Construction Maison

WASHINGTON D.C. (KUSI) — The battle over Confederate monuments is being waged in cities and communities across the nation. For many people, these monuments represent one of the darkest chapters in American history, but to others, they are a reminder of this nation's heritage. Overnight in Baltimore, a stark reminder that even that which is set in stone can be removed with enough force. Statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson were among four monuments hauled off into the night on a flatbed truck. Hours earlier in Birmingham, Alabama, crews put up plywood to obscure a 52- foot obelisk honoring Confederate soldiers and sailors. All this, just hours after President Trump posed this question:  "I noticed that Stonewall Jackson's coming down. I wonder is it George Washington next week and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?" For Baltimore's mayor, the answer was simple: ...

TOLLING THE TYCOONS — Albanese calls for 'politically popular' pied-à-terre tax, by POLITICO New York’s Conor Skelding : Foreign "oligarchs" who own real estate in New York but don't live in the city should have to pay two or three times what they pay now in property taxes, Democratic mayoral candidate Sal Albanese said Wednesday. The "politically popular" new tax's revenue, which Albanese said would amount to billions, could then be put toward the development of affordable housing . "Look, there's a lot of money across the world that people want to outsource," he said during a news conference outside the gates of City Hall. "There's a lot of money there, and we can use that to build real affordable housing ." Mayor Bill de Blasio promised years ago to "take a look" at a pied-à-terre tax, but the proposal is opposed by many of the city's real estate interests . "They own Bill de Blasio , big real estat...