Should L.A. pay for Michael Jackson's memorial?  

i'm guessing ur from L.A. well i'm not and i feel horrible. i think tv should help pay for the debt because there getting paid for all the views they get from his memorial so they should donate half the money they profit. and yes it is wrong for the citizens to pay for this. maybe the celebrities should donate 300 dollars. and there was so many celebrities there so the debt should be paid off in no time. i hope everything goes well for l.a. my city not bankrupted but were in dues because we had to major storms that hit my state.

It is not right that the city of Los Angeles has to pay for the police! Come on! MJ's family should be able to pay for some if not all it it! Jeez! Then look at some of the people who gave tribute to MJ? I KNOW KOBE BRYANT AND MAGIC JOHNSON HAVE MONEY! THEY COULD PAY THE OT AND EVERYTHING ELSE FOR JUST BY THEMSELVES! I don't know what the heck Michael's family was thinking when they planned the memorial! They didn't think of all the oT of the police and how many police the city needed for all this! It isn't fair to the people of LA to pay for something they can't afford! It is ridiculous!

I agree - the City should not pay a single cent for any of this. It's not their fault that he died and the family decided the memorial be in LA. When he's not even from that City. And I'm sure it costs a lot - I mean security and all that. Not only for the food and the over time.

However, here's my problem with that piece of news: didn't they make any revenue of some sort from all these celebrities and other people paying their respects, staying in City hotels,etc. just to make it to the memorial? I guess my point is this - they're asking for donations or whatever, but they should iterate how much they made from the event (if any), and how much the event has put them in the "red."

I think the Jackson family should pay for Michael's funeral. I don't care if he was the king of pop...he is not my family and I shouldn't have to be stuck paying for his funeral. You can't tell me that he didn't have any money to where he can't be buried...maybe if the service wasn't so huge and extravagant then they wouldn't need the publics help.
I am sorry I think it is bull that when a celebrity passes they make such a huge deal of it, I have had family members pass as well do you see anyone helping us pay for their funeral Hell No...so why should we the people that are living pay check to pay check have to the pay for the celebrities funeral after he has made millions and millions of dollars in his life? It is not our fault that he has made poor decisions and spent it all just as it is not his families fault that my family members can't afford their funeral but I would never be allowed to ask for the public's taxes to pay for one of my families funeral so why can a celebrity? In my eyes they are no more special than a family member of mine that I may of lost.

Pop stars, movie stars I don't care what kind of star they are.. They all should be treated the same.. I totally understand why the Jackson family did what they did but yet at the same time they put this together and they should at least pay half of the cost of this.. Media should pay as well.. But what they should have done i know this sound a bit harsh but should of sold the tickets instead of giving away free seats.. I am a die hard fan will pay just about anything to see their idol in person... Michael had tons of sold out shows, I know they could of made plenty with the event mainly with all the people that came there.. But it would be like if i were to do something like this, the money comes out of my pocket no one else.. that is why I said they all should be treated the same..

I think there nothing wrong with that, Michael Jackson is a music icon.He Contribute a lot to the music industry and its been a privilege to L.A. that Michael Jackson do his memorial services in Los Angeles.Although its a lot of money to help other people in L.A. but i think Michael Jackson deserved all of that.That my opinion.

hello sassy28,
I strongly agree with you. I think there are more problems of the government that need more attention than this paying for the memorial of MJ. The taxpayers more so the fans of MJ should not take the responsibility at all of his memorial. His family and the celebrities should do it since they're earning much compared to us fans. I'm also an avid fan of MJ and it's true that he is really a big lose to the industry.

I recently heard over CBS, Ms. Katie Couric saying that LA has a total of 26 M ? something in debt. And was asking if the government can afford to pay the police who helped in the memorial service of Michael Jackson.

Am not really sure of what their arrangement was. I think that since, Michael Jackson had earned more now , the family would be able to pay for the services of the police.

For me there is nothing wrong if they want to ask for help or donation from fans but they are not suppose to be responsible to the extent that they are already obligated to pay by increasing the tax just for the popular star and a legend or just because he is the King of Pop. I was just thinking otherwise if the ticket during his memorial can be sell since there are a lot of people that are really eager to see and be involved inside the Staples due to his memorial.

Well, that's something that I didn't know. You're right though, I am a fan of Michael Jackson but why should the state have to pay? Was it their fault that he passed? No, it wasn't. That's just wrong to have the state pay for something when they are barely makiing it through as it is. Does this mean that the California taxes will be going up because of the sudden decrease in money? I hope not, the people of the state have their own bills to pay and some times they don't even have enough. How many people do you think will go into debt if they do raise the taxes in order to gain that money back?