The GS-15 pipeline you celebrate didn't build itself... it was constructed by the Civil Rights Act, affirmative action, HBCU funding, Pell Grants, and federal union protections: exactly the kind of institutional intervention the far-left champions. The 5th District's Black middle class didn't succeed despite progressive policy... they succeeded because of it. The left's real failure isn't its vision- it's that it speaks to the struggling renter while ignoring the GS-15 who climbed the same ladder and could be its most powerful messenger. The goal was never protesters over proprietors; it was always more proprietors, with stronger rungs! It's a left messaging problem, not a values problem.
That is a sharp take, Avery. You’ve hit on the exact "connective tissue" I think is often missing from the conversation.
I really appreciate the point about the Left focusing on the struggling renter while missing the opportunity to champion the GS-15 as the "ultimate messenger." You’re right—the goal was always to build those stronger rungs and create more proprietors, not fewer. Thanks for adding that layer to the discussion; it definitely gives me more to chew on for a follow-up piece.
Interesting analysis. A monument to governmental hyper-spending and defined benefit pension plans, a budget busting artifact operating under the radar but just as ruinous as Medicaid and contractor fraud. History is full of ironies....this prosperity fuels even more demands for racial preferences and political power and of course the most affluent still behave, albeit modestly and privately, like the GOP they supposedly detest, e.g. private schools. Kudos.
PS- the far left fails everyone and anyone stupid enough to embrace it.....
“We’re rich so we can suffocate the lower class and misallocate our wealth”
Good reporting Barry.
Yes, MD-5 is has a 50% higher median income than the national average, and 20% higher than Maryland’s. Does that mean we can’t want better? That we don’t want a corpo DNC type that is so out of touch even with the median here. I’m very well off for myself, I own a home, own a car, have a decent job. I should be laying down and be happy with what I have right?
There are SO many others that don’t have these opportunities in MD-5. These are siblings, children, and grandchildren that we have to see not able to get a foothold. Suffocated by these systems and corporations that are rent seeking at every angle. Minimum wage isn’t a livable wage. So, I’m out here fighting for those who don’t have it all. Because I have a moral compass that isn’t broken. Because I want to make this state and this country a better place for myself and ALL of those around me to live. Is that too much to ask?
Stop giving into cyclical frameworks that lead you to stymy progress. Lift people up Barry.
The GS-15 pipeline you celebrate didn't build itself... it was constructed by the Civil Rights Act, affirmative action, HBCU funding, Pell Grants, and federal union protections: exactly the kind of institutional intervention the far-left champions. The 5th District's Black middle class didn't succeed despite progressive policy... they succeeded because of it. The left's real failure isn't its vision- it's that it speaks to the struggling renter while ignoring the GS-15 who climbed the same ladder and could be its most powerful messenger. The goal was never protesters over proprietors; it was always more proprietors, with stronger rungs! It's a left messaging problem, not a values problem.
That is a sharp take, Avery. You’ve hit on the exact "connective tissue" I think is often missing from the conversation.
I really appreciate the point about the Left focusing on the struggling renter while missing the opportunity to champion the GS-15 as the "ultimate messenger." You’re right—the goal was always to build those stronger rungs and create more proprietors, not fewer. Thanks for adding that layer to the discussion; it definitely gives me more to chew on for a follow-up piece.
Barry
Interesting analysis. A monument to governmental hyper-spending and defined benefit pension plans, a budget busting artifact operating under the radar but just as ruinous as Medicaid and contractor fraud. History is full of ironies....this prosperity fuels even more demands for racial preferences and political power and of course the most affluent still behave, albeit modestly and privately, like the GOP they supposedly detest, e.g. private schools. Kudos.
PS- the far left fails everyone and anyone stupid enough to embrace it.....
“We’re rich so we can suffocate the lower class and misallocate our wealth”
Good reporting Barry.
Yes, MD-5 is has a 50% higher median income than the national average, and 20% higher than Maryland’s. Does that mean we can’t want better? That we don’t want a corpo DNC type that is so out of touch even with the median here. I’m very well off for myself, I own a home, own a car, have a decent job. I should be laying down and be happy with what I have right?
There are SO many others that don’t have these opportunities in MD-5. These are siblings, children, and grandchildren that we have to see not able to get a foothold. Suffocated by these systems and corporations that are rent seeking at every angle. Minimum wage isn’t a livable wage. So, I’m out here fighting for those who don’t have it all. Because I have a moral compass that isn’t broken. Because I want to make this state and this country a better place for myself and ALL of those around me to live. Is that too much to ask?
Stop giving into cyclical frameworks that lead you to stymy progress. Lift people up Barry.