Another Petition to sign re keeping CA State Parks open

[jp5]

And I thought the "Adventure Pass" was a ripoff..can't even park your car on the side of the road in a national forest without one.

I am all for keeping Americans employed but let's face it, if there was work down there they wouldn't be coming up here so maybe more manufacturing companies should have a facility in Mexico.

[swchandler]

The important thing to remember about illegal Hispanic immigrants, is that some folks out there are hiring them. Come on, that's why they come here. Can you really blame them?

I agree with D-woo that an accepted scenario should be created to facilitate production of our core agricultural interests, but a broader spectrum workforce participation, like I'm seeing in California, just doesn't line up well with me in the long term vision. We can't simply absorb someone's heartfelt thirst for America, and the advantages we can offer as a nation.

I must ask, should potential employers be able to draw their workforce from the illegal immigrate pool? I think not, particularly in these more difficult financial times. The classical neo-conservative rant would try to get some lift off the idea that citizens of America wouldn't submit to the work conditions that illegals are now hired for. That might be very true, in some possible circumstances, but I don't believe that necessarily applies to many of the industries or businesses that now readily rely on illegal immigrant labor. Any really aware person can recognize that the issue has penetrated a much broader spectrum of society. Is that what we want?

Frankly, I'm not against the core majority of hard working Hispanics that try to benefit from our largess. Still though, are you hiring day laborers, or simply turning your back to firms that play an undercover role in promoting immigrant labor? A hard question, but important nonetheless.

We as Americans, and particularly as Californian citizens, must look at the hard facts we face in the future.

[MalibuGuru]

[/quote]If you can get Park Rangers to pick lettuce then I might stand behind you. I was evicted from my home by State Parks. Yes they owned the land and I don't argue that. But today my former home is a big construction wasteland because state parks doesn't have the money to finish the project. Myself and my neighbors were paying rent. State Parks evicted us and then claimed to have the money to convert the area into a campground. They didn't and now everybody loses. There are no plans to restart the project and current beach access is worse than before. Let me restate - they owned the land, they probably had the right to evict us, but was their decision prudent? No. (I could write pages on this.) They gave up rental income (1-2 million a year) to spend money and all the citizens of the state have gotten so far is a big pile of gravel.[/quote]

That's precisely why so many people want smaller govt. They can't run the post office let alone car companies.

[isobars]

[andymc4610]

I don't do politics on iW and this is neither, as they say "name one thing the Gov runs better than the private sector"....maybe the military, but that's up to debate. But the Gov does do what no one else wants to.

[swchandler]

Believe me, we're experiencing a bit of history how the unbridled private sector has been conducting things for some time. Now, the government is involved, because the private sector screwed up everything so terribly.

Would most of us preferred that? I know that I wouldn't have desired that, but unregulated capitalism seems to have been a bit out of control for some time now. How much money was lost over the last 12 months?

Even isobars has indicated that he's been in a cash position for some time now. Yet surprisingly, he's still a neo-conservative right wing weirdo that thinks a capitalistic "no holds barred" approach is totally perfect and unquestionable.

Of course, isobars is a total airhead. Who in the hell believes what he spews?

Well, maybe FredX does, but he still has to enter the real world, and maybe get his own car.

Good God, I had my own personal transportation at 15 1/2, and that was back in 1964.

[isobars]

[isobars]

[waaag]

Wow, lots of gasbagging here but not much meat in the sandwich. I don't see a heck of a lot of state workers messing around on the job, just a lot of people working like you and me. If you want to cut something cut management. Managers tend to bloat management further because they think managers actually make something happen, when in fact it's the poorly paid workers who do the work and usually have the know-how.

Ask yourself why you never were a state worker (or UC, or CSU, etc). It's usually because the wages are crap compared to the private sector. Please don't dump on them. They're your neighbor, or your cousin, or just another bloke trying to get by, usually for a lot less money than their private industry friends.

Can we get back to windsurfing now?

[D-wo]

I did not mean to vilify state workers (perhaps others did). My eviction story was simply an example of the misuse of state resources. It didn't/ doesn't have to be that way. Would I support the privatization of state agencies? No. Certainly not most of them. Definitely not the prisons or the schools. I went to a private school which operated on a shoestring because they had a pool of cheap labor - nuns.

Some state agencies have done good work. The AQMD has done a fair job to curtail air pollution (perhaps some motorheads will disagree, but I'd rather have clean air than listen to your headers.) If you ever happen to be under a freeway overpass during an earthquake, you might thank someone in state gov for approving the retrofitting. We also have a pretty good road system, just too many cars. We all benefit for our state gov't, but that doesn't mean it can't improve ( and hopefully become solvent).

Also, I don't understand why some trash the Post Office. My experience has been overwhelmingly positive with the PO. I get my mail every day and send letters and packages without worry. The DMV is an easy target perhaps, but who among us would really want to work there? If you hate the DMV that much register your car at the Auto Club.

Get back to windsurfing? Love to...if there was some wind. Any chance we might get another blow on the central coast? Anyone?