More on the library

[going digital]

Music and video (DVD, TV, etc.) have gone digital. Newspapers and magazines are moving to the Web. Books are next. Google is also a player in digitizing books. iPhone is also an eBook reader.

This is all changing the way we use library.

[Guest]

Public libraries are great the way they change with technologies and what the community wants. I am all for continuing to have our public library vital and center to our community.

[Guest]

[Guest]

[sad day for PA]

Its a sad day that in the richest nation in the world, we can not keep the free public library open in Phila!! A very sad day indeed!!

The Philadelphia Free Library system is broke, and they're shutting it down, including cancelling "all branch and regional library programs, programs for children and teens, after school programs, computer classes, and programs for adults" and "all children programs, programs to support small businesses and job seekers, computer classes and after school programs" and "all library visits to schools, day care centers, senior centers and other community centers" and "all community meetings" and "all GED, ABE and ESL program."

http://libwww.freelibrary.org/closing/

[Guest]

The state has not passed their 2009-2010 which was supposed to be effective in July. If a budget agreement is not met, many services across the state will be impacted until the budget is resolved. This is not a decision by Philadelphia to closing the libraries.


Pennsylvania governor ready to veto budget plan

By Jon Hurdle
Reuters
Saturday, September 12, 2009 3:10 PM

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell said on Saturday he is ready to veto a bipartisan budget plan proposed by lawmakers to end a 10-week deadlock because it is out of balance and contains cuts to education and healthcare spending.

Rendell said the $27.9 billion plan, announced on Friday by three of Pennsylvania's four legislative caucuses, contains unrealistic revenue assumptions, and would lead to a budget deficit of more than $1 billion by fiscal 2010-2011.

The Democratic governor, who argues the budget cannot be balanced without additional revenue, is at loggerheads with Republican and some Democratic lawmakers who refuse to accept higher taxes and insist the budget can meet a legal requirement for balance through spending cuts alone.

"This is an unworkable plan based on numbers that don't balance out," Rendell said, quoting state House Republican Leader Sam Smith, whose caucus has not signed on to the plan. "He is dead right."

Pennsylvania is the only U.S. state that has yet to agree a budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year that began on July 1.

Like other U.S. states, Pennsylvania has suffered a sharp fall in tax revenue during the recession, and has to fill a projected $3.2 billion deficit to balance its budget this year.

Since July 1, the state has halted around $13 billion in funding for schools, social services and other agencies because of the budget stalemate, forcing some school districts to borrow to make up the shortfall. Rendell on August 5 signed a partial budget that allowed employees to be paid but stopped most other state spending until a budget deal can be reached.

At a rare weekend news conference, Rendell said the latest plan failed to meet his preconditions for a budget that was balanced in the current and next fiscal years, and contained no further cuts to health and education spending.

He said the "three-caucus" plan contains $147 million in cuts to education that he would not accept, and assumes an additional $247 million in education funding from federal stimulus money that made no allowance for the end of that funding after two years.

The plan makes an over-optimistic estimate for economic growth, and assumes twice as much revenue from natural gas leases as expected by his administration, the governor said. He attacked a projection of $100 million in revenue from taxing some gaming as "ludicrous."

Erik Arneson, a spokesman for the majority Senate Republicans, said lawmakers who authored the plan stood by their figures. "We are very confident in the budget and the revenue projections," he said. "The governor feels upset and angry because he wants higher taxes."

(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)




Plan C Information

URGENT MESSAGE TO ALL PHILADELPHIANS

We deeply regret to inform you that due to the lack of State budget authority, the City of Philadelphia may no longer have the funds to provide a full range of critical services, severely impacting our residents, businesses and visitors.

Beginning October 2, without State approval to resolve our funding crisis, the City will be forced to cease operations at all Libraries, Recreation Centers and Fairmount Park. Curbside trash collection will be reduced from every week to every other week.

For an updated listing of possible changes to City services, click here.

Please continue to check this site for updates as we monitor this very difficult situation. If you have additional questions about changes to any city service, please contact Philly311 by dialing "3-1-1" from your phone between the hours of 8 am and 8 pm or email us at philly311@phila.gov

[Guest]

[Guest]

[Guest]

[publius]

Ben Franklin???????????????
Wasn't he a Socialist??????????????????

[publius]

I've told you before. Just have the library get a bunch of Kindles and then we can burn the books for heat!

[joe the plumber]

[Guest]

So to ensure I understand you correctly, you'd rather have a TC like we have today then that is all Democrat and costing us big time. So we shouldn't worry about our money? We shouldn't worry about ballfields, large sewer bills, no planning. And you'd rather have a state like we have today run by liberals who want COAH, consolidation, are making us the 50th worst state for business which costs us jobs? Because the only way out of this mess is to vote for conservatives.

You're bashing conservatives, but last I checked I wasn't throwing money away on the new plasma TV, the new car, or the other items that would be great to have because I want to live within my means. So if being cost concious means I am conservative and being liberal then by definition is the exact opposite, sign me up.

[Guest]

What's up with the random post, Joe? Hittin' the bottle early today?

[Guest]

[Guest]

Either one. I have the same TV I have had the last 10 years, the same car since 2003. I have a savings account and little credit card debt. I have a mortgage, but no home equity line. My wife says I am frugal, I say I am cheap. Yet, we save little money each year since 2006 actually when our taxes jumped.

Funny enough though the town and state think I am rich and if I had adhered to their standards of spending I could have bought a new TV and Car. As my taxes went up over 8,000 since 2006, my sewer bill went from 84 to 240 this quarter and I have not had a raise in 2 years. So apparently while I am trying to save the town is treating me like daddy warbucks. So what if I have less money, the town dictates spending and I have to comply or leave my home. However, if I am trying to save and get concerned about town and state spending because it's putting me and a lot of others in the danger zone I am an evil conservative.

So if you worry about your income or spending your an evil conservative. If you're a liberal then you have to enjoy spending regardless of the harm it does to you personally and doesn't matter if you control it or not. If you're an evil conservative you hate COAH. If you're a liberal you have to love COAH regardless of what it does to our town. According to those standards which is what was stated above about anal rentative conservatives then even the most ardent liberals I know in town are evil conservatives because they are concerned about their money and town spending and they oppose COAH.

Although, I would gladly change my tune if someone would give me a job with so much money that I don't care where it goes.