What took so long?
Let me get this straight: Until very recently -- Nov. 1, to be exact, according to a Los Angeles Times article in the Nov. 2 Californian ("Calif. halts welfare card access at pot shops, massage parlors") -- state-issued welfare debit cards were used, and payment was processed for, purchases made at pot shops, psychics, massage parlors, bingo halls, gun shops, bars, racetracks, tattoo parlors and on cruise ships?
Something tells me this wasn't news to those in Sacramento. In fact, the Department of Social Services apparently had a website where welfare cardholders could research where their next party was taking place.
Having said that, are we to commend Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for this tightening of the belt at the twilight of his tenure, or should we all wonder what took so long?
Seems to me that the first question one asks in times of financial difficulty is, "On what am I spending my money?" Do leaders in Sacramento follow a different rationale? Apparently so.
As our state government has swelled under decades of Democratic leadership, we should all wonder why these matters don't gain the same attention as gay marriage, abortion and the other social issues we've been force-fed.
Folks of my generation, let's say the 30-to-50 crowd (you know, the ones that actually pay taxes), generally don't care who marries whom. But when we get our paycheck and see that some 40 percent of it went to taxes, we wonder what that money pays for.
I assure you the aforementioned items weren't on our radars.
ERIC STANLEY
Bakersfield
