no, but they will spend it when the private sector won't. Which doesn't make much sense, unless it's your job they are spending it on.
Pick your poison, social unrest, or...
- Thread starter Ricter
- Start date
The stupidity runs deep...
The period in question, 07 to 14, has been characterized by "we're all keynesians now" and a central bank that has gone completely off the rails with their money shenanigans.
And the article attempts to imply that whatever problems we have are a result of not enough gov't interference in the country's economy. If the gov't would just finally 'do something!', they could make it all better.
When this house of cards all collapses, that's the only message that is going to get any air time.
Too much capitalism!
And the article attempts to imply that whatever problems we have are a result of not enough gov't interference in the country's economy. If the gov't would just finally 'do something!', they could make it all better.
When this house of cards all collapses, that's the only message that is going to get any air time.
Too much capitalism!
or they will "invest" it in crony businesses that donate to well connected politico's...this is why "theory" is so dangerous because it assumes that enlightened individuals will do the right thing at the right time...it almost never accounts for the inherent graft that is embedded in the system...
While we're on the topic of Cook County...it's my understanding that the massive teacher pension shortfalls are partially the result of several decades of no funding, or minimal funding by the politico's and their cronies who used the inflows for other pet projects...Now, here we are in 2015 and the scam has been uncovered over the past few years and the boomers are in their retirement years and p.o.'d that their pensions are in such a state of insolvency that the "nuclear option" sounds reasonable to them, just to insure that they get those monthly payments...I can't completely blame them, but at the same time there is no f'ing possible way that the defined benefits (annual pensions adjusted for inflation) could have been achieved (maybe if we stayed in the late 1990's perpetually)...
So now Cook County continues to implode the local economy in a futile effort to save the pensions...Meanwhile the tax base continues to flee, of course all variety of taxes have to continue to rise and yet the insolvency will never go away...
Total Farkin" HOGWASH!
The rich get richer because they have capital and know how to make money. The poor don't. Therefore... "strive to make yourself one of the rich" rather than bitch "someone (who has one more than I and who is smarter/more ambitious than I) has more than poor little 'ol me."
It's nothing more than a political argument to cover one's ass...(i.e. our hearts were in the right place, we just didn't go big enough)...It's also nothing more than a generational bailout...Enslave future generations to enormous debt to keep the system solvent enough for the beneficiaries to keep their benefits rolling in...Even the most vocal supporters would admit this reality, but they are too selfish to want to reform this practice..
Yes that's true, but it doesn't change the fact that the tax rate is ridiculously high. Let me give you an example of how absurd Cook County taxes are. My brother lives in Lombard, IL. he has a 2 bedroom 1500 square foot condo. Nice little place in a nice neighborhood. He pays nearly $6,000.00 a year in property taxes. I live in St. John, IN. Lombard and St. John are about equal distance to downtown Chicago. I live in a 2500 square foot home on a 1/2 acre lot in a nice neighborhood. I pay $2800.00 a year in taxes. I know people who live in Cook County(Lombard, Naperville, Oak Brook, Orland Park, Tinley Park, Frankfort, Mokena, all comparable neighborhoods), with homes and lots comparable to mine. They are paying between $12,000.00 and $20,000.00 a year in property taxes.
The difference between the above mentioned neighborhoods and Lansing is that Lansing is one of the many south suburban hoods that have experienced a demographic change over the past 30 years. It's probably 2/3 - 3/4 minority. Isn't anyone with any money moving into Lansing. Crime, while not staggering, is up over the years. School system, while not as terrible as Chicago, is still sub par. Consequently business leaves. Residents leave. Bottom line is that suburban Cook County cities are carrying the financial burden of the sewer called Chicago.
No time for a big reply, so in short, I agree with you. Sometimes it makes no sense. I pay less property tax on my farm, 156 acres, then friends of mine do in Calgary for small city lots. But it is fairly close, and that seems really weird to me. If it's about maintaining infrastructure then my taxes should be way lower, so maybe I'm partly subsidizing the city of Calgary. On the other hand, maybe theirs are "low" because they have density. Shrug.
Edit: but, I don't think any of it is a liberal conspiracy.
; )
Something very similar with re to pensions happened in Puerto Rico. Money that was supposed to go into the pension fund was diverted for other "uses". This went on year after year. The Pension fund trustees should have raised Cain years ago, as they were fully aware of what was going on, but they are all political appointees and it was the politicians that appointed them that were misappropriating the funds. Now they have a horrible mess on their hands. The level of both government and private sector corruption in Puerto Rico is mind blowing.