Is Philadelphia really this bad?

The roads are really bad, and especially so in west and north philly. Still, this hyperbole is a bit extreme. Rancid? It's summer, right? What are the dumpsters in Atlanta and Houston like at this point of the year?

Building 101 luxury low income townhouses in the midst of squalor, depravity, drugs, crime, and welfare mentality, with $27 million of taxpayer funds is the kind of waste created by liberal do-gooder politicians like Michael Nutter and Barack Obama. The $27 million should have been spent replacing ancient water mains before they burst and destroyed businesses and homes, costing the city and its citizens millions in lost business and property damage. The Mantua Square debacle gets better by the day. It was built using Obama’s $900 billion porkulus funds. It sits within one of Obama’s Promise Zones in the Mantua section of West Philly. Last month they found a dead body on the same block as Mantua Square. Ten people were shot a few blocks away on the same night. Does it sound like this low income housing estate has upgraded the neighborhood?

I’ve previously noted the eight retail store outlets built into the project remain vacant three years after their construction. It seems if you build it in West Philly they won’t come. Not one black entrepreneur has launched the next Google or even a new hip hop clothing store. Mayor Nutter said these retail outlets would revitalize the neighborhood. This is how liberal lunatic politicians think. They actually think a business would open in a neighborhood where median household income is $18,000, drugs and crime are rampant, the population is uneducated and unemployed, and the city taxes are outrageously high. The mind of a liberal is a waste of brain cells.

But the story has gotten even better in the last month. This gated monument to liberal waste has now proven to be another testament to government incompetence. It is located on Wallace Street between 35th and 36th Street. Virtually every morning, I make a right turn at 34th and Wallace and then make a left turn onto 36th to get to my job. The street began to sink at 34th and Wallace about a month ago. Someone put up three orange cones, but nary a government union drone from the Streets Department has arrived to fix it. Of course, this is just a minor pothole compared to the moon sized crater at 35th and Wallace. It began to sink months ago. Someone eventually filled it with some blacktop, but it now has grown to approximately 5 feet in circumference and three feet deep. The residents have filled it with crates and miscellaneous debris. Multiply this one block by hundreds to get a feel for the deterioration of this city.

R2's link - Libertarian porn website.

Thanks for sharing, Idiot Libertarian Troll. We don't care.

R3

Epic rebuttal!

Being from the area I've always said Philadelphia just needs a good Republican mayor - in the mold of a Mike Bloomberg (minus the soda policing). That will never happen though - the Republican Party spends zero money in the city.

Nutter has been a do nothing mayor and I am hard pressed to name one major accomplishment.

Yes, we need another Rizzo.

R5, he pressed for and got bike lanes, also helped leverage the bicycle share program now in place

Outside that, not much, he mouthed off, but he came across like a fool after the Amtrak crash.

Philiadelphians don't want to say it out loud, but they're happy they're going to have a white mayor again soon after Nutter and Street.

No, it's not that bad. Where did you get this from OP? Link?

R7

Did you read the article?

Bike lanes-

Ignoring the deeply rooted fundamental issues like crumbling hundred year old pipes and dangerous disintegrating Amtrak tracks, while throwing down some blacktop, [bold]painting white bike lanes on streets where no one in their right mind would ride a bike, and installing wheel chair ramps on every corner even though a wheel chair could never navigate the crumbling trash strewn sidewalks, is the height of willful dishonesty and incompetence. [/bold]

[quote]Being from the area I've always said Philadelphia just needs a good Republican mayor

Oh fuck right off.

R9

Keep in mind the author is older and a longtime resident.

"Nutter has been a do nothing mayor and I am hard pressed to name one major accomplishment. "

Well, he has managed to stick up head so far up that closeted fag Cardinal Chatput's ass he'll never get it out of there, much to Chaput's delight.

These Philadelphia threads are always full of hundreds of posts from people who don't have the faintest idea of what the town is like. Here's a simple exercise. Go to realtor.com, type in Philadelphia and its 10 mile radius, and sort from highest price. You'll see an amazing amount of beautiful real estate in gorgeous neighborhoods. And it's a hot market with bidding wars all over the city. I have a four story colonial house in the oldest part of the city and it's worth over 2M. I also have a Bucks County place on several acres. Yes, I'm the town and country guy and you're a bunch of cube drones with landlords who won't replace your window air conditioners.

The streets are beyond awful. OP is completely accurate. It's unbelievable.

R7 is Phillysnoop posting from his crashed bike in a pothole

R14

This discussion is about the 30 blocks of pure unmitigated poverty and poor government.

The government has no motive to fix these problems- they only affect (for now) the poor people trapped in their poverty- but long term neglect of these problems has resulted in a slow motion collapse of the inner city.

I wish the government would quit "helping" the poor- maybe then things would improve.

People don't seem to understand that socialist policy (aka government ownership of streets, etc.) always ends badly. Sometimes catastrophically.

Government cops, government welfare, government housing, government health care- all fail because of government.

What's funny about this is that all of the streets in Center City are currently being repaved. But don't tell anyone.

Damn that evil, evil, gummint! If we allowed the Invisible Hand of the Free Market(TM) to run unimpeded, all poverty would be eliminated.

(rolls eyes)

Libertarians, idiots, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.

In South Philly, the city rips up street after street and doesn't finish them. No one know why the fuck they're doing it.

R20

Government has no profit motive.

Government deals in "favors", not money, and so the wealthy and connected elite get great roads and schools and a lift home by the cops if they drink too much.

The bottom 99.9% get fucked.

The people who trust and defend the government are just morons. They think we NEED these Masters of Government to tell us how to live, and to protect us from the big bad corporations, but cannot understand that these big bad corporations OWN the government.

It's really sad.

R18

Government money flows to the rich.

"I wish the government would quit "helping" the poor- maybe then things would improve."

Yeah, let's spend money on faith-based charities, abstinence-only education, ultrasounds for women having abortions, drug testing for welfare recipients, corporate bailouts, maintaining military bases in dozens of countries, fighting wars with countries that never attacked us, holding elections to vote on anti-gay ballot initiatives, etc.

"It’s crumbling because they have chosen to spend taxpayer money on gold plated pensions and health benefits for union government workers and teachers"

Yeah, union workers and teachers are rolling in dough......

"They’ve wasted hundreds of millions on public schools that only graduate 50% of those entering and most of those graduates are functionally illiterate"

Gee, maybe that has less to do with public schools and more to do with the fact that poor kids are not motivated to do well in school because they don't have college to look forward to like rich kids do.

[quote]painting white bike lanes on streets where no one in their right mind would ride a bike

no, I didn't bother reading, it sound like tomfoolery through and through. I ride a bike, every day in fact, I am a member of the bike coalition that spoke with city hall about installing the bike lanes. ANY person who claims that the lanes aren't used is a blind, they are used more than ever, especially with the bike-share program in full affect. Geez, you must live in phoenixville or yardley, stop talking about philadelphia like you actually know it!

R23, it's just the stupid idiot libertarian - he's on a bender early today it seems. he's the FIRST poster I've ever put on ignore.

R24

Then why not read the article?

R23-

Union leaders are paid far more than a typical government employee, as are teachers, with a government guaranteed pension.

r27, teachers don't make much at all. Right-wingers attack teachers for being overpaid or getting too much but don't have a problem bailing out billionaires

philly snoop, can you even read? Your comments always indicate no.

[bold]LOVE[/bold] that ignore button!

Buh-bye, ILT!

*smooches*

R28

Teachers work 9 months of the year.

If teachers were paid by how high their students scored on tests then those "teachers" would be living on the streets. If you cannot do what the government pays you to do (you know, educate!) then either A) you are incompetent or (more likely) B) you are forced to teach bullshit pushed by government. I don't blame teachers, I blame government regulations on "education".

Remove the government from education and health care and both would improve rapidly.

This is why socialist democrats fear secession by the states.

They know that if states tell the federal government to FUCK OFF that people will quickly migrate to those states that lack a federal income tax and aren't subject to the 2M pages of federal government regulations.

This is why I hope Hilary wins. She will be blamed for the dissolution of the "USA".

R29

Who is philly snoop?

It was awful. Had to high tail it out to Bel Air

R33

You know he was dead, don't you? Bel-Air was heaven, and the Fresh Prince died in a shooting in Philly.

In Atlanta it got so bad they put metal plates over them, which proved to be far more effective in destroying people's tires.

A city Philadelphia's size would have 100,000 or more potholes to fill every year.

R35

My first love lives in ATL, and the roads are horrible, but Philadelphia is a special hell.

R36 filling a pothole is easy. Fixing the underlying rot of government maintained infrastructure is not. Why spend a million dollars fixing something correctly so it lasts 50 years when $100k will fix it long enough for them to retire and take zero responsibility when it fails a few years later.

Government employees have no incentive to fix big problems. They can let them fester for years, long after they have retired, or taken a private sector job that uses their Rolodex to get big money "consulting" the government. The big problems are kicked down the road, much the same way the federal debt is pushed onto future generations.

Humph. West Philly is nirvana compared to North Philly. I took my son there to look at Temple U. We couldn't escape fast enough. It felt like The Wire,

Poor philly is a sewer. Put s positive slant on this problem town and one day it may morph into a mega Newark.

There is no excuse for Philadelphia. The US helped to rebuild most of Europe after World War 2 and for a city the size of Philadelphia to remain in absolute devistation is beyond understanding. I am convinced that shear racial hatred has allowed these conditions to exist and grow.

Absolute devistation? Oh, dear

Again, nearly all of you sound like you've actually never been here. There is terrible blight in the city, that is very true, and sad, but the hyperbole on this thread won't solve any of the problems - which mainly have to do with incompetency from city hall and the mayor.

R42 [quote] There is terrible blight in the city, that is very true, and sad, but the hyperbole on this thread won't solve any of the problems - which mainly have to do with incompetency from city hall and the mayor.

True in 1970 ...and 45 years later.

Much of Philly is and has been a dump for decades now.

We need a better mayor, that's true. We also need better representation in Harrisburg, which is overtaken by idiot Republicans from Pennsyltucky. Philadelphia generates enormous tax revenue and jobs that benefit the whole state, and our infrastructure is far denser and more stressed than the rural areas. Maybe if we had more funding from the state our city could repair its roads more efficiently.

The libertarian troll is trying way too hard here. I find the original blog post about some lily-white suburbanite off-ramped into "the hood," shocked and appalled by his "tax dollars at work" subsidizing (gasp) welfare queens while potholes go unfilled, just too, too funny. I'm white and my fellow white people embarrass me. If your reaction to getting detoured through the ghetto is to rail against welfare and complain about potholes, you're probably an asshole at a very basic level.

exactly, that old horse is dead. I dated a guy form Yardley once and he felt that if you didn't have a gun on you at ALL TIMES in philadelphia, NO MATTER WHERE, you would die. some of these drama queens need to get out of their echo chambers, and Yes, the fool sin Harrisburg are just as much to blame, all of us in Philly would LOVE stricter guns laws, but the fuckups in Harrisburg couldn't deal with it.

maybe the past winter also made the roads worse? It really damaged a lot of the roads in Boston and NYC so I'm sure Philly was affected too

I can't imagine Philly has worse roads than NY. The George Washington Bridge rakes in a million dollars a minute yet the roads are horrible! No excuse!

the past couple winters have been harsh, yes.

[quote]Libertarian porn website.

Yup. And completely nonsensical and divorced from reality, as is our resident ILT. I love that idiocy about "gold plated pensions" and how terrible it is that we spend money on public schools. Quelle horreur!

Note the compete absence of actual data, the overwrought rhetoric, the conclusions that aren't supported by the story. It's just the same old drivel that this moron has been spamming us with for years.

And, of course, we have the same lack of knowledge of the real world that he's been demonstrating for years, like the assertion that, " Why spend a million dollars fixing something correctly so it lasts 50 years when $100k will fix it long enough for them to retire and take zero responsibility when it fails a few years later." Yes, because the private sector would never, ever do anything like this....

Or saying something incredibly stupid like, "Remove the government from education and health care and both would improve rapidly." When the reality is that Medicare is cheaper than the private alternatives, controls costs better than the private alternatives, and is more popular than the private alternatives. And every other major industrialized nation's government-controlled health care is far cheaper than ours, covers more people than ours, and delivers outcomes better than ours.

The ILT is a moron and the site he so slavishly follows is just as bad.

What's interesting about libertarians is that they never really think through the consequences of their beliefs. Could you imagine a system where every single road was a toll road, each of them owned and built by a separate corporation? Or how about those various road companies merging and buying each other out until a single corporation owns literally every single road in your city, after which they quadruple the tolls that you are paying because they can.

We're still waiting for anything bad to happen, R17.

The ridiculous thing about all this is that Penn, Drexel and Temple don't pay property tax.

Omg, R49, YES. And ditto R48. Is it only Philly suburbanites that freak out like this? I know people who haven't been to "the city" in decades who act like it's some dystopian no-man's land from river to river and beyond. Racism plays a lot into their paranoia.

The city has potholes and yes, they need attention, but the right-wing paranoia OP posted is just the most absurd sort of partisan pablum. The city has its faults but it's doing fine overall and comparable to other big cities. We most certainly DO NOT need a Republican mayor.

R53

"I know people who haven't been to "the city" in decades who act like it's some dystopian no-man's land from river to river and beyond."

" Racism plays a lot into their paranoia."

"The city has its faults but it's doing fine overall and comparable to other big cities. "

Yep...it's in some my-t-fine company:

R42

Wait, you are admitting the problems are caused by government? Amazing.

Yes, R44

More government will fix the problems caused by government.

R54

Your facts have no power here!

Go away, go suck some libertard cock in hell

Google street view for the area is...spotty.

[quote]More government will fix the problems caused by government.

Moron, you have yet to establish that a) there is a serious problem, b) that it was "caused by government," or c) that your solutions would be any better. Completely unsurprising, given your track record here.

Given the fact the city of Philadelphia has been under one party rule for the last 60 years, and given the fact Philadelphia City Hall is loaded with Democratic Party do-nothings and other assorted political hacks, and that even the most basic city services (PGW, trash/garbage collection, parks/recreation, schools) are complete and total shit, I'd says parts (a) and (b) of your statement have been satisfied, R60.

R61

R60 is blocked by me. She always defends government. It is sickening.

Philadelphia will soon be the new Detroit, or Baltimore, or Oakland.

Government control of the economy always fails.

i'm a die hard democrat, but indeed, I'd welcome a sound opposition candidate in civic politics

R63

As long as you cling to the belief that more government will save you, then you're out of luck.

Google Rothbard. Study Mises. Get a clue about government economic destruction.

The biggest problem I have in Philly is that it's hard to find gloryholes. Danny's Adam and Eve covered them up, Doc Johnson's has been closed for years, and now the Tomcat bookstore closed. Aren't there any places to suck or get sucked left in Philly? It's sort of depressing.

R65

[quote]It's sort of depressing.

Yes- it is depressing that people like you are so ignorant of the world around you.

It is more depressing that your sex drive overwhelms your ability to think about, or comprehend, your world.

R65 you may be the most horrible creature on this website. Your revelry in your ignorance is typical of government parasites.

Block R66 and literally a third of this thread disappears.

I miss trolldar.

R66 is the reason I hate (threads about) philadelphia

The problem is virtually no one is building low income housing, except government sponsored (AKA near 100% paid for).

The issue is it always possible to build upper income housing for pennies more and get more profit. So why build anything else? After all why put your money in a 1% account if you can get 10% interest somewhere else.

Cities agree to allow building by upper income places, in low rent areas, and require a few units to be rent controlled. Why? Because if they didn't NOTHING would be built there. Of course allowing a few rent stabilized units only helps those lucky enough to be in them. But it actually raises the area rent because the builders then charge MORE for the non-rent stabilized unit. Thus driving up the total costs of the rents in the area, even on the crappy left over housing.

[quote]Given the fact the city of Philadelphia has been under one party rule for the last 60 years, and given the fact Philadelphia City Hall is loaded with Democratic Party do-nothings and other assorted political hacks, and that even the most basic city services (PGW, trash/garbage collection, parks/recreation, schools) are complete and total shit, I'd says parts (a) and (b) of your statement have been satisfied.

Um, no, you haven't, R61. What you have provided is opinion, not backed up by anything resembling actual data, just as was the case in the original article. Anecdote is not data. Opinion is not data. Saying something is "complete and total shit" is not data.

[quote]She always defends government. It is sickening.

LOL.... I do love our resident ILT. The poor thing has yet to find a single post of mine that "defends government" but that is his only answer to everything I write.

It's worse!

r2 thinks Obama caused his oily skin, and bad personality too. "Porkulous Bill" Wow, clearly knows nothing about economics, or really anything else.

R73

The government program described in the article was pure pork.

So driving in Philly is like driving in Cambodia?

Cambodia has better roads.

R70 is truly an idiot. Saying the Philadelphia public school system is complete and total shit is not an opinion. It's a fact shared by many. The travails of Philly public schools are daily news items and school funding, especially for Philly, is one of the reasons for the current stalemate in Harrisburg.

Since Philadelphia hasn't had a Republican mayor since 1952, and since the Democratic candidate for Mayor in the November election is running unopposed, I'd say it's pretty fair to say Philly is a one-party town.

Take your head of your fucking ass, R70.

I love you too, R66. Blocked.

And I was just adding a little levity to serious thread. Maybe you're new around here, but that happens a lot. I'm a former Philadelphian who lives in the suburbs and am as concerned about Philly as anyone. It has the potential to be one of the most beautiful cities in the country, and even the current mess can't hide gems like the Parkway and the Art Museum.

R77

Unless you are ready to cut government taxes and regulations, Philadelphia will remain a shithole.

Until you realize that government can never provide adequate service at reasonable prices, and research Mises and Rothbard, you will remain mired in ignorance.

I have only blocked one poster. How long is your blocked list?

R76

Yep, R70 is the crazed fascist who loves government and hates liberty.

Pointing out that the worst cities in the USA are all governed by Democratic local government officials means nothing to people who love and believe in the power of government.

If they could just elect a few more Democrats, things would be great!!!

Republicans are no better, but at least they don't believe EVERY solution means more government.

But men in Philly have really large cocks.

Any area,anywhere,with a large population of poor,uneducated people, is a shit hole,no matter the color of its population. The street repairs issues are a nationwide problem. Until a few years ago I travelled a great deal,and it was like that in every state I was in. Crumbling infrastructure is about to become a major issue, pretty much everything is 50-100 years old now.

R81

Government has no profit incentive to make things better.

They can build bridges to nowhere, but repairs to a bridge that serves 100k/day aren't "sexy" enough to get funding. The streets only get repaired when someone dies horrifically, or someone makes it a campaign issue, or the media is involved...OR when the drivers are wealthy and politically connected. Roads in wealthy areas are usually pristine.

Why are cities that pay $50k/yr PER STUDENT undereducated? With that much money going to schools, they should be graduating 100% with honors! How do private schools do better with 1/5th the money?

BUT, Libertarians are crazy for pointing out these things!

R69 is sadly correct.

[quote]Why are cities that pay $50k/yr PER STUDENT undereducated? With that much money going to schools, they should be graduating 100% with honors! How do private schools do better with 1/5th the money?

Because you can't solve deep rooted social problems and family dysfunction by throwing money at schools. You can have a state of the art library, but what good does it do if students aren't motivated to learn? Children who go to private school have every advantage in life....from birth. They have a strong foundation AT HOME long before they even step foot in school: good nutrition, attentive, adoring parents, educational opportunities and an enriched environment. Schools can't make up for what's lacking at home.

I agree

R84

If spending more money on schools isn't working, why not advocate abolishing ALL public schools and allow parents and students to "opt out" and support local and non-traditional schools?

(BTW- Charter schools are just government schools masquerading as private.)

It would destroy teachers unions, so I doubt many socialist democrats can even conceive of such heresy!

If you have a child 4-17 then you should be able to send your child to any "local" non-government school, or home school- and as long as they pass yearly tests - you can keep the rest to pay for supplemental education.

"Neighborhood schools" with 20-200 students aged 5-17 within a small geographic area would become the norm, with most students able to walk or bike to school.

But, this kind of free-market creativity is anathema to people who believe in government control of education.

Get the government out of education. Period.

Motorists from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and all points in between are prone to suspicions that their high-travel state is a web of bumpy, winding roads decorated with potholes, orange cones and bridge-out signs.

A new study says they’re right.

The “21st Annual Report on the Performance of State Highway Systems” put out this week by the Reason Foundation, a Los Angeles-based libertarian think tank, ranks Pennsylvania’s highway system as 41st among the 50 states based on 11 categories.

When the good news is that you’re not the worst, it’s not exactly a compliment.

It seems to be a race to the bottom. The ranking marks the third consecutive year Pennsylvania has slid down the list, having been No. 39 two years ago.

It's a shit state, I swear

Does the city pay for all the cars that get damaged by potholes?

Does it help if the pothole is so big your entire car falls in?

[quote]Saying the Philadelphia public school system is complete and total shit is not an opinion. It's a fact

Nope, it's an opinion. Until you can learn the difference, you really should stop posting, as you're just embarrassing yourself.

[quote]Take your head of your fucking ass, [R70].

You first, cupcake.

[quote]Yep, [R70] is the crazed fascist who loves government and hates liberty.

ROFL.... You are nothing if not predictable, ILT. Same old pattern. You can't argue with what I write so you have to resort to childish insults. You will not, and cannot, find a single post of mine that demonstrates that I "love government" or "hate liberty."

[quote]"Neighborhood schools" with 20-200 students aged 5-17 within a small geographic area would become the norm, with most students able to walk or bike to school.

LOL.... Wow... you really are totally divorced from reality, aren't you? You do realize just how expensive that would be, right?

Don't bate the trolls

The troll (singular) is one third of this thread. It's fucking insane.

It's the resident ILT. He's been doing this for years. He's his own worst enemy, since nobody wants to be associated with any position he takes, given his invincible ignorance and his relentless spamming.

R93

"Bate"? Seriously?

philly deserves better

R97

The people of Philly are getting the government they deserve. If they want to keep giving more money and more power to the city government, they deserve to live with the squalor and corruption and poverty and arrogant cops and useless bureaucrats.

Until they've taxed and regulated every business and productive citizen out of the city, they will not learn that government is incompetent when it isn't evil. Socialism is great until you run out of other people's money.

"Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard." - H. L. Mencken

As compared to the anarchy and inefficiency that would result from libertarianism, not to mention the "I've got mine, so fuck you" Darwinian thinning of the horde...

A stark reminder of the seriousness of the “pension crisis” you hear about so often: A new report says that Philadelphia is $5.3 billion behind on payments to the pension system that is supposed to pay for the retirements of its municipal employees.

The city is far from alone: An audit released Wednesday by State Auditor General Eugene DePasquale says that 562 Pennsylvania cities are collectively $7.7 billion under water — up from $6.7 billion two years previously.

“It's gone up by $1 billion with no sight of action yet by the Legislature,” DePasquale said. “There's no way around it; we need a statewide solution.”

Chicago, with the strictest gun laws, has the highest murder rate.

Socialist policy in action!!!

I hate the traffic lights in Philly. They turn red after like 10 seconds. Manhattan is much better because you get long strings of greens.