Well, the Spenders in Gilford may still lust after "free" taxpayer money - but Troy, Michigan has figured it out! - Granite Grok

Well, the Spenders in Gilford may still lust after “free” taxpayer money – but Troy, Michigan has figured it out!

Free money from the Feds, from the State, from the County…..Free!  Free!  Free!  Hey, grab it, because that money is FREE to our taxpayers – it doesn’t cost US a thing!  But those that wish to spend it, that lust after it, they hate it when the obvious truth comes out – er, it’s not free.  The money that they are so eager to lay their hands on has to come from somewhere – and the only answer is “from other taxpayers”.  As the money comes in, with such soothing dulcet tones “think of all of the things you can give to your constituents, your taxpayers – your voters” as they wave the wads like a hypnotic pendant: spend me, spend me – and make yourselves look like heroes.

Yeah, heroes – as the Feds pile up a $15 Trillion debt by which our present “leaders” are indenturing our great grand-kids.  Heroes, indeed – just call them the “elected gimme group” (as opposed to regular special interest gimme crowd).

Yet, there may be hope – that I am not alone!  In fact, there is one town whose Leaders are being true leaders and not participating in the bankrupting of America.  Even as all those around them castigate them for not taking the money, they show their wisdom by seeing the big picture that others refuse to see (or do not dare to see because of a lack of courage).  The folks in Troy, Michigan have had the courage to do just that.

From The Corner:

Beware feds bearing gifts. A Detroit suburb scored a national victory for fiscal sanity and handed President Obama’s Big Green Government scheme — and its establishment cheerleaders — a black eye Monday night when Troy’s city council rejected a multi-million-dollar, federally funded rail boondoggle as a waste of tax dollars. The decision sent a message to Washington where billions have been thrown at green zealots’ outdated mass-transit solutions: Enough.

The liberal Detroit Free Press could barely contain its scorn that local peasants would question Washington’s wisdom. “Leaders across the region considered (it) an important piece to boost mass-transit opportunities in metro Detroit,” the paper huffed. “Opponents called the $8.5-million, 2,500-square-foot center a waste of tax dollars, even though Troy City Hall would not have footed the bill.”

Even though they wouldn’t have footed the bill.  Jokes on the Free Press – dudes, you already did.  For everyone else (see above, “from other taxpayers”).  Who do you think would have to maintain it?  Who was going to pay for the repairs?  Who was going to pay to staff it?  Who was going to pay for the security?  And the ultimate cost: what is the projected price of subsidizing the few riders (for ridership projections are always too low and lower still when compared to the total commuter population)?

But Troy opponents knew that was a false promise.

From Denver to Portland to Detroit’s People Mover, as Randal O’Toole has thoroughly documented, rail systems have inevitably become fiscal black holes as local communities were left holding the bag for glitzy federal projects that never brought the ridership — and operating revenue — that initial studies promised.

Troy’s opposition was led by its new TEA-Party mayor, Janice Daniels, who had made defeat of the transit center the cornerstone of her election campaign. “The council was turned over to new council members and a new mayor because we campaigned on a pledge to stop this transit center,” she said Monday.

Oh, just like here in NH, the TEA Party there is going to take it in the shorts: silly, stupid people for not putting out your hands for your allowance.  Think of the people you’ll disappoint, think of the things you can’t do for them.  As if that is supposed to be the role of Govt – be the Monopoly Dude just passing out the graft bribes money to grant everyone their every wish!  Bread and circus!

Desperate to feed at Obama’s stimulus trough, Michigan’s establishment had put its eggs in the Troy basket. But history shows pols have a bad case of Edifice Complex: They are all about ribbon cuttings — and clueless about long-term costs. Even the state’s Republican governor, Rick Snyder – who earlier this year had joined the state’s Democratic Washington delegation in grabbing millions more in stimulus dollars for a preposterous Chicago-Detroit high-speed rail project – had urged Troy to open the gates to Obama’s “gift.”

With Washington in the red and history as a guide, the rail Trojan Horse would have robbed Troy’s treasury as the feds cut spending, ridership failed, and maintenance costs soared. From Amtrak to Solyndra to Detroit’s People Mover, the landscape is littered with the failed green dreams of Washington bureaucrats.

The pols come and go — but the monuments to their egos rot on. Troy sends a message that America has had enough

Mark my words – the long term costs are never discussed unless phrased in terms of pixie dust and cupcakes.

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