The USA is Circling the Drain

California state parks generate about $4.3 billion in direct spending from visitors, according to a California State University Sacramento survey released Tuesday.

The average park-goer spends about $57.63 per visit, including $33 outside of the park, according to the report commissioned and funded by the California Parks and Recreation Department and conducted by the university’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration. About 74.9 million people visited state parks a year.

About 12 percent of the park visitors were from outside of the state, and they spent much more than the average — about $185 per visit.

Under the budget proposal, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has considered closing some state parks to cut costs as the state faces a $24 billion shortfall.

written by Rob

Schwarze-Nigger: Don’t blame state budget deficit on illegal aliens

Gov. Arnold Schwarze-Nigger on Friday disputed claims that illegal aliens caused California’s $24.3 billion deficit, while he praised their economic contributions and said he is “happy” they have access to services.

The Republican governor, answering wide-ranging questions from The Bee’s editorial board and its readers, also vented about roadblocks to his authority posed by political foes and warned that government can’t sustain the current level of “unbelievable benefits” for public-sector workers.

In response to dozens of questions from readers who say the state ought to wipe out the deficit by eliminating services for illegal aliens, the governor said it is a “myth” that those illegal aliens are to blame.

He said the cost of services to illegal aliens, which has been estimated at $4 billion to $5 billion annually, is a “small percentage” of the deficit California faces.

“Yes, it is something that ought to be dealt with, but the fact of the matter is, I think it’s an easy scapegoat for people to point the finger and say, ‘Our budget is out of whack because of illegal aliens.’ ”

“It’s not,” he added. “Our budget is out of whack because we have self-inflicted wounds that the Legislature and this state has never really sat down and had the will to go and make the necessary changes that have to be made.”

The governor noted that the federal government requires California to provide emergency health care and education to illegal aliens. Schwarze-Nigger in 2006 renounced his 1994 vote for Proposition 187, the initiative to block most services for illegal aliens, which courts deemed unconstitutional.

“You know something, as far as I’m concerned, I’m happy that they can get the services,” he said Friday. “Because I would like to have the services if I’m somewhere in another country … if I have an accident with a motorcycle and I go to an emergency room, I don’t want someone to say, is he here legally?”

Schwarze-Nigger also highlighted the economic contributions of illegal aliens.

“Everything we eat today is picked and created by illegal aliens, to a large extent,” he said. “And every time we go to a restaurant and every time we go and move into a building, a lot of those buildings are built by illegal aliens’ hands.”

Schwarze-Nigger has two budget proposals that affect aliens. He proposed asking the federal government to deport up to 8,000 illegal aliens in state prisons to save $182 million. He also wants to save $120 million by eliminating benefits for newly legal low-income aliens who do not yet qualify for federal assistance.

The governor has said he believes the United States should enforce tougher border controls, and he has advocated for immigration changes such as a guest worker program.

A Federation for American Immigration Reform study released in 2004 said illegal aliens cost the state $9 billion annually, including $7.7 billion on education. But University of Southern California demographer Dowell Myers has disputed that number and said it is difficult to quantify the full economic impact of illegal aliens.

Jim Gilchrist, president of the Minuteman Project, accused the governor of “pandering to political correctness.” He acknowledged that costs of some goods and services could increase without illegal aliens, but he said that would be outweighed by tax savings.

“The money for services comes from increased sales taxes, increased property taxes, increased DMV fees,” he said.

Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, praised the governor for saying illegal aliens are not to blame.

“Our economy is very, very dependent on the immigrant work force,” he said. “They’re a very disciplined, very stable, very productive work force. Our economy would collapse without them.”

Facing a $24.3 billion deficit after signing a $92 billion spending plan in February, the Republican governor accepted some blame for what has transpired since he was elected on the promise of fiscal rescue.

written by Rob

The author, Lou Pritchett, is a well-known public speaker who retired after a successful 36-year career as the VP World Sales for Proctor and Gamble.

Foremost Leader in Change Management

Lou Pritchett is one of corporate America’s true living legends- an acclaimed author, dynamic teacher and one of the world’s highest rated speakers. Successful corporate executives everywhere recognize him as the foremost leader in change management. Lou changed the way America does business by creating an audacious concept that came to be known as “partnering.” Pritchett rose from soap salesman to Vice-President, Sales and Customer Development for Procter and Gamble and over the course of 36 years, made corporate history.

AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA

Dear President Obama:

You are the thirteenth President under whom I have lived and unlike any of the others, you truly scare me. You scare me because after months of exposure, I know nothing about you.

You scare me because I do not know how you paid for your expensive Ivy League education and your upscale lifestyle and housing with no visible signs of support.

You scare me because you did not spend the formative years of youth growing up in America and culturally you are not an American.

You scare me because you have never run a company or met a payroll.

You scare me because you have never had military experience, thus don’t understand it at its core.. You scare me because you lack humility and ‘class’, always blaming others.

You scare me because for over half your life you have aligned yourself with radical extremists who hate America and you refuse to publicly denounce these radicals who wish to see America fail.

You scare me because you are a cheerleader for the ‘blame America’ crowd and deliver this message abroad.

You scare me because you want to change America to a European style country where the government sector dominates instead of the private sector.

You scare me because you want to replace our health care system with a government controlled one.

You scare me because you prefer ‘wind mills’ to responsibly capitalizing on our own vast oil, coal and shale reserves.

You scare me because you want to kill the American capitalist goose that lays the golden egg which provides the highest standard of living in the world.

You scare me because you have begun to use ‘extortion’ tactics against certain banks and corporations.

You scare me because your own political party shrinks from challenging you on your wild and irresponsible spending proposals.

You scare me because you will not openly listen to or even consider opposing points of view from intelligent people.

You scare me because you falsely believe that you are both omnipotent and omniscient.

You scare me because the media gives you a free pass on everything you do.

You scare me because you demonize and want to silence the Limbaughs, Hannitys, O’Relllys and Becks who offer opposing, conservative points of view.

You scare me because you prefer controlling over governing.

Finally, you scare me because if you serve a second term I will probably not feel safe in writing a similar letter in 8 years.

Lou Pritchett

written by Rob

Harvard University will announce tomorrow that it will establish an endowed chair in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender studies, in what is believed to be the first professorship of its kind in the country.

Harvard President Drew G. Faust described the academic post as “an important milestone” in an ongoing effort by faculty, students, and alumni to raise the profile of LGBT studies at the university.

The university has received a $1.5 million gift from the Harvard Gay & Lesbian Caucus, a 4,900 member group, to endow the F.O. Matthiessen Visiting Professorship of Gender and Sexuality. Matthiessen, who Harvard says stands out as an unusual example of a gay man who lived his sexuality as an “open secret” in the mid-20th century, was an American studies scholar and literary critic at Harvard and chaired the undergraduate program in history and literature.

A growing number of colleges have begun offering academic programs related to sex, sexuality, and sexual orientation, though LGBT studies is a relatively young discipline. The City University of New York began the first gay and lesbian studies program in 1986.

“This is an extraordinary moment in Harvard’s history and in the history of this rapidly emerging field,” Mitchell L. Adams, a member of the Harvard Board of Overseers, said in a written statement. “And because of Harvard’s leadership in academia and the world, this gift will foster continued progress toward a more inclusive society.”

Adams is expected to announce the gift during the caucus’s annual commencement dinner tomorrow. The caucus, composed of alumni, faculty, staff, and students, was founded in 1984 to advocate for Harvard’s gay community.

The new professorship will allow Harvard to invite scholars studying sexuality or sexual minorities to teach in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences for one semester.

The visiting professorship will advance LGBT studies at Harvard by exposing students and faculty to cutting-edge ideas as leading thinkers rotate through the position, Harvard officials said, as well as help expand the field. It will also funnel new scholars to Harvard’s women, gender, and sexuality department.

written by Rob