My fellow Observers,
I ended the first page of my letter with the beginning of a discussion about how Los Angeles was already generating revenue with a 9 3/4% sales tax. Don't get me wrong, cities and states must do what they have to do to make ends meet and it's hard to blame them when the Republican party and their decades old strategy of cutting taxes and reductions in the budget is crippling this country and in many states, reducing our cities to rubble.
And in the case of the Republican party, Democratic Party, and politicians in general, "SHIT IS DEFINITELY ROLLING DOWN HILL" At this pace of reduced taxes on the rich, the placation of poor people with lower taxes, and cuts in the budget that affect the very people who contribute to that budget, the people of America are in for a long and rough life.
Sidebar: It is the tax payers money that America's politicians are squandering on everything except helping the those who are paying said taxes. In one of the most egregious, vengeful, and despicable ways that politicians, especially Republicans and the "right to life" crowd forces onto the women of America is that these very unjust people will not allow women to abort unwanted children, yet refuse to allocate funds for them, once they are born.
As a taxpayers, many of us would rather see our tax dollars going to clinics and more humane ways of dealing with this issue than passing laws that give Chevron tax breaks, or as our politicians call them "tax incentives. By the way, Chevron, on average, makes about $ 10 billion dollars in profit per quarter and pays no taxes relative to its income.
Sorry, I digress and go off on these rants about things that really piss me off.
In the city of Los Angeles, like Ferguson and as we're finding out, most cities across America, the good old fashioned traffic violations and subsequent fines have become a cash cow for these municipalities while wrecking the lives of its citizens. The following is a very simple illustration of how Los Angeles makes huge sums of money from a traffic ticket.
You are stopped by the police for driving with a broken tail light, In the past, you would be issued what would be called a "fix it ticket" and would result in your getting the light repaired, taking your repair receipt to court, and having the fine eliminated.
Today, the aforementioned procedure no longer exists. You pay for the broken tail light as well as the following programs.
1. Victims of violent crimes
2. Training of police officers
3. Services for people with traumatic brain injuries
4. Construction of new court facilities
5. Protection of the state's wildlife
These add-ons have nothing to do with driving at all but fund government operations that should be covered by taxes collected from the people of Los Angeles. As a matter of fact, however contentious, this is a tax and the poor people of all major cities are paying it or not paying these fines at all.
The State of California has an uncollected debt of $ 10 billion dollars that is a result of its people refusing to pay these fines. One of the funds that rely on the issuance of tickets and collection of this money is the "The Police Officer's Training Fund" which is facing insolvency next year due to the states inability to collect this revenue.
A ticket that is a base fine of $ 100 can explode to $ 500 with all of the ad-ons. A ticket with a base fine of $ 500 with add-ons can exceed $ 2,000 and if these tickets are not paid the penalty is
$ 300.
This data has been reported by civil rights organizations across the country and in the State of California it has been noted that due to these fines, there have been 4 million drivers who have had their licenses suspended in the last 8 years.
This very contentions and debilitating method of taxation on the everyday American is breaking the bank of all working class Americans and leads to situations like Ferguson, Baltimore, and many other cities around the country. However, it is extremely unfortunate that the lights are being shined on these injustices because Black men have been killed by murderous police officers.
The problem can be solved very easily. The Federal Government should mandate and pass laws that all of it's citizens and especially corporations pay their fare share of taxes. My fellow Observers, they are taking your money anyway and when it's in the form of a legitimate and less contentious arrangement that the people have voted into law, this will go a long way in developing a peaceful and less contentious relationship between the police and the people.
The Governor of California, Jerry Brown, has done just that. He explained to the state's residents that various tax increases were needed and today, after being voted into law, California is thriving. It has no water, but it's thriving. And the Governor is now moving to reverse the extortion of the state's residents by the police force by making the penalty for receiving a ticket less punitive and not unaffordable.
Respond privately to Mad Man at:
observationsofamadman@verizon.net
Mad Man
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