Cuteness

Amid battles about local anti-Semitism, domestic rightwing nuttery, and international treachery, it's about time I revealed my soft, cuddly, cute side.

In Defense of the Brooks Campaign - 10/10 Hindsight

As mentioned below, the pundits are having a field day criticizing the Brooks campaign for coming up 1010 votes short in Tuesdays election. Typical is Steve Kraske, who is beginning to resemble that guy in the Fed Ex commercials who is always wrong, and is shocked to learn they don't get "French benefits". He wrote:

On 10 different levels, it shouldn’t have worked. And it may not have worked had not Brooks run such a milquetoast campaign. The mayor pro tem’s campaign at times appeared invisible. So much ammunition was at his disposal, such as the former city auditor’s call to privatize the water department or raise trash fees, not to mention his startling one-time advocacy for school vouchers.

All that’s fair game. It didn’t have to mean “going negative.” But Brooks, a former cop, only flicked a jab or two at forums and his campaign, led by venerable tough guy Pat Gray, forgot to step on the gas.

“It never got off the ground,” said former City Councilwoman Teresa Loar of Brooks’ campaign.

From the start, this was Brooks’ campaign to win. He had every advantage: the money, the campaign team, the big-time endorsements, the name identification, the title of mayor pro tem, the unwavering backing of Barnes and decades of community service in his hip pocket.

But that wasn’t enough to sufficiently motivate his base. His numbers paled in comparison to another prominent black politician, Emanuel Cleaver. As good a guy as Al Brooks is, as much as he’s contributed going back decades in this community, he’s no Cleaver.

His campaign gave him no help in making up the difference.

I've got to call bullshit here.

While it's true that Brooks and Funkhouser both ran remarkably positive campaigns, and it's true that, all things being equal, it might have grabbed some attention if Brooks had gone negative, it is not true that such a move would have resulted in an uptick of votes for Brooks.

Such thinking assumes that the Funkhouser campaign would have remained static. Sure, I could beat the hell out of Mike Tyson, if I got to throw all the punches. Who knows how Funkhouser would have responded? I'm certainly not going to go negative now, but I suspect Funkhouser could have responded with similar, fact-based material that would have weakened Brooks' positive image.

Those who are decrying Brooks for running a clean, positive campaign, and claiming they could have done better, are using sloppy logic. Yes, some pointed criticism of certain audits drawn out of context could have changed the landscape, but the response from the Funkhouser campaign would have changed the landscape further. Perhaps the changed world would have resulted in a Brooks victory, but such a result is by no means certain.

The only thing that would have been absolutely certain is that Kansas City would have had an uglier Mayors race.

To claim that Brooks ran a bad campaign because he didn't go negative and came up 1010 votes short is to engage in utterly false hindsight. The race was run on the high road, and both candidates were wise and honorable to stay up there.

How to Appreciate Bush

One of the right-wing bloggers I visit fairly often is Stolen Thunder, because he works so hard to put a logical, reasonable face on his illogical, unreasonable love of Bush. He hit a new level the other day, though, when he sought to explain why Bush is "certainly one of the top ten presidents."

No, that is not the punchline.

To justify this extraordinary ranking of a sub-ordinary president, he had to define the rules of the game carefully. So, and I kid you not, he specified that popularity and accomplishment are not valid measures. He never really does define what in world should be considered.

But, I have to admit that he has a great point. If you ignore popularity and accomplishment, Bush takes his rightful place in the pantheon of giants like Chester Arthur and James Polk.

Indeed, if you are looking for lack of accomplishment and popularity, I think Bush may actually be the tops.

With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies?

The monarchical rulers of our bestest buddies, BFF Saudi Arabia, are closely connected to the Bush family and run the sort of repressive government that serves as inspiration for people like Alberto "Abu" Gonzalez.

So, what love note does our BFF send us this week?

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia: "In beloved Iraq, blood is flowing between brothers, in the shadow of an illegitimate foreign occupation, and abhorrent sectarianism threatens a civil war."

If Arab leaders recover trust in each other and regain their credibility, “the winds of hope will blow on the nation, and then, we will not allow forces from outside the region to determine the future of the region, and only the flag of Arabism will be raised on Arab soil,” Abdullah said.

Sweet. Looks like the Bush administration is doing the same thing in the Middle East that it did in New Orleans.

Back When We Were Foolish

Here's an excerpt from an email I sent to Mark Funkhouser on November 22, the day that I heard he was going to make a run for the Mayor's office:

Thank you for being willing to take on the job. You'll be a great mayor. I don't have access to polls and I haven't talked to the "insiders" (like the ones who were so confident that Wheeler would win), but I can see you coming in first with a plurality in the primary, and riding a populist wave. I think you're going to wake up with a huge job on your hands come March 28th.

From his response:

I like your analysis of the situation a lot. I heard a political insider say I'd finish 7th or 8th and my response was "I'm going to win this thing."

So, I was a couple hundred voters off from him winning the plurality in the primary, but that's not too bad an analysis for an amateur. Meanwhile, the "serious" and "informed" "experts" were providing "analysis" that said things like Funkhouser was a 10:1 long-shot to even make it out of the primary. The "experts" told us things like "Voters won't care about TIF - it's too complex a message," and "You can't win with that name." I cannot count the number of times I had people smarter than me tell me that this was a fool's errand and a waste of time. But when I looked around the campaign committee and saw people like Joe Miller and Jeff Simon and the Wolfs and Ruth Bates - I saw good solid people full of hope, and it was contagious.

Even today, the know-it-alls are insisting they know it all. From Kraske's column this mornning:

Funkhouser, who padded a fairly stodgy persona with his “The Funk” moniker, pulled off a win even though he was outspent 2-1 and operated the most unorthodox campaign I’ve ever covered.

No campaign manager. No phone banks. No fancy high-dollar consultants. No focus groups. No polls. Just a few good folks down at the “doublewide,” as the campaign cleverly referred to its 18th and Summit trailer-turned-campaign headquarters.

And gaudy orange-orange, for gosh sakes, as a trademark campaign color.

On 10 different levels, it shouldn’t have worked. And it may not have worked had not Brooks run such a milquetoast campaign.

The column then goes on to lay out how the brilliant Steve Kraske would have won the race for Brooks.

Yeah, whatever.

My point in writing all this is not to claim I'm a political genius, because I'm not. And it's certainly not to gloat - my respect for Alvin Brooks remains untarnished.

But what I am trying to say is that the emperor/experts aren't wearing any clothes. The "experts" who say that money is everything are wrong. The "experts" who say that endorsements make the difference are wrong. The "experts" who say that "serious" campaigns have self-proclaimed wizards like Pat Gray or Jeff Roe running them are wrong. They are lying to you.

If Funkhouser can win, we can get some Latino representation on the Council, maybe even Rita Valenciano. If Funkhouser can win, Mark Forsythe and Deth Im can win future races.

That's not to say that money, endorsements and experienced campaign consultants won't help. It's not like saving Tinkerbell - merely wishing and clapping won't do it. And even if things go well, there are more losers than winners in Kansas City politics. But it can be done, and don't let the people who are supposed to be smarter than you about these things tell you otherwise.

Every now and then, a naive amateur has more sense than Steve Kraske.

FUNKY Town

Now get out and vote for the man who drives Barnes crazy!!!!!!!

If You're on the Gottstein-Gamble Fence . . .

This has been the most awful race of the year, but, despite many friends who support Gamble, I have to stick with my initial choice of Gottstein. It seems many, many people have their minds made up so strongly in this race that they are beginning to lose those minds.

If you're on the fence, though, let me offer one last piece of persuasion. The blogs are full of frothing Gamble supporters whining about a third-party piece exaggerating the extent to which he benefitted from his TIF tax give-away. They ignore the fact it was a third party piece, and that the Gottstein campaign BY LAW could not control it.

Contrast that with the piece below that comes DIRECTLY FROM THE GAMBLE CAMPAIGN. It highlights Beth's Jewishness, and relies on the ugliest photo they could doctor up.

I understand that the desire to win runs strong in a political campaign, but this is a direct call for the KKK vote, and it comes from Gamble. Maybe that kind of thing was okay in the Pendergast era, but I don't like it. If you're on the fence, I hope you'll look at the level to which the Gamble campaign has sunk, and ask yourself if you want people like that around City Hall.
(For a larger, more readable version, click on the picture.)
Sadly, this is not the race I care about the most. I hate to get distracted from the race I truly am passionate about - FUNK for MAYOR! But my sense of right and wrong just can't sit in silence when I see things like this.

Call me a cab . . .

Among the countless details I've learned about our two mayoral candidates, today's Star brings the innocuous but potentially upsetting detail that Alvin Brooks does his jogging at midnight.

I don't know about you, but, before today, if I were driving home at midnight and saw Alvin Brooks jogging, I'd pull over and call a cab to drive my drunk ass home.

Libertarianism is Immoral

In an email conversation today, I opined that libertarianism is immoral, infeasible and undesirable. One of the participants acknowledged that I had arguments to support the infeasibility and undesirability of libertarianism, but questioned how I could say that libertarianism is immoral. I responded with what follows:

The easy answer is to tell you to go ask the nearest minister or priest - they'll tell you that Libertarianism is adverse to what Jesus had to say. The elevation of self-interest and self-reliance over your neighbor doesn't really capture the essence of Christianity. (I don't presume to speak of other religions with which I'm less familiar.)

Some libertarians will claim that they just don't want the government involved, and that, privately, they will be completely Christian in charitable support. Maybe. But that ignores another of the underpinnings of libertarianism - charity is destructive to the self-reliance of the recipient. And it also supplants what I think is a societal duty with an individual duty. I don't want my society to allow people to starve in the streets, even if it allows me to feed those I can.

This religious objection, however, leads me to the fact that libertarianism is anti-democratic. If 100% of Americans support taxation of tobacco, they wouldn't be allowed to make that decision. Economic freedom would trump democracy. Similarly, if 100% of us thought that the most effective solution to having people starve in the streets would be to levy a tax on us all to buy them food, we would not be allowed to do so in a libertarian system.

Perhaps impacting morality more directly, a libertarian world would be an environment in which immorality would be free to flourish. Polygamy, sex with animals, and selling heroin would be condoned. Racial discrimination would not only be legal, it would be economically necessary in many communities.

Ultimately, though, my objection to libertarianism is that it is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of the human condition. Libertarianism is based upon individualism. The problem is that while I have met a few delusional people who actually believe that they are "self-made men" or "self-made women", I have never met a self-made infant. We begin our lives, and spend a good amount of our lives exceedingly dependent on others for survival, guidance, formation, etc. We cannot even survive as individuals - each of us owes our lives to others. Radical individualism ignores that we would not exist outside of some form of society. Even if we could survive from birth on our own, our very essence is determined by DNA from other people. My personal view of mankind is that we are not really absolute owners of our own lives. We, as individuals, are bound by genetic connections, received history, inherited society and, in my personal belief, a debt to a higher power. No man is an island.

Oddly enough, every libertarian I have ever met has run up a large debt to society. Many have held government jobs, and many have gone to state schools (not that private universities aren't state-supported in many ways, as well). It seems immoral to me that they who have drunk so deeply from the public well would deny the ladle to those who thirst now.

Even ignoring the inconvenient truth of their (and our) debt to the benevolent society our ancestors have delivered to us, I think it would be immoral to abandon our messy, contentious, gray area of a country in favor of a utopian view of pure economic freedom. I like public art. I'm happy that some farmers in mid-Missouri were coerced to sell their land at a reasonable price so that I can drive to St. Louis on I-70 and visit my mother. I appreciate the fact that public schools exist. I sincerely believe it would be immoral to sacrifice all that is wonderful about America for ONE chosen freedom.

Economic freedom is a fine thing, and I'm glad we have it, though I appreciate the limitations our society places on that freedom. Elevating personal economic freedom to exalted status in libertarianism is just as immoral as elevating collectivism to exalted status in a communist system.

75th Street Reopened - Return to "The Club"

The internets are a wonderful thing. Yesterday afternoon, a notice from the 75th Street Brewery announcing that it would reopen in a few hours appeared in my inbox. Throughout the afternoon, friends forwarded copies of the notice to me, knowing I would be pleased.

For those of you who didn't make it in to celebrate the first day of spring and the last day of clublessness, I'm pleased to report the old place is almost exactly as it used to be. They painted the walls, and they haven't yet put up TVs, but the bar, menus, tables and beer are unchanged. If you had a mug in the Mug Club, it's still there.

And the IPA they filled mine with was as perfect as ever.

Gay Cure

Before watching this video, make sure you're wearing a NASA diaper - it is that funny.


(Update - links corrected.)

Freedom Inc's Ranking Slum Lord Attacks Kansas City Housing Court

(Update and bump: The rumors were right, plus they are going after Judge Williams, partially because he said that being a municipal judge in Kansas City is a "good gig". Sorry, Freedom, but it is a hell of a good gig. If there were someone who DIDN'T think that getting paid $120k to be a municipal judge is a good gig, I wouldn't trust him or her to judge a dog show.)

Observant Kansas City voters with a sense of history can only shake their heads in wonder at how far Freedom, Inc. has fallen. Back in the day, they were a powerful organization backing credible leaders. Political luminaries such as Congressmen Alan Wheat and Emanuel Cleaver received much needed boosts from this once-powerful, formerly respectable organization.

Back in the early 90s, though, Freedom, Inc. was taken over by criminals and rascals, a tradition that continues to this day. They continue to survive only through unseemly shakedowns of desperate candidates (how did paying for their endorsement work out for you, Charlie Wheeler?) and trading on their long lost honorable name. Their current president is a real estate development lawyer (read: TIF pig), and Leon Jordan is spinning in his grave. Under his leadership, the organization has paid a $45,000 fine for failing to register as a Political Committee.

What fresh humiliation could the current leadership dream up to drag Freedom, Inc.'s name down further into the gutter during this election cycle?

Believe it or not, if current rumor is to be believed, they are attacking the housing court, in an effort headed up by none other than Richard Tolbert, a man who has done more than his share to keep that noble court busy.

What is the Housing Court? It is a division of the Kansas City Municipal Court that handles housing code violations. It is recognized as one of the strengths of Kansas City, and a huge source of support for our neighborhoods. Rather than letting absentee slumlords like Tolbert ruin entire neighborhoods on the east side, the Housing Court forces recalcitrant landowners to maintain a minimal standard of upkeep. I've represented a client in housing court, and, trust me, you need to be almost aggressively negligent to get in trouble there. Tolbert has not only gotten into trouble there, he has actually earned a jail sentence.

Rumor has it that Freedom, Inc., and Richard Tolbert will be asking you to vote NOT to retain Housing Court Judge Wayne Cagle. If anyone asks you to vote against Judge Cagle, tell them you refuse their advice. And that they should be ashamed of themselves.

Why No Oath?

I can only think of one reason for Bush to insist that his aides not be placed under oath when called to testify.

Lying is all they know how to do.

He says a constitutional showdown is in the offing. For the first time since he stole the presidency, I think Bush knows he's going to get impeached.

Wait Until Friday for 75th Street!

According to today's Star, the current plan is for 75th Street to open on Friday, not tonight, as previously reported here. Sorry for any late change of plans required.

If you're looking for a good, locally-brewed beer, I'd recommend McCoy's in Westport, River Market Brewing downtown, or a 6 pack of Boulevard anywhere you want it.

I Like Them Apples

Giving voice to the pro-war sentiment that you're either with us or you're against us, high-profile conservative Mark Smith today declared that veterans who oppose the war are "bad apples".

It's pretty obvious that for many of the war supporters, the only dependable soldier is a dead one.

Republican Hardball - Will of the People?

My Senator, Jolie Justus, has distinguished herself with energy and hard work during her first term in the Senatorial Chamber. I could not be more pleased that she is representing this district, and I'm proud that I supported her.

It seems that even Jolie's enthusiasm, determination and good ideas can run into the occasional brick wall of Republican hypocrisy, though. When she introduced a resolution disapproving of the President's escalation strategy in Iraq, she ruffled a few feathers, even though polls show that the vast majority of Americans reject the Bush administration's ill-thought-out plan.

Senator Vogel of Jefferson City, however, has seen fit not only to disagree with the electorate of Missouri, he is abusing his chairmanship of the Senate Ways and Means Committee to punish both Jolie Justus AND the poor people of Missouri. He has admitted that he is bottling up legislation which would help Missouri's working poor and homeless, as political revenge for Justus' introduction of the resolution against the Iraq war escalation.

It says something profound about Republican values that they would punish the poor and defend war. WWJD, indeed.

PrimeGoneMild

Since the PrimeBuzzBlog has been such smashing success, I've decided to launch PrimeGoneMild. It's a bargain at $100,000 per year. Content will be whatever you want it to be.

Email me with your credit card info to start up your subscription.

Does Anyone Know Who itsdrg@gmail.com Is??

I received a strange email last night from itsdrg@gmail.com. The user of that address is either a creepy sh*t-disturber, or a member of the Gamble campaign (or both). Has anyone else received email from this account? Does anyone know who's using it? If you don't want to post a comment, feel free to email me at dan@gonemild.com.

BIG NEWS - 75TH STREET REOPENING TUESDAY, 3/20!!

You heard it here first - the long, painful wait is almost over. On Tuesday, March 20, the 75th Street Brewery will be reopening for business.

I look forward to sitting down with my personal mug full of great ale, and enjoying my membership in the only club that will have me.

Maybe Shields was Right?

I've long been a bemused supporter of Katheryn Shields. She's a gutsy, fearless person who walks her own path and does what she thinks is right, even when the polls suggest she should do otherwise. Of course, she also does some foolish things (like that ridiculous, hideous mural) with the same bullheaded lack of concern for public opinion.

I remember way back in the early 90s when she did the grunt work to protect KC from a sloppy and homophobic ballot initiative - she didn't get many thanks, but she did get sued for her effort. She won, but she had to work hard to defend herself and her motives, when she was really doing the right thing.

A person like Katheryn is easy to ridicule and dislike. She doesn't always suffer fools patiently, and her willingness to eschew the popular approach doesn't earn her a ton of popular goodwill. She tends to work her political magic through skilled manipulation of the needs of different constituencies and interest groups rather than unifying everyone behind a common vision. As a result, for much of her career, Katheryn Shields has had many allies, but few friends.

Katheryn Shields has always been kind to me and my family, but I sat silent when the indictment came down. When she claimed the whole affair was politically motivated, I kind of rolled my eyes.

Now, a scandal is gathering around the politicization of the US Attorneys office, and Gonzalez is likely to wind up bounced from public life because he has, in fact, been a conduit for White House use of the US Attorney's Office for political vendettas and selective prosecution of Democrats. "Nearly 80% of all federal investigations undertaken by the Bush DoJ and targeting elected officials or candidates were aimed at Democrats, with under 18% targeting Republicans. Around the country, that's 298 investigations of Democrats versus just 67 investigations of Republicans."

Briarcliff TIF Pig Kristl Abuses His Seat on the Parks Commission

Tim Kristl is notorious for his, umm, moral flexibility in juggling many roles to benefit himself and his clients at the expense of Kansas Citians. Not surprisingly, he is one of the biggest TIF pigs behind the "Briarcliff TIF Boondoggle", the absolute nadir of Kay Barnes' free-spending cronyism.

In today's Kansas City Star, Kristl abused his seat on the Kansas City Parks Commission to lash out at Funkhouser once again. Tim, we understand that you have been feeding at the TIF trough for years, and that you fear that Funkhouser is going to bring some sanity to a system which has made you insanely wealthy. We understand how frightened you must be, knowing that the TIF audit Kay Barnes and Al Brooks are hiding is going to expose you and your cohorts when it finally comes to light. We understand that your history of seeking money from boards you are serving on has lowered your standards of personal behavior.

But get this straight, Mr. Kristl. Your duty as a member of the Parks & Recreation Board of Commissioners is "To improve the quality of life by providing recreational, leisure and aesthetic opportunities for all citizens and by conserving and enhancing the environment." Your duty does not include lying about what Funkhouser's audits have accomplished. Your duty does not include taking advantage of your position to try to attack the man who will be ending your ride on the gravy train.

One of the best things about seeing Funkhouser win this election will be watching him drive snakes like Tim Kristl from positions of influence and back under the rocks where they belong.

99 Bottles of Beer on the Blog - Unibroue 16

Unibroue is a great brewery, producing top-quality Belgian-style beers from their brewery in Quebec. Their beers are not slavish recreations of any other beer - instead, they are as boldly conceived and richly executed as the finest of the Belgian brewers. They capture the spirit of Belgian beer as much as the flavor.

Unibroue 16 is a Belgian Strong Ale, probably best categorized as a Tripel. "16" is a special beer brewed for the 16th anniversary of the brewery. It is a golden/orangish color, and has a foamy head that settles fairly quickly into a light covering of tiny bubbles. The nose is surprisingly light for a beer that jumps into your mouth with a shout of esters, pepper, alcohol warmth and a bubble-gummy flavor from the characteristic Belgian yeasts.

Weighing in at 10% alcohol, this is a big beer, but it is subtle. The alcohol doesn't burn, and is concealed behind the malty taste and the yeast flavors. The hops do not contribute to flavor, but provide the bitterness to keep the beer balanced instead of cloying.

This is definitely a beer for beer snobs. If you're not expecting the estery flavors of a Belgian tripel, you're going to think you got a bad bottle, but, if you're looking for a solid interpretation of the Belgian Tripel style, you'll enjoy toasting 16 years of outstanding brewing at Unibroue.

Tough Monday in the Blogosphere

I learned yesterday that another local blogger is annoyed with me. I figured this out when I saw his post with the title that begins "Local blogger Dan is a racist, pedantic scumbag . . .". It goes on to say that Gonemild is "one of the most boring blogs in this town" (what's it take to get to the top?) and "one of Kansas City's most vitriolic, anti-Hispanic and racist voices" (in bold, no less!).

After such a tongue-lashing by Tony (nullus indeed, big fella), I was further dismayed to learn that I'm banned in Red China. 1.3 billion people are missing out on my blog. Sigh. (Thanks to Rhymes with Right for the tip.)

Finally, I got an email from Mark Forsythe, founder of The Kansas City Post, expressing some concern about my misguided refusal to give his thoughts about rapid transit their proper respect. This time, it was another "dan" drawing the heat my way, as if I can't get myself in enough hot water . . .

Meanwhile, in the real world, I attended a friend's funeral. Keeps things in perspective . . .

Quick Visit

Saturday afternoon, we picked Sam up at the airport, and Sunday morning, he was off on a road trip to visit Ali in New Orleans. It was great to see him for a few hours.

I'm thrilled that we are in this technological age - that all of us in this family have laptops and wireless connections. We have IM, email, and Facebook. We have free long distance on our cell phones. These days, being apart sometimes seems the same as having them home, only with lower grocery costs.

But nothing technological can take the place of clowning in a silly hat, or the fragrances of Robin teaching Sam how to make Chicken Marsala. Digital magic can't match a dinner table conversation about nothing in particular.

Gottstein vs. Gamble - A Few Thoughts

There are several interesting races to be decided on March 27, but the one that is going to be drawing the pyrotechnics, probably even moreso that the mayoral race, is the race for the 4th District At-Large. The Gottstein vs. Gamble race appears to have all makings of an ugly, ugly donnybrook - which is sad, because I doubt the truth is going to be well-served, and the candidates are both going to come out of it damaged. Maybe, just maybe, cooler heads will prevails, but I'm not feeling really optimistic. If anyone cares, here are a few thoughts about the race . . .

1. Go Roe or No Roe? Rumor has it that Jeff Roe is helping out the Gamble campaign, and when I say "rumor", I mean rumor. I have no idea whether it is true or not, or whether he's being paid in cash, or promises, or not at all. Frankly, I'd be surprised if it were true, because even a political newcomer like Gamble can see that Roe is the kiss of death in Kansas City - ineffective and divisive.

I also have no idea where the rumor started - it seems that the Gamble side is enjoying their righteous indignation in denying the rumor much more than I've heard anyone from Gottstein's side spreading it. Could this be a case of falsely-claimed victim-hood being used as a political tool by Gamble? Wow, that would be so slimey it almosts sounds like something Roe would do . . .

In short, until somebody comes forward with proof that Roe is working for one of the candidates, both sides ought to drop it entirely - kind of a Gamble/Gottstein/Godwin's Law.

2. Debates or Forums? Gamble is trying to make hay by claiming that Gottstein is refusing to participate in "one on one debates". This is silliness - they are both at so many forums, etc., that anyone who hasn't seen them together just doesn't care. Which is most of us - sorry, but this is a kind of sleazy attempt to make it look like Gottstein, who has been all around town and met just about anyone who cares to vote, is somehow dodging Gamble.

Why would Gamble do this? Because he was a late-decider - he didn't decide that the City Council race was worth his while until January. So now, in an attempt to make up for his own lack of effort, he's trying to make it seem like Gottstein is trying some kind of stealth campaign. I gotta call "bullsh#t" on this one.

3. Small Business vs. Non-Profits? The Star thinks that Gamble is a small-business voice. Everyone admires small businesses - scrappy providers of jobs in the face of economic challenge. Count me in - I think it's great that Gamble employs lots of people in the "service industries", cleaning rooms and making food. But let's not go overboard with the small business rhetoric - this is a guy who is tied into a TIF Tax-give-away to the tune of a few million tax dollars taken from schools and potholes and pumped into profit margins.

Gottstein's experience comes from the nonprofit sector - a large and growing segment of our economy, but not one that has the reputation of financial sophistication. On the other hand, she has a Master of Public Administration from one of the best MPA programs in the country, and is well-equipped to participate in running a city government.

In a nutshell, neither should be claiming that experience gives them an edge. Both would be rookies on the city council, and both would need to learn on the job.

4. Jew vs. Catholic If there is an 800 pound gorilla in the room, it is the potential tension between the two communities. So far, with the exception of Tony's site, anti-Semitism has been silent, as has anti-Catholicism. Let's all hope it stays that way.

5. Clean Campaigns. I know Gottstein is committed to running a clean campaign, and I've heard that Gamble is similarly committed. On the other hand, both have lots of volunteers who want victory much more than they want a clean campaign. Also, exactly what is a "clean campaign"? Is discussing Gamble's TIF plan clean? Where should the line be drawn, and where will it be drawn in this race? What is responsible reporting of the truth, and what is smearing? And what of the "S/he started it" phenomenon, where one candidate engages in smear campaigning in response to a perceived smear from the other? Given the number of emails and outreaches I've already received in this race, I'm not optimistic that it will be a positive campaign focused on important issues. And that's disappointing, because what I know of both candidates is that they both deserve better, and are capable of better.

Is the Barnes TIF Tax-Give-Away Train About to Leave the Station?

One of the fascinating aspects of this mayoral contest is the inability of Mayor Kay Barnes to cope with the fact that she is finished. She is twisted up inside about the fact that Mark Funkhouser is likely to win, instead of her chosen Mayor pro tem, Alvin Brooks. She's ranting to anyone who will listen, and rumor has it that she is willing to say or do absolutely anything to prevent a new voice in City Hall.

Tony's Kansas City reports on what must have been one of the oddest scenes in Kansas City's strange political history. Kay Barnes held a secret gathering of "her people" to warn them that the gravy train for TIF pigs would end if Mark Funkhouser wins the election. Tony reports (apparently via the KC Prime Buzz, where the Star puts the material it doesn't believe Star subscribers deserve),

Mayor Kay Barnes endorsed Alvin Brooks for mayor at a private meeting she held last Thursday with a select group of KC business leaders.

Barnes secretively arranged the 8 a.m. breakfast at the Downtown Marriott, which Brooks attended.

In her invitation on Feb. 28 to about two dozen people, Barnes wrote:

"I wish to discuss with you my thoughts on the general election which will be held only 27 days from now. I am concerned that the progress we have achieved, in large part because of your efforts, is now in jeopardy."

Among the persons invited by Barnes: Lawyers Herb Kohn, Jack Craft, David Fenley, Jerry Riffel, Michael T. White and Mike Burke.

What kind of panicked insanity is this? Each of those lawyers is a TIF tax give-away lawyer - each of those lawyers makes hundreds of thousands of dollars by shifting tax dollars from our potholes and police into the pockets of wealthy developers.

Why are all these TIF tax give-away lawyers so excited to have Alvin Brooks step into Barnes' shoes? Because Alvin Brooks, in his 8 years as council person and Mayor pro tem, has never, ever voted against a single TIF give-away. Not a single one. Every time that some developer came to him and said "Rather than having tax money go toward helping Kansas Citians, I want you to give that money to me," Alvin was there to say "Yes". When 88% of tax dollars were going to the wealthiest districts, Alvin was there to ignore the East side in favor of the wealthy.

Did Alvin Brooks stand up for the poor when the Briarcliff zillionaires wanted tax dollars to line their pockets? Of course not. Instead, he stood up at breakfast with Kay to ask those TIF lawyers for campaign contributions.

9 More Young Men Dead

On Monday, a day I spent in meetings and on the telephone, 9 American soldiers died north of Baghdad. The description of the day is even more disturbing for how qualified it is - "the deadliest single day for U.S. troops in Iraq in nearly a month."

Not the war, not the year, not even the month. "Nearly a month".

I don't want to argue a broader point here. Go hence with your struggle about whether the war is right or wrong, or if we should surge or pull out, or whatever.

9 more young American men died while the rest of us went on about our business. That's enough to think about. Or too much to think about.

Springsteen Next Weekend - a TIF Alternative?

In my last TIF post, I was pretty negative. In my heart of hearts, though, I'm a positive person, looking for answers to society's problems, and hoping to leave this world a little better for my time here.

So, today, I offer up my alternative to TIF. My only request is that you erect a huge statue of me after I'm gone.

First, let's focus on what we all want. We all want a thriving, interesting, active downtown. We all want good jobs downtown. We all want people to use public transportation. We all want to help the homeless (actually, that's a lie - we all say we want to help the homeless, but many just want them to disappear). We all want our basic services, such as police protection and snow removal, funded.

These are all good things.

Unfortunately, someone in Kansas City's past convinced us that the way to get these things is to give tax money to real estate developers and lawyers. I don't mean to cast blame, but I distinctly recall that the first person to describe TIF to me was Jim Glover. While Jim Glover is certainly an extremely handsome man, he is not the sort to chair the social committee. The fact that Jim was seduced by the charisma of developers and real estate lawyers is where we made our first wrong turn on our path to a lively, thriving, exciting downtown.

With a logic that baffles me, our fine city has decided that the best way to get a fun and lively downtown scene is to funnel our tax dollars to developers and their lawyers. The result is that we are going to be spending $79 million this year on TIF plans, and their most visible success is relocating a lot of IRS people from Kansas City to Kansas City.

Do you realize how much money $79 million is?!?!?! And what we could do with that money to give us a thriving, cool downtown?! And I'm not talking about some dim, distant day when the Penguins finally give up on Pittsburgh - my plan could start next weekend! I guarantee that my plan would have an impact immediately.

Here it is - there are 52 weekends in a year. Each weekend, we're going to spend a MILLION FREAKING DOLLARS on a kick-ass party downtown. I checked the Gomer's ads, and we can get 12 packs of Boulevard (gotta support the locals!) for $10.48, so, doing the math, we can get a million bottles of Boulevard to hand out FOR FREE - that's two and a little extra for every man, woman and child in Kansas City - for $833,333. The extra $166,666 we'll use to get Bruce Springsteen and a whole bunch of porta-potties.

And the thing is, we could do this EVERY WEEKEND, FOR FREE, and WE'D STILL BE SAVING $27 MILLION off what we're paying real estate developers to bring us IRS agents. IRS agents, or rock stars - what kind of choice is that?

Think of the spin-off benefits! People would not want to drive downtown and park, and, with all that beer flowing, they shouldn't drive home. Light rail would be jam packed, as would the Max and every other form of public transportation available. The businesses downtown would make a retail killing - pretzels, pizza, and tasteless t-shirts are some products with known appeal to this sort of crowd. And we could tax everything! Heck, the homeless could even recycle the bottles and make money off them, too!

Now, if we threw a million dollar party every single weekend, can you imagine how many people would come here every weekend, and how many would find a way to stay here? Omaha, St. Louis, Wichita, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver - they'd all be ghost towns on the weekends.

Remember, this is still $27 million LESS than what we're paying the developers and their lawyers. You'd have to pay for my statue out of that, but you could use the rest for other stuff.

Maybe you'd want to take the 8 solid blocks on the north side of downtown that has been flattened by - umm, yeah, civic-minded real estate developers again - and put up a whole bunch of Butler buildings (local industry again) and stock them with Nintendo Wiis and pinball games, that people could play for FREE. Maybe we could permanently shut down some of the roads that the city has closed for construction and have the coolest go-cart tracks ever through downtown. Maybe we could dig another huge hole or two, and have some awesome moto-cross space!!

The mind boggles when you have $79 million of taxpayer money to play with. Maybe, you'd just want to have the parties, and use the extra $27 million for basic services, like police and snow removal. It's your money - it ought to be your choice.

TIF and Tax Abatement

(Updated and bumped: Joe Miller of Kansas City Soil does a great job in this post of excerpting a good article by the Star on just how badly TIF is hurting this city.)

A commenter asks: What is the difference between TIFF and tax abatement. Does KC use both to spur development? Do different parts of gov. approve each?

TIF is a form of tax abatement. When used properly, it's kind of cool. Let's say you have an old, decrepit buidling you want to knock down and put an office building up in its place, that will bring 100 new jobs to the area. Unfortunately, the dollars just don't quite add up. By the time you add in the increased property taxes, parking, and some streetscape improvements, etc., you'd wind up losing money on the deal. So, no new jobs, and same decrepit building. And the increased city revenue that might have come from the increased property value and all that economic activity won't ever happen.

Well, TIF might give you an extra income stream. Under TIF, the city comes and says, okay, if you build it, we will take the money you would have to pay in increased property tax, and let you spend it on the project. And we'll let half the local sales taxes, earnings taxes, utility taxes, etc. go toward making it happen. On top of that, if it's in an area the state government really wants to develop, we'll kick in state taxes, including the income tax from the new employees.

Suddenly, there's a whole lot more money to make the project happen. And, theoretically, it's no real loss in taxes, because the project would not have happened without the help.

The problem is that developers understand that this money is available without much control. Nobody really wants to raise a fuss about it - the people involved in the process, from the EDC, to the city government, and pretty much on down the line, all have a bias in favor of getting the deal done. Indeed, the organization that handles the money on these projects is the same organization that is supposed to recommend whether to implement the plans - and is a subset of the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City. Please note that the name of the organization is not the "Responsible Watchdog for Tax Dollars Corporation". Similarly, the city council gets campaign donations from the same developers, lawyers and construction companies who have a strong bias in favor of these projects.

Economic development sounds progressive and positive. Indeed, economic development IS progressive and positive, but cutting the city and schools who need tax revenue is not. That's what TIF does - in fact, it does a little worse than that, because it increases the services the city needs to deliver, without adding to the tax base to pay for those services. The next time you want to complain about a pothole on Troost, think about the smooth, manicured roads at Briarcliff that the BMWs and Lexi are gliding over, while the tax dollars generated there go to line the pockets of the developers.

Now, beyond TIF, there are a bunch of other forms of tax abatement. Under RSMo Chapter 353, there is a state tax abatement opportunity, similar to TIF. Kansas City's Planned Industrial Expansion Authority hands out tax abatement like the Secret Santa used to hand out hundred dollar bills. To be honest, I don't even know all the different forms of tax abatement and governmental support available to those who have money and want to make much more of it.

In a nutshell, if you want to make money in commercial real estate Kansas City, you'd be a complete jackass to pay your fair share to support city services or our schools. Instead, hire a competent real estate development lawyer, and make more money. But, to answer your questions, my dear commenter, TIF is a form of tax abatement, Kansas City uses many forms of tax abatement to "spur development" (and help developers get wealthier), and the approval policies for each form of tax abatement differ enough that you should hire a real estate development lawyer to guide you through the gilded, byzantine world of taxpayer financing.

Supporting the Troops the Right Wing Way (Until They Get Hurt)

A lot of right-wingers make a big deal out of pretending to support our troops, and they react with vein-popping indignation when someone suggests that those troops who engaged in torture have something in common with other brothers in torture, or suggest that some of them entered the military because it was their best career option, rather than sheerly from exuberant patriotism.

Funny, then, to see how silent they have been in the face of the mistreatment of the troops here at Walter Reed. Go ahead, check Media Lies, one of the right-wing bloggers I include on my blog roll (you'll have to scroll past his failed petition "defending" the troops from those that would reduce the costs of this war). Go ahead, check Rhymes with Right, another rightwinger on my blogroll. You won't find anything - they don't care about our troops after they've been wounded and can no longer support the Bush regime on the battlefield.

Apparently, these defenders of the troops are unaware of the "sticks and stones" theory. If you say something that could possibly be construed as not-totally-supportive of our troops' sainthood, you are evil personified. But, if you leave one of our wounded warriors soaking in his own urine, you're okay in their book, because you work for the President.

I really shouldn't single out the rightwingers on my own blogroll. They are very much representative of the rest of the rightwing bloggers, as demonstrated by the usually-funny, but sometimes unable to see the humor, Jesus' General.