I was talking about this or that here and a person said write a Diary about that. OK.
I want people to know what is possible. Things could work better, be better in this nation. Let me say this again, things could and should be better.
Oh follow me below the fold.
A few years ago my small rural town got a $750,000 grant from the Federal Government to put in a fiber optic backbone. We did it. We are now thinking of wiring the entire city for fiber and offering free wireless access.
In 2008 my town voted 57% for McCain (and this is Illinois) and 63% to raise our taxes to build a new $60M high school. Folks from all over the area want to come here. We have one very expensive private school near us. $18,500/year. We dominate them in academics and sports. I'd argue maybe one of the best schools in the nation. We are kind of proud about that.
PUBLIC SCHOOLS!
My town buys their power through a co-op of small towns. Last year they told us we needed to upgrade our powerlines.
I want to be very clear here.
If I would walk a few block in any direction at this very second we are upgrading almost every powerline in our town. Let me say that again, every powerline. Kind of the entire powergrid in my town. It can be done.
I don't want to be told we can't handle this or that. I am watching power lines go up daily that look like something out of Star Wars.
Now my favorite thing I will end with. When I first moved back here another time we voted to raise our taxes. We wanted to use the money to build parks. I can't walk in any direction for more than a few blocks and not stumble across a park. What a hippie liberal like myself might call a "green" area. We call parks.
Of all the above stuff my town of 8,000 people last year turned a surplus of $1.8M. We can do things here. We can do better.