Show us the money

Demonstrators will be gathering today (June 11) at noon at the Chico office of Assemblyman Dan Logue (1550 Humboldt Road, Suite 4) hoping to convince him that the “cuts-only” approach to solving the state’s $24.3 billion 2009-10 budget deficit “will simply devastate thousands of lives,” as a press release puts it. It’s one of many such demonstrations in cities throughout California, part of a direct action called “Statewide Day of Reckoning.”

The demonstrators have every reason to be concerned. If approved, Gov. Schwarzenegger’s spending-reduction proposals would effectively destroy much of the safety net created to protect the poorest Californians. “Devastate” is not an overstatement.

Assemblyman Logue, unfortunately, is convinced that only by lowering taxes and loosening regulations on business can California achieve prosperity. He’s willing to sacrifice the health, safety and even, in some cases, lives of low-income Californians to carry out his ideological goals.

He also has repeatedly insisted that there is $18 billion worth of “waste and fraud” in state government and its programs. If so, where is it? The governor’s own blue-ribbon, 250-member California Performance Review committee couldn’t find anywhere near that much, even when using what the independent Legislative Analyst’s Office said were inflated figures.

Show us the money, Mr. Logue. Otherwise, stop being an obstructionist and start working to protect the many low-income people of your district.