Who Will Stop Them?

Last week, Jared Law, founder of the 9.12 Project, emailed a call to action that began, “We each have a sacred duty to do what we can, in our own way, to help restore America.”

At the very least, reform-minded Americans can exercise their right to vote. In the Nov. 2 election, Mission Viejo had one of the highest voter turnouts in Orange County. Still, only 61.4 percent of the city’s eligible voters participated.

California residents will likely get another opportunity to vote in June, this time on whether or not to continue taxing themselves silly. Will Californians rise up, telling Governor Moonbeam that the best way to balance the budget is to reduce spending?

Steve Greenhut’s Feb. 6 editorial http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/2011/02/union-rally-exposes-republicans-weak-links?quicktabs_1=0 describes the unlikelihood of reform when officeholders won’t make cuts. Greenhut names three Republican Assemblymen, Brian Nestande, Jim Silva and Paul Cook, who joined a pro-union rally to oppose cuts, “These men didn’t betray their conservative principles, given that they always were fairly unprincipled sorts.”

In the discussion of balancing the budget, it’s strange how much of the hype is about cutting police and fire services instead of bureaucracy. From an alphabetical list, here’s a small sampling of state agencies.

California Academic Performance Index (API) * California Access for Infants and Mothers * California Acupuncture Board * California Administrative Office of the Courts * California Adoptions Branch * California African American Museum * California Agricultural Export Program * California Agricultural Labor Relations Board * California Agricultural Statistics Service * California Air Resources Board (CARB) * California Allocation Board * California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority * California Animal Health and Food Safety Services * California Anti-Terrorism Information Center * California Apprenticeship Council * California Arbitration Certification Program * California Architects Board * California Area VI Developmental Disabilities Board * California Arts Council * California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus * California Assembly Democratic Caucus * California Assembly Republican Caucus * California Athletic Commission * California Attorney General * California Bay Conservation and Development Commission * California Bay-Delta Authority * California Bay-Delta Office * California Biodiversity Council

Please follow the link (click here), to see the entire list, which fills six single-space pages. Is there nothing that can be reduced except for fire and police services?