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Iowa congressman says D.C. needs a recession because it has ‘cranes
everywhere’ - The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2016/03/23/iowa-congressman-says-d-c-needs-a-recession-because-it-has-cranes-everywhere/

Iowa congressman says D.C. needs a recession because it has ‘cranes
everywhere’

Washington DC is booming. Tower cranes everywhere. Being built on the backs
of US taxpayers. DC needs a recession.
— Rod Blum (‎@RodBlum) 6:03 PM - 21 Mar 2016
<https://twitter.com/RodBlum/status/712037035314380800>

Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa) used a familiar trope among politicians this week:
He slammed D.C. at the expense of the nearly 700,000 people who live here.

Blum tweeted a picture from his personal account of cranes towering over
the $2 billion redevelopment of D.C.’s Southwest waterfront, saying the
city is “being built on the backs of U.S. taxpayers” and “needs a
recession.” His congressional account later retweeted the message.

* [Development at the Southwest Waterfront drives a wedge between fish
markets
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/development-at-historic-fish-market-drives-wedge-between-businesses/2015/10/31/57f00d96-7756-11e5-a958-d889faf561dc_story.html>]
*

Politicians like Blum presumably bash D.C. to show how out of touch
Washington is from the rest of America and how, well, so very in touch they
are. On the campaign trail last year, Republican presidential contender Jeb
Bush (who is no longer in the race) tried
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/06/19/jeb-bush-doesnt-get-d-c-heres-what-he-should-know-if-he-wants-to-live-here/>
to paint himself as an outsider by touting his disdain for Washington
and wrongly stating how wealthy the residents of D.C. are.

* [Jeb Bush doesn’t get D.C. Here’s what he should know if he wants to live
here.
<https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2015/06/19/jeb-bush-doesnt-get-d-c-heres-what-he-should-know-if-he-wants-to-live-here/>]
*

Technically, local D.C. funds are considered federal appropriated dollars.
That’s because D.C. is not a state and residents’ local tax dollars and the
local budget go through the federal appropriations process. But D.C.
residents — many of whom do hold government jobs — pay local taxes, which
are then invested in their local communities. D.C. residents, who do not
have voting representation in Congress, also pay federal taxes.

D.C. was mostly spared the brunt of the last recession, and the city is
teeming with new condos, restaurants and investments. But D.C. poverty rates
<http://www.dcfpi.org/a-city-breaking-apart-the-incomes-of-dcs-poorest-residents-are-falling-while-economic-growth-is-benefiting-better-off-residents>
are
still above the national average, and as many people pointed out to Blum on
Twitter, wishing a recession on D.C. would be wishing Americans out of jobs.

Blum’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on
Wednesday. Here are some responses on Twitter:

@RodBlum <https://twitter.com/RodBlum> lol that's not how the economy of DC
works.
— Dave Stroup (‎@DaveStroup) 6:51 PM - 22 Mar 2016
<https://twitter.com/DaveStroup/status/712411342955802624>

@Kuhio_Kane <https://twitter.com/Kuhio_Kane> @remysmith44
<https://twitter.com/remysmith44> @RodBlum <https://twitter.com/RodBlum> DC
investors R building condos restaurants shops infrastructure 4 a thriving
city. Go back to #Iowa <https://twitter.com/hashtag/Iowa?src=hash> idiot.
— bells (‎@bells110) 7:00 PM - 22 Mar 2016
<https://twitter.com/bells110/status/712413702817906688>

@RodBlum <https://twitter.com/RodBlum> I live in DC and don't have a voice
in Congress. My federal taxes pay for your corn subsidies!
— Alicia Rodriguez (‎@alirod_dc) 6:09 PM - 22 Mar 2016
<https://twitter.com/alirod_dc/status/712400950422589441>


Eric D. Schwerin
eschwerin@rosemontseneca.com

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