A Law Student's Attempt to Understand It All.

Showing posts with label DNC. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DNC. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Dumber than Paris Hilton

Even Los Angeles, the land of Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton, thinks we’re dumb.

The bungles of Mayor Hickenlooper and his posse of Democratic boot lickers have made the national press. The Los Angeles Times reported that the city is $10 million dollars in the hole for the convention. Compounded to this, the planning apparently has been done by seven year-olds. The article does a good job of listing some (but not all) of the gaffs:

“[Barak Hussein Obama’s] acceptance speech being held at an outdoor stadium instead of in the arena where the rest of the convention will take place.”-- This was a last minute change on the part of the convention planners. It is a logistical and security nightmare. The secret service has always hated open-aired football stadiums.

“Even special daisies that the city bred partly to show off for the convention are failing to sprout.” Why the hell are we paying for “special daisies” that can’t even grow? Is it a sign of Obama’s plans for the economy?

“[Denver needed to defend its] much-mocked catering guidelines, which recommend organic produce and color-coordinated meals and discourage fried food.” -- Look, 90% of the convention goers will be drinking copious amounts of beer and eating greasy hamburgers. The catered food, meant to appeal to the Democratic fund sources (the environmentalist lobby), will be eaten at official parties but I guarantee many cows will die for the Democrats.

“Local political leaders and the host committee insist everything is fine, and that any bumps along the way will be overshadowed by the attention showered on the city next month.’ -- Do not look at the man behind the curtain! Buy our propaganda, not the truth!

Seriously, Denverites hate these conventions, which amount to welfare for the political parties, precisely because we can see these sorts of issues. Contrary to the mayor’s claims, hosting the DNC will not give economic benefit to the city. Once the costs of the convention-- its security, its protesters, and the lost productivity of workers who skip town to avoid the hassle-- are factored in, the city will lose tens of millions of dollars.

Oh, and do not forget tax free gas and car washes.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

DNC Gas Fraud

The DNC has committed fraud. They pretended they were city of Denver vehicles entitled to tax-free gas and “private” car washes. When the Rocky Mountain News broke the story, the fallout was immediate: Denverites were angry, and justifiably so. Some quotes:
"I do know for a fact that they're doing the same exact thing in Minneapolis," Hickenlooper said, referring to the city that along with St. Paul is hosting the Republican National Convention.

But Teresa McFarland, a spokeswoman for the Minneapolis-St. Paul host committee, said its members are getting their gas at public pumps.
This is the “but the other guys are doing it” argument, and it appears false. Hickenlooper is either lying or he cannot verify his “facts.” Now, it could be simply because I don’t live in the St. Paul/Minneapolis area, but it seems to me that the Republicans are not have nearly the problems of setting up their conference as the Democrats in Denver seem to be having. Only the party of entitlements would think they should get low cost gas paid for by taxpayers.
The host committee, which is responsible for raising money to put on the convention, is using the city's pumps "for safety and security reasons," [Chris] Lopez [spokesman for the host committee] said.
I had no idea I was using unsafe and insecure pumps. Now, every time I fill up, I feel like the oil companies-- and the government too for that matter-- are robbing me. Maybe if I could fill up where the cops fill up their squad cars, I would feel more secure and safe. Nah, I would probably just get a speeding ticket (Denver loves giving them out).
The disclosure brought immediate scrutiny. Colorado Attorney General John Suthers said the practice "would seem" to be illegal and referred the matter to the state Department of Revenue.
Yep. This is tax fraud.

Everyday there is a new story about how Denver has bumbled the planning of this convention.