Montgomery County, please give Elrich a chance. Don't let Floreen fool you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Actually there are quite a few Ficker signs in Bethesda, Wheaton and up county. I’ve seen a sparse few in Silver Spring. We don’t have a sign but support Ficker also.

Why isn’t there a decent republic candidate? Why is there just crazy Robin Ficker?
Why have any republicans and young repub groups and no decent candidates? Why??

I have a friend in the local GOP. The issue was they often run candidates at the county-level just for show, as they never have a chance of winning in a county-wide race where they are outnumbered 3-to-1. The reason they even run someone is the state-wide and national Republican party needs them to put up people so they show they are trying. In return, they get some appointee jobs in the state or federal government.

So the County Exec thing threw them for a loop. They went for business as usual and only Ficker threw his hat in. Then the Dems mess up and get super-left Elrich, and Floreen throws her hat in. Now they actually have a chance. The GOP candidate usually gets around 1/3 of the vote, so he actually has a fighting chance now that the Dems are split between Elrich and Floreen.

I guess they'll learn a lesson about putting up viable candidates in the future, as they reallly may have a chance.

The best thing for MoCo and also the GOP is to have open primaries in the future. Then the top 2 from any party go to the general election. There is a reason this is also fair to voters also -- 1/3rd of registered voters in MoCo have no party affiliation (so can only vote for non-partisan offices in the primary -- school board), yet MoCo has public financing of candidates, so voters of any party should be able to choose any candidate, since they are paying for their campaign through tax money anyway.

This is silly and distressingly incompetent. Of course they have a chance as a lot of people are very unhappy with the council and the exec. And - Connie Morella??
Is there no way to have Ficker step down?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Op here and asking in earnest.

What *actually* would you like to see, here, in local government? I'm assuming your're Republican/right-leaning unaffiliated or fiscally conservative Democrat of some kind. What kind of council/executive would you want?

I'm not PP, but I'll bite.

Reasons I don't like Elrich:
- $15/hour minimum wage. This was done for the union vote. I get the idea -- ensure a living wage. But this just passes the costs to employers, and it's not a great way to handle it. It doesn't consider family situation (# of people in household) nor other income coming in. Instead, the best way to deal with this problem is to just raise the Earned Income Tax Credit. That look at total household income as well as household size, and is already issued by MD anyway. It would be easy to up it for people in MoCo. But, that doesn't make the unions happy.

Why I don't like the minimum wage at $15 is that some people at entry-level, like a 20-year old starting their first job, aren't really worth $15/hour. Now they're shut out of the labor market, even if they provide value at $10/hour instead. What we're going to see is companies that move any jobs they can do Frederick County or Howard County since they have lower minimum wages.

- Tax increases. Marc voted to raise property taxes. The overall county budget has increased much faster than the county population. They're spending disproportionately more compared to population growth or inflation.

- A perfect example of overspending is the $400k to a non-profit to fund legal defense for illegal immigrants. The organization decided it didn't want it due to the strings attached (can't fund the defense of violent criminals). A prudent Council member would have voted against the proposal at that point. Instead, Elrich votes in favor of it, in the hope that some other non-profit will magically appear that wants the money. What a waste -- spending money that no one wants!

- Failure to end the DLC (liquor) monopoly. We're the only county in MD like this, and one of the few in the entire country. Surely our needs aren't so special compared to everywhere else in the US. The reason Elrich won't privatize is there are 300 union members working at DLC. All that has been proposed is to open this to competition. Why are the union members so afraid of this? If they provide great service and selection, then people won't go to the private stores anyway, will they?

Now the claim is that DLC brings $30mln into the county coffers, and where will we find the money to make up from it..? Guess what -- the minimum wage increase will cost the County about that much per year, as they'll now need to raise wages of county workers like lifeguards and snack bar attendants at the county parks.

Elrich is not what this county needs. He's had 12 years on the Council to show it.

The businesses should be paying more towards salaries. $15 an hour isn’t going to chase too many companies off to Frederick as who really wants to live there.
No one is going to be able to live on their own on $15/hour in this county.
Passing the wages on to the taxpayer via the earned income tax credit screws the middle class who pays for this stuff and qualifies for few tax breaks.
You can’t even have any savings to receive this tax break and then you add in kids and Medicaid/TANF ? Way to keep people down forever.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earned_income_tax_credit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
My 14 year old working at a pool snack bar earned close to $10/hour, as do babysitters. Same kid now 18 works in a medical lab for $15 an hour and that will help fund college This is out of touch. Young adults that I know of working lifeguard jobs to try to help pay for college earning $10 an hour have trouble paying for food and basics like a new lifeguard suit. Let’s not be so stingy. The minimum wage in DC is $15 and there are plenty of jobs there.

The low minimum is also why we have a lot of illegal immigrants doing jobs here ( which we all pay for in taxes via providing benefits ) as they are the only ones wanting to do certain jobs for such a low wage. When the wages are so low that people need food stamps and energy and rent assistance to survive it’s costing the tax payer instead of the business.

I agree.

IMO the argument against $15 is myopic. Also, it's not as if the only people working minimum wage jobs are high school kids in Bethesda with rich parents just adding to their pocket money. Some people count on multiple minimum wage jobs to survive - especially LEGAL immigrants with professional degrees in other countries who need to start over when they come to America. A lot of these people are trying to make ends meet for themselves and their children and also learning English.

And what if it is a high school kid working a summer job. "Back in the old days" summer jobs could pay for college tuition. If you're telling a 17-18 year old to suck it up, pick yourself up by your bootstraps and not take out huge student loans and complain about it afterwards.... the only way to avoid this is to have them, in addition to competing for scholarships and/or staying in-state, is to have them earn more money being employed.

I also agree that $15 is more of an arbitrary target than a silver bullet. I'm not an economist myself, but perhaps it's close to some kind of optimization of closest to livable wage vs bottom threshold for small businesses to continue to operate. It will still take a second job and some social services to keep a family afloat - but at least a minimum wage worker might not fall further behind. Anyone would agree that the idea is to ascend beyond a minimum wage job - but it exacerbates the problem if one is falling into a financial hole/not having adequate medical care/not feeding themselves while trying to acquire new skills and hunting for higher-paying jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My 14 year old working at a pool snack bar earned close to $10/hour, as do babysitters. Same kid now 18 works in a medical lab for $15 an hour and that will help fund college This is out of touch. Young adults that I know of working lifeguard jobs to try to help pay for college earning $10 an hour have trouble paying for food and basics like a new lifeguard suit. Let’s not be so stingy. The minimum wage in DC is $15 and there are plenty of jobs there.

The low minimum is also why we have a lot of illegal immigrants doing jobs here ( which we all pay for in taxes via providing benefits ) as they are the only ones wanting to do certain jobs for such a low wage. When the wages are so low that people need food stamps and energy and rent assistance to survive it’s costing the tax payer instead of the business.

I agree.

IMO the argument against $15 is myopic. Also, it's not as if the only people working minimum wage jobs are high school kids in Bethesda with rich parents just adding to their pocket money. Some people count on multiple minimum wage jobs to survive - especially LEGAL immigrants with professional degrees in other countries who need to start over when they come to America. A lot of these people are trying to make ends meet for themselves and their children and also learning English.

And what if it is a high school kid working a summer job. "Back in the old days" summer jobs could pay for college tuition. If you're telling a 17-18 year old to suck it up, pick yourself up by your bootstraps and not take out huge student loans and complain about it afterwards.... the only way to avoid this is to have them, in addition to competing for scholarships and/or staying in-state, is to have them earn more money being employed.

I also agree that $15 is more of an arbitrary target than a silver bullet. I'm not an economist myself, but perhaps it's close to some kind of optimization of closest to livable wage vs bottom threshold for small businesses to continue to operate. It will still take a second job and some social services to keep a family afloat - but at least a minimum wage worker might not fall further behind. Anyone would agree that the idea is to ascend beyond a minimum wage job - but it exacerbates the problem if one is falling into a financial hole/not having adequate medical care/not feeding themselves while trying to acquire new skills and hunting for higher-paying jobs.

The young adults I know of working the lifeguarding jobs are having troubles with basic expenses while LIVING WITH PARENTS or in group homes. It’s not enough money to survive on in any way that is reasonable. It’s also wrong to assume that everyone is going to college. Some aren’t bright enough - it’s ridiculous to assume that everyone is a rich, educationally successful ( good student who received a good education) person who is going to college to better themselves and they are just doing a lower level job for pocket change and a ‘life learning experience’. Some of these people will honestly be lifeguards for a long time and they don’t have money for basic expenses even while living in a group situation.

There are several people I know working those kinds of jobs who have college degrees but who haven’t been able to find a job in two or more years.

As we may know Maryland Medicaid doesn’t include dental care so you have people losing teeth because dental care is way too expensive out of pocket.

$15 an hour will ease things slightly for these kinds of people and that’s seems important to do and fiscally I am not liberal at all. It’s a basic human rights issue.

[Anonymous]

But $15 still isn't a viable number. It's just raising the bar of poverty, that's all.

Realistically, minimum wage should be somewhere in the area of $30-$35 per hour. Which would allow a two-earner household to be able to afford a modest home and lifestyle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My 14 year old working at a pool snack bar earned close to $10/hour, as do babysitters. Same kid now 18 works in a medical lab for $15 an hour and that will help fund college This is out of touch. Young adults that I know of working lifeguard jobs to try to help pay for college earning $10 an hour have trouble paying for food and basics like a new lifeguard suit. Let’s not be so stingy. The minimum wage in DC is $15 and there are plenty of jobs there.

The low minimum is also why we have a lot of illegal immigrants doing jobs here ( which we all pay for in taxes via providing benefits ) as they are the only ones wanting to do certain jobs for such a low wage. When the wages are so low that people need food stamps and energy and rent assistance to survive it’s costing the tax payer instead of the business.

I agree.

IMO the argument against $15 is myopic. Also, it's not as if the only people working minimum wage jobs are high school kids in Bethesda with rich parents just adding to their pocket money. Some people count on multiple minimum wage jobs to survive - especially LEGAL immigrants with professional degrees in other countries who need to start over when they come to America. A lot of these people are trying to make ends meet for themselves and their children and also learning English.

And what if it is a high school kid working a summer job. "Back in the old days" summer jobs could pay for college tuition. If you're telling a 17-18 year old to suck it up, pick yourself up by your bootstraps and not take out huge student loans and complain about it afterwards.... the only way to avoid this is to have them, in addition to competing for scholarships and/or staying in-state, is to have them earn more money being employed.

I also agree that $15 is more of an arbitrary target than a silver bullet. I'm not an economist myself, but perhaps it's close to some kind of optimization of closest to livable wage vs bottom threshold for small businesses to continue to operate. It will still take a second job and some social services to keep a family afloat - but at least a minimum wage worker might not fall further behind. Anyone would agree that the idea is to ascend beyond a minimum wage job - but it exacerbates the problem if one is falling into a financial hole/not having adequate medical care/not feeding themselves while trying to acquire new skills and hunting for higher-paying jobs.

The young adults I know of working the lifeguarding jobs are having troubles with basic expenses while LIVING WITH PARENTS or in group homes. It’s not enough money to survive on in any way that is reasonable. It’s also wrong to assume that everyone is going to college. Some aren’t bright enough - it’s ridiculous to assume that everyone is a rich, educationally successful ( good student who received a good education) person who is going to college to better themselves and they are just doing a lower level job for pocket change and a ‘life learning experience’. Some of these people will honestly be lifeguards for a long time and they don’t have money for basic expenses even while living in a group situation.

There are several people I know working those kinds of jobs who have college degrees but who haven’t been able to find a job in two or more years.

As we may know Maryland Medicaid doesn’t include dental care so you have people losing teeth because dental care is way too expensive out of pocket.

$15 an hour will ease things slightly for these kinds of people and that’s seems important to do and fiscally I am not liberal at all. It’s a basic human rights issue.

Then why is it $15? Whey not $16 or $13 or $20?

If it's a human rights issues, then minimum wage isn't the solution -- EITC (earned income tax credit) is. That's why we already have it at both the national and state level. It looks at your entire household situation, since that lifeguard in your example will have more expenses if they are raising a small child than if they are single. It also takes into account all their jobs.

There's a reason more and more places in MoCo are automating heavily. Notice the ordering kiosks at McDonalds and Burger King, and even new trendy places like Honey Poke (in North Bethesda) has all ordering from a kiosk. Or look at the ice cream place just opening now in Bethesda on Norfolk Ave -- the ice cream dispensing is entirely by machine. The rush to automation is because labor costs are too high -- so they are eliminating jobs accordingly.

[Anonymous]

There is no way I’m voting for Nancy Floreen. She’s exploiting a loophole to run as an “independent” when she didn’t care enough to throw her hat in the ring during the primaries. Plus she bends over backwards to suck up to developers. She wouldn’t allow the our community to have a hearing on how the Bethesda Plan would affect school overcrowding, even though the schools that would absorb the new development are both way over capacity. I voted for Blair in the primary, but there’s no way I’d think of voting for that loon Ficker or Floreen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no way I’m voting for Nancy Floreen. She’s exploiting a loophole to run as an “independent” when she didn’t care enough to throw her hat in the ring during the primaries. Plus she bends over backwards to suck up to developers. She wouldn’t allow the our community to have a hearing on how the Bethesda Plan would affect school overcrowding, even though the schools that would absorb the new development are both way over capacity. I voted for Blair in the primary, but there’s no way I’d think of voting for that loon Ficker or Floreen.

Yup. Just Skeevy all the way for Florence. Not giving up on Ficker though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no way I’m voting for Nancy Floreen. She’s exploiting a loophole to run as an “independent” when she didn’t care enough to throw her hat in the ring during the primaries. Plus she bends over backwards to suck up to developers. She wouldn’t allow the our community to have a hearing on how the Bethesda Plan would affect school overcrowding, even though the schools that would absorb the new development are both way over capacity. I voted for Blair in the primary, but there’s no way I’d think of voting for that loon Ficker or Floreen.

Yup. Just Skeevy all the way for Florence. Not giving up on Ficker though.

Ficker. Are you nuts? He’s been disbarred for ethical violations and has been on trial for commuting assault.

[Anonymous]

Who isn’t going to raise my property taxes? That’s who I’ll vote for...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who isn’t going to raise my property taxes? That’s who I’ll vote for...

Blair. But that ship has sailed. Floreen is somewhat less likely than Elrich, but I wouldn't hold your breathe. It's a shame the Rs didn't nominate someone qualified and reasonable, a la Hogan. Might of had a chance as a protest vote against the status quo.

[Anonymous]

The understanding of economics displayed in this thread is depressing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The understanding of economics displayed in this thread is depressing.

I'm guessing you think minimum wage should still be $2.75, right? Nah, you probably just think we should still have slaves.

[Anonymous]

Who isn’t going to raise my property taxes? That’s who I’ll vote for...

Any incoming elected official is going to have to raise your property taxes. There is no other way. Revenues have been declining, real estate value is flat, debt service and operating costs are increasing and business is non existent. The only option is a property tex increase. Montgomery County is basically PG county on the east and residential/commute to VA county on the west. The "rich" west keeps getting less rich as VA becomes more attractive for work commute, better schools and better taxes while the "poor" east keeps getting poorer. There isn't enough UMC growth up county to make up the slack.


The increase in property taxes will keep things stagnating in the west. As an increase in property taxes depresses property values, it should keep prices low in the east which is good. With all the surroundings areas exploding with economic success there are few options for affordable housing. The prices wont rise but this will should stall the drop in those areas.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't matter - no property tax increase with out unanimous support from EVERY SINGLE COUNCIL MEMBER. No County Exec will be raising property taxes, because they won't get ALL the council members to agree.

Next argument against Marc? I don't think there are any valid ones, and am a supporter!