Quick reminder on the local CRC/IBR loot rail scam: By POLICY, they didn't WANT public input and completely ignored it on the CRC... just like they are now on the IBR loot rail scam.

Of course. The entire thing is a scam to infest Clark County with TriMet's loot rail.

Or so said the Oregon Supreme Court:

The answer, according to the court: The massive Interstate 5 bridge and freeway project is a "political necessity" to persuade Clark County residents to accept something they previously didn't want—a MAX light-rail line from Portland to Vancouver. (To read the Feb. 16, 2012 Oregon Supreme Court decision regarding the Columbia River Crossing Project, click here: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/or-supreme-court/1608702.html

They didn't have to "persuade" the citizenry. And they never did.

In fact, they planned to IGNORE US ALTOGETHER, EXACTLY LIKE THEY ARE NOW:

Except from the CRC Memo: Columbia River Crossing: Project Sponsors Council Roles and Responsibilities

Two Money Quotes:

1. I assume that each PSC member would be briefed in advance of the decision meetings by senior staff of their organizations. Senior staff is responsible for providing requested information and responding to questions. It is expected that each of the PSC decision meetings would result in a decision with no need for extended deliberations in future meetings. This approach would require extensive coordination among PDT members prior to the meetings.

The decision meetings would be open to the public, but only minimum legal notices would be provided and no display advertising would be placed. We would not encourage public participation. The Task Force chairs would be expected to attend and respond to PSC questions concerning the Task Force recommendations. Task Force members would be made award of the meetings. Meeting notes would be prepared and posted on the website.

and:

2. Non-decision meetings should be treated as opportunities for the PSC members to advise the PDT on key issues. No “official” decisions should be made at the meetings. No public notice would be provided and Task Force participation would not be sought. Meeting notes would be prepared but not posted on the website (the same as RPG and working group meeting notes).

Rest assured, the scum ramming this garbage down our throats no more care about public input, or the public generally now, than they did then.

And they didn't THEN by ACTUAL, WRITTEN, POLICY.

Nope. There was no more persuasion on this scam, then nor now, than the Soviets persuaded women to be assaulted when they took Berlin in World War Eleven.

All they had to do was buy the scum in Washington State and local government.

The Hilarious Cash-for-clunkers Tax Hangover

GIANT hattip to Doug Ross @ Journal for this terrific effort from Papa B.

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It's way worse than that. Ignore all the gas crap and just look at how the stupid car buyer got taken to the cleaners:

If you traded in a clunker worth $3500, you get $4500 off for an apparent "savings" of $1000.

However, you have to pay taxes on the $4500 come April 15th (something that no auto dealer will tell you). If you are in the 30% tax bracket, you will pay $1350 on that $4500.

So, rather than save $1000, you actually pay an extra $350 to the feds. In addition, you traded in a car that was most likely paid for. Now you have 4 or 5 years of payments on a car that you did not need, that was costing you less to run than the payments that you will now be making.

But wait; it gets even better: you also got ripped off by the dealer. For example, every dealer here in LA was selling the Ford Focus with all the goodies, including A/C, auto transmission, power windows, etc for $12,500 the month before the "cash for clunkers" program started.

When "cash for clunkers" came along, they stopped discounting them and instead sold them at the list price of $15,500. So, you paid $3000 more than you would have the month before... (Honda, Toyota, and Kia played the same list price game that Ford and Chevy did).

So let's do the final tally here:

You traded in a car worth:   $3500
You got a discount of:       $4500
                         ---------
Net so far                  +$1000
But you have to pay:         $1350 in taxes on the $4500
                         ---------
Net so far:                  -$350
And you paid:                $3000 more than the car was selling for the month before
                         ---------  
Net                         -$3350

We could also add in the additional taxes (sales tax, state tax, etc.) on the extra $3000 that you paid for the car, along with the 5 years of interest on the car loan, but let's just stop here.

So who actually made out on the deal? The feds collected taxes on the car along with taxes on the $4500 they "gave" you. The car dealers made an extra $3000 or more on every car they sold along with the kickbacks from the manufacturers and the loan companies. The manufacturers got to dump lots of cars they could not give away the month before. And the poor, stupid consumer got saddled with even more debt that they cannot afford.

Obama and his band of merry men convinced Joe consumer that he was getting $4500 in "free" money from the "government" when in fact, Joe was giving away his $3500 car and paying an additional $3350 for the privilege.

Think this was stupid for those who were crazy enough to swallow this wonderful scheme?

Just wait until we get health care with no additional costs over what most of us now pay for health insurance and the best medical care in the world. Think that scheme might be designed by the same people who came up with Cash for Clunkers?
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By some estimates, the Cash-for-Clunkers program paid out $24,000 in taxpayer funds per vehicle. So what could possibly go wrong with nationalizing health care?

The Columbian's pet RINO: Ann Donnelly.

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The Columbian in some apparent effort to show some level of political balance, has apparently signed Ann Donnelly to a regular weekly gig. Her latest column, extolling the virtues of "No Choice Royce" Pollard combined with her abysmal showing at re-org in her abortive attempt to become Clark County's Republican Committee Woman confirms precisely how out of touch with the Republican Party she actually is.

And that, of course, is precisely the way the Columbian wants it.

Royce Pollard is an arrogant, self-centered, unresponsive and uncaring elected official, completely co-opted by the downtown Mafia.

And based on this column, the same might be said of Ms. Donnelly.

NO elected official should EVER fear the will of the people they would govern. Yet Pollard, and his erstwhile snapshot of an opponent, Tim Leavitt, both fear that will.

And Donnelly is OK with that.

"Pollard's potential Achilles Heel is the transportation issue," Donnelly tells us. "Vancouver urgently needs a new I-5 bridge — its frequent traffic tie-ups pose a serious safety threat — but light rail to Clark College and financing with bridge tolls are controversial. Pollard, never one to equivocate, has taken stands that will ignite controversy with fiscal conservatives."

When Donnelly says that "Vancouver urgently needs a new I-5 Bridge," that's a two part lie.

The first part of the lie is that Vancouver needs this bridge replaced. In reality, no one needs this multi-billion dollar waste of money; Don Wagner, Region Six DOT guru has said as much.

The second part of the lie is that the "frequent traffic tie-ups pose a serious safety threat." There is absolutely nothing to back up that assertion; there is absolutely nothing to justify this massive waste of money to address that issue since the experts have determined that, within a short time after it's completion, congestion levels will again begin to climb.

In short, the trouble is not that we need THIS bridge replaced, because replacing this bridge will do absolutely nothing to address Donnelly's phantom safety concern.

The problem is that we need ADDITIONAL bridges. But no dyed-in-the-wool core member of the downtown mafia will ever admit that... or admit that the people should determine if we want 10's of millions taken out of our economy every year to pay off the union thugs that will build this massive waste... as well as serving to finance democrat political campaigns, keeping the vicious cycle in motion.

Pollard is in large part responsible for the Nazi-like takeover of Cascade Park; the lawsuit against the people to twice silence them on the issue of downtown redevelopment, and his moronic "if you don't like it, leave" approach to government as if WE were here to serve HIM.

The problem, as I said, is that Leavitt is no better. Unfortunately for the people, no real Republican or anything but a mainstream(that is, faux Republican) is allowed to have a column... in this case, because Donnelly shares the propaganda and agenda of this newspaper on the bridge.

And that is too bad for us all.... except for the rag that hired her.
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