To Cut or Not to Cut
Dear Financial Managers:
Not that citizens have any say in what's going to happen, but we can still
comment on it. Who do you trust? Are the Councilmembers basing the tax cut on reliable
information and economic theories? Are the Chief Financial Officer's figures any more
believable than the Councilmembers'? The Mayor made a handshake deal with the Council on
the tax cut plan, then reneged and denounced the plan as grotesque. Can his political word
be trusted? Is Alice Rivlin really dictating the Mayor's and Control Board's positions
unilaterally, or can she be trusted when she says she had no hand in scuttling the
agreement? What do you know, and what do you think? What does this controversy say about a
new and improved Mayor, City Council, and Control Board?
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Tax Cut Now! I'll Keep My Share
Victor Chudowsky, vchudows@meridian.org
Reading about DC's tax cut controversy, I don't know whether to laugh or
cry. It is as if the 1980s and 1990s never happened, that we still believe a group of the
best and brightest administrators armed with well funded programs can lift DC out of the
bureaucratic sewer it is still sitting in. All of you who oppose tax cuts should go to a
few seminars at the Democratic Leadership Council and learn about trends in governing over
the past twenty years. But no, not in DC, where the biggest industry is government. Keep
my share! I'm guilty about my opera tickets! Rich people might get more from tax cuts!
Contrary to common sense, it seems patriotic to continue to feed the ravenous maw of DC
government, giving more money to the very people who contributed to the sad state of
affairs, particularly in the police department and schools. What a disappointment Tony
Williams is; the bean counter characterization is correct. Having never worked outside of
government, his universe continues to be defined by budgets, management, and other
concerns more fitting a professor of public administration rather than a leader of a place
that people, REAL PEOPLE, have moved away from in droves.
We can afford tax cuts, and I'll show you how. We can start by attacking
numerous fairly useless government entities created for the sake of patronage, or which
are now an anachronism. NARPAC always has good ideas on how to save money, but here are
mine. Can anyone on this list give me two, or even one reason why we need the following:
1) ANCs: Got a problem? Like people in every other US city, write or call your
councilperson. That is what they are there for. As the City Paper recently reported, most
ANCs are ineffectual, corrupt, and largely a waste of time. 2) Mayor's Golden
Washingtonian Club huh? 3) DC Sports Commission, Armory Board, RFK ticket office
privatize. 4) Commission on Arts & Humanities yeah I go to their
concerts on July 4th and other times, but this can be taken over by a nonprofit. 5) Boxing
and Wrestling Commission quick, when was the last time you saw a boxing match that
did not take place in an Adams Morgan alley? 6) Cooperative Extension Service 4H
Program? Master Gardeners? Urban Horticulture? Ma'am, my pit bull gets sick from
eating the azaleas and I don't know what to do! Please send help!" 7) DC Credit Union
I am hoping that this is self-sufficient and can be spun off, like most other
government or private credit unions. 8) UDC Law School Ask Dr. Timmons how many
graduates pass the bar exam. Motto: DC Starved for Lawyers! 9) Mayor's
Office Plethora of Identity Politics and Ethnic Patronage Office on Aging, Asian
and Pacific Islander Affairs, Chinatown Information and Referral Center, Advisor for
Cultural Affairs, Office of Latino Affairs, Religious Affairs, Commission on Women. 10)
Optometry Board, Barber Board, Pharmacy Board, Physical Therapy Board, Plumbing
Board, Podiatry Board. Most of these professions have associations which can regulate
themselves, except plumbers. 11) Office of Cable TV Because I still don't get
channel 4!
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Let me see if I have this straight: The citizens of DC are willing to
fight to PREVENT our taxes from being CUT. We willingly elect politicians on the premise
of: Read my lips, I will not CUT your taxes. Although we pay the fourth
highest personal income tax rate in the entire US, DC taxpayers would much rather see
INCREASED tax expenditures for: (1) a police department that still has not figured out how
to get no more than a third of it's force out to patrol our neighborhoods, even after
hiring and promoting millions of dollars worth of new managers; (2) a public
school system, costing more than half billion dollars, ANNUALLY, that has rarely
demonstrated the ability to spend dollars effectively and efficiently; (3) a multimillion
dollar social services system that has been inundated with multiple court orders,
lawsuits, injunctions, and receivers; (4) and a DPW that contracts
out millions of tax dollars to non-DC-based vendors/consultants who produce only
marginal results, at best. Before putting all this together, my wife and I were really
excited about the prospect of having a few more dollars to purchase goods and services for
our family. Silly, misguided us! After reading anti-tax cut arguments, we now understand
that the existing conditions in our east of the river neighborhood and schools,
undoubtedly, demonstrate that our government is much better qualified than us, at deciding
how those few extra dollars should be spent. Come in here, Sculley, you've gotta see
this!
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Declaring War With the City Council
Ed T. Barron, edtb@aol.com
Does the mayor think that by embarrassing the City Council he will help to
move the city forward? If we are ever to regain self government in this city
we need a unified team with the mayor and city council working together. By characterizing
the Council's well intended proposal to reduce taxes grotesque, the mayor has
clearly taken a very offensive position and declared war with the Council. This is
probably one of the best City Councils we've had in years. There are some very smart and
hard working people on that council. It's too bad the mayor has chosen, once again, to be
a lone wolf in his quest to save the District. How much more could be done if
the mayor would openly and sincerely negotiate a reasonable tax cut package for the
District. How much more could be done if the Mayor would work with the Council to
establish a real plan and timetable for reducing the inflated costs of running the
District Government. Perhaps a tax cut package with a major reduction in the regressive
sales tax could be developed which would produce major benefits to the lowest income
residents and to the businesses in the District. That would require some negotiation on
the part of the mayor. Consideration and compromise are not the mayor's long suits.
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Notes from a DC Tax Refugee
John Whiteside, jw65@earthlink.net
The discussion on taxes is interesting. Ignoring for a moment whether the
time is right for a tax cut, think about this question: why does the DC government need a
9.5% marginal tax rate, kicking in at the absurdly low income level of $20,000, to
function? I ask this as someone who spent many years in Massachusetts, aka Taxachusetts,
where for the high tax rate of 5% we were lavished with government services.
Look at what DC spends and what DC does and clearly, things are very wrong.
Also, a correction: I loathe Jim Gilmore and I think my fellow Virginians
are a bunch of whiners with respect to the car tax even with it, we enjoy low taxes
but it's not accurate to say none of us have seen the famed car tax relief. In fact
every vehicle-owning Virginian gets back 12.5% of the their 1998 personal property tax. My
check arrived about three weeks after I paid up. For 1999, it's deducted before payment.
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Without knowing your personal spending habits and your charitable
inclination, I think it is impossible to say whether you spend your money more wisely and
efficiently than the DC government. But I agree with Ann Drissel's point, that tax
revenues should be used to improve city's infrastructure and quality of life. As I
understand it, a tax cut would theoretically draw people back into the city and increase
the tax base. This sounds like bad business and bad government it is borrowing
against future (imagined) earnings to put your goods on sale. DC will increase its tax
base by improving the school system, protecting its green spaces, making the streets
safer, and otherwise encouraging the development of real neighborhoods.
I believe that government is supposed to provide for the common
good, which means to me that it will provide for those aspects of life that are
forgotten about through an economy of greed. Incidentally, the common good was
Catania's campaign slogan, and his vision seems to have become awfully short-sighted!
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Getting Personal and Chatty on Taxes
Mark David Richards, Dupont East, mark@bisconti.com
My 700 s/ft condo was just reassessed by our more efficient government,
and my property taxes will increase by over 20% over the next three years. Same for all my
neighbors. So, cut taxes all you want. For me, they're going up, and the DC government is
getting more of my paycheck. Did any assessments go down? What do these new assessments
add up to? I work in a small opinion research business in Woodley Park. Our business is
national and international, so we don't need to be in DC. Our hard earned money is
constantly picked off by a wide variety of taxing entities, including the DC government.
Not only are our DC taxes high, but thus far, we pay a private rat exterminator, a
cleaning person to pick up trash from the alley behind our property (food for rats), a
tree person to try to save the elm that is dying outside my window. Thank the gods I don't
have children (and my taxes can help those who do) or a car (somebody's got to save the
damn roads and air!). But I like living in the District, because it is urban space and
multiethnic. I'd sooner leave the country than this city (I can move to Puerto Rico, enjoy
beaches, pay no taxes, and still be unrepresented what a deal).
But, surprise, I'm only one of many in these 120 villages. I have friends
who can't afford health insurance and would have to go to DC General if sick. A homeless
woman with physical disabilities sits on my corner in her wheelchair she depends on
the small check she gets from DC govt. and the kindness of strangers. The majority of our
residents don't own their home and have to count every dollar just to get by. And, last
but not least, our commuters from MD and VA need us to keep the federal government's roads
up (yep, the feds took 3,606 acres from the original landowners for $0 for roads as part
of their property) so they can have a smooth ride to earn a living so their governments
can get taxes too. All this to say that an informed public policy decision should be based
on all the data, solid data that has been analyzed from multiple perspectives,
demographically. I'm not convinced our leaders have done this, because I'm hearing more
sound bites than facts. (If I hear Evans say The Mayor's comments are puzzling to
me... one more time, I'll...) This currently not-so-public information is scattered
across many agencies, not in one place, accessible by internet. Budget discussions are
cyclical, so why not do this for the next rounds? And our elected officials we
elected all of them, not just the Mayor should start by agreeing on the facts and
numbers. The bottom line is that most of us (520,000?) have to live with, trust or not,
the judgment of 14 elected officials, an overlord, and a Congress with attention deficit.
The current money discussion is a spectator sport, we are the bread and circus subjects
who get to cheer for the side we don't want to get skewered in the end. The fact is, we
all want efficient government that doesn't interfere in our life, liberty, and pursuit of
happiness. On that level, I suppose we're all getting skewered.
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Where Is Our Districts Cash Management Going?
Frank Pruss, Frank.Pruss@SiliconVilla.com
The District has finally cashed the Income Tax Balance Due check I sent in
on April 15. What's the deal? I thought that with a bean counter like Da Mare, we'd see
better cash management than this! The fundamental rule is Collect ASAP, Pay ALAP!
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Special Education in DC Schools
Peter Luger, Mt. Pleasant, lugerpj@gunet.georgetown.edu
About a year or so ago, my office (Georgetown University Child Development
Center, a division of Pediatrics at Georgetown Medical Center) competitively applied for a
contract with DC Public Schools to provide special ed screening. This screening is a
requirement of the school system but has not been done in ages. We were told that we had
been selected to provide the services. A short time later, we were told that the contract
had been given to another organization. After a lot of argument, the process was supposed
to be re-opened. It never happened and there has not been assessment of Special Ed
students since. There is absolutely no excuse for the condition of the Special Ed program
in DC. Qualified groups were prepared to do the work. Money was available to pay for the
services. No one bothered to make it happen.
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Mr. Drudi's thought that the District of Columbia should subdivide into
cities before seeking statehood is not so outlandish as it might appear. We might look at
the example of the island of Martha's Vineyard, in Massachusetts, with a winter population
of some 13,000 souls (summer population rises to about 100,000), which is divided into six
(6) fiercely independent townships, each with its own police department, fire department,
trash facility, etc.
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DC Voting Rights, the Law and the Lawyers
Tom Matthes, Tom Matthes@vais.net
A lawyer named Lincoln once drew the ire of an opponent in court by
calling him a soldier. I am not a soldier, but an officer, he declared.
Undaunted, Lincoln continued, I beg your pardon. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,
this officer, who is no soldier
Mr. LaRoche, in his arguments on DC voting
rights, believes this debater's arguments are the result of ire against
attorneys, apparently because of a reference to clever lawyers. But, as with
Mr. Lincoln, a denial that Mr. LaRoche is a clever lawyer seems unlikely to
satisfy him that no malice is intended. So let's put it another way. Our republic needs
clever lawyers (who would hire one that isn't?) like a Thanksgiving dinner party needs a
carving knife. The knife, however, should be used to cut the turkey and not the guests.
Likewise, lawyers should use their wits to uphold the Constitution and not undermine it
with contentions about the abstract nature of the States and the District of Columbia.
There is also the story about Theodore Roosevelt, his cabinet and the
Panama Canal. The president was irked by talk that the canal treaty, concluded after the
US helped the Panamanians stage a coup to end Colombia's control of the isthmus, was not
gained in full accord with international law. So he summoned his cabinet to hear his case.
After he finished, one of the secretaries declared, Mr. President, you have shown
you were accused of seduction. You have proved you were guilty of rape. This year,
the US returns the canal to Panama. Mr. LaRoche and I agree that the ultimate solution to
the issues of DC votes in Congress and an end to congressional city management is
political, not judicial. We have what I trust is a friendly disagreement over whether DC
can become a state without first amending the constitution. That argument began before
these postings and won't be settled here. But remember that Mr. Lincoln, after issuing the
Emancipation Proclamation, made sure of his work by persuading Congress to abolish slavery
forever in the 13th Amendment. Shouldn't district residents follow his example and, if
they reject retrocession, make sure of their goal of congressional votes with an
amendment? Sounds like a no-brainer. Remember Dred Scot and Panama. Don't leave it to the
courts and, above all, don't weaken the moral case for DC voting rights with legalese.
Right makes might, said Mr. Lincoln.
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Albemarle Street has just been resurfaced. For a while it was great. Now
they are digging it up again. Why? Is there no way to coordinate this kind of work and
save money for the city?
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What happened to the new DC law that the utilities that make street cuts
are responsible for repairing the cut? (That is, not just a temporary patch, but a
properly sealed permanent, smooth patch.)
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In December, all 10 local Fresh Fields held a coat drive for local
shelters. Dry Clean Depot dry cleaned the mountains and mountains of coats we received for
FREE before we donated them to the shelters. Sometimes it's just the little things that
make a place special.
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May Edition of NARPAC, Inc. Web Site: Productivity,
and the DC Council
Len Sullivan. lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net
The National Association to Restore Pride in America's Capital has revised
its web site for May (See What's New? at http://www.narpac.org
) with new headline summaries and links to three more relevant web sites. Topical updates
include: the Mayor's near term performance scorecard; comparison of DC's proposed new
budget to Montgomery County's; issues involving DCPS special ed and moving UDC to
Anacostia; and NARPAC's suggestion for a major new defense complex east of the Anacostia.
A new quantitative analysis looks at the relative "productivity" of various DC
land uses, and of the various categories of people who live and visit DC. Coupling DC tax
revenues produced by various groups and businesses to the expenditures they consume
provides a key to the desired future development of the city and its financial well
being. Suggestions emerge concerning incentives to move; clustering of neighborhood
planning; and developing revenues from federal and non-profit acreage.
NARPAC's, Inc.'s latest editorial view entitled A Proper Role for
the DC Council provides a list of topics where landmark legislation is needed from
the Council to assure the long range development of a first class core city inside a first
class national capital metro area. Specific legislative initiatives are called for to
provide: better reflection of national goals; checks and balances for local
governance; greater regional cooperation; serious forward looking core city planning; and
better balanced productivity of the city's diverse human and physical components. C'mon
in, it's free, and good for the sinuses.
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CLASSIFIEDS EVENTS
Classes at Fresh Fields Georgetown
Rakan Jawdat, papyrus@erols.com
Fresh Fields/Georgetown, 2323 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, presents on Wednesday,
May 12, at 7 PM: Better Health through Chiropractic. Speaker is Dr. Charlotte Jensen from
Friendship Heights Chiropractic. Learn how chiropractic can help you maintain your health
or bring you back to health if you suffer from back pain, neck pain, headaches, sciatica,
pinched nerves, stress and more. Wednesday, May 19, at 7 PM: Beauty Foods Workshop. Donna
Maria, Aromatherapy Specialist, will give a class on getting your skin in shape for spring
and summer. Make your own Spa Glow, a facial and foot scrub, hair and face
masks by using natural herbs, oils, fruit and vegetables. There is a $10 fee for
materials, but you get back $5 gift certificate at the end of the class. Free. To register
please call 301-984-4874 XT 3029 and leave name and number or call Fresh Fields Store in
Georgetown at 202-333-5393.
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Forum on the Two-Party System
Mark David Richards, mark@bisconti.com
The Two-Party System and Its Discontents: A major public conference
on the domination of American politics by the two-party arrangement. Thursday, May
13, 1999, at American University, Washington College of Law. Panelists: Ralph Nader,
Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Patricia Ireland, Herbert Alexander, Hendrik Hertzberg,
Christopher Hitchens, Richard Parker, Jamin Raskin, Rob Richie, Micah Sifry, Russell
Verney, Ron Walters, Paul Weyrich. Sponsored by The Appleseed Electoral Reform Projects at
Harvard Law School and WCL's Program on Law and Government. For more information, call
202/274-4268, lawandgov@wcl.american.edu ,
or www.wcl.american.edu/pub/lawgovernment/tp.thml
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CLASSIFIEDS FOR SALE AND WANTED TO BUY
1993 Ford Escort station wagon, blue, 60,000 miles and extremely clean.
Auto, a/c, am/fm stereo cassette, power steering. New tires. Car was purchased from a
dealer April 30 to replace a mini van stolen a month earlier; van was found intact several
days later. Hoping to sell quickly at a reasonable price; not looking to make a profit,
just to cut my losses. Call 202-529-4757 or e-mail EditorCD@aol.com
.
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Luggage for Sale
Michelle Treistman, mtreistm@aaas.org
One 30" Skyway pullman, four external pockets, two of which can be
locked, removable divider inside. Can hang four garments without folding and without
interfering with interior space. Used once, asking $150 including matching carry-on, 10
year warranty. (On-sale price was $220 for both.) One Skyway garment bag with wheels,
large exterior pockets that can be locked, perfect for week long business trips with
casual clothes room to spare. Used three times, asking $50, 10 year warranty. (On-sale
price was $90.) Please call Michelle at (202) 326-6778 if interested.
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Used 286 or Better Computer Needed
Jon Katz , katz@erols.com
I need to buy a used desktop computer. Its power can be as low as 286, for
the limited function it will provide. Please call me at Marks & Katz, LLC, (301)
495-4300.
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CLASSIFIEDS NEED NEW HOME AND BICYCLE
Need New Home and Bicycle
Mark David Richards, mark@bisconti.com
Brilliant and interesting twenty-something 5'9" tall female college
student without car, trust fund, or high paying job needs reasonably priced bike to get
around (and stay trim too). Also looking to move to big space in tame group house or for
roommate to share apartment near U of MD College Park campus and Metro. Send any ideas to
Mark Richards at mark@bisconti.com , and he'll pass
them to his younger sister.
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