Retrench

I am very sad to see Albuquerque Mayor Berry retrenching on the impact fees that were meant to slow sprawl in Albuquerque.  He says it is too expensive to develop on the west side compared to the rest of the city.  I think that was the whole point of impact fees.  These impact fees incentivize infill projects and keep costs of extending infrastructure down.  It may well be that some adjustments could be made on the formulas, but the basic equations are good ones.  If we want to save taxpayer dollars and natural resources, then getting rid of impact fees will do only one thing.  Enrich developers at taxpayer expense.

After the Wikileaks revelations the military/industrial complex and the Obama administration may need to retrench their explanations of the progress of the Afghanistan war.  That war went sour when bush invaded Iraq and everyone has been trying to sweeten it up ever since.  Including the Obama folks.  It is like that great Woody Allen movie where he and another soldier are the only survivors of a great battle.  The soldier says, "We Won!"  Allen responds, "What did we win?"

He has one of the greatest quotes ever.

"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work, I want to achieve it through not dying."  Woody Allen