City Council has turned public policy into a war against poor people.
Which is weird, because El Paso is poor.
City Council is taxing the poor in order to “appease to a new demographic.” That’s right, a new demographic. One that looks like Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz.
Despite the fact that neither Matthew McConaughey nor Penelope Cruz, nor anyone who looks much like them, has expressed any desire to move to El Paso, appeasement notwithstanding.
Our benevolent overlords have decided that for El Paso to thrive, we need to attract this new demographic, and the way to attract this new demographic is by building amenities, like ballparks and arenas and a Great Wolf Lodge.
Now, I can imagine Matthew McConaughey going to a ballpark. Like, for a World Series Game. If he got free tickets. (Penelope Cruz, not so much.) But I can’t imagine him going to a Triple A ballgame in El Paso, not even with free tickets and unlimited hot dogs.
The truth is that people like Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz aren’t much motivated by the pedestrian benefits our benevolent overlords are offering. Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz are successful artists because the have empathy, and soul. (Our benevolent overlords, not so much.)
Those shiny amenities aren’t going to appeal to the opinion leaders who make things happen. There aren’t a lot of people who are waiting to move to El Paso once we build an arena, or an olympic swimming pool. El Paso should capitalize on El Paso’s unique identity. There is no place in the world like El Paso.
So why are we trying to be like every other place?
I heard the reply to this question from most of our currently elected official locally and from one who would like to be a US Rep.The answer was ” We can be like xxx here in El Paso cheaper since labor rates are lower, the peons are not well educated enough to protest, building codes are loosely enforced, and corruption is so rampant, that we the elite can make money off it.”
You’re killing me, Mike. Thanks.
Keep voting Democrat….look how far El Paso has come since 1965!!! *sarcasm for the idiots
Good luck in the election today, Rich. And, keep on trying to get this message across.
We need data to correlate investment in “amenities” with economic growth. I guess this is the “rising tide raises all ships” philosophy? I know you have a background in economics, so where are the metrics amigo?
Well, you know, you can’t divide by zero.
Since 2012, the total liabilities of the City of El Paso have risen by 230 percent, while the population of El Paso has risen by 1 1/2 percent.
Those shiny amenities don’t create wealth. We’re not manufacturing anything. We’re not increasing anything but our debt.
Nobody’s moving to El Paso to dip their toe in the Olympic swimming pool. Penelope Cruz isn’t coming to watch Triple A baseball. No one is getting fat except the fat cats.
But I guess that’s been the plan all along.