and start paying off our debts ourselves as a society in California. The poor are being targeted by the budget cuts, and the rich are walking away laughing. Their healthcare won’t be cut, or their pensions. And the small rises in food prices won’t even register with them. They need to be taxed, and taxed heavily. The discrepancies in earnings between the richest and the poorest in this state need to be drastically reduced. This state is home to many of the world’s richest people, and yet it is bankrupt! What is wrong with this picture?

The rich in California are greedy and don’t see themselves as part of society in California. If they do not want to play a responsible part in that society, I say good riddance—they can go somewhere else. Greed is what has destroyed California, and it continues to do so.

Winners and...

Regarding your column about same-sex marriage [“Presently Tense”] in the June 3 issue:  You sound exactly like a sore loser with extra emphasis on the word “loser.”

Study up, Gloria

City Councilmember Todd Gloria is becoming a major disappointment. He whines in CityBeat’s June 10 article “Inaccessible” by Eric Wolff [“The Front Lines”] that we can’t balance the city budget by just making cuts. Gloria says we have to call it like it is: The city is underfunded and understaffed. Gloria has done nothing to advocate for reduced spending in an era of declining revenues. He has absolutely no credibility when it comes to excessive spending.
For instance, why isn’t Gloria advocating for outsourcing trash collection and other services as ordered by the voters?

Other cities have done this at considerable savings. Why hasn’t Gloria advocated for a permanent abolishment of the extravagant annual $9,600. auto allowance for council members? Why hasn’t Gloria advocated for bringing special privileged retirement pensions for council members to a reasonable level? Assuming he serves for eight years (San Diego has a history of council members serving for eight years unless they’re criminally indicted), Gloria will receive an annual pension of approximately $20,000 per year for life! Does he ever even mention this outrageous perk? Last week, while discussing our city’s billion-dollar budget, the major item for discussion was a recommendation to reduce every council member’s annual office budget by a paltry $32,000. Gloria was instrumental in voting to raid other accounts to reinstate the $32,000 to his office’s near-$1-million annual budget.

Rather than just being another pig at the public trough, Gloria should lead by example to reduce fat and waste. He has not. Until he does, any more of his whining that the city is under-funded is simply a lie. Gloria spends too much time posing for pictures and grabbing every microphone he can to promote nothing but himself.  I suggest that he redirect that time to remain in his office to study labor cost accounting and cash-flow forecasting. It’s obvious that he knows nothing about either.