To stop or slow foreclosures, what should the Columbia Heights City Council do. The real estate foreclosure problem was predicted by some economists as early as 1999. That makes the City Council nine years late in getting involved with foreclosures. The Council knew that the Federal Reserve was printing money to lower interest rates and telling banks to drop their mortgage qualifications for home buyers. Also, for the first time that I can remember since 1929 people were being told that they could make good long term money in real estate investment. Then City subsidized development helped to give the allusion that the good times would never stop.
The Federal Reserve can't just keep printing money to keep interest rates in the US low, so rates will rise. Because of inflation of the money supply, goods cost more. Even more alarming is that government spending is going up much faster than inflation, including the City of Columbia Heights. The Council plans to subsidize two more strip malls on Central Ave this year. The Council must not live here because it is easy to see the vacant store fronts already along Central Ave. The City subsidized development will drive existing commercial property owners into foreclosure and force ma and pop businesses to close their doors. Finally, the city spent a lot of money helping to build condominiums, which in a slow economy, are the residential units least likely to sell and to experience the biggest drop in value.
At a Council meeting, all the Council members felt that they were not responsible in anyway with the foreclosure problem. The Council stated that it was due to greedy people. In other words, the citizens that voted the Council in are the problem. The Council has not even studied the problem to determine what would be a workable solution. The Council “Solution” (RIBS – residential inspection before sale) has no studies to show that its benefits outweigh the increases from fees, cost of regulatory delays, or quick fixes in selling Columbia Heights neighborly homes.
What can the Council do to reduce foreclosures.
Stop all city development plans now. Development appears to be about 20% of the City budget.
Reduce taxes to help keep citizens in their homes and increase the pool of potential home buyers for affordable family homes in Columbia Heights.
Reduce/eliminate regulations that interfere with the selling of homes in Columbia Heights.
Allow the selling of homes “as is.” This greatly reduces the chances that a home will sit vacant and become an eye sore.
Listen to citizens and put a sign on the door to City Hall that says, “No Solicitation from Developers.”
The main concern of the Council should not be increasing the value of property so they will collect more taxes to spend and buy votes. The concern should be keeping Columbia Heights “Affordable and Neighborly.” People move to Columbia Heights because of the friendships that they can form here. After all, people are more important than things.
Bob Odden
Candidate for Mayor of Columbia Heights
“Affordable and Neighborly”
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Activity Center Plans
At the December 12th, 2007 Columbia Heights City Council meeting, our Big Government Council revealed their plans to bypass the referendum process (us) to fund a frivolous activity center. The same activity center citizens voted down a few years ago in a special election called one month after a general election. With opposing citizens having only one months notice of the special election, our Big Government Council thought there would be no chance for the citizen majority to organize. The center was amazingly voted down by 70% to 30%, despite Big Government tricks.
The Council reminded citizens that the unwanted center has been in the works for 20 years. At the same meeting, our Big Government Council stated that the Fire and Police Department facilities have also been substandard/unsafe for at least 20 years. City Hall is connected directly to the fire and police facilities. That means that for 20 years our Council has known about the inadequate facilities. This has exposed our fine city employees to potential harm. Only now, this year, is this sad situation being addressed.
Imagine being a police or fire department employee and listening to our Big Government City Council for 20 years talk about an unneeded activity center. All that time our hard working city employees risked being harmed in their own facilities.
Our Big Government City Council should stop giving out freebies (bribes) to special interest voters to get reelected and start thinking about the city's employees' safety and about the services Cities are supposed to provide. No where in the City Charter do I see that the City Council's main job or job at all is development. At election time remember the one Councilman who voted no on the activity center and who believes in us. Vote out the Big Government rascals who think citizens of Columbia Heights need to be bottle fed. Small government is beautiful.
The Council reminded citizens that the unwanted center has been in the works for 20 years. At the same meeting, our Big Government Council stated that the Fire and Police Department facilities have also been substandard/unsafe for at least 20 years. City Hall is connected directly to the fire and police facilities. That means that for 20 years our Council has known about the inadequate facilities. This has exposed our fine city employees to potential harm. Only now, this year, is this sad situation being addressed.
Imagine being a police or fire department employee and listening to our Big Government City Council for 20 years talk about an unneeded activity center. All that time our hard working city employees risked being harmed in their own facilities.
Our Big Government City Council should stop giving out freebies (bribes) to special interest voters to get reelected and start thinking about the city's employees' safety and about the services Cities are supposed to provide. No where in the City Charter do I see that the City Council's main job or job at all is development. At election time remember the one Councilman who voted no on the activity center and who believes in us. Vote out the Big Government rascals who think citizens of Columbia Heights need to be bottle fed. Small government is beautiful.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Make Government a Citizen's Servant Again
The other day I read in a local newspaper that Columbia Heights (CH) doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. The question implied that Columbia Heights must physically change but that the citizens don't know what to change Columbia Heights into. As an example, when the city tears down a citizens home to create change, the citizen doesn't seem to know what should take their home's place. The article suggested that the Citizens of Columbia Heights are clueless about the need for Big Government to step in and create the perfect utopia for its new citizens (not you) to live in.
Citizens of CH presently mostly live with out the benefit of housing associations and their absolute guiding rules. That is why big government has been subsidizing development with housing associations. For the less well to do, big government provides government built, government run and government controlled housing. All of this is being done to remove stress from adult (old enough to show personal responsibility and to understand individual Liberty) citizens as they mature and live their lives.
All our new Metropolitan Commission inspired development looks the same. The City of Brooklyn Center rejected a development that would have rivaled the Mall of America as a tourist attraction. Brooklyn Center made the Hmong developer come back with architectural drawings that were the same as all the other new development. The new development stresses retail, office and residential property. Since manufacturing property has low property values, they also have low property taxes. Cities don't want good paying manufacturing jobs, just an increase in citizen control, uniformity between all parts of the Metro, higher city property tax revenue, no mom and pop stores just the big boxes, and of course money for friends (developers and bonders) of the city council. A certain unsecured unwritten loan from a city council member to a developer for a $250,000 illustrates this developer friendship.
What happens in the big government redevelopment process? Residential property, especially affordable rental property, shoots up in property value. This increases taxes on the affordable rental property which has a dramatic effect in raising apartment rents. In stead of keeping the Hispanics and African Americans in the neighborhood, the new development and the areas around the development change over to white professionals (gentrification). These new people want the poor to live where they can't be seen.
The poor communities are forced to break up their social structure when they move. Being less able to help each other, poorer residents become more dependent on big government services with all the strings that are attached. The strings make big government social programs almost impossible to break away from. The big government workers who work for big government social programs become enablers to poor citizens on big government welfare programs.
Only a very small group of big government fans benefit from this system. Many of them can be found hanging around city hall.
If you are tired of big government pushing you around, join a group that wants to permanently downsize big government. Part of this will be done by protecting citizens from big government by changing the City of Columbia Heights' Charter, or other city charters. The rest of the down sizing will be through an organization made up of citizens and small local businesses for small is beautiful government. While big government support groups have big government dollars, the big government groups are small so they do not have the votes to stay in power when small government is beautiful citizens fight back. The statute of Liberty has boots, so lets get those boots working for small is beautiful government.
Contact Bob Odden at SmallGovIsBeautifulCH@hotmail.com to join a group to keep the City of Columbia Heights City Council (or other cities) confined to a much smaller container.
Citizens of CH presently mostly live with out the benefit of housing associations and their absolute guiding rules. That is why big government has been subsidizing development with housing associations. For the less well to do, big government provides government built, government run and government controlled housing. All of this is being done to remove stress from adult (old enough to show personal responsibility and to understand individual Liberty) citizens as they mature and live their lives.
All our new Metropolitan Commission inspired development looks the same. The City of Brooklyn Center rejected a development that would have rivaled the Mall of America as a tourist attraction. Brooklyn Center made the Hmong developer come back with architectural drawings that were the same as all the other new development. The new development stresses retail, office and residential property. Since manufacturing property has low property values, they also have low property taxes. Cities don't want good paying manufacturing jobs, just an increase in citizen control, uniformity between all parts of the Metro, higher city property tax revenue, no mom and pop stores just the big boxes, and of course money for friends (developers and bonders) of the city council. A certain unsecured unwritten loan from a city council member to a developer for a $250,000 illustrates this developer friendship.
What happens in the big government redevelopment process? Residential property, especially affordable rental property, shoots up in property value. This increases taxes on the affordable rental property which has a dramatic effect in raising apartment rents. In stead of keeping the Hispanics and African Americans in the neighborhood, the new development and the areas around the development change over to white professionals (gentrification). These new people want the poor to live where they can't be seen.
The poor communities are forced to break up their social structure when they move. Being less able to help each other, poorer residents become more dependent on big government services with all the strings that are attached. The strings make big government social programs almost impossible to break away from. The big government workers who work for big government social programs become enablers to poor citizens on big government welfare programs.
Only a very small group of big government fans benefit from this system. Many of them can be found hanging around city hall.
If you are tired of big government pushing you around, join a group that wants to permanently downsize big government. Part of this will be done by protecting citizens from big government by changing the City of Columbia Heights' Charter, or other city charters. The rest of the down sizing will be through an organization made up of citizens and small local businesses for small is beautiful government. While big government support groups have big government dollars, the big government groups are small so they do not have the votes to stay in power when small government is beautiful citizens fight back. The statute of Liberty has boots, so lets get those boots working for small is beautiful government.
Contact Bob Odden at SmallGovIsBeautifulCH@hotmail.com to join a group to keep the City of Columbia Heights City Council (or other cities) confined to a much smaller container.
Change is Coming, Make it a Positive Change
I have wondered almost all my life if there was any hope that this country would ever rediscover Liberty. Everyone considers Liberty to be a positive. They think they know what it means, that they have it, and will always have it. But when you ask citizens what Liberty means, they can’t tell you. Obviously, citizens are not learning about Liberty in Big Government schools. Maybe Big Government just forgot. Big Government loses things all the time like money. Or maybe, Liberty conflicts with Big Government goals? Maybe the Separation of School and Big Government people are right? Is it possible that Big Government doesn’t want citizens to know that it has Constitutional limitations on what Big Government can do? And to go further, that Big Government has grossly exceeded what government is Constitutional allowed to do?
So what is Liberty? Justice Kennedy, on the Supreme Court, has said, “Liberty is the exercise of freedom that does not interfere with the Rights of others.”
Freedom and Rights are two more words that citizens think they understand but don’t. To most citizens, freedom is used in a context of “freedom from” like from a tyrant. They know what freedom isn’t but they can’t tell you what it is or why any one would want it. Freedom is living without external control, interference, or regulations.
Rights are another murky word to citizens. They think that people have the right to live and it is up to Big Government to enforce that right with any means possible. But a Right by definition belongs to all citizens. One citizen's Rights cannot destroy the Rights of another citizen. The Right to life means that a citizen could sit around and do nothing to ensure their continued existence. They can sit around because Big Government intimidation and enforcement would take from citizens who are laboring to provide for themselves. That violates the very concept of Rights. If you don’t have the Right to the fruits of your labor, the Right to own property, and the Right to associate with just the people that you want to, then there are no Rights. Finally, Rights are inherit, Rights are not granted to us by Big Government.
But Liberty is more involved than what Justice Kennedy suggests. There are a couple of duties citizens must perform in order to enjoy Liberty. First, they must defend the Rights of others. This goes beyond just not violating the Rights of others. If you see someone’s Rights being violated, you have an obligation to protect their rights.
Liberty also cannot exist unless citizens are prepared to live in a Civil Society. That doesn't mean politically correct. Citizens can have different viewpoints on life that may result in arguments. But in the end, as long as no Rights are being violated, citizens must respect the other’s viewpoint even though they disagree. A Civil Society takes work but it too is necessary to have Liberty.
Now think of all the thousands of bills every year that are passed by Big Government that violate one group’s or another group’s Rights. It is impossible to fight each and every bill that is passed that attacks Liberty. Therefore, it is important to educate citizens on what Liberty is, how they are losing Liberty, and how Liberty benefits them directly.
There is a change in the air. Citizens are unhappy with where the Democrats/Republicans are taking us. Citizens want real change. They want Liberty and Big Government to return to what is Constitutional allowed. Ron Paul is the only candidate for President that talks about Liberty. Ron Paul is making citizens aware that they are losing Liberty. Citizens know that if they want Liberty, they need to take action. Now is the best time in generations to spread the word about Liberty. Liberty will solve the problems that landlords are facing. Liberty would give us back control of our lives. While property Rights is the basis of all Rights, we need to be talking Liberty. The Libertarian Party is taking steps to help its members sell Liberty. Join us at this pivotal point in history to sell Liberty.
We are in for a bumpy ride the next 12 months. The choice about whether the outcomes will be positive (Liberty) or negative (Dictatorship) will be the results of our actions.
So what is Liberty? Justice Kennedy, on the Supreme Court, has said, “Liberty is the exercise of freedom that does not interfere with the Rights of others.”
Freedom and Rights are two more words that citizens think they understand but don’t. To most citizens, freedom is used in a context of “freedom from” like from a tyrant. They know what freedom isn’t but they can’t tell you what it is or why any one would want it. Freedom is living without external control, interference, or regulations.
Rights are another murky word to citizens. They think that people have the right to live and it is up to Big Government to enforce that right with any means possible. But a Right by definition belongs to all citizens. One citizen's Rights cannot destroy the Rights of another citizen. The Right to life means that a citizen could sit around and do nothing to ensure their continued existence. They can sit around because Big Government intimidation and enforcement would take from citizens who are laboring to provide for themselves. That violates the very concept of Rights. If you don’t have the Right to the fruits of your labor, the Right to own property, and the Right to associate with just the people that you want to, then there are no Rights. Finally, Rights are inherit, Rights are not granted to us by Big Government.
But Liberty is more involved than what Justice Kennedy suggests. There are a couple of duties citizens must perform in order to enjoy Liberty. First, they must defend the Rights of others. This goes beyond just not violating the Rights of others. If you see someone’s Rights being violated, you have an obligation to protect their rights.
Liberty also cannot exist unless citizens are prepared to live in a Civil Society. That doesn't mean politically correct. Citizens can have different viewpoints on life that may result in arguments. But in the end, as long as no Rights are being violated, citizens must respect the other’s viewpoint even though they disagree. A Civil Society takes work but it too is necessary to have Liberty.
Now think of all the thousands of bills every year that are passed by Big Government that violate one group’s or another group’s Rights. It is impossible to fight each and every bill that is passed that attacks Liberty. Therefore, it is important to educate citizens on what Liberty is, how they are losing Liberty, and how Liberty benefits them directly.
There is a change in the air. Citizens are unhappy with where the Democrats/Republicans are taking us. Citizens want real change. They want Liberty and Big Government to return to what is Constitutional allowed. Ron Paul is the only candidate for President that talks about Liberty. Ron Paul is making citizens aware that they are losing Liberty. Citizens know that if they want Liberty, they need to take action. Now is the best time in generations to spread the word about Liberty. Liberty will solve the problems that landlords are facing. Liberty would give us back control of our lives. While property Rights is the basis of all Rights, we need to be talking Liberty. The Libertarian Party is taking steps to help its members sell Liberty. Join us at this pivotal point in history to sell Liberty.
We are in for a bumpy ride the next 12 months. The choice about whether the outcomes will be positive (Liberty) or negative (Dictatorship) will be the results of our actions.
Black History Month
Election primary season is here. We all get political messages intelligently designed to focus on our present fears and our dreams of the future.
Republicans say, except Ron Paul, that we need the “War on Terror.” All our other unconstitutional wars, (e.g. “War on Drugs”), target the poorest. Who are the ones dying in Iraq, who are the ones in our prisons. “We The People,” have traded away our individual Liberties and personal responsibilities for “security” in the present.
On the other side of the political “linear” spectrum, Democrats promise a dreamy future like universal health care. This too takes away our individual Liberties and personal responsibilities for a secure future. Big Government will push us around and punish us like children. Children don't have Rights. Universal Health Care will end all serious political discussion. The loved ones of any one who speaks up for Liberty will not get the care they need.
Many of us think Liberty is a fairy tail or something we will never lose. I’d like to offer a choice most all media outlets try to protect you from – the Libertarian Party (LP). When southern Black schools couldn't get government money, Black parents took on the responsibility to give their kids a good education. They proved that money was not the problem with government schools. When Black schools got government money, Blacks lost control of their schools and the quality of their childrens' education dropped The Libertarian Party, individual Liberty and personal responsibility.
With Rights comes responsibility
The duty to defend the Rights of others
The duty defines Liberty
The action defines Libertarians
www.lpmn.org
Republicans say, except Ron Paul, that we need the “War on Terror.” All our other unconstitutional wars, (e.g. “War on Drugs”), target the poorest. Who are the ones dying in Iraq, who are the ones in our prisons. “We The People,” have traded away our individual Liberties and personal responsibilities for “security” in the present.
On the other side of the political “linear” spectrum, Democrats promise a dreamy future like universal health care. This too takes away our individual Liberties and personal responsibilities for a secure future. Big Government will push us around and punish us like children. Children don't have Rights. Universal Health Care will end all serious political discussion. The loved ones of any one who speaks up for Liberty will not get the care they need.
Many of us think Liberty is a fairy tail or something we will never lose. I’d like to offer a choice most all media outlets try to protect you from – the Libertarian Party (LP). When southern Black schools couldn't get government money, Black parents took on the responsibility to give their kids a good education. They proved that money was not the problem with government schools. When Black schools got government money, Blacks lost control of their schools and the quality of their childrens' education dropped The Libertarian Party, individual Liberty and personal responsibility.
With Rights comes responsibility
The duty to defend the Rights of others
The duty defines Liberty
The action defines Libertarians
www.lpmn.org
French-American Relationships
I have been to France. While the French hate Americans to their face, it is based on their jealously of every Americans' Sovereignty, going back generations to the start of these United States. But, there are mummers beginning in France. The generous French are starting to think that what they so admired about the United Sovereign States of America will soon be at an end. If the Americans no longer desire to use their Liberty, the French are thinking they should take back their gift. Their gift of admiration, which explains the hate they show Americans in France. They are beginning to think that since the Americans no longer care to use their Liberty, that the very symbol of Liberty should be returned to France, until the Americans decide to embrace Liberty again.
This is beginning to make the City Council of New York City nervous. What would they do without their greatest tourist attraction. Americans visit the Statute because they think of the Statute of Liberty, like a vast bank vault, holding their Liberty until Americans decide to withdraw and again use their Liberty. Seeing the Statute gives Americans the illusion that they still have their Liberty.
If you ask Americans what Liberty is, Americans would reply:
1. Liberty is good
2. Liberty is something they will always have no matter what, and
3. Liberty is something that, no matter how hard they try, they can not define.
American government schools tell moldable children that Liberty is a statute or a bell. Then, Republicans talk about Freedom and Democrats talk about Rights. But isn't Liberty about Freedom and Rights?
According to Republicans, Freedom is the ability of citizens to do what ever Republicans allow. Rights to Democrats is the ability of one group to take from another group. One person's Rights can violate the Rights of another person.
What is Liberty. A current Supreme Court Justice says, “Liberty is the exercise of Freedom that does not violate the Rights of others.” That is certainly not what the Democrats, Republicans, or our Central Government are telling us. But that definition sounds cheap. It would look like a Statute of Liberty with only the structural frame leaving the beauty of Liberty to our imagination. In life isn't Liberty more than just avoiding harming others?
For some reason, our government schools are leaving something out. To believe in Liberty, you have to accept and act on the Duties of Liberty. The Duties come in three main parts.
Action to defend others is required when citizens who believe in Liberty sees the Rights of others violated.
A believer in Liberty accepts the need to defend their Rights plus the Rights of their family, neighbors, city and country, and
Finally, Liberty requires all citizens to take citizenship seriously. This may involve hours every week from all Americans to make sure that our government only defends our Liberty without encroaching on our Freedom and Rights.
Freedom and Rights do not come from government, but are innate within us. If we do not use our Freedom or Rights and through our inaction let government encroach on them, it is then that we forget what Liberty is.
To save the French the expense of moving the Statute back to France, we should admit that we as Americans are losers and give the French back the greatest gift any country has ever given to a collection of sovereign states, Liberty.
Maybe, Americans will learn that 500 cable TV channels is not the pursuit of happiness. That living requires overcoming opposition, making us the greater for it. France, maybe some day, Americans will make you jealous again. Then we will have re-earned the breathtaking treasure that you gave us once.
This is beginning to make the City Council of New York City nervous. What would they do without their greatest tourist attraction. Americans visit the Statute because they think of the Statute of Liberty, like a vast bank vault, holding their Liberty until Americans decide to withdraw and again use their Liberty. Seeing the Statute gives Americans the illusion that they still have their Liberty.
If you ask Americans what Liberty is, Americans would reply:
1. Liberty is good
2. Liberty is something they will always have no matter what, and
3. Liberty is something that, no matter how hard they try, they can not define.
American government schools tell moldable children that Liberty is a statute or a bell. Then, Republicans talk about Freedom and Democrats talk about Rights. But isn't Liberty about Freedom and Rights?
According to Republicans, Freedom is the ability of citizens to do what ever Republicans allow. Rights to Democrats is the ability of one group to take from another group. One person's Rights can violate the Rights of another person.
What is Liberty. A current Supreme Court Justice says, “Liberty is the exercise of Freedom that does not violate the Rights of others.” That is certainly not what the Democrats, Republicans, or our Central Government are telling us. But that definition sounds cheap. It would look like a Statute of Liberty with only the structural frame leaving the beauty of Liberty to our imagination. In life isn't Liberty more than just avoiding harming others?
For some reason, our government schools are leaving something out. To believe in Liberty, you have to accept and act on the Duties of Liberty. The Duties come in three main parts.
Action to defend others is required when citizens who believe in Liberty sees the Rights of others violated.
A believer in Liberty accepts the need to defend their Rights plus the Rights of their family, neighbors, city and country, and
Finally, Liberty requires all citizens to take citizenship seriously. This may involve hours every week from all Americans to make sure that our government only defends our Liberty without encroaching on our Freedom and Rights.
Freedom and Rights do not come from government, but are innate within us. If we do not use our Freedom or Rights and through our inaction let government encroach on them, it is then that we forget what Liberty is.
To save the French the expense of moving the Statute back to France, we should admit that we as Americans are losers and give the French back the greatest gift any country has ever given to a collection of sovereign states, Liberty.
Maybe, Americans will learn that 500 cable TV channels is not the pursuit of happiness. That living requires overcoming opposition, making us the greater for it. France, maybe some day, Americans will make you jealous again. Then we will have re-earned the breathtaking treasure that you gave us once.
The City's Council's Foreclosure Responsibilities
The Columbia Heights' City Council denies all responsibility for foreclosures in the City. The Council called foreclosures a threat to the City. The Council laid all blame for foreclosures on others. Nothing new there. The Council blamed banks, sub prime mortgage lenders, and individuals who took out mortgages that they could not pay.
“We the People” elected the City Council to take their oath of office and responsibilities seriously. We didn't elect the Council minus one because they had money, good looks, or joking ability. We elected them to warn us about the foreclosure problem when economists were predicting it years ago. Being Big Government fans, they surely know how the Federal Reserve Bank (a corporation) works. The Council knew what was going to happen and did nothing to prepare the City for an economic downturn, like lowering taxes.
The current economic problems that Big Government created was done by artificial lowering the interest rates. For our Central Government to lower interest rates, Central Government officials must ask the Federal Reserve Bank to inflate the money supply. The money supply was inflated by 100's of billions of dollars. Then the Central Government told banks to loan money to anyone applying for a mortgage, especially in poor neighborhoods. This meant loaning money to individuals unable to make mortgage payments if there were even a slight economic downturn. So much money was pumped into the economy, some people didn't know what to do with all of it. The 1929 euphoria was recreated. History buffs know what happened next.
Then cities like ours, used TIF (tax incremental financing) to take away the risk of development to developers. Metro developers created new commercial spaces and 10's of thousands of city inspired association controlled living units. To fill the new retail spaces, subsidies were given to the big boxes like Star Bucks, allowing them to under sell existing mom and pop stores. This pressured unique city businesses to consider bankruptcy. Older commercial space saw increasing vacancy rates causing their owners to default on their mortgages.
All the new condos didn't sell. In the 10 years before 2003, only 200 condos were built. People didn't want them. The last time real estate crashed, the price of condos did not recover for years after the price of private homes rebound. Why did the Council build high risk condominiums? When condos don't sell, they will be rented, pushing rents down, forcing apartment owners into foreclosure.
The city's TIF costs are hidden from citizens since the money to pay back TIF is taken out of the city's taxes before taxes show on a spreadsheet. The new City inspired development does not pay its fair share of taxes for schools, police and fire protection, libraries or other City services. This means higher taxes to existing home owners. These higher taxes translate into a higher foreclosure rate. Plus the City Council minus one can't wait to spend more using TIF with a recession coming. There are plans for more City commercial development. This will result in higher taxes and the closing of our familiar businesses. This goes beyond deliberate irresponsibility. This goes against their oath of office minus one.
Big Government blames corporations and individuals for Government created problems. Not surprisingly, Big Government is now, after the fact, attacking sub prime lenders. The lenders only did what Big Government asked. Our Council didn't have to be part of this scam. Now the City Council minus one are blaming the very people, they were voted to serve, for the foreclosures. When election time rolls around, don't accept Council excuses that they didn't know bad times were coming. Vote in citizens who will take City Council responsibilities seriously, not just to enrich best friend developers.
“We the People” elected the City Council to take their oath of office and responsibilities seriously. We didn't elect the Council minus one because they had money, good looks, or joking ability. We elected them to warn us about the foreclosure problem when economists were predicting it years ago. Being Big Government fans, they surely know how the Federal Reserve Bank (a corporation) works. The Council knew what was going to happen and did nothing to prepare the City for an economic downturn, like lowering taxes.
The current economic problems that Big Government created was done by artificial lowering the interest rates. For our Central Government to lower interest rates, Central Government officials must ask the Federal Reserve Bank to inflate the money supply. The money supply was inflated by 100's of billions of dollars. Then the Central Government told banks to loan money to anyone applying for a mortgage, especially in poor neighborhoods. This meant loaning money to individuals unable to make mortgage payments if there were even a slight economic downturn. So much money was pumped into the economy, some people didn't know what to do with all of it. The 1929 euphoria was recreated. History buffs know what happened next.
Then cities like ours, used TIF (tax incremental financing) to take away the risk of development to developers. Metro developers created new commercial spaces and 10's of thousands of city inspired association controlled living units. To fill the new retail spaces, subsidies were given to the big boxes like Star Bucks, allowing them to under sell existing mom and pop stores. This pressured unique city businesses to consider bankruptcy. Older commercial space saw increasing vacancy rates causing their owners to default on their mortgages.
All the new condos didn't sell. In the 10 years before 2003, only 200 condos were built. People didn't want them. The last time real estate crashed, the price of condos did not recover for years after the price of private homes rebound. Why did the Council build high risk condominiums? When condos don't sell, they will be rented, pushing rents down, forcing apartment owners into foreclosure.
The city's TIF costs are hidden from citizens since the money to pay back TIF is taken out of the city's taxes before taxes show on a spreadsheet. The new City inspired development does not pay its fair share of taxes for schools, police and fire protection, libraries or other City services. This means higher taxes to existing home owners. These higher taxes translate into a higher foreclosure rate. Plus the City Council minus one can't wait to spend more using TIF with a recession coming. There are plans for more City commercial development. This will result in higher taxes and the closing of our familiar businesses. This goes beyond deliberate irresponsibility. This goes against their oath of office minus one.
Big Government blames corporations and individuals for Government created problems. Not surprisingly, Big Government is now, after the fact, attacking sub prime lenders. The lenders only did what Big Government asked. Our Council didn't have to be part of this scam. Now the City Council minus one are blaming the very people, they were voted to serve, for the foreclosures. When election time rolls around, don't accept Council excuses that they didn't know bad times were coming. Vote in citizens who will take City Council responsibilities seriously, not just to enrich best friend developers.
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