The Harlem Globetrotters will be at Arco Arena on January 19, 2009.  These guys have a lot of trick shots and dunks as well as comedy routines that will keep you laughing.  Might be a nice change from the basketball we have seen at Arco Arena lately when the Kings play there.  Maybe the Kings could pick up a few moves from the Globetrotters.  If you have an 8 to 5 job it might be a little hard to catch this action because the game is scheduled on Monday, January 19, at 2:00PM.  But maybe you can get off early and miss all the traffic and spend the afternoon watching some good basketball moves.  Tickets start at just $20 click on this link for more ticket information.

Harlem Globetrotters

Beginning February 6th California state offices are set to close 2 days a month giving workers an unpaid furlough. This is an effort to help California cut the budget deficit which is expected to grow to $42 billion in the next 18 months.  But before the ink was even dry on the memo (link) telling workers about the furloughs, lawsuits were filed by the state employees’ unions challenging The Governator’s authority to do this.  They will get their day in court on January 29th so a judge can decide if it is legal for the Governor to cut the budget with furloughs.

I understand that government workers don’t want a pay cut any more than the rest of the people in California, but at least the memo didn’t say we are cutting jobs.  Wouldn’t it be better to just cut back a little than close offices on a permanent basis because there just isn’t money to pay the bills?  With all the job losses and businesses closing across the country it seems a little scary to keep spending even if there is a budget deficit.  It’s kind of like when a person just keeps on using that credit card even though there’s not enough money to pay when the statement comes.

One thing that doesn’t seem quite fair about this is that legislative workers aren’t included, I guess because they don’t work directly for the state?  I think it would also be a good idea to include elected officials since they have a big part in creating this budget mess.  That should give the budget a boost.

Maybe we can all get together and think of ways to cut the budget deficit.  How about we all take our cans and bottles to recycle and donate the money to the budget.  That $5.42 for all those bags of empty cans could really make a difference.  Okay, so if that’s such a dumb idea what do you think we should do?

California Budget Deficit