It has been apparent that cities under Democrat control for many years tend to disintigrate into a cesspool of crime, decay, high taxes, poor schools and greedy, obstinate unions that strangle the public fisc. There are a very few exceptions, such as San Francisco, where limousine liberals rule and natural assets like a beautiful location, rich culture and incredible architecture trump bad fiscal policy, but these are in the distinct minority.
Generally, the left/labor/liberal/libertine route leadeth unto destruction. Exhibit A, of course, is Detroit, which has imploded and broken down under the ravages of five straight decades of Democrat rule, mismanagement and corruption. If the city's leaders are not careful, Detroit will soon become the largest American city ever to file for bankruptcy. It's teetering on the brink as I type.
As of now, Stockton, Calif., population 291,000, is the largest. Like too many other cities, its leaders pissed away millions of taxpayer dollars on pie-in-the-sky development projects (new hotels, arena, transit center and county building) that broke the bank -- especially after the housing market tanked about 5 or 6 years ago, leading to rampant foreclosures and plummeting property tax revenues.
Ditto for the basket-case of Scranton, Pa., which is so desperate it took the unprecedented step of cutting the pay of its municipal workers to $7.25 an hour -- minimum wage. Scranton's Democrat mayor and all Democrat city council have been on their own reckless spending spree in recent years. Throw in public employee unions that are delusional in their refusal to moderate their demands, and toss in the usual element of corruption and cronyism, and you've got a full-fledged fiasco in this city of 76,000.
Democrat-run Prichard, Ala., last year stopped sending out pension checks to its 150 retirees. The suburb of Mobile once had about 47,000 residents, but now has a population of 22,000.
What's happening in so many cities across the nation, fiscal collapse, deteriorating conditions, ever-rising taxes, and fleeing residents, is also happening in certain states.
New York state has lost 3.5 million residents in the past decade, many of them fed up with outrageous taxes, a high cost of living and contemptuous, hidebound politicians who spit in their face. California, fast-becoming another Greece, has lost about 3.7 million people since 1990. These numbers are staggering, and no surprise, both states are governed by Democrats and have legislatures dominated by Democrats.
Texas, on the other hand, gained about 4.2 million people between 2000 and 2010. It has a Republican governor, and a GOP-controlled legislature. It also has one of the best business climates in the nation.
As radio talk show host Bill Bennett has called it, "The Gate Test" refers to the desirability of a nation, i.e., millions are clamoring to get into the United States, but if given the chance millions would leave hellholes like Cuba and North Korea. Ditto for cities and states.
Generally speaking, states and large cities run by Democrats are being driven into the ditch, providing a strong impetus for people to vamoose. And many of the states and cities run by conservative Republicans are prospering, or as in the case of Michigan, recovering gradually from years of Democrat ineptitude.
These facts are stark, and so obvious they ought to shake liberals out of their self-deception. But no, liberals are bitter and petulant. When the Reagan recovery created millions of jobs, the sour grapes lefties whined that these were nothing more than burger flipper jobs. (They don't do that with Obama's supposed 3 million private sector jobs created.)
And when it comes to a successful state like Texas, a state with a laissez faire government that respects private property, individual liberty, and entrepreneurialism, and keeps taxes low, the libs lie about how horrible Texas schools and health care are. Or they come up with some other fabricated statistics to promote their warped views.
Some things never change. Including the fact that progressives fail the gate test MISERABLY!
Your Detroit and Wayne County are (over)run by criminal psychopathic misfits like Ficano, the Kwames, and all the baby mommies.
My very simple solution is everybody works and everybody pays. Work on a farm for $2 an hour if you have to. Let's build our own factories to produce all the cheap stuff we import from China, with wages to match. We're so far gone that one of the basic tenets of economics, labor, is not even mentioned as a solution. Work is a dirty word now days.
The people and politicians in these bankrupt cities and states need to know how hard the working world is these days.
Mark my words: This next election is between the working people on one side and the nonworking welfare state and the criminal politician enablers on the other side.
Workers Unite!
Posted by: Zbigniew Brzenski | July 15, 2012 at 09:42 PM