"Just like every other city in California, Oakland desperately needs new revenue sources. California cities don't even have enough money to fund the bare minimum of public services, with essential services like BART shutting down frequently. This is a problem that has gone back decades, ever since 1978, when Proposition 13 passed, and has since robbed hundreds of billions of dollars from our communities."
"These are not abstract foreign mandates. The United States helped write them after World War II, ratified them and wove them into the very fabric of our military doctrine. They are a proud expression of our belief that even in war, humanity must not be abandoned. To discard them now would be a betrayal, not only of our history but of the moral law that has guided Christian just war teaching for centuries:"
Oakland and other California cities face severe revenue shortfalls and cannot fund basic public services, leading to frequent shutdowns like BART. Proposition 13 (1978) severely capped property tax levels and removed hundreds of billions from communities, forcing reliance on other taxes. Sales tax rates in Oakland are nearly maxed out and are regressive, disproportionately harming disadvantaged residents. Taxing corporations that avoid or shift billions could generate sufficient revenue to restore and expand public services. The United States helped write and ratify the Geneva Conventions after World War II and integrated them into military doctrine to protect civilians and prisoners. Discarding those rules would betray moral and legal commitments and risks turning soldiers into instruments of cruelty rather than guardians of justice.
Read at The Mercury News
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