Michael Bell
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Jawando’s and the Teachers’ Union’s Questionable Morals on Housing Policy
Read more: Jawando’s and the Teachers’ Union’s Questionable Morals on Housing PolicyScenario: Maria’s child is running a 103℉ fever. She rushes the child to the nearest urgent care facility. The receptionist asks for an insurance card and a $100 copay. Maria stalls: if she pays the $100, she won’t have enough money to buy herself beer and cigarettes. Instead, Maria gambles on the child’s recovery and…
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Finally, MoCo can diversify its economic base (and Marc Elrich is helping)
Read more: Finally, MoCo can diversify its economic base (and Marc Elrich is helping)Prior to Trump II, study after study recommended that Montgomery County dilute its reliance on the federal government as a primary employer. For example, in the Sage Policy Group’s 2018 report The Coming Storm: How Years of Economic Underperformance are Catching up with Montgomery County: Between 2006 and 2016, Montgomery County lost 12,511 private sector…
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Is there empathy anywhere in America for Montgomery County?
Read more: Is there empathy anywhere in America for Montgomery County?Uber drivers are a variegated bunch. Some of them are overworked, some of them have too much free time. Some are chatty, some are sullen. Taking an Uber ride from Denver’s charming Union Station, I scored one of the overworked, chatty ones. “Where are you coming in from?” he asked. “Just outside the Washington, DC…
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At a minimum, developers deserve a “thank you.”
Read more: At a minimum, developers deserve a “thank you.”Mandy enters the Gaithersburg My Organic Market and buys a bunch of fresh, locally sourced broccoli (crowns only). She goes to the cashier, effects payment, then walks up to the on-duty manager and snaps, “You manipulative wheeler-dealer, you should be ashamed!” Next, Mandy drives to Wonderland Books in Bethesda where she picks up the book…
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Council Members’ residents’ KPIs showing alignment
Read more: Council Members’ residents’ KPIs showing alignmentA MoCo Show article from last December reported on the remarkable increase in the county’s bus ridership. “MCDOT’s Ride On system has provided more than 18.5 million rides during the current fiscal year [2024], compared with 15.4 million rides the previous fiscal year.” The article quoted County Executive Marc Elrich’s reaction: “I am pleased to…
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Showing compassion to our unemployed DEI neighbors
Read more: Showing compassion to our unemployed DEI neighborsThe Federal Aviation Administration’s Academy in Oklahoma City trains air traffic controllers for domestic and foreign airspace and is one of America’s premier educational institutions. Anyone can apply, few are accepted, even fewer graduate. As an example of the academy’s tough standards, students are given a blank paper and required to draw the airspace for…
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Who benefits from Jawando’s zoning pause? Wealthy progressives.
Read more: Who benefits from Jawando’s zoning pause? Wealthy progressives.Michael Bell Wealthy progressives have an interesting personality duality: many of them put We Believe yard signs professing concern for the underserved, and simultaneously they struggle with entitlement. I saw this myself as I took a drive around Chevy Chase Section 5 last November. Many of that area’s palatial homes boast yard signs demanding a…
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Board of Education Compensation: Part 2—Nobody needs a full-time BoE
Read more: Board of Education Compensation: Part 2—Nobody needs a full-time BoEIn part 1 of this series we reviewed the historical narrative for granting full-time pay to MCPS Board of Education members. The overarching theme for the pay increase is that the board members are doing full-time work for part-time pay. Here is a map of the counties in the DC region. The ones shaded in…
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Board of Education Compensation: Part 1—At MCPS, friends don’t let friends make less than $124,000
Read more: Board of Education Compensation: Part 1—At MCPS, friends don’t let friends make less than $124,000MoCo delegates Lorig Charkoudian and Joel Vogel have introduced MC 7-25, which provides for the following: a) MCPS Board of Education members get pay raises to $124,000/year starting December 2026 from the current $25,000/year (BoE president gets $10,000 more); b) the student member of the board is entitled to 80% of that $124,000 to be…
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Once again, Reardon Sullivan provides a dose of inspiration
Read more: Once again, Reardon Sullivan provides a dose of inspirationOur county’s elected, appointed, and shadow governments are almost entirely progressive—in the entitled and coercive form of the doctrine. Reforms that are badly needed (job creation, zoning, school choice, voting reform, taxation, etc.) are blocked in favor of imbecilic laws to protect us from unnecessarily paying an extra $68/year at the gas pump. Activists in…