Can the federal government save downtown USA?

Phoenix has a challenge shared by many cities in America—downtown blight. My home city in Florida has the same problem and millions of taxpayer dollars at various levels have gone into efforts to upgrade the district that used to be the heart and core of the city.

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Social Security Admin technically did nothing wrong with Arizona conference

A YouTube video courtesy of visitphoenix.com gives a travel overview of the city that is a popular golf destination.Thousands have read our story about the Social Security Administration Training Conference in Phoenix, Arizona at a top tier hotel. Many of those readers apparently work for SSA, judging by our IP number stats. When a number recurs, I look it up.

I’ve received emails and other bloggers’ posts on the topic have attracted commentary. Some defend the SSA; others deride the agency. I acknowledge the SSA did nothing wrong technically—the agency spent legally budgeted money on a legally accepted expense. Some point out the conference actually acted like the ‘Stimulus,’ helping the economy.

I didn’t agree with the officially issued ‘Stimulus,’ though and I’m not biting the benefits bait on the issue of the conference.

Another overlooked donkey in the room is the carbon footprint.

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