- "Nations Weigh Financial Incentives to Fight Drop in Birthrates"
- "The City of Elkhorn is No More"
While Red China has its "one child" mandate to manage population growth in that country the island nation of Cyprus has the lowest birthrate in the European Union. So the Cypriot government wants to offer bonuses of US$45,000 for a third child in a family and the same amount for subsequent children. The Times goes on to say that similar programs have been used in Australia, Canada, and Poland just to name a few. If the Cypriots simply wanted more people living on their island perhaps they should spend the $45,000 on airfare to bring Mexican immigrants who want to migrate to the USA to Cyprus instead -- assuming they are willing -- thus saving USA taxpayers some of our hard-earned money while achieving population growth goals in Cyprus. A win-win-win for everyone!!!
At the risk of being attacked by the nearly 1 million Cypriots let me say -- "Don't do it" -- do not offer these cash incentives. If your island's population decreases let it happen. Isn't this the same European Union who has tried to black mail/guilt trip the USA into signing the Kyoto Protocol to fight global warming? So why not create more "open space/green scapes" by simply leaving nature/humans alone? If Cypriots don't want to have children thus driving an overall decline in their population perhaps that is a positive for the environment?
Let it be said that a freedom lover like myself is more GREEN than the central planners in European governments. Now this makes me wonder -- how many children does Al Gore have and are they included in his carbon foot print? :-)
The second news items from USAT comes from the State of Nebraska, USA where the City of Omaha has annexed the City of Elkhorn ( http://www.elkhorncity.net/) against the citizens wishes. Elkhorn had appealed to the US Supreme Court to stop this annexation but the Supremes declined to take action. While this is a victory for federalism/government at the local level it really looks like another abuse of individual property rights. How many residents of Elkhorn moved there to "escape" the big city/big government atmosphere of the much larger City of Omaha?
Clearly one way of stopping urban sprawl is to simply annex all those pretty, low crime suburbs but doesn't that stomp on our most basic freedoms?
No indeed, government does NOT know best.
Live free or die, Todd
1 comment:
This is probably a little off your subject but I live in Omaha and have been listening to this annexation hooey for over a year now. Being the small town girl that I am, I have been very sad at the idea that my small town could be taken away like that. (Don't see Cherokee or Storm Lake trying to annex anytime soon though I suppose.)
The thing that has really struck me though is the fact that we have older neighborhoods in Omaha that are falling apart. The curbs are crumbling and sewer sytems are being neglected. A gentleman who belongs on a committee with me has been living in his home for more than 30 years and says that the city has never come to work on their street to do any upkeep. He lives in what would be considered a poorer part of town. The people there don't have as much of a voice as the people in Elkhorn will. Their dollar speaks more.
Another minor annoyance... In January the city of Omaha raised the taxes of everybody who doesn't live in Omaha proper. Omaha has a nifty little tax called the "wheel tax." This tax is supposed to pay for street repairs and such. Of course this does nothing for the craters that I drive over every day that most call potholes. It is only $35 and generally I don't mind paying my fair share of taxes. The problem is that currently the part of town I live in has no representation on the city council that raised the tax. I can't vote for mayor and I can't vote for a council member to express my pleasure or displeasure over the things they do. The city council, however, is now scrambling to get Elkhorn representation on the council. My part of town has been annexed since about 1972 i believe. I have no idea why they have never had a representative but they haven't. Apparently we are now going to get some action with the reps that they give to Elkhorn but the city council is going to appoint them... not the people. It seems only fair that they would want to make sure they threw someone to the wolves though because it is almost a sure thing that whomever gets that job isn't going to have it long. It seems pretty likely that the citizens of Elkhorn will express their displeasure over what has happened as soon as they are able to cast their first vote.
end rant...
Holstein Girl
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