$17 million more for streetcar

Dear fellow tax hikers, we have great news to share.  This week Cincinnati City Council will be approving another $17 million for our beloved Cincinnati Streetcar!  This vote will occur tomorrow and Wednesday. 

We can exclusively report that it has already passed - likely on a 6-3 vote.  We strongly endorse its passage.

The three no votes will be streetcar opponents Christopher Smitherman and Charlie Winburn, along with Presidential candidate P.G. Sittenfeld.  P.G. says he's for the streetcar when speaking to certain streetcar supporters, but he feels he can't have the streetcar on his record when he runs for County Commissioner next year and for President in 2040.

Automatic yes votes include Mallory yes-men Roxanne Qualls and Laure Quinlivan, along with the ultra-obedient Councilmen Wendell Young and Yvette Simpson.  The latter two, in particular, would not dare question the Mallory administration and will gladly cast their yes vote as ordered. 

That leaves Pamula Thomas and Chris Seelbach.  As we have already covered, Pam Thomas is voting yes.  She knows she is not allowed to make up her own mind.  That was a condition for being appointed to Council.  She has been ordered to vote yes and that is what she will do.

That leaves City Councilman Chris Seelbach, a City Councilman on Cincinnati City Council.  City Councilman Seelbach has been lobbied heavily by the downtown urban hipsters, and he knows he can't get re-elected without their 45 votes.  City Councilman Seelbach will do the same thing he usually does - pretend to show concern about the costs to appease one side, while still making sure it passes so he doesn't risk upsetting Mallory and Qualls. 

This is what City Councilman Seelbach did on the Parking Plan.  He voted Yes to make it a 6-3 vote in favor of making it Emergency legislation, which made it referendum-proof.  Then after he saw the legislation had 5 votes for passage, he voted against it on the final vote.  City Councilman Seelbach voted for it before he voted against it.  He made sure it passed and was referendum-proof. 

Expect City Councilman Seelbach to take a similar approach to the streetcar vote.  Under no circumstances will he be a vote that kills this important streetcar funding.  We applaud City Councilman Seelbach and the rest of Council for the blank check they have provided for this important streetcar.

Pamula Thomas wavers on streetcar

Dear fellow tax hikers, as we are putting together the 5 votes necessary to authorize at least another $17 million for our beloved Cincinnati Streetcar, we have been presented with the news that Councilman Pamula Thomas is undecided on this important decision.  There is no need to panic.  We own her vote and she WILL be voting for these funds. 

Councilman Thomas knows that she is not allowed to make up her own mind.  She was placed on Council with explicit instructions to blindly obey Mayor Mark Mallory and Roxanne Qualls and that's exactly what she's going to do.  Nobody is allowing her to make up her own mind.

Besides, her stated concerns are all unjustified.  For example, there is this passage from the WLWT article:

She expressed her concern again Thursday about making sure taxpayers aren't burdened by the project and questioned the long-term viability of what's planned.

This is not a burden for the taxpayers.  If money is ever short, the answer is easy - just raise taxes!

"Another concern is the ridership and the sustainability of the streetcar," Thomas said. "How is it going to sustain itself?"

We don't care about no stinkin' ridership!  If the streetcar can't sustain itself, we'll just raise taxes to cover the operations shortfall.

Councilman Thomas knows that her concerns are invalid.  The streetcar is not a burden and taxes can always be raised.  We endorse this streetcar, no matter the cost.  And Pamula Thomas feels the same way, because that is the position she has been ordered to take.

Open thread - what is a loyal Republican

Dear fellow tax hikers, we are picking up on a theme that was discussed in the comments section of our last post - loyalty.  We need reader participation for this discussion.

So we ask all you loyal tax hikers to tell us:  What is a loyal Republican?

Legal threat

Dear fellow tax hikers, we have been informed that we might be in danger of facing litigation because CincyCapell's wife was referred to here as a "pig".  We are just shaking in our boots.  You all can be the judge. 

Here she is, Mrs. America:

Mrs. CincyCapell is the red-headed blob in the middle.  She's sitting next to everyone. 

For a closer look:

Maybe someone can hire Stan Chesley to sue us.  We are so scared.

Mr. and Mrs. H, we invite you to continue picking fights with us.  Because we get so much enjoyment out of crafting our responses.  Oink Oink piggies.