The Obama administration Monday is calling on cities and counties to rethink their zoning laws, saying that antiquated rules on construction, housing and land use are contributing to high rents and income inequality, and dragging down the U.S. economy as a whole [...]
The White House published a “toolkit” of economic evidence and policy fixes to help local political leaders fight back against the NIMBYs that tend to hold sway over municipal zoning meetings.
— Politico
In related news:
48 Comments
whats Obama's archinect handle?
Emperor Imperator Prime
Rick B - OR
Really a strong demand for affordable housing in Chilmark on Martha's Vineyard. Those Massachusetts 'folks' need to do something!
An actual link to the "toolkit" would have been nice (either from Archinect or the Politico article).
Yet again more federal government overreach.
3Q 2016 I wrote the following checks:
Federal government: $10,000
State government: $1,000
Local government: $750
What did I receive for those checks?
End payroll deductions and have every American citizen cut a check to the government every quarter and see how fast our political system changes.
It's embarrassing that, after the 20th Century, urban projects, Jane Jacobs, etc, that leading politicians and media think so simplistically about the city. NIMBYs bad, big housing good! Okay, but......
Amusing, since land use regulation is the number two contributor to unaffordability (number one being federal credit policy).
The geniuses in Denver are raising the cost of 98% of the housing stock so that 6000 units can be maintained or created. One more tax to feed the pig. For the average house I build that will raise the price $3000. Not coming out of my pocket. Not coming out of my investors pockets. Guess who pays for it? Not to mention once you buy that house you are going to be paying an extra $145/ year for these affordable homes. I'm all for affordable housing, but that is not the solution.
i prefer zoning changes to allow more freedom vs less, but I'm glad this is being talked about
+++gwharton
Whiny fucking libertarians.
i know right, beta? maybe if they were complaining that they couldn't afford housing, or couldn't afford food or medicine, or couldn't afford their educations. instead these idiots complain about having too much money, and get pissed off at the government that gave them the opportunity to have too much money. what fuck ups.
Johnson- weld 2016
Did you read the article? Obama is calling for less regulation and beurocracy to ease friction on development and allow for more freedom on land use...I agree with Obama on this...and his idea is libertarian by nature...
"The Obama administration Monday is calling on cities and counties to rethink their zoning laws, saying that antiquated rules on construction, housing and land use are contributing to high rents and income inequality, and dragging down the U.S. economy as a whole"
first paragraph
won, do you have roads to drive on? Safe drinking water? Police? Fire department? School teachers and janitors? Libraries? Clean air to breath? Laws that are enforceable by a court system? Protection from your next door neighbor turning their house into a pig rendering plant? A car with seatbelts and airbags? Traffic lights? Protection from libel or slander? Security that your couch throw pillows aren't made from radioactive daisies? A functioning internet? Electricity in your home and business? Garbage pickup? A delicious hamburger that's cow not horse? A tasty beer that you can trust won't give you lead poisoning? Aspirin for a hangover? An emergency room in case you fall into a manhole that connects to the sewer system that takes all the bullshit away from your house and treats it?
Jeez. This isn't rocket science. Oh but if you do like rockets a lot of them have been built with your paltry tax payments, too.
Apparently, you Libertarians, don't know how Libertarianism works.
And apparently, the won and don, pays all those pesky taxes, and still can't figure out how google works. Toolkit. As though, WHITE HOUSE wasn't a big enough hand-out, or tip-off to finding what you need, now someone actually needs to do the work for you too.
A fucking joke = Johnson/Weld - 2016
“I’m having an Aleppo moment,” Johnson said, referring to his gaffe earlier in the month when asked about the war-torn Syrian city on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, to which he responded “And what is Aleppo?”
two things; first this guy has had the longest post pot buzz that i have ever heard of, second, he's been a horrible advocate for legalizing marijuana, period. And you fucking knuckleheads think he'd be good for 'merica.
Donna just about everything you list is paid for by real estate and local taxes. which i think was Wons point.
olaf, are you suggesting the federal government isn't involved in subsidies, grants, or other programs with real cost with respect to environmental regulation, law enforcement, community safety, education, judicial infrastructure, zoning/masterplanning strategies, consumer safety, the internet, etc.? i'm pretty sure i could provide a link for you where federal funding is involved in any one of those categories.
depends on where you live. i live in a state with the highest property taxes in the nation, we have damn good public schools at least where i live.
the issue with subsidies would be its a redistribution of wealth based on under performing. you anti liberetians assume denying under funded communities is somehow systemic bullshit. the reality is the subsidies are guided by archaic regulations, juggernauts, that prevent the community from taking care of itself. in short restricting econimic growth where there might be a will to work. somewhat part of Obamas suggestion here on zoning. the big boys can afford to play the subsidies, i.e. Donald Trump. make charter everything, not just schools, give the small business who wants a chance. give the locals a chance.
NY property taxes are a fucking racket. People Paying 12k a year in property taxes and still shitty roads..
Donna just about everything you list is paid for by real estate and local taxes. which i think was Wons point.
Exactly.
The usual liberal voices here, Donna, curtkram, etc. never make the distinction between where actual services are provided (local level) and where the vast majority of our taxes dollars are going (federal). There is an incredibly vast inefficiency sending money to Washington and expecting it to materialize at the local level. In fact, it doesn't happen.
Again, my feeling is the only solution will be to stop having employers automatically take out payroll taxes and have every American citizen file quarterly estimated taxes. Things will change within one election cycle (or the federal government will go insolvent because no one will actually pay).
^ it goes to overthrowing foreign govts for oil and the Halliburton contracts...
It also goes toward paying a vast federal bureaucracy to do nothing.
The federal govt has its place, I'm not saying that we should eliminate all of it, just that much of govt is nothing but a giant "career machine" for politicians...And anyone who thinks taxes do not detract from business growth is either lying or brainwashed by cnn. When the fed takes 40% of your earnings that's a significant drag on potential business growth . Sure we need some taxation, but the rates we have are excessive and poorly used to support a bloated empire...you want to stop carpet bombing brown people, reduce tax revenue.
From personal experience I have seen the decision to not hire based on excessive tax burden....my sister needed to hire 3 more employees, but her tax debt was so great that she made the conscious decision to not grow for the time being based on it. And, yeah about 60% of her staff are well paid minorities and women. True story
Trickle down economics may not work with old money, or huge corporations, but with active small-mid sized businesses I believe it does.
You looney toons break the system, then say government doesn't work, so let's destroy the system.
How about this; let's fuck off with those who broke it, then fix what you broke.
^^^^ this is an extremely funny comment coming from b3ta
how much of the 'libertarian' belief is built around saying 'i should get more, i don't really care about the rest?'
for example, jla's belief that trickle down economics works for some people but not all. how much of that value system is really based on his sincere belief that if you gave him more money, he would have more money? i'm not saying your sister doesn't complain about taxes, but if paying more taxes is really the deciding reason she doesn't want to grow her business in a way that will make her more money, then maybe she isn't the right person to be making that kind of decision.
or, won and done's concern over paying too much in taxes. if his fed tax bill was cut to $5,000, would that really satisfy him, or would his value system still be built around the idea that he should get more?
greed is not complicated, and it can't be satiated. your pretense of pretending your concern is based in how the tax money is spent is insincere and transparent. if the government spent less, the tax savings would ultimately go towards people other than you anyway.
fret not won, j-la, gwharton, your douchecanoe paradise is close to fruition; Liberland!
"Some American libertarians who travel abroad to start libertarian groups professionally have opined to me, off the record, that Liberland is a quixotic project if for no other reason that it is being used by one of the two nation states to further its territorial claims against its neighbor, and anyone moving there may expect violence when the area is finally annexed by one of the two states."
curtkram, try running your own business and then answer your own questions. You just have no idea what you are talking about. I say this as someone who was in your shoes with your exact same political views four years ago. (You can read my post history here on Archinect, if you don't believe me.) It all changed after I started running a business. It has little to do with greed, and everything to do with economics. (My guess is that I give far more to charity than you do.) If you do not see the wastefulness of federal government, you are intentionally walking around with your eyes closed.
i'm not saying i don't see wastefullness in government, but i am saying that it doesn't really affect your bottom line. if government trimmed it's wastefullness, the saved money isn't going to go to you. i'm also saying that if your tax burden was reduced, you would still want it further reduced.
i understand that you run your own business, and i understand you want more money for yourself. that doesn't conflict with the political views i hold, or the appearance that you're motivated by greed.
i'm also saying that what you're complaining about is having too much money. you pay more in taxes than i do, because you have more. if you give more to charity, it's quite possible that you can do so because you have more.
i'm not in a particularly bad position myself. i don't need the government's help for food, housing, or healthcare right now (though my house was paid for with an FHA loan, and obviously i take advantage of the myriad other federal benefits that apply to my life.) i just don't feel the need to complain about government's role or to blame obama for the fortuitous position i'm in.
FYI b3ta: I am not a libertarian and generally think libertarian politics are retarded and puerile. They basically boil down to "GET OUT OF MY ROOM, DAD" writ large.
But that doesn't change the fact that the managerial state is a complete and utter disaster: a cancerous monstrosity that must be destroyed for the health and survival of the nation.
Oh, so it's worse than I thought; you're one of those Judge Smails types, clueless.
Curt, you have no clue what you are talking about. Growing a business requires capital and naturally has risks when increasing overhead.
as for personal earnings.... It's not greedy to want to save money for your family and for your own needs and pleasures. That's called being smart. Rather than putting away for my kids college I have to send it to Uncle Sam...then they grow up and need loans from Uncle Sam...etc...a big circle jerk. My wife and I paid 18k last year. In 10 years I would be able to completely pay for my kids college and pay off my own loans If I didn't have to pay that to the fed....
^ what a joke. in ten years, college tuition will increase far beyond your measly 180k, why? because crackpots keep thinking that a robust investment by the government, towards an educated population, that are able to grow a sustainable economy, is not something inherently important, or contributes to national security.
FREE!
I agree with having free 4 year state universities...just don't believe it will ever happen....so yeah, I trust cash in hand over false promises by politicians...
What's best for you, is best for you, not sure the country.
I'm pretty sure spending over 50% of tax on the military so that we can destabilize the middle east and play our chess game for the benefit of oil companies and Saudi tycoons (who fuck us over secretly...see jasta) is Not in the best interest of the country. I am not opposed to the idea of taxes...it's a necessity of any society...I just have no faith in the govt and how they use OUR money. I will gladly pay for education, science and research, space programs, healthcare for poor...just pretty sure we can cut taxes in half and redesign where money goes and be better off as a country. And I think even curt would agree that there is a threshold where taxation hurts business...I mean...would you support 100% tax rate? 90%? 80%?.....I'm pretty sure won wouldn't think 0 tax would work....So it's a matter of balance not of ideology.
libertarianism or socialism in its extreme form is like any other ism....a complete disaster. Our system is a hybrid one as it should be. I tend to be more of a moderate-conservative on economic issues...A big govt proponent (on conservation and environment) and more libertarian on social issues and civil liberties. The tendency to lump everything into a blue or red team is dumb. I can guarantee that many of your beliefs are libertarian in nature and many of gw's are inherently socialist. The question isn't red or blue..it's the shade of purple we believe is best now and in the long run...
Bottom line is businesses can't grow if they do not have the cash capital to invest, and if their owners don't feel secure with their savings and debts...If you decided to go off on your own would it be easier with 50k in the bank to fall back on or 100k? It's a very simple concept and a deciding factor as to when to move or wait.
so I've decided if I had a political party it would be the "Libertarian Workers", the moto would be "I work, leave me the fuck alone, I will pay the tax of my choosing, because I work, I am the economy."........ Given that we have the internet now, the worker themselves could choose where to put their tax dollars. Thats a real vote. I don't need some guy who studied philosophy then law and did 3 years in the peace corps lobbying for me. Ask me where I want to put my taxes. Call it an "obligatory" agreed upon Federal tax because I am a working American. I know this is a Republic with an age old constitution, yes archaic juggernaut, so I am not interested in what worked in 1776........Imagine if the taxed worker was asked "Shall we invade Iraq on this yellow cake intelligence? If so, how much of you quarterly tax shall go towards this invasion?".......I imagine if your cousin was in the army you probably donate $0. I imagine since you never met an Iraqi and they never harmed you, you would probably donate $0......New highways, fuck yeah, putting 100% into that this paycheck, just bought me sleek corvette, do not want to run through potholes.
^ word up to that Olaf!
I skimmed most of the contents here, just wanted to add that one of by best friends works for the feds and had done literally nothing but log into his computer at home for 3 months straight, and he makes about 40k more than me. He literally does nothing!
jla-x, your posts inspired my post. the "Libertarian Worker" party includes and holds in high esteem small business owners and serial entrepenuers. they would love corporate giants who took care of their workers - living wages and benefits........... and lets just say you are a Modern Day Standard Oil, if all your workers/voters pump their money towards policy that helps their company then so be it!......of course the socialist here is wondering now about children and old people those who do not work. do they vote via tax donation? children no, they do not anyway. old people, a little bit with taxes on their "social security" which is granted to them by workers who care about their parents and grand...and if they tax your social security because you make money elsewhere (god forbid!, like a fucking savings account) put that money back towards yourself -into social security.....like the time I had to pay taxes on my unemployment check - seemed fucking absurd to me. i make no money, you fund me and then take funds for what? NASA? war? fuck you.
quondam, if you believe in military and defense, no? not seeing the big picture here are you. you forgot there would be other questions when allocating your funds. see the other question on the tax form would be "if not towards Iraq invasion, will you pay the salaries of the military men and women who are stationed in the US?"....next question "statiomed abroad?" get it?
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.