Consider the costs

With the lastest plan including a mega-memorial to Michael Jackson at Los Angeles' downtown Staples Center, one has to ask about the costs. Estimates are running in the millions for the added police and security that will be needed when tens of thousands of fans descend on the area next week. Who should bear the burden of cost?

While I find the whole Michael Jackson phenomenon interesting, and his personal story tragic, I really can't condone this kind of wasteful spending, particularly during a time when the city is strapped for cash and (once again!) the most vulnerable in society are being further marginalized. What does it say about us as a people, as a culture, that we will jump at the chance to underwrite the memorializing of a pop music figure and simultaneously consider cutting funding for programs that help people who don't have enough to eat and no place to sleep, whose education opportunities are substandard?

Why should the poor, once again, be forced to pay for the rich?