UPDATE: Robert Rizzo's Pension Being 'Withheld' By California Attorney General, $100k Council Members Get HUGE Salary Haircut
I can't say it any louder -- No state bailouts!
Details on new developments inside. Plus an awesome protest clip.
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California pensions will be withheld for three former Bell administrators until the state attorney general determines whether the city broke any laws in paying them outsized salaries.
Pat Macht of the state's public employee retirement agency said Wednesday that pension applications will be denied for former City Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo, Police Chief Randy Adams, and Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia.
All three resigned last week as the scandal over the six-figure salaries grew.
On Thursday, city managers from across the state will gather in Sacramento to discuss drafting new payroll rules, including compiling a public database of salaries for municipal officials.
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Under pressure from outraged residents and facing a probe by the California attorney general, the beleaguered City Council of this small blue-collar city voted Monday to slash its salaries by 90 percent, and two members said they will not seek re-election when their terms are up.
The council voted unanimously to set every member's salary at what Councilman Lorenzo Velez is paid - about $8,000 a year. The other four council members have been making about $100,000 a year for their part-time service on the City Council of this largely working-class city of about 40,000 residents southeast of Los Angeles. About 17 percent of Bell's residents live in poverty.
The move came days after a scandal erupted over the pay of council members and other city officials. The city manager, who made nearly $800,000, has already resigned. And Attorney General Jerry Brown on Monday revealed he had subpoenaed hundreds of city records.
Story background:
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Several more related links are in comments below.
Jul 30, 2010 at 2:31 PM
Reader Comments (13)
http://reason.com/blog/2010/07/29/reasontv-replay-bell-calif-pro
LA suburb residents march over high city salaries
Case in point: the year City Manager Robert Rizzo made more $700,000, Rosario Torres, who worked with preschoolers, and Parks and Rec employee Miguel Sanchez, 33, were canned. Torres made $9 an hour; Sanchez made $10.50.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/scavenger/detail?blogid=111&entry_id=68800#ixzz0vBzr5gmn
Schwarzenegger to Calif. cities: post salaries
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/07/27/MNUS1EK31Q.DTL&feed=rss.news_politics
FELLOW WORKING CLASS: Message from V: "Take Back America"
Edited for USA zombies
Vendetta for 911
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKHRSGY4mWA&feature=related
Message from V: "Take Back America"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3qRxxtCX8o&feature=related
V For 9/11 Vendetta Past Present and Future
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lkKyaj1GF4&feature=related
Then again, if you're a liberal, you'll probably love this movie. You'll consider it eye-opening and prophetic.
http://www.digitalsurvivors.com/archives/vforvendetta.php
PROSPERITY THROUGH AUSTERITY
"Greece will be a war zone, Sect of Revolutionaries warns tourists"
Coming to a United States City soon:
"The gang promised to step up attacks on police, businessmen, prison guards and "corrupt" media – and, for the first time, threatened holidaymakers."
AND:
"In an accompanying picture, the group displayed an arsenal that included AK 47 assault rifles, semi-automatic pistols and brass knuckledusters.
"Our guns are full and they are ready to speak," it said. "We are at war with your democracy."
The terror threat comes as Greek authorities endure a summer of strikes and escalating upheaval. Military trucks and petrol company vehicles were employed yesterday to alleviate a fuel shortage as more 30,000 lorry and tanker truck operators ignored a government order to return to work on pain of prosecution. Shortages were reported on many holiday islands and destinations in northern Greece where thousands of tourists are stranded."
Are you ready for this on the Streets of our country?? Bullets for politicians?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHWGNiHF60M&feature=player_embedded
Immigration Agents Raid Ariz. Shuttle Businesses
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzLjJzR1yKM&feature=related
http://liveshots.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/06/03/states-vs-federal-judges/
Proposals Clash on States’ Role in Health Plans
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/health/policy/14insure.html
Well in theory, a state COULD secede, but it would be unwise, as stated before, all states are inter-dependant on each other, and a single state wouldn't have the military power to stand against the rest of the country in a war. One must remember that the large amount of national debt is accumulated by inter-state affairs, as well as inter-government (i.e., the FBI owes the CIA, the CIA owes the army, everyone owes the IRS) so a state could secede, they just wouldn't ever want to, as they are all better off the way they are. regardless of what any law says, a state could always just be like "hey, let's not be a part of this country anymore, and declare war on them" thats what the US did from britain. It's not like Britain said seceding was ok. The people in the revolution broke the british laws. however look what became of it. who knows what could have been if we had remained part of the british colonies. maybe we wouldn't have this terrible economic situation. or maybe it'd be worse. who can say?
BUT, individual states COULD begin to openly defy and even start to violate U.S. Federal law if they feel they need to.
Like CA for example, that desperately needs to trim many of its social help programs yet CAN'T because they receive federal funds and are correspondingly REQUIRED to continue with that spending. Schwarzenegger claims he could save $3 BILLION every two years by cutting/reducing those same services. Quite a pretty penny. CA might just ultimately decide to reject future federal assistance in exchange for the freedom to run its own budget independantly.
Or AZ, which isn't happy with Uncle Samuel's lax immigration enforcement.
Meantime, 22 other states are currently legally petitioning the U.S. government for -basically- what amounts to more individual state-sovereignty.
HHAHAHhahahah. "Suggesting"?.
9 years of waging constant warfare against the Taliban, yet to this day the U.S. barely controls a few miles of radius centered around the government house in Kabul.
THAT, my friend, is the VERY DEFINITION of LOSING.
(We now return you to your regularly-scheduled economic collapse. There will be no further commercial interruptions.)
http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/nick-pell/29383/the-coming-working-class-revolt
we look at economic statistics in the flatest, one dimmensional terms. We look strictly at numbers to determine if that prayed for "it's turning around" is actually taking place.
For the record, it isn't.
What we don't look at is the larger picture which centers on the nature of the American people, circa 2010, not circa 1934.
GIven our divide, given our greed, given our stupidity and our inability to prioritize and know what is important, given that it is all "me" and no "we", given that enough fools believe our president was born in Kenya and that our networks, at one time, considered this one of two equal options on an even playing field, both sides worth of consideration...
.....we're not about to get out of any mess. Not now. Not ever. It isn't just the dire economic circumstances that are doing it in, although goodness knows they are fully capable of accomplishing the task themselves.
No it is the sheer lack of capacity and ability to get things done that is the hallmark of the "we the people" that in reality is the "I the person" today.
Think of our economic problems today as being the metaphor that is the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and see the solutions as our ability to cap the destruction, contain it by shunning dispersants, draw it into tubes and ships to rid it, and prevent it from destroying the oceans, the beaches, and the wetlands.
I rest my case, although finding a jury of 12 people in America capable of rational thought is a bit of a stretch.