UPDATED with new "conservo-math": Suburban City Budgets: Having your cake and eating it, too - The kind of math that brought us here

Recent night table reading material: Get out the red pen and highlighter...

The local conservative-for-hire blogger regularly carries water for one particular city alderman. As per routine, he dutifully reprints this particular alderman's letter to constituents asking for support of a (surprise!) property tax freeze even as our community faces numerous shortfalls and staff cuts, and unfilled public safety positions in the police and fire departments.

This particular alderman is (surprise!) up for re-election soon; who can blame an unabashed conservative for banging on the tax freeze drum?

The blogger's somewhat wishful distillation, however, is priceless:

"I wholeheartedly support [alderman] Olson and the idea of a property tax freeze that will restore unfilled police and firefighter public safety positions in the 2010 City of Franklin budget."

I think I can safely assume the blogger wasn't trying to be arch or ironic.

11/17/09 UPDATE: New post with additional conservo-math...

"Adopt a Scott Walker-like budget that prioritizes police and fire protection but also protects the taxpayer by a 0% property tax levy increase.

"If anyone doesn’t think that’s a great idea, they haven’t paid attention to the past two rallies that brought out a couple thousand supporters of Walker at the Italian Community Center."

... And some bonus schoolyard taunts aimed at a commenter as well.

As years of sprawl development practices come home to roost, some people still cling to the magic of "addition by subtraction."

Particularly when an election is close ....

[City of Franklin proposed budget HERE. Public hearing on the proposed budget is scheduled for Tuesday evening, 6:30pm at City Hall.]