Thursday, May 12, 2005

DC Government: Through the Roof

2006 was a very big year

On May 10, 2005, the DC City Council approved a $4.9 billion budget for 2006, an almost 20% increase over 2005. Even in China and India, economic growth is less than 10%!!

Some of this increase is for schools, well this is good you might say. Guess again, DC already has one of the highest per capita spending, and worst performances, in public schools in the USA. What the system needs is reform not more 'investment'.

Just because the city is adding a healthy 8 or 9% in revenue during the good times, not excluding the real estate boom, let's not get in over-our-heads and create an unsustainable and sloppy budgetary baseline. Even John Maynard "In the long-run we are all dead (so why not have have the next generations pay for it?)" Keynes didnt encourage accelerated government spending in the good times.

On a positive note, Mayor Anthony William's proposed $9.50 per hour "Living Wage" was negated. DC has alot of homeless people, their cost of employment should go down, not up.