Letter To The Editor

Dear Editor,
As our population grows and costs increase, taxes must be raised in order to meet the basic necessities of our people whose income does not grow with cost-of-living increases, salary hikes, or per-diem fees. We need to assist them, whether it is for food, medication, glasses, and/or very basic housing assistance. We cannot escape the basic requirements of our people.

Cutting fraudulent white-collar crimes seems to be the best place to begin, Mr. Legislator. By stopping the activity, we would be saving billions in loss for the California people.

Let the legislators live, as many fellow Californians are, in a tent city. This would provide housing, cold food, fresh air, and a brisk hike to the Capitol, but mostly, a sense of reality. That was unkind of me to add, however, this Californian is tired of white-collar crimes costing us all so very dearly.

Dear Editor
Ronald Reagan’s father was too drunk too often to fulfill the role of provider and hero for his offspring. The innocent child saw that if only his dad didn’t drink, his family could be normal. This epiphany merged seamlessly into the Republican philosophy that people experience success or failure as a consequence of their own actions.

 Once governor, Reagan escalated his contempt for people who didn’t fend for themselves by withdrawing public funds to help those who did not help themselves. He reasoned that if only people didn’t get a handout, they would be motivated to work. His sink-or-swim litmus test did not distinguish between those who could fend for themselves if only they tried, and those who were held back by problems (such as mental or physical injuries and diseases) that would require far more than their own effort to overcome.

 Today, California’s once proud network of publicly funded facilities where people were given help to improve their condition has been replaced by an ever increasing population of tent cities. Some people protest that these tent cities are stinky eyesores that promote crime, and others comment that if only we gave their occupants sanitary facilities and other basics, they could be productive members of society. History shows otherwise.

 Fully-equipped public housing units have become slums, and buildings of fine architectural design have become skid rows, because it is not the structures that matter the most, it is all about the people. For the aspiring actor with a deadbeat dad, the significant agent of change was that other people came forward to help, encourage and nurture him and his career.   

 If only our tent city occupants could receive a fraction of the help, encouragement and nurturing that little Ronnie Reagan got.