For those who think I can’t say anything good about the Bush
Presidency, listen up: he’s not to blame for the economic downturn. Any of us
who weren’t blinded by the golden glow of our expanding securities portfolio knew
the boom would eventually bust. Remember those dotcoms with three-figure stock
prices and no sellable product? Remember the crooked CEOs, their paper profits?
They were at work well before Clinton retired.
No, Bush didn’t pop the balloon. But he sure is sitting on
it. Doling out ever-larger tax breaks for his campaign contributor constituency
while spending a hundred billion bucks smashing-then-unsmashing Iraq, his
deficit demon is on the loose. Why didn’t the tax breaks go for something of
lasting value, like investments in educating our children, or development of
renewable energy? Why not subsize purchase of hybrid SUVs that get 40 mpg,
instead of Scumvees getting less than 14? That’s bad news.
The good news is that the fabric of deception that cloaked
our march to war is finally beginning to unravel. In an earlier column, I wrote
how Daniel Ellsberg, speaking in Petaluma, predicted the White House would
fib-ricate a reason for attacking Iraq, just as the Johnson administration did
with its Gulf of Tonkin crisis just-a-fiction for the Vietnam war. Like most
Americans, I too was chilled by the images in President Bush’s State of the
Union speech, the specter of a mushroomed Manhattan. But I couldn’t forget that
this was the same man who pledged to curb global warming, then “changed his
mind” barely two months after taking office, and just recently oversaw the
heavy censorship of an EPA report on the subject.
And should you want to get away from it all, have fear for
the National Parks and Forests. Last Friday’s news: Congress voted down
legislation to ban snowmobiles in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons, and voted
up Bush’s “Healthy Forests Initiative” (as in, “we’ll help Big Timber make
healthy profits by subsidizing logging road construction and blocking
environmental lawsuits in the name of fire prevention.”) And they’re voted to
spend $369 billion next year on war and war prep (Petaluma’s pro-rated share:
$70 million.)
Bad news: the State still doesn’t have a budget. Good news:
The Budget Accountability Act, a proposed initiative that would require only a
55% majority to pass the budget and related tax legislation, and, if the
Legislature and Governor miss the deadline, require them to keep working
exclusively on the budget *without pay* until it’s approved. Send me the
petitions! (see ca.lwv.org for details.)
The Sonoma County Grand Jury’s most recent report has good
news about our County Supervisors: their meetings are being “conducted in a
professional and courteous manner.” The bad news is that “the timing and format
of the meetings discourages public attendance and participation.” But there’s
good news in that our Supervisor Mike Kerns is candid about why, telling a
reporter, “Quite frankly, I don't think the general public is interested in most
of what goes on here.” The bad news: *some* of what goes on there we *are*
interested in, but it’s devilishly difficult to be there for it.
The proposed street fix utility tax: good, or bad? I’m not
sure yet. Either way, you’re better off getting power from the sun, and leaving
the car at home.
Really good news: the City Council approved the Central
Specific Plan and the downtown theater project/district, with much owed to the
leadership of City Manager Mike Bierman, the many volunteers who put the plan together,
and Basin Street Properties. The next time anyone calls me a “no-growther” for
fighting the flood-plain freeway-frontage sprawl, I can point downtown and say,
*this* is the kind of growth we want.
Really bad news: the City Council is poised to enact
Campaign Finance *De*form, raising contribution limits, loosening reporting
requirements, and eliminating public financing. Now, for example, real estate
developer Mr. Missionvali can give $500 to each candidate, up from $200. And,
he can have his wife Magnolia and daughter Paula each give $99, *anonymously*.
The good news: Petalumans *wont let this stand.* Show up at City Hall, August 4, 7PM.