budget
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Stop the Spend – A Non-Partisan Initiative
Read more: Stop the Spend – A Non-Partisan InitiativeStop the Spend is an initiative to constrain the growth of county spending to the rate of inflation. We are currently collecting signatures to have our initiative appear on the November ballot. A few weeks ago a group of us from Stop the Spend were out gathering signatures. One resident asked me, “Are you a…
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Tax the Rich and the Underserved Pay the Price
Read more: Tax the Rich and the Underserved Pay the PriceIf you were standing on a cliff watching others jump to their deaths, would you follow? Common sense says no. Yet Montgomery County is poised to do exactly that, repeating policies that have already failed elsewhere. This year’s proposed 5.5% expansion of the county budget comes with a steep cost: a 6.3¢ per $100 increase…
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Is There Such a Thing as Good Public Debt?
Read more: Is There Such a Thing as Good Public Debt?There is no such thing as a “bad” doughnut. Go to the beloved Donut King in Kensington and try to find one. In contrast, there is definitely a difference between good and bad public debt. In a recent meeting at Poolesville’s city hall, Council Member Will Jawando promoted the possibility of the county taking out…
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Bringing SNAP home
Read more: Bringing SNAP homeCouncil Member Marilyn Balcombe stated it perfectly: she cast the county’s recent special SNAP appropriation as a “response to federal chaos.” The recent federal shutdown was due to deliberations concerning lifting the debt ceiling. Without congressional authorization to borrow even more money than it already has, the government shut down due to lack of funds.…
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MoCo’s SNAP decisions: Part 2—Can MoCo feed its poor?
Read more: MoCo’s SNAP decisions: Part 2—Can MoCo feed its poor?In Part 1 of this series, we explored the ethical nature of asking the entire American public—present and future—to subvent our county’s poor. In this installment we’ll show that MoCo doesn’t need to beg the federal or state governments to fund local poverty relief; we can do it ourselves. The Department of Agriculture publishes biannual…
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MoCo’s SNAP decisions: Part 1—Should the feds pay for our less fortunate?
Read more: MoCo’s SNAP decisions: Part 1—Should the feds pay for our less fortunate?We’ve previously introduced Maria and Juanita: one an irresponsible alcoholic parent, the other a local version of Mother Theresa. I overheard them having a discussion at the Fort Totten Metro stop. “Maria,” said Juanita, “I’m not able to take care of your grandmother any more.” “Why not?” asks Maria. “Well, as you know, I travel…
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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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MoCo’s Triple A Ratings: Part 1—Municipal Bonds
Read more: MoCo’s Triple A Ratings: Part 1—Municipal BondsWhile working at an engineering firm, I had to endure yet another annual review. “Bell,” said the manager. “You’ve come to work every day, and you’ve completed your assignments on time.” “Don’t forget that I also proposed suggestions for process improvement and organizational efficiency.” “As you have,” said the manager. “That’s why I’m ranking you…
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MoCo Boost “Storytellers” Video Features Jose, Is Fully in Spanish, and Doesn’t Confirm If Recipient is an American Citizen
Read more: MoCo Boost “Storytellers” Video Features Jose, Is Fully in Spanish, and Doesn’t Confirm If Recipient is an American CitizenA brief follow-up here on MoCo’s ongoing “Boost” UBI (partly paid for by you, the hardworking taxpayer or you, the business owner, or you, the public school teacher) that caught my eye as I went back to the county’s MocoBoost.org website to see if new data or – gasp- an actual report on the efficacy…