Trevor, you are only scratching the surface of the joys of living in DC. Just this week the DC Council passed a tax on soda and other sweet drinks; proposed, but rejected tax on the highest-income earners in the city; voted to strip funds from the streetcars that are to run on H street (the same street you had the pleasure of driving on after the Cook-Off); and has proposed a commuter tax on city workers who live outside the District. The City has a $550 million budget gap and is desperate for revenue from any source. And the DC government cannot simply print up the money unlike the Federal Government.
But this is DC and math is not one of the Council's strong points. For instance, regarding the streetcar funds, the Washington Post reports:
The D.C. Council Wednesday approved stripping funds designated to bring streetcar service back to the city in an effort to close a $550 million budget gap.
The vote effectively delays the launch of the streetcars. The council still must vote on the change when it votes on the full budget later today.
The council voted to take $49 million for street car system and distribute it among other projects. (Emphasis added)
Unless "other projects" means "all DC creditors", I don't see how cutting funds from one project and distributing those funds to other projects will close a budget gap. But this is an election year and Vincent Gray, who is running for mayor against incumbent Adrian Fenty and voted to cut streetcar funds on Wednesday, reversed his vote on Thursday. He suddenly found $50 million after "a backlash from at least one member of Congress and hundreds of residents who jammed government phone lines, community e-mail groups and Gray's Web site". Don't you just love politics during election season?
And the DC Council has been trying to tax commuters to the city for years. Since most of these workers cannot vote in DC elections, the Council figures that they are easy targets. The problem is that such a measure cannot pass without the approval of Congress, and Maryland and Virginia representatives always oppose this proposal. Of course, city workers do not pay taxes; they receive their income from those who actually produce goods and services on the free market. Essentially Maryland and Virginia are fighting with the District over the distribution of stolen funds. If the commuter tax were passed, the District government's share of plunder would rise at the expense of Maryland's and Virginia's who tax these city workers residing in those States. Clearly, Maryland and Virginia cannot allow this to happen without a fight. I guess the District will have to settle on the five redlight cameras and five speed cameras between New York Avenue and the on-ramp to 395-South (a route most travelers using when driving through the city) to collect from unsuspecting commuters.
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