The Perils of Publicly-Subsidized Private Piggy Banks
Three separate incidents in the last month have shown that some people have no qualms about using other peoples businesses as their own private piggy banks.
In Denver, officials think that some families of four with an income of $51,000 deserve subsidized housing. Rather than build subsidized housing with general tax revenues, they plan to tax new homeowners by requiring that developers either include affordable units in their projects or pay a $150,000 fee for every housing unit built.[1]
RTD Snake Charmers Have Lakewood Council In A Transit Trance
Like a cobra mesmerizing a mouse, lobbyists from RTDs utopian light rail team have convinced the Lakewood City Council to enact a city framework plan, which will set guidelines for a 22-month environmental impact study along 13th Avenue. Light rail is the ultimate goal of the framework plan, which will cost $450 million.
Learning to Live Within Colorado’s Tax and Spending Limits
The Colorado Commission on Taxation has just completed a survey of Colorado citizen attitudes toward the tax system. This is an important survey because it reflects the views
of ordinary citizens rather than that of politicians or special interest groups. It reveals some hostility to taxes and a low trust in the efficiency of government. This skepticism
toward taxes and government efficiency is directly related to the size of government; citizens have more confidence in local government, less confidence in state government,
and least confidence in our federal government.
Monorail to Vail: An Orgy of Collectivist Abuse
The failed monorail proposal contained interesting aspects, one of them being the absurdity of its discussion as a viable proposal. Voters wisely recognized the dubious and speculative nature of the exaggerated technological and economic claims. Even if the monorail could have worked at any price, then how would this massive capital outlay ever do anything to address traffic congestion? To succeed, the monorail would have to absorb all future as well as some of the pre-existing trip demand. When expectations transcend the unlikely and range to the impossible, advocates engage in delusional fantasy.
