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Robert McClure/InvestigateWest
On the shores of Lake Michigan, a private golf course and housing development, seen here in 2009, sits on public land once protected under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act.
The government promised that the public would get parks where citizens could exercise and stay strong – shared open spaces that would be theirs forever, places that would inspire and invigorate.
But one park became a Las Vegas hotel. Another was almost turned into a beachfront McDonald’s. Another is being converted into an upscale private resort in Oklahoma. And in New York City, the National Park Service allowed the New York Yankees, the nation’s richest baseball franchise, to build a parking garage atop public ball fields that needy kids at the local schools didn’t see replaced for six years.
Forty-eight years after Congress and President John F. Kennedy promised parks to the public, the budget-battered National Park Service program that awarded $3.9 billion-plus to state and local governments to buy or improve those parks has routinely allowed the land to be converted to other uses. Frequently, critics contend, these transactions violate federal law and regulations requiring that federally funded recreational acreage be replaced by lands of equal value.
'Desperate for funding'
Now, with tough times crimping cities’ budgets, parks advocates say they are seeing increasing efforts to privatize parks funded under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act.
“Cities are just desperate for funding to keep schools open and what-have-you, and that becomes a big threat,” said Huey Johnson, the former California natural resources secretary who founded the parks-advocacy group Defense of Place. “The place the cities turn is, ‘Well let’s sell the parks.’ . . . This is really affecting the quality of people’s lives.”
For three years, InvestigateWest tracked the Park Service program and several large park conversions where critics contend the Park Service has sanctioned parkland trades that shortchange taxpayers.
In Oklahoma, the state allowed one of its most popular parks -- Lake Texoma State Park -- to deteriorate badly before selling it in 2008 to a developer who is turning it into a luxurious private resort named Pointe Vista. The development team includes one of the state’s wealthiest businessmen. The state still has not replaced the park facilities.
In Michigan, stands of towering trees on a woodsy 22-acre patch of parkland were knocked down so three holes of a privately owned golf course could be built – extending right to the crest of sand dunes overlooking Lake Michigan. The town, Benton Harbor, the poorest in the state, is predominantly African-American. In exchange, residents are getting a system of hiking trails connecting smaller chunks of inland acreage. The replacement land was located around old industrial areas and contained lead, benzo()pyrene and about 20 other chemicals, according to a report prepared for the developer.
Related story:
- Check the database of park grants in your state
- Budget-battered federal program can't police park conversions
Towering condos
In Sandusky, Ohio, residents nearly lost a waterfront park to a developer’s hotel and towering condos. In exchange for a view of Sandusky Bay on Lake Erie, residents were going to get contaminated acreage inland that looks out on a T.G.I. Friday’s. Only the developer’s financing problems scotched the deal.
From New York’s Yankee Stadium to San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, neighborhood public parks improved with grants from the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act are being converted to private uses.
Paul Joseph Brown / InvestigateWest
Retiree Dennis Haile inspects a fishing pole in Lake Texoma State Park in Oklahoma.
In every case it knows about, the National Park Service says it has wrung from those who take over parkland a promise to replace the open space with land of “at least equal fair market value and of reasonably equivalent usefulness and location.” But the agency relies on states to alert the agency to parkland being converted to different uses in the first place – a key limitation in the Park Service’s oversight authority.
And critics say some such conversions go on under the radar without the parks ever being replaced. Even when the Park Service is notified, an imbalance of power between local advocates and wealthy private developers sometimes means uneven deals get struck. Opponents have sought to block a few such deals in court, with mixed success.
InvestigateWest found that the Park Service’s internal controls are not adequate to fully police the program, and only in the last 12 years has the agency started to keep detailed information about park names and locations, a necessary step for monitoring compliance. These failures have led to what parks advocates contend is an increasing number of park closures and conversions, including cases where the replacement land is inferior to the original.
Moreover, the federal government relies on states to conduct inspections of LWCF-funded parks within five years of project completion and every five years thereafter, as Park Service rules require. However, some parks go without inspection for up to a decade, leaving large windows of time for opportunists to strike deals to appropriate parkland.
“The financial situations in the states are pretty critical across the board,” said Joel Lynch, chief of the Park Service’s State and Local Assistance Programs Division. “I’m sure some states have forgotten their responsibilities on inspecting the sites. We know that’s occurring. We don’t have a sense if it’s widespread or not.”
Sometimes local governments just don’t want to hear about the law’s requirement that privatized parkland must be replaced, said Sam Hall, who directed the program during the 1970s through the 1990s. When Las Vegas allowed a hotel to be built on federally funded parkland in the early 1990s, city officials wouldn’t agree to build a new park until the Park Service threatened to invoke provisions in federal law that allowed withholding of federal funding for highways and other purposes, Hall said.
Local governments have tried even more outrageous shenanigans. For example, American Samoa started making plans to allow a McDonald’s to be built in a park that offers the only public beach in the South Pacific U.S. territory, said David Siegenthaler of the Park Service, who polices park conversions in California and American Samoa.
When Siegenthaler, who’d gotten an anonymous tip about the proposed deal, called to check on it, Samoan officials repeatedly denied they planned to allow the McDonald’s, he said. Eventually, however, he discovered the governor had signed an agreement to allow the deal. Ultimately the deal was killed.
History of abuse
The National Park Service is ill equipped to monitor these parkland takeovers.
Hall, the former program director, said Congress originally provided enough funding to double-check on whether states were enforcing the requirements that privatized parkland be replaced.
“We found a lot of conversions. We found primarily local governments who would sell lands to a local developer for housing, or they put a fire station on the land or wanted to turn it into a municipal city dump,” he said.
In one case in Louisiana, the concessionaire running a state park campground beside a reservoir actually started selling off RV pads, Hall recalled. State inspectors who were coming around dutifully at least once every five years caught him.
“People had put in brick patios and all kinds of developments on their little sites,” Hall said. “It was a major conversion.”
But staff and funding cuts whittled away at the National Park Service’s ability to keep on top of the trend.
Government auditors long ago documented how overwhelmed federal workers were unable to keep up with the growing parkland acreage purchased or improved under the program, although their findings were little noticed by politicians or the public. The U.S. General Accounting Office reported in 1977 that the federal agency then responsible for the program, the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation, had not set up a reliable system for inspecting the parks to make sure they stayed available for outdoor recreation for the public. Auditors described one aspect of the inspection system, checks made on parks under development, as “hit or miss.” They also said staffing levels were too low to police the whole process.
Environmental woes imperil America's national parks
Fast-forward to 2008, and the results of a federal Department of Interior Inspector General report suggested that the problems have only snowballed.
“We believe (the Park Service) needs to strengthen its monitoring and oversight of program results,” inspectors wrote.
While the Park Service’s rules call for a program audit of each state every three years, Park Service officials say those have not been done in many years for some states, and they are catching up on a backlog that in some cases meant states escaped such scrutiny for eight years or more. Bob Anderson, supervisor of the Park Service’s Midwest region for state and local assistance, said while the Park Service previously assigned one person to most states, some workers now manage as many as eight states. And travel money is short.
Paul Joseph Brown / InvestigateWest
A banner announcing the Pointe Vista development at Lake Texoma State Park in Oklahoma is hung in July 2009.
Michael D. Wilson, who ran the Park Service unit in charge of policing park conversions until 2010, said in recent years the agency has been finding out about increasing numbers of park conversions, although it's unclear whether more are occurring or the agency is just getting better at detecting them through modern methods such as Google alerts. The agency is pursuing more than 60 cases in Oregon, some dating back a decade, for example.
At least some states know they’re falling down on the job. Auditors for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection reported in February of this year that the state had stopped doing inspections, instead relying on “limited self-inspections” by cities, noting: “This could lead to misuse of grant funds.” The same system is being tried as a pilot program in other states including California, Park Service officials said.
Michael Gelardi is a Portland, Ore., attorney who analyzed the park-conversion issue in a 2007 law review article at the University of Washington. He pointed out that cities are violating federal law when they convert a park without Park Service permission.
“The National Park Service should be keeping track of the investments that they’ve made with the public’s money in these parks,” Gelardi said. “They need to make sure that the recipients of these grants follow federal law.”
Johnson, the California parks advocate, cautions that unless reforms are undertaken, more cash-strapped cities are likely to push for privatizing parkland without offering citizens equal recreational opportunities.
“It’s just like watching bank accounts if you’re a bank president,” Johnson said. “If you walk out of the bank and don’t watch… someone’s going to walk away with some of the money.”
More on this story from InvestigateWest
Heart of Michigan park sacrificed for private golf course
Oklahoma park bought and paid for
Kids wait six years for ballfields taken over by Yankee Stadium
LuAnne Kozma, a Michigan parks activist, said the entire debate needs to be re-framed so that cities and states no longer look to the biggest patch of green on their map when government coffers come up short.
“We’re trying to get people to realize that there shouldn’t be a dollar value attached to a park any more,” she said. “Once a park becomes a park, it’s out of the market . . . It’s just priceless.”
Jason Alcorn contributed to this report, which was edited by Carol Smith. InvestigateWest is a donor-supported investigative newsroom in Seattle. Support its original, independent journalism for $5 a month.
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The selling off of America has started.
I think it started a long long time ago. What next, Yellowstone turned into day care centers?
Said it once and will say it again. Government, an insulating layer between corporate (wealthy elite) and the masses. Government does NOT represent the people. It represents the interests of corporations and profit for the few. The masses get to pay with blood and taxes. How many Americans still think that our past 11 years of wars have anything to do with other than private interests paid for by the public with the spoils going to the few.
The selling off of America has been going on for years because of the greed of developers and real estate types. What's next? National Monuments with "Trump" written across them?
"How many Americans still think that our past 11 years of wars have anything to do with other than private interests paid for by the public with the spoils going to the few."
You can take that statement all the way back to the Vietnam war.
Keep starving the government, and every park, every monument will be sold to the highest bidder for PROFIT. The New American way, brought to you by the campaign to starve and drown government. Blame who you want.
Right on Rob Scan. It should be in our Constitution that our PUBLIC military should be utilized ONLY to guard our borders from invasion. When our PUBLIC military starts being utilized to further private interests we have a REAL BIG PROBLEM.
One Word: GREED!
AnIndividual......Too late, it already happened ! One of the most beautiful beaches on the planet, Jones Beach State Park on Long Island has been GIVEN to Trump to build one of his monstrosities with his name all over it !
The government promised that the public would get parks where citizens could exercise and stay strong
These deregulations were started -SURPRISE - by George W. Bush when he took the funding to preserve National Parks. He told Congress that parks should be "self-sufficient" . Not only he did that, but deregulated many of the other regulations again land that belonged to the Federal Parks, and fired many of the employees.
The idea from the beginning was to turn that land into developers and "create jobs"-of course- Let's see how long it takes to Mitt Romney to follow suit. No wonder Donald Trump is so "cozy"with this man. Both of them want to turn the National Parks into casinos and condos for the wealthy. The rest of the Americans can go to the toilet. We need "austerity" measures.
The middle class should just close their eyes while the GOP gives us another one in the b....
Starving the government? Umm, did you ever stop and think, it's not that the government is starving, but more in the lines that they keep adding more and more new bills to the mix on top of what we already have to pay for? Or, don't you ever think in those terms? When you only take in x dollars in taxes a year, and the total in bills is y or z, what do you expect? Why not keep the bills at the level of the incoming taxes? You know, pay for the things you had already acquired, and NOT place more bills on top of it. Starve the government......for christs sake. The only fault we have, is allowing this government to keep creating more bills than we can afford to pay for. But hey, they can just take more tax money from theose who still have a job, right Michelle?
All this is a neoconservative's wet dream becoming reality--the privatization of the commons. All "social" conservative politicians are now neoconservatives--following the Leo Strauss/Ayn Rand self serving political philosophies--giving emotion-filled promises to their base to get their votes, then crawling in bed with corporate America in their quest for self enrichment and power.
These are people with no honor, no personal integrity, and no empathy.
Welcome to the Oligarchic Corporatocracy of America.
Only...
You do realize that federal income tax rates are the lowest they've been in your life time (unless you were born before 1933). Not to mention the lowest capital gains tax rate in 3 generations. I wonder why we keep coming up short? Maybe that it's we keep increasing spending AND at the same time keep lowering tax rates.
Fool the people once, shame on you, fool the people twice, shame on the people.
Get off your lazy azzes and put an end to government corruption and greed.
jussayin-
HEY HOBBES It's nice to see that somebody understands it .
Why would anyone invest in a failing country',there should be rules in which a person has so much money..I feel when you reach a certain grr'million you should have to give back, that would be preservation.
I love the smell of capitalism in the morning. Pave it all, I say.
Hey there "Only in America". Ever heard of Grover Norquist? Nearly every single Republican congressman has signed a pledge with him. Grover Norquist's stated goal is "to shrink the size of Government to a size that it can be drowned in a bathtub". So much for your denial that there is a Republican agenda to "starve the Government". And guess what happens when you "shrink the Government to the size that it can be drowned in a bathtub" you get "The selling off of America" because the Government can no longer protect "we the People" from the corporate greed.
Thank the people who are most to blame for letting politicians and the greedy have their way with out parks. You the voter that's who...
If the wealthiest 1% can't make any money off of the parks what good are they?
it wasnt coincidence that Rick Snyders first move as Michigan Governor was to overthrow the Benton Harbor local govt, institute his "guy" to run things, and then wam - they sold off Benton Harbors ONLY public beach access to a private developer, likely a friend of his...or a friend of one of his friends.
this is how wealth is redistributed republican style - FLEECE THE PEOPLE.
it's a red herring all the bellyaching they do about the people taxes the 1% "too much" - taxes have not been this low since the great depression. that ought to tell you all you need to know.
WE ARE BREAKING OURSELVES FOR THEIR GREED.
Do all you ill informed liberals think those government employees work for free? You are sitting at your keyboards demanding more and more then complaining because there is not enough money to go around. The government cannot pay its debts as it is but you want more and you are dumb enough to think raising taxes on the wealthy is the solution. when are you people going to get real.
When people, corporations, or governments go bankrupt, they sell off assets. There are 700 million acres of BLM land and 193 million acres of national forests. Personally, I look forward to spending my retirement years in my little house on the (Pawnee National Grassland) prairie.
Ever notice once the land has been sold the money just seems to disappear. But the local and state governments always have the money for their pet projects especially if it puts dollars in their pockets.
This all starts with the first meeting when the selling of a Park is being suggested, that is a conspiracy to commit a felony, by what ever name you wish to use for this crime. Every thing that follows is a part os this conspiracy to commit this crime. Legally whatever is built on this property belongs to the Public, even though the entity has not invested a cent in it.
If any of us common folks conspired to steal such a property, we would be jailed before I could finish this sentence. This is what I expect should be the result of this current knowledge.
In the late 60's the State of Massachsetts accepted a working Farm as conservation land in the Blue Hills right outside Boston. That property today is an Industrial Park, sold by the State, when the property was allowed an exception to the purpose it was given to the State of Massachusetts. That is illegal under any understanding of the laws regarding such properties.
What can any ordinary citizen do about these things? I have to say I am very disappointed with our government but other than suggesting anarchy, there is little that we can do to right the course of our Country. I am so very disgusted with most of the States government's as well as our Nation's legislature. I am ashamed of the United States of America, my Country, and the almost total corruption for which it stands.
Those posters who have pointed out the decreased revenues for states and municipalities required to support ever-increasing public services make a strong case for more taxes. It's not corporate or individual greed (how I hate that mindless word); it's lack of govt funding.
But I also have to wonder what percentage of a state or city's budget goes to management, bureaucracy, pensions, benefits, bond repayments, etc. We all know how the federal budget breaks down, but how much of my state taxes actually provide me with anything? Are we getting everything out of our tax dollar we should?
We need to pay more in taxes, but we also need to get more for our taxes.
What you have are the developer boondoggles. Pockets get padded, good ol' boys wine and dine some councilmen and politicans and voila, the next thing you know, a major golf course, hotel, condos and the ususal crap. People foolish enough to will their land to the state or government of any stripe are naive. Like those folks who leave items to museums, they think they're going into a collection for display and what really happens is that they get sold and the money is pocketed by the museum.
Tragic and the only way to stop it is to protest. Seems there's lots of reasons to start protesting these days. Oh, and if you picket the developers, why they arrest you because the cops are in the pockets of the councilmen. This is why I'm not too upset with stealth conservancy. People loose public lands to private individuals for profit, people should stand up and take said land back. Want to fish and play on the lake, fight for the right to do so. Sad this has to happen but if you believe in something you fight for it. (I don't condone violence here, talking about protest, not violence)
Polititians are like diapers, they often need to be changed for all the same reasons! This is an old Ponzi scheme that the boys often play on Corruption Hill, DC that always benefits them instead of the taxpayers. And term limits? Forget that too!
God Forbid people turn waste areas into parks, walkways, boardwalks, piers, golf courses, housing, etc.
Who needs the jobs, income from taxes, areas for kids to play, areas for free movie viewing and concerts, golf courses, etc.
I swear some of you people are so short sighted you would cry about anything.
Go read the article again. These areas were already parks, areas supposedly left undeveloped so that people could enjoy the 'great outdoors.' Go look at Florida. No free beaches or access to the water, only the wealthy need enjoy. Sorry, I happen to think that there should be a few areas free of concrete and pavement.
If people want theses areas then they should be willing to help take care of them and not rely on the government. I've seen areas trashed by the public, a public too lazy to pick up after itself, or lend a hand in caring for said public areas. The sword cuts both ways.
For sale is the motto of a capitalist society. Politicians and developers can't be faulted for their greedy actions at the expense of the public... it's what they do.
Agree, so what alse is new. The sorry, lying, stealing, cheating no good for nothing politicions who we elected, knowing that everything that comes out of their mouths were all of the above and we had very few if any other options. Also knowing that the filty rich are paying them all off or they are benefiting in other areas such as property purchases. The rich own the government, how do you think these scum get elected? The money of course. When was the last time if ever that this country had a elected official who stood for the people? AS long as the rich and big corporations have a loophole to fit their slimy body's in, this will never change. There are ways that this could stop but there are more people in the government on the take than those who fight against them. The land of the free ended a long time ago and is on its way back to the middle ages where there were nothing but the rich and their slaves.
Hobbes:
And if you didn't go to the right, school, join the right fraternity and learn the secret handshake; you aren't getting into the club.
Jones beach is a joint venture of a small resturant...NOT what was posted. get real!
In Michigan, Republicans, yes, Republicans have eminent domained EVERYTHING and are selling to their rich corporate supporters.
"They paved Paradise and put in a parking lot" -- Joni Mitchell
OK -- Blame George W Bush for deregulation. That's a big factor. But the Parks Service is part of the government, a part that has preserved and protected open space for all of us to appreciate and enjoy. You cannot blame them for their lack of resources to follow up on this privatization stuff.
This is EXACTLY what the private sector is up to -- grab the good stuff and the rest of us can go hang. That is why we need more regulation. That is why the federal government needs to be involved. At the moment the austerity moguls -- including state governors -- are using the economy as an excuse to put more and more public resources into private hands. You can see what happens. This has got to stop!
To those who blame government -- wherever you got this notion that government is the enemy, if you care about our country, stop believing that!!! Of course, with their greed and their extensive resources, the private sector is going to want you to keep believing -- what will it take to make you wake up?
The government is not perfect -- even Ben Franklin said that back in the day -- but it is supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people. That's you and me. We can change the government. We choose the people who represent us in Washington.
Corporations, on the other hand, have one raison d'etre. Profit. Short term, the environment doesn't matter and the quality of life for us doesn't matter. (Long term, of course, it does. But it seems that lots of corporations don't seem very concerned with long term.)
Some of the most wonderful parks in the county where I live are estates that were donated to the county by wealthy individuals who understood the importance of having beautiful open spaces the people could enjoy in perpetuity. (Don't know for sure, but it's also likely that there were some sweet tax breaks. Maybe that's cynical. Nonetheless, those parks are awesome.)
Public lands should not be available directly to private developers. That 'replacement' clause is weak -- those people who have already benefited from the law as it currently exists should be REQUIRED to replace the land they have acquired with land that the local people deem equal or better.
America is corrupted to the core.
Wonder how many of the people responsible for this NATIONAL DISGRACE have fond memories of going fishing with their grandparents, or camping with their family, or just plain traipsing around the woods as a child?
Wonder how many of THEIR grandchildren -- and great-grand and great-great-grand children will be asking "Daddy, why are there no parks or wilderness areas left for us to go to?".
I have an idea.....
Balance your budgets and quit spending more than you take in, and you will not have to sell off your public parks.
This isn't about greed, it's about IDIOCRACY!
Once again, MSDNC is spinning the tale to meet it's agenda.....
You can't have it both ways. People elected officials who weren't fiscially responsible and they are completely ignorant about the Fed's manipulation of interest rates leading to boom and bust cycles and the decline of our fiat based economy. Now the government is bured in debt and can't meet its obligations. Who cares about a few parks, the worst is yet to come.
Since capitalists, politicians and profiteers only understand the language of money, the people need to vote themselves (by proposition) a law that if by majority vote, taxpayers agree they are getting screwed by their government, they can withhold paying their taxes for a certain period of time.
It's the ONLY way for the people to take back control of their government, other than by civil war.
Since the parks are being sold to develop for the 1% I say welcome to the discussion Denver Bill and thanks for identifying yourself as one of the 1% planning on living in that little house on the former park prarie.
It's ALL about greed. The developers masturbate over the thought of bulldozing down land for the next project. If there was no profit in it for developers, they wouldn't touch these spaces with a ten foot pole. If you think the sweet deals between the corrupt officials and their puppet masters don't exist, you're living in la-la land. We see it in Florida all the time and our aquifers are being depleted! I'm a lady, but this is when I take the gloves off. The long terms costs far outweigh the short term "benefit" sited by the masters. For those in support, stop being a willing serf.
My partners and I are developing a former state park in the midwest. We will make a killing when the project is completed. We project three million per partner on a $250,000 investment.
I love America! I love politicians.
Mark - you only love yourself.
Why are they gobbling up park land when there is so much CHurch land that would also have the side benefit of putting property that was off the tax rolls, back on the tax rolls?
Doesn't American pay attention to what is going on happening to our country. Our country is slowly being bought by the wealthy. Our politicians have sold us out and now they are selling government land which was bought with tax payers. They call it privatizing, when in fact they are diverting tax payer monies to their cronies. Take a look at our history on privatization and you will learn that it costs the tax payer more in the long run. Think about Black water, a private company who took over duties our military used to do. Tax payers are paying over $100,000 per body guard while we only paid our soldiers a third of that. Do yourselves a favor and research cons of privatization.
I see the liberal liars are out in force today. First, in a sister story they admitted Clinton zeroed the budget for four years. So much for the greedy republican lie as well as the "Bush did it" lie.
Second, it's idiot liberals politicians that bought votes with promises they knew they couldn't deliver. Raising taxes will get you un-elected, stealing public parks can be done under the table. Notice how your messiah HASN'T been all over this? This isn't about corporate greed, or 1% greed, it's about nanny state liberal greed, spending the public's resources to fund their socialist wet dream.
Like it or not, conservatives were the original conservationists. This is appalling to me but when liberal idiots borrow 40% of what they spend, somethings got to give. God forbid a few bureaucrats get dumped to save some money.
RHR - because that group is being sucked by the same group stealing our parks. They're all in bed together. I need a cold shower now.
V. Phil - "liberal liars"? That's ironic given the blatant lies coming from your ilk. I guess you've accepted your serf status.
I am sorry but doesn't this country already have enough pools, golf courses and private lots for the wealthy! The last thing we need is more recreation areas for the wealthy to the dismay of all. People are currently bitching about wildlife down in urban areas (bears, lions coyotes) yet developers still get to reign and destroy their natural habitats---where do you expect these innocent creatures to go---into the neighborhood that was once their home, den and feeding ground!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
Haven't developers destroyed enough of our natural lands and beauty, the same beauty that makes AMERICA beautiful will be tranplanted in more wealthy playgrounds.
Here's a fact---developers have destroyed many of Colorado's natural beauty---THEE over developing of ski areas and towns have caused the massive destrouction from Pine beetles killing trees. The air much reach 20 below for 10-14 days to kill the beetles---yet with all the new homes, condos and buildings catering to the upper middle class and wealthier the developers purposedly neglected the fact the more homes and building the more heat gets generated (fusion) and heat does rise---thus the air doesn't have a chance to cool off as it once did and kill the destruction of the pine beetles.
IF anyone reading this doubts or challenges these facts===just drive along the I-70 Corridor through summit county and see for yourself. The current fire raging out of control west of Ft. Collins is being fed by pine beetle rotted trees.
Developers destroy our natural landscpaes------the time has come to turn the tide on these same developers before they destroy the beauty of our natural lands----especially in favor of another golf course and private clubs!
Look around folks. We hear every day about failed housing starts. Bankrupt banks and mortgages.
Surely we could simply locate and build 3 million luxury homes for the 1%. We could provided them with say 15 million acres (that's 5 acres per home) and send them on their way home. They are a minority after all. They are the smallest minority. We have always taken care of our minorities with housing problems by building them a housing project to keep them in. Since they do not wish to mix or assimilate with the rest of us Americans and we can't send them back to where they came from we should do the decent thing. Get them off the streets onto their 5 acres and forget about them.
"Only...
You do realize that federal income tax rates are the lowest they've been in your life time (unless you were born before 1933). Not to mention the lowest capital gains tax rate in 3 generations. I wonder why we keep coming up short? Maybe that it's we keep increasing spending AND at the same time keep lowering tax rates."
So, you believe placing more tax burdens on those who are still working, will do the trick then, right jonedep? You do understand, that the amount of bills that Congress has created over the last 30-40 years is staggering, right? And how will taking more tax money away from the working class help them in any way? But hey, lets keep our spend happy Congress in the bucks, so they can keep coming up with even more things to pile on the already over stacked budget.
Is this how people run their home budgets? If not, why would we not expect Congress to do the same thing? Keep running out and acquiring more things to pay for when you can hardly make the monthly payments as it is. When we have just enough money to make our monthly payments, don't we stop buying long enough till we do have enough to go buy more? I gather that doesn't work for Congress though, right?
"Hey there "Only in America". Ever heard of Grover Norquist? Nearly every single Republican congressman has signed a pledge with him. Grover Norquist's stated goal is "to shrink the size of Government to a size that it can be drowned in a bathtub". So much for your denial that there is a Republican agenda to "starve the Government". And guess what happens when you "shrink the Government to the size that it can be drowned in a bathtub" you get "The selling off of America" because the Government can no longer protect "we the People" from the corporate greed."
Hey there "Allen", ever heard of keeping the size of your government down to where it is more manageable, and its power limited? I doubt that you have.
sillyshrinks: Learn something about the pine beetle infestation before spouting such nonsense. The current epidemic is the result of, oddly enough, too many trees; specifically lodgepole pine, which grows in dense stands easily penetrated by the beetle. Combine that with decades of fire suppression in our national forests and too many mild winters, probably due to climate change, and you have the perfect recipe for an out-of-control beetle population. Heat islands from development have nothing to do with it. (Fusion, btw, is something that happens in the Sun's core, not on city streets.)
Under normal circumstances, fires would devastate the lodgepole stands periodically so the beetle can't reproduce so prolifically. What nature would have done less destructively on her own in small doses over time is now being done full-bore by the inferno created by large stands of dead trees and decades of fuel build-up on the forest floor.
Josephine,
Thank you for your kind words. I will be sure to keep a spot open for you in my organization when the price of bread goes to $150 a loaf.
Didn't you guys read the article? This isn't about corporate greed, it's about government greed. This is happening because government wants more money in forms of property taxes etc. Local and State governments lose money on things like public parks, so they sell them off to developers in order to bring in more money.
Not only are local and state governments selling off parks, but they're also taking private owned lands and selling them to developers, cause then they can get more in property taxes. This happened in New London where the people whose homes were being taken away took this all the way to the Supreme Court in Kelo vs New London.
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/rightsandfreedoms/a/eminentd.htm
So while developers might have been the ones given the land, it was the local government who devised the plan to do so in order to bring in more money. However it didn't stop there. Republicans in Congress didn't like the Supreme Court ruling and so drew up a bill, The Private Property Rights Protection act, H.R. 1443, sponsored by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.).
So lay off the Republicans = corporate greed. This story isn't about the developers but the need and greed of local governments.
mark daft, developer: develop some human qualities. There's more to life than sucking every penny of profit out of any situation. You sir, are a boil on the ass of America.
Gee SillyShrinks, where does your house or apt building sit? Or your town or city, or roads, schools or public parks where the local kids play? I'm sure it once was the habitat of some animal and used to be a beautiful area of wildlife. And don't forget that most developers build things that common people utilize, like hotels, condos, business offices, shopping centers, etc. Not everything is for the "wealthy". This article doesn't even specify what sort of things are being developed. Well it did mention a hotel in Vegas and a MacDonalds that didn't get built. Sounds tres chic.
This is the result of capitalism.
Al decisions are being made on what is best for money. not what is best for society or humans in general
ALL DECISIONS ARE MADE BASED ON THEIR MONETARY OUTCOME, and every single one of you doesn't fully grasp how this nation is under attack by money.
money determines everything, and it has to stop
Yes Doing Work, there was no money in Communist Russia or in Communist China.
"Cities are just desperate for funding to keep schools open and what-have-you, and that becomes a big threat," said Huey Johnson, the former California natural resources secretary who founded the parks-advocacy group Defense of Place. "The place the cities turn is, 'Well let's sell the parks.' . . . This is really affecting the quality of people's lives."
So according to Huey Johnson of a parks-advocacy group, Defense of Place, it's the need for more social services that results in the need for more government revenue. Money is merely a form of exchange. In some ancient cultures it was sea shells that were used as a means for exchange of goods and services. Money helps people acquire things whether needed or wanted. It's people themselves that generate this need, not money. There will always be those who want more, no matter how it's obtained.
Hey, no problem. Just give the money back to the taxpayers with interest, plus return any increase in the value of the repurposed property, plus, oh, say, 60% of any future profits. Oh, the facilities need to be open to all, street people included. Oh, and any public official who had anything at all to do with this, should resign in disgrace and forfeit any pension, perks, and anything of value gotten by lying to us (pretty much everything).
Unfortunately this is not unusual. It's unusual that we've found out. Survive!
Denver Bill. Thanks for your consideration. By the time bread gets to $150.00 a loaf, if we haven't all figured out that we are all in this together, then the Gds really do need to help us. If you really are a 1%er, I truly commend you for posting on here and give you a great deal of respect for it.
I am certainly not against private property or upward mobility. I just think that too many of us advance upward saying that we succeeded because we are uniquely special, not that anyone helped us, or that we couldn't have done whatever without the cooperation and particiapation of others, or even that we got where we are by pushing and shoving other deserving people out of the way. Just we are special and all the rest are lowlife loosers. The rest of us are busy saying they with $ got it deviously, badly and immorally.
Everyone who is against the 1% should quit their jobs with the 1% and go it on their own. The 1% percent should remember that they are the 1% because of their goods and services being bought by the 99%.
You should not defecate upon the hand that feeds you whether it is the hand that is paying your wage or the hand that is making and buying the goods that enable you to buy a big chunk of prairie for your private gated use making sure that you keep those lowlife workers of yours out and in the ticky tacky they deserve because face it they just arent as good as you or else the 1% would be the 100%.
The rest of us should get over ourselves and stop being the victim.
My gd people, they are only 1% of the population. This is not pre-revolution France. We have government programs becuse we have proven time and again that we cannot solve our problems or look out for our fellow Americans on our own. We would rather send a check than lend an actual hand. I mean all of you arm chair liberals as well as the golf course conservatives. This is not because the 1% stops us in anyway. Its because we all blame someone else like a bunch of children.
You may think they are only 1%, but they hold all of our politicians in check. They hold your jobs in check. They hold the media in check.
Heck, you can even vote a governor out out of office, and you want to prevent Federal Park and Land being auctioned off? Give me a break. This is generally what is wrong with the Democrats, lack of focus and unity. I sometimes question if we're better off if the Democrats are more similar to the Republicans, because sheeps are much easier to herd.
Someone at work just asked me, "I thought you said that that tax cut doesn't create jobs!"... Tax cuts in general do not create job. It still does not alter the fact that the 1% are either investors or executive management who take away jobs to help improve profit. Adding jobs does not translate to profit, hence there is absolutely ZERO reason to do so unless there is an absolute gurantee for greater sales (unless they can gamble base off of someone else's money).
So I stand by the original statement, tax cut doesn't create jobs, becuase the 1% able to let you go is different from making the decision of expanding the job market. Only surplus demands can force companies to create job (because if they don't other startups or companies will creat jobs to take away their market position).
capitalism at its finest, we the people bought the land and paid to turn it into something nice so the rich could buy it out from under us and make a killing all while we lick their boots and call them gods for figuring out how to screw us again. 1% horsecrap, well the rich are rich because the game is rigged in their favor. its easy to succeed when failure is impossible and its damn hard to move up when you have nothing to get you going, everything to lose and all the roadblocks in the world.
Sixth sense is creepily accurate sometimes. Ouch! My Balls banned, multiple of Absolute.Idiocracy, registered during this suspension.
I blame bush.
If you Blame Bush then you want to be the next President of the United States. Just what we need is another Left Wing Liberal Socialist infecting our Oval Office
Carl Hubert
Just what we need, another right winged fascist who thinks that America should be run like a corporation in the oval office. If one gets in the office, why don't we just sell off one of our states to pay for the debt, after all we have 49 left.
It's very clear that this issue is not a republican or democrat one. Our government has failed to protect these lands for all Americans. So if we must point the finger of blame, let's all start with ourselves, we elect them.
The other part of the problem is that the monies paid for this "public" land held for the people in perpetuity probably did not go for the benefit of the people, but for the slim-licking politicians that got the lands sold. Sheesh what a place!!!
This makes me sad. These once public places will never be converted back.
There are too many parks that require too many of our tax dollars to maintain and they do not provide any return on the tax dollars.
People do not use parks any more they are not safe to let the kids play in them anyway. Here recently as well as last year in several parks in one city they found lude and obscene pictures of some guy posted all about them.
So the cities/states selling off these parks is a good thing, and frankly the companies that get them and put them on the tax rolls is a positive thing. They shouldn't have to give land in return, then there is another wasted piece of property not on the tax rolls that require some type of up keep.
Good riddens I say.
If you Blame Bush then you want to be the next President of the United States. Just what we need is another Left Wing Liberal Socialist infecting our Oval Office
You only throw hate rhetoric with no substance. However, you never offer any viable solutions. Yeah! Let's put Larry the Cable guy for President...are you happy now?
Your comments are always so obnoxious to read
There are too many parks that require too many of our tax dollars to maintain and they do not provide any return on the tax dollars
I am sure that you watch TV cable 24/7 for entertainment. However, some of us really prefer to get some fresh air once in a while. And yes, the parks turn in a very good profit: sanity and entertainment for those of us that can't afford to take a trip to Europe or Vegas every Summer.I am sure that you would rather everybody stay in the couch just like you.
Obviously you need to go out and breathe some fresh air to clear your mind.
The purpose of a park is not to turn a profit. The commons are established for the common good. I find your comment ignorant and shortsighted. Perhaps only those with money should have access to these beautiful natural places?
And we build infrastructure in hell holes like Iraq. THAT gets done (so it can then be blown up by extremists). This is sad.
Considering they are the one who actually pay for them thru Income taxes, Property taxes and sales taxes then that about sounds right.
Just think what Disney could do with Yellowstone or Yosemite! Put up a dozen resort hotels charging $400 a night. And institute a daily $100 per person feel to enter the park.
Wonderful Idea!
That noted Socialist Theodore Roosevelt would be rolling over in his grave.
They paved paradise
and put up a parking lot...
Considering in most cases it's RIGHT WINGERS who are to blame for letting their cronies have easy money.
You are the typical idiot voter who's actually to blame I refereed to earlier. And no I don't blame Bush but I do place most blame on Republicants who are either stealing or selling America to make a fast buck all in the guise of small government. Most like toothless government meant to let America be sold off.
IRESPOND-2315268 - Why don't we call it fresh-ish air... I agree though, the parks are an important part of our society and need to be preserved.
IRESPOND-2315268 and to all of "you" others, We have enough parks but the Local governments need revnue because you do not want to pay more taxes to take care of these monstrocities.
They are drug heavens, prostitution venues, homicide dumping sights, good places for rape to occur (unfortunately) and they use too many tax dollars to maintain them. Increased Police presents, extra cost to take off graffity, repair vandalism and manicure the land scaping.
You all want to use these parks but don't want to pay for them. When your taxes go up you protest them complain, some of you might get them lowered but most wont and you pay them anyway and then you don't ask "what they are doing with my tax dollars?" Well they are wasting them on public schools (which are NEVER, I repeat NEVER asked to account where the money goes, they just keeping asking for more) parks are like the schools they are bottomless pits you get little value. They are also wasted on other things that serve little public good.
You all "claim" to use them but I know most of you don't. If you want to see real green and get fresh air, drive the through the country side and really breathe in that air instead of trying to inhale that stale and polluted city air you all seem to think is so prescious with these parks.
I get enough fresh air at one of my two houses in two different states while I drive one of my five vehicles.
Nice strawman argument. :)
I'm not sure why you think that would impress us? It just illustrates why your strawman argument is lame.
The problem with the thought of getting them selling them off to get them on the tax rolls is they don't end up paying the taxes.
Here is the "catch 22" if you will NO business and I mean NO business ever pay taxes. They and rightful so put there cost into the price of there goods or services. That means the consumers pay there tax. When we give tax breaks they don't lower the price of those goods, services or in most cases even hire some. The reason we have money issues in the government is our wages do not keep up with inflation and the tax laws never shift up to the next lvl they always shift down. So you make a little more money and get taxes more on it until you hit the top bracket. Once you hit the top bracket it goes in reverse thanks to the Conservative mind set. Which is there are way more lower class people so if you increase there percentage even by 1% you get more money then increasing the top 1%.
Most of us don't have a problem paying our fair share in taxes, i only hear a few that are demanding no new taxes, I can see what my taxes provide and think its great, is there a lot of waste and abuse of programs, yes but instead of cutting off our nose to spite our face we should spend the time to root out the abuse, but that will never happen because the same people that want to do away with taxes for a few are the same ones abusing and bilking the system to line there pockets.
Jeff-1592116
If you would give up on drinking the liberal Kool Aide and actually do some research you would see that it has been the democrats (especially the so-called liberals) that have been raking in the money.
Prove me wrong Dick, show me Republicans fighting for protection of Public lands.
Come on DICK, I know you have example right? I mean otherwise you'd look like a duped moron if you don't. :) Show me where anyone involved in the stories even listed here are other then Republicans. :)
Here DICK. One of your esteemed Republitards spouting the very thing I stated. :)
The rich and the poor don't pay taxes. What's left of the middle class still pay taxes, but we are not represented from this taxation. We don't have a gov. anymore, in it's place is a corporation driven by greed, paid for and run by the elite 1% with lobbyist. An Empire obsessed with anything for profit, even war, because those elites still don't have enough money yet. They use fear of an enemy they created to scare our rights away, from humiliation at the airports, no warrant wire taps to American citizens executed without a trial. We are turning into a police state. The laws have already been put into place, the gov. can take any property, label anyone a terrorist and have them executed or held indefinitely without trail. It is a scary thing what our warmongering empire is becoming.
"There are too many parks that require too many of our tax dollars to maintain and they do not provide any return on the tax dollars."
this is why we cant run our govt like a business, and have to run it like a household.
there are things you do that make you money to keep everything going, and then there are things that you do to enrich your life - that might cost you money, or cost you nothing at all, but certainly dont MAKE you any money.
it's why we buy houses, maintain them and clean them, even though when all is said and done, you wont "make" any money off of it (especially if you took out a loan to pay for it as 90% of americans have to do).
it's why we take vacations, or buy music/concerts, go to ballparks or amusement parks...they cost us money, but they enrich our lives.
and so do public parks.
in some area's, there might just be too many, but in most area's there are not enough - and there are some that should NEVER be for sale, such as those that are in prime locations - like beachside.
the people should absolutely have public access to the lakes, this should never be a debate. EVER.
you dont hear private developers bellyaching that they cant build on land that someone privately owns and wont sell, do you? know...so why should they bellyache over land owned by the people, for the peoples use?
if we need to start putting welfare recipients to work cleaning and mainting these parks, that seems like a perfectly logical solution. heaven forbid we do something logical.
The entitlement people are quickly becoming the rich. They are entitled to buy anything they want. Problem is our lacky lapdog local governments sell it to them for trinkets.
@Azlan Lewis - I am not sure where you live that your parks are in such great disrepair, but here in MN the state and federal parks are kept clean and beautiful. My family visits several of them every year, in fact we visited two this weekend, and they are all very well maintained. You may choose to not use the parks where ever it is that you live, but for those of us who do choose to enjoy them, they are a wonderful asset that should always be protected.
As for not wanting to pay for them, every person in my family has supported every referendum that has come up to provide more to the parks, and we all donate to the DNR every year to support the parks. There are a lot of people who use the parks that have absolutely no problem paying for them.
Azzhat Lewis-Where do you live that all that illegal activity goes on in your parks? Is one of your houses in Compton and the other in Oakland? Aren't you lucky!
I am happy to pay taxes to use state parks, I am happy to pay the fees. We would rather vacation in National Parks than other places so we don't have to look at strip malls, ugly mc-condos and various corporate eyesores.
Yellowstone and Yosemite also have some beautiful architecture in hotels that bring in cash and taxes. Oh and last I heard there weren't prostitutes hanging out at Old Faithfull and drug dealers selling crack at Half Dome, but I could be wrong......
Noting new here the handouters whined, cried, begged, and pleaded, for the handouts.
The pols bought your votes with them.
They put in programs that should never have existed , now they are selling your parks to keep them coming.
Go ahead whine some more leftys.
We spent tomorrow's money yesterday.
Thank the Dems and the GOP.
Azlan Lewis
There are too many National Monuments and Historical Markers and such that require too many of our tax dollars to maintain, and they do not provide any return on the tax dollars. So let's raze these and other National Monuments just because they "cost too much to maintain": Fort Frederica in Georgia; Fort Ord in California; Fossil Butte in Wyoming; Hanford Reach in Washington; Homestead in Nebraska; Ironwood Forest in Arizona; Muir Woods in California; Santa Rosa and San Jacinta Mountains in California.
Let's raze National Memorials/Historical Landmarks just because they "cost too much to maintain", too. After all, if they do not provide any return on the tax dollars, they're just a complete waste.
Archie Murter
Go ahead and worship MONEY, Archie. I'm sure that when your descendants want to go fishing, camping or just plain "out in the woods", they be thanking you and your GREEDMEISTER heroes for making sure there are no places to go fishing, camping or just plain "out in the woods".
Once again liberal liars, a sister story reported Clinton zeroed out the budget for four of his eight years. So much for the greedy republican lie as well as the "Bush did it" lie.
As said above, when you buy votes with socialist wet dreams, you have to pay for them somehow. As a conservative this saddens me greatly.
BTW right wing fascists are liberals, OWS being but one example. Acorn, new black panthers come to mind, as well as union thugs. Conservative and libertarian Tea Party is non violent and uses the ballot box, Liberal and progressive OWS uses violence, intimidation, and death threats when they lose.
Liberals prove over and over again they are fascists. They are the ones that want to control what you eat, what you drink, what you drive, what you are taught, etc., not conservatives.
Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.
Benito Mussolini
I live in Montana and we are a prime target for this to happen. They want to sell off the Rocky Mountain Front to gas developers, our grasslands out east to oil developers and mine the hell out of what is left. Instead of politicians craping where they live they will come to my state to do it because they figure it won't bother the under 1 million people who live here. Guess what? It bothers me. It bothers me everytime I look outside and see are scarred hillside due to mining. We have a 1700 ft deep pit to remind us of relaxed mining regulation right in the middle of Butte. Sure wish everyone would wake up.
Azlan Excuse me, I think you confuse city and county local parks with the national parks. There is a big difference. If you have a state or national park located within your city then I can see there being a graffitti and other such problems. The area around MLK home and church in Atlanta being a possible example of an inner-city National Park gone bad. But this certainly isn't the majority or even most National Parks. Sure graffitti exsists in Yosemite, probably Yellowstone as well. But I have never found a national park to be a particular haven for rapists, gangs, and murderers. Graffitti on Mt Rushmore sure. Rape murder mayhem, no. Gangs not likely. Sorry, but I feel more likely to be raped or observe lewd obscene images walking on the streets of your city where ever it is then I would be visiting a National Park.
VPhil: "Liberals prove over and over again they are fascists. They are the ones that want to control what you eat, what you drink, what you drive, what you are taught, etc., not conservatives"
REALLY? What about conservatives telling us who must go to war with, what we can do with our bodies, who we may marry, what we must put up our vaginas, whether or not we may have contraception, and now whether we may enjoy our National Parks, etc. etc. etc.
"what you are taught" - like creationism in schools?
Of course you blame Bush. Even though the article states the practice started back in the '70s and ramped up in the '90s. This is not based on political parties but rather the greed of local officials. Sweet heart deals abound. Add to this local officials using imminent domain to build shopping malls to get tax revenues.
ItsAboutTime-3704531.......I vote for Texas !
He was being sarcastic.
stabilize the population.
More like birth control for the masses.
Birth control is actually a good idea, its hard to send 6 kids off to collage, where 1 might be possible in a family.
Instead of a modest rise in taxes, budgets get cut to the bone, oversight disappears and corruption flourishes.
A modest rise in taxes isn't needed. Just spending our money on the correct priorities.
Rob how many time have I heard that old tired statement, who decides what is the correct priority, you?
Why yes, Square, we (the people) do decide the correct priority. By proxy, of course. But we do decide.
Or at least that's the theory.
The economy is the simplest thing in the universe that republicans simply can't grasp. We make more widgets, in less time, with less fuel, with less work benefits and spend double the time making them (now mom has to work too instead of just dad). So who gets the money for these widgets? not the CEO's but the people who hide behind them. the hidden rich foundation families who screw you and your kids and feel totally justified and convince half the population that it's good. (the emotional half) (that would be republicans) Our founders built a nation based on "we the people" republicans turned it into We the corporations.
Our founding fathers built a country based upon personal responsibilities and it all started because of over taxation, No where is it written or inferred that simply because you are poor that you should be given money and benefits taken from other.
I laugh when you make statements about our founding fathers like that, They came here and carved their lives and futures out of the wilderness, they worked hard and made the best of what they had, Most of you fools would not be able to survive in the world our founding fathers flourished in.
Not a lot of wilderness left to carve a life our of, is there? And yet we have people posting here who think it's a good idea to sell off what's left of it.
Now the only way to "carve out a life and a future" here is to carve it out of someone else.
Lost in the Pines ... you're half right. The issue was taxation without representation and not many of the founding fathers did their own carving. They also established rights and freedoms for individuals that have been given to corporations (literally). It isn't written that you should be given money and benefits because you're poor. It also isn't written that you should be given massive money and benefits (public land) because you're a wildly rich business ... see agrocorps. I wish people on both sides would stop invoking the founding father's and inserting their own mythology.
Like dumping billions or trillions into Iraq and Afghanistan and just ignore the problems here? ok
Actually there are plenty of states that offer homestead properties, All you have to do is be willing to work , I have to laugh though that you think that the only way to make it is to "Carve it out of Someone else" it shows your attitude towards earning your own keep.
John, While some of the founding fathers may have been wealthy they most certainly did come here and carve their futures out of wilderness, The term founding fathers not only refers to those famous names we all know but also the unknown names of all the others who came to this country going back 100 - 150 years or more before our revolution, Those people who braved the trip to the new world and who survived here by sheer grit and determination. There was no government then to take care of them, They took care of themselves, They did help each other but they also required everyone to share the work.
It is not mythology to say that the founding fathers of this country believed in personal responsibility and hard work.
Lost In The Pine Barrens. I know this all to well, some my ancestors before the Revolution. Their land was deeded to them through the English Parliment. My family at one time owned most of the land which is now a town in MA. Their land covered the boarder of RI an MA. Through the years some portions were divided up between the kids and small portions were sold. The majority of the land was taken through Eminent Domain to build a Highway and to also build a privately owned Power Company. At the time of the Power Company theft there was a deal in place to sell a portion which was less than a 1/4 of what the Power Company took and that sale would have netted more than 4 times more $(for less than a 1/4 of the land) Well the Power Comapany then decided to move the build a little ways so they did not need the land. Instead of returning it for the very low bought price they sold it to a developer. With the Highway they excess land was also sold or given to one of the states largest Gravel Companies.
My family shed blood, sweat, tears and lives in almost all the wars upto and including Kor. War ( Revolution, 1812, Mex-Amer, Cival War, Spanish-Amer., WWI, WWII, Korean and many other conflicts) and all they/we got was being shafted by the government. The effing Government even wanted us to move our family cemetery which has been at it location since atleast the early 1700's or earlier(1600's) as some of the stones are to hard to read and some are just chiseled on a rock
Property rights are the cornerstone of freedom. Without them we are nothing more than serfs working the land for the oligarchs. Bureaucrats are stealing your rights one regulation at a time, one eminent domain at at time.
Welcome to the socialists states of America, where the needs of the fascist state trump the constitutional rights of the proletariat.
one of my fondest memories of my childhood was going to the lake park pavilion on milwaukees' east side. perched on a high hill overlooking lake michigan it was a gathering spot for many ethnic groups. grammas' and grampas' played cards and there was lawn bowling- bocci ball-children ran in and out getting ice cream and lemonade. fourth of july bike decorating contests -free ice cream on special holidays and a band stand for weddings and other occasions . the lovely pavilion is now leased to a high end restaurant--no longer available to the public. while still owned and maintained by the city public use is a thing of the past. it was a very special place-loved and used by many -now only a memory. it was a jewel of the famous milwaukee public park system. it belonged to the people who needed it and appreciated it-milwaukee did not need another high priced restaurant.
Romney supports Ryans plan to cut the top tax rate from 35% to 25% reducing revenue by 5 trillion over ten years and paying for it by eliminating the mortgage interest deduction and taxing emoployer health plans. That would be the biggest transfer of wealth from the middle class to the rich ever. Romney blasts Obama for runaway spending but strongly supported all the stimulus plans as did McCain.
Here's your fascism, Americans. Here's your shameless corruption. We, the people, and our nation are screwed.
What was that slogan the conservatives use? Oh yeah. "starve the beast." This is exactly what happens as starvation sets in! Welcome to the Corporate States of America!
Starve the beast is correct, but you also have to be careful what you feed it. The government takes in plenty of money. They just spend much of it on the wrong things.
I think it's actually starve the US Public but feed medieval societies to the east, right?
No, it's the fascist beast our of control. It will not be denied, either it will tax and spend us to death or it will sell off it's assets then tax and spend us to death. In order to save ourselves now it isn't enough to starve it, we need to cut off it's head.
Vote out all socialist democrats.
So we should continue then to send billions overseas? Please advise.
Selling of the national and state treasures to the greedy-rich is emblematic of the end of a visionary era that began at the dawn of the 20th century. Our political leaders and even some of the robber barons of the day saw value in setting aside and protecting special parcels of land in our nation for their spiritual and recreational qualities.
But now Amerika is well into an age where corporate profits rise above every other consideration. Our so-called representatives in government have been corrupted by their own greed and subservience to the ruling elite. When will workers put a stop to the criminal destruction of everything that the people of this nation hold dear?
No, it's not the greed of the elite, it's the insatiable greed of the nanny state supporters wanting more and more. Politicians couldn't be bought if they weren't for sale, put the blame where it belongs.
This is what happens when one party spends 30 years constantly preaching that "government isn't the solution to the problem; government is the problem." Who does the average American think of when they hear the phrase "government employee"? It's not the teacher who did a great job teaching their kid, or the state trooper who helped them when their car stalled on the freeway, or the Park Service employee who kept the state from selling off their favorite park. No, it's the irrational IRS auditor or the less than charming person at the USPS counter or someone else they think is getting paid for doing nothing. That's ALWAYS been a false picture, but if the GOP can keep us hating on "public employees," they can keep cutting taxes for their ultrarich patrons. Ain't it a shame!
And that perception is the fault of the GOP? I think all of us could be guilty of that.
I agree w/you Sam.. but the GOP would jump up and down if we opened our national parks that are full of natural resources. The all mighty dollar is more important than protecting our national heritage.....
Blame it on poor education. I bet you that people do not understand the 3 branches of the government, how it functions to create laws and how budgets are created. And these very same people are the ones shouting the loudest to blame the incumbent president. Sad state of intellect in america if you care to ponder about it.
I agree w/you. I have a BA in political science, geography with minors in history and international affairs. However, most do need a basic course in American government.....
YES...
Let me know when you find a Republican that's going around trying to protect portions of our country from development and provide the citizens with public land. You let me know when you do OK?
Go ahead and try to Google up some names for me.
Enjoy your quest of futility. There are no such Republicans. Not since Theodore Roosevelt that is.
Where the problem lies is that much land is aquired through donations. Granted the people donating may have gotten some tax discounts or the ability to live on land to death. In the deals the lands were to be used for certain specific reasons, now these lands are not being used for those agreed and contracted on. The states accepted these lands under false pretenses. The original owners could have sold to developers for huge money.
These is no money for these lands but the a-holes in DC continue to spend billions on war, building oversees and pay offs like the ones to Karzai and his cronies. The other problem is many of you folks fall for their scam of right vs left, Dem vs Repub- these jerks are all in the same boat and if you were in the water they would leave you there. I have only seen one person running for Prez that makes anysense and he is Ron Paul. Granted he may not be perfect but atleast you know what he stands for and it is the USA and peoples rights. Just please goto his site and read through his policies, they may not be perfect but they are a change for the better. Problem is there are to many blinded thinking things are fine or their party is always right. Try talking to any of these politicians, you would be lucky to get the time of day. Ron Paul if possibly will talk to you
Bear Mountain and Harriman State Parks were donated with a stipulation that if the government tried to sell or build on any of the land without the approval of the original donator families all the land would revert back to the original owner families. It puts a real crimp into the NY legislation who can't sell off the land.
You might like to visit this site:
http://conservamerica.org/ "Growing a Greener GOP From the Ground Up"
"ConservAmerica was founded in 1995 to resurrect the GOP's great conservation tradition and to restore natural resource conservation and sound environmental protection as fundamental elements of the Republican Party's vision for America.
"Conservation is Conservative! ®"
ROFL
You're kidding right? That's about as laughable as the Gay Republicans.
That's propagandist bullsh!t. There's no examples on that site of Republicans doing anything but talking out their @$$es. When you can actually PROVE something get back to me. :) The site has nothing.
No it's not, conservatives were the original conservationists. I put my money where my mouth is and bought ten acres of forest land and it will stay that way. Have you bought any land to set aside?
I wonder how many kick back were involved
if every (and i mean EVERY) if everyone payed 5% in taxes that (no loop holes) would fix 99% of all this financial problems. this includes companies rich poor EVERYONE. you could stop taxing every dollar going in and out which is what is happening now. its time people started getting smart. there are companies that pay nothing in but receive thousands in tax refunds hell of course we are going broke and cities need to sell of land. how much can you tax a dollar and its no longer a dollar? 1 dollar gets taxed getting to you you have that dollar it get taxed at the end of the year you pay for a 1 dollar soda which is taxed again think about it how much do you have from that dollar . not much
Do you think that charging 5% on the incomes of people who are too poor to pay taxes now will raise much income? It certainly wouldn't compensate for reducing the rates of those who do pay taxes.
Barry - charging 5% on the incomes of the people who are "too poor" to pay taxes would raise a HUGE amount of money. The bottom 50% currently pay an average tax rate of 1.85%, they account for 13.5% of all income earned in the US. The top 1% currently pay an average tax rate of 24% and they account for 16.9% of all income earned. In reality, it is difficult to determine what an effective flat tax rate would be because all information posted is based on AGI, which is reported after credits, though the current taxes paid is about 9% of the total AGI, so 5% is probably pretty close to the mark.
Used to be a choice between guns and butter. Now it is a choice between National Parks and Birth Control Pills for Sadie Fooker. Where is my crying towel?
Need to stop listening to rush -- the contraception issue was for private "HEALTH CARE PLANS'" provided by a religious university that are already being PAID FOR BY THE STUDENTS to also cover contraception.
THAT"AS A WHOLE LOT DIFFERENT THAN THE TRASH MOUTH RIGHT WING Ever told you!!
I hate that there's so much MISINFORMATION all day every day from Rightwingnut broadcasting...
They republicans laugh at all the wingnuts behind closed doors...
Yea like MSDNC, all Obama all the time, is a bastion of truth and balance. ROLMAO.
Money talks and we know what walks..
Money talks...to local politicians who have run up massive spending deficits by offering pensions to public sector union employees of which they cannot pay for anymore. That's why this land is sold off.
Why is it that 99% of the people in here ignored the part of this article that stated:
'Desperate for funding'
Now, with tough times crimping cities’ budgets, parks advocates say they are seeing increasing efforts to privatize parks funded under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act.
“Cities are just desperate for funding to keep schools open and what-have-you, and that becomes a big threat,” said Huey Johnson, the former California natural resources secretary who founded the parks-advocacy group Defense of Place. “The place the cities turn is, ‘Well let’s sell the parks.’
**
You nailed it! Buying votes by promising more than they can deliver, then selling off assets as the bills come due.
Is everyone still naive enough to think that the Government is going to do what they say?
Plain and simple, Money Talks. Grease those skids
And we have the best President Money Can Buy.
wakani money will buy the Republicans the Presidency as Wisconsin has shown, thats the only way they can win.
Wakani.............if it were only that simple.
We have the best "Representatives" money can buy..........THEY make the laws and authorize spending money.
We have the best Supreme Court money can buy.......THEY determine if the laws made by congress are "Constitutional" and those definitions seem to change over time with which "justices" are on the Supreme court and whether they have a liberal or conservative philosophy that is determined to a large part on the affluence and background of the people who put them in a job for life.
We have "States Rights"..........doesn't matter what the federal government or the President at the time wants.
If it were only simple enough to blame a President, any President!!
OH BS Square dude!
How much money was spent by labor unions in WI? You seem to forget that Obama raised over 700 million last election and it wasn't in $25 chunks from the net either. Wall Street banks gave him 100's of millions.
This is not about the President. For crying out loud, educate yourself please. There are 3 branches of the government for starters.
Not nearly as much as corporate sponsored union busters. Corps are making big money with this election.
Nearly $60 million spent by Walker and Pacs compared to $4 million by the dems and pacs.
They ran BS commercials FOR A YEAR!!!!
Now the gop knows that people will vote against their own best interests IF THEY HEAR BS 24/7...
Practically every US senator and representative were millionaires prior to taking office. After being in office for the upteenth term, they are worth a whole lot more that when they came in. Go figure out how this can be when these "servants of the people" get paid a per year salary of $174,000. Da!!!!!!
You're witnessing the Great American Corporate Takeover. Good reason the Republicans want an expert in corporate takeovers to be president. Almost a prereq for them.
Sure is a problem crooked, greedy, politicans. The ones who do this are not worthy of the elected positions they have. They DO NOT HAVE the MENTAL CAPACITY to operate in government. Nor DO THEY HAVE THE INTEREST in protecting existing agreements and arrangements. NOTHING IS SACRET. It's all about the QUICK BUCK AND THE QUICK FIX. THEY ARE IN AND OUT OF OFFICE SO FAST nothing sticks on them and they continue to live their lives as if they accomplished the better good.
I hear on certin FEDERAL LANDS out in the West there are people who grow acres upon acres of illegal drug plants and who are armed to defend their grow. Seems this country just doesn't want to or isn't able to maintain the use of it's public open space. So every thing is up for grabs.
Dark clouds hover over all us The people of the United States now. Nothing new.
I find what is happening totally unacceptable. I also feel powerless about it. I can only look and wonder.
There is so much wrong with the world we all live on today. I feel sorry for YOUR future Children and Grand Children.
On the other hand I see there is much more right in the world today. I think as long as I am alive I will never condone the wrong and always speak out and support what I think is the right thing. Everyone else can do or be the way they are. I just want to live a simple modest, safe, peaceful life. I hope everyone else will do the same.
The fact of the matter is that corporations have slowly been integrating themselves into government at all levels for decades. Now, with a shaky economy, is a good time to start cashing in. Look for more percs for the 1% and less for the rest of us.
"In Gold We Trust"
This isn't about corporations. You may be a nutty OWS type if you believe that, but the facts are completely above your comprehension level even thought the article said what is causing these lands to be sold off.
Teachers have to be paid and their pensions and benefits fully funded!!! Blaming corporations? LOL! The "corporations" are essentially bailing out these localities by purchasing those lands! It is a mutual benefit to both groups, but make no mistake about it: The local government is who is really responsible.
Sammy; I hate to break it to you. Every level of our government is all about corporations. Every law passed at every level for the last 40 or so years favored private interests to some extent. It has finally gotten to the tipping point where all that favoratism has caught up with the public. What do you think has been the effect of half a century of lobbying and now unlimited funds from Citizens United. Absolutly nothing for the benefit of the general public and everything for private interests.
Yankees should be ashamed.
For what? Do you think this problem only happens in the North?
Just another example of the 1% doing well while the rest of us have less and less.
1% derangement!!!! What does the "1%" have to do with this? The local governments are selling the land because they can't pay their employees.
Sammy; They can't pay their employees because taxes are too LOW and private companies get preferential treatment.
AND they can't pay thier employees because of Republican budget cutting.
I'm not convinced that governments are doing this because they can't pay for necessary services. In my experience, governments do this because businesses and people want it. In my own little microcosm, we have a nature preserve co-owned by the State and City. I watch as development encroaches its borders. Some of those 99%ers ride motor vehicles through it, riding on dirt foot trails not intended for motor vehicles.
I suspect that few of these parks in this article were on the market very long before they were bought. In fact, I suspect they probably weren't on the market at all; some developer wanted them, and lobbied for them.
What breaks my heart is that this injustice will not stop until every square inch of natural beauty is paved and "developed." In my opinion, the serenity and awe experienced when one in the woods cannot be matched. Billions of dollars are spent to help people "relax" and to overcome the stresses of daily life. If only that money was spent on protecting our natural treasures!! Go deep into the woods or on an unpolluted beach and breathe in nature's "aroma-therapy!" How soon until greed takes this away from us? :(
Soon............drill baby drill has become Frac baby Frac..................Who needs drinking water?
"Let them eat cake" will become...........Let them drink Perrier! No problem for the 1%.
Kind of like the same injustice done to small farmers and ranchers in the west? No one seems to care about that. Have you ever been to Avon, or Vail, or Aspen?? The self-same so-called ecologists who run those communitues there have turned the Roaring Fork and Eagle Valleys into environmental disaster areas, far worse than the farms or mines ever did.
It is a cruel irony that the forests of western Rockies were established by the local people to protect the watersheds - and keep the Rockefellers out. Now the same locals and farmers cannot use the forests they work so hard to establish and protect. That is what breaks my heart, Stephi.
If America is to open the land of opportunity, let it be equal to all people, not just the rich and famous. Everyone, regardless of income should be able to enjoy the newly enriched parks, golf courses (if you play that is), beach fronts and nature areas. Regardless, the money that is spent in today's economy is getting out of hand and it is not allowing those unfortunate to enjoy anything. Let's put the people first and find the niche for all income levels at the same place. Donald Trump, is the biggest looser in my opinion, who only sees what the rich can do for him. Take for example the place in Scotland where he is building a golf course. Come on, he is destroying the nature preserves for those living around that place and now he wants to sue the country for wanting to put up wind turbines outside of that place. It is not his place to make that decision, so Donald take it or leave it. He should be ashamed of himself. We as a nation need to stand up for ourselves and do not let them destroy the country side for such things.
What breaks my heart is that this injustice will not stop until every square inch of natural beauty is paved and "developed." In my opinion, the serenity and awe experienced when one is in the woods cannot be matched. Billions of dollars are spent to help people "relax" and to overcome the stresses of daily life. If only that money was spent on protecting our natural treasures!! Go deep into the woods or on an unpolluted beach and breathe in nature's "aroma-therapy!" How soon until greed takes this away from us? :(
In this case the greed is from teachers unions who get killer pensions on the back of taxpayers and the politicians who continue to spend more than the government has. Local and state governments can't print money.
A Romney presidency would be calamitous..........Bill Clinton
WPal
You are out of touch..Clinton for one cannot run. Get a grip on reality.
YES. Get the governments out of the real estate business. Certainly the Yankee fans who buy $11 beers need parking more than some kids need to play baseball. What does a kids' baseball game add to the GNP? All will benefit from the trickle down of parking fees.
Do_Not . . . You are not looking beneath the simple surface. WHY is there a "lack of resolve" to retain that which was meant for the people? Because corporations see greater profits, and "conservative" politicians find that they can become wealthy(er) by doing the bidding of Wall Street (the "entity" that can keep them elected--ala Scott Walker). Really, it's power and money that is driving all of this. Ya have to look beneath the surface.
Disaster Capitalism at its finest.