Clueless in Texas
This is an amusing little article to fill the time while we troubleshoot the bug in our comment section (we think everything will be up and running by tonight):
- The front page of the morning's Austin American-Statesman includes (behind the subscriber wall) an article about surging property taxes in Austin, and the "irate homeowners" now confronting their new appraisals. Let's consider the first such homeowner, quoted without any suggestion of irony:
"I'm at the breaking point," said Gretchin Gardner, an Austin artist who bought a 1930s bungalow in the Bouldin neighborhood just south of downtown in 1991 and has watched her property tax bill soar to $8500 this year.
My first thought: "When she reads her own words in the paper Ms. Gardner is going to think: 'Oh, no. I've beclowned myself before the entire city of Austin. My friends will think I'm an idiot.'"
"It's not because I don't like paying taxes," said Gardner, who attended both meetings [of "irate homeowners"]. "I have voted for every park, every library, all the school improvements, for light rail, for anything that will make this city better. But now I can't afford to live here anymore."
My second thought: "No, that won't happen, because the odds are very high her friends agree with her and see nothing inconsistent with voting for all that big government and expecting their taxes to stay low nonetheless. That's what makes big government go around."
Who did she think was going to pay for all of this? Oh wait, she's the same voter who wholeheartedly supports ObamaCare, yet thinks the people on the Right are unreconstructed racists who hate the poor and downtrodden when we simply ask, "How can we afford this? It doesn't add up." Welcome to reality lady.
Labels: money questions, out-of-state
posted by SCC at 12:01 AM
41 Comments:
You must realize that Austin is Texas' version of San Francisco, without the bay and the bridge. Austin/Travis Co. is a hot bed of liberals. The de facto City motto is "Keep Austin Weird".
A Texan, not form Austin
Haha... you said beclowned!
You got what you asked for, now pay up or sell, you liberal idiot. Just who the fuck did you think was going to pay for all those government projects? Oh, I know, the rich! Didn't it occur to you that there aren't enough rich to pay for all that and then the middle class and working class get the bill.
There's Austin and then there's the rest of Texas. Another clueless lefty. As Margaret Thatcher said: "Socialism works fine until you run out of other people's money"
$8,500 taxes in Austin - WOW, I am never moving back to the city.
BUT - as you said SCC, everyone wants BIG services and wall-to-wall government programs in Chicago.
PAY FOR IT - like we do in the suburbs.
OOPS - read this article before drinking any coffee to wake up. (so give me a break)
Thought you wrote $8,500 in taxes for the Austin area (in Chicago - not Texas).
That seemed real high after thinking about it. Then again, with all the extra city services going out to the Austin area, $8,500 is probably an "actual" number that is what should be paid.
Areas in Chicago should have their property tax raised to match the amount of services they consume. WOW - wouldn't that be a reality check.
Detroit,Shitcago,Austin..... The list goes on.
Turns out when your state has no income tax, they still find a way to collect that revenue.
She never expected to have to pay for it herself, not with all those rich people running about.
Austin is the blue dot in the sea of red. Its sort of like a cancer. It starts small and spreads. Maybe they will cut it out for survival.
Where have we heard this before...."we just don't have enough people to make it viable; if we include more, they will like it and at a lower cost. Lets tax the suburbs and give them some train stations for their commute."
"people on the Right are unreconstructed racists who hate the poor"
One only needs to read your blog to arrive at that answer.
Gretchen would be welcome on the north side of Chicago. They think alike.
She is just your average committed democrat voter.
Communities need parks, libraries, school improvements and transportation. It's a matter of necessity rather than big govt. Texas' roads are also strained due to the influx of business into the state. The means to accommodate these increase in business and population doesn't fall on the businesses. They get the tax breaks.
I thought the move of business there for tax breaks was something many here advocated? Someone has to pay for it. If it's not the businesses then it will be the people. Not big government at all, just redistribution of responsibility which favors corporations.
There are roughly 25K people moving to the Austin area yearly as well as other cities in Texas and they cannot keep up with the infastructure fast enough. So all the promises as a low tax state are coming to an end in the near future. They also have a water problem in Texas that they have no idea how to solve, they truck water in from out of state for their hydraulic fracturing efforts. You cannot get cold water out of your taps in the summer in Dallas.
And I heard Texas was a good state to retire...
She is an idiot. What else can be said. This country is full of idiots that think the government can never run out of money and don't realize taxes, in some form either property or other pays for this.
Stay out of Texas. The taxes are a killer. We complain in Illinois but at least our taxes are under 5 grand.
Texas is a great state, but Austin is that one small liberal pocket down there. I've been to Austin and it doesn't even seem like you are in Texas when you are there. A complete liberal mecca filled with clueless people.
Ha Ha Thats what you get! Silly fool.
It wasn't necessary to read beyond "Austin artist" to know she would "beclown" herself.
Unfortunately the State of Illinois kept taxes artificially low for decades by failing to fund the pension systems. Now the politicians are calling state employees and retirees greedy for now wanting to give concessions to make up the pension shortfall. At least these people in Texas had the opportunity to vote for these services so they have no one to blame when the tax bill comes. The state employees and retirees had no such input.
Private homeowners pay ever increasing property taxes. Section 8 voucher beneficiaries pay no property taxes and can care less if property taxes are through the roof. (Yes, the property owners pay property taxes but not the occupants)
Working class people pay sales taxes on their groceries after their take home pay has been slashed by the various tax deductions. L.I.N.K. card recipients pay no taxes on groceries from their tax-free money. Working people must earn $1.30 or more in gross wages to put a paper dollar in their pocket after all the hidden government deductions. Government recipients maintain their dollar since tax deductions not need apply.
The working class pays for their medical care including co-pays and non covered health services. Medical providers will collect or the full force of credit rating and collection efforts will terrorize those who haven’t paid their bills. Those enrolled in government healthcare can give a fuck about co-pays and other expenses because someone else is paying for it. Its free, don’t you get it. No threats from credit bureaus or collection agencies and the accompanying harassment for non-payment.
Working class people must declare any and all income under penalty of perjury and file tax returns. L.I.N.K., S.S.I., Section 8, ILHEAP, S.N.A.P. and cell phone benefits recipient leaches do not pay a dime in taxes on these government provided benefits. If similar benefits were provided by a private employer I.R.S. rules require these “benefits” be subject to taxation. No 1040 for public aiders to file here unless applying for an Earned Income Tax Credit, another free bee to scammers.
Working people are wacked with fees, taxes, connectivity fess etc. on their cell phone bill. Those receiving this government benefit through the department of agriculture contribute nothing to that critical 911 infrastructure.
Working class people pay their utilities and the associated taxes. Illinois low income home energy assistance programs (ILHEAP) hustlers don’t pay a nickel for utilities, so why pay the accompanying taxes.
So check that box “add a dollar” to help the needy when paying your utilities. Thank goodness the poor have a safety net in place to get them through this ComStat-like talked up economy which is on the decline. We are so compassionate, caring and really generous in giving. While doing your 40 hours a week, think of all the help you provide. Contrast that with all the credit given to the part time elected officials for their re-election efforts.
At least Texas is smart enough to raise taxes for the stuff they want. Here we just beg, borrow and steal and kick the debt can down the road
If Ronnie Reagan was still alive, rest his soul, he'd bludgeon her with his musket.
DUH
Sad that she has to preface her comment with "it's not like I don't like paying taxes". Why not be honest - NO ONE likes paying taxes; if you do, you have been indoctrinated to believe in forced charity by 'giving back' since you didn't 'do that by yourself' and thus don't earn the right to decide what to do with the fruits of your own labor.
"I'm at the breaking point," said Gretchin Gardner, an Austin artist who bought a 1930s bungalow in the Bouldin neighborhood just south of downtown in 1991 and has watched her property tax bill soar to $8500 this year."
Well, welcome to gentrification. If so many "artists" and so forth hadn't "discovered" the place, humans would still be able to live there.
Now it's so bad that you've got Rahm hanging around there on weekends. At least until The Scene shifts somewhere else. The folks in the great Rolodex Of Evil will simply find another place to have cocktails, leaving you stuck with the bill.
Was it worth it?
A society cannot survive without the creation of wealth, without production. "Trendies" are death. Like the obnoxious cowbird, they lay their eggs in a nest built by others, and then flit off through the trees and are gone.
Taxpayer-subsidized "Public Broadcasting" is too busy with pathetic "Untold Stories" taking place in Bangladesh to turn its lens on the horror that occurred here. Apartment dwellers went through the tortures of hell during the real estate "bubble," being forced to move three-four-five times as the "flippers" made merry, upending one building after another and shaking the contents out onto the street.
Now it would seem that it's Gretchin's turn.
"Be careful what you ask for..."
A friend sends this for study and reflection...a reminder of what "ordinary people" used to be. Spectacular Kodachrome work recording America in the 1940s.
http://extras.denverpost.com/archive/captured.asp
Maybe she could live in the park...
Wait until Obamacare fully kicks in, then these idiots will be begging for a Republican President to repeal it.
Mr Southside Shut up! Your taxes are low because you live in the GHETTO.
Chicago will become another wasteland because we are losing tax payers every day. The folks who have been keeping the lights on are getting out of town. Can't afford to live here any more. Our politicians have stolen everything in sight and continue to put more debt on the backs of taxpayers. These debts will never be paid and the city will default just like Detroit. We have no one to blame but ourselves. We elected these greedy corrupt politicians year after year and they fucked us in return.
Texas is a great state, but Austin is that one small liberal pocket down there. I've been to Austin and it doesn't even seem like you are in Texas when you are there. A complete liberal mecca filled with clueless people.
6/07/2014 10:28:00 AM
Then they should shut up and pay their taxes.
Its not poltical.
Its generational.
We have one and a half generations who've never lived a single day of their lives within the ambit of government- at any level- actually feeling obliged to pay its bills with cash rather than debt. Just have good intentions and wish, whatever you wanted appeared by magic and nobody ever had to pay.
The piper came due in 2008 when the muni bond market decided that it was no longer interested in letting insolvent cities finance their fantasies with shaky bond issues or unlimited Federal grant money, so municipalities had to start actually paying their bills.
This mentality no shock. This is what entitlement looks like. Want, want, want, want but DO NOT WANT TO PAY. Republicans used to be the ones who stood against this but in recent decades, pig deficit spending is the only thing they seem to agree on with the Dems.
An 80-yr old 1000 sq ft home worth between $500-650K? Is she complaining about the wild jump in appreciation too?
"I have voted for every park, every library, all the school improvements, for light rail, for anything that will make this city better"
I guess that Ms. Gardner has made the city too good.
While property tax rates in Austin have been pretty stable during the last 10 years, property values have doubled or sometimes tripled. She can either sell and make a killing, or bite the bullet, pay the taxes, and know that she'll get the money back when she does sell.
This woman sounds like she must be related to the San Fran citizen who stated, "I liked Obamacare until I found out I had to pay for it." Libs really don't get it.
Schaumburg, twenty thousand a year on house near minor league ballpark on edge but still in crook county.......taxes...........taxes ej..
"Chicago will become another wasteland because we are losing tax payers every day. The folks who have been keeping the lights on are getting out of town.
Can't afford to live here any more."
Apparently you don't go east of Western Ave. Try going to River North ,Gold Coast, South Loop look up& see all those tower cranes building residential skyscrapers.
You might not be able to live here anymore, but thousands who can will, Dipshit.
I love it when this happens and they can't believe it. Thought process is: Well..yeah they are going to raise taxes on the "MAN" but not me. Cracks me up when they get the bill.
As John McClain said: Welcome to the party pal.
PS love Beclowned
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