From the Desk of the Exceptional Conservative
It is good to know that Mayor for Life Marion Barry, Council Member for Ward 8, has a plan. Some may believe it is a plan to overcome the dramatic population loss in Ward 8. When Mr. Barry was Mayor in 1980, Ward 8 had a population of 93,358. As Ward 8 Council Member, Barry oversees a population of 70,712. Maybe it is a plan to restore Ward 8 families from poverty to prosperity. Mr. Barry as Mayor in 1980 witnessed 27% of Ward 8 families in poverty. Today, as Ward Council Member, over 35% are in poverty. Whether as Mayor or Council Member, the Father of the District's Socialist Democrats (His ardent support of the civil rights movement earned him the nickname "Shep", in reference to Soviet propagandist Dmitri Shepilov.) has never witnessed single District unemployment in Ward 8 amongst adults or teens. In fact, the number of female headed households with children has risen from 67% in 1980 to 74% today. Yes, three quarters of all children raised in this East of River Utopia have no FATHER in the home. Ken, you are being to hard on the man. Socialism and government dependency works, Ken. It just takes time. While Obama is known as the food stamp President, his success is merely a powder mirror image of the infamous man who gave every DC voter a summer job. As his Mayor-ship ended, Ward 8 residents that obtained food stamps numbered 24,389. Today, the number has risen to 35,423. Yes, my Occupy DC Marxists, more than half of the adult population in Ward 8 depends upon the District and Federal government for their food! Well, Ken, maybe the rich have gotten richer in Ward 8 and that's why the poor have gone without. For the POOR, we need to tax the RICH Ward 8 residents more to pay for their education, their healthcare, their food, their shelter and their general welfare. The RICH have gotten richer? In 1979, the average family income (in 2010 $) was $46,902. Today, that number has FALLEN to $44,076. In the neighboring East of the River Ward 7 communities, the numbers are starkly equal or worse. Legislative Utopian Yvette Alexander oversees a Ward 7 population has fallen from 92,841 in 1980 to present 71,068. The poverty rate has risen from 22% in 1980 to 26% in 2010. The unemployment rate has risen from 8.6% in 1980 to 19%, today. Of Ward 7 families, 40% live in poverty, one-third (1/3) receive food stamps and average income has fallen from 1980's $58,619 to present $54,677. Let's just make it plain, DC's Marxist, Socialist Economic Policies have not improved the financial lives of the citizens of either Ward 7 or Ward 8.
You have patiently waited. So what is Mayor for Life Barry's Plan?
Marion Barry, towering figure of D.C. politics, has discussed bringing his four decades in public life to an end by kindling a family dynasty.
Barry, 75, has long been reluctant to acknowledge a District without himself in power. But in recent conversations with political associates, the former four-term mayor has openly considered his
political legacy, pondering whether the Barry brand — tarnished in many
corners of the city, but sterling in his home ward — might span another
generation.
In those conversations, Barry (D) has outlined plans to run for a third consecutive term as D.C. Council member for Ward 8 but serve only part of that time, backing his only son, Christopher Barry, to fill his seat.
It is the depressing KGB response to economic deprivation and social disdain that Ward 7 and Ward 8 residents have become accustomed. There's no redress for the vile 40 years of absolute rule by Socialist Democrats in the Nation's Capital. Milton Friedman once asked, "Is it really true that political self-interest is nobler somehow than economic self-interest?" Liberals that have never run from sourcing a noble cause with taxpayer's dollars and the cry for higher taxes see no insult in deigning a citizen's political seat an ornament of nobility for a family lineage. Damn the poverty, full speed ahead! It makes a hardened Democrat, like Ron Moten, find religion and run as a "Civil Rights" Republican. What's a people to do when a government demands, without hearty protest, that it be served rather than serve? What does an Urban American do when his governors adhere to the "laws of men" rather than the "rule of law"? Thomas Jefferson and Our Founding Father's gave instruction on the most just cause:
But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.
Or maybe The Joker said it best, "This town needs an enema!"
Kirk Russell wrote that "a conservative is not, by definition, a selfish or stupid person; instead, he is a person who believes there is something in our life worth saving." The District of Columbia needs to be saved. If not the District of Columbia, those that least afford to live under the Despotism of the DC City Council--East of the River Citizens. There is a time and a need for a declaration amongst men to be proclaimed in all of the Earth: "Set the citizens and residents free of the economic malfeasance of the Democrat controlled White House, US Congress, Mayor's Office and DC City Council. Allow the East of the River families to live under the august proviso that all men are created equal with the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Yes, allow those that have been beaten into the submission to poverty to pursue the course of prosperity rather than to the Road to Misery. Socialism and Marxism have not worked and will not work for those that need prosperity the most--the POOR. The benevolent actions of a few with good intentions have led to generations of impoverished and undereducated persons seeking the rewards of equal outcomes and reaping the harvest of entitlement and dependency. Allow the East of the River communities to pursue equal opportunity over the next 4 years with the same vigor that Socialist Democrats pursued poverty over the last 40 years. Let the next 4 years be years of creation rather than destruction. Let us not see another generation die off in the hopes that racism and the protections of our differences will save us. in order that one city may know unity and prosperity, let this be the season that we place our trust once more in the innovation of man rather than the rut of government.
I propose the Four Pillars of Prosperity that will lead to economic renewal and jettison many families out of the maze of poverty and into the open fields of success. The Pillars are: (1) Create the Walter E. Washington Stakeholders Leadership Team; (2) Create the East of the River Power Zones; (3) Create a Free Market School Reform; and (4) Create a Free Market Health Care Reform. Friedman opined, "Most economic fallacies derive from the tendency to assume that there is a fixed pie, that one party can gain only at the expense of another." There are many that will read this and ask, "Then, what will happen to the government if you are successful with your Four Pillars?" My answer is simple. The DC Government will shrink from lack of need, will improve in the humility of servant leadership and will prosper in serving those isolated by greatest unmet need and surrendering those with desires unmet by dependency and bureaucracy. Friedman said it this way, "So that the record of history is absolutely crystal clear. That there is no alternative way, so far discovered, of improving the lot of the ordinary people that can hold a candle to the productive activities that are unleashed by a free enterprise system." Not all men want to be free. However, all free men eventually serve with greater efficiency, more resources and unlimited ability those in bondage to their oppressors. The East of the River Communities and all other Urban Communities would greatly improve and present the greatest evidences of the land of liberty and home of the brave if their governments would merely free the people to do what is ingrained in them since conception: PROSPER!
Create the Walter E. Washington Stakeholders Leadership Team. It would be comprised of free market advocacy groups, entrepreneurs, community groups, churches and private sector organizations. The first person that recommends "government" as a solution to any community cause is expunged. The purpose of this group is to identify barriers to economic development, present free market legislative proposals and promote economic activity in East of the River Communities. Can you imagine a Pastor preaching to you on Sunday about how you came through for your community rather than how government came through for the community?! The Stakeholders will develop plans and initiatives that will incentive state authorities and agencies and fellow stakeholders that lessen government dependency and reduce barriers to economic growth. The organization will monitor poverty levels, unemployment levels, educational attainment and all other economic measures and take personal responsibility for success and failure. The Stakeholders will report all successes and failures and compare outcomes with remaining 2/3rds of the city (Transparency? Who thought of That in DC Gov?) via a "Power Zone" website.
With the approval of the US Congress and the White House, the DC Government will create a new "Goshen". Not Biblically based on the ideals of dependency to a benevolent tyrant. This Goshen will be built on the principles of the free market and capitalism. This Goshen would be composed of the East of the River Communities of Wards 7 and 8. The purposes of the "Power Zones" are to maximize economic activities and opportunities through the implementation of conservative free market initiatives that reduce the role of government and increase the earning power of the individual. This area of the City would be liberated from the irresponsible mandates of the federal and state governments for example, the Bag Tax. The goal of the Zone is to reduce the tax rates and expand the tax base. The District charges a tax rate of 4% for incomes less than $9,999, 6% for incomes between $10,000 and $39,999 and 9% for incomes above $40,000. A Minimum Wage worker earning $15,000/year pays $900.00. A worker earning the median salary of $45,000 pays $4,050.00. An upper class worker earning $100,000/year pays $9,000.00. Under the Power Zone, there would be only two (2) tax rates: 4% for incomes less than $9,999 and 5% for incomes that are $10,000 or more. A Minimum Wage worker earning $15,000/year saves $150.00. A worker earning the median salary of $45,000 saves $1,800.00. An upper class worker earning $100,000/year saves $4,000.00. In an age where East of River residents have become accustomed to losing income, the Power Zone increases income and buying power. The Flat Tax Rate for all Long Term Capital Gains and all Food and Prescription Drugs purchased from East of the River Businesses would fall to 0%. All East of the River Businesses will pay a 5% tax rate rather than the City's 9.98% rate. The Vendor Discount would be Raised to 5% on the First $2,500 of Sales Per Month. This will make this Power Zone the most attractive in the US for businesses. Energy Star Products will have their own Tax Holiday in the Power Zone. Each May, Appliance Purchases up to $2,000 in East of the River Businesses would be Tax Free. This will drive individuals to become entrepreneurs and businesses to establish themselves within the borders of the Zone.
School Reform will be one of the central conservative cores of Revitalization of the Power Zone. It will allow Parents of the “Power Zones” to use $10,000 to fund the choice of private education for their children. The Vouchers will hold harmless private institutions from the legal attachments of the city in providing education services to students. The students are not the property of the DC Government and should be encouraged to perform with excellence in the sphere of influence that will best promote their success. The Voucher program will maintain the integrity of the schools that will educate the children and give parents in distressed learning communities the opportunity to educate their children in better performing schools. The DC Public Schools per pupil rate is $16,408 per annum. The Power Zone Voucher will allow the DC Government to save $6,408 per pupil. If 150 East of the River High School students obtained vouchers, the city would save nearly $1 million ($961,200) and reduce classroom crowding. The School Reform would allow District Individuals and Corporations a dollar for dollar donation deduction of up to $10,000 for direct contributions to “Power Zone” DC Public Schools. This initiative would be known as the “Power Donors” Program. Allowing the free market to pierce the four borders of public education allows public schools with union entrenchment to compete against "sleeker" learning institutions that prepare the child for success in and out of classroom, that compels the parent to actively particpate in the future and encourages teachers to remain traditional in the values taught and modern in its delivery.
Finally, Health Care Reform must be at the center of all reform. The choice is simple: Individual or Government. In an age where centralized management is preferred over the patient's natural inclination to choose what is best for him or her, the greatest cost savings in this entire free-market social experiment would be found in this activity. The cost is liberty and freedom. Once gone, there is no hope of repurchase. Repeal the Certificate of Needs (CONS) Requirement for East of the River Communities. Since new hospitals cannot be constructed without proving a "need," the certificate-of-need system grants monopoly privileges to already existing hospitals. Consequently, Alaska House of Representatives member Bob Lynn has argued that the true motivation behind certificate-of-need legislation is that "large hospitals are... trying to make money by eliminating competition" under the pretext of using monopoly profits to provide better patient care. In a large minority population with a large contingency of poor, the certificate of need is detrimental. It prevents needed medical providers from liberally selecting a marketplace. This legislative barrier prevents such medical providers from meeting the needs of the most distressed. Removing this burden will allow providers to build new surgical and urgent care facilities in the Wards, seed more providers and serve more citizens at a cost savings to the City. Secondly, Eliminate all licensing requirements for medical schools, hospitals, pharmacies, and medical doctors and other health care personnel within the “Power Zone”. Members from voluntary organizations as the American Public Health Association, the American Cancer Society, the National Foundation, the American National Red Cross, the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy and others will comprise an independent Board that will assure the Public of the viability of every medical provider in the “Power Zone”. I assure you that Medical Physicians and other Scientific Entities would come from miles around to build offices and centers in the Zone. Construction creates jobs (especially if you elect a Congress that will repeal the Bacon-Davis Act and the City Council repeals the Living Wage and Minimum Wage Laws). I say to Washington and the World, after 40 years in the desert and desolation, What could possibly be Lost? Creation and Empowerment are the Last Hopes of Urban America. It is time for Urban America to declare its Independence from the Noblemen of the Left.
