General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: The Seamy Underbelly Of Ferguson Starts To Appear (Updated) [View all]JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)middle of nowhere USA have to raise taxes. Incomes of the 99% don't yield much. And nowadays, taxes on small businesses also don't bring a lot. Big corporations yank the money out of local economies and don't put anything back in. So where else are municipal governments to get money to pay to keep up the sidewalks.
It isn't just small towns. You should see the sidewalks in residential areas in Los Angeles.
I wonder how much debt Ferguson is carrying and what part of its revenue goes to pay that debt off.
This is another example of something very out of balance in our society. The fundamental cause is the imbalance between the rate of growth of capital gains on the one hand and labor on the other. Right now, a town trying to raise taxes based on the wages and expenditures of its citizens has a hard time keeping up.
It's about the 1% and the 99% -- over and over. The wealth goes up. Ferguson is too close to the bottom of the wealth pyramid to pay its bills without extorting its citizens.