Local government leaders are under extreme pressure to raise fees and taxes and the rumblings are beginning. They are eyeing Proposition 13 as well. With the economy on the ropes, basic services are on the line such as police, fire, building, sanitation, and administration departments that are looked at as essential for local governments operations, and for the most part are. The problem is that you can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip. Also, raising local taxes and fees offsets the stimulus package benefits. For instance, the Feds are giving tax cuts of fifty bucks a month to each family and the state doubled car license fees and deductions for children which more than off set these cuts.

There is no doubt that there is immense pressure to raise revenue to operate local government but it just will not be feasible. Our country’s gluttonous hey-day is over and we will be forced to cut vital services no matter what and our city and county leaders need to accept this inevitable fact and begin the process now. They need to do some real soul searching, as should their constituents, and begin our journey into a new era of living within our means.

We cannot expect one person who builds a home or replaces a septic system to cover the cost of the entire building department’s budget. It is neither fair, practical, or possible. Instead, we need to adjust and/or streamline the amount of regulation and oversight of the work to be affordable and accept something less that ideal so as to place our budget in the black, even though there may be some undesirable outcomes from time to time. We need to accept all volunteer fire departments in many areas. Sure, far from perfect, but we can’t afford the luxury of supporting our fire departments, and it is surely better than nothing and absolutely essential in our new found economy.

We need our police but we don’t need anywhere near the resources and money we waste in our prison system and court system. We need to prioritize our enforcement of to more of a protection mode than a policing mode and lock far fewer people up. We need to raise the DUI limit back to .10 from the now .08 which locks up folks for a couple of beers. We need to decriminalize most drugs and focus on treatment and education of the young, and take the rampant black market to legitimacy. We need quit wasting resources on chasing prostitutes through the revolving doors of the local police station and legitimize their inevitable existence and put STD’s, pimps, and the related violence in check.

We need to stop the practice of allowing the children of illegal aliens born here to become American citizens (anchor babies) and stop expecting American taxpayers to pay for the education of illegal children. We need to either empty our jails of illegal alien prisoners by deporting them or extract the costs of their incarceration from Mexico or their home countries. We need to immediately stop treating non-citizens in our health care system and making Mexico or the host country pay for essential emergency care used by them. If you feel compassion for these folks, try having some for your fellow Americans who are losing their homes and our old folks living in squallier, especially given the fact that it is going to get worse by tenfold in the near future.

We need to accept that we can no longer cater to the disabled and special needs children in our schools as we now do. Their plight is unfortunate and they deserve fair treatment but the extravagant expenses and treatment of these folks must come to an end for our school systems to survive. Now, parents of these kids extract millions in legal costs, legal settlements, and services under the present laws. I am sorry for this misfortune but not enough to flush our education system and America down the toilet. This sounds cruel but it is just what must happen so we can survive as a viable economy and political system.

We also, must rebel against federal agencies, such as FEMA, who ride in on their bureaucratic high-horses and dictate how flood plains are determined and who will pay flood insurance and levee maintenance. They are nothing but a bloated, omni-powerful, self righteous being that reminds me of the wizard of OZ. We must demand that our local leaders reject their power and put our local needs and wishes over their dictatorial impositions. They are taking actions every day to expand the size and power of their bureaucracy as is every bureaucracy and must be put in check.

Folks, we are on our way to a new life as you will have never imagined. We are beginning our adjustment to our new economic status and you need only to look at the less developed nations around us in the world to get a glimpse of our future infrastructure and lifestyles that we are to live. Picture the elderly, disabled, mentally ill, and poor being cared for by their families and generations of families living in one household. Health care much less available than now and retirement benefits non-existent, including social security and Medi-cal. Picture our roads in poor shape and our public services at greatly reduced levels.

Again folks, the gluttonous hey-day is over. Don’t be frightened. Be accepting, creative, and flexible. Be prepared to become one again with your family and community!