Posted on 05/22/2006 9:41:04 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
FORT LAUDERDALE -- Mega-developers and the city's mayor are shooting down a proposed affordable-housing law, calling it unfair, communistic and doomed to failure. People could afford a place to live, the mayor said, if they were willing to work harder.
Mayor Jim Naugle, a conservative politician in his final term, said people mistakenly think they're entitled to affordable single-family houses on a 40-hour work routine. They need to work more hours, and even then settle for a condo or townhouse, Naugle said.
"I'm supposed to subsidize some schlock sitting on the sofa and drinking a beer, who won't work more than 40 hours a week?" he asked. "I deny that there is a problem. You can buy condos all day for $160,000."
Naugle's comments may be contested by the working-class citizens who've told the city they want homes but can't afford them. But his ideas might hit home in other circles, where a city proposal to make developers slash prices or pay a fee was met with skepticism.
"We ought to let the free market work," said Bill Scherer, a lawyer-developer on the city's Downtown Development Authority.
South Florida's cities only recently decided housing prices had reached crisis-level highs, and Fort Lauderdale is one of the first to try to pass a law to do something about it. The city is under pressure from Broward County to pass a law; otherwise, the county says it won't allow another wave of construction of thousands of condos downtown.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
Anyone?
if they don't like the prices they should move
I have a better idea, bub: lower taxes so people can afford to live!
"South Florida's cities only recently decided housing prices had reached crisis-level highs, and Fort Lauderdale is one of the first to try to pass a law to do something about it. The city is under pressure from Broward County to pass a law; otherwise, the county says it won't allow another wave of construction of thousands of condos downtown."
Great idea - housing is too expensive, so threaten to constrict supply! Genius!
Like the rest of us..
War/combat veterans deserve that kind of subsidy.
Wait a minute, I thought it was government's job to give me everything I want. Burn this heretic!
DING DING DING!!! ....and we have a winner.
Uh, I think hizzoner meant "schmuck."
Bears Repeating.
Stated differently, "Give away housing below market prices, or we'll make housing even more scarce and costly." That certainly makes sense (not).
Truthfully, S. FL is quite pricey (we had major sticker shock when we moved here). If you can't afford to live here, there are lots of other places around the country to live.
susie
I was thinking "schlub."
I know, I'm 100% against the progressive income tax.
I bet he was thinking of both, got the two mixed up, and came up with a kind of hybrid: "schlub" + "schmuck" = "schlock".
I have often wondered how many Americans could actually talk intelligently about what communism truly is:
"A theoretical economic system characterized by the collective ownership of property and by the organization of labor for the common advantage of all members"
Like my husband says "from each according to his means to each according to his means (except for the fat cats in government".
You'd think by this time most people would realize communism doesn't work and is doomed to failure by human nature alone.
For once a politician who tells the truth. Where does it say in the constitution that government has to provide housing??
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