Tag Archives | Fail

The Worst-Run Big City in the U.S.

By on July 15, 2010 in Big Government

This sums it up quite nicely:

Despite its good intentions, San Francisco is not leading the country in gay marriage. Despite its good intentions, it is not stopping wars. Despite its spending more money per capita on homelessness than any comparable city, its homeless problem is worse than any comparable city’s. Despite its spending more money per capita, period, than almost any city in the nation, San Francisco has poorly managed, budget-busting capital projects, overlapping social programs no one is certain are working, and a transportation system where the only thing running ahead of schedule is the size of its deficit.

It’s time to face facts: San Francisco is spectacularly mismanaged and arguably the worst-run big city in America. This year’s city budget is an astonishing $6.6 billion — more than twice the budget for the entire state of Idaho — for roughly 800,000 residents. Yet despite that stratospheric amount, San Francisco can’t point to progress on many of the social issues it spends liberally to tackle — and no one is made to answer when the city comes up short.

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Federal Action Alerts Fail, Again

By on June 11, 2010 in Activism, Nullification

Over the past few days, I received tons of emails urging people to “take action!” What was the goal this time? Stopping EPA regulations. There was a Senate resolution that needed to be passed. And surprise, surprise – that action failed, just like most all of them do (HR1207 anyone?)

From the Washington Post:

A Senate resolution to block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gases failed narrowly Thursday, providing a temporary respite to environmental activists hoping to enact a mandatory cap on emissions before the end of the year.

But the 47 to 53 vote showed that even in the wake of the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Congress remains divided over how best to address climate change. The contentious debate, in which some lawmakers suggested federal regulation would strike a devastating blow to the economy, suggested the Senate is far from decided on whether to put a price on the industrial emissions that stem from everyday activities such as lighting a home or driving a car….

Nah…what the 47-53 vote shows me is that spending all your energy begging federal politicians to vote for the constitution, or expand liberty – doesn’t work. No one remembers the 2nd place finisher in politics, especially on a run of the mill big-government vote like this.

How about a different direction – one where energy spent can actually make a difference? Still a lot of work, but at least we’ve got a chance. Brian Roberts was definitely on the right path with his recent article, Wanted: EPA out of Texas.

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