I hope you noticed, amid the sound and fury of the national campaigns, that Measure M passed in Los Angeles County.
That means an extra half percent of sales tax for the next forty years or so, all to be dedicated to transportation. Yes, your latte may cost you two pennies more, but we’ll get a healthier, more accessible Metro system, better sidewalks and bike paths, and even a bit of road repair done.
This is a very good thing, because Federal transportation support may dry up during the darkness to come. Sure, the Unnamable One promised infrastructure spending, but if it happens at all—given the draconian nature of the tax cuts promised—it’s likely we won’t be able to build so much as a plywood tollbooth with whatever funds are left after fattening the military and the security state.
Assuming we’ll still be permitted to travel, we’ll have to pay for it ourselves&heliip;and that is what we’ve chosen to do in LA. Like grown-up polities everywhere, we’ve assessed a tax on ourselves for our collective benefit.
The Teabaggers who engineered this coup want to take us back to medieval times, when starving peasants cowered around the lord’s fancy castle, waiting for a crumb or a whipping. Those knights of old that seem so romantic? They were the SS of the wealthy, who considered themselves anointed by a god that Jesus sure would never have recognized as Dad.
LA didn’t go along. We passed measures supporting not only transportation choice, but affordable housing all around and extensive help for our homeless neighbors.
But, we have to make certain the money is well-spent. And a big influence on how it is spent comes from the City Council. And too much of the City Council suffers from its own medieval mindset.
So I’m going to remind you once again: support Joe Bray-Ali’s campaign to take over the Council District 1 seat in March. Donate some cash, chase down signatures, walk door-to-door with Joe. And vote!
Don’t know whether you’re in District 1? Put your address in at this page and you’ll find out.
Want to learn more about Joe’s campaign and how to help? Got to Joe4CD1.com.
See you in the future!