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As we approach the birthday of this great nation, I am forced to ponder the penchant for our local and regional governments who are cutting back on a swath of social services yet still find the budget room to have a giant fireworks display.
How about the $150,000 Clevelend OH spends on their display, including extra cops and port-a-johns. This year, they wouldn't have been able to afford such an extravagant affair if it hadn't been for one of the Councilmen brave and bold enough to cut a check from the council's fund.
Councilman Joe Santiago is pissing our tax dollars away - What is wrong with this picture?
How about Moreno Valley California, where they cut 2 hours from their festivities and hired local talent instead of Eddie Money to bring their average spending on fourth of july celebrations from $140,000 down to $80,000.
Several Inland cities cut July 4th spending
Belvidere, IL will be spending around $15,000 for their around the 4th celebration called Heritage Days. The city itself will only be spending $7,750, but with their Chrysler plant shut down, I'd guess every penny should count...
Belvidere City Council approves Heritage Days necessities
Next door, in Rockford, IL, we have one of the highest unemployment rates in the country (top 10 unemployed cities), are cutting social programs, and are cutting the library's budget by around 25%. So, lets pay a bunch of overtime for a bunch of cops to make the downtown area ready for 125,000 spectators. While this fireworks display is not funded by the city government, I can't help but wonder if there aren't a few soup kitchens that could have used the citizen's donations more wisely than 'letting freedom ring'... Go ahead, have yourself a nice steaming hot bowl of freedom ringing. See how that fills you up. (while Rockford has the highest unemployment rate in the state of Illinois, they also have the largest fireworks display... At least the locals don't have to worry about being at work the next day!)
http://www.rockfordfireandice.com/gpage1.html
On the plus side, while looking around for stories about cities bankrupting themselves for hot 'n' heavy 15 minutes, I found a lot more stories about cities exchanging their fireworks for bonfires and other more reasonable, just as exciting celebrations...
Flaming displays of testosterone...
THIS is whyipaytaxes.
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I'll actually defend this 'extravagant' outpouring of resources with a roman reference- these festivals are our colloseum and when unemployment is high the minions must be entertained lest they gather together in mass and decide to do something other than watch survivor reruns. Festivals also give hope (false though it may be) to people that life will return to a new version of normal. Although bonfires and other alternative parties are a good idea, we have to face the idea that we've lost the ability to be a community and wouldn't quite know what to do if we had to actually talk to the person sitting next to us instead of just ignoring them. It will take time for us, as a society, to remember how to interact with one another.
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