Another Scranton, PA home of VP Joe Biden. And no it wasn't always this way. When Mayor Duci was sworn in the City budget was $43 MILLION. 4 years later it was STILL $43 MILLION. But he was stunad and the Gazetto would not clean up his comments. Spending has exploded the last 8 years under the "brilliant", "job creating", "working together" toward bankruptcy CITY DEM MORONS. While the tax base keeps shrinking because of DEM tax giveaways. In Scranton they either go bankrupt or raise taxes 78%. What's McCheese going to do? lol
You know. I have always been a registered Republican, and I here all the complaints about the Democrats, but I know why people keep voting for them. Because the Right wingers scare the average person, who may someday need health care or some sort of medicare, medicaid welfare or other assistance for various reasons. The Right wing fundamentalists want to slash humane treatment programs for people, as a first resort, and slash corporate taxes and taxes for the wealthy.
These fundies who complain about bad things like job creation and working together are placing themselves outside of electability by me.
The Democrats are in power because the opposition is scary. Yes, they spend way too much. They actually believe that bringing big business to Schenectady is a good thing. Perhaps to someone driving through it is more pleasing. For those who have to dish out the massive taxes required to all the freeloading corporations to do business here, it's a disaster.
Now the problem is the residential sections of the city are looking shabby and in disrepair. The city send out enforcers to look for code violations for unkempt properties that their extreme taxation caused.
Slashing personal social programs in a city of tax induced poverty will only raise crime and police/incarceration costs.
Downtown should have let the natural order take it's course. Downtown would be filled now with mom and pops businesses, but they would at least be taxpayers. If not small businesses, homes could have replaced the decaying old downtown.
Schenectady was once a place that you could buy a 2 family home and make some money. These people are now known as code enforcement targets and losing money hand over fist.
If you want to get some Republicans elected, talk the language the home owners are waiting to hear. They want someone who will stop throwing tax dollars at beautifying downtown. Someone that will lower taxes through spending cuts not aimed at the residents and property owners. Schenectady is not a thriving metropolis with and statewide leader in anything but crime. Building more towers, remodeling the Boulevard, soon we won't even be able to afford to tear down these structures when the corporations flee to the next tax free land giveaway city that offers.
Just look at the past. Amsterdam gave their downtown to corporations. They rerouted traffic around it, displacing all the local businesses. The poverty has only increased and Amsterdam has massive closed factories, ghetto streets and everyone has to live with the nightmare of one ways and rerouting caused by building a stupid a** mall in the middle of the city. Now they tax everyone to death to build their waterfront utopia, just don't face the ghetto while enjoying it.
All the corporations have fled, all the retail are up on Rt 30 on the strip. Downtown is a ghost town with never ending remodeling going on while the city dies a slow painful tax death. Empty buildings, empty factories, decay and crime everywhere.
Corporate sponsorship and never ending rebranding the city of Schenectady will never address the real issue. Once the homeowners reach the point where their tax dollars can no longer sustain the city, the taxpayer base will collapse and the residential ghost town will flourish. But them who will pay for the bus service to bring employees in and out of the corporate city. Where will all the Union College kids eat and party.
The city needs the taxpaying residents to survive. Instead they are targeted for removal and replacement by freeloading corporations.
Yes, I blame the uncontrollable urge to spend on the Democrats, but at least they don't attack the social programs that are in place for the use of the residents who are falling through the massive tax burden caused cracks in Schenectady.
Until Republicans stand up and offer spending cuts not aimed at the little people, I'm voting Democratic.
All the way up to Obama.
So if Republicans want to change things, they need to step up for the working residents and homeowners.
It just isn't happening. So we are stuck with the lesser of 2 evils.
...........nice touch............ 
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