Measure H "Creative" Because It Soaks Property Owners
The L.A. Times, which is in the business of reprinting career politicians' press releases, today endorsed Measure H in a way that tells us more about the mentality of the editors than the merits of the measure:"Proposition H. Yes. A $1-billion housing bond, WITH DEBT PAID BY PROPERTY OWNERS INSTEAD OF FROM THE GENERAL FUND, is a CREATIVE way to address homelessness and help those unable to afford a dwelling."
Yes, exactly -- "CREATIVE" is the right adjective to describe putting the entire burden of this billion-dollar boondoogle onto the backs of those who studied enough, worked hard enough, and saved enough to buy their own homes. That's nearly as "creative" as forcing landlords to provide housing at artificially low prices set by the government.
Why, after all, should the people you see on the TV ads for Measure H be expected to pay the entire cost of their own housing? I mean, that woman with two kids and no husband should be able to give each kid his own room, and you can't seriously expect HER to pay for it, can you? And heaven forbid she should move to some other city in the U.S. with lower housing prices. Afer all, she has a right to live here, and to have a room for each child she bears, regardless of how much that will cost YOU.
A truly "creative" mind would see that if you actually prepared for your own future, if you were responsible enough to plan and save, well, you have an obligation to give money to millionaires, so they can pretend to build housing for people who goofed off in school, who were out partying while you were working two jobs, and who decided to give birth to children they can't afford to raise. Why should that be THEIR problem, after all? YOU'RE the one with the money, therefore YOU are the one obliged to rectify the consequences of others' personal decisions.
The Atlases of L.A. are shrugging. Or, for those of you from the local schools, the ants will soon leave you grasshoppers to fend for yourselves. Enjoy. Oh, and if you're wondering what it will look like, just look South, my friend. Third-world mentality leads to third-world nations.
Posted by Walter Moore @ 11/05/2006 10:19:00 AM
7 Comments:
It's not my job to "help those unable to afford a dwelling." This is just a big developer payoff promoted by an underachieving, overpaid clowncil. Both H and R deserve to be soundly rejected.
Let's do something really creative. Let's vote each and every councilmember out of office starting with No on R. Then we can finish off the rest of them in March. And while we're at it, we can recall the Mayor.
God, somtimes I'm so creative it gives me a migrain.
IS THE MAYOR FOR OR AGAINST THIS MEASURE H?
PLEASE EXPLAIN WHY OR WHY NOT.
I love how the media is portraying H as "10,000 new homes for L.A.", as if they are all gonna pop up at one time. It's only a thousand homes a year, for ten years. With 40,000 homeless on the street TODAY, let alone all the tens of thousands of low to middle income residents who would be applying for the 1000 homes a year.
I'd rather try for the Willie Wonka "Golden Ticket" cause you have a much better chance.
Don't be so sure there are 40,000 homeless in the City of L.A.
As I explained in a prior posting, the people who counted the number of homeless for the city were themselves homeless -- not what you call the most reliable people in the world with numbers.
The number they counted, moreover, was only 19,000. The city then extrapolated that number in order to scare people who lack the time or inclination to go dig up the original study for the real methodology and numbers.
Off topic, but what the hey: The hoary image of the ant and the grasshopper is telling here--without musicians and their music the "laborer" will sweat without a beat, without any joy--my point is that "the artist" has value that adds to the group. Take away the "lazy" artists and you're left with a world that plods pathetically along as humans are working and working and working with only the prize of death at the end. Try dancing to Ayn Rand and you'll begin to get a glimmer. Don't even bother talking about "market principles" here, or how "true talent" will be compensated: when mega-corporations control the content of the airwaves, content that began as creation but died under the hammer of profit, the worker suffers just as much, for the art of our lives becomes just another button on a control board.
The cliched image used here is a poster for "World Order"--I'll take a world without cliches before I'll willingly take a world without artists.
+++
Please read my article called Proposition H: Housing Hocus Pocus for more about how bad this measure is. (It is also listed on LA Voice under the "Power" section, but LA Voice has been down this morning.
Thanks,
Charlotte Laws
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_charlott_061104_los_angeles_measure_.htm
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