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CommentsRe: I just took in 200,000 calories at the fair—a novella
Now, I may be wrong about this, but checking the menu for this bar doesn't show a green chile cheeseburger per si - [link] Maybe the rules need tightening...?
I don't understand why we need a performance high school downtown (or anywhere for that matter). The vast majority of these students will never be gainfully employed in the industry, and they can easily work within the confines of an afterschool arts type program at their regular school. Maybe APS could work with the Kino Theatre as a performance center. What we really need are vocational schools that give kids some marketable hands-on skills. And as for the convention center - it would be fine if the city would just build a complex that didn't include a hotel attached to the structure - something manageable - like $100 M, not 300+ M -- Rio Rancho's arena costs $50M (and doesn't get used).
Seriously, there's a bunch of uses for the place - 1) turn the horse track into a soccer/football/rodeo field - bring in a semi-pro team and have them play teams from Mexico - you have the land and the grandstands 2) Turn some of the surrounding land into a sports training complex - gym, swimming pool, recreation building 3) build a good arena / community center on the NE corner - not downtown - it's a pretty park already - something for everyone - lots to see and do 4) bribe some amusement park company to run a perm amusement park in the NW corner (Cliff's??)- 5) add a demo streetcar running to/fro Uptown, since Uptown already has hotels and restaurants, why hope that downtown comes around - tourists would eat it up - far cheaper than running it downtown to Old Town Re: The Fair Tax
So, a person gets a sales tax rebate if they make less than 20K per year - now, wouldn't you have to file a Federal Income Tax form(1040) to know that? Wouldn't that make all income reportable to the Federal government, just like it is now? Wouldn't all purchases cost 30% more, since 30/130 = 23%? Wouldn't that cause a large amount of purchases to go under the radar, or be bought in other countries that have a lower rate? Wouldn't groceries and services have to be taxed at this rate to generate the same revenue as we have now? Answers, please....
My brother went to a technical high school in my hometown, and I agree that it's a good option for the less-than-college-bound student. Basically, the students had regular classes for a week, then vo-tech classes the next week. The first two years were try-out years - try this or that vocation for a quarter, then change to something else. The last two years, the student concentrated on the vocation that he/she felt was the best fit for them. But there were some drawbacks - 1) the educational part consisted of only general subjects, and wasn't rigorous at all. 2) A lot of minorities were steered there by middle school consellors who basically implied that they wouldn't make it into college. 3) It's hard to find qualified shop teachers - teaching pays a lot less than the real world (not so bad for his time, but a problem now.) I would support changing Del Norte into a vocational magnet school, its in a perfect location to absorb students from the eastside schools, and needs the enrollment. Maybe they could use CNM to help with the staffing. About SS money worries - yeah, there's going to be a crisis soon - right now, excess SS payments (somewhere around $180B) are used to mask the true deficit that Bush et al have dumped upon us. We haven't even paid for this god-awful war - well, that's not true - the rich haven't paid - but the working class who pay into SS have, by haveing their excess SS payments be used to mask that cost. (So, our working class both fights in Iraq, and finances this war. Where's Mitt's boys? - Fighting for the Mittster in Iowa! You fight the good fight, boys!) I would support divorcing the SS payments from buying US bonds, and instead loan out the money to pay for bridges and our infrastructure that the state and local governments would pay back. Student loans and low-cost housing loans could also come from SS. Make the rich chip sacrifce some capital gains by taxing foreign investments at a higher rate, and at least having an income tax on inheritance. Pay as you go, instead of pay after they (the Bushies) leave.
C'mon - don't you think Heather would have a field day with Mr "Of course my wife travels with me on business" and other ethical lapses? To be honest, I'd rather deal with Heather than Marty anyday. Now, Eric Griego - that's a different story. | 
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