Former High-Flying Cities Go Begging

Skidding fortunes are not plaguing the financial world alone. The global downturn has caused once high-flying American cities to go begging Washington for help. The mayors of Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Atlanta have asked for a share of the Federal financial bailout with others like Dallas not far behind. Should taxpayers in Cleveland, Nashville, and Sioux City be asked to rescue their once-mighty, fiscally-irresponsible cousins?

In Philadelphia, the pension system lost more than $650 million in the first nine months of 2008 and the city recently announced cost-cutting measures to cope with a $108 million shortfall caused by declining business and real estate tax receipts.

While much of the country’s economic landscape lies in ruins, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon unashamedly says he wants Federal dollars build new police and fire stations, water-treatment plants, and extensions to his new light rail network. Phoenix’s budget deficit is at least $200 million and could reach $250 million by mid-2008.

Who decides the winners if Washington expands emergency infrastructural funding to cities? Cleveland, for example, has almost double the population density of Columbus, Ohio. Los Angeles has three times that of Phoenix. Should denser and/or better planned cities be penalized for their efficiency?

Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Atlanta are like million-dollar home owners panhandling for window caulk. These new mega-beggars have had years of good economic times, while many other cities have had no such luxury.

With American taxpayers already paying the price for the financial sector mess, there are few good economic reasons to be sympathetic to these urban profligates. It’s easy to take responsibility when the going is good; now let big city politicians prove their mettle in difficult times.

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~ by deadmanscurve on November 18, 2008.