Montgomery County, America's 2nd most liberal county (Silver Spring, Germantown: sale, rent)

[Mr Beco]

Originally Posted by InvaderBryce

Don't be slow (that might be hard for you ). Why not start a political party that suits your needs instead of bitching and moaning?

Nice edit. Who is bitching and moaning? Classic liberal retort

[Markhoppy]

I don't expect Moco to be liberal. Rich white people especially the ones in Olney, Bethesda, Potomac, Damascus who attend Catholic school and are highly socially influential don't come off as any kind of liberal. They are the face, eyes, and hands of Moco so to say that moco is mostly filled and controlled by hippies, Green Party fanatics, etc aka liberals seems absurd and untrue. But to some extent it is visibilie, in my school which is blake high school the courses and the teachers seem to be increasignly liberal. The students all support liberal causes and there are many groups dedicated to liberal causes like supporting homosexuality and minority empowerment groups which tend to be more liberal than anything else. Also their is a stagerring strict rule of political correctness in place. Also the school likes to promote cultural diversity and tolerance which is more over really liberal. Regardless this is mostly new to me, I never knew moco was even that liberal but to find out that it was the second most liberal county in the country shocked me. I grew up mostly around rich white people who attended Catholic school in the suburbs of silver spring and Olney and the marjority of them where religious conservatives and republicans, I never have know of such kinds of people being liberal. But perhaps not exactly the rich people but perhaps more the middle class culturally diverse, tolerant, politically democratic person who lives in Silver Spring Spring, Rockville, Gaithersburg, or Germantown or other cites that can be considered more middle class but not to mention the much poorer areas of Wheaton and Takoma Park. So yeah Moco is diverse racially, socially, and politically so to say that it's the most liberal county is an overstatement. Moco has a lot of social liberals and democrats but they are equally matched by the more socially influential rich conservative republicans. And it could be vice versa. Just because you are socially liberal and democratic doesn't mean you're poor and just because you are a conservative republican doesn't make you rich (usually). But my point is,
Moco is too mixed up to be a certain thing, also just because someone votes democrat doesn't make them liberal, it's just stupid media propaganda to feed their corrupt agenda. Moco is moderate if anything, but it's definitively changing if you ask me. Different people moving in from different places like Prince George County and DC especially minorities (nothing wrong with minorities) but they definitively affect the political process and may even cause rich republicans and conservatives to leave the county for the rather newer, richer, far less "liberal" Howard County.

[mcleanexec]

Originally Posted by Zimar

No, this particular person (she's not my friend) was not black (North Africans are technically considered white, and she is very white), but I found it bizarre considering that half of the people she associates with and the man she married could very easily be considered black. Actually, I don't care if she were purple with green stripes, I still wouldn't give her the time of day anymore. And as I said, I've talked with enough Republicans to get a sense that they use the idea that poor people are "lazy" to make racist sentiments legitimate.

Further, it's a completely racist sentiment. If you live in Baltimore, most of the poor people you are seeing are black. But if you live in West Virginia, you'll note that they are just as poor, but also WHITE, as the majority of poor people in America are WHITE, and most of the poor people where this young lady lives (not in DC) are WHITE.

And your attitude towards poor people, quite frankly, is disgusting. You clearly have no idea how the poor live, and have bought into a caricature propagated by the right-wing media. Your response doesn't even deserve the time I have given it.

Given the responses on this board, it's no wonder that an affluent, well-educated area like moco doesn't buy this bunk and is liberal, huh?

Since when do white people refer to other "white people" as light skin. They do not.

Unlike you, I actually rent some of my investment properties to poor people who receive Section 8 checks over 1200 a month and provide them with a home to live in a community they could never actually quality for. So I do know what I am talking about. Your a typical liberal who goes in attack mode whenever someone questions your views and cannot support your views with facts or numbers.

Really, there are poor white people in WVA. You dont say. You have 3 more years to reap the extreme entitlements mandated by Obama for indivuals who have no desire to work and play games with the system.

[Zimar]

Originally Posted by mcleanexec

Since when do white people refer to other "white people" as light skin. They do not.

Unlike you, I actually rent some of my investment properties to poor people who receive Section 8 checks over 1200 a month and provide them with a home to live in a community they could never actually quality for. So I do know what I am talking about. Your a typical liberal who goes in attack mode whenever someone questions your views and cannot support your views with facts or numbers.

Really, there are poor white people in WVA. You dont say. You have 3 more years to reap the extreme entitlements mandated by Obama for indivuals who have no desire to work and play games with the system.

It took you 8 months to come up with that? Sheesh, for a real estate tycoon like yourself, you'd think you'd do better than "Wah wah Obama gives poor people freebies wah."

Oh, and I do think white people are indeed capable of using the term "light skinned." I know this because I am white, and I said it.

[AZ Bound2013]

What I want to know is why do black people have to call themselves "African Americans"? I guess I need to start telling everyone that I am a "German American". Give me a break !! It seems that the whites are still being help accountable for the slavery way back when no one can remember it.
Whatever happen to getting a job and being rewarded for it. If you cant do your job, than you are going to get fired or put on suspension, no matter what color you are. same if you do a good job at work. You should be rewarded for it. Why should you be able to get help just because you don't have a job? I have a neighbor who is getting her housing paid for ($1800 a month) and she has two little kids, doesn't have a job and from what I have seen, she has a boyfriend who works for a car dealer that gives her cars every week to drive. Where is the incentive for her to even worry about getting a job? This is very annoying to me and it should be to both parties. I work damn hard for my money and it ticks me off when this happens because this is where my taxes are going. Come Democrats, do you really think taxing the heck out of everyone is really going to make the economy better? That tax money isn't going towards cleaning the Ches. Bay, which they have been telling us for years and years and I haven't seen any difference in the bay yet.
Just look at the facts.

[reiflame]

Originally Posted by Markhoppy

I don't expect Moco to be liberal. Rich white people especially the ones in Olney, Bethesda, Potomac, Damascus who attend Catholic school and are highly socially influential don't come off as any kind of liberal.

And yet, not only do they keep electing democrats, when things go to referendum they vote for whatever side of the issue would be considered the liberal one.

I don't know why people have such a hard time with this. The majority of people in Montgomery County believe in liberal principals. So do the majority of people in Baltimore City and PG County. Given that these three counties comprise half of Maryland's population, it means that Maryland is a liberal state.

[NYtoDC]

Originally Posted by EdwardA

This is why as a black man as I get older I find myself becoming more conservative. It started in my 20s when I had to wait tables to put myself through school. I found that Black customers (by no means all) tended to be rude, entitled and most importantly didn't tip. However all this did was snap me out of my black nationalist phase during my teenage years.

My movement to full fledge GOP occured during business school I decided to do some volunteer tax prep. This is when I became exposed to the wonders of the Earned Income Tax Credit. All one has to do evidently is have a couple kids preferably be unmarried work a couple weeks out of the year and presto a nice check from Uncle Sam for 8-10K lump sum. For the ones with drug dealing boyfriends or even ones with legitimate jobs they make out like bandits.

Section 8 needs to be eliminated. I hope Romney wins and defunds HUD that'll be a great day for America.

I agree wholeheartedly. All Section 8 does is create more mouths for taxpayers to feed and ruin good neighborhoods that hardworking people built. I am dealing the repercussions of the Section 8 renters slowly destroying my neighborhood and it angers me to know that this place may continue on a downward spiral as time goes on.

[NYtoDC]

Originally Posted by InvaderBryce

Welfare needs to be reformed, not gutted. I understand why some people hate it, but most of the people on it truly need it to survive. I think if we stigmatize it again like we used to (go back to REAL food stamps, etc.), people will start to see that it's not cool to be on welfare.

Furthermore, people receiving it should have to meet basic requirements as well as receive incentives in order to take it:

1. Recipients are required to meet with a case manager every month to see how they are spending their money; if they don't show up or they're spending it on frivolous items, then they lose welfare.

2. You will be required to hold a job (provided you're able-bodied). If you get fired from your job, you lose your welfare; it's as simple as that.

3. Free childcare, after school and other educational opportunities will be provided to children of any parent taking welfare. It's important that children receive the same educational opportunities as those who are not taking welfare. Too many children growing up in lower income environments usually forgo getting an education as a whole in order to pursue other, more anti-social things such as crime.

4. Educational advancement will also be provided to those who so desire it. They shall have an option of either:

A)Attaining a GED.
B)Attending a community college.
C)Attending a trade school.

80% of the tuition shall be covered by the state and the other 20% is up to the student. As a requirement, persons must attend ALL classes and pass their respective courses. If a person fails, withdraws or attains anything less than a "C", he/she will be responsible for repaying the tuition in full. Job Placement, especially in trade schools, will allow those seeking a degree to get a hands on experience and hopefully a permanent place after they graduate. It's simply a way to reward those who want to better themselves.

5. Finally, we need to ensure that the food these people buy is first and foremost, the healthiest. They need to have discounts of milk, bread, eggs, fruit and vegetables. Simply feeding your family junk, canned and/or frozen food all of the time is not a good option, plus it has been documented that people in rural and urban areas suffer from a lack of food options; it's even worse for those taking welfare because most of the items that they do have are unhealthy and on the off chance they do have healthy food, it's usually too expensive.

Those are just 5 things I'd do to fix the system, but what I'm trying to say is, that we need to take a proactive instead of a passive or reactive response to the situation. Why punish those on welfare who're simply trying to better themselves all because a few bad apples want to game the system? As I always say, welfare is the only thing that's keeping you (and your kids) from sleeping in a cardboard box at night. It's not credit card and it's for those people who desperately need help when life throws them a curve ball.

The true solution is for people to stop having children they can't afford. One responsible generation could probably eliminate 90% of poverty.

[NYtoDC]

Originally Posted by Khemistry

That's all well and good, but there's A LOT of flaws in your ideas and clearly you aren't someone who's familiar with the welfare system (from a personal perspective), you obviously don't personally know people who are on welfare, and you surely don't understand the inner workings of the social services system. Most of your suggestions could only work in a perfect world or a fantasy world.



I don't understand this comment. People on welfare should have to meet basic requirements, BUT they also receive an INCENTIVE to get on the welfare program??? What does that mean?


This is highly unrealistic. Having experience with Maryland's social services, the way things are set up now, the offices are literally bursting out of their seems with the amount of people they see on a daily basis. Don't try to go to a social services office in Montgomery or Prince George's Counties on a Monday or Friday... the line will literally be spilling out of the doors and wrapped around the corner. What you are suggesting... having THOUSANDS of additional people come in to the social services office, monthly, is highly unrealistic. The burden it would put on the current system, the wasted man hours, the money it would cost to run such a program... they would literally need to build brand new facilities that were solely dedicated to having these monthly meetings. I'm not a betting man, but I will easily bet there's no chance in hell such a thing would ever happen.



Again, you are highly misguided with what you may think welfare is or what its purpose is. Welfare is for people who can't secure a job that will allow them to live a realistically decent life. These are often people living paycheck-to-paycheck and people who are picking and choosing what bills they can pay per month. And a massively large amount of these people are people with children. If these people could get decent jobs, they wouldn't need or qualify for welfare. Of course, i'm not ignorant to think that most people on welfare are honest and legitimately need it. Perhaps the majority is, but it's probably close to the 50-50 line. The issue for those who legitimately need the assistance... if you mandate that a prerequisite for getting welfare is holding a job (in this crazy economy) or you lose your welfare, you end up punishing the most innocent and vulnerable victims: the children. That's why it's so hard to reform MOST of these programs that benefit low-income or unfortunate individuals... you can't get around the punishing children aspect. Believe me, I have thought and pondered many many many times on how we can reform all of these government assistance programs to weed out the lazy parents, and at the end of the day, my hands were tied because my reforms ultimately ended up punishing the children. So, NO, it's not "as simple as that." It's FAR from simple.



Again, this is another "in a perfect world" scenario. Who's going to pay for the expensive FREE childcare, after school programs, and other miscellaneous educational opportunities??? The Welfare Fairy?? Any parent will tell you daycare is one of the most expensive things any parent will ever spend on their children. We're easily talking about thousands of dollars per month in some situations. After-school activities can't run on fumes. They have to be funded. Who's going to pay to keep the schools open later and fully-operational? Who's going to pay for the after-hours staff? Who's going to pay and provide transportation for those who may need it?



Programs like this already exist in places like Montgomery County by way of their Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC) program. A lot of free classes, training, and other programs are available to people in the HOC program. I've known many people in those programs and have even been to some of the sessions as an invited guest. They get free computers, home internet service, and other incentives.

The issue stems from people lacking valuable trade skills. Upon graduation, High School students should immediately be placed in either a trade school or 2/4 year college that matches with the skills that they have the most strength in. Apprenticeship programs should be the norm the way they were many decades ago. Young people should hold off from having children until they have obtained good jobs and get married in order to create a dual-income household. The problems we see today weren't the norm fifty years ago. I believe that we suffer from a large amount of unskilled uneducated people in this county. Rather than financing programs like Section 8, we need to invest in financial assistance for post secondary education.

[mwruckman]

Originally Posted by rsh56

Montgomery County Daily: Montgomery county is America's second most liberal county!

Meh

I'm proud to live in a GOP free County . We don't have to listen to their nonsense!