Reply to Marion Barry Rant about Tom Sherwood

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=jsteele]
Barry used the city government as a jobs program and today that is considered a huge negative in many quarters. But, it's impact on providing jobs for DC's black residents helped create a black middle class that previously didn't exist. A huge number of people were housed, educated, and employed thanks to his efforts. Today, those benefits are eclipsed by the other side of the coin: bloated, inefficient, government. But, the positive impact on people's lives was real.
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So he padded the public payroll with his cronies and supporters, and those people benefited until the (other people's) money ran out and the city had become broke and totally dysfunctional. Awesome! You know the same logic applies to thieves. Stealing must not totally bad because of all the positive impact that stolen money has on their lives, right?[/quote]

I am no Barry apologist and I believe that Barry has probably overstayed his welcome (I actually know him personally and he is a good guy).  However, I think your characterization of his jobs creation strategy is unfair and hindsight is 20/20 vision. Bear in mind that home rule in this city was relatively young.  Because of the transition from the Federal City, Barry inherited a stone cold mess!  In those days, there was no manufacturing, tech or commerce base and the primary breadwinners for the District were tourism and government.  Barry saw expanding government as a quick way to stabilize the local economy and to create a tax base of middle class residents.  Of course, this was not a way to sustain things long term, but at the time, that is exactly what was needed.  [/quote]

"Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They always run out of other people's money." -Thatcher

The fact that Barry's idiot policies did not instantly induce ruin, but rather took a bit of time to do so is perhaps the sorriest "defense" of governmental policy I have ever heard of. Other people's money doesn't run out right away, it take time. In the end it was only Federal intervention and buckets of federal cash that prevented D.C. from turning into another Detroit. Sadly Detroit had no one to save it from Coleman Young, another Socialist Racist idiot.
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PP here.  I am from Detroit actually.  And I will tell you that Coleman Young did not start that city on the road to financial ruin.  The Detroit Free Press publiched a series of articles that analyzed Detroit's financial issues going back decades.  Many of the problems in Detroit that came to roost in the bankruptcy were actually created by the tax and spend policies of Young's White predecessors.  If you are interested and not just blowing smoke, I will post the link.

But here is the problem I have with your statement.  It is easy to analyze a problem looking back. Monday morning quarterbacks have the easiest jobs.  But let me play Devil's advocate.  You are are elected mayor and you are faced with a floundering city - your residents are fleeing to Maryland and Virginia and you have no concrete commercial or residential tax base.  Besides that, the Height restricts taxable density, your major "industry" is the Fed Goverment, which you cannot tax.   But yet you have to do something.... I see what they were trying to do and, TBH, the biggest fallacy in the plan was the most of the new hires did not live in the District - so their contribution to the tax base was minimal.  I aid it was not a viable long term solution, but action was necessary at the time. [/quote]

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