<div>Tom et. al.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>These proposed "tax exempt free enterprise zones" reminds me that I discovered that Houston, Texas has no zoning laws, unless there has been a change recently. A different subject, I know, but related to the principle of promoting less government regulation of business. Here are two web links to info on Houston that mention the absence of zoning laws:
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<div> </div>
<div><a href="http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_n9_v25/ai_15143280">http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_n9_v25/ai_15143280</a><br><br><a href="http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761553195/Houston.html">
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761553195/Houston.html</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>With my cynical absurdist realist (what is this?) mindset in gear, consider the following suggestions:</div>
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<div>With the apparent lack of enforcement of Moscow's zoning codes, why not abandon them? So what if downtown turns into a Trinitarian Village dominated by NSA? We could look at it like some big cities look at "Chinatown," a place for tourists to gawk and shop surrounded by the different life of another culture. We could advertise this as a draw for the tourist industry. Moscow needs some sort of new economic model, don't you think? The sprawl malls spreading on the outskirts far away from Moscow's city center will soon dominate economic activity anyway, unless big money/big corporate power can be fought.
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<div> </div>
<div>Don't get me wrong. I'm not a proponent of fundamentalist religion, in case you haven't noticed, and I'm on the fringe of opinion on growth, insofar as I am tend to favor zero growth, or very slow environmentally (i. e. not dependent on increasing fossil fuel consumption) friendly highly managed growth, but the writing is on the wall.
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<div> </div>
<div>Big corporate power can push little Moscow, Idaho around with ease. And though Moscow has a core of progressive environmentally minded people who wish to see capitalism and growth regulated to protect the quality and values of small town life, this group faces serious local opposition.
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<div> </div>
<div>The growth in population will fuel an increasing mentality that does not even know about or care about what is being lost, when people with money move to the Palouse from much much bigger uglier cities, who will think that the older locals who complain about too much unmanaged or ugly development compromising the quality of life, are so quaint.
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<div> </div>
<div>Money talks and bullshit walks!</div>
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<div>I trust this little somewhat tongue in cheek spiel is understood not as advocacy of these possibilities, but rather as a hard cold look at the reality of the powers that be in the world we live in, and how they might overwhelm our area.
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<div> </div>
<div>Now, I'm retreating to my flame proof bomb shelter... </div>
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<div>I don't think what I just wrote will be the most popular post of the week.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>Ted Moffett</div>
<div> </div>
<div><span class="gmail_quote">On 1/8/06, <b class="gmail_sendername">Tom Hansen</b> <<a href="mailto:thansen@moscow.com">thansen@moscow.com</a>> wrote:</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">
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<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">From today's (January 8, 2006) Spokesman Review </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"One of his ideas is to establish tax exempt free-enterprise zones in the state. The 1,280-acre zones, theoretically located in Bannock, Elmore, Canyon and Nez Perce counties, would be exempt from federal and state income taxes for seven years."
</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Good-bye, tax base.</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
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<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Adamson challenges Otter </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Governor hopeful says his ideas 'would really shock the state'</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Associated Press</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">January 8, 2006</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">CHUBBUCK, Idaho A Chubbuck businessman who ran for Congress twice in the 1980s is challenging Republican U.S. Rep. Butch Otter to be the next governor of Idaho.
</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Dan Adamson announced Friday that he'll be seeking the Republican nomination for governor, the Idaho State Journal newspaper in Pocatello reported.
</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Adamson, who contends the state needs more visionary thinkers, offered a few of his own, such as shipping Idaho inmates overseas and creating four tax-exempt business zones.
</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"We're talking about some things that would really shock the state," he said at a news conference. "My ideas that aren't possible are really quite doable."
</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Otter is considered the frontrunner for the GOP nomination, but Adamson said he isn't intimidated.</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"Butch is a nice guy ... but he hasn't had an original thought since he made the decision to marry Gay" Simplot, he said. "Butch Otter has never had runaway election results, ever."
</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">As for the financial aspects of his challenge, Adamson said he will raise campaign money through his Web site, <a onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)" target="_blank" href="http://www.myidahorocks.com/">
www.myidahorocks.com</a>.</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Adamson, a native Idahoan and graduate of the Brigham Young University Law School, is the CEO of Northwest Bec-Corp., a company that manages nursing homes in Idaho, California and Oregon. According to his Web site, Adamson has also owned two law firms and several agribusiness corporations.
</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">With his "Idaho for Idahoans" campaign, he said he wants to take advantage of outsourcing to spur Idaho's economy and raise money for education.
</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">One of his ideas is to establish tax exempt free-enterprise zones in the state. The 1,280-acre zones, theoretically located in Bannock, Elmore, Canyon and Nez Perce counties, would be exempt from federal and state income taxes for seven years.
</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">"It's being done all over the world as jobs are being taken from the U.S.," Adamson said. "In my mind, it will not be long when there are many, many, many economic free-enterprise zones established in this country."
</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Adamson said he can also save the state about $50 million by shipping Idaho's growing inmate population overseas and leasing space in Idaho prisons to house federal inmates.
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<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Now, there's a scary thought: commercial tax-free zones (no state or federal taxes).</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Take care, Moscow.</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"> </span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Tom Hansen</span></font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Moscow</span></font><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">, Idaho</span></font><font face="Arial" size="2">
<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"></span></font></p>
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<p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt">"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, a drink in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WOO HOO. What a ride!'"
</span></font></p>
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