OBAMA'S

NOT-SO-HIGH

SPEED RAIL

Valuable Funds and Rights-of-Way to Go to

Waste Under Administration's "High-Speed" Proposal;

Your Taxes Will Go Up

The non-railroad-specialized media has done a terrible job of reporting the details on President Obama's high speed rail announcement. For those of us who are rail proponents, it has been frustrating to get all kinds of conflicting information on the routes.


Now, rely on www.RobertDyer.net to give you the real story.


There is good news and bad news, of course.


The great news is that California will actually receive a genuine high-speed rail line stretching from Sacramento to San Diego. Top speed will be 220 M.P.H. This will be the first real HSR line in the United States, and is fairly competitive with other such lines around the world.


The bad news?


The other lines aren't really high speed rail. Tampa-Orlando will be a decent 168 MPH, Orlando-Miami an even better 186. But those trains can't keep up with HSR speeds in France and China.


Washington D.C. - Charlotte, NC - 90-110 MPH. That's a great development in transportation routewise, but those speeds are not HSR.


Detroit - Chicago? 110. That's not HSR, either.

This is a huge disappointment. Although I disagree with the President on most issues, Candidate Obama promised he would support passenger rail and finally construct a high speed rail system.

Of course, experts estimate that a HSR system rivaling our European and Asian counterparts would require at least $50 billion.

Once in office, however, the President's priorities seem to have changed. Astronomical sums have been spent - over $1.3 trillion for the "stimulus" package alone.

Now here we are, with Amtrak itself inadvertently making the case for its own privatization, and a paltry $8 billion for a handful of kind-of-high-speed rail routes.

To waste most of that on traditional rail certainly fits the theme of high-spending, high-debt economics put forward by this administration.

But this stimulus is really just a "reelect Democrats" scam. The non-high-speed rail dollars are going to track and tunnel upgrades states were going to pay for. This frees up money those states can use to artificially balance their budgets. Thereby postponing coming to grips with their structural deficits. Maryland is not the only state doing this, but Gov. Martin O'Malley is counting on $900 million in stimulus funny money - just for starters - to balance his budget for FY 2011.

What does this do? First, it means we're either never going to have a full HSR network, or we're going to have to build HSR again, making these non-HSR lines a complete waste of money.

And second, that waste of money - along with the devastating levels of debt Obama is bringing to us - is going to hit you and your children with a Triple Whammy of taxes in the near future.

Here's how it works:

Many Democrats - with media help and Obama funny money stimulus funds - may be reelected in 2010. The stimulus will run out (and in 2012, a new Democratic or Republican president may take office). Now those stuctural county and state deficits will be unavoidable.

Montgomery County and Maryland will raise taxes on you at both levels. And then, Uncle Sam - broke from stimulus spending and out-of-control entitlements - will hit you for the Triple Whammy. Because it's your Federal tax money that Obama has been so generously giving to O'Malley and Ike Leggett.

Whether you are talking about fiscal responsibility, or high-speed rail, we are sadly on the wrong track.

GROUNDHOG DAY

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO!

Hagerstown, Maryland Groundhog Beats

His Pennsylvania Counterpart to the Punch

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

Is winter over? Find out by watching this exclusive video of a superior groundhog, from the city of Hagerstown, Maryland. Will he see his shadow and go back into his hole? You can only find out by watching this video! While your friends and colleagues are waiting to find out what "Phil" thinks, you'll already know the answer!

Watch now on the Robert Dyer Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI7BBjJ7xsI

FUN FACT:

Did you know? 33% of millionaires have left Maryland since Gov. Martin O'Malley and his supporters in the General Assembly rammed through a "Millionaires Tax" in November 2007? That'll cut your state's tax revenue.

GEORGE LEVENTHAL'S

PUBLIC RELATIONS

DISASTER

Montgomery County restauranteurs weary from a regulatory beating delivered by Councilmember George Leventhal over the last 4 years, now are smarting from Leventhal's slap against what he claims is a lack of "high end" restaurants in the county.

Mr. Leventhal's full comments (see previous entry), and loud and proud boasts that he financially supports a rival county's restaurants during this severe recession, are simply despicable.

GEORGE

LEVENTHAL'S

COAKLEY

MOMENT

Councilmember Trashes Montgomery County

Restaurants in Post Column; Dodges His Own

Role in County's Economic Collapse

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

Montgomery County Councilmember George Leventhal (D - At Large) doesn't think much of the county's restaurants, according to a quote in yesterday's Washington Post; he says we in Montgomery are less "sophisticated" than our neighbors in Fairfax County:

"It is certainly true nowadays that if I want to take my wife to a four- or five-star restaurant... there are a lot more of them in Tysons than in Bethesda. Fairfax has become high-end."

- George Leventhal

When was the last time Mr. Leventhal dined in downtown Bethesda? His comment reveals how utterly out of touch this 8-year councilman is with not only the taxpayers, but with the businesses in the very county he governs! Holy smoke, what a bunch of hogwash!

Furthermore, Leventhal used this softball-filled interview to pontificate again on the state of the county's economy and tax rates.

Leventhal's post-McDonnell tactic is on display again: after serving in the same office for 8 years, he is trying to convince us that he was just elected in some kind of special election. And is now here on the scene to tackle a mess others made.

Just one problem: George Leventhal is one of the architects of this mess! George Leventhal voted early and often for the very immoral and Draconian taxes he is now criticizing. Talk about a 180 degree flip flop.

McCartney did not challenge any of Leventhal's assertions, so now, as always, you - the highly-informed, intellectual reader - have turned to RobertDyer.net, where the only real journalism in town seems to happen these days.

First of all, we've covered the Leventhal record of tax and spend, budget-busting, developer-boosting economics a few weeks ago. He can't dodge that record, and he won't dodge that record.

Leventhal is a tax and spend councilman, period. Examine his record.

Clearly, like many of his colleagues at the county and state levels, Mr. Leventhal is either planning to retire, or is so smugly overconfident of reelection that his hubris has reached sky-high levels.

How else could he make such a statement about Montgomery County restaurants?

Not only is it patently false and about 20 years out of date, but go back to that Leventhal record. One of the reasons top chefs have hesitated to open restaurants in Montgomery is the county's antiquated liquor regulations, which make it difficult to offer the selection and prices of the surrounding jurisdictions.

Leventhal has shown no leadership in 8 years to repeal these restrictive laws. Of course, with this New Leventhal, who knows what his position is on any issue at this point.

Secondly, Mr. Leventhal has spent the last 4 years raising the cost of doing business for restaurant owners in Montgomery County. He personally rammed through the costly trans-fat ban in 2007, and just slammed restaurants again with an expensive "menu reform" law a few months ago.

For taxer-regulator Leventhal, who has personally targeted the restaurant industry with new costs and burdens, it takes some nerve to criticize our restaurant owners. He has done everything in his power to make doing business in Montgomery County more difficult.

It's good he has so many friends in the local media. The bad news is, the voters aren't as dumb as he thinks.

And, unlike Mr. Leventhal, we exist in the real world of Montgomery County, not the rarified air of Elite Montgomery, where 1960s liberals bash their own constituents and businesses, and loudly boast of spending their money in another county.

Here in the real Montgomery County, we know that we have great restaurants from Tom and Ray's in Damascus to the restaurant capital of Maryland, Bethesda.

But what's more, we "unsophisticated" folk whom the Leventhals must get away from in "high-end" Fairfax County (give me a break), know that Mr. Leventhal is absolutely and utterly mistaken.

Contrary to Leventhal's outrageous assertion, Bethesda, in fact, has an astronomically greater number of 4 and 5 star restaurants than Tysons Corner. And more world-renowned chefs.

First, examine a short list of chefs we have in Bethesda:

Jose Andres - Hey, George, ever heard of this guy? He's only got his own PBS show, appeared on Top Chef, has his own cookbooks, and created the tapas fad that went nationwide. His restaurant? Jaleo, right here in... ...Bethesda.

Yannick Cam

Robert Wiedmaier

Geoff Tracy (at Lia's in Friendship Heights)

Michel Laudier - formerly chef at the famous Rive Gauche, now chef at Tragara in Bethesda (have you heard of the Rive Gauche, Councilmember Leventhal?)

And for a time, there was David Craig

Now, secondly, examine the Washingtonian Top 100 Restaurants List:

Montgomery County has 16 restaurants on the list... Addie's, Assaggi, Black Market Bistro, Black's Bar & Kitchen, Cava, Faryab, General Store, Grapeseed, Indique Heights, Jackie's, Nava Thai, Passage to India, Ray's the Classics, Spice Xing, and Sushi Ko.

Tysons has... 1! That's right, one! Inox.

Can you explain that, Mr. Leventhal?

It seems that 8 years of self-serving leadership and a lack of hard-hitting media coverage of this council's mismanagement of the county has produced "leaders" of a singular ego and hubris. So out of touch with reality, that they apparently do not even walk or drive around major cities within the jurisdiction they rule over.

If Fairfax is so much better, and Mr. Leventhal doesn't care to support our local businesses, why doesn't he move over there?

CAN THEY DO

THE JOB YOU

PAY THEM

TO DO?

Councilmembers Have a Stimulus Package for

Political Cronies that Grows Government...

...and the Budget

I suspect that you, like me, are wondering when you are going to get a bailout? When you are going to get some of that stimulus funny money?

Somebody's getting it, but it's not us!

Blue Ribbon panels and bipartisan commissions have always been a way that tired, incumbent politicians can give the appearance they are actually doing something.

Recent calls for a variety of experts, studies, and commissions in Montgomery County raise questions about the ability of our elected officials to do their jobs.

Council President Nancy Floreen has proposed creating a new bureaucratic body at taxpayer expense to supervise economic development (with heavy emphasis on "development," as Floreen is the largest recipient of campaign contributions from developers).

But we already know what stimulates real economic growth: less Draconian tax and regulation policies, high quality schools, and a functioning transportation system. Hey, 1 out of 3 ain't bad, right? Unfortunately, you need all three, and now the council has admitted that it is putting those high quality schools on the back burner. They've taken a new direction - a complete break with Montgomery County's traditions and values - in education.

They're asking for less money for schools, cutting programs and teacher salaries, and promising to crowd classrooms and expand the "trailer parks" outside of county schools. All to appease their developer buddies.

Anyway, back to the point: Economic experts, and the experience of the last 100 years, makes clear what we need to have in this county. So why do we need to pay a new government body, sure to be made up of the same old Democrat developer-friendly cronies, to tell us what to do?

And does this mean that Steve Silverman will be fired? After all, Mr. Silverman already holds the position that does what Floreen's commission supposedly will do. Does this mean they're saying Silverman can't do the job? I'd like to hear that discussion.

Either way, the council is sidestepping its obligations.

Now there is going to be a Duchy Trachtenburg development oversight office. Wait a minute. Isn't that what the Planning Board and Dr. Yes do already? Are they saying Dr. Yes and the Board and planning staff cannot do the job?

Then why are we, the taxpayers, paying the council, Mr. Silverman, and the Planning Department employees' salaries?

Don't forget, Ike Leggett is spending $100,000 to have a guy look at the new Growth Policy. Why didn't he just email it to me for free, so I could tell him it's a recipe for disaster, traffic gridlock, and overcrowded schools?

At some point, our elected officials either need to take action, or resign and let more qualified replacements take over.

In an abysmal economy, stimulating cronies, bailing out developers, and Growing Government is not a blueprint for economic growth.

This just in...

...from the surreal files:

COUNTY COUNCIL

DECLARES BLIZZARD

RESPONSE "TERRIFIC,

EXEMPLARY"

Remember the December blizzard? You know, the one where many streets were unplowed a week after the storm? Remember how hard it was to get around in your car or on public transportation (if it was running at all)?

The County Council doesn't.

In fact, they just issued a press release congratulating themselves on a job well done!

Read these excerpts:

Council Vice President Valerie Ervin told DOT Director Art Holmes,
Deputy Director Al Roshdieh and DHS Chief Keith Compton that she “never had such great removal on my street.” DHS did “fantastic work, and we thank you for that. ….. It was exemplary.”

Council President Nancy Floreen echoed Ms. Ervin’s statement, saying “terrific job” and “We should all be very proud.”

Of course, the snowplow drivers put in many hours of hard work as always. And did a good job where they were told to plow. But not all streets got the same treatment!

This is not the time for our elected officials to congratulate themselves. Rather, it's a time to ask questions about planning and whether or not making all the wrong budget decisions has impacted the basic function of government to clear residential streets of snow in a reasonable amount of time.

I'm trying to create a sample usage of my proposed transit card, but I didn't realize that the Baltimore area transit website (MTA) was so poorly designed. It's going to take forever for me to connect the dots for a sample trip across the region. And the limitations of the MARC schedule (nothing after 8:20 out of Greenbelt) only emphasizes why expansion of MARC is desperately needed. Stay tuned.

UNIFIED TRANSIT

CARD: A REAL

TRANSIT PLAN

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

The Metro budget options currently on the table are short-term band aids, but long-term disasters if we really hope to increase the use of transit in the area.

Higher fares? Less frequent service? Crowded trains and platforms? Why not just get back in your car at that point?

The real way to get people to use transit is to make it easy to access, convenient, and an enjoyable experience.

Now, the restructuring of Metro is a completely different topic. Today, I'm just talking about the plan I proposed when I ran for state delegate 4 years ago.

My proposal was to create a single card that works with WMATA rail and bus, MTA light rail/subway/bus, MARC, VRE, Amtrak, Ride On and other regional buses, etc. It might also be expanded to include the ability to pay parking meters at transit station lots and taxi fares. In addition, the functions could potentially be transferred to your cellphone, allowing for a completely paperless transaction system giving you full access to every transit option in the DC/MD/VA area.

Users would pay a daily or weekly price that would allow unlimited use of all bus, rail, and subway systems mentioned above. This would not only provide a low price, but encourage more transit use. First of all, your additional use would be "free," unlike the gas you use for the equivalent car trip. Second, the user never has to worry about one mode of transit shutting down, or getting on the wrong route by mistake. With unlimited use, you can keep riding all day if you want.

In order to make this system work, and have a sustainable transit network, we'll still need to radically change the structure and operations of Metro. It will have to be financially solvent, and hopefully one day, profitable.

Increasing ridership is essential to any of that success. Without riders, you can raise fares all you want, but - like Metro at this moment - you'll be going nowhere.

Check out a new video of Woodmont Avenue on the Robert Dyer Channel at www.RobertDyer.net!

Have you called your legislators and told them you won't vote for them if they vote for the Carr Tax?

from the outrageous
files...
LEGGETT,
COUNTY COUNCIL,
LEGISLATORS TO
DEMAND L E S S
MONEY FOR
SCHOOLS IN
ANNAPOLIS THIS
MORNING

Elected Officials Seek to Slash MCPS
Budget, Transfer Education Funds to
Developers and Special Interests

It's Outrageous

Education ALERT: Bill MC14-10 "Maintenence of Effort Waiver" aka Less Money for MCPS Hearing, today at 9:30 a.m., Rm. 170 Lowe Bldg., Annapolis.

In plain ingles, Bill MC14-10 is Montgomery County's legislators, county executive, and councilmembers asking for the ability to drastically cut MCPS funding. A free pass to transfer funds from education to the developers and special interests that got them elected.



Nancy Floreen has even proposed spending millions to create a new department that will help those interests! Carl Sagan is still laughing hysterically somewhere out there in the cosmos about Leggett and Floreen's plan to spend billions to save millions.



Pretty much everything parents are asking MCPS, and the County Council, to keep in the budget is on the line with Bill MC14-10.



They're trying to quietly sneak this through. You need to call your legislators before that happens, and tell them you oppose MC14-10.



You may remember Ike Leggett recently said that the law requiring the county to maintain funding for MCPS is "stupid."



That tells you all you need to know about this council and legislature's commitment to the children, parents, and teachers of Montgomery County.

OPERATING

PURPLE LINE, CCT

AS MARC ROUTES

COULD SAVE

TRANSPORTATION

FUNDS FOR

OTHER PROJECTS

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

One of the biggest challenges Montgomery County and Maryland face is that we have decades worth of highway and transit projects to complete, but a lack of funds to pay for them. The bungled ICC has ravaged transportation budgets at the expense of everything else. And leaders such as Ike Leggett and Nancy Floreen (who say they'll spend billions to save millions) and Martin O'Malley (who has put the state's AAA bond rating on the line with a big-spending, no cutting, smoke and mirrors budget proposal - literally, because Wall Street has said so!) are intent to keep on spending transportation money on their special interest friends who got them elected.

This means that new, fiscally responsible citizens who win elections this November will have to save every penny, to spread funds across more projects.

One example would be to scrap the idea of light rail for the Purple Line and Corridor Cities Transitway, and run the routes as MARC commuter rail instead. It's hard to even fathom the CCT right now, as the route is poorly planned, and lacks the bicounty strategy, ample parking, and bus links it needs to have even a small benefit.

But both eventual projects could save money by using MARC diesel locomotives and passenger cars. Reliable, refurbished locomotives can be acquired at a lower cost, and combined with a larger MARC order to save even more.

Diesel trains do run on urban streets in other U.S. cities, and unlike Metro, they don't shut down when it snows!

What about the louder engine sound, you ask? Well, those same locomotives rode the rails of the Purple Line route two decades ago, so the precedent is set.

It's a sensible, responsible plan to provide more transit in the horrible fiscal situation this 8 year county council has left behind in its path of economic destruction.

BANKRUPT

BIG SPENDERS

With $600 Million+ Budget Shortfall and

Record Debt, Leggett Calls for 7%

Capital Spending Increase

This reminds me of the story earlier this year about a Montgomery County resident who was making less than $15,000 and on food stamps. She said she was convinced by a realtor that she could afford a brand new, luxury colonial in Clarksburg. And actually went ahead and bought it. Guess who's picking up the tab now? You, the county taxpayer.

Imagine a man comes home from work, and has just been fired. His wife tells him they have $60,000 in credit card debt, a child about to go to college, and they can't pay the mortgage.

What if his reaction was, "I'm going out to buy a Cadillac!!"

Would you want that man running your county government?

Apparently our elected officials are just like that. What are you going to do about it in November?

You'll have to wait 'til then, though, because Ike Leggett and Nancy Floreen have big plans for your wallet, and big debt for your grandkids to pay off.

"I think we can probably afford this," says Floreen in the Washington Post.

The Post definitely believes her: Reporter Michael Laris says Leggett's is an "upbeat approach," a "boost" for a mighty government with a "vast physical presence." Leggett's fanciful address was heartily received by Laris and a "cheering audience" at Paint Branch HS, whose principal gushed that Leggett's dream will "forever mark him as the 'Education County Executive.'"

I guess running the county budget into the ground, saddling taxpayers with more debt, cutting teacher salaries two years in a row, saying that a state law requiring full funding of education is "stupid," and asking Annapolis for less money for schools is the recipe for anyone to be an "education county executive." Brilliant analysis. Duh.

But let's do the analysis:

Leggett says we are going to spend $4 billion to "save millions." Huh? Maybe my calculator is broken, but I thought a few million was less than even 1 billion, much less 4... This is New Math, possibly?

So let's say we spend that $4 billion. This means, based on the $249 million in debt service this year, an average additional debt service of at least $17 million a year over the next 6 years. Imagine taking that out of education, police, or transit budgets. I'm not even sure that figure is high enough, given we're talking about $4 billion.

I'll take a successful education program, more police officer hires, and more transit and road construction over a building ribbon-cutting any day of the week.

But then, this is the same council that, facing that $600 million plus shortfall, spent $170 million to buy the Webb Tract. So they could then work out a sweetheart land deal near Shady Grove for the developers that got them elected.

It's outrageous.

You won't read this in the Post, or hear it from your elected officials, but we have a structural deficit. Thanks to tax-and-spend government by this 8 year council, we will continue to have budget shortfalls every year for the next several years. This council has failed to create jobs for 8 years, and their late proposal to "turn it around" is the same as the last: more mixed-use development, which - as you know - created no significant jobs. But it sure works for the developers who got them elected, and expect to get them reelected this fall!

No jobs. Cut education, police, fire, transit. Increase debt. Spend billions to save millions.

Like Jerry Weast said, "It's like a no-brainer."

YAHOO!

USES HOME PAGE

IN APPARENT

ATTEMPT

TO TIP

MASSACHUSETTS

SENATE RACE

FOR COAKLEY

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

I don't like to spend much time on national issues on this blog, but this story has implications for everyone who will be devastated if Congress passes its health "reform" bill.

As you may know, there is a special election tomorrow in Massachusetts to determine who will replace Ted Kennedy in the U.S. Senate. The candidates are Republican state senator Scott Brown, and Attorney General Martha Coakley.

What you may not know, is that Yahoo! put itself in a bad ethical position yesterday by promoting Coakley on its front page. Yahoo!'s front page serves as the "home page" for many internet users.

Yesterday morning, under the "top searches" box, one of the top 10 was "Martha Coakley." Later, I checked again, and it was still there. Like so many of the Yahoo! Top 10 search terms, this was clearly inaccurate. "Martha Coakley" is not in any way more searched for nationally than "Scott Brown." Yet "Scott Brown" was not present in the Top 10.

The ethical thing to do would have been to use the term "Mass. Senate Race."

Instead, Yahoo! chose to only show the Democrat, correctly assuming 2 things: first, Massachusetts voters unfamiliar with the candidates would hear only about Coakley; second, many users click on unfamiliar names or terms - thereby executing search results - to find out what they are. This action would probably lead them to click through to Coakley's home page.

This may seem like a small detail. But given the small turnout in special elections, the power of Yahoo! could conceiveably tip what is expected to be a very close election.

For a web company attempting to be a news outlet, that impression of abuse of power is unethical and simply unfair. But given the desperation of Senate Democrats who want to increase the profits of the insurers and drug companies who got them elected, it's not surprising.

CARR TAX

COULD IGNITE

TEA PARTY IN

MONTGOMERY

COUNTY AND

STATEWIDE

Should We Boycott Safeway for Supporting

A Grocery Tax on Every Bagful of Groceries?

I believe Delegate Al Carr's proposed 5 cent-per-bag grocery tax will spawn a Tea Party movement in Montgomery County, and across this state. It will be a Tea Party beyond the official Tea Party groups - although the formal groups will surely have a record boost in membership.

But this issue cuts across many partisan and political boundaries. This tax is an assault on freedom, a meddlesome intrusion of Big Government into the simple transaction of buying food at the local grocery store, and a highway robbery theft from the pockets of working families across the county and state.

We had the Madaleno 6% internet tax proposal, and the Floreen $250 parking tax proposal. And now we have the Carr Tax proposal. Most residents of Montgomery County are unaware this is even being proposed. That's what happened in D.C., and then it was too late.

Big Government is again punishing you, the taxpayer, to gain the income it desperately needs to grow ever-larger and satisfy the ferocious appetite of the special interests and developers who brought it to power. It's going beyond human decency, and taxing groceries, which have been exempted from most sales tax formulas for years. That's because even the poorest among us must eat.

And that's another important point: what makes the Carr Tax so regressive, punitive, draconian, and gratuitous is the fact that Carr and Co. know that you must buy groceries. You need bags to carry those groceries in. This is exactly the same as another Big Government scheme: something that the Powers-that-Be such as "COG" and other groups like to call "congestion pricing."

As you know, that is the fantasy concept that you will be charged a higher road toll (when it is immoral to charge a toll for roads you already paid for!) or Metro fare during "peak travel times."

Those wise and superior souls who make these decisions for you have claimed that this will force you, a simple-minded fool to their minds, to "change" your "behavior," and that will magically and mysteriously get traffic off the roads during those "peak times."

Of course, not being a simple-minded fool, you know that this is a preposterous and misleading front to vacuum more money out of your wallet. That's because even simple-minded fools know that 90%+ of working people MUST travel during peak times. That's the schedule set up by society, and that's why we have this thing called rush hour.

So politicians pass a tax they KNOW you will have to pay because you can't change the hour your workday starts (unless you've got one of those plum jobs). And they do it under the guise of "the environment."

It's outrageous.

But I am confident that this latest such tax will galvanize the taxpayers of Montgomery County like never before. Are we going to just quietly take another beating at the hands of Big Government? Or are we going to hold every last delegate and senator who votes for the Carr Tax accountable at the polls this September and November?

I'm confident there are Democrats as well as Republicans who can run for office, and who sincerely oppose this neverending stream of flat, regressive taxes and fees on the working people of Montgomery County.

Finally, I think it is quite disturbing to hear that a Safeway representative is endorsing the Carr Tax Grocery Tax. What is Safeway's opinion of you, its loyal customer? Why would Safeway - unless this representative misspoke - get involved in a scorching hot potato local politics issue like a grocery tax? Is that a winning message to customers? You're against us too? You want your customers to pay a tax-per-bag of groceries (never mind that that might cause shoppers to buy less)?

Whatever the reason is, we have a wealth of options here in Montgomery County when it comes to groceries. Giant, Food Lion, Whole Foods, Weis Markets, Wal-Mart, etc. And many smaller, independent grocers and convenience stores.

So think about it. Maybe you should shop somewhere else until the fate of the Carr Tax is decided. And keep monitoring the story, to find out if any other grocery chain joins Safeway in supporting the Carr Tax. Visit my website, www.RobertDyer.net, and use the email link there to get on my mailing list as we crusade to change Montgomery County for the better. To transform our government into one that serves the people, not the other way around.

Support the grocers who support you.

And vote out the politicians who vote for the Carr Tax. They believe that you serve the government, when the original Patriots who founded this country believed it should be the other way around.

CARR TAX:

AL CARR

INTRODUCES

MARYLAND

GROCERY TAX

Tax-per-bag to Hit Poor Residents and

Seniors Hard in Already-Bad Economic Times

Virginia has a Car Tax. Now Maryland is getting a Carr Tax.

Delegate Al Carr (D-Dist.18) has introduced a new tax bill for you, the residents of Maryland. Aside from all of the new taxes and "fees" levied on you by Montgomery County and the state since 2007, and Sen. Richard Madeleno's and Nancy Floreen's attempts to add an internet shopping sales tax and parking tax respectively, Del. Carr has just the thing to lift the poor out of this recession: More new taxes!

Carr's tax will cost you 5 cents per bag of groceries. Carr says 3 cents will go to "the environment," but failed to mention where the other 2 cents go. (Guess.) As usual, the rich will have no problem covering 5 cents per bag of groceries. As for the poor and senior citizens, and working families across the state... ...you're going to have less money, and Carr and his cohorts in Annapolis will have all the more of your money to play with. All under the usual guise of helping "the environment."

It's outrageous.

Mr. Carr is calling from the same playbook as his fellow politicians and environmental extremists across the nation: to get more money from your wallet, a devious scheme: turn you, the victims of pollution in our community into the villain, who will now be punished by a grocery tax.

Yes, they're claiming your grocery bags are ending up in Rock Creek. Funny, I've never left a plastic bag there or in any other waterway. So, I have to pay a tax because Mr. Carr and his buddies are unable to do their job, and catch and punish those who litter?

There's nothing new about that. Our elected officials have allowed littering to continue unabated. There is constant trash in the Little Falls stream system. There has been an ongoing problem of trash being left by the tennis courts down on Westbard, across from the Park Bethesda.

I also saw, and captured photos of, trash, litter, and junk dumped in the spring alongside Woodfield Road extended in Damascus. There was even a pet carrier down there!

What have Mr. Carr and Co. done to catch the people who illegally dump that trash in our waterways? Why are so many of the "fines" for those who litter and dump toxic waste and pollutants into our waters so laughably low? (When they bother to catch them at all).

If Del. Carr and other politicians - as well as Safeway, which claims to support Carr's tax(!!) - are so genuinely concerned about bags...

...why don't they give each customer who uses a reusable bag 5 cents for doing so?

What? They won't do that? You mean, their passion, and Safeway's passion for the environment has limits? They're saying that 5 cents would be just too much to give you, their loyal taxpayer and customer?

Again, 5 cents is "small" when you pay it, but "too much" for Carr and Safeway to pay you for helping the environment.

Ladies and gentlemen, the hypocrisy of "environmentalists" has been laid bare once again.

And as usual, it is the poor who will suffer the pain of yet another flat, regressive tax. And seniors on fixed incomes. And large families, and you know that liberal extremists like to punish large families, because they believe "there are too many of us on the planet."

Will this tax succeed in such dark economic times? Let's just say this won't earn any delegates who support it many votes at Leisure World!

Note who votes for it. Hold them accountable. Pay attention to which grocery chains support the tax; shop elsewhere. Stand up for your rights. It's your money, not Mr. Carr's, Mr. O'Malley's, or Mr. Leggett's.

As for Del. Carr, once his constituents realize they are paying a new "Carr Tax," he should not assume his reelection is in the bag.

LEGGETT PROPOSES

TO ELIMINATE ALL

METRO ACCESS

VIA BUS ON

WEEKENDS IN

WEST BETHESDA

Countywide Cuts Target Hospital Staff and Patients,

Seniors and the Disabled, Early Voters

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett has proposed a devastating course for Ride On bus service, eliminating multiple routes altogether, and weekend service on all buses serving West Bethesda: T2, Ride On 23, Ride On 29.

This means that no one in West Bethesda will be able to reach a Metro station without driving there on weekends. So much for our "green" elected officials. In April of last year, Leggett and the county council made a similar decision for Damascus, eliminating weekend service for Ride On route 90 - the only transit service in all of Damascus.

One small implication of this, is that now both western Bethesda and Damascus residents will be unable to participate in early voting this fall via mass transit.

It's also interesting that at least 2 lines being cut serve Sibley Hospital and Montgomery General Hospital.

Deep service cuts in White Flint and Germantown call into question yet again the council's decision to go forward with massive development in both areas without the infrastructure in place.

Finally, not only does a Rockville Senior Center route get slashed, but disabled residents losing free taxi service were told they "could use Ride On."

Not if Ride On doesn't run anymore!!

It's outrageous.

And all of these devastating cuts only add up to $1.2 million in "savings." While other wasteful spending has occurred and continues. This as a shortfall of over $600 million remains!

FULL "DISCLOSURE:"

WASHINGTON POST

PRINTS NEGATIVE

STORY ON WOOD

BIOFUEL CREDITS,

FAILS TO DISCLOSE

POST CO. DIRECTOR'S

FINANCIAL INTEREST

IN CHEAP

LUMBER

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

The Washington Post has once again failed to disclose a financial conflict of interest with a topic it is covering. Sunday's Post contained an article that painted a negative picture of biofuel/biomass tax credits and subsidies from the Federal government, that are artificially raising the cost of lumber used for applications such as composite board used in homebuilding.

Here's the problem: Post Co. Director Warren Buffett just happens to have an ownership stake or financial interest in multiple companies that utilize wood and wood byproducts for everything from custom wood frames (Larson-Juhl, Inc.) to home furniture (RC Willey Home Furnishings, Star Furniture, Nebraska Furniture Mart) to - yes - homebuilding (such as a little company called Crest Modular Homes, and Clayton Homes, to name two). For shame, for shame.

There are so many instances of conflict of interest in the Post's reporting, that I'm getting a bit bored investigating and bringing you the facts. But in a town where no one else will report on these things, someone has to do it!

By the way, I oppose many of these biofuel, biomass initiatives myself because they drive up the costs of everything from homes to food, which is morally questionable. Especially when the rationale for these fuels is a mere theory and hoax known as "global warming" (or as they have to call it during 2 solid months of below-freezing weather, "climate change"). So I guess I actually agree with Mr. Buffett on this one.

DAMASCUS ES

ADA COMPLIANCE

UPDATE

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

The FY2011 MCPS budget process is underway, and there are all kinds of threats from Ike Leggett, councilmembers, and state legislators to reduce funding for education in Montgomery County.

At this critical time, the school board has closed the speaking lists for the public's commentary at 2 hearings.

That is an improper action, but it is still possible to submit written comments, and I have done so. My specific message was to retain the funding in the CIP budget for ADA upgrades at Damascus Elementary now scheduled for next summer (see previous entries for more about that).

Speaking of Damascus, I have a new photo of the water tower on my photos page at www.RobertDyer.net

Did you know Ike Leggett's proposal to eliminate RideOn 3 in Silver Spring will put approx. 100 additional cars on the road? That sounds "green" to me!

$70 million in proposed cuts to education, police, seniors, and taxi service for the disabled, and yet that only scratches the surface in a $640 million budget shortfall!

Expect a second shipment of Federal "funny money" from the Obama administration to cover a lot of the Democratic deficits in Rockville and Annapolis this year, in a "surprise" award of more "stimulus funds," aka "get-failed-Democrats-reelected-at-taxpayer-expense funds."

I don't believe they can cover over $600 million in debt without devastating MCPS in the process. Will Democrat delegates and senators actually vote to CUT money for education in Annapolis this session? In an election year? That will take some nerve, and a whole lot of that Washington Post/local liberal media magic to make that work.

More portables. Crowded classrooms. Less ESOL and special education.

Will the voters buy that this November?

If you're in any way inclined to take Councilmember Nancy Floreen's Gazette piece seriously, please supply yourself with the actual facts on the 8-year record she and her colleagues have on the issues of jobs and economic development:

http://robertdyer.blogspot.com/2009/12/from-surreal-news-file-moco-job-killers.html

<< + >>

We were speaking earlier this week about monopoly utilities, and what do you know? PEPCO wants to increase your monthly rate again.

<< + >>

I've been a strong supporter of Amtrak over the years, but, sadly, Amtrak's newest plan to shove operation costs to states ironically makes the case for privatization.

MR.

"GREEN

GREEN

GREEN"

JEANS HAS

RETURNED

Post Puff Piece on Fantasy MoCo Traffic

Patterns Says "The System Worked"

Is this Health/Science section article on traffic lights in Montgomery County a stunt or hoax to get attention for the newspaper? I don't want to take the bait, but this article is so inaccurate and so glorifying of Ike Leggett and his transportation department, that it literally defies reality.

In short, I can't let such a blatantly false story pass.

I don't know where Mr. "Green Green Green" aka Ashley Halsey III is reporting from, but the lights on 355 depicted as green during rush hour in the article are anything but.

I often have to make the trip up to Rockville during the evening rush, and if I use 355, I can tell you with the absolute authority of experience that 7 to 8 of the 10 signals illustrated on page E6 will turn RED as you proceed north. Period.

Wooten Parkway, Mt. Vernon Pl., Richard Montgomery Dr., 355/28, E. Middle Lane, "entrance to shopping center," North Washington St., and Mannakee St. are all RED, RED, RED. EVERY TIME. Believe me, because it is so infuriating to make the trip on 355 or 270.

Yet, Halsey writes that all of those plus Monroe St. and Beall Ave. are green, and that the total trip will take you only 3 minutes and 5 seconds.

THAT IS ABSOLUTE HOGWASH.

THAT IS ABSOLUTELY FALSE.

GET ON 355 RIGHT NOW AND TRY IT.

YOU'LL LEARN REALITY QUICKLY.

I don't understand where Halsey is getting his information besides Ike Leggett and county press releases. Has he ever actually driven on 355?

What happened to accuracy?

This article was clearly a hoax, an exercise in reporting naivete, or a calculated attempt to help our current elected officials - who have created the traffic mess we deal with each day - get reelected despite their failed "leadership."

The Washington Post thinks you - its few remaining readers - are idiots who will believe anything. Surely an editor would have realized this piece was depicting a sheer fantasy about one of the most notoriously gridlocked counties in America. Right?

It's outrageous.

Following up on the latest Comcast story... Is it any wonder that Comcast bills continue to be outrageously high, and customer service poor, if our elected officials are receiving perks such as the free TV time given to Attorney General Doug Gansler?

That's in addition to the usual fat checks our monopoly utitilites write to incumbent politicians. What exactly goes on inside our MoCo government's "county cable office?" We are experiencing the same problems we were 10 years ago, as even those with limited cable packages are paying big bucks. And constantly losing channels! For example, why in the name of Pete does the basic digital box cable seniors and low income residents were forced into upgrading to not include basic channels like MTV2, CMT, and G4? It's outrageous. And so were the lines I've been told those customers were forced to stand in at Comcast HQ in Shady Grove.

There is no legitimate competition, unless you are willing to give up county government channels, or give your entire telecommunications business to one company - or both.

That's thanks to our elected officials, who continue to do nothing about the abuse of the public by cable and utility monopolies, which exist in every city across the country.

This is the year to change that, by electing those who are willing to bring about change and introduce competition to stagnant markets that drain the average citizen's wallet.

SONNY,

SAM, AND...

DOUG?

Maryland Attorney General Receives Free Airtime from

Cable Monopoly Under his Jurisdiction

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

Well, it may still be the 12 Days of Christmas on RobertDyer.net, but the investigative reporting doesn't stop for holidays. This blog doesn't comment on the news; it makes news.

And here we go again.

Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler has been appearing on a Redskins pre-game show on Comcast Sportsnet for an unknown number of game days this season. This raises ethical questions for a number of reasons.

First, as a sitting attorney general, Mr. Gansler has an active campaign account and is widely expected to run for reelection. This puts reporting requirements and limitations upon what types of in-kind contributions he may accept. In my opinion, extended airtime such as this qualifies as an in-kind contribution. Especially in an election year as we are right now.

Second, Mr. Gansler is in a powerful position to make rulings affecting Comcast's business and operations within the state of Maryland. On-air personalities and other Comcast employees are, in effect, acting as unregistered lobbyists by pandering to Mr. Gansler and giving him this tremendous advantage his prospective election opponents will not have.

Third, the Washington Post company has a business relationship with Comcast and Comcast SportsNet. Is this an attempt to buy favor on behalf of the Post Co., as well? If the Post. Co. is willing to give this special, political favor to Mr. Gansler, are they also going to give him favorable coverage on the Post's pages and website? We'll monitor this, and hold all parties accountable.

I hope the Post, Gazette, Examiner, etc. will hold them accountable as well.

Ultimately, the voters - sports fans included - will hold our public officials accountable on election day.

In the meantime, I am looking forward to an invitation from Comcast to be part of the on-air team for the Orioles games this season.

Watch an exclusive new video on the Robert Dyer Channel, as the 12 Days of Christmas continue on www.RobertDyer.net!!!

Meet the "Big Cheese of New Orleans" as I unbox an assortment of Elmer's Chee Wees snacks, direct from Louisiana:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKCXRY48vK4

The 12 Days of Christmas continue on www.RobertDyer.net!

Today, you can now watch a playlist of the top 10 videos of the year as chosen by viewers of the Robert Dyer Channel!

Just click on this link to enjoy the most popular videos of 2009:

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=639720C4F0E13D74

And thanks to the audience of thousands who have tuned in to the Robert Dyer Channel since it launched last spring!

SIDEWALKS

BLOCKED BY

SNOW AT

WOOD ACRES ES

School and Public Sidewalks Not

Wheelchair Accessible

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

Less than a month after I wrote about icy sidewalks in front of Wood Acres ES, the public pathway is inaccessible to the disabled - and downright dangerous for anyone.

Apparently, the laws requiring sidewalks to be cleared apply to the taxpayers, but not to the county and MCPS.

Examine the above photos I took last evening. This is 8 days after the snowstorm ended!

Read the following from the county code:

Property owners are responsible for clearing public sidewalks on or
adjacent to their property within 24 hours of the end of a
snowstorm.

Please note: The Montgomery County Commission for People with Disabilities
reminds residents that people who use walkers, wheelchairs, baby
strollers, rolling briefcases, etc, need 36-inch wide sidewalks
and curb ramps for safe travel, especially when the walks are slippery
or wet.

Now check those photos above again. No wheelchair is getting through there!

Another dangerous problem, is that there is another wall of snow where the main crosswalk in front of the school meets the sidewalk. So if a child is crossing and a car were to suddenly speed up the street, he or she would be unable to step onto the sidewalk. This renders the crosswalk effectively useless, and encourages pedestrians to jaywalk - because that is the only way to cross under the circumstances.

So use caution, and hopefully they will have this cleaned up quickly.

12 DAYS OF

CHRISTMAS

ON

RobertDyer.net!

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

Enjoy not one, but 12 days of Christmas here on RobertDyer.net!

It starts today!

Begin by watching my Exclusive video of McDonald's' new Mac Wraps on the Robert Dyer Channel at www.RobertDyer.net!!

They are delicious, and taste and smell like a real Big Mac.

Stand by for Breaking News...

The AFP reports that China has the world's fastest operational passenger train. 394.2 kilometers per hour.

"In September, officials said they planned to build 42 high-speed lines by 2012 in a massive system overhaul as part of efforts to spur economic growth amid the global downturn."

We continue to fall behind in rail transportation and space exploration, and China is moving towards the front. President Obama has been honest about his lack of interest in reclaiming victory in the space race; he did claim, however, to support building high speed rail. The money necessary is being spent on other, wasteful things so far. As previously mentioned, a small amount will be put toward rail early in 2010.

RITCHIE

BLACKMORE

SPEAKS ON

INFLATION

A www.RobertDyer.net Christmas Special

I've quoted Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee on the trials of the average citizen trying to make ends meet in the new era of high cost of living and low wages; now, one of my guitar heroes - the legendary Ritchie Blackmore - has surprisingly weighed in with a Christmas message on the topic:

"I am from the old school and I remember the old prices. That’s why I am always shocked when I go to the grocery stores and see the prices. Expenses from every direction have gone up to ridiculous levels. But salaries haven’t. It’s just not right to take advantage of [people]."

THE MAN WHO

SOLD THE

WORLD...

(...OR, AT

LEAST,

MONTGOMERY

COUNTY)

Ah, this is where it gets interesting. The intrigue. The backstabbing. The dirty tricks and smoke-filled back rooms. When the shadowy special interests that decide so many of the critical issues clash with each other, the results can be surprising - and devastating.


Most citizens are simply too busy working to follow the minute, cryptic, and secret dealings that go on, with very little notification from their elected officials about hearings and votes on important legislation. And, believe me, our elected officials know it! This is by their own design. It turns out that many critical decisions have been made without the knowledge of the public. Decisions that effect us for decades to come.


Here in Montgomery County, we have the 2nd worst commute in the nation. This is in large part due to the failure of our elected officials to build the infrastucture necessary to support the overdevelopment they have approved. But I have always wondered how planning "experts" could have allowed this to happen. Why, when Montgomery County's "wedges and corridors" and, especially, L'Enfant's D.C. were so cleverly designed way back, does the region function so poorly in practical use?

We know that our transit system is woefully behind that of other cities and nations. We have a few spokes radiating out from the center of D.C., where New York and Paris have a network. And I personally have always felt like some basic elements of our road system are also missing. Now I have some proof which validates my suspicion.


An enlightening obituary in Monday's Washington Post suggests that our traffic woes may also be due to decisions made way back in the 1950s and 60s.

Peter Craig is described as the man who "fought to keep superhighways out of D.C."


Considering we don't have any superhighways in our area, that is a sad and shocking headline.

It turns out that up to 7 superhighways were planned to radiate out of Washington in the 1950s and 60s.

These included one of particular interest to Montgomery County: a superhighway that would have run "from the Georgetown waterfront[,] up Glover-Archbold Park (sic) and out Wisconsin Avenue into Bethesda, where it would have joined what is now Interstate 270."

If you are reading this on your BlackBerry, Droid, or iPhone while stuck in traffic, you might feel like throwing it out the window after reading that. But don't! Instead, use it to surf over to www.RobertDyer.net where you can join my crusade to finally modernize our laughingstock of a transportation system!

But back to our story...

Can you imagine what that highway might have done to relieve the gridlock on 355 and 495 to the 270 spur?

Another project Mr. Craig (and, of course, it wasn't just Mr. Craig alone) stopped was a bridge carrying Route 66 over the Potomac into Washington. Again, wouldn't that have made a difference in today's gridlock?

Mr. Craig of the "powerful Covington and Burlington law firm," used "Capitol Hill contacts" to achieve a "ban on freeways west of Rock Creek and north of M Street."

As George W. Bush once said, "Heckuva job, Brownie!"

Imagine the impact 7 superhighways might have had, and you realize that, yes, something has indeed been missing all along.

This reminds me of two things among others: the coordinated effort to stop the CSX Georgetown Branch from becoming a commuter rail line, and the many haters of the Whitehurst Freeway, one of the best, and most utilitarian and scenic in Washington, D.C.

A coalition of special interests, elected officials, and wealthy, well-connected residents of Bethesda and Chevy Chase successfully stopped a vital transit link in the late 1980s and early 90s. A former CSX freight line was set to become a MARC commuter rail route from Silver Spring to the Georgetown waterfront via Bethesda. Commuters, shoppers, and tourists would all have used this line, and businesses along it would have greatly benefitted.

Instead, it was stopped cold, and the Capital Crescent Trail was installed overnight. A trail so passionately argued over today, you'd be surprised to learn it was never meant to exist to begin with!

I remember watching the destruction of the railroad. As a child, it was my own neighborhood railroad. And now it was gone. If Montgomery County Government had placed the energy, speed, and passion it put into that demolition effort into the major challenges we've faced, we would be a superior county today.

Instead, we have withered on the vine. Only the irrelevant ICC - a toll road for the rich - has been built. Meanwhile, the expansion of 270 and 355 is not going to happen under the current "leadership." Expansion of MARC? Forget about it under the same current "leadership."

If we don't make changes in 2010, we're not going anywhere.

S'NO

EMERGENCY

ON

COUNTY CABLE

MONTGOMERY

County Channel Pulls Plug on Traffic

Cameras in Favor of Political, Irrelevant Content

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

If you were trying to use the traffic cameras on County Cable Montgomery to check road conditions, you were out of luck.

Instead, you might have been greeted by Martin O'Malley propaganda, complete with stirring "came-with-the-editing-software" music and photos provided by "O'Malley's March," and produced by "the auspices of the Montgomery County Council?"

What's that mean anyway? The County Council ordered the taxpayer funded channel to create a free political ad promoting Gov. O'Malley?

You might have also found various irrelevant and old programs.

CCM should have been fulfilling its role as a public information channel by providing the usual traffic camera views, and updated information on road hazards and closings. As a result, drivers were unable to know what conditions they were facing on major roadways across the county.

from the

surreal news

file:

MOCO

JOB-KILLERS

ANNOUNCE

THEY'RE IN

CHARGE OF

JOB CREATION

Wow, it's been a weird and wacky couple of weeks in Montgomery County, as the same councilmembers who have run the finances and business climate into the ground over the last 8 years are now proclaiming themselves "pro-jobs."

As Johnny Carson used to say, "that is some weird, wild stuff."

George Leventhal and new council President Nancy "I want to take the helm of the Titanic after it's hit the iceberg" Floreen are leading the charge to recast the tired team of 8 years as Bob McDonnell times 9. Bob McDonnell masks are flying off the shelves as everyone from Barack Obama to county dog catcher has taken up everyone's favorite thesis writer's mantra of jobs, jobs, jobs.

In Gazette articles, and a George Leventhal letter-to-the-editor, the developer-beholden council faction makes a number of false arguments:

First, they claim that development = jobs. This is patently false, as we've had out-of-control development over most of the county, and no long-term jobs were created in any significant number.

In fact, the job numbers prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this 8 year council has been on the wrong course all along, and are doubling down on that same road to oblivion now.

With all of the "town centers," mixed-use vacant condo buildings, and StrathRock art centers, no real jobs were created. That's right. The numbers are in, and Councilmembers Leventhal and Floreen are touting them as the reason we need even more of that development.

Huh?

The truth is that mixed-use boutiques and "town centers" only create McJobs: restaurant, retail sales, garage attendant, etc. So if we have the new planning board members Leventhal and Floreen want, who will be "streamlining and expediting project approvals" for "town centers" where neighborhood strip malls currently stand, there will only be McJobs created.

Strange also to hear them claim the Fillmore as a job creator, when it's simply a glorified bar, and, gosh, what parent doesn't want their kid to grow up to be a bartender or bouncer? Nothing wrong with either of those jobs, it's just that Live Nation supporters are putting them in the same category as engineer, scientist, or lawyer, when the salaries just don't stack up.

Second, Leventhal claimed that MoCo lost Hilton Hotels and National Public Radio (really short list, when you might have actually heard of a company called Volkswagen, one of many other huge firms to bypass our county) because of the "lack of certainty [that] new office space would be approved expeditiously."

That's as false as the "overdevelop or die" theme out of the council chambers this week. When did Dr. Yes ever cancel a big development project? Especially one for a huge employer? How about never? How do you think Royce Hanson earned the tag, "Dr. Yes?"

(Double weird: the same councilmembers who chose Hanson in a back room negotitation are now trying to blame him for their failed leadership).

It's not a "lack of certainty" scaring away companies, it's the abundance of draconian taxes, fees, and Big Government regulations - along with a bizarre set of council priorities - that are frightening enough to scare anybody away.

It's a transportation system in total gridlock, with a Planning Board and council that want to increase development without building the necessary infrastructure. Purple Line, CCT, ICC, and 2 toll lanes on 270 = zero improvement in traffic capacity.

This gridlock is permanently associated with the "End Gridlock" team who have spent the last 8 years only increasing gridlock.

It's a school system facing a record drop in funding, a massive cut in education spending asked for by this council, executive, and state delegates! "Move here so your employees' kids can go to our great, uh, er, now average schools to which we cut funding!"

It's a county so hostile to business and taxpayers, that Mr. Leventhal even raised costs for county restaurants with his high-priority "menu reform" (hey, that'll get chains to move their headquarters here, right?), and Ms. Floreen proposed a $250 parking tax that would have been paid by landowners and residents.

And, how about this pro-business initiative: Ike Leggett (like many councilmembers in the past, including Councilmember Floreen) is calling for an increase in the gas tax! That'll make it cheaper to do business in the county, now won't it?

With county unemployment now at an unheard of 5.4%, Leventhal and Floreen are pointing fingers everywhere besides at themselves.

This council has been in charge for 8 years.

Over the years of 2001-2008 (in only one of those years was this council not elected), Montgomery County's grand total of new jobs created (after all that mixed-use, town center, StrathRock growth) was a whopping 7,855.

During that same period, Fairfax County created 42,743 jobs.

Did I just hear a pin drop?

Wow. What a legacy this council has, but they want you know that, like Alexander Haig, they're in charge here. It wasn't their fault, really it wasn't!

According to Councilmember Leventhal in yesterday's Gazette, "There are many economic factors that are beyond county government's control, including the banking crisis, trade imbalances, globalization of industry, and more."

There's just one problem: Fairfax County was hit by all of those same "factors," and still created over 36,000 more jobs than this 8 year council team did.

Summing up the legacy he and his colleagues leave behind next November, after 8 years in power, Leventhal said "we can no longer take for granted that Montgomery County is a magnet for investment."

Well said.

But when pointing fingers in every direction, this council might want to reflect on the words of Holly Lisle, quoted on another newspaper front page yesterday, the Frederick News-Post:

"Actions have consequences - first rule of life. And the second rule is this - you are the only one responsible for your own actions."

Have you watched the video of the fountains at Johns Hopkins Green Spring Station on the Robert Dyer Channel yet? Go to www.RobertDyer.net right now!

AMTRAK GETS

STIMULUS FUNDS

FOR LONG-DELAYED

ADA UPGRADES

Damascus Elementary and other Montgomery County buildings and roadways aren't the only Americans with Disabilities Act compliance projects still to be completed 19 years later.

Poorly-funded and mismanaged Amtrak has a backlog of projects, some of which are now getting the green light thanks to a rare positive use of Federal funny money stimulus funds.

These include:

Edge strips for 40 stations
Concrete platforms for 23 stations
Wheelchair lifts for 173 stations

This took $40 million in funds.

Unfortunately, Amtrak still needs $1.56 billion to fully comply with the ADA by 2015. That is too long to wait!

What an embarrassment it is to witness Congress wasting hundreds of billions on pork, instead of providing equal access for the disabled in our national rail network.

Source: Trains magazine

RobertDyer.net

2009 Holiday

Gift Guide:

Elected Official,

Planning Board

Edition

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

Are you searching for the perfect gift for that developer-beholden politician? Something that registered lobbyists haven't already given him or her?

I have found it for you!

It is the Transformers Decepticon called "Devastator!"

At $109.99, it's not a bargain gift! But bargain gifts won't turn that neighborhood shopping center into a vacant luxury condo building with boutiques on the first floor, will they?

You've got to make an impression, and six construction vehicles which combine to form one gigantic robot will do that!

Let the packaging speak for itself:

"Lights and destruction sounds show his enemies he means business!"

Science City, here we come!

"Nothing will ever be the same."

Goodbye farms and surface parking lots.

"As his Vortex Grinder snaps open and glows with power, all before him quake in fear, knowing the destruction is inevitable!"

Is this a toy box, or the latest brochure on "Smart Growth?"

Devastator is the rare toy that includes batteries!

Farm and 70's strip mall playsets, Rollin Stanley figure, and County Council dais sold separately.

DAMASCUS ES

ADA COMPLIANCE

UPDATE

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

The Americans with Disabilities Act violations at Damascus Elementary School are among the disability access issues I've been working on this year. I have a breaking news update on that. As you know, if you are a regular reader, I brought this matter to Councilmember Mike Knapp's attention at his October meeting in Damascus.

Yesterday morning, I received a call from Councilmember Knapp's office indicating that ADA compliance funds for Damascus ES will be in the MCPS CIP budget for next summer. I wouldn't start celebrating just yet, however. The funds are not itemized, so it is unclear if the ramp and elevator will both be covered. More importantly, with the $600 million+ budget shortfall, everything will be on the table.

So it is up to people like you and I to monitor this situation, keep the pressure on, and ensure that those with disabilities have equal access and freedom of movement at Damascus ES. And that requires bringing the school into compliance next summer.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Such as this update:

SIDEWALKS

CLEARED

AT

WOOD ACRES ES

One very small step for the disabled and able-bodied at Wood Acres ES; apparently the word about icy sidewalks there reported on this blog yesterday reached the right ears. The sidewalks in front of the school are now ice-free.

ICY SIDEWALK

AT

WOOD ACRES ES

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

The sidewalk in front of Wood Acres ES is icy on both sides of the main entrance. This is a serious oversight by the county. It is not only a violation of the ADA, similar to what we witnessed a few years ago (when disabled citizens in wheelchairs could not reach Metro and Ride On bus stops due to uncleared ice on county-owned sidewalks), but simply dangerous for anyone walking there. I almost slipped myself last evening. If someone falls, they might sue the county, and then the taxpayers will end up paying the tab.

Once again, it is hypocritical for the council to have passed a law requiring residents to clear sidewalks in front of their homes (even though the sidewalks are on county property), and yet allow the county itself to leave its sidewalks uncleared. It's outrageous.

Anyway, if you are approaching the school on the sidewalk, I recommend entering the parking lot at a different entrance. It's possible they'll clear it early this AM, but it won't melt by itself at 29 degrees.

STIMULUS FUNDS

MISSED THE TRAIN

Even after more than a year has passed since the Federal government began a massive bailout of Wall $treet and Democrat state and local leaders at taxpayer expen$e, I am still in disbelief. Are we really able to print $1.3 trillion dollars, with nothing backing those dollars, without throwing the nation into financial ruin? As I said at the time, should it be proven that our government can print funny money in any amount without catastrophic debt and inflation, we will have entered a new era of possibilities. We could print endless funds to end homelessness, disease, and...



Well, I don't believe it is possible to do this with no consequences today or in the future. But, considering that many on the left - in the post-Creigh Deeds era - now realize that having a JOB is the top priority of the American people, I am shocked that we didn't at least waste money in a productive fashion.



Such as finally updating our nation's transportation infrastructure. It's hard to avoid those taxpayer-funded campaign signs for "Governor Martin O'Malley" on the highways, posted where roads are being repaved.



That's work that should have been done years ago, when taxpayer funds went to Big Government schemes.



Imagine the results had we spent even $100 billion, or $500 billion on high-speed rail nationwide.



Results including not only the obvious - reduced travel times and reduced pollution - but many collateral results, as well. These include higher profits for businesses from business and tourist travel, increased output from American industries such as steel and coal, greater efficiency and productivity, lower airline fares (if you haven't noticed, cheap air travel is harder to come by in recent years, as Southwest and others became old-style airlines) due to competition, and...



Jobs, Jobs, JOBS



Next to tax cuts, nothing creates high paying jobs better than railroad expansion.



Aside from Amtrak's Acela, we have no high-speed rail in America. And the Acela is speed-limited by the current configuration of the Northeast Corridor, Big Government regulation, and its equipment's weight, which is substantially heavier than its European counterparts.



Our embarrassing transportation position is typical of the new culture of laziness some elements are attempting to paper over old-fashioned American daring and achievement. Why? Because the money required for those ventures is now needed by special interests, after tax-and-spend politicians reached a taxation ceiling in areas like our own.



So, no H1N1 vaccine, no manned or womanned flight to Mars, and no high speed rail. Meanwhile, forget about Europe; China is outdoing us in high speed rail today.



After all of the talk in Washington, the truth is that only $8 billion will be spent on high speed rail, and not until the beginning of 2010.



What can we afford at this point? That is an important question. And can rail transit be profitable? Many experts have concluded it cannot be, and will always be subsidized by government. I recognize that the evidence for that conclusion is credible, but I have not given up on the idea that rail transit can turn a profit. It will require private involvement, however, and the highest levels of service and efficiency.



We did have a chance to be the first in the nation to have a Maglev rail line from Washington to Baltimore, here in Maryland. Democrats in Annapolis turned down the Federal government's offer of free money to do it.



Now we're hearing about a second stimulus package, to "create jobs." Considering that high speed rail would create jobs, are we going to miss the train again?

GREETINGS

FROM THE

FUTURE

As residents of Montgomery County continue to struggle with the antiquated, 1960s-era transportation network our elected officials have left us with, I have new statistics from another part of the country where transportation is moving forward.

Valley Metro Rail in Phoenix, Arizona has proven again the potential of light rail transit. It is a 20 mile line that, importantly, connects popular destinations, according to Trains magazine's John Diers.

Diers' report offers the following statistics:

Ridership is 6,000 riders-per-day over projections, and expected to reach 45,000 by 2020

35% of the line's riders are new to mass transit

12 ton-a-day reduction in air pollution

Average revenue of businesses along the line increased 13%, while business revenues off of the line declined 16% during the same period.

One other thing about Phoenix, like many other jurisdictions, elected officials have had the guts to put specific transit projects on the ballot for voters to approve expenditures, bonds, or new revenue. Unlike around here.

These numbers suggest that optimistic predictions about the long-overdue Purple Line and CCT have some basis in fact. But those are just the beginning, along with many equally-overdue highway and road improvements or projects.

Send this message back in time to our county council and state government, who have run all of their budgets into the ground with tax-and-spend policies, while ignoring the serious issues of our time.

CHARM COUNTY?

County Cable Montgomery Airs Irrelevant

Baltimore Programming at Taxpayer Expense

Another www.RobertDyer.net Exclusive!!!

You'd be forgiven for wondering if you had somehow received a Baltimore public access channel on your TV (fat chance with Comcast just slashing more channels this week for its poorest customers!). County Cable Montgomery Channel 6 has been airing a Spanish (and English?) language program produced by the state-run MTA transit agency.

The program has little or nothing to do with Montgomery County. Our county is not served by MTA buses or light rail; we do have some MARC commuter rail service. The program also highlights public programs available in Baltimore city and County. So why is it being aired here on our taxpayer-funded county cable channel? Is it simply to promote state elected officials?

It even has a representative of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's office. (Hope she brought gift cards!)

By the way, while the media was so busy hoping for the jury to deadlock on the Dixon case, nobody addressed a questionable issue regarding Mayor Dixon's assertion that the cards were a gift from her "developer boyfriend."

Take the mayor at her word, and what does that say about the "developer boyfriend?" What kind of guy gives his girlfriend 20 gift cards in an envelope? Is that about the cheesiest, least-classiest gift you've ever heard of (especially from a wealthy developer)? "Here's an envelope of gift cards." Wow, that is super romantic. I mean, assuming the guy has no imagination whatsoever, couldn't he have at least given one gift card equal to the amount of 20?

Hold on... they're about to tell on the show what bus number to take on Pratt St... Wait a minute, where is Pratt St. in Montgomery County?