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US cities already have hands out for obama money
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| jerZ07002 |
This looks to me like a disaster waiting to happen. Check out the slide show in the link below. Cities already have their hands out for some ridiculous probject: street resurfacing, sidewalk repairs, emergency communications systems, local police department upgrade, the list of goes on.
i sure as hell don't want to see federal money go to local needs. I would rather see the obama administration spend on national infrastructure, ie., rail systems, energy production facilities, air transportation, shipping, computer technologies, etc... My take is that local problems need to be addressed with local revenue. to the extent a local problem is a national issue we should spend federal revenue on that issue.
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The Obama Boomtowns
Joshua Zumbrun, 12.15.08, 5:42 PM ET
As part of his plan to revive a flailing economy, President-elect Barack Obama recently pledged to "Create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s."
His plan would include potentially hundreds of billions of dollars for infrastructure projects. And while economists debate whether this is the most effective form of fiscal stimulus, the mayors of the nation's cities line up at the trough. Schools, roads, rails, pipes and airports? Can we have some more, sir?
Slide Show: The 10 Biggest Stimulus Cities
Even by Washington standards this would be a once-in-a-lifetime spending spree on projects that would be called pork in less-prodigal times. Cities across the country are ready to pig out.
On Dec. 8, just two days after Obama's pledge for massive infrastructure spending, the U.S. Conference of Mayors released an 803-page report--a wishlist of some 11,391 infrastructure projects they would love to press ahead with.
Talk about a dream scenario. Build all those projects, do it with federal money, say you're rescuing the economy with the spending and, since it's not your local taxpayers' money, don't even stress too much about whether or not the project's cost effective.
Give the money to banks or individuals and they might just horde it. Give it to states or the federal government and it will get stuck in the bureaucracy. But give it to the cities and they'll spend, says Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, the president of the Conference of Mayors. (Not that the governors are sitting idly by--they have $136 billion in plans they'd like to initiate.)
Perhaps it's no surprise then that Diaz's city outlined the boldest request, with 456 projects in Miami that could be completed for a cool $3.4 billion. They estimate the projects would create 55,355 jobs.
Major projects in Miami waiting for cash range from $281 million in various airport projects to $200 million for parking garages throughout the city to dozens of little projects from school renovations to upgrading fleets. Perhaps the most exciting project? $280 million to put a new public transit system on Miami roads: streetcars.
Sacramento, second on the list, wants to plow $560 million into an assortment of road and interstate projects to take pressure off congested roads. The city would also like $200 million to protect the city from floods by improving levees in the Natomas Basin. Other big safety items include $250 million requested to purchase equipment for the fire and police departments.
Philadelphia has the third largest wish list. The city wants $150 million to renovate new schools and $110 million for a new juvenile detention facility. Other items on Philly's $2.6 billion shopping list include Community Development Block Grants for bookmobiles ($500,000), a community theater ($12 million), the Philadelphia Zoo ($20 million), the Philadelphia Museum of Art ($80 million) and a revitalization of the Market Street Corridor and Convention Center District ($100 million).
All told, the conference collected lists from 427 cities with $73 billion in proposed projects. The mayors say that with funding they could start the projects and hence start pumping money into the economy in 2009, and finish them by 2010.
The mayors have big eyes. Those cities that responded would like $17 billion for streets, $15 billion for water and sewage, $13 billion in community development grants, $7 billion for transit systems, $6 billion for energy projects, $4 billion for schools, $4 billion for public safety, $4 billion for airports, $2 billion for public housing and $1 billion for Amtrak infrastructure.
Lawrence Summers, the former Treasury Secretary who will head Obama's National Economic Council, has said a fiscal stimulus will have to be "speedy, substantial and sustained." Congressional leaders have indicated that spending could even be as large as the $700 billion bailout, but details of how and where the money will be distributed are unknown.
Slide Show: The 10 Biggest Stimulus Cities
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http://www.forbes.com/home/2008/12/...15stimulus.html |
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| Fir3start3r |
| The slippery slope starts... |
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| The17sss |
I heard that universities with their "shrinking" endowments are now trying to get their hands out and into the TARP funds, sending Obama letters asking for money, "because if they don't get it they won't be able to build their Medical Center" or whatever. Unreal!
Jesus... what a pit of growing dispair. Jerz... you're familiar with what's going on up there. What's your take on all the new proposed taxes by NY's governor? I mean, as we're heading into a real economic downward spiral, he has proposed an increase in the budget to $121 billion, while raising/adding taxes on 137 items such as:
* An "iTunes tax" of 4 percent on videos, music or pictures downloaded from the Internet.
* A 4 percent tax on taxi, limo and bus rides. That means a $10 cab ride would cost 40 cents more.
* A 4 percent entertainment tax on tickets to movies, concerts and sporting events. That would add nearly 50 cents to a $12 movie ticket or $1.80 to the cheapest $44.50 seat at a Knicks game.
* The tax on beer increases 24 cents per gallon, or more than double the current rate, which means about 30 cents a case.
* An 18 percent tax on nondiet soft drinks, which aims to reduce child obesity. A $1.50 can of Pepsi would then cost at least 25 cents more.
* A 4 percent tax on cable TV and satellite services, raising a $100 bill by $4.
* Hiking the cost of "personal" services- including haircuts, manicures, pedicures, massages and gym memberships- by 4 percent.
* A 4 percent sales tax on clothing and shoes under $500, except for two weeks out of the year.
* Elimination of the law that caps the state sales tax on gasoline at 8 cents per gallon.
* Boosting the average vehicle registration fee for drivers by $11, from $44 to $55. Fees for new or renewed licenses also would increase 25 percent, or increase from $50 to about $62 to renew a license over eight years.
In addition, all drivers would have to get new, "reflectorized" license plates at a fee of $25 each. Plus new taxes on cigars, cars, yachts (over $200K... which isn't a yacht), and airplanes over $500K
http://www.nypost.com/seven/1217200...cker_144629.htm |
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| jerZ07002 |
| quote: | Originally posted by The17sss
I heard that universities with their "shrinking" endowments are now trying to get their hands out and into the TARP funds, sending Obama letters asking for money, "because if they don't get it they won't be able to build their Medical Center" or whatever. Unreal!
Jesus... what a pit of growing dispair. Jerz... you're familiar with what's going on up there. What's your take on all the new proposed taxes by NY's governor? I mean, as we're heading into a real economic downward spiral, he has proposed an increase in the budget to $121 billion, while raising/adding taxes on 137 items such as:
* An "iTunes tax" of 4 percent on videos, music or pictures downloaded from the Internet.
* A 4 percent tax on taxi, limo and bus rides. That means a $10 cab ride would cost 40 cents more.
* A 4 percent entertainment tax on tickets to movies, concerts and sporting events. That would add nearly 50 cents to a $12 movie ticket or $1.80 to the cheapest $44.50 seat at a Knicks game.
* The tax on beer increases 24 cents per gallon, or more than double the current rate, which means about 30 cents a case.
* An 18 percent tax on nondiet soft drinks, which aims to reduce child obesity. A $1.50 can of Pepsi would then cost at least 25 cents more.
* A 4 percent tax on cable TV and satellite services, raising a $100 bill by $4.
* Hiking the cost of "personal" services- including haircuts, manicures, pedicures, massages and gym memberships- by 4 percent.
* A 4 percent sales tax on clothing and shoes under $500, except for two weeks out of the year.
* Elimination of the law that caps the state sales tax on gasoline at 8 cents per gallon.
* Boosting the average vehicle registration fee for drivers by $11, from $44 to $55. Fees for new or renewed licenses also would increase 25 percent, or increase from $50 to about $62 to renew a license over eight years.
In addition, all drivers would have to get new, "reflectorized" license plates at a fee of $25 each. Plus new taxes on cigars, cars, yachts (over $200K... which isn't a yacht), and airplanes over $500K
http://www.nypost.com/seven/1217200...cker_144629.htm |
i don't mind taxes on consumption because you can modify your decisions if you don't want to pay that tax. However, i prefer uniformity. i haven't really read too much other than the soda tax, with which i actually agree. when there is a 4% hike, 8% hike, a 12% hike for different goods i'm concerned. I'd rather see a straight 1% increase across the board or a broadening of the tax base (i.e., include more goods within the sales tax) than to see sporadic increases with no real relation to anything. |
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| Groundhog Boy |
I guess that's what New Yorkers get for subsidizing so much of the rest of the union with our tax dollars, less to go around for ourselves.
Just look at NY vs. Alabama or Alaska for per capita tax benefits. |
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| pkcRAISTLIN |
| i ing hate consumption taxes. taxes should be levied on what someone can afford to pay, not on what their interests are. |
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| jerZ07002 |
| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
i ing hate consumption taxes. taxes should be levied on what someone can afford to pay, not on what their interests are. |
sound tax policy should draw from numerous justifications. As you pointed out, taxes should be imposed on those who can afford to pay. Taxes should also be imposed on something that has a broad and stable tax base (consumption happens to be broad and stable). Taxes should also relate to how much government benefits accrue to the taxpayer. while this one is tricky, it is still possible to come to a reasonable estimate of how much benefit certain social classes receive from the government. Unlike the popular notion that the poor receive the most from government, rich are likely to benefit much more from government than the poor. The rich benefit in so many more ways from government services than do the poor. Namely, the simple access to government (i.e., political influence) is probably the most stark difference. |
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| Groundhog Boy |
| Does anyone else find it interesting that NY wants to do an obesity tax on Pepsi, but that also want to tax gym memberships? If you're going to promote healthy lifestyles, shouldn't you want to lower the ridiculous prices that gyms are in NY? |
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| The17sss |
| quote: | Originally posted by Groundhog Boy
I guess that's what New Yorkers get for subsidizing so much of the rest of the union |
... plus the massive amounts of foreigners who suck up NY's resources. |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by The17sss
... plus the massive amounts of foreigners who suck up NY's resources. |
READ: Aliens :eek: |
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| Groundhog Boy |
| quote: | Originally posted by The17sss
... plus the massive amounts of foreigners who suck up NY's resources. |
NY could fund 3x the number of illegals that we harbor if we didn't have to bail out Southerners that feel they're taxed too much. |
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