I'm also politically liberal - a member of the green party - because I see
the need for better representation and policies for the poor and
marginalized in our society (this comes out of my Christian beliefs). I get
very tired of seeing people who are already struggling being forced to
struggle more. I worked for 10 years as a community college counselor. Many
of the students I saw were from low-income and/or minority backgrounds, and
were trying to make better lives for themselves and their families. Did they
benefit from tax cuts - no. Were they hurt (impeded in their efforts to gain
an education, provide decent childcare for their kids, get decent healthcare
for their kids, etc.) by cuts in social programs - yes. And check this out -
of the three systems of higher education in this state (University of
California, California State University, and California Community Colleges),
UC is about to sustain cuts of about 2% and the Community Colleges of about
10%. Guess which student/parent population holds more political clout.
Where's the justice?

We're facing a 35 billion dollar budget deficit in California. In his
current budget proposal our democratic Governor wants to raise vehicle
license fees and slightly raise the sales tax, so education need only be cut
by 1.5 billion. Republicans are balking at this, they want to balance the
budget without raising taxes. Meanwhile, we continue to spend more on
prisons. If we poured money into education, we would have less of a need for
prisons! We need something to correct our nearsightedness.

OK, off my soapbox.

I would like to make a comment about our political discussions. I like it
very much that we can share our ideas.  I really don't like comments that
disparage individuals on this list for their politics. This is a good,
supportive list - please lets keep it that way.