Katrina Aid Going To Wealthy Investors For Million $$ Football Condos
AP Via The Huffington Post:
With large swaths of the Gulf Coast still in ruins from Hurricane Katrina, rich federal tax breaks designed to spur rebuilding are flowing hundreds of miles inland to investors who are buying up luxury condos near the University of Alabama's football stadium.About 10 condominium projects are going up in and around Tuscaloosa, and builders are asking up to $1 million for units with granite countertops, king-size bathtubs and 'Bama decor, including crimson couches and Bear Bryant wall art.
While many of the buyers are Crimson Tide alumni or ardent football fans not entitled to any special Katrina-related tax breaks, many others are real estate investors who are purchasing the condos with plans to rent them out.
And they intend to take full advantage of the generous tax benefits available to investors under the Gulf Opportunity Zone Act of 2005, or GO Zone, according to Associated Press interviews with buyers and real estate officials. Read more...
What else is new?
Indeed. I know I for one am simply shocked.
It would be faster to just turn over the keys to Ft. Knox to the richest 1% in the U.S. and just get it over with.
See Greg Palast's book 'Armed Madhouse' and his documentary 'From the Big Easy to Big Empty'.
I've been saying it's a land grab all along.
This is ridiculous. Why is our country so willing to pay no attention to this matter?
The list goes on....
..the link to From the Big Easy to Big Empty..
http://www.palastinvestigativefund.org/19
..stories you won’t hear on the networks
or the hidden political agendas or the suppressed eyewitness reports.
Don't you people understand? A rising tide rises all boats. For every granite kitchen top or Viking stove the wealthy have installed, there is another large cardboard box created for a poor person to live in. It's called the free market. What are you? A bunch of communists?
(Yawn)....Just another situation The Bush administration has fucked up to the inth degree..... I feel sorry for those folks down there..... But at this point, I'm not really surprised at the level of corruption now apparent to anyone looking...IF any of this is ever going to be addressed and corrected, step one, get Bush the hell out of office'..... How?.... Well certainly not by sitting around with our thumbs up our asses for ther next 18 months waiting to run out the clock... After what this fool has done, the negative precidents he set up like little ticking timebombs... The only solution that will fix this shit properly is IMPEACHMENT!!! What??? Someone thinks I was going to suggest the 'freedom medal' option!!????? Riight, not bloody likely.. Well maybe, but only for Pelosi and only if she will pull her thumb out of her ass and wake the fuck up!!! Not holding my breath on that........JD
katrina, like all other major news stories, fail to be stories once the initial tragedy has passed by.
that is, for our piss poor news media.
the people living down there, well, i'm sure they'd appreciate the type of news coverage celebrities, sports, and 'personal interest' stories get on a daily basis. at least it would let the country know that, just because bush fails to care or do anything, the area still needs help and support.
Bushco in action yet again.
HECKUVA JOB!
People who said this would happen, were labelled "conspiracy" and "tin-foil hat". Those are phrases used against truth-tellers.
Those crazy redneck crackers. I can't imagine being that warped in the head.
"Yee ha, gotta get me some of dat Bear Bryant wallpaper, ya know..."
Real estate winners? If the Fed doesn’t jump in and save the rich arrogant risk-takers by lowering rates in an emergency session ( I bet ten-to-one they will come to Richie’s rescue) you will see some of these high-roller, seven-figure bonus cowboys get creamed in this coming credit-crunch blood-bath that is just starting. Actually, they will have losses no matter what, things are so bad even the Fed can’t stop this falling knife.
Unfortunately, it’s going to take down grandma and grandpa too.
Well, I wondered what the outrage du jour was going to be.
PurplePatriot @ 8:
HA! :)
I live in the deep south, north MS to be exact, and I feel so torn about my native region. I lived in Oxford MS until about 4 months ago, and I think it is very similar to what is going on in Tuscaloosa. Developers are not getting Katrina benefits per se, but they are being courted by the mayor and city council with the usual tax breaks and benefits. So, like Tuscaloosa, condos are going up like crazy, for rifuckingdiculous pricing. I almost choked a year ago when I opened a newspaper and saw one that was going for 600,000 dollars, that had no precedent in my mind, I had seen real estate at that price, but never in the rinky dink place like oxford ms. It is ridiculous, and it is another sign of the growing disparity in this country. It is easy to talk bad about southerners, very, very easy, I understand, but realize Billy bob, and Darlene are not the ones cashing in on this, much like the Mexicans they for the most part despise, are not cashing in on their situation. It is the wealthy, and elite that are doing it to us, but they wear the right logo when they do, and they do a great job of playing people against one another. They fuck you raw, and when you reach down and feel blood between your asscheeks they scream MEXICANS!!!! or if you are a city guy they might say, LOOK ATH THOSE STUPID REDNECKS!!!
For goodness sake people, follow the money. Follow the money, to the guy who is taking a big slice out of your pie so he can have a tiny bit more for his.
I'd like to say "I'm shocked-SHOCKED! I tell ya!" but I'm not. :roll:
I guess those living in those formaldehyde laden FEMA trailers will be moving [on up] soon.
matt greer @ 17:
The best thing that could have happened to this "wonderful" part of the country is that water rising about 10 feet higher. Wash that redneck mess far away.
Hey, where can I get a velvet Bear Bryant? It'll look good next to the velvet Elvis and the velvet Stone Cold Steve Austin - hyuk hyuk
This really doesnt surprise any of you does it?
Didn't boosh talk about missing sittin' and visitin', and presumably chawin' and whittling' on Trent Lott front porch, instead of worrying about the flood victims?
Why couldn't something like this happen in Tucson? I'd kill to move into Alumni housing...complete with Lute Olsen wall art. Well, with my situation, it'd be more like crashing on someone else's blue couch. A man can have (corrupt) dreams, can't he?
Sean Hannity: There are thousands of buses "those people" can live in.
Barb Bush (dubyah's dad): Considering they are poor, it would be a vast improvement.
Sean Hannity: Will you teach me to smoke?
Barb Bush (dubyah's dad): I got your cigarette right here, sport.
Gee. That is just a huge surprise. Really. Knock me over with a feather. The rich are funneling all the aid to themselves. 'Cause that never happens. The only thing that surprises me about NOLA is that xian missionaries aren't there trying to trade forced conversion for food and water.
"Katrina" brings to mind young mothers with newborns stranded on a overpass and they wanted drinkable water and some newborn pampers. Such anguish.
The money ear marked for the needy - and Katrina created a whole new class of needy - will go to the wealthy elite, (thank you gw), for special condos. I hope they don't sell any. Maybe the next hurricane will wipe them off the earth.
The Truth Hurts @ 20:
Dude, in case you missed the spirit of the post, I was trying to accept some of the due criticism of the south while pointing out that we are all just victims of the power structure, so, going by your logic, I would say that New York going 10 feet under would do a lot more to rid us of the type. One of the stats we are using to point out that the economy is NOT going well is that people are shopping less at wal-mart and target, and more at Neiman-marcus and Sacs. There is not one of those stores in the state of MS and I would bet 20 dollars neither exists in AL. I live with the backwards political views, scorn, mild racism and everything else that comes with the territory, and having converted from one side to the other, I can say this is not a southern problem, this is a human problem that will not end until people like you (first impulse is assholes like you, but I take that second breath, and try to understand your situation, you may have had a bad experience, maybe if you met some of my friends you would change your mind) take a breath and realize we are all fucked up, but when you spend time unconstructively criticizing, and not trying to understand why things are how they are, my friend, I will call you a part of the problem, breath......
The correct phrase is: 'Gentrification'
rain @ 27:
When that happens, the owners will be the first in line for hand-outs.
And they'll be the first to get them.
America
land of the corporate reich, by the corporate reich and for the corporate reich.
thank you all you stupid bastards for your brainless "i come first attitudes".
America land of the educationally challenged. a country of morons who would
rather go shopping than vote.
you deserve all that is happening to you. hope you have a strong right arm as
you hold it up for a long time to honor your lord, the fascist "conservative"
christian reich.
The alarmist nature of this posts headline hardly matches its content.
The headline makes it sound as if hard dollars are being diverted from emergeny measures to football fans. Kinda like, "Hot dogs ripped from mouths of starving NOLA infants in order to fill bellies of skybox yuppies!"
But the article points out...
...and as for being far from Katrina's ground zero...
It's a real tragedy that so little has been done post-Katrina, and I'm sure there have been terrible mis-appropriations of funds, and diversion of resources. But this condo issue seems to be a tempest in a teapot.
Tax breaks (not hard aid dollars) are used to stimulate the construction of rental condos (not individual purchases) along with commercial infra-structure in an area where many flood victims have relocated and have put pressure on the rental market. Some of the condos under construction happen to be close to a stadium.
How is this a scandalous story worth of top billing at both C&L and HuffPo?
George Bush does not care about black people - Kanye, Nostradamus, West
Matt,
There's definitely a Saks, and I think maybe a Neiman-Marcus, in Birmingham. That's where everybody from here in Mississippi goes to shop anyway.
Freaked-Out Canadian @ 32:
When they charge $600K for a two-bedroom unit?
Are people living in the FEMA trailers getting tax breaks?
matt greer @ 28:
Meet some of your friends??? [Deleted. Make your point without insults, stereotypes or namecalling -- Sitemonitor]
Rusty Shackleford @ 34:
I stand corrected, I wa actually born in Montgomery, but it has been awhile....
I do think that one sacs and possibly a NM is supportive of my point. I DO know that not many people in MS make that drive, are you kidding me? These folks are doing all they can to get their kids to school.
I guess my point in this situation is that you can either call us stupid rednecks, and reinforce that stereotype, OR Good ole boys that are getting fat off the GOvt, but how can you assert both at the same time. Just like everything else, its more complicated than it looks.
I gotta agree with Freaked Out Canadian. No doubt the intent of the tax breaks was to stimulate development to restore the economies that had been shattered. And, no doubt this is probably not what folks had in mind when the tax breaks were created. But, no hard cash is being diverted away from other programs. The failure of those programs to be properly administered is its own ongoing failure independent of this little mess.
People with cash are just taking advatage of a legal break to make investments. The high property values will presumably generate tax revenues for the municipalities etc.
I don't like it. It stinks, but it's not like the poor are being robbed to make the wealthy wealthier. The same tax breaks still exist for other investment opportunities. Seems to me the legislation just needs to be rewritten so that the tax breaks are available for a specific set of investments, small business, multi-tenant dwellings, affordable housing etc.
Legislation passed in the throes of an emergency is rarely well thought it and someone will always find a way to take advantage. The big question is, will Congress change the tax breaks going forward now that this has become public knowledge? If the answer to that is "no", then you have a story worthy of being outraged over.
Fuck the almighty dollar and help your fellow man you pukes!
Capitalism really has a lot of serious pitfalls. Though capitalism can be used to spur on creativity and technological advancement, simpler and less noble minds choose to use it selfishly. I hope that on their death bed, these alpha-dog-money-moguls realize how pitiful of a life they have lead when they realize the only people they have helped is themselves and other people just like them.
Jesse @ 6:
I really think the American people are so completely sick of being outraged over this complete and utter joke of an administration.
Bud @ 35:
Bud, tax breaks to spur development, expensive or not, is not that unusual. The point I was making was that, as the article points out,
These breaks aren't limited to high-end condos, or even to condos themselves...
It's clearly a tax-break meant to spur broad-based commercial development and ward off local recession by stimulating development. The idea is clearly to keep developers from being scared off the area, and to encourage new investments.
Most importantly, it doesn't appear to be a zero-sum proposal.
As, a socialist, I can generally oppose tax breaks for developers, but this particular story just doesn't seem to be the scandal that the headline and the graphic suggest it is. It seems ginned-up, with winking references to "football" and "granite countertops".
Dude, I am totally into helping out my neighbors and folks in my community etc. I'm not wealthy and could never afford to make those condo investments, even with the tax breaks. All I'm saying is some likely well-intentioned legislation got written too quickly with unforseen opportunities being created outside the opriginal intent. Some people have taken advantage of that.
So, change the legislation so that the incentives are targeted where they were intended. Small business investment grows, muti-unit housing grows, affordable housing grows etc. Nothing wrong with that.
The Truth Hurts @ 37:
My point still misses....... okay, what is the difference between you asserting that because I am southern I do those things, and me asserting that because some guy is black, he is gonna steal my stereo, or because someone is Mexican they are gonna take my job? I have been very fortunate to live in University towns in MS, Starkville, Oxford, and the great thing about those places is the abundance of youth, fertile ground for idealism, which is of course not the answer, but a worthy piece of the puzzle. These places, while surrounded by the rural poverty and ignorance that is so abundant in MS, are able to rise above, and give birth to many tolerant, gifted, charitable human beings, who might even be benefitting from the extra length of the leap they have to make to reach truths about the world. If you get my drift.
But people reaching out will facilitate this process, much like scorning, and a superior attitude tempered by willful ignorance will set it back. Come on brother, I know you can understand what I am saying. I could say, I am not into sitting in traffic, and smog, and big nosed bitchy jewish women from new york, but I realize these are stereotypes that have only a slight basis in the reality of the region we live in. I do know your attitude is the same one that finds very fertile ground in the ignorant minds of some of our most hateful (kkk aryan nation) organizations. I know that chances are you are a nice, rational dude, represent yourslef man.
I like stereotypes
Particularly Panasonic and Toshiba.
Sigh @ 43:
I think it's also a fair argument to say that condo construction provides lots of employment for the trades (plumbers, electricians, carpenters) and business for the small sub -contractors (landscapers, painters, carpet-layers); shopping malls provide room for the big anchor store, but also for small merchants and entrepreneurs; condos provide affordable rental accomodation for those who can't afford to buy (I know, cause when I was at my poorest I was able to rent a tiny studio in a luxury condo); and hotels provide employment of all kinds as well as providing a steady stream of tourists that many small merchants rely on for their business.
Big Dan @ 12:
Hey, even the paranoid are right twice a day...Oh, wait...that's wrong isn't it. Uh...oh yeah...even they have broken watches.
Freaked-Out Canadian @ 46:
I guess it depends on the definition of "affordable" rental accomodation. If the condos are selling for $1mill I couldn't afford the rent, could you?
Freaked-Out Canadian @ 46:
Here is the real telling part: all those developers getting the tax breaks, are going to be using a good % of mexican labor, so they can save even more money. Do we not see the spiral here? These people cannot make enough money, and they are the cancer of free market society.
being very modest i must say that this is no surprise , i sat here dureing the katrina debachel and predicted the repig vultures woul get rich fucking over the victims of bush katrina, i told you so, me i told you so , hmmmm did i say i told you so?
Jesse @ 6:
I think it's because this mess is so friggin' complicated. To fully understand how crooked this entire "system" is, you would have to be an accountant. So it's no wonder more Americans aren't pissed off at this. Also, this story is going to be dumped down the black hole which is our mainstream media. It's just going to be ignored. Period! Nobody's gonna ask Tony Blow or Dana Peroxide about this (Well, Helen Thomas - bless her soul -will. But she'll just be ignored). One more example of GOP-backed criminal activity. The entire Party should be indicted under the RICO statutes (oh, that's right, the Department of Justice is being run by loyal bushies). I did find this bit rather amusing:
Tuscaloosa, and builders are asking up to $1 million for units with granite countertops, king-size bathtubs and ‘Bama decor, including crimson couches and Bear Bryant wall art.
What no velvet pictures of Elvis or the Jesus pictures that blink when you look at them from a different angle?? Really, nothing says "I'm a neuveau riche, white trash cracker asshole" quite like Bear Bryant wall art
matt greer @ 38:
Well, the people in MS who can afford to shop at Saks make the drive.
I live in Mississippi (don't want to say where but there's a corner business where one can get both Krispy Kremes and the best chicken on a stick in town, if you get my drift) and I agree with the things you're saying.
remember those $2000 grants given to people affected by the hurricane? remember the sneering stories in the media about some of them buying televisions and jewlery with the money?
i wonder what the total amount of all of those grants amounted to. i'm willing to bet the total for all was nowhere near what these fatties are sucking up.
thank goodness for C&L or these guys would never be called out. not that anything can be done about it.
god damit i told you that this bunch of thugs would move in and steal the victims of katrinas homes and build condimeniems and hotels and by god you laughed ,laughed, say that makes me a prognostic, only thing i didnt predict is the ileagles building the theives buildings!
Rusty Shackleford @ 52:
Right on, the people who can afford it= not many. It is so funny to me to see people in your town who were already really well off, maybe even considered slightly wealthy, are getting the town sold out from under them to even richer more wealthy folks. HAHA. Kind of a Now you know what its like thing. I was a manager for a corner fast-chicken resturaunt with the worst parking in MS, so I smell what you are stepping in. Seems to me southerners all being considered stupid rednecks is one of the last acceptable stereotypes in this country. Very ironic, and not the least bit undeserved. But when people drink from that pool,.........
Freaked-Out Canadian @ 46:
No, that's not a fair argument to make, because you just know most of those building projects are gonna be done by non union, immigrant labor. Shopping malls?? Yeah, can't have enough of those, can we? I mean, where else are the Chinese gonna be able to dump - oh, I mean sell, their toxic toys? Hotels providing jobs. Swell, more minimum wage, no benefits, bullshit service economy jobs. Wonderful solution, that is. Let's turn the Gulf coast into the American version of Jamaica.
Fanon @ 48:
I've lived all my life in rental units, some in condos, some in apartments, some in homes.
Most condo buildings have a range of units from tiny one-room studios to expensive penthouses. The big units rents for $4K a month or more, but the smaller ones tend to rent from $1-2K per month...not outrageous in my part of the world, where even a rough, tiny basement apartment is likely to run you $600 or more.
Freaked-Out Canadian @ 32:
I didn't find the article at HuffingtonPost to be alarmist. I thought it was well written especially because it included those quotes you referenced regarding the non-zero-sum nature of the aid. I would also point out three other quotes:
and:
and finally:
Sigh, I don't think that the windfall to condo developers in Tuscaloosa is incidental, and I'll bet you a FEMA trailer that the benefits aren't going to be changed because they come to the attention of team Arianna.
It's just another example of the well-off folks in this country siezing every opportunity to make a buck. Shelby and Lott knew exactly what they were doing when they wrote this law, and they knew it would help rich people first.
Don't get me wrong - its not the worst piece of legislation, but it isn't helping a lot of people that need help.
and hey -- Mr. Truth Hurts at #20 -- fuck you.
Matt, I enjoyed the wares from your former employer for lunch today (now with no trans fat!). Still excellent!
gene214 @ 56:
So, your proposal is to end new construction, close the malls, end the service economy and discourage tourism? Oy.
Sounds like Buffalo in 1979.
gene214 @ 56:
A little late to avoid that.
Rusty Shackleford @ 60:
I hope this is not getting to be too much, but it is fun. I do not have a lot of things to be proud of, but realizing that NY was going in the direction it was, and that soon it would be widespread, I was in My bosses ear for weeks about trans fat free, Not sure how much my influence actually helped, but it does feel nice. I am actually moving to Nashville at the end of this month, and I hope it provides more forums for the everday activist. I am sure you have felt the desire to get out and be heard, but the sad fact is that in this part of the country that is not a priority. I cannot wait to naively hoist my first IMPEACH sign in a crowd!!!
matt greer @ 17:
Great points. I agree. I think Dylan sang about that a bit in "Only a Pawn in their Game".
http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/pawn.html
Freaked-Out Canadian @ 57:
I've lived all my life in rental units, some in condos, some in apartments, some in homes.
Most condo buildings have a range of units from tiny one-room studios to expensive penthouses. The big units rents for $4K a month or more, but the smaller ones tend to rent from $1-2K per month...not outrageous in my part of the world, where even a rough, tiny basement apartment is likely to run you $600 or more.
Yeah, well those are Chicago prices, too. But, I don't think a lot of people still in FEMA trailers 2 years later are going to be affording those kind of prices. Is there any stipulation in there for any percentage of the housing to go low income? If not, your argument rings a little hollow. It is just gentrification. Come, build our condos, just don't live here.
Maybe I am off the actual topic, though...
Fanon @ 65
Yes, it is ironic isnt it, "okay you mexicans, the last thing to build is a security fence around this apartment complex so people like yourself can't get in"
Well spoken, Matt Greer.
Truth Hurts, your language sounded like that of a bigot. I hope it was a misrepresentation of who you are.
matt
At least Chicago's trying. All new developments have to dedicate a percentage of new housing units to low income. It's not perfect, but it's something
PurplePatriot @ 8:
You know i missed that point thank you too much for letting me finally understand the trickle down theory
'These breaks aren’t limited to high-end condos, or even to condos themselves…'
"Most condo buildings have a range of units from tiny one-room studios to expensive penthouses. The big units rents for $4K a month or more, but the smaller ones tend to rent from $1-2K per month…not outrageous in my part of the world, where even a rough, tiny basement apartment is likely to run you $600 or more."
Take a break and re-read what you've written. This is the very deep south we're talking about.
How many developers along the beach are going to build rental units that the low/moderat income family could possibly afford to rent?? Not a whole lot. The casinos have the MS state legislature in their back pocket. IIRC, they got the legs to allow for building of casinos on land now. So, when all the housing was washed off the beach, they're buying up land because the owners can't get back there and/or they've been foreclosed on (or taken over by the town for non payment of property tax). The locals are being pushed to the other side of Back Bay. The only thing that will be on the Beach are casinos, their condo units, spec condos, Keesler AFB, the Mall, the old City Cemetery, the old light house, and a few hotels.
The casinos pay minimum wage. Can you afford to pay 1k rent per month with a 14k income?? But, I'm sure the Okeefe family is doing just fine..... (yes, I lived in Biloxi Mississippi for 8 years)
Fanon @ 68:
That is ironic to the core as well. You could not find a more christian (well, they THINK they own morality, anyway) law to be passed, and I am sure the most die hard family values christian GOP reps fought it tooth and nail. ha-ha
Old Billy @ 58:
I'm pretty much with you, Billy. I have no doubt that the exact boundaries and limits of the GO Zone were drawn with the politicians' donors in mind. And, in general, I'm not for using tax breaks - especially in undertaxed areas - to spur development. I still don't see this as a big scandal.
As you point out, the article itself was reasonably balanced. The headline, however, was alarmist. And I worry sometimes, especially in blogs - where articles are excerpted or linked, or where the full substance lies below the 'fold' - that inflamatory headlines and summaries merely provide fodder for substantively unfocused rants.
christine @70
Thank you for saying so eloquently what I could not.
I can't believe it! Corruption??? Tax dollars going to corrupt corporations and rich CEOs? No Way! How could this happen?
Bush has always been the master of funneling tax dollars to the private sector - this seems to be the republican goal - though the sheeple think the party has something to do with moral standards... idiots. Iraq is the best example of this modus. F*ckers.
Fanon, I've heard that the Casinos want to have US 90 removed completely. I'm not sure of the distance, but definitely in Biloxi and probably Gulf Port over to US 34 (I think that's the highway's number, it's been a long time). This will leave only Pass Road as the east-west road on the pennisula that is Biloxi and part of Gulf Port. But, Pass Road doesn't go all the way to The Point. It stops at the Base.
If this is allowed, it will basically mean that the beach is private and for the use of the 'tourist' only.
Here's another thing your tax dollars will probably go for..... the railroad that goes through Biloxi, Gulf Port and a lot of other towns down there, was very, very quickly rebuilt. I applaud that move. However, the Casinos, Trent Lott, and the monied people now want you to pay to have it moved north. They just might get their way too. Cause, you know... it will interfer with the partying at the Casinos.
sorry about my posts ,i forgot none of you were here when katrina hit!
[...] More [...]
bottom line is there is going to be no low to middle class. those jobs and products are all made in China and the far east. we willl not need shopping centers soon there are no middle claass shoppers.
Speaking of Katrina - Has anyone heard about this mess in Louisiana.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuoiZnr4jLY
Emblematic of GOP; using Katrina to reshape demgraphics of the gulf coast. These guys dont miss a beat, push the lil folk deeper into the swamp, and build more high rise second homes for the white nascar bubbas. Maybe they can vote twice(once at each residence).
the economic royalists have no shame. They'd steal from anyone to fund their lifestyle
trickle down economics?
my parents live right outside of fort worth texas. a couple of months ago a rainstorm settled over their area for a month or so and dumped rain non-stop for weeks. their little cul-de-sac's storm drains backed up and their house flooded just enough to ruin their carpet. they didn't have flood insurance.
they waited until the storm passed and had the carpet replaced to the tune of around $6,500. about a week after they replaced the carpet i got this email from my uber-right-wing-blame-clinton-for-everything dad
how the hell did this happen? is it because my dad is a texan a repug or both? yes, the 6k was not a kind hit but my dad still works, my mom collects SS and my dad will start collecting SS (while he continues to work) in a few months. all the while damning the government and taxes -- and my dad was career army!!! (he still collects his retirement and military bennies!)
this is all obscene to me -- but of course i'm not going to question it to them -- and they're not going to question it. they've got theirs, right? i don't know what the hell i've got other than a huge pile of guilt and the intention to donate at least 6---.-- of my future inheritance (if there is any) to a decent charity in the future
sign me
self hating bleeding heart liberal
and jeff,
the only thing i've ever seen trickle down is corruption.
think about it. how many times have we all justified some crappy tax deduction because we know the bigger fish get away with it all the time?
how many times have we written off lunch or dinner with a friend and called it a business meeting because we know our bosses do it? or called a vacation a business trip because we "deserve" it since rich folks get away with it every day.
that's trickle down corruption. as oliver wendall holmes said "taxes are the price we pay for civilization" i'm trying to pay mine now -- and then of course there's that nasty conflict over paying them to the war machine.....
George Bush doesn't care about poor people.
Why am I not surprised? Great way (though entirely unethical) to get prime real estate cheap.
This was reported and predicted to happen shortly after Katrina by uncaring, crooked Rethugs.
This country of ours was founded as a republic. Then it became a business. Now it's just a racket.
Should be interpreted as treason. MFers should be shot . . . on primetime TV.
That kind of greed is TREASON.
cassandra complex @ 84:
I've never done any of that, so count me out.
There are no words to say about this mess. I just hope my folks somehow make a way out of this hell and for sure there will be no assistance from this administration that will be any kind of help to them.
Mayor Ray Nagan needs to run for the Governorship of that State or better yet take the place of the witch in the Senate Mary Launders or whatever her right wing voting ass's name is. She is crazy and she continues to let those people down and she does it on purpose with her nasty hands right in the pockets of the corporate goons that control that State.
Just check her voting record out and you can see she is up to nothing good for the people in that state and they unknowingly voted her ass right back into office just like the people of California let Diane Finestine's corrupt ass back into office.
How very deceiving and sad for American people to have to deal with these cheap lying ass greedy thugs all over our government catering to this corrupt establishment, owned operated and controlled by corporate America.
If any of these fools think they can take money from these people and not have to pay off more then we already have, they are going to be in for a rude awakening, provided we as Americans continue to put these people into office knowing this from the start.
It is becomming very clear what these voting patterns are all about. Stay tuned folks there is so much more to come.
Brownee, yer doing a heckuva job!
what happens to the poorest people in our nation will eventually happen to the so-called middle class... it's just a matter of time.
This is so sad that it sickens me. I recall the tragedy of Katrina unfolding and later hoping that the true American spirit would somehow prevail and right the many wrongs done to NOLI's poor and destitute. What a collosal tragedy. Now I kinda understand why the people of America aren't marching all the way up the main mall in DC, throwing out Bush and his gang of thieves, demanding healthcare reform and stopping this ridiculous war, in a collective fit of RAGE. Everyone is too damn busy looking out for number one and profiting from the misery of their fellow citizens. The sun is setting on this great Nation...
Have you seen this? Katrina Victims Tribute
The people in Nwalins have the same problem as people in Washington DC, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York and elsewhere: they can't afford to live in the towns they work in.
Most of the laborers are illegals, who are so warehoused in trailors that they look back in fondness to the elbow space they had in the back of trucks crossing over.
It's unfortunate that more Americans are not upset about the decline of the middle class. Americans should be out in the streets over this issue because they never know when it might happen to them.
cassandra complex @ 84:
Is Cassandra Complex where one needs to give precognitive advice but no one will listen
Or a bad case of Pizza-face?
This will only stop when Americans get out in the streets and let their voices be heard. What do you expect when homeowners won't even get their houses rebuilt?
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