What the 4th of July Holiday Teaches Us About Our Current Budget Crisis
As we celebrate the birth of our country, let us learn from our founding fathers and the struggles of their day. They understood the simple truth that when government is broken, it is the duty of our elected officials to put partisanship aside and fix it. “[W]henever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it . . .”
California’s budget process has become partisan, bitter and destructive. Destructive to our children, our disabled, our working families and businesses – we all are feeling the pain of our state’s dysfunction. Everyone can agree that the current system is broken. Decades of politics as usual has stalled difficult choices and both parties have rigidly held onto their ideologies without putting forward concrete and viable solutions. The time has come for us to have a public discussion about long term budget reform.
The take it or leave it leveraging, name calling, and political posturing must stop and real problem solving must begin. We must not delay doing what is right. The only way we can hope to not find ourselves right back in this same situation is to institute real, lasting reform that changes the way California does business.
I hear your frustrations and understand them. This 4th of July we must all remind ourselves of this country’s history and our role in deciding how we are governed. The wisdom of our leaders in 1776 teaches us much about how to handle today’s problems and I am listening.
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Posted by Assemblymember Huber
on Jul 3 2009. Filed under Viewpoints.
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Ditto. Well said Assemblymember Huber. We need to refocus on long term solutions which place California on the path to prosperity into the future. Short term quick fixes will only land us in this mess again and cripple our economy to the point where our state may not recover as quickly as others states.
I have been a teacher in the Folsom-Cordova USD for eight years after spending twenty-two years in private industry. I currently teach 6, 7 and 8th graders engineering and fabrication.
I have received a layoff notice and I am hopeful that it will be rescinded before school starts.
I am a true believer that adults should be role models for our youth.
At my school we are big on responsibilty and respect. I am not looking forward to explaining why the ‘adults” who are supposed to be the role models have made such a mess of things.
I fully intend to continue to ask our students and all young people to be responsible and to do the right thing.
If they ask me “why do the adults running things act so irresponsibly?” my reply will be that I will continue to teach responsibilty to them so that when they have an opportunity to be in charge that they will do a much better job than what the current adult leaders are doing.
We must be role models for the generation!
“The time has come for us to have a public discussion about long term budget reform?”
That conversation has been going on for a VERY long time and any advances are quickly lost the next time the legislature goes into session.
Great quote, though – “…it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it . . .” I say let’s abolish it.
No incumbents back to the Assembly or Senator next election. Vote them all out, of every political stripe – is that non-partisan enough for you?
Chambers filled with fresh, new faces certainly couldn’t do a worse job than all of these “experienced” legislators. Maybe we need less “leadership” and more listening.
Vote them ALL out! Give California a fresh start!