First, every citizen must be prepared to engage in some form of meaningful work""paid or volunteer""to stop the bleeding. Appropriately, my father would stress, "An idle mind is the Devil's workshop". It wasn't just a slogan to him; he enforced it with benefits, love and, of course, consequences. Second, public policy makers, federal/state/local, must begin rewarding cooperation, and stop penalize local operations. This trickle-down policy of requiring states to match federal stimulus money during a crisis, forcing states to steal - or cut into - local city/county coffers just to make ends meet, is tantamount to "Robbing Peter to Pay Paul": nobody is fully satisfied. Finally, expect state budget shortfalls to deepen for 10 more years. A recent Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government study cites an 11.7% decline in state tax revenue for the first quarter of 2009. Accordingly, those revenues also declined in 47 of 50 other states as well.
Lead, Follow or Go on permanent Furlough
California and many other states have failed to elect people willing to "lead". Granted, leading in storm is risky and there are fatalities with few rewards. Then again, it's a choice. Therefore, just because leaders are expected to perform their jobs with fewer resources, e.g., tax revenue, leadership is still optional. Since most politicians only visit every 2-4 years during election and fundraisers, next time get answers to these three questions before voting for any candidate:
1) "What unique experiences, dreams and vision do you have for public office"?
2) "What does your educational, professional and work history look like"?
And lastly,
3) "Cite a couple of "paying jobs' you've held prior to seeking public office"?
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).