As my last post indicated, the fallout from the impending California state and local budget cuts will be immense, and for some populations, they will be devastating.
Almost the entire social safety net (such as it is) is proposed to be cut by the governor in order to just begin to meet the looming deficit. The destruction will commence on July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year, and it won't stop until... who knows.
Of course the Doctrinaires are salivating. There has never been an opportunity like this in their lifetimes, and there probably never will be one again. California state government is effectively bankrupt, and though it will not exactly cease to exist, its services to citizens will start to disappear, and in some cases will be terminated forthwith.
Of course the main cuts are going to fall on the poor, the old, the sick, and the demented, the way they always do, only this time in too many cases, there will be nothing at all to cushion the blow. Too bad, so sad. Bye bye.
Democrats and Republicans will collaborate in this endeavor. Democrats of course will say they just HATE to do it, sorry, sorry, while Republicans as one will say, "Tough luck, suckers!" and will laugh at the suffering left in their wake.
And who is on the sidelines?
Silent?
Disinterested?
Otherwise engaged?
Our President, of course.
Simply can't be bothered right now. GM, Chrysler, and the Financial Sector have sucked up all the money; the Congress stripped out much of the state stabilization funding from the stimulus; Californians, so sorry, are on their own.
And so, the domestic Shock Doctrine laboratory, the Demonstration Project if you will, gets under way in a little over a month. Hope everyone has stocked up on popcorn.
This ought to be good.
The spate of shock doctrine references led me to finally pick up the book. It's definitely on my recommended reading list.
ReplyDeleteI think the American public is getting fed up with this "shock doctrine" nonsense, and they're on the verge of doing something about it.
As you say, popcorn will be in order. Or to quote Old Mrs. Leary, "There’ll be a hot time in the old town, tonight."