People earn it in Columbia, corrupt government takes it

Columbia has a chance to be the shining city on a hill.
But are the people letting the glory be stolen by the corrupt. 

Government produces tax bills and regulations. You build it, not them.

There are large amounts of consuming traffic your money draws when it's spent on public projects.

It has the elite class in the “Famously Hot” city talking.

“Is Columbia about to explode? I mean really, really explode economically, socially and culturally,” asks Warren Bolton, an associate editor, and top-shelf columnist for The State newspaper.

There is an excited pitch in Columbia related to an eruption activity. But that excitement is tempered with the undercurrent of corruption, connected to public officials.

A mayor's new field of dreams baseball stadium and $58 million a year in a government sales tax are identifiers of Columbia and Richland County.

Bolton said Sunday, Columbia is the subject of “mammoth public investment projects”... “as well as the steady drum beat of announcements for new hotels, apartments and student housing as well as restaurants.”

There are many fine American American cities. From Chicago to New York and Los Angeles to Atlanta, the metropolis has an excitement about it that is undeniable. But those cities have also attracted far too many parasites, frauds and crooks to political office.

Sadly, government bo-garters will take the attraction that is rooted in the people, and usurp the credit and attention for themselves.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in Columbia.

Columbia has USC, Ft. Jackson and the Statehouse. All of these entities receive large sources of revenue from the government. That “government” money comes from the paychecks of producers.

The contributors, by definition are not criminals, lethargic or dim-witted. But what about politicians?

While the people, from Steve Spurrier to Bill Kennedy (Nephron) use their talent, experience and hard work to build largess, far-less accomplished, and more dubious politicians take the credit for the wealth the people produce.

Columbia has a mayor who has been accused of taking a payout, cavorting with dance hall tarts and wielding influence. Richland County's sheriff just lost a $1.6 million court verdict, and the number of murder reports from the city and the county seem to increase daily, in more sections. The crime reports are more and more outrageous. The one thing residents value most, is security, and Columbia is not safe anymore. But judges go light on the guilty and rules become more difficult for the innocent.

Still, the projects, and government money, keep flowing.

While a productive, strong and functional population is a beautiful thing, selfish, egotistical, arrogant and out-of-touch politicians are as equally ugly.

Remember, the people build it. Do not let politicians take it for their own aggrandizement.

Now is the time to stand up and refuse to become another Detroit, Chicago or Atlanta.

The opportunity is ripe to grow with character. You are paying for it. Don't let them take it.