JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN, DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD

Technology is moving into the culture at such a fast pace that Joe and Jane Citizen can't even wrap their minds around it.  And, no, I am not suggesting paranoia is the best response to it.  But when government uses Joe's and Jane's money to use technology to take away their privacy, property rights, and their freedoms, I think it's time to take a hard look at what this "Brave New World" is foisting upon us.  Science fiction has become reality.  This is why we are looking at drone strikes on American citizens and why Rand Paul's filibuster was such a dramatic and seminal moment.

My readers know I have been on the rabbit trail, chasing down the power grab of Councils of Governments and trying to warn our elected officials.  To that end, I am going to share a few details with you from the grant application and grant that our Centralina Council of Governments took from the Federal government.  The grant is based on United Nations global governance.  But to hide that fact, our Federal government has obfuscated the jargon in an attempt to snooker the American public.  And a good job they've done so far.  

How do you like the idea that an unelected bureaucracy has given itself the power to assess and collect data on your personal belongings and your lifestyle?  (Worse that your elected officials are letting them do it.)  We know the Federal government is implementing data collection through the healthcare bill and through the public school system.  So why no do it through unelected planning agencies as well?  They are!

This may be too much "getting into the weeds" for some, but here is an example of what I mean:

Under the heading of "Energy Conservation" the HUD grant application sets out the budget to be spent on data collection on your home, your assets,  and your activities.  This bureaucratic cabal of self-important controllers. is using your tax dollars to pay people with infra-red thermal imaging equipment to come to your house and assess the greenhouse gases your house may be emitting.  Is your house leaking heat or cooling emissions? Remember this CCOG has captured 14 counties and all of the towns and cities within that area....four of the counties are not even in this state.

This project provides comparable analyses of energy-savings potentials for a cross-section of neighborhood houses in the CCOG/Catawba COG represented county region. Deliverables for this project include: (1) a compilation of neighborhood housing sampling per county for the Neighborhood Energy Profile Database; (2) assessments will be made as to which neighborhoods collectively have the best potential for realizing cost-effective energy savings; (3) targeting those identified neighborhoods with messages on how households can realize these savings through proven,
affordable, achievable and accessible measures.
The Neighborhood Energy Profile Database and Energy Enhancement Recommendations project team will be led by Jim Kirby, GREENTHINC., PLLC and Hamilton Cort, Cort Architectural Group, PA. Both will share the two-state/multi-county management/database development responsibilities for residential building energy performance assessment, corresponding database development, and publication of proven/affordable energy enhancement strategies. Members of the US Green Building Council-Charlotte Region Chapter (USGBC-CRC) will serve in the outreach messaging efforts and home sampling selection efforts for the 14 county CCOG region. Matthew Ryan, Efficiency 1st, LLC will provide on-site residential building diagnostics, assessment and reporting responsibilities for the two state/ multi-county residential buildings through blower-door/pressurization testing, HVAC systems review and envelope thermal imaging.

Under "Climate Change" is the taking of inventory on both public and private vehicle fleets.

ATC Associates will conduct an inventory of construction equipment used in the region to determine the model year, estimated usage hours and engine upgrade retrofits. This inventory will be conducted on both municipally-owned fleets and privately owned fleets (general contractors, grading, construction, and equipment rental companies) and entered into a database. The purpose will be to assess the age and emission levels of construction equipment used in our region to determine the scope of the problem that aging diesel fleets represents. The cost for their work, all of which is to be paid for using grant funds, is $85,760.
Mecklenburg County will assess the feasibility of expanding their highly successful GRADE (Grants to Reduce Aging Diesel Engines) Program. Currently the program targets older construction equipment in the region for engine repowers or replacement to reduce the emission of nitrogen oxide, a major component of ozone pollution. Expanding the program or creating a similar model to provide grant funding for diesel particulate filter retrofits will address the emissions of black carbon. Potential sources of funding for this program will also be explored. All of Mecklenburg County’s staff time (valued at $23,940) is being provided through an in-kind match.
UNCC will assess the job creation opportunities within the diesel retrofit sector (manufacturing, installation and maintenance) that would result from increasing the installation of diesel particulate filters on pre-2008 construction equipment and vehicles in the region. UNCC will also identify workforce retraining options for manufacturing and diesel mechanics. All funds attributed to UNC Charlotte, $31,705, are to be paid for by the grant.
Supporting work will also be provided by Clean Air Carolinas (CAC), a clean air advocacy group in the Charlotte region and by Jason Wager (CCOG Sustainability Program Manager). CAC is providing $2000 in in-kind staff assistance. Approximately 23.3% of Wager’s time is being provided by an in-kind match through CCOG. (NOTE: Wager’s time is accounted for in Section 1, Personnel Labor Costs, of the Budget Narrative.)

Presto!  There you have just two of the invasive Federal intrusions into our personal and private lives.  Oh...you say pollution is not personal and private, but is a "public" problem.  Well, the truth is the town I live in is 20 miles west of Charlotte and we do not have an air quality problem.  In fact, none of the other counties and communities outside Charlotte / Mecklenburg have any of the air quality problems that Charlotte has.  Furthermore, the idea that personal homes are causing Climate Change is just ridiculous.  Energy conservation can and should be left up to individuals who purchase energy.  That is the free market.  Here we have an unelected, self-appointed, group of meddling bureaucrats who intend to walk into your neighborhood with thermal imaging equipment, paid for with your Federal taxes, and then proceed to get the Federal government involved in your roofing, insulation, and HVAC system.  Or, how about this?  The friends I have who are in the construction business or the equipment rental business will be forced to have their equipment inspected by (again unelected) guns for hire who will then sic the Feds on them to pay for retrofits and or new equipment.  As you can see from the cited bits of that grant, the intention is to get more government grant money should the public and private entities not be able to pay for this "upgrade.  And how could they pay for this?  City governments are broke.  County governments are broke.  Personally owned businesses can't cough up money for this willy nilly.  So....who do you think is going to pay for that?  Got money?  You'd better hang onto your wallet.  Government is about to stick you with the tab ...and has already to the tune of $4.9 million for this "Sustainable Communities Initiative" planning grant.  (funny money that was borrowed from somewhere out there or printed out of fiction!)

Technology makes a lot of things possible.  Thermal imaging.  Carbon Capture. Energy efficiency.  But does that mean government has the right to trample on your rights to force you to comply with some other person's idea? What does that do to the free market?  I have some friends who own antique vehicles that are street legal.  Should these bureaucrats force them off the street?  And in doing so, does that make light rail less expensive or more environmentally friendly?  No.  Does forcing people to seal up their homes do anything to help the environment?  No.  So they use a tiny bit less energy, does that keep the snow from falling or a river from flooding?  No. 

Just because you can invade someone's privacy or personal choices, doesn't mean you should!  As compared with drone strikes on American citizens, this may seem trivial.  Trust me it is not trivial and will threaten our economic survival even more than it already is.

CHERYL MEETS ORWELL - RIGHT HERE AND NOW

I went to the Animal Fair....I mean, Animal Farm...in 1984...just last night.  Orwell is alive and well, having accurately predicted the future, and that future is NOW.  Actually it was a Dog and Pony Show put on by the propaganda experts from the unelected Centralina Council of Governments.  It was a room full of posters and bureaucrats handing out surveys with stupid questions.  Questions like: "How would you like to see your "region" grow?"  Questions like: "Would you like to see more roads or, would you rather see more houses close to work places?"  Questions like, "Would you like more bike paths and sidewalks?" Questions like, "Would you like to see more open spaces and parks?"  The surveys were a joke, frankly.  Posters that state: "The population in our region is going to double in the next 20 yrs."  Oops, "40 yrs."  Oops, "50 yrs."  (Seriously, they have published all three time frames in different propaganda pieces, so which is it?)  Posters that tell you "the demographic is going to be a lot older and a lot poorer."  Posters that say, "We can fix all these things."  Posters that say, "You can be part of this VOLUNTARILY."  Sure, and my Aunt Sadie was the Queen of Egypt, too.

Our county stays at over 10% unemployment.  More layoffs were announced yesterday.  The birth rate is declining.  The previous year increase in population in this state was 1.2%.  Multiply that by 20 years and you have a 24% increase, hardly double to 200% of the current population.  The only jobs that seem to exist are service jobs.  Manufacturing is still on the wane, and has been for years.  People don't make anything anymore.  They either don't have jobs or they are in service industries.  Oh, and the largest employer here is....guess who?  The government.

Anyway, back to Animal Farm and 1984, I managed to get several Tea Party people there.  Not to be outdone, the bureaucrats had called in every non-profit in the county and had them show up.  They have been told they will have a "seat at the table," and they will be in line to get more money from the Feds if they participate.  I was prepared.  I had printed out flyers of information for anyone and everyone, countering the lies and subterfuge.  I handed them out.  My husband and I were watched every minute by the smarmy, nasty, beady-eyed bureaucrats in suits.  We engaged people in conversations and asked them if they would read my flyers.  I had good feedback from most, thanking me for my editorial in the paper and telling me they didn't know about this prior to reading my editorial.  (side note: it is good to find that people actually do read newspapers today.) 

The Dog and Pony Show also attracted two of our City Council members who were promoting this "regional government," federal monster that they voted to join on our behalf.  One of them didn't look me in the eyes and barely said hello.  The other, a woman, did engage me in conversation.  And here is where the whole thing went off the rails for me.  Below is an account of that conversation.

"Hello Councilwoman."  "Hello Cheryl."  I then said, "Councilwoman, I have information for you on this regional government and I would like to come to your office and share that with you."  "Oh," she said, "No, you don't need to do that."  "I already know how you feel."  I said, "Councilwoman, you do know that you were misled and that the Director of Centralina Council of Governments misrepresented all of this to you, don't you?"  She said, "I know how you feel and I just disagree with you."  I said, "Councilwoman, I have copies of the HUD grant and the actual grant application that proves you were misled."  I'd like very much to share that with you, so that you might revisit this situation and rescind the agreement."  She replied, "I can see you are very concerned about this, but if someone could prove to me I was misled or that I am wrong, I'll look into it."  I said, "Councilwoman, I have the contract application right here with me." " I can show you the proof."  "I can come to your office and lay it all out for you."  "No, that won't be necessary," she said.  Next, she said again, "I just disagree with you and that's O.K." (Was she giving herself permission to disagree with me?)  She continued, "You are entitled to your opinion."  I replied, "Councilwoman, this is not opinion."  "I have the facts right here," showing her my folder of documents. "I would like to discuss them with you." "May I have an appointment?"  "No, that won't be necessary," she said.  "But if someone can prove to me I was misled, I'll revisit the vote for this."  (HUH?  Didn't we just go through that? And didn't I just tell her I have the proof?)  "Councilwoman, you represent ME," I said.  "I would like to show you the proof that I have."  She then rolled her eyes and said, "Well, if this doesn't turn out the way we think, then maybe I'll look at it again," dismissing me at that moment. Goodbyes all around....end of conversation.

It's 4:00 a.m. right now.  I couldn't sleep.  I woke up at 3:00 and my mind went back to that exchange with the Councilwoman.  There was a bit more to it where I gave her three examples of lies that should be obvious to anyone.  She pretended to listen, but refused to acknowledge them.  I have a lot I could say about her personally, based on this and other conversations with her in the past, not to mention her votes on issues.  You don't want to hear (or read) what I personally think of her after this conversation.  It wouldn't be fit to print.  But I have to say, George Orwell should be very proud.  His worst predictions have arrived, right here and right now. 

CLOUDS OVER MAN-MADE GLOBAL WARMING

Lately it seems, candidates Perry, Romney, and others are slugging it out over who is a "Man-made Global Warming" believer or not. Politico Reports And I'm glad to see it. I hope they have a huge verbal contest for months over who believes the lies the least. America will be so much the better off for that. If they kill the myth of AGW once and for all, we should all shout hallelujah and grab the nearest bottle of champagne.

AGW is already dead...it is the myth that lives. A really great report to read on this is here: 1000 International Scientists Dissent AGW

One of them is quoted below:
“Any reasonable scientific analysis must conclude the basic theory wrong!!” -- NASA Scientist Dr. Leonard Weinstein who worked 35 years at the NASA Langley Research Center and finished his career there as a Senior Research Scientist. Weinstein is presently a Senior Research Fellow at the National Institute of Aerospace.

The truth on this issue is finally out and AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming) is now known absolutely to be a scam and a fraud. Yes, some socialist environmentalists are all in a state of denial, clinging to the lie like it is their life-blood. Well..it is their life-blood, so no wonder. And that brings me to the larger problem.

While Al Gore and his UN cronies were busy indoctrinating the world, the U.S. government was busy implementing an entire system of "governance" based on the UN, IPCC, and Gore's lies. O.K. fine, but what does that have to do with you and your life today??

The U.S. government is a powerful money machine. And when laws don't do the dirty work that administrations want, then orders are given and the horizontal system known as federal agencies kick into gear with regulatory powers. Those agencies get busy handing out money for any states, counties, and cities who will do certain things. This is known as the reward system, or also Behavior Modification, in psychiatric circles. "Do what we want you to do and we will hand you money..or gold stars..or let you go to the dance. If you don't do what we want you to do, then Susie (or Jack) will get the money, the stars, and go to the dance."

Now we know that the actions demanded by horizontal agencies are control issues and have nothing to do with AGW. Their premise is blown. They truly can no longer use AGW as an excuse for their insane demands. It's a cloudy day for those environmentalists, non-profits, states, counties, cities, NGO's, and corporate opportunists who have been raking in buckets of money and merrily zipping along modifying everyone's behavior, making everyone poorer and life very uncomfortable for a lot of people. Billions of tax payer dollars have been spent on this lie already, with billions more proposed. Yet, the scam is up and most people know it... finally.

Trouble is, the agencies haven't gotten the memo. We know it, but they don't seem to know it or accept the truth. Not yet. Why would they? The truth doesn't support their actions. Non-profits are still profiting. NGO's are still using the AGW theory to make recommendations and authorizations. Corporations are still advertising their endorsements of "Sustainable Development" and donating money to non-profits in order to get tax deductions is return. The states, counties, and cities are still looking for the handouts, grants, and subsidies. The comprehensive "Vision" plans for these states, counties, and cities have all been written to get the money, gold stars, and the ticket to the dance. These "Vision" plans are ensconced into our entire government structure at this point. And all of them are based on pure evil fiction.

There is no reason to spend gas taxes on "Walkable Cities," greenways, bike lanes and trails, equestrian paths. There is no reason to demand draconian regulations on buildings. There is no reason for a state or federal agency to charge "mitigation" points for development. There is no reason to force people to cluster into "mixed use" neighborhoods or congested cities. There is no reason to take the land next to a creek away from a farmer. There is no reason to ban incandescent light bulbs and force CFL's on the public. There is no reason for RFID chips on recycling bins. There is no reason for "Smart Meters." There is no reason for regulating every industry into a "Climate Change" model of "Sustainable Development." No reason for insanely high café standards for vehicles. No reason for demanding CDL licensing for farm vehicles. No reason to hand out tax money to money grubbing entities who are in the game just for that purpose. No reason for any of it. The entire industry of money grubbing over Climate Change needs to go the same route as "Cap and Trade," and that is gone....outta here!

Today we are watching hurricane Irene come barreling towards the east coastline. Mother Nature is telling us who is in charge of the situation....and it is not us. Clouds have gathered over the lies of "AGW." With any kind of luck, Irene will blow the lies clear off the planet. It's time to dismantle the system of UN, AGW, IPCC schemes that have taken over our entire government structure. A storm can be a cleansing event.

We can do this from the bottom up. All local governments have to do is stop taking the money. All voters have to do is elect those who refuse to buy the lies. And as elections come and go, voters can keep up this process until all of this nonsensical theft of our money and liberties is reduced to the sorry annals of history, just like Stalinist Russia is now a lesson of what not to do to people.

It's a good day. The lies are finally discussed by major presidential candidates. One of them, we don't know yet which, will start the process of ridding the country of the bad weather created by the UN...once and for all. I'm almost ready for the hallelujahs and the champagne.

HORIZONTAL GOVERNANCE - THE KEY TO VOTER APATHY

A hundred years ago the structure of government in America was a vertical structure. Actually, from the founding and the Constitution, the structure of American government was vertical, i.e "of the people, for the people, by the people." Picture in your mind a pyramid, wide at the bottom representing the people and narrowing to the top where leadership exists. Each section from the bottom to the top of the pyramid is a representation of the voter's decisions to elect representatives. Each section rests on the massive will of the people at the bottom. The voter's were key to this pyramid, the base structure holding all of the rest of the sections securely. Without the base structure at the bottom, the top has nothing to keep it in place. Eliminate the base and there is no higher structure.

As we know from Egypt, pyramids are strong structures. They last a long time and the bases of them are meant to hold the higher levels. That is the essence of the vertical American representative government structure. The people hold the power to support representative leadership.

But let's say you like the power of leadership, but you don't like the people holding that vertical structure up. Let's say you and your friends want power, but you don't want to go through the efforts to convince the people to hold you up. You want the people's money, but you don't want their input into the decision making process. What do you do?

You figure out some way to do what you want without the base support of the people. If the people don't want what you are selling, they will tell you to go fly a kite. So the base of the pyramid is not your friend at this point. Then, you create a sideways avenue to get your way. You set up a horizontal path outside of the vertical arrangement. You use executive powers to mandate the creation of the horizontal path. You set up regulatory agencies filled with appointees who have no connection to the pyramid, but are in your ideological back pocket.

The poster child for this is sitting in the White House right now. Executive orders which turn power over to regulating agencies who are not elected by the people and are not accountable to the people, that is the hallmark of the current President. Not alone in this, many have done this before him.

Here is how it works: First you create, by executive order, unelected agencies to regulate activities of the people. You order these unelected agencies to implement your desires, whatever they may be. Then you turn to the one institution left in the hands of the people, congress (actually the House of Representatives), and you demand money for your desired agencies operating expenses. If they refuse, you call them names, smear them in the media, say the are stubborn obstacles to 'progress,' and generally throw a hissy fit. You create a propaganda machine to villify your opposition, be it the people or their representatives. You command the unelected agencies to continue on their march to obey your orders, in spite of the people's objections. You try to establish that your executive orders trump all else in the land.

Welcome to horizontal government. Sideways instead of vertical. So simple a caveman could understand it. So unconstitutional any American can understand the insults of it. Yet agencies of horizontal government have been set up at least since FDR. (Maybe before that, but I haven't researched it.) Each time a horizontal agency has been set up, the people have suffered the consequences. I could start naming them, but here are a few: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Fannie and Freddie, FDA, USDA, HUD, DOT, EPA, PCSD, NEA (both of them, education and arts) Obamacare, and now the WHRC (White House Rural Council by BHObama), and so many more. The creation of these agencies was not approved by the voting public. In fact, the creation was never on a referendum ballot for the public to approve or not. Granted, the people's representatives acquiesced to the executive branch in these matters. That in itself is a travesty of abuse of powers. But once created, no one seems to listen to the people's requests to eliminate the horizontal existence of these agencies. Beyond that, these agencies have so grossly usurped States rights, that the power of the people over their tax monies is now just a relic of the nostalgic past.

The executive branch was never to hold this kind of power. And the representative legislative branch was supposed to be the check and balance against that kind of power. Failing that, the judicial branch was supposed to hold back any assaults on the Constitution. But the executive branch figured out how to bribe the legislative branch. And the executive branch has the keys to Supreme Court appointees...with the approval of the legislative branch who is now being bribed by the executive branch. When it comes down to it, vertical government has been subverted by corruption at all levels at this juncture in time.

So, no wonder voters are skeptical, discouraged, and percentages of them tune out and don't show up. NO WONDER. What is the point if the game is rigged? We were not supposed to be in this position. We, the voters, were supposed to be the deciding base of that vertical pyramid. Now we, the voters, are stuck trying to figure out how to get rid of the horizontal governance that is replacing our vertical government, dropped like a spider's web all over us. The candidates we are seeking are the ones who will take that web of horizontal government off of us. Me, included.

Notes added:
1. On top of this, add voters who do not even understand the difference between democracy and a republic, the difference between vertical and horizontal governance, and the difference between the Constitution vs. Socialism. This allows the horizontal web to continue as voters who don't know these concepts are just voting for favortism from the agencies in the horizontal revenue stream. And then if they don't get that favortism, as the Black Caucus is yelling about this past week, they start screaming, "Foul." Those who follow this line of thinking are clueless and have no business voting in the first place.

2. If someone asks you to join an unelected bureaucratic board of governance, please tell them to stuff it somewhere unmentionable and that you do not believe in horizontal boards going around the will of the people. Please.


Into the weeds:
Example of a Regional Governing Board - RPO - High Country Council of Governments
Here is another one in the Southeastern portion of North Carolina
UK site on Federalism and variations
Wikipedia on Euro Mulit-level Governance
Here is a report on integrating horizontal policies to implement Sustainable Development

A PANDEMIC OF STUPIDITY - SMART GROWTH VISION PLANS

Time was when I used to love to drive over to Charlotte for shopping and events. This was 20 years ago when it was still easy to navigate the roads and streets, before congestion, when parking was easy and the commerce I sought was readily accessible. It was an enjoyable day or evening trip for the most part. Occasionally I would go to Spirit Square for an event or go to the first Friday art crawl with friends when Jonathan's restaurant was still there. I would run over to Providence Rd. for shopping and dining. I would go to the ASID Designer house event which raised money for the symphony. I would go to a favorite Dr. on East Blvd. upon the need. Gradually that all changed. Now I cringe when even thinking of going to Charlotte. What used to be a fun trip to the city is now a nightmare with odd traffic patterns, fighting traffic congestion, less available parking, and mob scenes in shopping malls. Everything is more difficult to access.

What changed?
Smart Growth is what happened. Growth is one thing. Smart Growth is quite another thing. Smart Growth is planned high density and traffic congestion....by design. The same Smart Growth disease that occurred in Charlotte has come to Gastonia and, sadly, most cities in America.

The Charlotte Vision Plan 2010 is nearly a carbon copy of the Gastonia Vision Plan and of every other plan in the country. Isn't that strange? How could individual cities and individual city councils and mayors in individual topographical locations somehow come up with the same template for their formerly unique cities???

Take a look at the "Overview" of the Charlotte Vision Plan:

To create a memorable Center City Charlotte, future development as well as funding initiatives and improvements will be guided by these principles:

Pedestrian: A Walkable City. Create comfortable and interesting neighborhoods at a human scale.

Mixed: Encourage growth that supports a mix of housing, retail, office and civic spaces, throughout neighborhoods, blocks, and even buildings.

Balanced: Each new initiative for Center City should be considered according to its impact on the larger picture. Memorable cities grow comprehensively.

Leveraged: Optimize each private and public investment through coordination and partnerships between government, neighborhoods, developers and businesses.

Varied: Offer a range of experiences to the community, including urban alternatives such as multi-family housing, mass transit, active parks and vehicle free living.

Designed: Discover the "architecture of Charlotte" that is unique and of the highest standard.

Now take a look at the Gastonia Vision Plan:

1. Make improvements to pedestrian paths and create safe,
walkable, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods.
2. Support the revitalization of declining neighborhoods.
3. Increased opportunities for homeownership for various housing
types.
4. Vibrant recreational centers, including walking trails, and
connections to area greenways.
5. Mixed-use transit oriented development centers combine retail,
services, and offices with medium-scale residences to fill the
transition from commercial uses to surrounding neighborhoods.
6. Promote regional cooperation to ensure development outside the
City’s municipal boundary is complementary.
7. Increased opportunities for mixed used high density residential
development with commercial business and health service centers.
8. Redevelopment of abandoned commercial and industrial sites.

Problems cited are:
1. Large lots and low density discourages walking and
bicycling.
2.Street networks tend to consist of two-lane roads
handling far more vehicles than they were designed
for funneling traffic onto major arterials, causing and
congestion on major streets.
3. Roads are designed for mobility of cars as opposed to
accessibility for all modes of transportation.
4. Streets with multiple lanes of traffic; often lack sidewalks.

It goes on to say:
"Therefore, it is essential that the City encourage smart growth and sustainable development principles, which will build from the City’s source of strength–structured around a historic and vibrant downtown, diverse residential neighborhoods, infill development within the Center City, and nodal development along the commercial and institutional spines of the City’s major corridors like Franklin Boulevard and US 321."

If you haven't been here lately, you should see the traffic congestion along Franklin Blvd. created by Smart Growth principles. Evidently there is no other plan but "Smart Growth." There is no development, but "Sustainable Development." The entire country has become a cookie cutter pattern designed by environmentalists who believe space belongs to wildlife and not to people. And there lies the rub. The planning is not for people. In fact it is anti-people planning. In fact, the planning is un-American. The planning has been forced on the U.S. through the U.N., through corrupt American politicians and a corrupt process called "regional governments" who are unelected bureaucrats demanding Smart Growth for bribes....oops, I mean government grants.

It doesn't have to be this way. Believe me. I have one little acre of property. There is wildlife all over my property. I have frogs, birds, bugs, trees, bushes, weeds and wildflowers. I have chipmunks and way too many squirrels. I have hickory nuts and acorns. We have lots of permeable land. I've grown cucumbers, tomatoes, and carrots. We have butterflies and dragonflies. We have occasional owls and hawks and bats. We have an occasional raccoon and rabbits and box turtles. We have occasional black snakes and, once in a while, a very unwelcome copperhead. I even have a walking trail all around the wooded backyard. My one acre lot is supporting a lot more wildlife than if you crammed a high rise apartment building on this one acre. There isn't anything going on here that thwarts wildlife. Maybe I should apply for a government grant for all the wildlife I support with my one little acre. What do you think??

I tell you all of that because neighborhoods with larger lots support more clean air, better water distribution, and "livability" that condensed, high density, congested, "Smart Growth" planned areas ruin. My quality of life on this one acre is environmentally sound for both my family and wildlife!

Smart Growth is just plain dumb. But worse than that, Smart Growth is corrupt politics. And sadly, it is now pervasive in our country in the way that the Asian Carp and Kudzu are pervasive. It is a pandemic of stupidity and political tyranny.

Cramming people into smaller and smaller areas is not good for the quality of life we all seek, that is assuming you actually want good quality of life for people and the surrounding wildlife. If you only care about a wild planet without people, then that's another thing. Maybe you should move to Mars.

Study Smart Growth and STOP IT NOW!

So here's another one from the little town of Davidson, NC

Davidson preserves its small town character and community assets in the face of explosive development pressure from nearby Charlotte. Adherence to smart growth principles and regional collaboration on industrial development projects are Davidson’s strategies for upholding its community’s high standards.

Read below, just so you know:
Cities Across the Country Under Smart Growth
Smart Growth Principles