Posted on 01/07/2010 9:26:44 AM PST by Cheap_Hessian
CHICAGO (Reuters) - In a bow to political winds that demand the streets be cleared of snow, plows were out on Wednesday across the U.S. midsection despite the strain on tight state and local government budgets.
A winter storm was forecast to dump as much as a foot (0.3 meter) of snow across the Great Plains and Midwest by the weekend. The storm was expected to bring enough snow to Des Moines, Iowa, to match the city's normal snowfall total for an entire winter season.
The Iowa capital expects to chew through its $3 million annual snow removal budget soon and will have to take from funds meant for road maintenance.
"We'll face the difficulty of having less drivable roads in July, when there will be more potholes," Des Moines Public Works Director Bill Stowe said.
Kansas City has exhausted its snow removal budget, and was dipping into other funds.
In Chicago, which famously elected underdog mayoral candidate Jane Byrne in 1979 because the incumbent was cavalier about clearing away an epic snowstorm, one-third of the city's $17 million snow removal budget has already been spent on eight "snow events," a city spokesman said.
No matter how much snow falls, current Mayor Richard Daley has never tarried in sending out the plows.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
Take funds away from "green energy" projects designed to "combat global warming".
In a bow to political winds that demand the streets be cleared of snow, plows were out on Wednesday across the U.S. midsection despite the strain on tight state and local government budgets.
BS. All any local government HAS to do is protect the populace: police and fire, haul garbage, provide water and sewer, pave and CLEAR THE EFFIN STREETS!
i don’t CARE about the strain. Do your primary job! All the other trash in the local budget is theft of tax payer dollars. [pretty much...]
They’re too busy spending money on tax breaks for corporations or low-income “free” health clinics.
Nah...plenty of “shovel ready” NRRA money still floating around.
The problem is that all these Democrat city mayors slash basic public safety budgets, like snow removal, to the bone and then waste the money on stupid, feel-good nonsense. And then they publicly cry that their budget is tight despite the fact that they have increased property taxes year after year!
It’s the midwest, you get snow in January! It’s been this way for, oh, about 6,000 years. But the good news is that AlGore says soon you will be able to honestly reduce your plowing budget because of globull warming. So take heart liberal city planners.
How long would the government last if we all decided to stay home and let the system support us?
My city (Overland Park KS) is spending too much money building and maintaining a huge state of the art recreation facility and system which draws a lot of out of state people who pay less than I do at my private gym. Makes me furious. And I hate the facility. It’s very sterile and the staff are typical government zombies.
If the gubmint can’t even keep the roads clear then maybe it’s not needed(?)
Thank Al gore for combating global warming... call your senators and congress men and thank them for supporting the elimination of global warming.. they need to get some credit as well...
Even though I’m really cold right now (67 indoors and no heat), I’m glad I live in SFL right now.
We just wrapped sheets around our baby trees in Houston. Boy, it’s cold outside - but not as cold as some are suffering through this winter. I am glad I am where I am, too!
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