Mayor Sam's Hotsheet for Tuesday
Without view of the harm that additional taxes will do to our economy and the regressive effect on poor families of increasing sales taxes blogger Kenneth Alpern throws his support behind a significant increase to in that tax ostensibly for rail transit. Alpern even acknowledges that government spending could be curtailed elsewhere to provide funding to transportation but figures that's too hard so why bother. The key to ending gridlock and providing transit is to reduce the barriers to business in California, work to place jobs near housing so folks don't have to commute and open up public transit to competition from the private sector who would absolutely do a far better job in providing this service than the MTA has ever done.Speaking of taxes, Dennis Zine is making noise that he may oppose Janice Hahn's ludicrous gang property tax increase if he isn't certain Canoga Park will get it's "fair share." There could be a glimmer of Denny's former Republican soul shining through however as he told the Daily News "People are feeling the pinch," Zine said. "The economy is really in bad shape, and it might not be a good time to ask people for more taxes." Bingo Former Motorcycle Cop of Record! THAT's the reason to oppose the tax and not whether you get your slab of bacon or not. Make us proud Councilman Zine - send goofy Janice Hahn the message that the people are tired of tax increases.
Based on the numbers and past history, it's not likely Republican Presidential candidate John McCain will win California's boatload of electoral votes. Hence, it appears the GOP standard bearer is not going to make much of an effort in the Golden State. However McCain owes it to the downticket Republicans, especially those in tight races, to do his best to turn out as many votes for himself as possible.
My friend Ron Kaye isn't the only one opposed to big screen flat panel HD televisions. Apparently Barack Obama wants to rip them out of the White House. Sure he does, when Richardson comes over for Superbowl Sunday yea they're going to read Lincoln's speeches instead. By the way Ron I was at the store pricing 60" flat panels the other day. Contributions to this goal from Mayor Sam readers would be greatly appreciated. What a great way to give back to your favorite old, dead Republican Mayor who has brought you four years of enjoyment as he remodels his home.
Residents in Venice are up in arms over folks who move into their hood and live in RVs and cars parked on the streets. Councilmember Bill Rosendahl feels that there should be some compassion shown these semi-homeless folks and wants to set up special "districts" to keep these vehicles from parking overnight in Venice (and sending them to someone else's neighborhood).
The City Council is considering placing a 25 cent per bag tax on plastic bags used in stores in Los Angeles. Along with the trash tax, telephone tax and a coming sales tax for public transit how much more are we going to pile on, especially for the poor? This is a free market issue and the free market can solve the problem. Check out stores like HOWS, Walgreens, Trader Joe's and others who sell reusable cloth bags. I have to tell you as much as I hate plastic bags (the stores use WAY too many of them to put 1-2 items in each and they're not convenient) I hate excessive taxes just as much. Imagine a poor family buying groceries having to spend less money on food so they can cover the extra sales and bag taxes on their weekly grocery take. There are other ways to protect the environment.
Rick Orlov joins the war on billboards. Laws should be followed and illegal efforts should be punished, however just because one group of folks in LA doesn't like the advertisements doesn't mean a lot of other folks don't find them cool when done right in the right place. This again goes towards the need to eliminate the class warfare element of the Battle of Los Angeles.
Britney Spears' guest appearances on the sitcom How I Met Your Mother earned her some fan appreciation and critical notice but it wasn't enough to get her an Emmy nomination in the guest star category. Also snubbed: Olsen twin Mary-Kate for her appearances on the Showtime series Weeds.
Labels: Barack Obama, billboards, britney spears, dennis zine, Gang tax, janice hahn, john mccain, mary-kate olsen, plastic bags, rick orlov, Ron Kaye, transit tax, venice
Posted by Michael Higby @ 7/08/2008 04:00:00 AM
20 Comments:
On privatizing public transit, do your homework Higby. Private firms ran LA's public transit in the first half of the 20th century and ran it into the ground - deliberately, some say - because they realized they could make more money selling other things, like autos and tires.
Common sense suggests that, if public transit agencies need to subsidize riders by up to 80% per ride, that a private firm would have to raise fares considerably to have a prayer of making a go of it, and that wouldn't fly for long with the people who actually need the service, nor with those discretionary riders who like the bargain offered by low fares.
Sure, the MTA (or a private operator) might be able to reduce its overhead somewhat and lower the extent of the subsidy, but a break-even fare would be substantially higher than today's, and the customers wouldn't stand for it.
There's no mass transit system in the world that pays its own way. The so-called free market has long since shown its disdain for mass transit, yet society continues to require it. That's why government stepped in. There are some things the private sector simply won't, and can't, do affordably and this is one of them.
Get over it and get real.
One council member that has the guts to oppose that dumb gang tax. I'm tired of hearing about the gang bangers and not the great kids that make the right choice to stay away from them. You go Zine. You've started a momemtum in the city with dialogue against the gang tax. Let's see who else has the balls to be a leader.
This little shit of a Mayor needs to be voted OUT. Can a reporter please report how many days he's been out of the city this year alone?? HE's speaking to the wrong crowd the illegals he supports not the legal Latino citiznes.
Mayor to pitch for Obama in D.C.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who had backed Sen. Hillary Clinton before she withdrew from the Democratic primary race, is going on the road today to introduce Sen. Barack Obama to one of the largest Latino organizations.
Villaraigosa is scheduled to be in Washington, D.C., to introduce Obama at the annual convention of the League of United Latin American Citizens, or LULAC.
Doesn't it piss you off Higby, to see that Mayor Villaraigosa has seamlessly transitioned from Hillary to Obama?
I hear he will make one of the five nominating speeches for Obama at the convention in Colorado and will introduce him at Denver Mile High Stadium for the acceptance speech.
Like him or hate him, you have to admit that Antonio Villaraigosa is a smooth, consumate political animal.
That's why both Hillary and Barack will be here campaigning for his reelection as Mayor,which he will win in the primary election.
And that's why Zev, Hertzberg and Caruso can crow as much as they like, but none will dare challenge him.
Get used to it, Higby, Antonio is here for another 5 years.
Like him or hate him, you have to admit that Antonio Villaraigosa is a smooth, consumate political animal.
No, Antonio Villaraigosa is an otherwise unremarkable brown man put in power by a small group of superficial ethnically tortured white Westsiders.
It doesn't take skill to jump from Clinton to Obama; he's a shameless whore for a job in the next presidential cabinet.
LA should hope he gets his wish, otherwise dump this creep. He never gave a shit about this city. Look what he did to CD14 -- same whore, new ambition.
He cheated on his wife, he cheated on CD14 and now he's cheating on the entire city.
You morons who voted for this loser get what you deserve!
Nothing like a pro-Villaraigosa post to being out the CD 14 haters.
Good to see that Lauro, and his henchmen, Torres III and Villanueva are still alive, well and still seething with jealousy over Villaraigosa's success and Pacheco's dismal failure.
Sic Transit Gloria
In regard to Hahn's gang support tax, I predict Zine will do just like he did with Jamiel's Law. He'll come out against everyone else on the council to get some press and look like he is for the people, then do NOTHING. He is all talk an NO action. Just watch and see... Don't forget he was going to be against the Phony Phone tax until his closed door meeting with the mayor. He a politician of the worst kind.
Zine is correct in opposing the tax, but his reason is way off base. The problem with the gang programs has been that people like Zine all wanted a piece of the pie. That meant that a small amount of money was split up so many ways that the program was guaranteed to fail in every area.
But to the politicians, whether or not the program fails is not as important as the ability of the politicians to share that they got anti-gang money for their district.
That's why he is a politician of the worst kind. He's opposing it for his own personal gain and not because it is a waste of already overburdened taxpayers money.
I agree completely about Zine. He is definitely all talk and no action. Opposes it my ass.
Wait and see.
Is there a standard way the gang money is given out or is it like always given to Antonio friends? I don't blame Zine for going after it.
Hillary and Barack can say whatever about Antonio the problem is people in LA aren't as stupid as when they voted for this little shit in. There will be more Latinos against him this time around and we are yet to read about the crap that is destined to come out that will blow him out of the water. Simply amazing how ignornant politicans can be. Antonio is a classic example of the Peter Principal.
12:12
I believe that the city council in the last couple of months voted to give the mayor's office control over all the gang money. I could be wrong about this. Anyone?
WHAT is it with your fetish for Britney? Just because she showed up for one episode doesn't give her some natural edge over actors working all season. But I feel sorry for her as some sort of modern Marilyn Monroe, a simple girl used as a cash machine by her agents (and mother and dad), and most of all, that slime K-Fed.
That the public and media could have turned HIM into the more responsible parent after he put her in her current state by running around with women on her dime while she was home postpartum, is disgusting. Seems after almost 2 years home alone that way, she lost it and her panties, too. The K-Fed did it. And now he's got money for bodyguards and lawyers to fight her from her estate...No wonder the girl is nuts.
Yes, to last questions: remember the publicly nasty battles between Laura Chick and Tony Cardenas over who'll control future gang program money?
She insisted on putting it under the Mayor's office/Carr, with Bratton's support, to make one office accountable. Cardnenas and sidekick Janice Hahn had been controlling the programs under the Council Ad Hoc Committee on Gangs. But Cardenas himself admitted how ineffective he'd been, and he and especially Hahn have been accused of giving some money to gangbangers still playing both sides of the game.
So when people bash the Mayor over the gang prevention programs, they are wrong: his office has just gotten control -- Carr's been "studying" the gang problems for a year and meeting all over town, but hasn't had any funding til now.
Many suspect that a major reason for Hahn wanting to tax property owners for a NEW 'REVENUE STREAM" for gang programs is that she and Cardenas have lost control of city funding, and the 12 gang reduction areas ID'd by the Mayor's office with Bratton don't include Hahn's area -- so she wants to tax people in "affluent" areas to fund programs for her gang areas. Ditto Tony and anyone else from E/S LA.
Zine's right that his gang areas won't see any money even though many of his taxpayers will pay heavily -- but same is true for every other area in town, except those controlled by Janice & Tony Cardenas and their allies.
Antonio campaigning for Obama is the kiss of death.
The Republican judges making it legal for same sex couples to marry was a set up. And Villaraigosa fell for it.
IF you have ever taken any form of martial arts you use the opponents momentum against them to get them off balance. This is what the republicans did. Now they will have the conservatives out in droves voting against same sex marriage in california where it will be on the ballot and the rest of the country where they will vote against OBAMA for fear of his acceptance of it.
Now Villaraigosa is campaigning for OBAMA after marrying same sex couples? Not a good thing for OBAMA.
Obama can not win with Antonio campaigning for him.
Antonio may have cheated on his wife. But at least didn't do it with one of his senior level staffers as one councilmember has and still does. I'm sure you all know who I am talking about.
No I don't know who you're talking about. Since you can post anonymousily, why don't you tell us, or at least give us a hint.
Wrong on the Mayor not doing anything last couple of years with gang money. Ask anyone in CD14 and they will tell you all his friends who have gang programs have been given hundreds of thousands of dollars. Father Gang Banger Boyle just last year got $600,000 and can you believe this idiot doesn't even have gang prevention/intervention people on staff. Any non profit who helped campaign for Antonio got money. The intervention guys out there risking their lives and not Antonio kiss asses don't get hardly anything. David Z should do a story on the gang programs where the directors make over $100,000 and drive new cars. Antonio is suppose to name 6 agencies getting gang money. let's see who they are.
Tell us! Who is the cm cheating with a staffer?
I'm sure that there's more than one, because several of the male cms have major-cute-factor staffers.
One mix that I'm thinking of would produce a half-ugly, half-highly cute interracial baby.
You can send it anonymously to mayorsam@mayorsam.org or call the hotline at (213) 785-6098
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