Reply to Patricia Douglas Re:"TRIM is about to be dead - What a glorious day!"

On Sat, Mar 24, 2012 at 3:38 AM, Patricia Douglas <patriciadouglas08@yahoo.com> wrote:

For those who have lived with TRIM over the decades and understood its covert intent to starve a growing majority-black county of adequate services, this is about to be a glorious day. Shortly, the Governor will sign away the 34 year-old TRIM cap into the trash bin of history and there isn't anything the odd collection of conservatives on these list-serves can do about it. So much for this third rail of local politics.

The simple fact is that, according to a variety of sources, Prince George's County residents bear about the heaviest tax burden in the area and receive among the poorest services for their high taxes. 

Put together, and compared to other jurisdictions in the region, we pay the most taxes and get the worst results.

This year the General Assembly is working hard to pass a number of tax and fee increases that will cost the average Prince George's County household hundreds of dollars, delivering a crushing blow to the average African-American family in the county.

In addition, dishonestly titled SB 848 will take away the past and future ability of Prince George's County residents to control tax increases. It is effectively an attack against goth home rule and the voting rights of the black majority in Prince George's County. And there apparently isn't anything the African-American victims of the bill can do about it. 

TRIM was an effort to rein in rapacious politicians who kept raising taxes supposedly to fund education and public services, then spent the money elsewhere and kept repeating the cycle of raising taxes for one thing and spending it on another. Since we pay the most in taxes now, I hate to think how much more we would have been paying without TRIM.

Just four years ago the General Assembly passed a huge tax increase to fund their accumulated deficit.  Then they went on another spending binge and are back for more.  I don't know where the money went, I certainly haven't seen any improvement in services.

If Ms. Douglas really believes that the sending TRIM into the trash bin of history will improve services, I can probably get her a good price on a bridge to Brooklyn or some swamp land in Florida. Personally, I think her message proves the phrase attributed to P. T. Barnum.

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And Ms. Douglas replied (ignoring the substance of my message):

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Patricia Douglas
Date: Sun, Mar 25, 2012 at 3:55 PM
Subject: Re: [PrinceGeorges_Discussion] TRIM is about to be dead - What a glorious day!
To: PrinceGeorges_Discussion@yahoogroups.com, "Diane C. Russell"
Cc: PG-Politics@yahoogroups.com

I would expect this response from you, Ms. Russell.  You are one of the ring leaders of the "odd collection" of online conservatives I was talking about, who can't stand the fact that they don't matter now in the politics of this county.  You've never met a negative story or spin about county leaders that you wouldn't sensationalize (or positive news about the county that you weren't intent on ignoring).