1) The city of Detroit’s story is certainly a pathetic one. It has lost a large percentage of its population over the past few decades. Many parts of the city have turned into vast urban wastelands where there are not even abandoned houses. The unemployment rate is embarrassing high. Some street lights are not turned on or their burned out bulbs not replaced since the city cannot afford these repairs. The governor is likely to impose a state controlled city manager to take over the city government.
How could all of this happened? Well, one reason might be because of a story in the March 22, 2013 issue of The Week magazine. It reported that former Detroit Democratic Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was found guilty of racketeering, extortion, bribery, and fraud. According to the charges, the former mayor steered more than $83 million worth of municipal contracts to a friend who then kicked back money to the former mayor.
According to the local U.S. Attorney, Barbara McQuale: "Kwame Kilpatrick didn’t lead the city, he looted the city." He faces a maximum prison term of 20 years. $83 million could have fixed a lot of street lights and a lot of other problems with this distressed city.
2) The March, 2013 issue of Reason magazine had some interesting analyses of Amtrak, the distressed, Federally operated national train system:
- Amtrak is the most expensive way to transport oneself from city to city, on average costing consumers twice as much than commercial airline travel.
- The average American travels 15 miles a year via Amtrak but 15,000 miles a year via car.
- Amtrak per-passenger miles subsidies are more than nine times higher than subsidies paid to airlines and 20 times more than subsidies paid to car drivers.
- In 2012, Amtrak needed about $1.4 billion from the American taxpayer to run its operations.
- Only three of its twelve routes are profitable without taxpayer subsidies.
3) That same issue of Reason also carried a crazy story about a crazy public servant in Nevada City. City police chief James Wickham wants to control the city’s homeless population by having the town council pass a law that requires that homeless people pay for a permit to set up a tent.
His rationale for such a law is pretty silly: “The goal is to start managing the homeless population in this city. It just basically means that you cannot set up a tent. You can’t live in your vehicle. You can’t live in the woods in Nevada City.”
Did this brainiac ever think that the reason many of these people are homeless is because they do not have a lot of money? What little money they do have is not going to be spent on a permit, it will be spent on food and other life essentials. Does he think they will not sleep in a tent, car, or the woods because the town council says they need a permit?
The article goes on to say that if you are homeless in the city without a homeless permit, you could go to jail. That might be a better option for these unfortunate people than spending their very limited funds on a piece of paper for the privilege of sleeping in a tent, a car, or the woods.
Maybe the chief and the town council should be working on some compassionate ways to take care of these people rather than criminalizing them.
4) The Hill reported on March 28, 2013 that President Obama’s official Federal government budget proposal will be presented on April 10, 2013. According to existing law, this makes the budget presentation two months late.
This will be the fourth time in five years that Obama’s White House has been late in developing and presenting his official budget, meaning he has broken the law four out of the past five years.
This is not to be confused with the law that the U.S. Senate has broken every year since 2009 when it went four years without developing and presenting a detailed official Senate budget.
To my knowledge, Obama, any of his budget executives, or any Senator has gone to jail for not meeting the lawfully established budget guidelines. However, you can bet you will get prosecuted if you do not submit your tax returns on time by April 15. Apparently laws and their guidelines apply to you and I but not politicians.
5) A national debt fast approaching $17 TRILLION. About 23 million Americans either unemployed or underemployed. Anemic national economic growth. Sky rocketing health care costs. Continued under educating of our nation’s kids. Gas prices that are about twice as much as they were the day Obama took office.
So what are our Washington politicians worrying about these days. According to a March 20, 2013 article from The Hill:
A group of House Democrats on Wednesday introduced a bill that would prevent the term "Redskins" from being trademarked, a move intended to put pressure on the Washington football club to change its name.
The Non-Disparagement of American Indians in Trademark Registrations Act of 2013 is co-sponsored by Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), and comes days after a federal trademark panel heard arguments over whether the team name was a slur. The panel could potentially overturn the team's trademark, which would erode profits by allowing other businesses to sell apparel and goods featuring the Redskins name.
Talk about bad priorities. When you cannot prevent the Titantic from sinking, you rearrange the deck chairs. When you cannot resolve the major issues of our time facing Americans, you spend time and resources on the name of a football team.
The incompetence, bad priorities, and wasteful spending from politicians just keeps on coming. And more of the same will come tomorrow.
Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:
www.loathemygovernment.com
It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.
Please visit the following sites for freedom:
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.cato.org/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://realpolichick.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w
No comments:
Post a Comment