DoozieLife

This used to be true.  Once upon a time, California represented hope, a strong economy, a place where you could plan for the future.  As a California lifer, looking at our current state of affairs is heartbreaking.  How did it get this way?  Was it greed, stupidity, our generosity to all who came to paradise?  Probably all of the above, and yet, none of that matters now.  The past cannot be changed, the proposition that allows our budget to be held hostage each and every time it comes around is a fact of life.  The question is, where do we go from here?  What do the businesses who rely on contracts with the state do with the IOU’s that will come their way?  Can they stick it out… or will our ranks of unemployed swell even higher?

The services that the state supplies to those in need… Families like my own, who have wage earners, yet live from red notice to red notice.  Medicare and medi-cal recipients such as those members of my family who are disabled, who have received notice that vision and dental care will no longer be provided.  My SSI dependent step-mother recently had to pay $150 for a x-ray and cleaning.  That represents around 20% of her monthly benefit.  When it comes to choose between dental care and food, what will she choose?

Our cities are cutting services such as fire and police at a drastic rate.  As the homeless problem grows, and the number of people on the street who are unable to get the mental health care they need to be safe to themselves and others becomes more prevalent, we will lack the police resources necessary to deal with the fallout.  As I look out on my small town streets, read my small town paper, and see how the impact is already beginning to be felt, I can only imagine the reipple effect these decisions will have throughout the state, and the lives of all who live here.

California… Take it or leave it?  You tell me.