UPDATE: Our dear friend and fellow SLOB, Left Coast Rebel, was published in “The Daily Caller”. He was discussing the situation in Bell, CA (also mentioned in my piece below). This is an important story, so please check it out: Ringing the bell at the top: Paging Chris Christie
Dear Readers: In my 18-months of citizen activism, I don’t think I have been as angry as I was this morning after reading this story (which made the front page of the San Diego Union Tribune today). And I have been plenty angry.
Tragedy renews sales-tax debate
Rate hike would end policy of ‘brownouts’
A proposed sales tax increase for the city of San Diego was going nowhere just two weeks ago, but the tragic choking death of a 2-year-old boy has given city leaders a newfound sense of urgency and possibly enough support to put the proposal on the November ballot.
The City Council will decide Tuesday whether to ask voters if they want a half-cent sales-tax increase that would raise an estimated $103 million annually and erase a budget deficit that forced the city to cut many basic services, most notably the decision for “brownouts” that idle up to eight fire engines a day to save on overtime.
Bentley Do choked on a gum ball and died Tuesday night. City paramedics didn’t arrive at his Mira Mesa home until 9½ minutes after receiving the 911 call. Authorities said the delay in response was due to the city’s brownout plan although it’s impossible to know whether Bentley would have survived had paramedics arrived sooner.
While the boy’s death has brought renewed focus on firefighter and paramedic response times, it remains to be seen whether there are enough votes on the eight-member council — six are required — to place the sales-tax measure on the ballot.
I grieve for the loss of Bentley Do, and my prayers go for his spirit and my sympathies to his family. However, the assertion that we San Diegans are not paying enough in taxes for proper emergency services is contemptible, cynical, atrocious, and insulting. What we need is pension reform, enhanced efficiencies, and curtailing the bureaucratic waste in this city.
My fellow San Diegans — are we to be guilt-tripped by this accident into feeding more money to the government beast? Once again, “the children” are being used an an excuse to take more control of our lives.
Imagine if our city leaders showed so much aggressive initiative and imagination in actually resolving the city’s fiscal problems!
I find the timing of this very suspicious. The Southern California Tax Revolt Coalition, Richard Rider, Stop Taxing Us, and other citizen groups had successfully been pushing back on the sales-tax proposal for the past several weeks. In fact, Mayor Sanders recently backed off in pursuing this idea. But it seems public employee service union leadership and big government bureaucrats never rest in their desire to obtain more of our wealth.
We need to contact the San Diego City Council and Mayor, today, and inform them that we do not intend to be another Bell, California, where the top government workers earn close to one million dollars annually while the average citizen earns under $30,000/year. Here is the list:
District 1 Councilmember Sherri Lightner
E-mail: sherrilightner@sandiego.gov
District 2 Council President Pro Tem Kevin Faulconer
E-mail: kevinfaulconer@sandiego.gov
District 3 Councilmember Todd Gloria
E-mail: toddgloria@sandiego.gov
District 4 Councilmember Tony Young
E-mail: anthonyyoung@sandiego.gov
District 5 Councilmember Carl DeMaio
E-mail: carldemaio@sandiego.gov
District 6 Councilmember Donna Frye
E-mail: donnafrye@sandiego.gov
District 7 Councilmember Marti Emerald
E-mail: martiemerald@sandiego.gov
District 8 Council President Ben Hueso
E-mail: benhueso@sandiego.gov
City Administration Building
202 C St., 11th Floor
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: (619) 236-6330
Fax: (619) 236-7228
Email the Office of the Mayor:
JerrySanders@sandiego.gov
One final note, which is related. In the Shirley Sharrod Show this week, I found the most disturbing aspect uncovered by Andrew Breitbart was her attitude that federal government employees could not be fired, and Sharrod made it seem that government jobs were easy money. She showed no evidence that she wanted to serve the public — she wants the public to serve her. I have news for all government employees — the only one entitled to my money is me. I don’t mind paying a fair amount of tax for sensible community services and national defense. However, we are now at confiscatory levels — with a promise of more taxes on the horizon. I refuse to be persuaded by the egregious use of tragedies that more of my blood, sweat and tears need to be confiscated by government.
Ultimately, Breitbart did us a service that may not have been his initial intention. The elite media has been decrying the lack of “context” in the tapes of Sharrod’s NAACP speeches — but failed to purse any “context” investigation in the lies about Tea Parties. The hypocritical double-standard the elite media uses has never been more transparently clear. I am sure Andrew Breitbart and his team would appreciate words of support, so please contact him here so that you can let him know how vital his efforts have been: CONTACT ANDREW BREITBART, click here.
“…it’s impossible to know whether Bentley would have survived had paramedics arrived sooner” is the key phrase in this story.
The family recieved care drastically quick, in under 10 minutes. Pumping more money into the system is unlikely to have helped this situation, and definitely will make no difference to those of us who live more than a block from a firehouse.
As far as the Sharrod charade, it is a distraction to help pass Financial Reform, assault new media, and give another lie to the left as ammunition to spew hatred against America.
Next on the radical agenda is a media take over; shut down more blogs, stiffle free speech, and public funding of media organizations that defended the leftist agenda.
More and more I think the solution is a one line “Tea Party” bill or even a Constitutional Amendment that nullifies all new appointments, agencies, regulations, laws and executive orders from January 2009 through January 2011.
San Diego ?Rulers? Use Boy?s Death for Tax Grab…
I found your entry interesting do I’ve added a Trackback to it on my weblog
…
It’s very sad that politicans are using this childs death to extort money from the taxpayer. Have they no shame, no don’t answer that. My heart goes out to the family.
They use the ‘guilt’ of the children for anything & everything, especially the public health mafia.
It seems that the ruling elite of the west are out destroy their own countries by any means foul.
Here in the UK we are overrun with illegals, that’s without the economic migrants from within the EU, who we can do nothing about, not that the elite want to, the EU rules Britain, and the taxpayers are, without their consent, having to pay this malicious, elite organisation £45 million, yes £45 million per day but the EU are not satisfied with that they want a 6% increase. We are being taxed and threatened with all kinds of PC laws ’til the pips squeak.
Unfortunately the people of this country lost their backbone when political correctness became the order of the day, they’ve been forced by sex/race/equality & religious laws to keep their mouths shut. Plus half the population either work for the government/local councils or are on benefits that only low paid workers can dream of. For an example, an illegal immigrant, supposedly now legal, is getting his rent of £2,000 per week, for a 7 bedroom house, in an exclusive area, paid by housing benefit, i.e. the taxpayer, and this isn’t the only one, there’s plenty more getting eye watering rents paid. Immigrants legal/illegal go to the top of the housing list. The indigenous are called racist or bigots if they complain.
I wish the people here had the courage of the tea partyers. Because soon we’re going to be a non-country, England will be wiped from the map. The EU are intent on redrawing the map of Europe, Brussels will end up the capital of Europe and England, Ireland, Scotland & Wales will be sectioned off as regions. And the sad thing is the ruling elite embrace the EU and will not give the voters a say by referendum, the last government and this new one have both reneged on the promise of one. The majority want out, but we can’t get a say.
All this coupled with encouraging mass muslim immigration and the elites wanting EU membership of Turkey, another 70,000,000 people, mainly muslims, free movement of Europe, has to tell anyone with a brain they’re out to destroy Europe. What Hitler couldn’t do with tanks & bombs our treasonous politicans, Tony Blair, who the US taken to their bosum, has been the worst traitor of all. He’s a liar, cheat & fake.
I appreciate that you probably aren’t interested in my moans & groans, but I wanted to say that the USA is not the only country with politicans out to destroy it’s people. And from many things I’ve read Canada is quickly turning into a police state.
It appears to be a concerted effort by liberal left wing politicans to destroy us all. But why, this is what I can’t work out. WHY.
Oh and please don’t be taken in by our new Prime Minister, like the US have of Blair. He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing, another liar.
I see this daily as I am currently in Germany…
Got you a nice link on this, Leslie. Thanks for all that you do!
Leslie, great minds think alike. I posted on the same subject today, but with far less passion. I will update and link to you.
I was pretty ticked off at the blatant propaganda in that supposedly “objective” news article. Here’s my blog post in SD Rostra.
Yes we must always make cuts to essential needs rather than personal ones. Motivate by fear.
One might argue that an overpaid and under worked govt is responsible for the boys death!
Like all Social-democrats, their answer is to raise taxes. They never want to admit all the fat in their budget. I would challenge all the well-paid members in San Diego to take a 5% pay cut and restore those vital services. If they are unwilling to take a pay cut, then we the citizens should vote no to any tax raising scheme. And at the next election, elect new people. If Bell is any indication, there is much fat to be sliced.
As for Ms Sherrod, its amusing she is now accusing Andrew Breibart of wanting to make all African-Americans slaves again. Their answer to everything can be summed up in two words it seems, “Its racism!!!!!” Pathetic.