Rocklin, like Auburn to the East, is so good at throwing money into the hole that it ought to consider playing golf. |
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More... City
of Rocklin City Michael
Patrick Murphy Sierra
College Libertarian Info Placer County Libertarian
Party CA Libertarian Party Libertarian Party (National) CATO Institute |
Michael Patrick Murphy, Placer County LP Vice
Chair Or perhaps, it should design golf courses for the blind. Simply, make the hole wider and deeper so it's easier to throw money into it. Imagine a golf course where each hole was a giant pit. How could you lose? But despite the wider and deeper hole, losing is the name of the game for the residents of Rocklin, Auburn and other cities in the same boat. Proposition 13 locked up their funds with the state and sets limits on what they can get from property taxpayers at any given moment. When taxpayers stop moving up or moving over, the city doesn't adjust as quickly. They have become drug dependent on their own growth. With their incumbent campaigns funded by developers looking for even more development and re-development contracts, that dependency becomes even greater. Maddening as it might make some Libertarians, we would be glad if cities only handled certain fiduciary services such as roads, police, fire and maybe public education. However, they've gone way, way, way beyond that. People, or as politicians might well state, "voters," want things. The more they want, the more they are offered. That's how you get elected. Give everyone what they want. That includes developers that give you the money to run your campaigns. Without their seed money, it will be damn difficult to raise even more money from the public. In running my own campaign for State Assembly, I underestimated two things, the first being that no matter how pleased folks were with my campaign concept, and no matter how many said they already voted or would vote for me, getting $5 out of their pockets would require me to pay for a marketing magician. Refusing to take the "seed" money would make that process more difficult. Furthermore, I would learn that the public really has much more important things to entertain themselves with than politics. If there is a problem, we must assume that the public will deal with it just as they had 9/11 and Katrina. The disaster will occur and then we'll fix it! Of course, by that time a few folks will be killed (50,000 in Iraq's case) and we'll grow deeper in debt. The trick is to save ourselves. As a town, county, state and nation, we've been irresponsible, ignorant and lazy. So instead of taking care of business, many Rocklin residents have turned to the Bible in hopes of saving themselves in the afterlife–and there damn well had better be one, or there's going to be a lot of Rocklinites that will feel very, very ripped off! What's Rocklin going to do? We'll, there's the government manufactured "Downtown Rocklin" fiasco to contend with. That will require more taxes from more businesses. Some local politicians have answers. Let's promote Rocklin to larger "quality" companies as a business friendly place so that they will move here. Of course, the candidate didn't mention that more businesses mean more homes. That's all well and good for increasing tax revenues, but its hell on traffic, smog and population densities. As Hume used to say, "rats in a cage." My question to the candidate is this. When was it a city's job to "promote" business, growth and taxes? It would appear that the City of Rocklin's sole reason for existing is to raise taxes. It mirror's politicians whose sole purpose becomes to raise campaign money. County folks like the developer's pet, Ted Gaines, promote the concept of "rats in a cage." He recommends that we stack things, kind of like Los Angeles or San Francisco. He recommends smaller lot footprints and justifies it as good for the environment. The developers are mimicking Arnold Schwarzenneggar on this when they say "fantastic." The more cement per square inch, the money we make! As you stack people, you find the roads getting a little tighter and crime growing. Is this what Rocklin residents want? Obvioiusly not, but they are so ignorant of who's in office, who's running, where their money is coming from and what they did if they already held office, that they don't even know where to start. They might try helping the "Save Clover Valley" group that sees what's going down and actually is putting a little time and money into fighting it. They are the minority and they are up against the developers and their government in an election that has no active candidates working in their favor because they didn't actively put forward any candidates. After all, they have lives, too! They haven't even started working on their own long term care and retirement situations. Why should they give up sports and other entertaining responsibilities to take care of all that business. That's just not fun, is it? This laziness is what killed our democracy. Our Republic, thanks to the same laziness, is now a government of the lobbyist, by the lobbyist and for the lobbyist at the Federal level. At the state level, it is a government of the government, by the government and for the government. Locally, it's a governemnt of the developer, by the developer and for the developer with no change in sight. Getting Educated When a recent forum addressed educational issues, I brought up the point that parents are dispassionate about learning. Sure, they want their kids to learn, but their own lack of motivation to learn about the world around them leaves the kids with poor role models. Their own ignorance and inaction is becoming multi-generational. There are people that are exceptions to the rule, but the rule is killing America as envisioned by the Founding Fathers. It's like giving food to poor people. Most will agree that it is far better to help people learn how to grow food than to keep them dependent on your charity. The same thing applies to a public education system that is more about indoctrination than learning. Propaganda is not the same as instilling the methods of "how to learn" and a passion to learn. I think that Rocklin's parents have a fundamental problem in these areas. They are more interested in chasing Federal and State standards than in having a Rocklin standard that fits Rocklin's kids. Why settle for measuring our youth at the lowest common denominator. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of some teachers, the same problem can be applied at the Junior College level. Kids believe what their "stupid" parents tell them." You must go to college or you won't amount to anything. This attitude is extremely beneficial to military recruiters who get all the data on the kids through the no child left behind act and then sell college education in return for their lives. Like their securities gambling parents, the kids learn early to take risks and weigh the odds. How to play roulette, or even Russian Roulette, is not something taught in schools. My Solution Look deeply within yourself and figure out what dimmed your own candle. Re-light that candle and pray that your kids see it burning. We all are dealt a deck of cards and the deck is deeper than one to ten. It is different for each of us. How we fend off ignorance and inaction will be our own choice, but if you want a democracy that works, a debt free society, a lower crime rate and an end to our constant involvement in warfare, ignorance and inaction must be addressed. Maybe you can put your spending towards depreciating cars and electronics on hold for a bit. I am looking at the trash can outside of Starbucks as I write this. It is full and overflowing with garbage. Starbuck's employees have told me in the past that it's not their responsibility and so the mess stays there in front of their store while customers walk in and out and teeter their trash atop the mess, ignoring the fact that the least amount of wind will blow the whole thing onto the ground. Our kids? That's the schools' responsiblity? One thing good about Starbucks, "I get to wake up and smell the coffee." |
Volunteers are needed
to Run Against Rocklin City Council Incumbents Mike's views do not necessarily represent
the views of the Placer County Libertarian Party Mike
can be reached at mmurphy@americanliberty.org |
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Rocklin
Ought to Play Golf!