As usual The Far Right Colorado Springs Gazette gushes over the supposed "CAB" (Combat Air Brigade) arriving at Fort Carson in three years, which isn't needed at all. In fact - as I noted earlier, it's a colossal waste of money when congress is supposedly looking at legitimate budget cuts! See, http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2011/04/1-billion-boondoggle-combat-air-brigade.html
In an erratic, illogical and poorly thought out editoral today, the Gazellians write:
"It is hard to imagine better news than last week’s Army announcement that Fort Carson will be home to a 2,700-soldier aviation brigade, which may create 2,100 new civilian jobs and pump an estimated $750 million in construction money into the local economy. Only a handful of NOMBYs — “Not Over My Back Yard” people — have a problem with this. (Yes, we invented that.)"
Let's begin with the last sentence, a lie if ever there was one! As opposed to a "handful of people being opposed", recent polls have shown up to 43% (outside those polled by The Gazette on its op-ed forums, dominated by diehard wingnuts, so the poll is biased by maybe 2:1) full square against this misbegotten white elephant. They are against it, yes, for the incessant NOISE -whop! Whop! -- all day long, as well as the environmental concerns like dumping fuel over forests and mountain areas. Oh, and let's not forget crashes (like the one in 2010).
They are also opposed for the sheer monetary WASTE when the Army's own report (noted in the uplinked blog) have said that choppers in the Afghan theater almost never ever use mountain top landings, they operate mainly over deserts! This brings us to the so-called "economic benefits" claimed by these stooges, who somehow think the only reason people moved to the Springs was to be in the middle of Military bases and B.S. and be entertained by flyboys and choppers! Not so! Many came for the quality of life, the mountain (Pike's Peak) views, which sad to say is rapidly deteriorating owing to the County's addiction to developers and the military.
But down to cases:NONE of these 2,700+ new residents (if this dingbat thing ends up being approved) will pay much in sales taxes, since the Post Exchange doesn't charge anything. That means the county and city will reap next to zero sales tax benefits for the trouble. The Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments estimated that $50 million was spent on base from October, 2008 to September, 2009, which at the current city sales tax rates translates into $1.5 million lost - more than enough to have kept most of the county's parks open, and also cleaned of trash. (Half the parks have been victims of budget cuts, all have had rest rooms shuttered.) Moreover another half million bucks was estimated to have been lost by both the county and the Pikes Peak rural transit authority. The latter could have been used to keep 3 to 4 key bus routes open for poorer workers, as opposed to cutting them and causing their jobs to be put at risk.
The situation is even worse regarding property taxes, which pay for the operation of schools (which, by the way, will see more than one thousand new kids descend on them if this CAB arrives!) Because the post is on federal land, no property taxes are paid on it, translating into an estimated loss of $3.24 million, enough to have kept at least two schools open that'll now be closing (one in the D-11 district, and one in D-49). Thus, we see The Gazette is full of it!
In the meantime, all those extra people will impose added costs and significantly higher burdens on the already stretched thin resources(thanks to recent budget cuts), increasing the wear and tear on already crumbling roads and highways, as well as putting more pressure on ERs, and schools. Where's the upside? When you add it all in, the costs far outweigh the benefits! The notion of a military economic benefits dividend is just a pie-eyed myth spread by the likes of the Gazelle and its lackeys and propagandists.
The Gazelle did get one thing right, but for the wrong reasons. They noted, the area didn't receive this CAB out of "good luck" but rather:
"The Springs has put forward the investment, the tolerance and the effort to welcome and host the sights, sounds and population increases that come with hosting bases. We have provided the schools, roads, bridges, hospitals, utilities and water that our military needs."
YES, and all those facilities have been worse for wear since! The roads have aged much more rapidly because of the higher volume of traffic, and are in need of major repairs, though the budget cutters can't afford to earmark more. The bridges are also in terrible shape and at least 30% are near potential collapse (Grade "D") according to American Society of Engineers estimates. The water mains are also over 100 years old and moreover, the water resources are dwindling because the climate (prolong drought) has bled down the reservoirs, and the massive added military bleeds it down any more.
Another 4,000 people on top of the 30,000 already on base, will send us toward a certain water crisis in the next two years, if not sooner - and certainly if the dry weather keeps up! (Already the National Weather Service has noted that the Springs' precip level is 26.5 inches below last year and no sign of improvement). Meanwhile, as more people pour in, the utilities costs have soared to record levels - and now both gas and electric as well as water costs have increased 40% each in the last year alone. It's so bad most people can't afford to water their lawns anymore! The Utility company even admitted it had to charge the higher rates because of the higher influx of population, including military.
Another piece of Gazette codswallop:
"The aviation brigade will consist of at least 120 helicopters and other aircraft. To most, these great war machines will be the sights and sounds of freedom — a small sacrifice in return for the economic benefits of hosting them."
Which of course is total horse shit. Those choppers represent no "sound of freedom" (there's no real freedom of any U.S. person at stake in the Afghan theater) but rather the sound of millions of gallons of petrol being burned up each day (what with an average of 3,000 flights per years planned) in an era in which we are rapidly approaching Peak Oil.
Further, there are NO economic benefits in hosting any of these outfits, as I noted, so no one ought to be called upon to "sacrifice" for them. It's simply sacrificing for one community to have more pork and waste, to selfishly promote the interests of the few. And finally, the last bit of bull shit, which is the best saved for last:
"To a marginal few, the NOMBYs of this world, the copters will be nothing other than noise. They will fret and complain, all the while refusing to move to the plains of Kansas — or the Alaskan Bush — where they could enjoy living alone. When you encounter NOMBYs, remind them where they choose to live and what this city is about. We are a military town, working to remain the country’s best home for the men, women and children who sacrifice to keep our country prosperous and free."
Again, the "NOMBYs" - actually citizens concerned by egregious WASTE ('CCEW')- have an unimpeachable case against this stupid, wasteful brigade: which is that it will consume nearly $1 billion that could have been used for generating civilian jobs and infrastructure repair in the area, including roads, water and sewer mains, and bridges about to collapse.
As for "moving to the plains of Kansas" - that is about as ignorant as the moron paper patriots who tell us to "Love or leave the U.S.A."! Like the Gazelle they have no sense, or intelligence. The issue is not about "wanting to be alone" but desiring to retain some semblance of quality of life which brought us here in the first place. For many, it represented the best economic trade off to secure some of the state's scenic beauty without going totally broke (given the cost of homes in Boulder, or Denver is three to five time higher!)
As for "being a military town" - that has only occured via decades long-accretion, while many of the original citizens (who were here long before the military) have had to see it take over their once once pristine fields, and landscape to operate their live fire exercises, often starting brush fires during harsh dry conditions. Only recently, indeed, we beheld the small victory of the Pinon Canyon ranchers as they beat back an attempt to seize their land, for more "training exercises". WTF! An area three times the state of Connecticut isn't enough to train? But the drunken addicts to the teats of the military-industrial complex will continue to invoke any ruse or moronic justification to tell us to shut up. However, that ain't gonna happen.
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