Tuesday
Feb172009
Poor Karen Bass: Have you Californians Hatched Your Exit Plan yet
Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 8:13AM The Blogmother I remember posting about Karen Bass' ascension to the the role of Speaker of the California State Assembly. I bet she's wondering whether or not this was a promotion. Apparently California is on the verge of fiscal collapse. This weekend, she had to lock members of the legislature inside the capitol grounds. :
After months of negotiations led by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, state leaders were only able to garner two of the three GOP votes needed for passage of the package in the state Senate. Lawmakers were locked in the Capitol starting at 5 p.m. Saturday as leaders sought to squeeze out the last vote.
Legislators and their staffs spent the night in their Capitol offices while sergeants-at-arms reportedly confiscated car keys so lawmakers couldn’t leave the premises. Source
They're shutting down state offices every other Friday. They are holding on to people's tax refunds. I wonder how long before folks pick up pitch forks and torches:
The state of California — its deficits ballooning, its lawmakers intransigent and its governor apparently free of allies or influence — appears headed off the fiscal rails.
Since the fall, when lawmakers began trying to attack the gaps in the $143 billion budget that their earlier plan had not addressed, the state has fallen into deeper financial straits, with more bad news coming daily from Sacramento. The state, nearly out of cash, has laid off scores of workers and put hundreds more on unpaid furloughs. It has stopped paying counties and issuing income tax refunds and halted thousands of infrastructure projects.
After negotiating nonstop from Saturday afternoon until late Sunday night on a series of budget bills that would have closed a projected $41 billion deficit, state lawmakers failed to get enough votes to close the deal and adjourned. They returned to the capital late Monday morning only to adjourn until the afternoon, though it was far from clear whether they would be able to reach a deal. NY Times
I especially loved this video of the California Senate Pro Tem belittling his Republican colleagues. I wonder why they can't get those two extra votes.
If you live in the following states, you might want to be calling your kinfolks to see if they can give you shelter as you flee: California, Kansas, Michigan. Run while you still can.
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Reader Comments (44)
California is a mess
I feel like I am living in an episode of the Twilight Zone reading this. I mean, really? How much worse can it get before it gets better?
As a Californian and specifically an Angeleno, I can't even begin to tell you what a mess this place is. If it wasn't for our careers being stationed here, my husband and I would take our two kids and dog and get the hell out of dodge.
The problem in this state is too much spending on social programs and too few people paying in to the system. This budget crisis CAN be solved if the dems stop trying to make permanent underclasses (and a permanent democratic voting block) and cut spending once and for all. The taxes are so crazy out here that no one wants to start a business which makes it impossible to dig ourselves out of these high unemployment numbers. Not only do we have high unemployment, we have record his UNDEremployment. Most people in this state, especially in Southern California do not make enough for basic necessities. This is why so many seek out food stamps, WIC, state-sponsored health insurance, etc.
Housing, health care, public schools, are all a giant mess. 1 in 10 homes in foreclosure, entire neighborhoods left to ruin with no property tax income.
The writer's strike also left a permanent dent in our economy as well.
Don't ask me why we're still here, LOL. We are just holding on as long as we can or until we can no longer afford it.
Sad thing is I really love L.A. It's been great to us and it's a wonderful place with a lot of culture and nightlife.
But our leaders are a bunch of morons and too few people pay attention until it is too late.
Run to where? What other state is there to go to that isn't broke, or about to be broke, should one escape to? The entire country is headed to hell in a handbasket. California, Kansas, and Michigan are only three of fifty dominoes that have tipped over: It is a guarantee that the other forty-seven will fall, too.
It is over for the US's economy. The jobs that have been lost are not coming back. It used to be that when a person lost a job in an area (city, county, or state) in the US that that person could move from that dead area (do you remember Allentown, Pennsylvania?) to a different city or town or state where the job market was vibrant. What is going on now -- which is a worldwide economic collapse of consumer/investment capitalism and the slide on the downhill side of peak oil -- there is no place for anyone to run to, not now, and not in the future, too. So, stay where you are, and deal with the situation as it exists there--work to make your life better where you are, because there ain't no better place to go to.
I think that the tone of my previous comment (#4) was a wee bit harsh. My apology to you and your readers for my brusqueness.
Thinking about this post: I think that this global economic "crisis" is unsalvageable and permanent--there ain't no turning back to the way things used to be. (It is better to prepare for the worst case scenario, and if it should come true, then you will be better off, and if it should not come true, then, too, you are better off.) We are going to have to change the way that we live as individuals and as citizens and within our communities. Although, California is in the crapper, it is a good state to be in, because of its weather and its agriculture. (I live in California.) You see, when the economy totally tanks (and we have accepted that as our reality, and thus have to adjust to that new reality) and energy resources (mainly, oil, petrol) are more and more scarce, California's ability to feed itself (with a wide variety of food products: vegetable, grains, and animal) , feed those in its many regions, will be a bonus in comparison to many other states. The American food industry is highly reliant upon fossil fuels to keep it going, thus too many farms and animal food providers are too large, and thus unsustainable in the economy to where it is going. California, already, has many small-scale farmers and ranchers. As well, it has the ability, and in many cases the desire, to have more and more food growers. This is a plus, because the days of long-distance transport of our food stuff will be ending in the not too distant future.
@Hollywood Blackout, as a fellow Californian, I completely agree with you. I've already started considering other places to live and industries to work in.
Funny that you'd do a post on this when I live in this state. First of all the Sarah Palin of CA is an unqualified idiot whose movie star career blinded people into voting for him downstate where he carried 80-20. NoCal said NO WAY 20-80 but we got overruled. Now everybody gets to suffer as the Rethugs do their Great Wall of Opposition.
This is all bout trying to take back CA and making it a Rethug stronghold again. When you've got Pelosi and Dianne Feinstein here there's going to be pushback by the opposition party. This bdgt's been dragging on since LAST JULY. Like the stimulus - it's all flawed but they want everything to fail instead of finding solutions.
I'd say do a recall but the state is broke. He's also trying to bust up the SEIU (who supported Obama). He previously tried to gut teachers, nurses, police and fire fighters but got smacked down. Can you imagine if they'd been unable to fight all the fires?
The Mayor of San Francisco is also on a union-busting bender and thinks he can ride the gay-marriage train to be the next empty suit. If the housing values keep falling and more people wind up out of work I see a civil war brewing, but Ah-nold will be long gone by then.
You know Karen Bass wants to smack these idiots upside their heads but she's the consummate professional. By the way the idiot Guv is on Twitter and I highly recommend people remind him he's supposed to be working for the citizens, not against them.
@boogaloobaby There are at least 47 states that haven't told their residents they are too broke to give folks their income tazx returns. My state has a deficit, but we can't go broke because we have a balanced budget requirement and we didn't spend a 9 billion dollar surplus in the last session. In addition, Cali has junk bond status which means they can't get more loans. You have to work to get that bad off.
"There are at least 47 states that haven't told their residents they are too broke to give folks their tax returns"
This year.
bogaloobaby is more on point here than any of the other comments.
Where you gonna go? Find me state that isn't shedding jobs...or steeped in foreclosures...*shrugs* California is the canary in the coal mine.
I suppose collapse is a good thing when you seek a new system like I do. Let's face it, capitalism produces greed, which produces classism, which begets antiHUMANism - not good for humans. Think of all the land, space, food and resources consumed by the super rich that the poor (or about to be poor) are in need of right now. Will they SHARE?
Funny, but it didn't seem that anyone on the Assembly floor was even listening to Speaker Bass address them! Maybe they were too busy packing their bags! LOL
"Let’s face it, capitalism produces greed, which produces classism"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsx1X8PV_A
And socialism and communism don't? What alternative system is better? All economic systems have their faults and greed is a part of human nature- that can't be regulated and most likely won't ever go away. Just sayin'.
@zabeth THANK YOU!!!
Seeing as how our politicians are all fools, I wl role my dice with modified capitalism.
Anyone who doesn't think capitalistic tendencies pop up in all these othe systems is naïve.
Please move to a communist country for a few years and report back to me.
I never suggested communism or socialism...how about Humanism :). Seriously, I just believe we can do better. When people say that there is always going to be greed, no matter what system you try, I wonder where your spirit is. I believe we (Human Beings) have more on this Earth than we need to survive - the problem is that we've been taught that ONE person deserves more than another; that one person's job is more valuable than another; therefore we put value on lives that is tantamount to substance - thus we distribute to a Football player wwwaaaaayyy more than they need and give a teacher just enough to die on. How do you modify that, Gina? Maybe it's modifying itself - that could be what's happening now - you think?
This is ridiculous and we need to start teaching our children better. GREED should be crimminalized. That's all I'm saying - if that is communism or socialism...okay try something else...who said we have to pick between the three? I just know that the one we got is awful! But...that's JustMe.
Americans have to be the most brain washed group of people on the planet. Maybe only second to North Koreans.
There are many options between the dog-e-dog capitalism that we currently have and the communism that existed in the former USSR.
China (overall) did quite well injecting a limited type of capitalism into their very communist country.
Cuba has one of the best health care systems in the world.
When compared to all other industrialized nations in many categories from social mobility to health care we rank near the bottom.
When the country had a more progressive tax system (top tax bracket 60-70%) the country was much more fair and very much resembled some of our more socially democratic cousins (France comes to mind).
The world is not made up of extremes. it is not either or.
The world certainly seems EXTREMEly greedy to me.
We are afraid and brainwashed too, JJ - I suggest that we stop being afraid and decide that what we need has never been produced! Not in China; not in Cuba; and certainly not in the USA. There is not a fair and humanly responsible society on this planet, but we need to create one.
@JJ are you seriously holding up Cuba and China as models?
I'll stick with modified capitalism thank you very much. Ask all the dissidents in jail in Cuba and China whether they hold your view.
Last time I read, the Chinese were facing their own issues as millions are going without jobs as factories close down.
If these are such great places to live, why do they filter the internet and media and why are people packing themselves in shipping crates and anything that will float to get to the United States.
We don't have pure capitalism in this country. It is a modified form. Pure capitalism is politically unstable. I like our form just fine. What is going on isn't a result of capitalism. Capitalism requires some form of transparency. This crisi reeks of fraud and subterfuge.
@JustMe if by humanism you mean that I, who chose to sacrifice have to hand over my cheese to those who don't, the Pilgrims tried that and ended up starving because those inclined to produce to their greatest potential weren't motivated to do so if they were going to get the same cut as their less inclined neighbor.
Sorry all these utopias y'all are longing for typically are totalitarian regimes where outspoken people like me and you end up in jail or seeking asylum.
Now let me go put on some Lee Greenwood.... "I'm proud to be an Americaaaan."
"the problem is that we’ve been taught that ONE person deserves more than another; that one person’s job is more valuable than another;"
So are you saying a doctor who spends like 12 years in a rigorous course of study is just as "valuable" in an economic sense as the person who takes my order at McDonalds?
Your problem is that you define a person's value with how much they get paid. THAT's the problem, not how much they get paid.
As far as the football players, well, 80,000 aren't going to pay to watch me work. The football player is generating more revenue than I am. In addition, that football player is going to spend all of that money anyway on stupid items that keep people like me employed, leasing cars, paying property taxes on ridiculously large homes, clothes, cloudy diamonds.
Its like the circle of life.
You trust the "collective" to do right by people. I inherently DISTRUST the "collective." The "collective" has a really crappy record when it comes to human rights and fairness. Look at what the "collective" is coming up with in California.
“Cuba has one of the best health care systems in the world.”
Not really. Yeah, it’s the best health care system in the world…if you want to be treated to 1960’s health care standards equipment. Don’t believe everything Michael Moore tells you. There’s a reason why Cuban’s are still driving cars from 1959 and thousands more are risking their lives trying to live here- even with our “crappy” health care system. Far left policies of government control (of everything) lead to stifled innovation and fewer options for people. I’m sorry, but it really annoys me when people romanticize places like Cuba and hold them up as the ideal.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-8TcpOz6A4
GET EM Zabeth! Get em!
Are we flawed? ABSOLUTELY! But so are all these other utopias you long for. I'll take my chances than have to live my life in fear of the whims of Fidel Castro.
Why doesn't anybody ever talk about racism in Cuba?
@Zabeth Youtube propaganda hardly counts as evidence. Try doing some real research.
@Gem No, I wasn't using Cuba and China as models that we should aspire too. My point was and is that America's current form of modified capitalism doesn't work and their are aspects of more communist countries that work better than our own.
The US has more people in prison then any other country in the world...China has more in numbers but not percentage of population wise...so what we may not lock up dissidents but we regularly lock up plenty of innocent people, treat our "undesirables" horribly and will even execute the mentally insane...hardly calling cards of a "great" and "civilized" society.
And we are a socialist nation in many ways...except we socialize the risks and privatize the profits of doing business in this country.
The system is broken and has been for years, but hey keep being cheerleaders for a system that primarily benefits the wealthiest among and leaves the rest of the population far behind.
And the fraud and subterfuge of which you speak was bred because of the type of "modified" capitalism we have.
"And we are a socialist nation in many ways…except we socialize the risks and privatize the profits of doing business in this country."
On THAT we can agree.
Racism in Cuba?
Talk racism in the US.
And any other country that had West African slaves...
I never said China or Cuba was ideal...nor did I romanticize the countries...the only romanticization going on here is that of the US and its policies.
Nobody is romanticizing the US. Do you read this blog? I critize the US constantly. I do not however favor abandoning our current system of dysfunction for China's or Cuba's or any other country where my destiny is in the hands of a bunch of people who don't give a rip about me.
There is always some form of elitism and privilege in any system I am certain that under Socialism or Communism or any other form of totalitarianism, I would be locked in a cell. Or would you rather France, where they riot every other summer because people of color or with certain last names can't get jobs.
No system is perfect. In no other country could my family have gone from longshoremen and maids to Lawyers, Doctors and engineers. NOWHERE. Not Cuba, not China, Not France. Only here.
@GEM thanks for the support. I often feel very alone in my beliefs :-)
Furthermore, if you want to bring other countries into the discussion (i.e CA, UK, France, blah blah blah) their systems don't fair that much better.
In those countries health care is often rationed- ala the eldery and those closest to dying- are less likely to receive quality care; the rationale being "they're gonna die pretty soon anyway right."
People in Europe and Canada sometimes have to wait up to 9 months to receive medical treatment. Also, many wealthy Canadians and Europeans come to the US to seek medical help from American hospitals and doctors (didn't Usher recently fly out an American doctor to Brazil to treat his wife??????). If Canadian and European health care is so good why are Canadians and Europeans coming here to seek medical treatment?
Let's also not forget that free health care is in NO WAY free. Do you have any idea what the tax rates in Europe are like? And we sit here and complain.
Finally, going to my point about opportunity and innovation, seriously ask yourself how many medical advances (i.e. drugs, treatment methods, surgery forms, alternative care, etc) have come out of Europe as compared to the US? Drawing a blank?
@Zabeth no problem, this blog was founded on capitalist principles. Remember "Stop Funding Foolishness"?
Zabeth, you failed to mention the pharmaceutical industry.
@Zabeth Youtube propaganda hardly counts as evidence. Try doing some real research.
Not Youtube propaganda. John Stossel and his news program 20/20 are credible sources. I'm sure you can find the entire program on Youtube and/or the transcripts at ABC.com.
John Stossel is NOT a credible source. Never has been. He's the guy who talked about how horrible organic food was and how we shouldn't by it. That all those hormones and pesticides weren't bad for us at all.
What proof do you have that Canadians and Europeans are coming here to seek treatment?
Though I do know that Americans are regularly seeking health care and prescription drugs from other countries. Look up medical tourism in Dubai.
So either I "wait" for care in those horrible European countries or I just don't get it here? Tough choice.
Yes, that what taxes do...they pay for things that the people of the country need: health care, education, public transportaion...etc.
And if you actually read the case of Usher's wife you'll know she had a cardiac arrest PRE surgery and that there is a good chance she LIED about how far out she was from her last pregnancy. You need to be 6-8 months out before you have lipo after giving birth..she was only 2.
Ask how many of those new treatments and new drugs are affordable to the general public?
Majority of people file bankruptcy in this country from medical bills. How many Canadians and Europeans file for bankruptcy because of medical bills?
Drawing a blank?
Critical thinking is always a good thing. Parroting talking points is not.
Wow! A few of you here have [seemed to unquestioningly, and without thinking critically,] wholeheartedly swallowed the propoganda/lies about the United States and capitalism that you have been fed by our education system and its partner-in-crime, the media. You might want to give the book, "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American Textbook Got Wrong" by James Loewen. You need not purchase it, for it is most likely available from your local public library system.
Too much black-and-white, either-or, thinking going on here: If one is anti-capitalism that does not mean that one is pro-Soviet-style socialism/communism. (Really, if you know anything about communist philosophy, you would know that communism could only be realised once every nation in the world was socialist first. That is why the former USSR was named such, and not the USCR.)
Aaah, the "America, love it or leave it" crowd is in strong force here, too. Well, as an American, I take no offense to criticism of this nation's government. I love the country, the land, and it saddens me to see how poorly it has been treated and terribly damaged it is by capitalism's agents. Really, we should give it back to the Indians! Only those with names like Running Bear or Dancing Cloud or some such should be allowed to stay--all others, go the hell back to where you came from. Over five centuries of occupation and look the terrible state this country is in! You cannot tell me that the Pilgrims were really a good thing for the native people's who lived in this part of the world for thousands and thousands of years were a good thing?
Cuba and Canada and Western Europe and the Scandinavian countries do not have perfect health care systems, that is true. And health care in the United States may be better, on the technological front, but at least in those countries, you have access to the health care [that is available] without needing to be rich or have insurance to take advantage of all that wonderful technology. Many citizens in the US are going to find out soon enough just how inaccessible health care is in this country--the unemployment rate is increasing exponentially, and if you were lucky enough to have health insurance from your employer, then you will have it no more, or if you are unable to afford the COBRA payments (which is the reality for many of the unemployed) once you become unemployed, the only way that many are going to be able to afford to be seen by a doctor is through the Emergency Room, if at all. At least in Cuba or England or France or Germany or Norway or Canada, if you get sick or are in an accident, you don't have to worry, with your non-existent income or dwindling-income, that you will be made penniless for seeking care in a hospital.
America is not a kind nation. Our history, and our present, are proof of our unkindness, our disregard for humanity. We are currently in the midst of history turning itself inside out, and we have the opportunity, if we so desire it to be, to come out on the other side as better people. That is the message that I am getting from the commenters JJ and JustMe.
Are y'all really arguing as to which system is better?
@boogaloobaby first of all, don't be coming up in here trying to act as if you are the only person with a right idea. I am not naive about the American system of government or commerce. The fact that you don't agree with me doesn't make you smarter or wiser. It just means you have a different opinion. You can save your sanctimony.
Second if you think for one moment that privilege, elitism, and discrimination don't exist in socialized medicine, YOU are the one that is not critically thinking.
Third, regarding American kindness? You need to get out more. We are some of the kindest people on the planet. YOU on the other hand want to place your faith in a central government to take care of you. ASK THE PEOPLE OF THE GULF COAST HOW THAT'S WORKING FOR THEM!!!!
Let me assure you that when the call goes out that a Category 5 Hurricane is headed your way, it's WALMART and HOME DEPOT that keep people empowered to protect themselves. When your central government can manage to get a bag of ice to diabetics and elderly people, its the private sector, churches, family and friends that kick into action.
All this praising of a central power that decrees what my quality of life shall be is inferior to a system where I at least have a chance to fend for myself. It may not be kind, but it is efficient and far more fair than some bumbling fumbling FEMA employee deciding whether I live or die.
So you can place you fate in the hands of a centralized government if you want to, but I'd rather choose my own fate.
Ask the people of Western Europe if we were an "unkind" nation. Ask the British if we are "unkind". Ask the East Germans. Ask the Poles.
Heck ask the Tsumani victims who got aid faster than Black folks in New Orleans about our kindness.
I may argue fuss and fight about the problems this country has, but I TRIPLE dare you to name a country where I would be better off as a Black woman than I am now. Let me help you out. You can scratch China, Russia, Cuba, and all of Mexico, Central and South America off the list.
I'll spot you Canada because I love Canada. Have at it. Give me a country where I would be better off than America. Yes, I've been an uninsured adult. Scary as all get out. Still better off here than anywhere else.
@miriam yes THEY are arguing which system is better. I already know which system I PREFER!
You have totally misunderstood what I have written.
Nonetheless, you are correct that on many points, I do not agree with you. (FYI: I am a black woman, too!)
I respect that this is your blog, and this is your voice, so I say, "thank you for letting my comments through." Since it seems that debate and disagreement does not sit to well with you, I'll pack up my sanctimony and leave you at it.
"Ask how many of those new treatments and new drugs are affordable to the general public?"
My question- what good is any treatment, affordable or not, if it doesn't even exist?
No...you are arguing which system is better.
I said and will say again that the (current) American way of doing things is flawed that once upon a time our system was more just than it is now.
Like the USSR was extreme in its socialism...the US is extreme in its capitalism.
Ask the various communities that Wal-Mart and Home Depot destroyed how "empowered" they made them.
Ask countries that kicked Wal-Mart and other Big Box stores to the curb how they feel about their ability to be prepared in case of a major natural disaster.
Oh...I'd say if you ask most of those countries you mention whether Americans were kind or not they'd say "Americans (the people) aren't unkind, but their government and it's policies are."
As I said earlier there is a middle ground between dog-e-dog capitalism and USSR Socialism.
But we're no where near it.
Oh and if we're so great why are at the bottom of every major category that you can measure a country by? Why do Canadians, Poles, Brits and even people from some non-industrialized nations live longer than us? Why are Nigerians ranked as some of the happiest people in the world and us Americans some of the least?
And the idea that ALL government is incompetent just because OUR government is incompetent is a lousy argument.
I know it's hard for some to beleive, but just because America can't get it done doesn't mean it can't be done. We USED to have a better health care system. We USED to have a better public education system. We USED to have a more equitable society where if you worked hard you could lead a comfortable life and be assured a decent retirement.
Those things are past us now, and not too many Americans seem to interested in getting them back.
Contrary to popular belief all ideas aren't created equally.
"So either I “wait” for care in those horrible European countries or I just don’t get it here? Tough choice."
If you had to wait 6 to 9 months for treatment for cancer, a brain tumor, or heart surgery guess what, you will die. Tough choice.
"My question- what good is any treatment, affordable or not, if it doesn’t even exist?"
They don't get that part. Yes, you get "safety" in "nationalization" but you lose creativity, innovation, and the benefits of risk taking. Yes, there are some benefits to risk taking. The model T Ford, electricity, air travel etc.
There is no incentive to take the risk of investing BILLIONS of dollars in developing a new drug if you are going to make the same amount of money whether you take a risk or not. Sure there are other motivations to innovate, but monetary gain is pretty darn efficient.
Individualism has many benefits. So does collectivism. I prefer a balance of the two.
@Zabeth what good are they if they exist and those who need it can't afford it?
Do u really want to start a chicken and egg argument here?
Who lives and who dies shouldn't be based on how much money you make.
Ask the various communities that Wal-Mart and Home Depot destroyed how “empowered” they made them.
Empowered enough to rely on the Home Depot and Walmart supply chains to supply generators so they can get their small businesses back up after the electrical grid gets knocked out.
Empowered enough to get $4 generic drugs.
Who lives and who dies shouldn’t be based on how much money you make.
In socialized medicine who lives and who dies is STILL based on how much money you make or its based on how old you are. YOU don't get to decide whether you live or die, someone else does. Just because you WANT or NEED treatment doesn't mean you get treatment.
You better ask someone who is in a managed healthcare system governed by "treatment guidelines." They literally have a book that determines whether you get a particular treatment or not. independent medical judgment is abandoned.
I'm all for rebuilding the public health system. I am even for "nationalizing" catastrophic injuries such as cancer treatment, and treatments for motor vehicle accidents that no single individual can absorb, but when i want to got to the doctor, I pick up the phone and go. If i got the co pay, i can get treatment.
If I have to fight the insurance company for a more significant treatment, I would also have to fight with my government case manager for the same treatment since they are using the same books to make their decisions.
Manged Healthcare HERE and Nationalized healthcare ELSEWHERE is NOT the same ting.
Once again you're comparing American ineptitude and representative of all other similar systems.
Once again flawed argument.
I get free antibiotics at Publix. That beats $4 any day and when Wal-Mart and Home Depot are the only shows in down, that's not empowerment...that's you're only choice.
When crime rises and unemployment increases because Wal-Mart comes to town, that's not empowerment.
When you have to buy the same thing twice because the Wal-Mart version was crap and poorly made..that's not empowerment.
When the richest damn compnay on the planet has at least a quarter of it's employees on the public dole (even though they get MASSIVE tax incentives with taxpayers money) that's NOT empowerment.
Cheap does not equal good. particularly if it sucks the life out of everything around it.
Whew I'm going to sleep now. Let me shut down my Wal-mart computer.
And the Mom and Pop shops don't have their employees on the public dole either?
I will agree on the crime part. I avoid Wal-mart after dark, but I also avoid any large gathering place with people and a ton of cars after dark.
Miriam
I am not arguing which system is better! They all suck!
GEM & ZABETH
I'm suggesting that we quit carrying water for the elite, because they are the ones that want us to continue cosigning their mediocrity! As long as we argue over which broken garbage to use they know they are going to continue to be in control! The powers that be put it out their to CONFUSE us; if you have one person that knows what's going on (what's wrong) in a room full of thousands, then who's in CONTROL and who sits waiting for instructions? The resources of the world belong to everyone - why let a few dictate how we use them unless you DON'T BELIEVE IN your... SELF!
If this system folds tomorrow, the rich will be okay. So will the people in charge. The PEOPLE (you and I) will suffer from lack of resources - why? Because we won't have money to buy what the world has plenty of!!!! That is just retarded!!!! Now you fix it!