Colorado Springs, the little city that brought us Ted Haggard and the Tea Party movement is about to move into its final phase of wingnutty-dom:
Turning itself into a Third World dump.
Yes -- they set out to build a paradise in Colorado Springs. A mega-church on every corner. No taxes. A tea bag in every pot.
And this is what they made:
More than a third of the streetlights in Colorado Springs will go dark Monday. The police helicopters are for sale on the Internet. The city is dumping firefighting jobs, a vice team, burglary investigators, beat cops — dozens of police and fire positions will go unfilled.
The parks department removed trash cans last week, replacing them with signs urging users to pack out their own litter.
Neighbors are encouraged to bring their own lawn mowers to local green spaces, because parks workers will mow them only once every two weeks. If that. Water cutbacks mean most parks will be dead, brown turf by July; the flower and fertilizer budget is zero.
The article goes on:
Colorado Springs is slashing its budget for public safety, essential services, transportation and parks and recreation. Community centers and public pools will be closed.
Land-use planning? Gone. Zoning? Who cares! Building inspection ... They don't need that!
A Grover Norquist/Club for Growth success story in action.