General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Mayor abruptly slashes wages to minimum for Scranton City Workers [View all]TBF
(32,047 posts)we may disagree on overall political orientation (I am a socialist - in favor of nationalizing most industries). My way of solving these local problems is to immediately bailout from the federal level. If I were Barack Obama I declare Scranton a disaster area - just like a weather disaster - and pump some cash in immediately. Today. Your EMTs may be privatized (which is another thing I'm against - I am against capitalism flat out) but your police and firemen are not.
Yes, you heard me, bailouts for people rather than just bankers. We have the power of taxation on the federal level and we need to use it. There are billionaires pillaging this country on a daily basis while others are homeless (or will be soon). That is not right.
Repugs vs. Dems - I'll handle that question straight up as well. I believe that the dems do a better job on social issues and at least used to have the idea of nationalizing services - whether they do anymore is up for debate. I'll still be voting for Obama, but truly we should not be making excuses for anyone. I am not going to bury this story simply because we have an election coming up. This is too important. As I've said in other posts - today it's Detroit and Scranton. By next year this time it's a thousand more little cities who decide they too can help their books by doing away with all the contracts and putting everyone at minimum wage. This is a huge issue.
Thanks for your local perspective on the issues, very much appreciated.