Ranking officials in Prince George's, Montgomery and Howard County are urging Congress to come to a compromise that could avert steep cuts in federal spending—known as the sequester—set to go into effect on March 1.
“Sequestration would feel like a cold to most of the nation, but to [Prince George's County] and the rest of the Washington metropolitan area, it would feel like a bad case of pneumonia," read a statement attributed to Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker in a release issued by the county executives of Montgomery, Howard and Prince George's counties. "One-quarter of the federal workforce in this region are residents of Prince George's County, so many of them are eagerly awaiting a positive conclusion to this situation."
According to data released by Baker's office, the effects of sequestration could wreak economic havoc on Prince George's County.
Annually, roughly $14 billion in federal spending goes to Prince George's County, including $3 billion for the salaries and wages of federal workers, which make up 10 percent of the jobs in Prince George's County. Roughly 16 percent of the county's civilian population over the age of 16 work for the federal government.
“The impact on Montgomery County from the sequestration could undo the economic gains we’ve made as the county and our country have begun to emerge from the financial crisis,” read a statement in the press release attributed to Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett. “Montgomery County has 47,000 federal workers and thousands of businesses that contract with the federal government—all of whom will be directly affected if Congress does not act. The loss to our county of millions of dollars in revenue could plunge us back into a severe slowdown causing budget shortfalls and a stagnant economy. We can’t let that happen.”
I had dinner last night with a lib friend who votes as she is told, or, as she puts it, the union puts the bread on the table, and she expressed the same disgust with both parties but for entirely different reasons. She has been sucked into this tit-for-tat interpretation, while I was disgusted with the Dems for their game-playing and the GOP's reluctance to call them out on it. It was as if we lived in separate worlds. I don't know what the solution is but we will all suffer badly from what this President and his minions are doing to us. And, yes, Rep. Van Hollen, Gov. O'Malley and State Sen. Raskin, I blame you! not that you care. I'm sure all 3 of you will come up with some gobbley-mush to fan it off onto others, though.
www.SaveBurtonsville.Com So the MoCo leaders have stopped development in this area and then they say they don’t have enough money, jobs, or tax revenue. They are the ones making these costly and wrong decisions. There has been much development to the north, in Howard County, and to the East, with Konterra and Laurel, but nothing is allowed in Burtonsville. Why is this? Because the County Executive lives nearby? Why did he not step forward and do the right thing? Why did the County Council members refuse to do the right thing? The County leaders want another useless park, when Burtonsville is dying for lack of a residential core. What kind of a town prohibits residential development? This is absurd. It is outrageous what has taken place. The County politicians should be ashamed of themselves for refusing to embrace much needed Smart Growth in Burtonsville. Something is very wrong. Tom Norris, for the Committee to Save Burtonsville