Bankruptcy ahead?
L.A. leaders, afraid of tough choices, are driving our city off a financial cliff


Updated: 02/08/2010 08:22:21 PM PST

AFTER a week of fruitless debate, the Los Angeles City Council takes up the budget
debate again today. And if past discussions are any indication, very little will be decided
by a council too afraid to make the hard - and politically unpopular - decisions.

Instead the city will slip one step closer to insolvency.

The city of Los Angeles is in immediate financial danger with a $212 million shortfall just
for the last few months of this current fiscal year. Next fiscal year, which begins in July,
the city is anticipating $400 million less in revenue than expenses.

These are dire straits, yet city leaders are still equivocating about permanently reducing
the city's single largest cost: payroll. Last week, after hearing hours of heartfelt testimony
from employees worried about losing their jobs, the council put off a vote on layoffs for
at least 30 days.

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