Mr. Rogers Neighborhood

If there is one thing you can count on, it is change. Nothing is forever, or so it seems. The world you knew growing up and the world as it is now are different; some of the change is good and unfortunately, some of the change is bad. We are supposed to learn from our mistakes so as to not repeat something that was bad, but I'm not sure America is headed in that direction. America is divided at the moment and we can debate when it started and who is responsible until the cows come home, but the first six words of this sentence leave little to debate. As a people, we are divided and part of that division is the differences in urban vs. suburban lifestyles, experiences and education. Inner city folks don't think like small-town folks do because they live very different lives. The experiences of growing up in either area, for the most part mold how people view life, government and culture. Cities are usually rich in culture, but inner city schools fall short of testing scores in suburban areas. Inner city schools have the same curricula standards because of state mandates but have a tough time hiring and paying their educators when they are in competition with their immediate neighbors. When it comes down to money spent per student, suburban schools easily outspend city schools and those are simply the facts of life.

It should come to you as little surprise that families living in the cities move out when they can afford to. I don't fault the city school districts, it's obvious they do as much as they can with whatever resources they have. And I don't fault anybody for trying to improve the lot of themselves and their family; this is part and parcel of the opportunity America offers to those willing to work for it.

So, our suburban neighborhoods with their picket fences, little pink houses and 2 cars in the driveway are the American dream. Attaining this lands you squarely in the middle class, which is not a bad place to be overall.

But that dream is being threatened. Regardless of your political affiliation, please click on this link and spend a few minutes seeing what might be coming to your neighborhood in the near future.

 CLICK HERE and afterwards, please continue reading below.

Ah. Not in my area, you think. Think again. In New Hartford, NY ( a small town of ~20,000 adjacent to Utica NY, a city of ~60,000 ) it might be here sooner than you realize. Read on:

As I grew up, New Hartford was a sleepy small town with a good mix of farms (over 50), a good school system and working middle-class post-war families. There is a business corridor which has grown exponentially along with the school budget. Surprisingly, the population hasn't grown much as there is a fair turn-over of properties. It should be noted that property values are higher than their city equivalents in most cases. Clearly, New Hartford is a desirable place to live and raise your children in and property values reflect this. Town government (I served 12 years on the Town Board here) knows this and protects homeowners by recognizing that people want their neighborhoods and property values maintained. Zoning laws recognize residential properties as the most valuable in spite of the large business base that has grown over the years. And why not? People matter more than brick and mortar buildings and always will. It is with that thought that some property in New Hartford is now endangered with the placement of multi-family units in agricultural and single-family-zoned areas. There are, by the way, 2 dairy farms (I'm fortunate to live next door to one of them), a tree farm and a cash-crop farm left in the town now. Change and technology put the vast majority of farmers out of business. Things certainly have changed.

You watched the video clip above, right? Is Tucker full of BS or does the point he's making have merit? In smalltown New Hartford, NY unused farm property was bought last year by the Municipal Housing Authority based in Utica in spite of the neighbors banding together and fighting it. What they are not fighting is the sale of the land, what they are fighting is what the MHA has in mind for it. The MHA wasn't ashamed to let people know that they would like to build multi-unit buildings on it; specifically tailored for low-income families. The neighborhood is livid about this possibility and after approaching the Town Board, is now awaiting to see what the MHA really wants to do with this land tract. In spite of the single-family zoning in place, the MHA closed on the property last November and now is the owner.

It doesn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out what they have in mind. They didn't buy the property to grow beans or corn - they have plans, and that plan is to utilize the property using their business model, which is ... subsidized apartment rentals. To them, the zoning doesn't matter. They have plans, and if they can't get them past the local town government, look for them to seek judicial intervention or worse, lobby for new federal laws to override and mute the will of the town residents.

That this could happen in America is shameful. But then again, after 12 years on the Town Board, I've seen more than my share of shameful events occur and to tell you the truth, I didn't enjoy watching good and decent people get shafted.

Neither will I this time, either.

One Good Scam Deserves Another

I first saw him when he went on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson doing a comedy routine. To get on the Tonight Show as a comedian, you had to be good. Carson's talent scouts only took the best, and they had their pick of the crop. I thought he was funny then, and I still find humor in the things he says. And my wife and I saw his movie (Religulous) in which he pokes fun at various religions and their followers. As usual, he used humor to drive home his opinion that there is no God ,,, a view that I disagree with. People are free to believe (or not believe) as they wish in America.

Of course, I'm talking about Bill Maher, who has a late-night show on HBO where he discusses current events and politics. He's been a liberal mouthpiece for years as his comedy morphed into critical analysis of his views of right and wrong in the world.

You can go on Youtube and find him and his liberal guests (Joy Reid from the Communist News Network among others) laugh at Ann Coulter when she suggested Trump had the best chance of being elected in 2016. Sometimes his comedy backfires, as that clip is now eternally famous.

Bill Maher is nobody's fool, to be sure. Before he comes on and speaks, he's well-read on the issues and doesn't overextend himself into no-mans territory. Occasionally, he even talks like a Republican, as he has done a few times lately.

For example, he defended Israel's military response when Hamas attacked them with 4000+ rockets recently, even though liberals are mostly siding with Hamas. That surprised me somewhat.

But I confess, his latest words on higher education amused me to no end when he went on and ripped it as a racket that sells a very expensive ticket to the upper-middle class. He bolstered his argument by saying the following:

Now that graduation season has ended and we won't be spoiling anyone's big day, let's talk about what higher education in America really is: a racket that sells you a very expensive ticket to the upper-middle class.

President Biden's American Families Plan asks the American taxpayers to pony up hundreds of billions so that everyone can go to college and billions more for subsidized child care so that our kids can go to school while we go to school.

Now the right is calling Biden's plan ‘social engineering,’ which is over-the-top, but Biden's plan is an endorsement of a particular idea that the more time humans spend in classrooms staring at blackboards, the better.

Liberals see more school the way Republicans see tax cuts – as the answer to everything. We imagine going to college is the way to fight income inequality, it actually does the reverse.

I know that free college is a left-wing thing, but is it really liberal for someone who doesn't go to college and makes less money to pay for people who do go and make more? Especially since colleges have turned into giant luxury day care centers with overpaid babysitters anxious to indulge every student whim...

And then he uttered the best line of the evening, one loaded with this pearl of wisdom:

Say what you want about Lori Loughlin. At least she understood that one good scam deserves another.

 

Mr. Maher, may I suggest you take another look at the Republican party and how we think. If you keep thinking and talking like this, we'll patiently await your inevitable arrival.