Just a bit of Kansas City holiday season hotness stars our Saturday morning . . .
The Latest Kansas City Vigil
Friends, family gather to remember teen killed trying to save young relatives
Show-Me The Public Against Another Tragic Gov. Jay Nixon Plan
New data shows people in Missouri really don't want an I-70 toll road
Sunflower State Infection Fear
Study: Kansas among least-prepared states for disease outbreak
Show-Me Well-Deserved Epic Telcom Fine
T-Mobile to pay Missouri $280K for text charges
Making A Difference In Meth Town
Holiday Helpers Program saves Christmas for families in Independence
Politics Across The State Line
Kansas City Kansan: Gilstrap latest Wyandotte County candidate to file papers
Newsworthy: New York Times Picks The Chiefs To Win
Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers Preview
And this is the OPEN THREAD for the morning . . .
Jay Nixon made the Army look bad so now he's got to go to bat and get them some revenue or this tough guy governor thing is going to be put into mothballs.
ReplyDelete"tragic" ????
ReplyDeleteNot hardly.
The problem with any kind of new taxes, licenses, tolls or fees is one you have them it takes God himself to end them.
ReplyDeleteMaking a publicly funded highway a toll road is a stupid idea to begin with, but there is strong reason to believe that this scheme is even worse than it looks.
ReplyDeleteUnder similar schemes, the revenue stream generated by the tax will be "securitized" and sold through an investment bank for a one time payment. After that transaction, the revenue and the ability to set all future tax rates on the road, and all decisions on how the road is used, will transfer to the bondholders. In other jurisdictions, such as in Chicago there the parking meter fees were sold off, the city received a relatively low one time payment and the bondholders -- a Persian Gulf state sovereign wealth fund -- received 75 years of authority over parking rates and policies. The investment bankers walked away from the deal with a very large fee. As a result, parking rates in the City of Chicago increased. Furthermore, residence and aldermen found out that the sovereign wealth fund prohibited closing city streets for festivals, because that meant the parking meters did not produce revenue during the closure.
For more information, see "Griftopia" by Matt Taibbi.
10:54, have you driven on the Kansas Turnpike? For decades (at least until Brownback) it was a safe and well-run highway. I-70 through MO could be the same if structured correctly.
ReplyDelete