Say Anything Blog

The whole town isn’t worth what this project will cost:
From the Grand Forks Herald-
“The government of Iceland has authorized a contribution of $75,000 toward construction of a $1.26 million community center in Mountain, N.D., a Pembina County town of about 133 people who celebrate the region’s deep Icelandic heritage each August. The contribution from Reykjavik which sounds even more generous in Icelandic money: about 4.5 million krona will go toward the public fundraising effort to match $676,000 in USDA and other grants approved for the project. So far, nearly $300,000 has been donated or pledged to the public capital. The 14,400-square-foot facility will house the Mountain Fire Department and quick-response units as well as offices for the regional Icelandic Communities Association, the city of Mountain and Pembina Hills Lutheran Church. Plans also call for a café and catering kitchen, banquet seating for more than 300 people and three leasable spaces for businesses. ”
It goes on all the time,everywhere.

If venture capitalism were easy everyone would be doing it.  The problem is that in order to be successful at it you have to have a very specific and well-honed skill set.  You have to be able to recognize which business may work, and which won’t.

Our elected officials at every single level of government - who often seem barely capable of even balancing a budget - simply do not have this skill set.

If they did, they’d likely have real jobs instead of being bureaucrats and politicians.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

-- Thomas Jefferson

Rob’s recently listened-to songs:

Good Ole Boy, I don’t know what your point is but from what I can tell that’ll treble the property value in Mountain.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

The point being there is a lot of money potentially going to be dumped into the project (I say potentially because they haven’t met the matching fund target yet)in what was somewhere along the way sold as some kind of economic development scheme. Note that three businesses may rent space. Really? Three?
I know this is one anecdotal piece, but this happens all over. For example, when MCI was threatening to pull out of Pembina, Gov Hoeven poured money in like there was no tomorrow.Turned out there was no tomorrow- most production moved to Winnipeg anyway. Grand Forks got everything all set up for New Flyer to build buses here, but when the incentives expired, New Flyer went to Crookston. Repeat ad infinitum, ad nauseum.
Rob is right- government has no business being in business.
As has been said before, local governments hike on the fishnet stockings, put on some lipstick, and go stand on the corner whoring for business. Along comes some horny business looking for a good time and no long term commitment. And the politicians whoring for votes get to look like they are doing something.

Meanwhile the businesses that are operating in the state are forced to pay more than their share because of these give a ways.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.