Anonymous wrote:Yet another grim warning about Montgomery County's economy:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/montgomery-economic-slow/2021/06/24/4fdd0cd8-d427-11eb-9f29-e9e6c9e843c6_story.html

Over the past five years, the report adds, Fairfax County outpaced Montgomery in adding research jobs in life sciences - and industry that Mongomery has touted as a cornerstone of its economic development strategy.

To reverse course, the report proposes the formation of a $275 million job creation fund that would offer grants and other perks to companies willing to set up shop or expand operations in the Maryland suburb of 1 million people. The District and Northern Virginia have unveiled similar incentive programs in recent months, but it is unclear whether officials in liberal Montgomery, who have been focused on supporting vulnerable residents hit hardest by the pandemic, will be receptive to the idea.

Leftists like to say that Virginia is winning for the cynical reason that Americans prefer "death sciences" (military/defense) to life sciences. Well, Virginia is winning in life sciences too. The left does not want to admit that the reason Montgomery County is failing is because of its socialistic policies and woke ideology of its government.

MoCo is a government town. When you look at the top Montgomery County employers, they are:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Montgomery County Public Schools
U.S. Department of Defense
County of Montgomery

So, federal government and county government.
If you don't work for the government, then where do you work? Probably Northern Virginia.

This is what socialism is - everybody works for the government, and relies on the government for their own income AND communal public services. Socialism doesn't work, because eventually you urn out of other people's money. That is exactly what is happening right now. Never mind the fact that the County Executive and County Council are focused on climate virtue signaling (yes climate change is real, but how exactly is one county going to reverse climate change? China and India will wipe away any progress one US county makes in one hour, and all the tax dollars will be wasted) and Racial Equity and Social Justice. While it is admirable that people want to help the lowest earning residents, we need more ladders to climb up than temporary boosts in the form of handouts. And this is just not happening.

Socialism is ingrained in the Montgomery County system. The government and all its services are omnipresent and feed off their own bureaucracy. Also, the County Executive and his cult of personality in Takoma Park remind me of an old Soviet political vanguard. They are so into their own revolutionary facade but they don't know how to actually govern effectively, and turn to authoritarianism to hold power instead (refer to our own pandemic regime, and the control of public employee unions) People like Elrich also want to shut down criticism and free speech.

Why does Montgomery County have to feel like 1980s East Germany? Mr. Elrich Tear Down This Wall .. the metaphor can be extended to the Potomac River, and an additional bridge crossing and highway expansion, which will enable people to migrate across the river like they moved to the West when the Berlin Wall came down.

How can we permanently end Socialism in Montgomery County?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can you please explain how Montgomery County is a socialist regime?

MoCo elected a tyrant like Erlich.

Anonymous wrote:I mean I like socialism so I am not concerned.

Anonymous wrote:Great post, OP, and I hope for a respectful, robust discussion here. There is a lot to talk about.

IMO, one of the main problems with the mindset of too many voters in MoCo is that too many of them work for, and benefit from, the entities you describe. I read somewhere that something like 25% (or close to it) of MoCo residents work for the government in some capacity - local/ state/ federal. This is a really high percentage compared to bedroom suburban communities of other major cities around the country, and it breeds, of course, a population that reveres government processes and services. It also explains the "Beltway Bubble" that many MoCo residents are submerged in, because it is a mindset that is not consistent with people in other areas of the state and country. These people are born followers who love rules - making them and enforcing them on other people. As a simple example, look at the clinging to masks in MoCo and how people still wear them as a badge of honor. It's a uniform there that says "I'm part of the system, and I buy into it."

Unfortunately, I don't know how you change that. Proximity to Washington is the negative here and that's not going to change. The same is true in suburban areas of VA, but not nearly on the scale that it is in MD, and VA has a more conservative/ Republican history to balance it out.

Anonymous wrote:Can you please explain how Montgomery County is a socialist regime?

Over the past five years, the report adds, Fairfax County outpaced Montgomery in adding research jobs in life sciences - and industry that Mongomery has touted as a cornerstone of its economic development strategy.

To reverse course, the report proposes the formation of a $275 million job creation fund that would offer grants and other perks to companies willing to set up shop or expand operations in the Maryland suburb of 1 million people. The District and Northern Virginia have unveiled similar incentive programs in recent months, but it is unclear whether officials in liberal Montgomery, who have been focused on supporting vulnerable residents hit hardest by the pandemic, will be receptive to the idea.