On 1/4/2011 7:55 AM, Dale Erwin wrote: > I think the position Dean is making really and perhaps not doing a > very good job of it is that he is saying we are being over taxed for > services that can be had for less money. For example. CA. > firefighters and other public service people are retiring with 100% of > there pay and benefits. This is now part of what is causing Calif woes. Possibly, though it seems more likely to me that he has been bamboozled by rabble-rousers for their own ends, and that efficient local government offering needed services at a fair price is the last thing they want. If someone is so riled up (no doubt he didn't get this way all on his own) that they equate property tax collection with death squads, I doubt if they would recognize good local government if they bumped into it in broad daylight. Even in places like California where the present system is unsustainable, there are still many public employees who aren't making out like bandits, and who work hard at necessary things and get no thanks at all for it. For instance, after the Oklahoma City bombing, one discovered who some of those people were. To a certain extent, we end up with the government we deserve. It's easier just to shout and scream bloody murder while pretending that every cent paid is being wasted, without a moment of concern over what would happen without public order, and without meeting the people hired by city and county, and finding out what they actually are doing. If local services are not being efficiently provided. no need to look further than voter laziness, ignorance, and apathy. Susan (I'm done ... and if people are concerned about off-topic posting, then writing diatribes about property taxes as extortion as if everyone agreed wholeheartedly is a bad way to keep to piano-specific posting.) P.S. Dale, I agree that California painted itself into a corner with over-generous pensions (as Colorado did years before) and I'm very interested in whether Jerry Brown can sort it all out. He sounded extremely grim and determined on the news yesterday. If he can't do it, I don't know who will be able to. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20110104/9c4ececc/attachment.htm>
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