After all, after decades and decades of failing public schools, a lost war on drugs, leaky borders, escalating health care costs, etc., problems that our current politicians, never seem to be able or willing to resolve, they have to at least be in the running of worst ever.
Consider that hypothesis as you read along below of the current set of lunacy and ineptness is revealed:
1) Most informed Americans know that the city of Detroit has recently failed for bankruptcy, the corruption and ineptness of its political class over the decades has led the city down the path of financial ruin. What was once the fourth largest and one of the richest cities in the country has lost well over half of its peak population and is now so poor that most nights the vast majority of its streets lights are turned off to save money or are broken and not repaired to save money.
Detroit is a prime example of the fiscal ignorance of most politicians, how wasting taxpayer wealth and not using it wisely eventually catches up with a city, even a large one like Detroit. But municipal fiscal calamities is Rust Belt towns like Detroit. A Washington Examiner article from July 28, 2013 illustrated how long term fiscal irresponsibility of local politicians is leading the island paradise city of Oahu, Hawaii down the drain to bankruptcy:
- In 2009, the EPA ordered the local Oahu government entities to spend $2 billion to upgrade its Sand Island and Honouliuli waste water treatment plants, an upgrade that will cost another $3 billion in repairs.
- Oahu roads, always rated among the worst in the nation by the Reason Public Policy Institute and TRIP, are in need of $100 million ANNUALLY in repairs over the next 10 years.
- Oahu has a number of functionally obsolete bridges that experts say are too narrow and unsafe for drivers or pedestrians."
- On average, Oahu has one water main break a day. These water delivery system repairs will cost $2 billion.
- An Oahu park restroom facility at Maunalua Bay has been closed since February 2011 since it needs $350,000 to upgrade its sewer system.
- Dozens of other parks and recreational facilities need more than $1 billion to repair.
- In the face of these crumbling infrastructure problems, the city still plans to build a 20-mile, $5.2 billion elevated rail project, from west Oahu into downtown.
- That project has already cost taxpayers $1 billion, is on hold because of a federal lawsuit that could end the rail project and strand/waste that $1 billion in taxpayer wealth.
- Honolulu already spends a whopping 19% of its operational budget just on debt servicing costs.
- If the rail project is actually built, experts say that this debt servicing number could exceed 20% and even rise as high as 24%.
- The city must also set aside $200 million for police pay increases and another $30 million for medical costs. The fire department's new contract negotiations are under way.
- Oahu already has an extremely high cost of living so raising taxes to pay for the infrastructure repairs, an unneeded train, and debt servicing costs will be a severe strain on local citizens.
- That may explain why the city's homeless population rose 4.7% in the past year and that the number of homeless people living on the streets, rather than in shelters, climbed 11%. Which makes one wonder where the local political class in Oahu is going to get all of the money it needs to fix what it has neglected all of these years.
2) I just came across this piece of insanity from January, 2013 and ABC News but thought it was worth reviewing to illustrate how low politicians will go for self enrichment. Former mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin, the mayor during the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe, was indicted on Federal criminal charges. Details of the indictment from ABC News include the following:
- The 21-count indictment accused Nagin of enriching himself as the city struggled to rebound in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
- He is accused of using the office of mayor to guide municipal contracts and projects to business associates who allegedly paid kickbacks and bribes and flew him on lavish free trips to Hawaii, Jamaica, and Las Vegas.
- The specific charges include bribery, honest service wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and filing false tax returns.
- "The defendant C. Ray Nagin, knowingly devised a scheme and artifice to defraud the City of New Orleans and its citizens of his honest services through bribery and a kickback scheme, whereby Mayor Nagin used his public office and his official capacity to provide favorable treatment that benefited the business and financial interests of individuals providing him with bribery/kickback payoffs in the form of checks, cash, granite inventory, wire transfers personal services and free travel," the indictment said.
- The indictment says that on the same day, Nagin allegedly waived penalties that were owed by the businessman on a delinquent tax bill owed to the City of New Orleans.
- The indictment also alleges Nagin accepted $50,000 from businessman Frank Fradella as well as monthly wire transfers of $12,500 that totaled $112,500. Fradella pleaded guilty to bribing a New Orleans city official in June 2012. Prosecutors alleged that on June 20, 2009 Nagin awarded a $1 million Katrina sidewalk repair project to a local businessman. On June 21, the very next day, a Nagin family member allegedly was paid a $10,000 kickback from that businessman.
Nice guy, the city and its citizens are reeling from losing their homes, their jobs, and possibly their loved ones and this politician decides it is not a disaster it is an opportunity. Despicable.
3) Consider some research from the Center For Public Integrity that was published on its website on July 16, 2013:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/07/16/12969/huge-drone-could-not-be-grounded
Their work uncovered a piece of military hardware that was obviously not needed, and which the Air Force wanted to cut out of its budget, both long term and short term, for a number of reasons:
- The Air Force decided to trim their budget by terminating the production line for a $223 million drone aircraft that was designed to fly over vast terrain for about a day while sending data and pictures to military controllers on the ground.
- Given that the “Global Hawk” drone aircraft had already cost far more than expected, and was plagued by recurrent operating flaws and operational problems, it sounded like a good idea to move on to other options.
- The Pentagon‘s top testing official stated in may, 2011 that the “The Block 30 [version of Global Hawk] is not operationally effective
- Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey testified at an House Armed Services Committee in February 2012 that the Global Hawk “has fundamentally priced itself out of our ability to afford it.”
- The White House sent Congress two formal messages in 2012 saying that “strongly objects” to the lawmakers’ demand for additional Global Hawks.
- Canceling the purchase of new Global Hawks from Northrop, the creator and manufacturer of this drone, and putting recently-built drones in long-term storage would save $2.5 billion over five years.
- Even better, the mothballed drone’s military missions could be picked up by an existing Air Force plane, the U-2 spy plane, which had room for more sensors and which could fly higher.
Wow, a government bureaucrat that looked at the problem, identified the root causes, explored more inexpensive yet more productive options, and proceeded to the right thing. Bravo.
Well, almost bravo. You see, Northrop pays a lot of lobbyists and former government officials and politicians to make sure that this type of integrity and analysis never impacts their financial bottom line. Thus, even though the Air Force did not want any more of these drones, the Joint Chief of Staff did not want any more of these drones, and the White House did not want any more of these drones, Congress went ahead and overrode all of these concerns and bad experiences to keep this program actively eating up taxpayer wealth for no reason.
Why did Congress vote to keep the program alive? The article points out that two powerful Congressmen, Howard “Buck” McKeon, and Rep. Jim Moran, received a total of $135,100 from Northrop Grumman’s political action committee and employees for their election campaigns and leadership PACs since the beginning of 2009. Thus, it is quite possible that the American taxpayer was sold out to the tune of $135,000 to keep spending billions and billions of dollars for no good defense reason at all. Good payoff for Northop if you can get it.
The article cited above goes into much more detail of the mechanical problems of the drone itself along with the disgusting lobbying and payoff problems. Insanity that politicians in Washington can be bought for so little but cost the taxpayer so much.
Only three pieces of insanity today but they were whoppers. Hawaiian politicians that have let their capital city crumble beneath them over decades of neglect and now will find it almost impossible to finance the needed repairs. A local city politician that looks at others’ sufferings not as a chance to serve and protect but as a chance to get wealthy. And members of Congress that apparently would sell out their integrity for a campaign contribution, regardless of how useless a continued government and taxpayer expense would be.
More of the same tomorrow. However, before that, may we suggest that you visit our new term limits website:
www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
Because really, after reading about drone corruption, New Orleans corruption, and Oahu incompetence, how much worst could it get if retired every current politicians and replaced them with someone else, anyone else?
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:
Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w
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