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Metropolitan DC Local Politics
"Educational programs." Orwell would have loved your euphemisms. The entire purpose of WABA is to lobby for bike lanes. Pretty evident by their own Web site where they urge people to contact the government about specific infrastructure projects. No one in the history of Washington D.C. has turned to WABA to learn how to ride a bike. |
At our DCPS school, the second-graders have a unit on bike-riding in PE every year that involves bringing dozens of bikes to the school and instructing the kids to ride them. So... every year, people in Washington, D.C., turn to WABA to help kids learn how to ride a bike. |
This already happens. Every day. So what? |
Have you heard of AAA? Or the NRA? I mean, would you expect a regional bike organization to not ask for insfratructure to make biking safer? |
still don't understand why a group lobbying for bike lanes in a city where the public is supposedly clamoring for bike lanes raises so little money from its members. $108,000 in total? there are girl scout troops that do better than that. |
PP here. Yes, that's exactly my point. They are a lobbying group, which means this arrangement with the city where they government floats the lion's share of their entire budget is illegal. |
I mean, they give you cookies in exchange for your money. WABA gives you socks if you join. Which, fine, but I'd pay more for cookies. |
Pretty good indicator of how few people care about bike lanes |
That is an A+ fig leaf. I have never heard of any parent relying on school to teach their kids to ride bikes but forcing kids to sit through a WABA presentation is an excellent way to pretend they are not a lobbying organization on the public dole. |
Do you have a second grader? LOTS of them learned to ride through this program. It wasn't the only way we got our DS to ride but it was a good first step. |
No, it isn't. If they show the monies are not comingled, then it isn't illegal. Every non-profit in the city who gets money for programs does this. Seriously, you are barking up the wrong tree here and are way out of your league. Do you think SOME or Martha's Table doesn't lobby for social services? Or any of the animal shelters lobbying for animal rights? It happens all the time and is totally legal, as long as proper tracking is in place. |
Your kid probably went to one of the Ward 3 elementary schools and you likely bought your kid a $250 bike when they were 5. Not everyone has that luxury. Get out of your bubble. For thousands of DCPS students, this is where they learn to ride a bike. |
No, it's not. It really isn't. I'm sorry. Also, I live in a neighborhood you'd be afraid to visit after 6pm. |
| This is too funny. Feel free to lobby dcps to have learning to ride a bike taken out of the curriculum. You're deranged. |
That's great, but you first claimed WABA does no education programs, and then people pointed to the specific education programs it does. You may think they're pointless or whatever, but they clearly exist. I don't entirely see how you think the great bike lobbying conspiracy works. If bike advocacy groups are so powerful that they can extract whatever resources they want from the city government, wouldn't they have significantly more money from D.C. than they do get, and have successfully lobbied to put in far more bike lanes than they already have? |