I learned from my colleague, Genevieve Hinson, a fellow blogger on centralvalleymoms.com that the TV show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" is looking for deserving Valley families to feature on the program.
If you haven't seen it, the producers take a good-hearted family, whose life is in ruins through no fault of their own, and build them a new house. Through project-management magic, they swarm thousands of volunteers over power tools and donated supplies and create a fantastic home. The team does it all in seven days, while the family is on vacation. It's amazing.
That got me to thinking. Maybe this would work on the California budget. Let's send the Legislature off to Disneyland for a week and turn Ty Pennington and a swarm of specialists loose on the budget. When our so-called "public servants" get back from losing their lunches on Space Mountain, a beautiful budget will all be done. Can't you see it now? There the legislators stand, crying outside the Capitol still wearing their light-up Mickey Mouse ears, and Ty Pennington screams out, "Ready, California? Move that bus!" I'm choking up already, aren't you?
But I digress into Fantasyland. Here are the details from Gen:
Ty Pennington and his crew from ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" are searching for families in the Sacramento and Central Valley area.The family must own their own home. They should be able to show how the makeover of their home will make a huge difference in their lives.
Nominations can be e-mailed to Jason Hammonds at castsnorthcali@gmail.com.
Photo: I don't know about you, but I'd be willing to give this Emmy-winning cast of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" a shot at making over the state budget. At least, they know how to hit a deadline.
When I was a child, there was a television show called, "Queen for a Day." Three women would present their hard-luck tales of woe and misfortune, and then the audience would decide who's story was most heart-wrenching by 'applause meter'...it was tacky and mean-spirited then and now it's exponentially worse. 'Extreme makeover' is a one hour non-stop commercial that undoubtably has a production value in the millions, but wouldn't that money be better spent with 'Habitat for Humanity?'...one family, one 'jackpot,' one more ostentatious monstrosity?,...or twenty homes for twenty families?
For those willing to donate time, money, and effort watch this video before contributing:
http://www.wsbtv.com/video/16981154/index.html
They need to send the legislature on permanent vacation. They clearly have no clue and Mr Magoo could get it done better than they can. What happened to Arnold cleaning our house.
EM does great things but I have heard of several times where the family couyldn't afford the taxes or upkeep. Like in the win a house drawings. Great but its not free if you have to pay in excess of 300k to have it. Thats like going out and buying it in the first place. I have bought tickets just because I donate to the charities anyway but would donate it back to the charity to resale most likely.
Ok,
I just about qualify as the most uninvolved yet very vocal regular California citizen. I’m probably like most of the voters in this state, I say things about this or that, vote for measures or laws that I have no insight into, understand , and take issue with what ever hot news has been put before me, but really don't know what I’m talking about, almost!
here’s what I do know, it's hard to get ahead these days, can't afford to drive in search of pleasure or new way's of making extra money to support our day to day needs, it's really a gut feeling that something is very wrong with the people we elected to represent us, no party in particular, when they continue to draw a paycheck yet can't perform the duties and actions we believed they were capable of doing, and in the process protect us as citizens of California from not living a normal and stress free life , free of concerns about not being able to pay the rent, buy food and gas , and have a future for our children even though we make more than $ 50,000 a year and still can't make ends meet.
even though we pay our elected officials to protect us as a whole from being subjected to living at a level of existence right at the poverty level if you consider the cost of living and the lack of increases in income to offset that.
How can an employee not perform the tasks they were hired to do when so many adverse effects can happen due to the lack of performance we as California residents are witnessing these days.
We as voters can suspend the paychecks, halt the manipulation of our bill process, and suspend and recall these representatives we want to get out of the jobs they are not doing, yet still take our hard earned money and refuse to perform. In the private sector this type of behavior usually results in the employee not having a job at that address and needs to consider why they were no longer employed.
You get the job, you do the work, and you get paid and continue to have a chance to make a living because you do your job!!!!
So what’s wrong with the way our elected officials in Sacramento are doing the job they were hired to do?
Remember Gray Davis?
Well how about applying that remedy to the whole bunch of them in Sacramento. We have the power and the right to place our government into a no confidence mode and temporarily suspend the whole regulatory process until we as residents and voters are receiving a result of our investments and confidence.
There are too many outside influences that interfere with the basis performance of the elected represent vise we hired. We need real results to real needs.