×
Lately, it's become accepted wisdom that D.C. is a work oasis among the dunes of unemployment. The financial sector is busted; manufacturing is dying; retail is in rough shape; etc. But government! That's still growing, and thus Washington should be, too. Politico just ran a piece spinning its own version of the Beltway boom story. Victoria McGrane reports that, courtesy Uncle Sam's largesse, the Washington metro region's unemployment rate of 6.2 percent is well below the national average of 9.5 percent. She glosses over the question of why unemployment in the District has risen to a staggering 10.9 percent while the regional rate remains low (chalk it up to "persistent sociological conditions"). Instead, it seems that the real story is that some Republican members of Congress are miffed that federal money is helping keep the wider area's economy afloat. Christopher Lee of New York complains, "What frustrates me so much is you look at Washington and you realize how out of touch we are. This is one of the only cities that’s growing." Meanwhile, Candice Miller of Michigan calls Washington a "different world." And Mark Souder of Indiana's upset that public works spending in D.C. was even discussed during the stimulus debate:
“I’m sitting there with RV plants shutting down, parts people going down, GM plant furloughing people for 11 weeks ... and we’re talking about fixing the pond around Jefferson Memorial and planting trees on the way down to the Lincoln Memorial?” recalled Souder. He said his constituents saw the Mall money, which was ultimately stripped out, and other stimulus items as money that would benefit the bureaucracy and the D.C. region — which is already fat on government jobs. The question he heard: “Aren’t they thinking where they’re putting the money” for where the jobs are needed?To answer that question: yes, actually. "They," which I believe refers to the Washington establishment and should thus include Souder, are. Indiana, Michigan, and New York were rightfully all winners when it came to stimulus funding, each receiving more than the national average of $1,750 per person, making the whining about getting shafted compared Washington seem a little bit disingenuous. Especially given that Souder -- along with Lee and Miller -- voted against the stimulus bill. Plus, while it's easy to poke fun of things like planting trees, these are exactly the type of projects that employ those who most need work. These aren't jobs reserved for the bureaucratic boogeyman; they're meant for the people McGrane describes as "most vulnerable to recession." While Washington may often stand in for the idea of big government, it's also a city with a broken education system and stark socioeconomic inequality that's long suffered in comparison to its suburbs. The citizens of, say, neighboring Arlington County, where the unemployment rate is 4.5 percent, might not be aching for support, but District residents need it as much as Souder's constituents do.But no matter, right? All's well when you can simultaneously maintain a reputation for fiscal responsibility, secure funding for your district, and take Washington -- a city hurting as much as any other -- down a peg.--Alexandra Gutierrez
