By Mark David Blum, Esq.

What I will never understand is why it falls upon my shoulders to bring out to the public’s attention that which is blatantly obvious. Historically, this Web Site has spoken up and provided solutions to some of the more difficult questions that face us. Just as consistently, our advice will go likely go ignored.

Like possessive and arrogant pigs at the trough, our Congressman James Walsh, Syracuse City Mayor Matthew Driscoll, and the Jewish War Veterans Building are all immersed in a cat fight. At issue is several millions of federal tax (read: PORK) dollars brought to the community by our glorious fighting Congressman. The dispute is his complaint that the dollars are not being spent fast enough.

Two things come immediately to mind. One is that again we have proof positive that our taxes are too high. If our Congressman is capable of bringing home several million pork dollars for local use, then at the same time, federal taxes could be cut and we wouldn’t have this dispute. For a Republican Congressman like Walsh to complain that government is NOT spending money fast enough; that reveals quite a bit about the Republican and Congressional mindset. Please remind us again which Party is the one representing small government, lower taxes and spending, and cutting pork. Libertarian.

It is almost inconceivable that elected officials would complain that another elected official is not spending tax dollars like a drunken Ice Road Trucker alone in a Bordello. Lacking interest in restoring an old building should speak louder than the $300,000.00 Congressman Walsh insists be spent in rehabilitating this building. With more than half of downtown office space empty and huge buildings sitting as testament to a failing mindset, to throw hundreds of thousands of federal dollars to fix one building seems trivial.

Remember too how that same $300,000.00 could be used to fund seventy two seconds of the Iraq War. At a cost of $250,000.00 a minute, the Jewish War Veterans I am sure would prefer the money be used for the security of our soldiers fighting in the desert. Unfortunately, thanks to our porker congressman, seventy two seconds of the Iraq War will now go unfunded and our troops abandoned. Apparently the Congressional preference is deficit spending.

The other issue that comes to mind and which really fries my eggs is how the City of Syracuse is sitting on a pile of “millions” of dollars of federal aid and at the same time, the school district is unfunded and underfunded. Having one of the most dismal school districts in all of New York State, our leaders prefer the money be spent prettying up neighborhoods than educating a generation of future thinkers.

Maybe they refuse to fund the schools to maintain a level of ignorance in the community. Keeping generations of children under educated means more work for police, lawyers, prison, construction, and service oriented labor force. This may be perfect for Mr. Congel’s future, but Syracuse deserves better. Keeping the community ignorant keeps them blind to the failures of their leaders to have any vision for the future.

I don’t expect Syracuse to spend millions of federal tax dollars to line its streets with gold. But the streets should at least be paved. Unless the City is intentionally creating work for body shops and auto mechanics by tearing up the undersides of cars, leaders have been very ignorant to maintaining infrastructure. Sadly too is that the worst maintained streets are in the poorest neighborhoods where the folks who can least afford auto repairs have to endure a gauntlet of potholes that could swallow a truck.

Since the City does not want to spend the money on schools or infrastructure, there still remain questions of children in the City without healthcare, women and children going homeless and hungry, and elderly having their apartments stripped of balconies and losing rides to the market because the City does not want to pay.

The list of investments the City of Syracuse should make from the pile of millions of unspent federal tax dollars could go on for pages. The greater question is why is there a pile of millions of unspent federal tax dollars? Congress is only allowed to raise those monies for which they have spending intentions. Slush funds are not allowed. We do not allow taxes to be raised just to have them in the bank.

I am angered both at the tax and spend Republican policies and the ignorance of City leaders to know what is truly a priority. We, the People are no longer relevant. Only the special interest pocket stuffers control what gets done. Until someone other than me takes a stand and makes some noise, your taxes will go up and your leadership’s vision will dwindle.

Seriously.