"... in San Francisco that stood in the path of a $1.045-billion highway-renovation project that was partially funded by the economic stimulus legislation President Barack Obama signed in 2009."
Obama? Clearly, it's bush's fault!
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That was, officially, the easiest joke in the entire 8.5 year history of this blog.
Funny because it's true.
I thought the easiest joke was - "I voted for Obama because he was pragmatic".
:(
I was going to use that joke on Twitter tonight, but now it will be joke stealing.
Arh arh arh.
Can I ask a question on what is seemingly an Obama/financial thread?
Why did the Obamas take a $47k deduction for mortgage interest on their 2011 return? Furthermore, why did they take a $172k deduction for charitable donations? This reduced their taxable income by $219k. There was no reason that they had to do so. Lefties, please explain.
This stuff is only possible when people are spending other people's money who they don't respect.
Yep, more government is what we need.
Could you even imagine doing something so stupid with your own money?
Remember: IT IS YOUR MONEY!
Rialby, to fund the clothes allowance.
Why did the Obamas take a $47k deduction for mortgage interest on their 2011 return?
Are you asking why people follow the law?
Re: the not-burning bush: This seems like a waste of money to me.
This means a law is either written poorly, or interpreted badly.
I'm surprised that a single trampling of this bush could kill it -- which is the reason its location is kept secret. Clearly, not a plant that was designed to survive.
Do people really flock to locations to see particular plants in the wild, as suggested in the article? I have two relatives who work with plants, and can't imagine them doing that. You rush to see the plant...doing...exactly...nothing.
When people spend other people's money, (taxpayer money) they just aren't as careful about getting value for the money spent. Democrats believe in more government and Republicans believe in less government.
I read elsewhere that had they trimmed the bush first, they could have moved it for a lot less money.
your plant is a subspecies of an endemic species commonly known as:
Hooker's manzanita
Let a new round of jokes begin
"Are you asking why people follow the law?"
The law does not require anybody to take any deduction. In fact, the most altruistic thing to do (from a Leftist's POV) is to maximize income and take no deductions. I believe our VP said that was our patriotic duty, no?
In a sane world, this story would render you speechless. But since we live in GinormousGovernmentWorld which is not a sane world, we just shrug our shoulders
"Hooker's manzanita"
Your bringing back bad memories of that long weekend in TJ.
"Like a Sunday in T.J.
That it's cheap but it's not free
That I'm not what I used to be
And that love's not a game for three"
This is the new government-centered ecosystem.
We're creating a nation of bushes that don't know to not grow near a freeway.
that's the dirtiest metaphor i've heard for nancy pelosi yet.
i'll show myself out now.
The components listed to arrive at the total of $205,075 do not include the cost of the studies and reports, meetings, etc., etc.,
would easily double the amount, and a couple of times over with honest accounting including the building costs, etc, due to having all these useless people on hand to start with.
When people spend other people's money, (taxpayer money) they just aren't as careful about getting value for the money spent. Democrats believe in more government and Republicans believe in less government.
I really don't think that Democrats value the government simply for government's sake. That's a right wing meme which really just misrepresents both themselves and Democrats.
4/13/12 12:55 PM
My very favorite part of this story:
... $25,605 to cover the “reporting requirements” for the decade ...
Only a bureaucrat could think up and price that one.
But does anyone miss the bush yet?
It's a nice gesture to protect and nurture a Bush trying to survive in San Francisco. I hear they have done the same for a Dugger-esque family found in the Castro.
MadisonMan said...
Do people really flock to locations to see particular plants in the wild, as suggested in the article?
Yup. I once visited one of the biggest Baobab trees in Africa- hundreds of people had carved their initials in it. Somebody vandalized one of the oldest trees in Massachusetts shortly after it was shown on the news. The suspected oldest bristlecone pine lives in California, but only a few people know where it's located so people won't mess with it. People suck...
Contrarian,
The Obama administration most certainly do count government employment, Federal, State, and local, as "creating jobs."
Obama? Clearly, it's bush's fault!
I hope you're proud of yourself.
""The government spent at least $205,075 in 2010 to 'translocate' a single bush...""
Waht did you expect? That bush was shovel-ready.
"I read elsewhere that had they trimmed the bush first, they could have moved it for a lot less money"
HEY NOW.
No expense can be spared for Mother Gaia! Oh well, we have plenty of money. :)
It's the Yellowstone strategery: hide Nature from the rubes, or they will destroy it. But if a tree falls in a forest, and no one hears...
This is just the kind of thing that gets Peter (ronrailsironweights) really pissed off.
~~~~
Tell me this is far fetched in a modern liberal utopia:
Having "reporting requirements" to document, to the government, the number, kind and condition of native and non-native plants on your property. You know it's coming. Probably has for certain land owners. Eventually your window box will need a form sent in, including an explanation for why it did not get watered, the SS# of the attendant, and where you intend to dispose of it after you get approval to do so.
Were these forsythia bushes? I've got like ten forsythia bushes on my prop'ty. They give you about ten minutes of yellow every year and then they're just pain in the arse monster growers that have to be trimmed every ten days. I'd gladly pay to have them pulled out by the roots but 200K is a bit steep.
"I really don't think that Democrats value the government simply for government's sake."
It is an ends to a means, but by and large, the most inefficient end to the mean, if you know what I mean.
Did Pete bemoan the trimming of bushes again? Too rich.
This really puts those $600 toilet seats to shame.
I am going to be different here and say that this was actually kinda' neat. I know it seems like a lot of money , but they believe it to be the last wild bush of this kind. As Madman has already pointed out, people do go see exotic trees, and plants. What of this had been the last redwood tree, or not to be facetious, marijuana plant?
Do I wish it could have been cheaper? Sure, but the thing is unique in the world and worth saving. Hey, they would have just stopped the construction permanently if it had been a yellow bellied sneaky snake. How much money would that have wasted?
I have always pulled for Don Quixote when he was jousting those windmills, just look at my avatar,
An article in the WSJ this week said the Obama administration has mandated that 7% of any company working for the Federal government has to have disabled workers. If they don't have that amount, they need to have paperwork that shows why they don't have it. And for every disabled person they didn't hire they have to have a case history explaining why they didn't hire the disabled person. I would suppose that this kind of legislation creates jobs in which paperwork is created, and on the other side verified. Depression counts as a disability, and I'm sure this kind of legislation depresses not just the economy but all kinds of people, too, which in turn in a sense spurs the economy on to become more and more disabled, and thus, more acceptable to the Obama Administration.
Somebody needs a lesson in economic opportunity costs.
The $200k spent for this project could have provided thousands of vaccinations for children who would not otherwise get them, or perhaps full scholarships at a public university for a few deserving students.
In theory public spending is controlled by a democratic process, but it is to the advantage of bureaucrats and special interests to defeat public oversight.
MadisonMan said...
Why did the Obamas take a $47k deduction for mortgage interest on their 2011 return?
Are you asking why people follow the law?
No. Rialby is asking why, if Obama et al think that "the rich" should be paying more in taxes, is Obama taking deductions on his taxable income?
If he should be paying more, why reduce the amount he'll pay taxes on. Just pay the taxes on the gross amount.
Carnifex,
What if this had been the last redwood tree, or not to be facetious, marijuana plant?
The last wild marijuana plant? That's probably long gone; in its place are cultivars with names that so totally suggest that they are going to be used only to allay the pain of terminal cancer patients.
garage's dreamboat Dave Obey "So what!":
Digging up and replanting is inexpensive. "Translocation" is pricey. I'm glad it went according to plan. Helluva plan.
MadisonMan,
[to Rialby:] Are you asking why people follow the law?
I think Rialby is asking why an undoubted member of the 1%, who is adamant that the 1% just don't pay enough in taxes, is taking deductions that he is certainly legally entitled to, but need not use. Doesn't he think he should be paying more taxes? Or will he only do that if he gets to make all the other millionaires do it too?
The Onion is running the country as a joke.
What worries me is that Meade may become a Democrat when he sees this article.
We call that Crony Landscaping.
Yes, that's exactly what I meant and Madisonman knows it. Oh, and it gets worse. Apparently Mr and Mrs Obama are gifting their children money for their college educations as a way to shelter that money from taxes.
Why?
AKA "tragedy of the commons".
This reminds me of a wetlands issue on my farm a few years back.
We had a small marsh in the center of the property that was used by migrating Geese.
I didn't want to destroy it, I'm very fond of Geese. But I knew what would happen to our farm if the EnviroNazi's and State Bureaucrats got involved.
So, no more wetland for the poor Geese. Sorry guys, but it was self-defense.
So, no more wetland for the poor Geese. Sorry guys, but it was self-defense.
Did you get up close with a baseball bat to take it out, keeping the pistol as a backup?
Reader's Digest version:
The government spent at least $205,075 in 2010 to “translocate” a single bush in San Francisco that stood in the path of a highway-renovation project
The bush—a Franciscan manzanita—was a specimen of a commercially cultivated species of shrub that can be purchased from nurseries for as little as $15.98 per plant. The particular plant in question, however, was discovered in the midst of the City of San Francisco, in the median strip of a highway, and was deemed to be the last example of the species in the “wild.”
Prior to the discovery of this “wild” Franciscan manzanita, the plant had been considered extinct for as long as 62 years--extinct, that is, outside of people’s yards and botanical gardens.
Before that, the bush had grown in the “wild” in two cemeteries in San Francisco’s Richmond District as well as on Mount Davidson, a peak in the middle of San Francisco. The Department of Interior said that there had also been “unconfirmed sightings” of the shrub in the city’s Haight-Ashbury District
The plant is now protected by a fence and its location is kept secret
Had the plant been moved to a botanical garden it would have remained “extinct in the wild.”
According to the MOA “Such translocation would essentially render the plant extinct in the wild (once again)
The plant is still considered wild according to the 2011 Federal Register entry because it has been moved to an undeveloped area of the Presidio and “is not receiving the level of protection, water, and nutrients that plants in a botanical garden may receive.”
Actually, the real joke is that, of all the Stimulus projects past which The Blonde and I drove, I can't recall one where anybody was actually working, much less there.
And all I've ever seen come of them is 2 stupid roundabout replacing traffic lights that were a Hell of a lot safer.
Ann Althouse said...
That was, officially, the easiest joke in the entire 8.5 year history of this blog.
When God hands you the material, Madame, you don't question, you just go with it.
@Fen
Seven Retards will show up and accuse you of committing a crime.
In all seriousness, never admit do doing that sort of thing on the internet. We know you were joking, but the EPA, and enviro-nazi's will see it and make you restore it, and fine you thousands of dollars for every day that you don't. So just be glad we all know you were joking.(wink, wink)
Carnifex said...
@Fen
Seven Retards will show up and accuse you of committing a crime.
In all seriousness, never admit do doing that sort of thing on the internet. We know you were joking, but the EPA, and enviro-nazi's will see it and make you restore it, and fine you thousands of dollars for every day that you don't. So just be glad we all know you were joking.(wink, wink)
4/13/12 3:09 PM
_____________________________
Yep! I was going to post a similar story but thought better of it.
Just kidding Mr. EPA!
I once read a book decades ago about plants going extinct, but it concerned more about how the symbiosis of plants and animals work, how plants migrate, and reproduce. Very heady stuff for a teenager, but the one that stuck in my head was this tree that grows these long pods with large black seeds in tthem. Don't ask me the name it was over 40 years ago.
Anyway, this tree, while ubiquitous throughout the southeast is going extinct because of wooly mammoths. Wooly mammoths were, and are the only animal that would eat this seed pod. The seeds would reside in the mammoth gut for a day or 2, and then be deposited in a new location with a fresh helping of fertilizer for the new tree.
Because there are no more wooly mammoths around to distribute the seeds, the trees can only use gravity, and erosion to migrate now. A hit or miss proposition at best. So the groves of these trees are slowly moving down hill and mountain side. In fact, they have bottomed out, and are almost all found in valleys now. Eventually, there will be no where else for this tree to grow, and it will pass from this Earth. A sad cautionary tale for those who can gear it.
@Carnifex - This bush is not going extinct. You can buy as many as you want at the local garden center for $16 a pop.
Well, this quarter of a million could have been better spent by the govt. With that amount of money they easily could have provided a few hundred free condoms to the women who cannot afford birth control.
Might Meade know what was so important about it?
That it was "in the wild" seems pretty stupid, but if it's a case of all the "domestic" ones are clones of the same plant, an unrelated plant of the same species may be important.
Maybe not important enough for the cost of it, but at least not mind-blowingly retarded.
Well, Obama spent nearly $1 billion in his campaign to relocate the last Bush so maybe he is getting more frugal as time goes along?
"That it was "in the wild" seems pretty stupid, but if it's a case of all the "domestic" ones are clones of the same plant, an unrelated plant of the same species may be important."
Agreed, but then it would seem the best thing to do would be to transplant it in a normal (and much less expensive) manner. Dig it up, break it up into several smaller plants and transplant them in a favorable spot. Bet it could have been done for $500.
They're treating it like a religous relic.
Has anyone asked Sandra Fluke what she thinks about this? She can't know any less about trees than she does birth control and that didn't stop her from getting to testify before Congress.
Or is she only an expert on rubber trees?
OK, I will stop now.
Patrick said...
"Funny because it's true".
@Michael
Never said it was going extinct, I just think it's a sadder world where all the tigers in it exist in cages.
The same could be said of people. "People can't exist without the security blanket the government provides from cradle to grave". That, as a philosophy, offends me.
oops
Sorry misread..Original Mike not Michael
apologies to all.
Some gardener a long time ago threw the damned thing there off the back of his truck after replanting some uppity garden where it was also not wild.
It's bullshit. I wanna see the birth certificate of this so called "wild" bush.
Man, I guess those California bureaucrats and politicians are losing their touch. Now, ordinarily, in robust grifter states, when a bush, tree, what-the-flip-ever, stands in the way of a highway development ... well, every politicians and senior bureaucrat within shouting distance buys up all the land around said highway development ... then sells it to the State & Feds for about 5 or more times the purchase price ... so the State & Feds can build around the protected thingy.
You never wonder why out in the midst of no where the freeway you're on is serpentine for no apparent reason? Hell, in my state we've even got bridges for freeways that do not connect any pavement on either side ... big sneaky gains made on those by-passes you can bet your last auntie.
Couldn't they just call in a Brazilian?
But the REAL problem is that there's not enough money going to Government.
Yea thats the Ticket!
And they wonder how we all got wise to the scam they are running on our tax dollars to benefit Unions and themselves at the rest of our expense.
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