Image by Baby's In Black via Flickr
I often wonder how a group of people that are so dead set against progress could ever call themselves “progressive.” Most progressives are very much anti-progress even when that progress actually agrees with them on another and supposedly more important issue.
Let’s take the Bus Riders Union here in Los Angeles. These people are the bane of my existence. The Bus Riders Union is the main reason I hate unions (well them and LAUSD but that is another story altogether) because they have no concern for the people they are supposedly helping. Let’s take a look at some of their initiatives.
One of them is called: 1000 more buses, 1000 less police!
Mayor Villaraigosa: More Police Is Not a Progressive Vision for L.A.
Hiring 1000 additional police officers has become a top city budget priority under Mayor Villaraigosa. In 2008, the Mayor announced he was halfway to keeping his campaign pledge of 1000, even as he was moving to cut $100 million from the city budget.
1000 More Buses, 1000 Less Police calls on the Mayor to make a complete U-turn to fund social services, not criminalization.
Are you kidding me with this? According to a July 2008 report from the U.S Census Department there are 9,862,049 people inLos Angeles County alone. That is not taking into account the other 57 counties with the entire state of California. We are the eighth largest economy in the WORLD (California) and you want to put people’s lives at risk by decreasing the police force? Are you insane? I am sorry if I had to choose between buses and police I am choosing police! Even if have to walk everywhere!
Then there is this little beaut:
We know the Mayor does advocate some progressive policies and has taken some good stands on some issues. But expanding the police/prison state is not the only step he is taking to endanger the social welfare state.
And there you go people! Right there the truth comes out! It is not about protecting people or giving people a chance to succeed on their own, it is about having the welfare state stay firmly intact and keeping the minority population dependent on them! Now remind me again, what does any of this have to do with lousy bus service? Absolutely nothing because it is not about getting better and improved transportation in Los Angeles. It is not about getting a rail system that will service everyone, rich and poor. It is not about cleaning up the graffiti on the buses, or having better security to protect the riders. It is about a socialist agenda and nothing else.
In fact according to a report by Metro that dealt with a public hearing on various transportation issues facing Metro people did want more trains and not more buses!
This comes from a man named Gary Guth who was at one of these hearings:
MR. GUTH: Hello, my name is Gary. I want the Wilshire Purple Line extended all the way to the ocean, please. I believe that’s the project that the money should be worked on, and that will allow anybody from the Valley that wants to go to the beach have access to it. And MTA is too slow in completing these projects. How long is it going to take to duplicate all the street car routes that we had in 1961 that were ended, that you guys took away and took that private company out of business? Will it take 100 years? We won’t be able to enjoy it in the audience here.
The irony of all this is that the Bus Rider Union acts like they care about the environment, yet they don’t want trains that are faster, more efficient and don’t leave that dreaded carbon emissions that cause “global warming.” Why is that? Shouldn’t they be fighting to get the trains up and running faster instead of keeping us chained to antiquated buses? Again, they fight progress.
As you can see the Bus Riders Union is a fraud and doesn’t speak for the people who actually depend on not only the buses to get around but the very limited rail system that needs to be expanded not killed. Progressives are never for real progress and it is time we show these socialists that they will not continue to keep us stuck in the “social welfare state.” That we will not be their pawns. That we will rise against their tyranny and that of the government that drags its feet in getting us a functioning and thriving public transportation system! It is time we formed our own coalition and fought the both of them!
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