Comment 37841

By A Smith (anonymous) | Posted February 04, 2010 at 19:10:25

Jason >> Simply put, they say the LRT will not work – because it's not what we have now

No, they say it won't work because they recognize that the downtown already has lots of subsidized transit, that the LRT is essentially the same as a bus and that the primary rationale for mass transit is to reduce traffic congestion, which is not the case in downtown Hamilton.

A much better way to help our downtown economy is for the city government to start acting SELFISHLY and stop trying to coddle residents. This would include paying off all of their municipal debts, building up a massive reserve fund and perhaps even pushing for a city sales tax. In the mid to late nineties, when North American governments did just that, acted selfishly, the economy boomed and millions of jobs were created.

Prior to this latest recession, governments have done the complete opposite. Both Bush and Harper increased spending on social programs, saved less/borrowed more and basically catered to the people when they should have been looking after their own finances.

The road to prosperity and prestige for Hamilton is up to the government. It can either be "nice" and do what Buffalo has done, taken on lots of debt to give residents services they didn't pay for and watch as tax revenue dries up. Or, they can act selfishly, raise taxes, be stingy with handouts and try to make themselves as rich as possible.

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