HBO’s Newsroom is a must see. It features Jeff Daniels as cable anchor Will McAvoy, a moderate Republican taking on corporate profiteers, political jackals and American arrogance as captured in this video clip from the series that some call the most honest three and a half minutes on television. Check it out.
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I believe the person on this tape is correct. The US has gone downhill in most areas. Why is this?
Today the people in America feel they are entitled to everything they want whether they can afford it or not. The days of a handshake sealing a deal are over, lawyers have seen to that.
Education sucks, just look at what has happened in Bridgeport. We have a bunch of dumb asses arguing mine is bigger than yours and who suffers? The kids. The country is so busy giving kids tests they spend more time prepping for the tests than they do learning. Why is this? So education administrators can look good.
Politicians are probably the biggest problem. None has term limits and thus we have a bunch of slick-talking people who get elected for life. Do they care about us? Do they care about outside interests that generally screw you and me? Yes they do.
It’s time for people to say I have had enough and I am not going to take it anymore.
Andy,
That’s what you and I did two years ago. We saw what each was writing under pseudonyms (town committee, BEACON2) and we met and talked some and came up with the idea of doing our own financial oversight of City Council and Budget & Appropriations along with available documents including CAFR, budgets, Charter, and monthly financial reports. We also found some reports that should have been public but were not. Very interesting. We learned and we talked and we wrote and we attended the Budget Hearings and we pointed out “ghost expenses” and “ghost positions” that inflated the Mayor and City Council budgets and had us paying taxes at a higher level than necessary. And we encouraged a few others to join us in Budget Oversight Bridgeport in 2011 and 2012 and we’re doing it again this year.
Who will join us this year? Neither Andy nor I are accountants and yet we can point to errors and areas the City does not want you to know about. Be a BOB volunteer this year. Get in touch with us. Participation in this effort will fight the blues and cynicism. People will listen to you or defer to your greater knowledge. And some of you will become more specifically knowledgeable about BOE, about Fire and Police, about Mayor, finance functions and CAO and about parks, public services, and all of the other City departments. Call the slick talking to account this year! Remember the 2013 Blizzard and all those who lifted their shovels rather than sit on their backsides and complained. Help make a new era in the City. Time will tell.
JML, I hear there are many individuals contemplating a run for City Council. I’m sure most if not all aren’t accountants and thus may be unfamiliar with local and state budgets procedures; state statutes and ordinances; and anything relating to the duties and responsibility of an elected local official.
I would suggest you and Andy make an effort to reach out to anyone who is considering a run for City Council. Before I decided to run for City Council years ago, I took it upon myself to learn as much as I could. Attending City Council meetings and paying close attention to the process makes the transition much smoother.
Based on my years of observation, the least productive elected officials are those thrown in or the ones who walk in being totally unprepared–all they had to do is learn how to say “yes.”
*** Will somebody give the brother a glass of good wine, a cigar, light and ashtray, and then can I get an “amen!” *** FOR THERE IS WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE TO BE GAINED BY THE WORDS SPOKEN IN THIS SHORT HBO VIDEO CLIP, NO? ***
Brother Mojo, lift your glass to Joel. He says it well because he says it through experience. And 3.5 Minutes (including some long pauses) demands a response from each individual who views it and feels how much of it is on target. What will you do? When will you step forward? We need to paddle upstream, but it can be accomplished. Time will tell.