Should We Have Paid For Your Signs And Gotten You Hotel Rooms, Too?
I am all for people protesting -- even if I don't agree with their views.
But, who should fund a protest -- the protesters or the taxpayers? The Tea Partiers did their protesting during the day and went home at night, and left no cans of poo for municipal workers to pick up. In LA alone, the cost from the Occupiers down at City Hall is more than $2.35 million.
A street-cleaning ticket in LA (for just forgetting to move your car on street-cleaning day) is already $68. My DWP trash charges are so high -- for one girl with one tiny little dog -- that I'm contemplating importing trash from Connecticut to throw in my bin, just so I can come close to getting my money's worth.
Sure, protest, everybody. But, clean up after yourself or pay for the cleanup (and resodding of City Hall). Am I right?
From the LA Times:
Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich is considering a lawsuit against Occupy L.A. protesters to reimburse the city for damage caused during the occupation of the City Hall lawn...."In isolation, the cost is manageable. But in the context of a $72-million problem, it only made our challenge bigger," said Santana, the city's top budget analyst.
The Los Angeles Police Department, which raided the camp Nov. 30 and arrested nearly 300 people, spent an estimated $1.2 million on overtime pay as a result of the demonstration and subsequent sweep, Santana said in his preliminary report. The General Services Department's police force, which patrols city parks and buildings, racked up an additional $335,000 of overtime.
Carlos Marroquin, a representative of Occupy L.A., called the figures "outrageous" and argued that the city should have set aside money for special events and protests. He accused city leaders of trying to make the Occupy movement a scapegoat and described the intense police response, which involved 1,400 officers, as unnecessary.
Attorney (and the mayoral candidate I -- happily -- voted for) Walter Moore weighs in from reality in the LAT's comments:
And if the City wins, after spending tens of thousands of dollars' worth of time on the case, what will the City recover? Nine used tents? A shopping cart? Trutanich will not file an action. He just wants a headline.
The eager conflation of these dorkless, unprincipled OWS "protestors" with life-risking rebels in so many Arab nations was the best evidence of American vacuity in 2011.
Merry Christmas. I'd like to piss in their nog.
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at December 25, 2011 5:00 AM
And don't forget the $400,000+ in wasted stimulus money on McPherson Square in D.C. by the OWS camping out there.
romanticpoet.wordpress.com/tag/mcpherson-square-stimulus-money-occupy-wall-street/
Jim P. at December 25, 2011 7:05 AM
More evidence that leftism is simply the politics of narcissism.
Cousin Dave at December 25, 2011 9:55 AM
OT: You voted for Moore for LA Mayor. Don't you live in Santa Monica? (Not trying to compromise your safety)
DaveG at December 25, 2011 11:17 AM
A few of these are almost erotically fulfilling.
(Presumably, #50 was for the OWS, but I haven't looked it up.)
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at December 25, 2011 1:34 PM
Ah, it was for a less despicable threat... Hurricane.
Crid [CridComment at gmail] at December 25, 2011 2:14 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/12/25/should_we_have.html#comment-2874713">comment from Crid [CridComment at gmail]Ugh...been reading about politically correct thinking and it appears to infect the brain. My knee-jerk reaction to "Hurricane" was "Himmicane"? Though men aren't really among the protected classes unless they are "of color," as in, "of color other than white."
Amy Alkon
at December 25, 2011 2:20 PM
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