Recently, General Motors announced a 20% cut in salaried jobs in North America and has suspended dividends on common stock through 2009.
About 32,000 jobs have been cut at GM in the U.S. and Canada since the year 2000.
Most importantly, GM can no longer promise retirees a guaranteed pension.
A perfect example of government gone wrong is happening in Glendale.
In order to balance the budget on the back of working families, the city did an across-the-board budget cut of 5% (“City budget up for adoption amid scrutiny,” June 23).
At the same time, the City Council voted in June for an additional $6.5 million for city salaries (“Pay hikes may come for some,” June 10).
Councilman Bob Yousefian, an independent thinker, was the only council member who voted against these additional monies (“Balanced budget gets OK,” June 25).
Councilman Dave Weaver introduced these salaries as an emergency ordinance.
And what will the local citizens get by paying our city employees exorbitant salaries and pensions?
We will not get the same or better services from the previous budget.
In fact, every day a person would just have to pick up the Glendale News-Press and read where an interest group has said in so many words, “They tax me in the morning. They tax me in the evening. They tax me when I eat. They tax me for breathing.”
Why pay property taxes or any other mandated government tax when in the end the government will tell me that I have not paid enough in taxes?
So, our clever politicians will call it a fee or user tax if there is not enough money in the general fund.
