To many, the headline is shocking because many really think that liberalism, the modern form which is really watered down socialism, is actually a form of libertarianism.
Nothing, and I mean nothing, can be further from the truth.
And leave it to Jonah Goldberg to hit the nail on the head with this wisdom.
Those of you that believe modern liberalism is a form of libertarianism need to understand that it is not all about whether or woman can or can not legally attain an abortion. Whether or not an adult can or can not spark up a joint in the privacy of their own domicile. Libertarianism is much more than that.
Libertarianism is not just as Mr. Goldberg notes a belief in live and let live. It is a set of beliefs that emphasize individualism, not collectivism. And it is not just in the realm of social policy but in form of government and especially economics. Although this link is Wikipedia, please read it whether you are confused about it or not.
Liberals like to present themselves as live and let live types.
The reality is that they are the parents that you kinda sorta think you escaped from.
What caught Mr. Goldberg's attention is the Washington, D. C. city council proposing regulating tattoo parlors and having potential clients wait 24 hours just to make sure they really, really want a tattoo in the first place. Now I have written my views on tattoos here so we do not need to go into that. The actual aspect of this action of a very liberal-left city council was this line from The Washington Post:
“The body art rules are the latest product of a city government that has occasionally struggled to reconcile its socially liberal sensibilities with a zeal for regulation.”
Well no kidding, Jonah! Being a social liberal means butting into everyone else's business.
Washington, D. C. is nanny state central. But so is Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City. And even little ol' towns like my hometown, Pasadena, California.
One of the most grievous examples of nanny stateism in Pasadena is if one is an apartment dweller or owns or rents a condo or a townhome, you can not smoke in your own home. Once again, I wrote about the issue here. And yep, it is in full effect in my townhome complex. However, because we do have detached garages, it maybe a place on the grounds we can take the occasional smoke. But hey, I thought you liberals wanted to leave me alone? Insert uproarious laughing-till-you-puke soundtrack here. And FTR, I smoke very occasionally a cigar. I should have the right to do in the townhome that I OWN, right?
Not to the so-called live and let live lib-left crowd.
Another local issue is private businesses and the use of plastic bags.
Today in Pasadena if you forget your reusable plastic bag at the market or even places like Target, you can get a paper bag. For 10c each. It ends up that it is a beautiful collusion between big government and big business. Big Business supposedly found it costly, I guess, to provide plastic bags to shoppers. Big government wanted to look environmentally correct and stop the carnage of plastic bags that are littered all over. And big business makes a little money on the side with the 10c charge. Shameful, but true.
OK, maybe you don't care for my examples. Maybe you so hate smoking tobacco that you see nothing wrong with taking away the rights of homeowners. Fine. But here are some examples that Mr. Goldberg provides to shoot-down the concept that liberals are really libertarians:
Seriously, who else do people think are behind efforts to ban big sodas or sue hairdressers for charging women more than men? Who harasses little kids for making toy guns out of sticks, Pop Tarts, or their own fingers? Who wants to regulate the air you breathe, the food you eat, and the beverages you drink? Who wants to control your thermostat? Take your guns? Your cigarettes? Heck, your candy cigarettes? Who’s in favor of speech codes on campuses and “hate crime” laws everywhere? Who’s in favor of free speech when it comes to taxpayer-subsidized “art” and pornography (so long as you use a condom, if liberals get their way) but then bang their spoons on their high chairs for strict regulations when it comes to political speech? Who loves meddling, finger-wagging billionaires like Michael Bloomberg when they use state power and taxpayer money to herd, bully, and nudge people but thinks billionaires like the Koch brothers who want to shrink government are the root of all tyranny?
Do you see any live-and-let-live in that? Do you not believe that? Well, wake up folks because it is true.
The Koch Brothers really don't want to take your liberty and freedom away. I know it is hard to believe but they would actually stay out of your personal business.
Not so for the liberal-left.
Even on the issues that they give the impression they are libertarian, same-sex marriage and abortion, they are doing everything in their power to force people to accept these two issues whether they agree with the concepts or not.
I will take this further as proof that the liberal-left is not only anti-libertarian but the most judgemental of all people.
Tell me, when you are around known liberal-lefties, what is something that will inevitably come up in conversation?
"I am not a judgemental person". Be very careful as you are biting your tongue. I know that I have to.
All of the nanny statism is based on judgementalism.
Obviously if you are a couple of say seven year-old boys playing cops and robbers and extending your fingers like a gun and saying "Bang! Bang! Bang!" to each other, you will probably grow up to be a future mass murderer.
Or if you use the words fag, faggot or gay in derisive terms, that makes you a bully. Funny how the liberal-left discovered bullys once homosexuals complained.
Understand that everything to the liberal-lefty is all about judgementalism that they so loathe.
FTR, yes you are damn right if you were to say I am judgemental. We are ALL judgemental. It is how we use and or abuse that judgement. The liberal-left abuses that judgementalism more often than not.
I do not want to leave the impression that conservatives do not on occasion practice similar nanny statism. Yes we do but often in regard to overall "community standards". An example unique to California is because medical marijuana is legal and not overly regulated. Conservatives care about whether there are dispensaries close to schools for obvious reasons.
One important aspect of libertariansim is the respect that people as individuals can work on almost all issues without interference from the government.
Liberal-leftists do not believe in that no matter how hard they try to cloud it that they and not conservatives are closer to that concept.
Liberals are not libertarians.
Showing posts with label regulation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label regulation. Show all posts
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Thursday, March 15, 2012
California As The Fairy Tale
Of course the place where Disneyland opened way back in 1955 has been an enchanting land o' plenty.
Until about the last 30 years.
It suddenly came to me as I have been thinking about how this once Golden State is, well broken like an grim fairy tale.
And the problem is not just one political party over the other. Although one is much more at fault than the other. But both Democrats and Republicans have contributed to the problems.
The problems, plural. Because there are many.
One of the obvious economic problems very clear, my friends.
We are flat broke.
All forms of government from cities, counties, the state governments are all broke.
Last Sunday in the Left Angeles Times was an article of the plight of Stockton. It is so bad in Stockton that it may become the largest municipality to, dare I write this, declare bankruptcy. And it is a city of over 300,000.
And yes, another city has declared bankruptcy in California.
That would be Vallejo in the outer San Francisco Bay Area.
On May 7, 2008, long before the current government fiscal crisis came along, the Vallejo city council declared bankruptcy. And it only emerged last year.
County governments are in no better shape.
And the state government. Well that is interesting.
Once again the solution from the Democrat governor, Jerry Moonbeam Brown, and the Democrat-controlled state legislature is to raise taxes.
But they will not do it.
Nope, they want us to do so. And as noted in an earlier post, There could be up to three ballot initiatives in November asking us to do the legislature's and governor's dirty work.
But here is the fairy tale.
That somehow we could force the state government to allot at least 40% of the state budget for education. That is what voters voted on in 1988 in the form of Proposition 98. And that was done so that Kindergarten through 12th grade would have a guaranteed amount. Before that the state was, surprise, raiding the state budget for education to try to fund other programs.
Oh, and on almost every level, California ranks 49th out of 50 states. Probably not on per capita per pupil spending. But that is another post.
That somehow the state could offer workers unending pay and benefit hikes without the money to pay for the long term, especially state employee pensions. And because of the way other budgets are done, essentially the state helps counties and cities with their unbelievable pay and bennies package.
That somehow, we could have the most pristine coastline and think gee, we don't or should not have to pay high gas prices.
That there is just an endless stream of one percenters that we can keep taxing. And taxing. And taxing.
That regulations will not kill businesses.
That cutting off the water supply to Central California farmers to protect the Delta Smelt will not result in higher food prices.
That depending solely on a service and high-tech economy will produce good paying jobs. Having little if any manufacturing will be OK. Because we have the Silicon Valley. But now many of those high-tech entrepreneurs are beginning to get restless.
That having a higher minimum-wage than the federal government will produce a bevy of jobs. Especially summer jobs for youths.
NOT!
In fact, NOT TO ANY OF THE ABOVE!
If it is not government over reach, taxation and regulation, it is the stratification of the people that is really troubling.
Many cities that once had a strong, productive middle-class, are being replaced by yuppies and the Stuff White Liberal People Like crowd. It is better know as the SWPL crowd, but here at RVFTLC headquarters, I just add the obvious liberal to make sure all understand. Which leaves a lot of upper middle-class and poor people. One term is gentrification. It would not be a bad thing if some middle-class working people were part of the gentrification process. But the whole idea keep them out as well as the poor people. Thus what is left is something that I do not remember growing up in the Los Angeles area.
A real class structure.
Add to that the replacement of the defense industry with entertainment and the fairy tale is complete.
And while I just gave some of the facts, I want to look at solutions. California needs real leadership. Not political only but business, spiritual and yes leadership from the bottom up.
It is not Wall Street vs Main Street so much as reality vs fairy tale.
A government as big as it is in California is bound to fall under its own weight.
Regulations will eventually drive even big companies away.
High Taxes, well as I noted, if you believe that only one percent of Americans are wealthy, there are just so many to go around even here in the once Golden State. And if they are imposed on businesses, guess what? WE will enjoy paying more for products.
Gee, isn't this fairy tale fun kiddies?
No it is not.
But if we don't want to end up a basket case like Greece, the people need to rise up at the ballot box in November as a start. We can not keep voting the same dim bulbs that keep digging the ditch deeper.
What we need, and I am serious, is s 21st century Walt Disney.
Until about the last 30 years.
It suddenly came to me as I have been thinking about how this once Golden State is, well broken like an grim fairy tale.
And the problem is not just one political party over the other. Although one is much more at fault than the other. But both Democrats and Republicans have contributed to the problems.
The problems, plural. Because there are many.
One of the obvious economic problems very clear, my friends.
We are flat broke.
All forms of government from cities, counties, the state governments are all broke.
Last Sunday in the Left Angeles Times was an article of the plight of Stockton. It is so bad in Stockton that it may become the largest municipality to, dare I write this, declare bankruptcy. And it is a city of over 300,000.
And yes, another city has declared bankruptcy in California.
That would be Vallejo in the outer San Francisco Bay Area.
On May 7, 2008, long before the current government fiscal crisis came along, the Vallejo city council declared bankruptcy. And it only emerged last year.
County governments are in no better shape.
And the state government. Well that is interesting.
Once again the solution from the Democrat governor, Jerry Moonbeam Brown, and the Democrat-controlled state legislature is to raise taxes.
But they will not do it.
Nope, they want us to do so. And as noted in an earlier post, There could be up to three ballot initiatives in November asking us to do the legislature's and governor's dirty work.
But here is the fairy tale.
That somehow we could force the state government to allot at least 40% of the state budget for education. That is what voters voted on in 1988 in the form of Proposition 98. And that was done so that Kindergarten through 12th grade would have a guaranteed amount. Before that the state was, surprise, raiding the state budget for education to try to fund other programs.
Oh, and on almost every level, California ranks 49th out of 50 states. Probably not on per capita per pupil spending. But that is another post.
That somehow the state could offer workers unending pay and benefit hikes without the money to pay for the long term, especially state employee pensions. And because of the way other budgets are done, essentially the state helps counties and cities with their unbelievable pay and bennies package.
That somehow, we could have the most pristine coastline and think gee, we don't or should not have to pay high gas prices.
That there is just an endless stream of one percenters that we can keep taxing. And taxing. And taxing.
That regulations will not kill businesses.
That cutting off the water supply to Central California farmers to protect the Delta Smelt will not result in higher food prices.
That depending solely on a service and high-tech economy will produce good paying jobs. Having little if any manufacturing will be OK. Because we have the Silicon Valley. But now many of those high-tech entrepreneurs are beginning to get restless.
That having a higher minimum-wage than the federal government will produce a bevy of jobs. Especially summer jobs for youths.
NOT!
In fact, NOT TO ANY OF THE ABOVE!
If it is not government over reach, taxation and regulation, it is the stratification of the people that is really troubling.
Many cities that once had a strong, productive middle-class, are being replaced by yuppies and the Stuff White Liberal People Like crowd. It is better know as the SWPL crowd, but here at RVFTLC headquarters, I just add the obvious liberal to make sure all understand. Which leaves a lot of upper middle-class and poor people. One term is gentrification. It would not be a bad thing if some middle-class working people were part of the gentrification process. But the whole idea keep them out as well as the poor people. Thus what is left is something that I do not remember growing up in the Los Angeles area.
A real class structure.
Add to that the replacement of the defense industry with entertainment and the fairy tale is complete.
And while I just gave some of the facts, I want to look at solutions. California needs real leadership. Not political only but business, spiritual and yes leadership from the bottom up.
It is not Wall Street vs Main Street so much as reality vs fairy tale.
A government as big as it is in California is bound to fall under its own weight.
Regulations will eventually drive even big companies away.
High Taxes, well as I noted, if you believe that only one percent of Americans are wealthy, there are just so many to go around even here in the once Golden State. And if they are imposed on businesses, guess what? WE will enjoy paying more for products.
Gee, isn't this fairy tale fun kiddies?
No it is not.
But if we don't want to end up a basket case like Greece, the people need to rise up at the ballot box in November as a start. We can not keep voting the same dim bulbs that keep digging the ditch deeper.
What we need, and I am serious, is s 21st century Walt Disney.
Thursday, March 08, 2012
The Total Collapse Of California
Living here in the once Golden State of California, I get a front-row seat to the disaster that the politicians, the bureaucrats, the big-labor unions and what big business is left here, hath wrought on this state.
This wonderful piece by the former mayor of San Diego and current radio talk-show host Roger Hedgecock sums up the politics of it quite well. The disaster of the Welfare State. The high unemployment. The attempt to regulate almost all aspects of life here in Cali.
This is the second paragraph of the piece and it sums it up pretty well:
California is a one-party state dominated by a virulent Democratic Left enabled by a complicit media where every agency of local, county, and state government is run by and for the public employee unions. The unemployment rate is 12%.
Mr. Hedgecock covers politics, the big-unions and the cost of doing business in this state.
One of the problems as to why we are in the state we are in is the iron-fisted rule of the Democrats.
This year is the first year of the citizens redistricting committee. They had the unenviable task of redrawing all the legislative lines throughout California. It was supposed to be independent of the major parties. Taking and going right down the middle so no party has an unfair advantage.
Funny how that worked out.
The Democrats were able to essentially hijack the process and potentially lose seats for the Republican party. The so-called gaining of centrist candidates for office from both parties? Ain't. Gonna. Happen.
The Democrat control of all state government is bad in and of itself. What makes it worse is the state legislature and the way the lines have been drawn. It gives total advantage to the most left of the left in the Democrat party. It is the Nanny State writ large.
Take just a few posts that I have written on the Nanny State that California has become.
There is the attempt to force cities to ban free parking. That is so people will ditch their cars for inefficient public transportation.
And of course it is the role of the state government to ban styrofoam boxes. Of course it is all about the material and "climate change" agenda of the left.
And the Nanny Statism does not just permeate the halls of state government.
No, no, no siree Bob!
Here in Pasadena, hometown of RVFTLC, last year the Pasadena city council passed a city ordinance that will make it illegal within a years time for me, in my town home that I own, to smoke in said town home. Of course the justification is that dreaded second-hand smoke.
And this is the same state that made it easy to get a marijuana joint than tobacco.
Amazing, doncha think?
So lets go back to Mr. Hedgecock and his piece.
One of the problems that is severe is that Cali Dems are addicted to big government like a crack whore. Seriously. Take this from the Hedgecock piece:
After trimming legislators' perks and reducing the number of cell phones provided to state civil servants, the governor intoned that drastic budget reductions had already hollowed out state programs for the needy, law enforcement and our schoolchildren. California government needed more money.
And do you know how they are going to try to get that money?
By asking the voters to sign the death warrant on tax hikes. And it is not just Gov. Jerry Brown's tax hike that will be on this November's ballot.
There are going to be two other competing measures that will seek to raise taxes to feed the state crack whores habit.
Yet amazingly over the last several election cycles, California voters have voted down every attempt to hike taxes. Yet once again, the crack whores threaten armageddon and think that yeah, yeah, this time we can fool the voters and they will finally open the flood gates of taxes and we can keep going.
As I have noted, it is not just government and economics, but the urge to force some people's will against others.
Which is where the real Axis of Evil, Big Government, Big Labor and Big Government get into the act.
However, big business is getting very tired of the anti-business in general attitude of government.
So many firms and businesses have left this state for greener pastures. Such as Texas. Oh yeah, and those of means are doing the same thing.
And because of that, it weakens the opposition party, the Republicans.
Well, it did not help to have former Gov. Benedict Arnold Schwarzenegger at the helm for the previous seven years.
As more and more people leave the state, that leave dare I write, the freeloaders. The people that want, want, and want. And do not want to work or produce.
California is on the road to becoming the first American state to mirror the distress that is Greece.
And it has been a team effort.
What is truly needed is a leader to come in and truly rewrite everything. How state government should work. How revenues should be raised. The proper role of the state government. An overall attitude of California is really open for all business. Not the government-approved ones.
I am literally witnessing the total collapse of my state, California. It is sad on the one hand, but on the other a lesson for the rest of the United States.
Do not keep voting for the people that continue to lead us down this path. Starting at the top, the president, the congress, the governors, state legislators, all that can cause more damage than good.
America, you have your warning and that is California.
This wonderful piece by the former mayor of San Diego and current radio talk-show host Roger Hedgecock sums up the politics of it quite well. The disaster of the Welfare State. The high unemployment. The attempt to regulate almost all aspects of life here in Cali.
This is the second paragraph of the piece and it sums it up pretty well:
California is a one-party state dominated by a virulent Democratic Left enabled by a complicit media where every agency of local, county, and state government is run by and for the public employee unions. The unemployment rate is 12%.
Mr. Hedgecock covers politics, the big-unions and the cost of doing business in this state.
One of the problems as to why we are in the state we are in is the iron-fisted rule of the Democrats.
This year is the first year of the citizens redistricting committee. They had the unenviable task of redrawing all the legislative lines throughout California. It was supposed to be independent of the major parties. Taking and going right down the middle so no party has an unfair advantage.
Funny how that worked out.
The Democrats were able to essentially hijack the process and potentially lose seats for the Republican party. The so-called gaining of centrist candidates for office from both parties? Ain't. Gonna. Happen.
The Democrat control of all state government is bad in and of itself. What makes it worse is the state legislature and the way the lines have been drawn. It gives total advantage to the most left of the left in the Democrat party. It is the Nanny State writ large.
Take just a few posts that I have written on the Nanny State that California has become.
There is the attempt to force cities to ban free parking. That is so people will ditch their cars for inefficient public transportation.
And of course it is the role of the state government to ban styrofoam boxes. Of course it is all about the material and "climate change" agenda of the left.
And the Nanny Statism does not just permeate the halls of state government.
No, no, no siree Bob!
Here in Pasadena, hometown of RVFTLC, last year the Pasadena city council passed a city ordinance that will make it illegal within a years time for me, in my town home that I own, to smoke in said town home. Of course the justification is that dreaded second-hand smoke.
And this is the same state that made it easy to get a marijuana joint than tobacco.
Amazing, doncha think?
So lets go back to Mr. Hedgecock and his piece.
One of the problems that is severe is that Cali Dems are addicted to big government like a crack whore. Seriously. Take this from the Hedgecock piece:
After trimming legislators' perks and reducing the number of cell phones provided to state civil servants, the governor intoned that drastic budget reductions had already hollowed out state programs for the needy, law enforcement and our schoolchildren. California government needed more money.
And do you know how they are going to try to get that money?
By asking the voters to sign the death warrant on tax hikes. And it is not just Gov. Jerry Brown's tax hike that will be on this November's ballot.
There are going to be two other competing measures that will seek to raise taxes to feed the state crack whores habit.
Yet amazingly over the last several election cycles, California voters have voted down every attempt to hike taxes. Yet once again, the crack whores threaten armageddon and think that yeah, yeah, this time we can fool the voters and they will finally open the flood gates of taxes and we can keep going.
As I have noted, it is not just government and economics, but the urge to force some people's will against others.
Which is where the real Axis of Evil, Big Government, Big Labor and Big Government get into the act.
However, big business is getting very tired of the anti-business in general attitude of government.
So many firms and businesses have left this state for greener pastures. Such as Texas. Oh yeah, and those of means are doing the same thing.
And because of that, it weakens the opposition party, the Republicans.
Well, it did not help to have former Gov. Benedict Arnold Schwarzenegger at the helm for the previous seven years.
As more and more people leave the state, that leave dare I write, the freeloaders. The people that want, want, and want. And do not want to work or produce.
California is on the road to becoming the first American state to mirror the distress that is Greece.
And it has been a team effort.
What is truly needed is a leader to come in and truly rewrite everything. How state government should work. How revenues should be raised. The proper role of the state government. An overall attitude of California is really open for all business. Not the government-approved ones.
I am literally witnessing the total collapse of my state, California. It is sad on the one hand, but on the other a lesson for the rest of the United States.
Do not keep voting for the people that continue to lead us down this path. Starting at the top, the president, the congress, the governors, state legislators, all that can cause more damage than good.
America, you have your warning and that is California.
Saturday, September 03, 2011
In California, Fitted Sheets Equal Strait Jacket Minds
As noted in the previous post, there is a little more lunacy from our vaunted legislature here in the once Golden State of California.
In this installment is the latest from state Sen. Kevin De Leon (D (Of course)-Los Angeles).
The senator wants a bill to become law that would require hotels to use fitted sheets instead of flat sheets. And that is not all. Also hotels would have to provide "special tools" so that the maids would not have to stoop to the floor or anywhere else to clean said hotel rooms.
And please, why not throw in some adult beverage to get the maids in the mood to clean the room in between. Provided by the employers no less?
Let me start at the obvious.
Being a hotel/motel maid is hard work. Not for everyone. But correct me if I am wrong on this point. Does anyone put a gun to the maid's head to get the job in the first place? If the job is that difficult on the body, as is claimed, then look for other work. Granted it is not easy to do in this economy, but I just do not get it.
According to the article, 7,400 hotel maids in California have filed worker's compensation claims in the last year. Out of that, 883 claimed that they received lower back injuries.
Now, being a guy and barely knowing the difference between bed sizes, I asked an expert on the subject.
Mrs. RVFTLC said that it is a lot easier to put a fitted sheet on a bed vs the flat sheet. We were switching bedding last night here at Right View From The Left Coast Manor when this subject came up. We were using fitted sheets. Yet I found that I did have to pick up the mattress on our side a little bit to get the sheet to fit right.
So, what is the real point of this?
And the article does not differentiate between hotels and motels.
There is a major difference. Even among hotels.
The overwhelming majority of hotels and motels are franchises. Meaning that they are not owned by the company name per se. Like McDonalds. There is the corporate name that we all see. But somewhere not really in plain sight is something that indicates that some one or another small company actually runs the restaurant. Same for many hotels and motels.
Stay at a Best Western? News flash. It is almost entirely franchise driven. In fact, this is at the bottom of the home page:
Each Best Western® branded hotel is independently owned and operated. © 2002-2011 Best Western International, Inc. All rights reserved.
Get it? Yes, there is the Best Western name and reputation. But it is a small businessman or woman that own and operate each one. Or can be a group. But it is not Best Western running them all.
Think that it will not cost them to make this change? Of course it will. One estimate is that it will cost about $30,000,000 to change from flat to fitted sheets. And who gets stuck with the bill? We, the people that stay at these hotels and motels.
But, Sen. De Leon admits that this is a personal crusade for him. For you see, his mother was a maid. And as he says, she worked herself to the bone. And I do not doubt that. But this is a huge problem. That a state legislator would waste time to, in his or her mind, rectify a wrong that the eeeeevvvvviiilllll hoteliers are doing to the poor maids.
And why not force the citizens that hire maids to provide only fitted sheets to use so that they do not have to have a potential back injury? Or special equipment so that they do not have to stoop down to do some cleaning?
This is the insanity of big government. To allow some crusading politician to come up with a hair-brained scheme that while maybe well meaning will have a direct effect on an already battered state economy.
Sen. Kevin De Leon is the poster child as to why California must return to a part-time legislature. And make sure that term limits are strengthend, not weakend. And to maintain an independent redistricting commission, flaws and all.
I almost think that Sen. De Leon is wrapped a bit too tight in a fitted sheet strait jacket.
In this installment is the latest from state Sen. Kevin De Leon (D (Of course)-Los Angeles).
The senator wants a bill to become law that would require hotels to use fitted sheets instead of flat sheets. And that is not all. Also hotels would have to provide "special tools" so that the maids would not have to stoop to the floor or anywhere else to clean said hotel rooms.
And please, why not throw in some adult beverage to get the maids in the mood to clean the room in between. Provided by the employers no less?
Let me start at the obvious.
Being a hotel/motel maid is hard work. Not for everyone. But correct me if I am wrong on this point. Does anyone put a gun to the maid's head to get the job in the first place? If the job is that difficult on the body, as is claimed, then look for other work. Granted it is not easy to do in this economy, but I just do not get it.
According to the article, 7,400 hotel maids in California have filed worker's compensation claims in the last year. Out of that, 883 claimed that they received lower back injuries.
Now, being a guy and barely knowing the difference between bed sizes, I asked an expert on the subject.
Mrs. RVFTLC said that it is a lot easier to put a fitted sheet on a bed vs the flat sheet. We were switching bedding last night here at Right View From The Left Coast Manor when this subject came up. We were using fitted sheets. Yet I found that I did have to pick up the mattress on our side a little bit to get the sheet to fit right.
So, what is the real point of this?
And the article does not differentiate between hotels and motels.
There is a major difference. Even among hotels.
The overwhelming majority of hotels and motels are franchises. Meaning that they are not owned by the company name per se. Like McDonalds. There is the corporate name that we all see. But somewhere not really in plain sight is something that indicates that some one or another small company actually runs the restaurant. Same for many hotels and motels.
Stay at a Best Western? News flash. It is almost entirely franchise driven. In fact, this is at the bottom of the home page:
Each Best Western® branded hotel is independently owned and operated. © 2002-2011 Best Western International, Inc. All rights reserved.
Get it? Yes, there is the Best Western name and reputation. But it is a small businessman or woman that own and operate each one. Or can be a group. But it is not Best Western running them all.
Think that it will not cost them to make this change? Of course it will. One estimate is that it will cost about $30,000,000 to change from flat to fitted sheets. And who gets stuck with the bill? We, the people that stay at these hotels and motels.
But, Sen. De Leon admits that this is a personal crusade for him. For you see, his mother was a maid. And as he says, she worked herself to the bone. And I do not doubt that. But this is a huge problem. That a state legislator would waste time to, in his or her mind, rectify a wrong that the eeeeevvvvviiilllll hoteliers are doing to the poor maids.
And why not force the citizens that hire maids to provide only fitted sheets to use so that they do not have to have a potential back injury? Or special equipment so that they do not have to stoop down to do some cleaning?
This is the insanity of big government. To allow some crusading politician to come up with a hair-brained scheme that while maybe well meaning will have a direct effect on an already battered state economy.
Sen. Kevin De Leon is the poster child as to why California must return to a part-time legislature. And make sure that term limits are strengthend, not weakend. And to maintain an independent redistricting commission, flaws and all.
I almost think that Sen. De Leon is wrapped a bit too tight in a fitted sheet strait jacket.
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