Sactomonious 

Editor:

So sorry to read your headline article about the Snafu in Sacto ("California Renovation," July 23). Embedded in the "ideas" for a better day is the Fantasy Wish List of the Liberals: Rework Prop. 13 (something the voters want left alone!); rework the 2/3 majority vote needed (totally disenfrachising the opposition party); raise taxes (something the voters just rejected with the last election); do away with the initiative process (the best way for voters to bypass the corruption); do away with term limits (allowing the stench to fester with professional politicians, hiding behind gerrymandered districts, to answer to only their party and the special interests who bought them). The Bay Area Council, quoted in the article, is most certainly a liberal group from the overwhelmingly liberal Bay Area.

No mention made about having the state employee unions make the same type of sacrifices now being made all across the private sector with wage and benefit reductions. No mention made of the immense drag on the economy that pensions for public employees represents, at every level of state budget considerations. No mention whatsoever about the immense cost of social services being given to foreigners living in the state. No mention made of the fact that the state legislature is dead set against allowing ANY surplus to accrue in the state's bank account, and that they raid it every time to defeat any type of true fiscal restraint.

It is worth noting that the highly paid teachers are turning out a record number of dropouts, to go with their record high budget. The Department of Corrections is turning out record numbers of recidivists. The police departments have presided over dramatic growth in the use of drugs with their inane War on Drugs. Fish and Game presides over record lows in the fishery all over the state. College and university costs more each year, requires massive debt of many students, and, most importantly, becomes ever more dubious a value when the lost years of earnings and the many years paying off the debt are factored into the dearth of well-paying jobs for liberal arts, especially. The Welfare Department creates ever more dependency as the number of people on welfare, and homeless, rises daily. Welfare policy has helped increase the number of unwed mothers to 40 percent!!

It is also worth noting that taxes are at all-time highs, with state property taxes averaging $200 to $600 and more, per month, sales tax approaching 10 percent, state income tax, ever-increasing college tuition, license fees.

The Democratic "solution" to the above is more of the same, except for taxes, which will increase. The public has finally figured the bums out, and it now remains to be seen whether the message is heeded, or, like the legislature back in 1934, simply ignores the will of the people (like they did with Prop 187) and continues to work for its own best interests, public be damned.

Joshua Kinch, Eureka