IS IT TRUE the Evansville City government is touting the program where $10 Million federal tax dollars were secured to build 40 houses in a dilapidated area of town a big success?…depending on one’s perspective of the situation it may be rationalize to actually be a success?…if one is in the business of making sure new houses are built with tax dollars to house people who could not afford the houses in the first place, damn the costs to society, then this is indeed a big success?…if one is a winner of the “nice house for 15 years at low rent†lottery where the new residents are chosen this would constitute a success? … the reality of the situation is that 40 people, a developer  benefit from this kind of success while the rest of the taxpaying American people pick up the tab?…to the other 117,000 people of Evansville, 6 Million Hoosiers, and 310 Million Americans this is a tax paid for nothing in return?
IS IT TRUE we wonder how is it that a scheme to take $10 Million federal tax dollars from the people of this country to enrich private investors by $1.7 Million, pay a developer and Hope $1.15 Million up front, and squander the other $7.25 Million of houses that are currently only worth $4.8 Million constitute a success?…this is nothing more than selective redistribution of federal tax dollars?…the purpose of the federal government is to do things that directly benefit us all and not a select few?…the other purpose of government at all levels is to know the numbers well enough to have the good sense not to call something that is essentially a giving tax dollar away scheme with tax dollars “a success†and to stay away from such programs?…the frivolous use of other people’s money to do this project is reflected all over this country that is increasingly becoming entitlement minded?…programs like this did not save Detroit and will not save Evansville?…only well thought out plans that involve private investment and deployment of high value human capital (jobs) will do that?
IS IT TRUE the City County Observer and most of its readers would like to know where can we go to buy federal tax credits at 83 cents on the dollar?…if regular folks were eligible to be a investor for a day we could all buy up tax credits at 83 cents on the dollar and pay our taxes at a discount too?…the whole program from top to bottom is disgusting and bad public policy on the federal level?
IS IT TRUE even if one is okay with redistribution schemes (which we are not) that pay for today’s shiny new houses with tax dollars from the future the numbers associated with this program just don’t add up to creating value?…speaking of paying for this year’s shiny objects with next year’s tax dollars, isn’t that exactly what got Sherman Greer fired from his job?…out of one side of the mouth of the City of Evansville comes the words “YOU’RE FIRED†while out of the other side comes the word “SUCCESS†for actions that are pretty close to identical?…the CCO of course does not support what Mr. Greer did but can’t let the hypocrisy that fell from the mouth of the City of Evansville in these two recent events of interest go without being pointed out?
The squandering of”free money” is disgusting, locally we subsidize lofts and luxury apartments for the better off people to entice them to live downtown. I see this as section 8 housing for the well connected. Does the government have any business dabbling in the housing market?
Local tax dollars, State tax dollars, Federal tax dollars, they all come from the same place: YOU!
You are the one who elects to office these people who think projects like this are a good idea. Yes, these people are a problem because their hair brained schemes constantly drain your pockets of the money you need to get ahead, but you are a problem too if you keep electing the same people to office and expecting different results.
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That’s some trickle down crony econ. Would make Reagan proud.
No, Sir. As much as I like to criticize Reagan for talking the talk on conservatism but missing the walk by a mile, I cannot agree with you here.
“Trickle down economics” is just repackaged Adam Smith economics. It was a creative title for the natural way economies work when left alone. It is a description of the motion of private capital as it gets invested at the top of the chain and “trickles down” through the economy based on the decisions of investors, workers, consumers, etc.
What is described here in this IIT – the redistribution of wealth through government waste of tax dollars – is the antonym of “trickle down economics”.
I heard that the President of City Council Connie Robinson isn’t happy at all with this project.
She told a friend of mine that she isn’t happy with the over all quality of these homes.
She also said she has received many complaints about problems with these houses.
Maybe the CCO should talk with her about these issues.
If you have problems they say there is a system in place to resolve them:
http://www.nrpgroup.com/Residents.aspx
I can not believe we had to go to a Cleveland Ohio firm in order to do this project. I have to wonder what sort of property tax abatement The NRP Group LLC received from the City of Evansville.
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On top of the Federal tax credits.
If her only complaint is about the “quality of the homes” and not the fact they were built in the first place, then hers is not an opinion worth paying much attention to.
Obviously the homes will be below standard for their cost, they were built by government contractors! When this program was first introduced, I remember people predicting they would be sub par quality just on that fact alone.
This is a clear case of not seeing the forest for the trees on the part of Connie Robinson. Her constituents would be wise to start asking the right questions.
“Obviously the homes will be below standard for their cost, they were built by government contractors!”
The government contractors are private businesses, correct? Are you implying that private businesses cannot be counted upon to provide a quality product at a reasonable price when they are working for a government entity?
Some businesses are there solely as government contractors. They have no other clientele. And yes, I think when some otherwise good contractors know they are working on a government project there is a temptation to overcharge and to skimp on quality, hence the oft-uttered statement “good enough for government work”. Bureaucracy is cumbersome and slow and not very good at oversight on job sites.
It is unfortunate that the private sector, often touted as the model upon which all economic activity should be based and the solution to all our economic problems, is also at least partly to blame for the perceived or real inefficiencies of government.
No it’s not. Anyone, regardless of their business, will always try to do the least work for the most reward. It’s human nature. Free market capitalism at least acknowledges this fundamental premise and accounts for it, bureaucracy cannot account for it, curb it, or regulate it effectively. It’s like trying to make gravity go away.
Connie also told me the same thing about this project.
Looks like the home owners may have major repair problems with these homes down the road if Connie is right.
OH, the Courier and Press thinks everything is great with this project.
Looks like its up to the CCO to print the real truth about this project.
But Brownsfield housing was fine.
CCO I love your new web site design.
It looks great and is really reader friendly.
Keep up the great work.
The truth about programs like this is the politicians who design and implement them don’t care about the quality of the investment or the actual numbers of people who are helped or hurt in the process; they only care about the value of the PR campaign that accompanies them, the entry on their resume for higher office, and the number of votes they will receive from the entitlement-minded masses as a result.
If politicians like these can continue to convince people with nothing that if they wait long enough government will eventually GIVE them what they want without them having to work harder to get it, and if they can continue to convince a majority of the middle class that feeling guilty for everyone poorer than them is normal and acceptable and they should cheer for class warfare and wealth redistribution schemes because the “rich” are all the bad guys, then nothing will change. We are fighting an uphill battle in education.
The site design changes look like an improvement, but you need to bring back the “recent comments” widget.
I agree—I like the “recent comments” — it tells me where to go when I come back here
Same here. I also frequent some other boards where there is an ‘edit’ feature, whereby the original poster can go back and edit one of their comments to correct a spelling error, remove some snarkiness, eliminate a duplicate post, etc. It’s a nice feature, not sure how difficult it is to enable but it might be worth a look.
I disagree about being able to edit. It’s better if people are forced to answer for what they’ve said and either defend it or elaborate. Plus, it forces you to fully consider your position before typing it out.
Fair enough.
YES BRING BACK THE RECENT COMMENTS!!!!!
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