Yes, Party Control Matters
The Baltimore Sun Editorial Board again glosses over the failure of Democratic Leadership in Baltimore
By now, you have no doubt seen Republican Congressional candidate Kimberly Klacik’s video about Baltimore.
The video is a very well-produced video and critique of Democratic leadership in Baltimore.
It also has nothing to do with running for Congress and shows, as I have often said, that Kim Klacik isn’t running for Congress to be elected to Congress, she’s running for Congress to be a media personality.
The Baltimore Sun Editorial Board pointed out many of the same things in their editorial today about Klacik’s video. And if you’ve ever read my previous writing on The Baltimore Sun Editorial Board, you can imagine what they said.
After pointing out (accurately) that Klacik’s video is something that would be better suited for somebody running for Mayor than Congress, and after (accurately) pointing out that Klacik’s video was aimed not at Baltimore but for a national audience, the Editorial Board launches a full-throated defense of Democratic hegemony in Baltimore.
And while complaining about city leaders, current and past, is fair game for anyone (and among our favorite pastimes), it’s ludicrous and overly simple to blame the city’s ills on party affiliation. Concentrated poverty, substance abuse and a war on drugs that disproportionately criminalized low-income African Americans, racism and red-lining, the loss of blue collar jobs, collapsing public infrastructure, broken families and failing schools, these are among the major culprits.
Of course, what the Board fails to point out is that Baltimore City has been governed exclusively by Democrats since 1967. No Republican mayor has served as Mayor since then. No Republican has served on the Baltimore City Council since 1939. The entire Baltimore City legislative delegation is Democratic. Every federal elected official representing Baltimore is a Democrat.
And besides, look at the litany of ills the Sun pointed out:
Concentrated poverty? It exists because Democrats taxed the middle class out of the city.
Substance abuse? Partially due to bad policing and the aforementioned concentred poverty.
Racism and red-lining? That was put in place and codified by Baltimore Democrats.
The loss of blue collar jobs? Thanks to Democratic policies that make it impossible to grow businesses and grow jobs.
Collapsing public infrastructure? Virtually every road in Baltimore City is controlled by City government. And city government has been run by…..the Democrats.
Broken families? Because of many of the aforementioned policies.
Failing schools? Thanks to the Baltimore City schools system, administered by Democrats.
The entire list of policy failures the editorial board lists as “proof” that you can’t blame the ills of the city on one party are entirely because of one party. It just so happens to be the same party that members of.
If you are unaware of The Baltimore Sun Editorial Board’s ivory tower status and political bias, you haven’t been paying attention.
They immediately follow up this defense with this nugget The Baltimore Sun Editorial Board happens to belong to.
We’re all ears if a Republican, Democrat or, frankly, interplanetary visitor, has immediate means to correct any or all of them. It’s telling that Candidate Klacik offers no remedies in her video. Not one.
Now they’re right in that Klacik doesn’t offer remedies; after all, she’s in the political entertainment business and not the public policy business. But Republicans, in particular, have been talking about solutions for Baltimore and America’s cities for decades now.
How about trying to end concentrated poverty by lowering the property tax and encouraging middle-class growth?
How about fighting crime and substance abuse with smarter policing?
How about trying to grow blue-collar jobs by reducing regulations for businesses and stop handing out sweetheart tax deals to politically connected developers?
How about trying to fix schools by auditing the school system and providing school choice to give an opportunity to all city students?
This isn’t new stuff I’m inventing on the fly. These are all real policies put forth by real Republicans that Democrats in city government actively oppose. The Baltimore Sun Editorial Board know these policies have been proposed, and they know that several Republican candidates for office have proposed similar things. Independent Mayoral candidate Bob Wallace lists an entire platform that is different than anything the Democrats want to do. But The Baltimore Sun Editorial Board doesn’t give a damn about any of those ideas because instead of being interested in helping the city they are interested in carrying water for their beloved Democrats.
It’s unfortunate that The Baltimore Sun Editorial Board continues to prioritize politics over people and fiction over truth. But these days, it’s hardly surprising.
The mere fact that the Baltimore Sun spent newsprint attacking the Klacik video tells me that it struck a nerve. The truth hurts.