As I catch up on the local news about closing libraries and Rec centers, I’ve been thinking about the 10 year tax abatement.
People were told that making speculators rich, by transferring 10 years of tax revenues to inflated sale prices, was good for everyone. We were to believe that causing an artificial housing bubble of high sale prices and developer speculation was actually the cause for a predictable influx of upper class folks who wanted welfare. (Around the country, it was clear that the upper middle classes wanted to reclaim American urban areas similar to European cities, which had not been strangled for decades. There has been a growing awareness that middle class suburban flight didn’t lead to Shangri-la as the middle class had hoped for such a long time. These were cultural wastelands producing addicted angry suburban kids while destroying the environment.) These abatements brought no actual growth, but merely transferred wealth from tax revenues to condo developers who charged inflated prices. Of course, they also sent the message to upper class condo buyers that wealthy areas would continuously receive welfare (wink-wink), which would be paid for by lowly long term criminals, sometimes called citizens of Philadelphia. Lord Paulson must have gotten a good laugh at Mayor Nutter’s letter. Philadelphia dove head first into the idea that the only policy that mattered was trickle up wealth for the wealthy. Now, the world is suffering chaos because of American trickle up economics ideology and war driven imperialism. But wait, aren’t the elite of Philadelphia wealthy enough for a Paulson bailout? Did people really think the condo developers were going to stay here rather than take the money and run when the hooey hit the fan? Lord Hank is having a good laugh at the greed of our low level elite! The people I care about most were screwed during the “good times.” Now, the middle and upper middle classes are to join the criminal class. Poetic justice is real; however, it isn’t funny. It’s not fun to be abandoned without basic security regarding life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Now, we all can feel what it is like to be low life criminals. Where do we go from here, Glenn ---- You are receiving this because you are subscribed to the list named "UnivCity." To unsubscribe or for archive information, see <http://www.purple.com/list.html>.
