Economic Development?
The Local Puppy Trainer had this item this morning: Region’s congressmen sign on to RESTORE Act
Northwest Florida’s U.S. representatives were among those who announced Wednesday that they have signed on as sponsors to a House version of the RESTORE the Gulf Coast Act.
The bill, while similar to one moving through the Senate, would allow more freedom to the five Gulf Coast states affected by last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill to spend millions of dollars in BP fines headed their way, said Rep. Jeff Miller.
“It would give local governments more say in how and where the money is spent,” said Miller, the Republican from Chumuckla who represents Florida’s 1st congressional district. “We believe that way the money will be spent more efficiently on more appropriate projects.”
Specifically, Miller said the House bill is designed to limit the power of the federal government to dictate how the BP dollars are spent.
“It has provisions that provide more flexibility to spend the money on economic development instead of restricting it to environmental projects,” Miller said. “The biggest objection (to the Senate bill) for the House sponsors is that there’s not enough to be done to help the economy.”
So, the brain trust that represents South Fundistan doesn’t think that fines for screwing up the environment should be used for cleaning up the mess. No, it should be used for ‘economic development’.
We have a tourist economy. If the environment isn’t clean, the tourists won’t come to visit. First, clean up the mess, which will generate economic activity in the form of jobs in the local area, and if there is any left, you can cut taxes or make pay-offs to campaign contributors, or whatever worthless, ineffective plan that those contributors have ‘guaranteed will work this time’, unlike every other moronic plan they have used to siphon off public money.
If you don’t want the restrictions, don’t take the money.
2 comments
Economic development. In other words, even more condo towers, golf courses, and English lawns, all built literally upon sand. Been through Destin lately? It’s looking more and more like Disney World.
Of course I can’t deny that Disney World generates lots of tourism. The difference is that Unca’ Walt built that on a county-sized piece of “worthless” real estate, not smack on top of one of the world’s most beautiful and irreplaceable natural landscapes.
You’d think that eventually the rednecks would figure out that the plantation economy really doesn’t work for them, but somehow that never seems to happen. On the contrary, the rot seems to have spread nation-wide over the past few decades.
Grass is my biggest complaint since I moved back. There used to be a great sand beach on the Santa Rosa Sound at a city park, and they have hidden it under grass, which has to be irrigated, fertilized, cut, and reseeded, instead of occasionally being raked. The amount of beach we have left is getting smaller every year.
They really should wait until they can find owners for the half of the condos on the barrier island that are currently empty before they consider building more. ‘There are damn few people left with the money to make a down payment, much less afford to live on the beach, so they need to make sure the beach is clean and the surplus of condos are occupied before they start any new development.
Being Republicans, of course, they will fall for the story of next con artist with a good story, and throw the money away, just like they did with the tobacco settlement money.