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Posted on 01/16/2012 6:06:24 AM PST by SeekAndFind
The real property of the landlord class is being liquidated, slowly but steadily, in one odd corner of America, with the nation as a whole blissfully unaware of the slow-motion seizure underway. In Washington, D.C., before the very eyes of the world's media, the rental property of landlords is being handed over to their tenants, step by careful step.
After Congress granted the District home rule in 1973, its elected officials found thumbing their nose at the city's former overseers more rewarding than trying to run a competent and honest government. Since then, several city agencies and programs have been forced into court-ordered receiverships because of the District's utter ineptitude in managing them. But that has barely made a dent in the psyche of local politicians. Although they often wax eloquent about how much they care about the District's most vulnerable residents, the receiverships, scandals, and multiple screw-ups that have continued to plague the city for decades have exposed the utter insincerity that lies behind these pronouncements.
Although the District has been forced to clean up its act a bit, there remains a host of less publicized policy failures, destructive in their own right, that each year sap millions of dollars from the wallets of taxpayers, both local and nationwide. Keep in mind that Congress subsidizes D.C. operations each year and that that "fix" helps the city maintain policies which should have found their way to the circular file decades ago.
In 1970, shortly before the District was granted home rule, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia got the ball rolling by making the District a crucible for the Court's own far-flung experiment in social engineering.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Has Atlas shrugged yet?
The bottom line is that long ago, D.C. should have been made a federal reservation, with a legitimate use of eminent domain to buy out all the property owners, giving plenty of room for both government buildings and public parks.
This would permit the city to have advanced, underground infrastructure, limit surface transportation to just VIP vehicles and public transportation, with amenities like covered moving sidewalks for popular pedestrian areas, that would allow rapid movement of tens of thousands of people.
Businesses would all be by concession, including the management of the Watergate hotel complex, and security, maintenance, and other personnel would commute.
Crime, except of course white collar crime, would be considerably diminished, and known repeat offenders could be barred from entry.
I hate when a 300 word excerpt doesn’t get around to the point of the headline.
RE: I hate when a 300 word excerpt doesn’t get around to the point of the headline.
You can always click on the link.
Sure, but it's always more tempting to do so, if I can get the gist of what overall point the author is trying to make, in the posted excerpt.
Many of us visit dozens and dozens of individual threads per day. If the original articles are well excerpted, one can often grasp the most salient points without having to go to the link and dig them out - thus conversation can ensue post haste.
That's all.
Free, Reader’s Digest Republic?
I would abolish DC home rule.
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