Takings Decision
Things didn't turn out the way I had hoped.
A round up of opinion.
More here.
An explanation. More analysis. The opinions. Who to blame (Surprised? Didn't think so.).
Scary thoughts.
If politicians have the right to take your private property and give it to somebody else just because the other guy claims that he can generate more taxes from it, then property rights have ceased to exist in the US.
If Vodkapundit had lived in either Baltimore, Chicago or Wilmington as I have, he would have seen this coming.
Let's take something as innocuous as parking tickets for example. In Baltimore, the city would occasionally but up "No Parking" signs on a street just about the time people would be leaving for work. If you happened to live within walking distance and commuted by foot, it was unlikely that you would notice the sign. Boom. $30 parking ticket. In Chicago, street cleanings were announced at random. If you happened to be on vacation or out of town on business for a couple of days (because you never had more than 2 days notice)...Boom. $50 parking ticket. Now in boring, not-happening Wilmington, DE, I live on a street that is cleaned TWICE A WEEK. In Chicago, living within a half block of Wrigley Field my street might be cleaned at maximum twice a month. Here, they get sweep the left side EVERY Thursday, and the right side EVERY Tuesday. There is nothing in my neighborhood like, say, a 38,000 person baseball stadium, that would make one think I would need my street cleaned twice a week. But forget to move your car EVERY Tuesday and Thursday...Boom. $35 parking ticket.
Utterly ridiculous. But simply part of feeding the government beast. I would love to get my hands on a summary of the money these cities make by penalizing their citizens for living within the city limits through these guerilla revenue raising tactics. No wonder living downtown sucks in so many cities. Who wants a to live in a place where you could be paying $70 a week in fines just because you forgot what day of the week it is? Add to that the incessant property tax hikes and transfer of wealth from the homeowners who work hard and pay taxes into the treasury, to the laggards hanging out in the square and walking the streets all day, every day, seemingly uninterested in finding work.
The government beast must be fed. Any tax shortfall, of course, must be recouped by penalizing honest citizens for petty offences.
Now, your very house can be confiscated for a pittance simply to add more dollars to the local treasury. Surprising decision? Not really. Just par for the course.
A round up of opinion.
More here.
An explanation. More analysis. The opinions. Who to blame (Surprised? Didn't think so.).
Scary thoughts.
If politicians have the right to take your private property and give it to somebody else just because the other guy claims that he can generate more taxes from it, then property rights have ceased to exist in the US.
If Vodkapundit had lived in either Baltimore, Chicago or Wilmington as I have, he would have seen this coming.
Let's take something as innocuous as parking tickets for example. In Baltimore, the city would occasionally but up "No Parking" signs on a street just about the time people would be leaving for work. If you happened to live within walking distance and commuted by foot, it was unlikely that you would notice the sign. Boom. $30 parking ticket. In Chicago, street cleanings were announced at random. If you happened to be on vacation or out of town on business for a couple of days (because you never had more than 2 days notice)...Boom. $50 parking ticket. Now in boring, not-happening Wilmington, DE, I live on a street that is cleaned TWICE A WEEK. In Chicago, living within a half block of Wrigley Field my street might be cleaned at maximum twice a month. Here, they get sweep the left side EVERY Thursday, and the right side EVERY Tuesday. There is nothing in my neighborhood like, say, a 38,000 person baseball stadium, that would make one think I would need my street cleaned twice a week. But forget to move your car EVERY Tuesday and Thursday...Boom. $35 parking ticket.
Utterly ridiculous. But simply part of feeding the government beast. I would love to get my hands on a summary of the money these cities make by penalizing their citizens for living within the city limits through these guerilla revenue raising tactics. No wonder living downtown sucks in so many cities. Who wants a to live in a place where you could be paying $70 a week in fines just because you forgot what day of the week it is? Add to that the incessant property tax hikes and transfer of wealth from the homeowners who work hard and pay taxes into the treasury, to the laggards hanging out in the square and walking the streets all day, every day, seemingly uninterested in finding work.
The government beast must be fed. Any tax shortfall, of course, must be recouped by penalizing honest citizens for petty offences.
Now, your very house can be confiscated for a pittance simply to add more dollars to the local treasury. Surprising decision? Not really. Just par for the course.
posted by Mike C | 7:47 PM
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