Cities get bailed out? San Jose California…..
This story came from the San Jose Mercury News.….
As cities around the United States start to scramble for a share of the $700 billion federal bailout package, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed said Friday that he’s working with leaders of other large California cities to make sure they’re not left behind.
The stimulus package Congress passed last month wasn’t designed to dole out money to governments, so it’s far from clear whether San Jose will get a piece.
Tom here, the $700 Billion package was meant to buy troubled assets from banks. Do you see what a mess Paulson is making by changing the rules? He’s opening the door to an incredibly long list of people and banks and non-banks and now governments coming with their hands out for a piece of the pie. What a mess…..
Back to the article…..
…..plus $500 million worth of local and regional road work to be done
okay, stop right there. The Mayor of San Jose wants to use bailout funds to fix their roads? We’re bailing out roads now?
Reed created a minor furor Friday when he told an Associated Press reporter he would seek 2 percent of the bailout, or $14 billion, for San Jose — an eye-popping figure, given that the city’s entire annual budget is $3.3 billion…..
Tom here again. He’s looking for over 4 times his annual budget? I’d be thrilled if I got ¼ of my annual budget as part of an economic stimulus bailout plan.
On Friday, the mayors of Phoenix, Atlanta and Philadelphia sent Paulson a letter asking for a combined $50 billion or more in loans to cover pension costs or investment in infrastructure. They also asked for one-year loans to cities unable to borrow cash because of the tight credit markets.
Reed says details on what San Jose will request, and when that request would be submitted, have yet to be worked out. But he’s setting his sights high.
Tom here again. This is getting absurd. The First National Bank of San Jose?
This is a classic example of what we’ve talked about before. Unintended consequences.
We (our government) passed a bailout bill without knowing what would really work. Now they are changing it and opening us up to all sorts of strange requests.
Tom Vanderwell
Well, well… if he gets a bailout, do he and city council lose their jobs, since they will now be a federal district? District of San Jose, Hank Paulson, mayor.