10/17/10 09:02 - 54.ºF - ID#52972

Library Budget Cuts

I miss you e-strip. It's been too long. I've been lurking around here again lately and the new site is sweet!

As usual, I came here to talk about politics, I haven't been writing as much, though I have been active, SB CREW Quakers VOICE

Anyway, I read in the Buffalo News Erie County is cutting $4 million cut from the library budget.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized just how insane these cuts are. Cutting jobs, and open hours at the library? When library use is up? When so many people are unemployed, and might need to use the library computers to look for a job? When parents are cutting back and taking their kids to use the library?
That ain't right.

When times are tough, we need to work together.

So I just wrote a letter to some of my local representatives and sent a letter to the Buffalo News. I hope you will email somebody and protest.

thanks,

Here's my letter to the Buffalo News

I strongly oppose cuts to the library budget. According to the article "Libraries, trimmed again" in Sunday's News, The County proposes cutting $4 million dollars, changing their budget from $22 million to $18 million, that's almost 20% savings.

Essentially each resident is saving 20% too. Since we pay about $30.13 per resident, we each save $6 per year. And the price we pay, is 200 lost jobs at the library. Just to save $6 per resident, we sacrifice 200 more jobs in Erie County.

This proposal is outrageous.
The county executive is pinching pennies, and as a direct result we lose 200 jobs. This is horrible mismanagement of government resources, by a county executive who is willing to ignore the obvious, in favor of his blind devotion to budget cuts.

I'm a homeowner, and I'm proud to pay taxes for the vital services in our community. Especially in times like this, when so many people are looking for work and may need a computer or other help from our libraries.

We should be expanding programs, not cutting back. The county should contribute its share.

Don't cut the budget.

David

dcoffee writes at 09:51:25 10/19/10 - Comment #58942: You guys bring up some of my favorite tangents.

Campaign financing; our politicians spend all their time fundraising, instead of coming up with good ideas. Talk about a waste of money, they spend 90% of their workday fundraising. Our politicians live in a system of money and manipulation, that's the problem. We should be able to demand honesty, and get rid of the money, but the rich and powerful like it this way.

Cigarettes; I found out recently that cigarette tobacco is radioactive.... you wanna know why? because there are radioactive metals in the fertilizer. Nature didn't make it radioactive, but man did. Good luck finding organic tobacco. Perhaps the most infuriating part is that the EPA knows :::link::: and this fertilizer is still legal.

In general; I'm sick of governments trying to balance budgets on the backs of the poor and middle class, while giving tax breaks to people at the top. Cut libraries, cut schools, cut police and fire, but tax breaks for Wallstreet, handouts for big oil, subsidies for agribusiness, no bid contracts for war profiteers... Talk about redistributing income, it's all going straight to the top. You know the top 1% of america owns over 30% of our wealth? And the rest of us seem to cheer them on, as if their selfishness was a virtue we should be proud of. :::link:::

tinypliny writes at 08:24:24 10/19/10 - Comment #58941: @ (e:libertad): I guess I wasn't thinking about these issues when I said tax cigarettes more. Addiction is a big problem - which is why I think cigarettes don't really fall under the category of "harmless recreation". Smoking cessation programs are effective but they need time, patience and most of all, a will to stop smoking. They are not enough to tackle the level of problems we have with smoking currently. Probably an alternative way would be to treat cigarette addiction clinically like a drug addiction and make it prescription for people who are addicted.

But yes, I never think when it comes to cigarettes. When you look at cancer every day, there is not a single organ system that is not affected by the ill-effects of smoking. It's hard to see the logic in why cigarettes should still be legal. :/

The basic reason why funds are never enough for public-help programs like libraries or even a smoking cessation program is that our politicians (globally) are inept, selfish, greedy and brainless twits. They are even more evil that cigarettes. We probably need a politician-support-cessation program to rid us of our addiction to voting them to power. But someone who is not evil has to step up to manage the system - we desperate need a good bunch of people willing to do this. Till then, we will continue to see internal rot and global financial mismanagement.

libertad writes at 01:30:30 10/19/10 - Comment #58940: I didn't even know about this until I saw your journal. that is a huge cut.

The answer to all of our problems should stop being to tax cigarettes. My thoughts on taxation of this LEGAL product have changed since the latest increase. I can see how much additional suffering this is causing to not only smokers but to their families. Addictions defy logic, they happen in every demographic and people will do what they normally wouldn't in order to continue their addiction. The state is not showing any mercy by their current taxation of cigarettes while at the same time cutting smoking cessation programs. Let's say you are an addicted single mother and your choice is to buy food for your children or a pack of cigarettes, the addicted mother will always choose the cigarettes first and figure out what to feed her children later. If you don't understand that, then you do not understand REAL addiction. People want to stop regardless of the money, if it is only about the money than the chances of not relapsing are pretty slim. These people need more help not higher taxes!

metalpeter writes at 07:06:54 10/18/10 - Comment #58938: I have an Idea instead of cutting the library why not cut salaries. Here is an idea when someone in office travels make them pay for their own food... If I remember correctly (e:dcoffee) you are anti casino.... There are some good points to why they are bad that isn't the debate right now. If they where legal or if there was to apply to have one this state would be much better off. We have casinos but since they are on Indian land we [state and city or town where it would be] (don't have the numbers) only get a portion the money they make. If it was in the state we would get all the local taxes. The Other factor is that since Niagara Falls USA got the Casino 2nd everyone would come here instead of there.

So because of corruption and mis management the library gets cut lovely!

tinypliny writes at 01:47:58 10/18/10 - Comment #58920: Oh this is awful! Libraries are the essence of learning and arts in a community. Leave it to these corrupt mismanaging grubby little politicians to target the one institution that actually needs more nurturing.

How can they be this thick-headed?!

I wish they would just tax cigarettes more and slap an incredibly heavy tax on soda as well... oh, and cut back on the evil subsidies on corn and soybean.

You need to read this article: :::link:::

Permalink: Library_Budget_Cuts.html
Words: 361
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 10/17/10 09:04