Posted on 12/19/2002 5:52:21 AM PST by chambley1
WHEN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS come crying the blues early next year, as they prepare to put together budgets that actually might have to hold the line on spending, consider this tiny tale.
It's about one locality, but we suspect it could have occurred virtually anywhere in The Journal's coverage area.
The Arlington County government won General Assembly approval this year to provide $2,700 grants to county government employees who agreed to move into Arlington from outlying jurisdictions.
The goal was, at least many people thought, to provide modest assistance to those trying to get a foothold on the lower rungs of Arlington's overpriced real estate market.
Helping firefighters, cops and teachers buy a house is also a goal most hard-pressed Arlington taxpayers would support, especially those with modest incomes themselves.
The program garnered a little notice when it went into effect at midyear, but it recently came to light that the housing grants were not simply going to first-time home buyers who needed to scrimp and save, but were going to pretty well-heeled county employees.
In fact, one grant was used in the purchase of a house valued at more than a half-million dollars.
That's right: Tax dollars are being used to subsidize the purchase of a $500,000 home by a county employee.
That's pretty indefensible (is there a shortage of truly needy people in Arlington?), but county officials have tried their best to defend it anyway.
One elected official said the subsidy shouldn't matter to local taxpayers because the amount of money involved was so small.
But this is only partially about money. It's more about principle.
And the fact that those in government are so insulated from the realities of a brutal private-sector economy that they really don't see anything wrong with handouts to county employees - even those who can afford to buy houses that many of the rest of us will never have a chance to live in.
Never in recent memory has there been a greater disconnect between the public and private sectors. While elected government bodies once were filled with those who ran their own businesses, today it seems they are populated by "activists" of varying degrees who have never had to make tough choices that accompany running a business.
They are hopelessly out of touch. As a result, local government officials across the region cry poverty when, in fact, the governments they head are rolling in dough.
And when taxpayers suggest - ever so meekly - that some of that money be returned to them through tax cuts, they are derided as selfish, unwilling to help the poor, the homeless, widows and orphans and those with various other afflictions.
We're all for helping the poor. But people living in half-million-dollar houses aren't - by any stretch of the imagination. Government officials should meet taxpayers at least halfway by stopping such outrageous handouts to those who obviously don't need them. And quit bellyaching about not having enough money to spend.
Is anyone surprised by this?
I wrote about the fact that government, among many other public and private institutions, has lost the trust and respect of the people. See the second link below.
Congressman Billybob
Click for latest column on UPI, "Junk Science - Harvard and Beyond" (Not yet on UPI wire, nor FR.)
I'd love to help the deserving poor etc but the government steals all the money I'd use.
God Save America (Please)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.