Date: Thu, 2 Jun 2011 06:56:45 -0400 (EDT)
From: Greg Jones
Subject: as long as we’re fighting
I really do enjoy the chatlist, it makes me feel a part of the goings-on in my commuter county.
As long as we’re arguing the virtues of the various local politicians and political parties I have a question. The other day I was buying gas locally and saw the weekly paper headline announcing the new justice center. 18 million dollars! Imagine how much justice we can have when that baby’s completed!
I asked my friend behind the counter, do we need to spend that kind of money on what? He was as baffled as I am. Did we talk about this brainiac plan? Did I miss this arguement? Don’t we have a centerpiece courthouse that needs restoration? So, I went ahead and thought to myself, well, okay, it’s hard to keep up with all the news so maybe this one just slipped by. It’s the government, it’s the leviathan, no stopping it at this stage, might as well make lemonade from this latest lemon. So, I go home, look up the contractor, and figure I’ll go earn some money from the project, work locally for a change, maybe even spend less and consume less in the course of employment. I show up the next morning, talk to one of the project managers, they’re all booked up, don’t need any help.
So, here’s the question, how much of our tax dollars are going for this edifice and why in the heck do we need it and furthermore why can’t we create local jobs? I read the other day that 60% of the county commutes for wages. just some thoughts from a lifelong carpenter. An idea would be, how about requiring these out of town/out of county firms to post notices of employment opportunities as a precondition to working here? is this too hard? I would hope our local money spenders in the public sector would recognise the need to keep some money here. Again just a thought. If we have to suffer from the creation of more big government, can’t we at least see something from it? I’m always thrilled when I see a new county vehicle idling at a traffic light gas dripping out the tailpipe. Arghhhh…..
Greg Jones