Reply to JLG vs McDuffie on public schools

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The business establishment isn’t backing him because they like Duff’s smile.
DC’s entire business and real estate lobby has consolidated behind McDuffie.
 Opportunity DC, a super PAC backed by real estate executives and large donors, spent heavily to elect him to the at-large seat in 2022, unseating the progressive incumbent Elissa Silverman.

These groups don’t back candidates out of civic spirit. They back candidates they believe will govern in their interest. When the chain restaurants lobby, the real estate lobby, and the business establishment all line up behind the same person, the reasonable question is: who is he going to govern for?[/quote]

Why is "business" a bad word?[/quote]

Business isn't the problem, it's 'business in DC' which is cronyist, developer-serving, rent-seeking, anti-consumer, lobbyist-political-industrial-complex BS.

If you like Doug Jemal, you'll love McDuffie. If you like how the 'lottery contract' went you are part of the DC 'business culture.' If you love Washington Gas, remember that's where Brandon Todd went after JLG beat him in Ward 4.

That's 'business' 'round here.[/quote]

But business in DC is also billions of dollars of investment that lead to higher tax revenues, fewer empty buildings and storefronts, and more jobs. Yes McDuffie has a cronyism and corruption problem. But I do want a mayor who is genuinely focused on bringing business into DC. All of our problems are going to get much worse if our economy tanks, and we are actually in a precarious place right now due to DOGE and inflation pressure. There are advantages to having a mayor who is viewed as friendly to business in this environment. And there are also disadvantages to having a mayor viewed as hostile to business at a time when a lot of companies are already skeptical that DC is a good investment.

This is a key difference between DC and NY and one of the reasons why billing JLG as DC's Mamdani is questionable to me. Mamdani has more freedom to go after big business in NY because NY is, economically, very strong. And they are a bigger city with more economic power to begin with. NYC has annual tax revenues of over 80 billion. DC's are right around 12 billion. So when Mamdani says he's going to stand up to big business by, for instance, forcing Amazon to pay fines for letting their trucks idle in the city, he does so from a place of very real power and leverage. DC doesn't come close. Economically, we're a lot more like St. Louis or New Orleans than like NY or SF. And that makes it a lot harder to have a mayor who is openly anti-business. And frankly a little dangerous.

Good luck accomplishing progressive policy positions on housing and education if, for instance, the RFK redevelopment doesn't go well. We need a mayor who will make sure the city keeps growing economically.[/quote]

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