Build It Already

I wish Minnesota would get its act together. Yes, I know that there's a budget mess up in the Medium White North and yes, I know people object in this age of Tea Partiers and Occupiers to using public money for such things, but make no mistake, Governor Dayton is right on target with this issue: if you don't give the Vikings a new stadium, they're going to L.A.

And then, after a couple of years of feeling the economic hit the loss of a sports franchise has on your local economy, you'll beg the NFL to give you a team back. And they probably will- only it'll cost more.

So, to me- you spend the cash and be done with it. Because if you don't spend it now, you'll pay through the nose to get an NFL franchise back later...

This Is Creative

You intrigue me, Cedar Rapids... I applaud thinking outside the box and give this a cautious two thumbs up.

#OccupyTheDean'sOffice

The #Occupation continues in Iowa City and elsewhere- (down in Des Moines, they're not fooling around. State Troopers apparently don't have the patience for this kind of thing) but Republicans are starting to tee up on the protestors, which to me, is a mistake- especially for Herman Cain. Calling these protestors 'jealous' Americans who want to 'play the victim card'? Uncool. It might be nice red meat for some of the more disapproving sectors of the Republican base, but Herman Cain- Mr. Cain, you're on the verge of having a serious breakthrough. Don't compromise your chances by engaging in partisan mudslinging- especially don't demonize people who have serious grievances that need to be addressed by someone. Plus points for partisan primary Parcheesi, minus a helluva lot more for lack of leadership. Not very Presidential, Mr. Cain.

What these protestors want is a still evolving discussion, I think- but an emerging trend seems to be the Millenial Generation's realization that they've been sold a bill of goods. A college degree was, for my generation, a good investment in your future. You went to high school, went to college, got a house, got a job- the 'good life' would follow. It was our happy-go-lucky version of the American dream. In these economic times, a lot of grads are realizing they're graduating with degrees that are useless with a ton of debt and dismal job prospects. All of this is compounded by the fact that student loan debt cannot be discharged through bankruptcy. While there are payment options and consolidation options aplenty, student loan debt is rapidly becoming a trap with no escape for a lot of people.

Plus, if student loan debt and college costs are the issue for a lot of people, then Occupying Wall Street isn't the answer. Occupying the Dean's Office is. Exploding college costs can be laid solely at the feet of colleges and Universities themselves! And it's worth noting that the one protest I can remember having a palpable effect on University policy when I was in college was when Students Against Sweatshops staged a good old fashioned sit-in at the President's Office here on campus. (Look what apparel they sell now!) Really and truly, it's time for college students to start biting the hands that feed them. Old fashioned campus takeovers are called for- and more to the point, if you really want to get people's attention, don't just camp out in a park. (Which is why this endorsement is somewhat troubling to me- the AAUP is part of the problem, especially when it comes to college costs.) Start staging sit-ins! Actually occupy something important! If 5,000 Tea Partiers and 5,000 Occupiers walked into Congress and sat down and refused to leave? That would get somebody's attention...

Good Crowd For the Campout

Well, I was cautiously impressed by the #OccupyIowaCity crowd. When the Missus and I drove by on our way to a very nice dinner at Atlas around 6 or so, College Green Park looked more like the 1% instead of the 99%. When we drove back home around 7:30 or so, they actually seemed to be taking up some space.

Good for them! (The cynic in me still thinks that once enough drunk students piss on or egg their tents and once the weather stops being so ridiculously nice we'll see this dwindle and then die.)

Perspective

After a nice workout and some deep thought, I'm a little more at peace with the world. Kids, I want you to follow me through this line of thinking.

Until the Elites (whether of the Left, Right, Republican, Democrat, Media, Business, Cultural, Political- all of them) are neutered and put back into their proper place, gridlock and malaise will continue. Therefore, any attack on the elites in my book, is a good thing.

The Internet (and Steve Jobs played a vital role in this) is pushing power outwards and downwards and into the hands of individuals like you and I at an ever expanding rate. Centralization of power impedes progress, therefore any centralization of power, in my book is a bad thing.

The Tea Party (such as it is) has made it's name attacking the sacred cows of the Elite Left. (Bloated public pensions, ineffective public education systems, unsustainable entitlement commitments teacher's unions and their effect on education, neo-Socialists attempts to turn us into Europe.)

OccupyWallStreet seems (after a rough start, they seem to be focusing down a bit) to be going after the sacred cows of the Elite Right- (corporate welfare, crony capitalism, legalized corruption in Congress that waters down effective regulation of corrupt corporations.)

So in other words, Elites of all varieties are being attacked from both sides. I can get behind this and give it a big old two thumbs up.

I still think there's more work to be done. We're in a fundamental moment of transformation and we need a new politics and a new ideology (or ideologies) for the 20th Century. I have little patience for decades old socialist talking points being constantly repackaged and passed off as something 'radical'. I have even less patience for a party that says that government is depraved and must be destroyed yet curiously insists that government stick around to enforce a moral obligation to dictate what a woman can do to her own body, whom a person can marry and whether they can engage in moral, ethical family planning by easy access to whatever means of contraception they choose to employ. Such hypocrisy makes me sick.

The true transformation of this country can only begin when we break down the barriers that the Elites impose on us and those that we impose on ourselves. When we truly realize that America deserves better than what our elites have to offer us, then we will be truly free.

I say all this as a registered, proud, fiercely Independent voter. You better believe I'm going to remain that way.

#OccupyIowaCity

Oh Good Lord.

I suppose it was inevitable, given that you know, it's Iowa City- but why? Why? Why? It's like the silly Peace Camp all over again- and after enough drunk students had pissed on their tents (I actually know someone who copped to that, btw) and enough people had egged their tents, they pulled up stakes quick enough.

It's just amazing to me how many of these protestors seem to be wearing brand name clothes. And probably are going to college because of the jobs that Mommy and Daddy have and you know, in the few videos I've seen, a lot of them seem to be equipped with iPhones, iPods and all the sexy trappings of technology that they purchased with their evil, capitalist dollars. And when commentators on the P-C website go on about the evils of globalisation and how workers are devalued, I gotta ask: where do you work? Wal-Mart? McDonald's? Another shitty minimum wage job? I'm betting not. (Oh and the majority of these protestors look pretty white to me. Privileged and white. Hardly the downtrodden masses here.)

So I guess I am the 1%. I'm not s self-righteously, hypocritical progressive whining about how unfair life is and how we shouldn't have to pay for anything.

Oh and I don't own an iPhone.

UPDATED: Another good question- why aren't they occupying K-Street? Or Congress for that matter...

A Tiff over TIFs

In the wake of Coralville's brazen attempt at bribery to peel Von Maur away from Sycamore Mall and out to the Iowa River Landing, there's been a flurry of coverage on the issue of TIF (tax incremented financing) districts and their drawbacks and potential- with some lawmakers calling for a review of Iowa's TIF statute over concerns that Coralville might be stretching it a little too far.

All of this raises a potentially interesting question: does Coralville have an edge or is it just selling its soul to a ginormous TIF district that'll come back to bite it in the ass someday? A couple of nice articles in the Press-Citizen explore this a little bit, ranging from the overall use of TIF in the county to the impact it has on other services- especially given the loss of tax revenue involved in promoting a TIF district.

Over at FromDC2Iowa, Nick Johnson weighs in as well with some more reasons why TIF's should be used a lot more judiciously than they are now- all 3 are well worth a read.

As a local development group eyes a Hampton Inn for Iowa City and the controversy still rages in University Heights about a proposed development (where the developer was asking for a TIF, of course, the questions will probably continue. I think there are a couple of things worth touching on here: first, Iowa City is not Coralville- we shouldn't get tagged with their brush, especially given that I don't think financing for the proposed Riverfront Crossing District has been locked in stone yet.

I'm not against TIF's where they're appropriate- turning your whole town into a giant TIF, like Coralville seems to secretly want to do, is a little bit of overkill for me though.

Will this Riverfront Crossing thing work without TIF financing? I don't know- I don't even know if it's that good of an idea, given all the flooding we've had- even with the gigantic greenspace the plans call for. That area of town could do with a facelift though- a Hampton Inn also wouldn't be that out of place, but beyond that, we've gotta have a sensible conversation about what Iowa City should look like in the future. All this insistence on a local identity and blah blah blah doesn't really impress me much. We've haven't had that since elementary school- and we need to do something. I'm just not sure what. I do know that I'm getting sick and tired of spending my money in Coralville. Or at Wal-Mart... and we can do something about that- but only if we want too.