Hating That Other BP

Never send Brian Higgins to do the free market’s job.  Bass Pro will now never officially appear in Buffalo despite, or perhaps because of, his efforts.  Why weren’t they impressed by his congressional-level pleading?

With that mystery looming, he’s employing his best strategy under the circumstances, namely pretending he never liked them anyway.  The Skyway-disregarding representative can go ahead and amusingly call the deal’s collapse “liberating.” For once, he’s right about something, at least in the same sense that he’d be liberated to spend more time with his family if he loses this November.

The least surprising news in city history means there are no winners following the Bass Pro debacle.  At least we don’t have to cheer for the disagreeable participants.  So, was the collapse the fault of an aggressively overbearing yet criminally incompetent government or the disreputable private concern in question?  Yes.

As much fun as it is to blame Higgins, we must also remember to curse the stupid fishing conglomerate in question to rot in retail hell.  That other BP will forever be viewed infamously in Western New York, as they may as well have dumped countless oil barrels into the adjacent water for all the damage they did.

I’m particularly glad this area’s decision-makers knocked down the Aud for the garbage-scented merchant in question; are there any other war memorials they’d like us to demolish as a final request?

At the same time, they were just playas in the game, yo.  We should cancel the event.  Conservatives are pro-market, not pro-business, which is never more apparent than when it comes to being anti-Bass Pro. (more…)

Plenty of Vacancies

Downtown Buffalo’s most common sight might be plywood.  Regrettably, the vertically-placed sheets aren’t particularly appealing to shoppers, tourists, or potential apartment renters.  The boarding-up-unused-places industry may be booming, but numerous other aspects of the city’s economy grow more decrepit by the day.  For a literal example, take a look at the once-marvelous Hotel Lafayette. You’ll have to do so from the outside, as it’s being shuttered:

The Hotel Lafayette will be closed and boarded up on April 1, The Buffalo News has learned.

And a developer who hopes to renovate the landmark said delays in Albany could derail his plan to turn the structure into apartments and a hotel.

This present-day wound cuts deep into the past.  As highlighted during a recent presentation at the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, the august hotel was designed in 1904 by Louise Bethune, the American Institute of Architects’ first woman member.  But the structure’s one-time incomparable reputation may be relegated permanently to the olden days.  That’s despite one businessman’s efforts to ensure the building doesn’t become a memory:

Developer Rocco Termini delivered the jolting announcement today at a special meeting of the city’s Planning Board. He said delays in Albany involving needed reforms of a state historic tax credit law could doom his $35 million plan to turn the Hotel Lafayette into a boutique hotel, apartments, small restaurants and banquet facilities.

Termini blamed “bean-counters” in the state’s budget and finance offices for delays.

In short, a developer willingly attempted to bring commerce downtown, and Albany couldn’t be bothered to help him.  After all, why do the capital’s bureaucrats care?  They’re like 300 miles away and don’t have to deal with a post-apocalyptic cityscape out on the state’s western frontier.  They indifferently leave Erie County’s residents to sod off and cope with collective destitution, complimented by how we’re left with precious few places to shop and live downtown.

Locals are dealing with a rotten policy that subsidizes some at the expense of all.  Doling out credits to particular businesses is a particularly futile method for generating economic growth.  We can’t blame Termini for trying to get the benefits available: if the government is handing out candy that you helped pay for, it’s silly to deny yourself the sugar rush.

The problem lies with the process itself.  Then inherently crooked fixture should make anyone who wants to enliven Buffalo wonder if other rusting urban hulls are inhibited by similarly maddening ruses.  We should attempt to track down correspondents in Cleveland and Detroit for corroboration.

Subsidizing chosen businesses with incentives and bribes is sadly in vogue among numerous federal-level politicians.  But such conniving is nothing new in some states.  Particularly, New York has essentially been living under the Obama administration’s policies for far longer than the past year and change.  I hate to include spoilers, but Empire State residents already know the ending: imagine Angela’s Ashes wrapping up somewhere in the middle.  Just exaggerating, maybe.

If each state effectively conducts its own economic experiment, then New York is an exploding meth lab.  We should be letting businesses engage in commerce without channeling money through Albany in the hopes of getting blessed with a future tax credit.  Instead, we cope with a cloddish middleman who has mysteriously been granted the right to determine the cash’s recipient.

At best, the state government picks favorites as competing businesses suffer, much like with the feds and the inept car companies they’ve chosen to promote.  At worst, they don’t bother to give out the money at all, as seen in the negligence aimed at a fading building named for a most distinguished municipal visitor.

Either way, the reshuffling is funded by bleeding the private economy dry.  That’s in lieu of letting those who want to buy stuff or hire space interact with those who have goods to sell or empty flats to lease, respectively.  It’s not like that system would work infinitely better while costing the government nothing.

But it’s anti-business business as usual in New York.  As a result, a historically significant, architecturally notable, perfectly located building that was ready for a rebirth is instead going to be converted into a hotel for ghosts.  We can’t get even get a drink to drown our sorrows at a favorite spot: the Lafayette Tap Room closed along with the Hotel.  Albany owes us a drink, and a revitalized city center, too.

Another Clunker

New York State is attempting to simultaneously help the economy and environment.  Yeah: they’ll do nothing for either.  Enticed consumers spent the weekend racing about trying to grab government entitlements for those outfitting their kitchens and basements.  They’re taking part in a transparently manipulative subsidy that will redistribute income while sending perfectly good appliances to Kitchen Heaven:

The state’s “Great Appliance Swap Out” will distribute about 170,000 rebates totaling $16.8 million to New York residents who replace their old refrigerators, washing machines or freezers with ones that meet ENERGY STAR standards.  Consumers will be eligible for additional rebates if they recycle their old appliances.

The government decides on how much you get depending if you want to chill, wash, or ice your things:

The rebates will be funded on a first-come, first-served basis by federal stimulus money.  Eligible refrigerators and washers qualify for a $75 rebate, while freezers qualify for $50.  If the old appliance is recycled, the refrigerator rebate increases to $105, the washer to $100 and the freezer to $75.

Consumers who want the biggest taxpayer-funded check had state-backed incentive to acquire as many domestic machines as possible:

The largest rebates are reserved for those who purchase a refrigerator, washing machine and dishwasher together as a package.  That rebate is good for $500, or $555 with documented recycling.  The appliances in the package deal must meet Consortium for Energy Efficiency standards, which are tougher than the ENERGY STAR marks.

“Documented recycling” is a pleasant way of saying that the Green Police will hunt you down to the tune of a butchered Cheap Trick classic if you toss your old junk in a Dumpster.  If you comply and therefore remain avoid detention, the state’s executive wants you to shop.  Our possibly-not-doomed governor is still hustling for his agenda while he can:

“This program will provide a tremendous incentive for consumers all across New York to reduce their energy consumption while providing an important stimulus to our economy,” Gov. David Paterson said in a statement.

This is not to accuse the governor of any illicit behavior whatsoever.  But that shouldn’t stop him.  It doesn’t matter if it involves taking drugs, checking into hotel rooms with ladies to whom he is not married, accepting bribes, shoplifting, jaywalking, violating open container laws, or any other amusing offense: please, Governor Paterson, do something naughty that’s resignation-worthy.

Conditions were rotten in this state before he became the default governor, and his replacement would likely share the same economically odious philosophy.  But Paterson is still crimping our financial outlook regardless of whether he’s quitting tomorrow or being voted out by November at the latest.

Namely, he’s pushing a state program that entices consumers to do something that would already benefit them.  Shoppers are going to naturally choose more energy-efficient products: after all, picking items that use less power saves money on bills.  But why trust the public?  Paterson and his dwindling band of adherents don’t get that well-designed goods produced by innovative private concerns do more to reduce emissions than any cash for (blank) or capping and trading ever will.

The tawdry policy is also based in the notion that human progress and comfort is rendering the Earth uninhabitable.  That’s fine, except for the fact that it’s not.  Global warming theory officially contains more holes than the ozone.  With that in mind, keeping working appliances on the job is the most sensible financial policy.

That’s especially so during a period of economic upheaval when many can’t afford to replace every item with a plug they own.  But the state would rather people spend money they don’t have if it generates a cursory retail activity spike.  It’s allegedly for our collective good.

It’s irrelevant whether Albany or Washington is on the prowl.  Both monoliths believe that they can improve the economy by taking money out of the economy.  Artificially unnecessary green goals are unfeasible without severe governmental intrusion.  Of course, the rebates in question are being funded by taxpayers, so buyers are at best getting a little ahead at the expense of others.  In New York, that’s considered a boom.

But that’s only part of the problem.  More disturbingly, the state’s bribe will artificially accelerate purchases consumers had planned to make in the months ahead, setting us up for yet another sales dip soon.  An Adrenaline shot is the most blatantly phony method available for initiating a momentary stimulus.  Worst of all, they had to let the patient flatline first.

NY-26: Jack Davis Apologizes For “Payments”

Jack Davis may have once been a Republican, but if he thinks that a mere apology for alleged bribes is enough to put the issue to rest, then he’s truly a typical Democrat.

Democratic congressional candidate Jack Davis apologized today for $10,000 in payments he made to the wives of Western New York’s most influential Independence Party leaders that critics called “bribes.”

The candidate, who has promised to spend $3 million of his own money in his third attempt at winning the seat of retiring Republican Thomas N. Reynolds, said his payments to the wives of Independence Chairment Anthony L. Orsini Jr. of Erie County and Rafael Colon of Monroe County for “consulting” services constituted a “mistake.”

“I am severing my relationships with the consultants in question and apologize for my part in the spectacle,” he said.

Jon Powers naturally took advantage of the story, but if Jack Davis survives this, I won’t be surprised. Perhaps a few campaign appearances with William Jefferson will lead him down the path to a victory on September 9th.