Thursday, January 20, 2011

Navel Gazing

Begin

So because I am requesting an apology from Lauren Do because she has acted loathesomely, because I find that Lena Tam should have been ashamed (and the people of Alameda should have been ashamed of her) in using bcc to cozy up to, what I consider, an inappropriate political ally at SunCal, because I think that it is ridiculous to pay a tax to keep an underpreforming  hospital open, because I think that when an announcement of a closed session action is a surprise to many that is sort of, a priori (a favorite phrase of mine), an indication that notice was insufficient,  and because I find the cliquishness of the CADC to be damaging, I think that many may have made some assumptions about my political leanings that are inaccurate.  To clear the air:

1.  I think the Hospital should be closed.  It's bad for Alameda.
2. I am generally in favor of development.  Unfortunately, the development is going to be overseen by people who want Alameda Hospital to stay open and who proclaim it a success.  That's a sign of incompetence right there so I mistrust those people.   Also, unfortunately, the set of people who are of the same opinion as me - anti Alameda Hospital and pro development is either very small or (more likely) smart enough to not get involved in politics.
3.  I favor measure A.  This is self-interest because I own a home and have 2 kids, but it is also a political philosophy that borders on socialism.  I think there should be free public education up to and including university (with heavy income taxes to pay for it).  Ditto for healthcare.  We briefly went the private school route in the past and have considered homeschooling.   I'm pretty sure there is no single answer that works for everyone, but I think starving our schools of resources in the hopes of cutting out inefficiency is a really bad mistake.  I don't think teachers are generally overpaid although I think that there are a lot of less than stellar ones, but in what organization is that not true?
4.  I don't really have an opinion about the pay of police and firemen except to say that there is no way that they are underpaid and I think that the current structure (including overtime, pension, and healthcare benefits) is likely to bankrupt Alameda and almost every other city in California.  Someone will have to take the unpopular position in opposition; that is unlikely to happen and, if it does, I think it likely will be by someone whose other political positions I am unlikely to support so that is a quandary for me.
5.   As to state and national issues, you can pretty much assume I am to your left.

End

I will try to keep the non-hospital stuff to a minimum.

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