Thank you for your reply. I did receive one back from Mr. Bresiger and since it is incorporated with my letter it's a long 7 pages. I will email it to you seperately and anyone else who would like to see it.
I agree with some of your points such as we should not pay for sports stadiums...I never understood voters whom voted to do that. As for seniors it may not be the role of government to feed them but seniors are the largest voting block in the country, and in New York City the senior centers provide lunch for them (used to be 7 days) but now only 5. The way this democracy works is that if you vote in a block and that block gets you elected, they get served. So its only right that if they ask NY politicians for something they find away to provide, its how you participate in government. Also with the rent control that Mr. Bresiger hates so much, seniors spend most of their SS checks on their rent. A rent controlled apartment, 2 bedroom in NYC can go from somewhere between $1100-$1700. So if two Seniors are lucky enough to receive at least $1000 each (that's the high side of SS) after rent they only have $300-$900 a month. If there is no rent control you can imagine how high the rent would be...I don't know where they would leave. That's why I agree with the President's idea to invest SS in the stock market.
As for taxes, I would usually agree with you that they should not be raised...but even after all the service cuts (Bloomberg laid off another 2,000 city workers today) as you will see in my letter, we are still facing a 25% increases in our bus and train services adn a 20% increases in City and State College tuitions. The rest of New York State is extremely poor outside of certain few areas and the City has been paying for all the State's misfalls over the last 15 years. We now carry 60% percent of the States debt, we have a $6 billion dollar hole and the since the commuter tax was elimnated the City has lost $2 billion dollars (in 4 years). Conn. and Mass. does it and the Mayor has welcomed NJ to do it if we do. The fact is people from Pennslyvania, New Jersey, Conneticut, Massachutes, and Vermont all come here and work. We aren't driving businesses out we are bringing people in. I don't know any other city that brings in people from 5 other states and dozens of the states counties. They benefit from our stellar police protection that has seen crime drop faster than the national level. We live in the safest big city in the world. Our firefighters and EMS workers respond to all emegencies. They rip up our roads (if you've never been on an NYC street, you're in for s surprise). They fill our garbage cans that santation workers pick up. They spend leisure time at places such as Central Park the our Parks Department keeps clean. They contribute to the air pollution that the President's EPA thinks is so bad they are now suing our City for. It is only fair that people who use our services 200 days out of the year help with the costs of its upkeep.
As for the Beacon programs I believe that can go either way, I don't think you are wrong on the issue but I believe it is something that greatly benefits the community. Many parents in NYC are single parent working people. I agree with the President's family values package becuase I understand that famalies that stay together help this country. But if parents aren't home to watch their 10 year old, I know if I were a signle parent I rather have them in a safe school program instead of on the streets or hanging out with the wrong crowd. I think the Beacon Program is the one and only accomplishment that MAyor Dinkins had.
Thanks for the welcome...I will be writing back to Mr. Bresiger back, since his letter contains many other errors (e.g. lulus and stipends are the same thing and Councilman are not part-time postions).
I have no problem with raising the price of transit and college tuition to cover the actual cost. In fact I think that this is a excellent idea since it shows the true costs of these heavily subsidized activities, and it shifts the burden of paying to those who receive the services. I wish that our transit system would charge higher rates - currently $1.50 for an unlimited ride. should be $2.50 at least
I must disagree with your assessment of the NYC police. I lived in the Bronx in the early 70's and unless NYC has changed a lot, your "police protection" is a joke. At the time, burgulary and muggings were fairly common and it was obvious that the police had no interest in doing anything but lip service to find the criminals. One of my coworkers was mugged three times by the same guy in the same area near his home over the course of a year, and the police did nothing. It appeared to me then and even more so now that the NYC police/government have sort of an unwritten agreement with the criminals something like the following:
. Rob and burgularize who you wish, and we will make a nominal effort to find you, but you're going to be pretty safe. Kill an ordinary citizen and we'll probably make the effort to find you, but the courts will only give you a minimal punishment. On the other hand we will vigorously protect you from any private citizens who wish to defend themselves from your predations, so you can practice your criminal career in relative peace thus giving us justification to continue sucking money out of the public trough. The one thing that will really get you in trouble is killing a cop so don't do that.
An acquaintence of mine shot two assailants who tried to tried to rob him killing one of them. He was not charged with anything, but the surviving assailant was sent to prison. What do you think would have happened if this occurred in NYC?
As far as quality of life, where I lived in the Bronx the large apartment buildings burned their garbage to reduce the volume and the hauling charges. It fit Boromir's description of Mordor from The Fellowship of the RIng "The very air you breath is a poisonous fume" consisting of buring garbage, dog sh!t and bus exhaust.
All of these government spending programs to "benefit the community" do no such thing. They merely take the hard earned dollars from the people who earned them and put them into the pockets of government bureaucrats. Any "benefits" that accrue are usually to a very narrow segment of the population. H. L. Mencken (or was it Bastiat) once wrote that "government is the mechanism where everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else." This has been carried to the extreme by the NYC government. I have a business, and I would not relocate it to NYC if I could triple my gross because of all of the governmental harassment and hoops that you are forced to jump through by the petty tyrants who gravitate to government jobs. As bad as it is here, I can at least defend myself against unorganized criminals (I carry a handgun with a permit), and not spend 20% of my time keeping up with governmental paperwork.
As far as air quality goes, the EPA standards are arbitrarily set with absolutely no scientific basis whatsover. Just because the EPA says you have bad air doesn't make it so, but this is an entire separate topic that I don't want to get on to here.
I am looking forward to seeing Bresiger's reply.