tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4263762637946594105.post6397475243497584793..comments2023-10-30T09:03:07.163-07:00Comments on California High Speed Rail Blog: Hey ArnoldRobert Cruickshankhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06906581839066570472noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4263762637946594105.post-74925192445375453822008-12-20T07:47:00.000-08:002008-12-20T07:47:00.000-08:00Maybe the shortest serving worst offenders get a p...Maybe the shortest serving worst offenders get a prison cell and when all the cells are full, the longest serving least offenders are let go a few days, weeks, months, years early as a matter of policy. This has already happened as a last resort. Kind of a revolving door prison system. Then California could keep the same number of cells or build more depending on their comfort level of letting prisoners go. Money to build prisons competes with money to hire police, build libraries, repair levies, and lay HSR tracks.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02542258682255350426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4263762637946594105.post-26960918361589864752008-12-19T23:48:00.000-08:002008-12-19T23:48:00.000-08:00So just out of curiosity: how bad does the budget ...So just out of curiosity: how bad does the budget mess have to get before the governator can be recalled?<BR/><BR/>Democrats have <A HREF="http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-ed-budget19-2008dec19,0,4815299.story" REL="nofollow">found a way</A> to work around the 2/3 rule on the budget. The logic is very tortured, but that's just because that rule is so idiotic to begin with.<BR/><BR/>Politically, the net net would be more expensive gasoline, diesel and oil extraction in California, plus 1/4 percent county-level sales tax hikes plus cuts in social services. None of this would be popular, but raising taxes and/or cutting spending is the only way to balance a budget. For the good of the state, Arnold needs to break with his fellow Republicans.<BR/><BR/>On top of the measures already suggested, serious consideration should be given to relaxing the three strikes law, which is threatening to eat the California budget alive. With 170,000 inmates sharing 100,000 cells, it's just a question of time before there are serious riots and/or a federal judge condemns the state to building more prisons it cannot afford.Rafaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05471957286484454765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4263762637946594105.post-76004901703066702182008-12-19T23:43:00.000-08:002008-12-19T23:43:00.000-08:00Robert, I also hope that the responses that you po...Robert, I also hope that the responses that you post here to various newspaper articles are also sent to the newspapers as letters to the editor. No reason not to let them in on it too.bgfahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10671508705589161703noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4263762637946594105.post-51092555653012876272008-12-19T19:31:00.000-08:002008-12-19T19:31:00.000-08:00Members of the CHSRA staff and board do read this ...Members of the CHSRA staff and board do read this site. However as public employees they're not always able to comment publicly on some issues we discuss here.<BR/><BR/>We have opportunities other than the blog to influence the CHSRA, including public meetings. I'm going to try and be more proactive on that front.Robert Cruickshankhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06906581839066570472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4263762637946594105.post-22505854368894751102008-12-19T18:31:00.000-08:002008-12-19T18:31:00.000-08:00Someday a CDROM copy of the entire history of this...Someday a CDROM copy of the entire history of this blog and the peninsula blog should be submitted to CHSR as a public comment. Maybe they can assign a staff person to read through as there have been many excellent issues raised and discussed. I would just like to hear an official response from CHSR to these blogs. At a minimum that they are taking the discussions under consideration and better if they would respond to some of the key issues.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02542258682255350426noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4263762637946594105.post-4065591067901915342008-12-19T18:28:00.000-08:002008-12-19T18:28:00.000-08:00Arnold is the worst governor this state has ever h...Arnold is the worst governor this state has ever had. I never understood why the media fawns over the "environmental governor" BS when he has been nothing but an obstructionist when it comes to the environment, and has created a bigger financial mess than Gray Davis ever did.bgfahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10671508705589161703noreply@blogger.com