Missouri State Highway Dept vs. The KKK.

[Bluefront]

DDad pretty well summed it up. I remember broken promises from the highway dept going back much further, however. I'll never vote them another red cent, I'll drive on dirt and gravel before that happens.

As far as the "KKK" goes.....I followed that stupid little story because the stretch of highway that group wanted to clean, is close to my house. I drive by it almost every day. I sure wouldn't want to pick up trash there....it's a dangerous, fast piece of highway, with many intersections, cars speeding every direction. MODOT wasted a lot of taxpayers money preventing the group from cleaning up .....when MODOT finally gave in and put up the sign, somebody cut it down immediately. The story around here was MODOT was actually behing the sign's vandalism. That wouldn't surprise me at all. The KKK group refused to do any cleaning until they had their little sign, part of the deal. Well...the highway's still dirty. Nobody else volunteered....

 

[HombrePequeno]

ToBeMe, it never ceases to amaze me, how short is the memory of Missouri voters. This same Prop. has been passed over and over...countless times in the past. The highway dept always manages to waste the money, then comes back in a few years asking for more. The highways remain as bad as ever.

That sounds like around here. The voters here approved a levy for a bus building three times. All together they got around $900,000 for a building to park buses in. They bought a crappy old building that is worth nowhere near that.

 

[DDad]

I'm not against the Highway Dept, nor will I argue that we don't need work done. When I'll drive 40 miles out of my way to avoid a certain bridge (ToBeMe- the 19 bridge at Hermann) because I feel it's not safe should be a sign that I'm concerned about the roads. What I'm against, however is:

The Political cronyism rampant in the Highway Dept
The lack of accountability
The lack of oversite by the Auditors Office

I can think of a few examples in my area where projects were either delayed, made much more expensive, a complete waste of taxpayer moneys, or a frivolity. Now, some of that will not be avoided- after all, we're talking Govt, but no doubt there are some things that should be changed. I think we should look to the one Dept in Missouri that is a unqualified success (IMO)- The Dept of Conservation. It is:
Non Partisian - has equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats
Non Political (AFAIK, although there is a political element , no doubt)
Professionally run
Works within it's own budget (courtesy of the 1/8 c sales tax passed in 1978- every year it's a fight to keep the General Assembly away from that money)
Works to make sure that every Missouri resident can take advantage of its programs

 

[MaxDepth]

I always wondered why the called that state, "Misery," instead of Missouri.

I always thought it was because my ex lives there.



pppptrhthththhttp.





BTW, get over the political correctness you have there. If the KKK wants to clean the highway then let them. I don't think vandals are wrecking the signs. I'm thinking drunk college kids are wanting that sign for their dorm/frat bedrooms. And from ToBeMe's post, looks like you goobers are stuck with Prop. B.

Hope you have a job and enough cash to cover the tax.

 

[DDad]

FYI- we didn't get stuck with Prop B- It failed (by just the opposite numbers provided by ToBeMe 28% for, 72% against)

 

[rubenswm]

f*ckin KKK... :/

 

[Valinos]

Well at least you don't have the state gov spending $10 million on a 2 MILE stretch of highway in Townsend, going to Gatlinburg and the Great Smokey Mntn. Ntl. Park and just widening the road from 2 lanes to 4 lanes. And digging up an ancient Indian burial ground to boot(major outcry on that one, but it went ahead anyway). I know how you guys feel in Missouri...Tennessee is at least as bad if not worse than there..especially in the eastern part. We have small 40 yard stretches of highway that have been under construction for over 10 years in Knoxville. Not just one or two, but all the way down the road. It goes from 4 lanes to 2 lanes to 1 lane to 3 lanes to 2 lanes to 4 lanes to 1 lane, etc...And all the while, the highway "workers" sit under a shade tree, drink a beer, smoke a cigarette, and act like they're doing something important while betting on who can dig the deepest hole with the backhoe in under a day.

 

[Bluefront]

rubenswm.....wow, a doer of good deeds. He wants to clean up. I heard plenty of anti-KKK lip service while this incident was current, but not a single other group stepped forward to "adopt" that highway. Any other takers besides rubenswm? You'll get your name on a little sign, a bunch of trash bags, maybe an orange vest...course you'll be risking your life. Much easier to post a few curse words on ATOT.

 

[rubenswm]

Originally posted by: Bluefront
rubenswm.....wow, a doer of good deeds. He wants to clean up. I heard plenty of anti-KKK lip service while this incident was current, but not a single other group stepped forward to "adopt" that highway. Any other takers besides rubenswm? You'll get your name on a little sign, a bunch of trash bags, maybe an orange vest...course you'll be risking your life. Much easier to post a few curse words on ATOT.

Uh. i'm not quite following you here. I said f*ckin KKK in dissapointment over those dumbsh*ts. If youre accusing me of being a KKK supporter, f*ck off.

 

[ratkil]

I have only lived here two years, but at this point I am not real impressed with anything about how the government structure works in Missouri. There seems to be a whole lot of tax money being generated with not a lot getting done. I will admit the Zoo is impressive for being free and there are some real nice parks, but there has to be something sucking up a bunch of money with no results somewhere....... :-( btw vehicle property tax sucks!

 

[db]

The roads in MO are not good.
Example: west-bound 70 in front of Lambert Field (STL international) and continueing about 2 miles west of there--the ruts are so deep in some lanes that they had to cut downf the ridge between the ruts so it wouldn't scrape the underneth of cars. Funny/scary watching people with bad alignment or sloppy/worn suspensions trying to simply drive straight down the lane--their vehicles are all over the place. But there are roads everywhere in MO with ruts, where all the rain water runs into and you are hydro-planing instead of the water draining off to the side of the road. Anyone who has driven from Illinois thru St. Louis in the same rain storm will tell you that the roads are more slippery in MO.

 

[Bluefront]

rubenswm....Yeah, anyone's pretty dumb to use the name "KKK" for his little group. If you used some other name..."Concerned Taxpayers of South County" for instance, you could still have the same beliefs, do the same things, nobody would even pay attention. It was PC that led MODOT to waste a lot of money. I object to that.

That little group's intentions in this matter were unclear....but at least they offered to help clean the highway, that short section. It would be very easy for some anti-KKK group to offer to clean that same section of highway....afterall it's now named "Rosa Parks highway".

As far as I'm concerned Atilla the Hun could help clean up there....wouldn't bother me a bit. What's the big deal about some anti-politically correct group picking up trash? Again..do you want to do it? Feel free.....

 

[Tominator]

Planned Parnthood was started by a Nazi for the purpose of giving miniorities cheap abortions so they would not profilerate. I see little difference between them and the KKK.

As for 'wasteing money.'

If you can't find any in the St. Louis County system you are blind and dumb! They are odvious and have been a source of contention for years. The problem is state wide.

Revisit the closing down of I70 a couple years ago. The laws are race based now. State laws prevent non-union participation in bidding and require a minimum number of union employees on site regardless of the work load. Employees of the Labor Unions are eligible for up to 6 continous months of unemployment at 95% of the base pay!

In Illinois one of those highway workers proping up that shovel costs the taxpayer over $47 an hour in wages and conpensation.

Waste? LOL! Quality is job none!

Infracture does cost money but with unfair labor practices and zero incentive for a quality and lasting results we see once again the failings of government. Throw in the Missouri State Police and the fact it is a political machine with an agenda and the Voters know it and NO Prop A!

Score one for the good guys!

 

[Ultima]

Originally posted by: Tominator
Planned Parnthood was started by a Nazi for the purpose of giving miniorities cheap abortions so they would not profilerate. I see little difference between them and the KKK.

Good. Haven't you seen what's happened to India and China when you let birth rates get out of control? We get enough boost from our birthrates and from immigrants. What use is your car if there's so many people that the only way to get around is mass transit? (Most Asian, some European and South American cities). What use if there's so many people that you have to live in an apartment? (Again, same story with the other continents). We don't need more people, I enjoy our free space (which both Canada and US has an abundance of). I enjoy living only 10-15 miles away from the downtown of a major city (Montreal, 3.3m) and less than 5 miles away from the countryside, and being able to drive anywhere most of the time without hitting congestion. Don't you?

 

[montanafan]

Valinos, are you talking about the stretch of road from Townsend to Cades Cove? If you are, that is one teeth-rattling section of road that really needs some work. I don't know anything about the financing of it since I'm not from TN, but you have to admit that's one of the most visited spots in the area and helps to bring in beaucoup bucks for the region's businesses and therefore tax base.