May 6, 2008
Morning Roundup: Death and Taxes Edition
Good morning, D.C. Three shootings, two of them fatal, happened in the last day in the Sixth District, including one that took place in broad daylight during rush hour at the intersection of Fort Davis and Q streets. The Post has a big story this morning on how deadly the month of April was in Northeast, including a list of each of the nine murder victims from the Fifth District. The number of homicides in the city is still roughly the same as it was last year, but the amount of gun-related crime is up 30 percent across the board.
Rhee Begins Firing Principals: Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has begun notifying as many as 30 principals within DCPS that their jobs will end at the end of this school year. Typically 15 to 20 principals are dismissed in the school system at the end of each school year, but Rhee's decision to dismiss more this year is tied to federal requirements that she overhaul 27 schools that have failed to make adequate progress under the No Child Left Behind law.
Finance Office to Scrap Tax System: A day after an audit became public that slammed the city's computerized tax system as a total failure, Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi announced that the finance office would get rid of the system and call for bids for a new one, the Examiner reports. The audit said the computer system left the city open to potential corruption -- a concern Gandhi must take seriously in the wake of the $40 million Office of Tax and Revenue scandal.
Briefly Noted: Injuries on Metro down 44 percent ... Smithsonian to keep control of Arts and Industries Building ... Council committee plans to block funding for surveillance camera consolidation plan.
Photo by Rukasu1
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i've used the city's online tax filing system for my local taxes the last few years, and didn't have a problem. everything made it through, and i got my refunds in a timely manner. is that what we're all referring to here, because the article isn't clear.
if you won't be able to file your taxes online as easily as you've been able to, that'd be a shame.
I rather give credit to our relativity ice and snow free winter, for the reduced injuries on Metro.
is that what we're all referring to here, because the article isn't clear.
i was wondering the same thing. as a partial year DC resident I wasn't eligible to file local taxes online this year, which is obviously a huge pain, not to mention a giant waste of paper. maybe if they update the system, everyone would be able to file online...
I've used Turbo Tax for my taxes and only had one incident with the DC tax office. That was in the late 1990s/early 2000s when I got a letter from the DC tax office saying I had not properly submitted proof of being a member of the clergy. I said, WTF? I looked over my copies and saw that I didn't claim any deductions for being a man of the cloth. I call up the Tax Office, spoke to someone who wouldn't give me their full name, was told it was taken care of, and that was that. Not much of a reassurance, but since I've never heard back from them, I assume it was all taken care of. Which is frightening b/c that means it was likely manually changed with little or no proper internal documentation.
the world is becoming one huge mess of statistics. gun related crime is up 30%, Metro injuries are down 44%, pandas are having 200% more sex. who cares? DC is always going to have murder, violent crime, and Metro injuries - just hope you're not involved in any of them. statistics that go up and down are meaningless and rarely show that things are worsening or improving. they're just an attempt to make us feel better or scared.
"shit, murders are down 25% from last year? i think i'm going to go do some sightseeing in NE."
"hey, what's that blood stain on your shirt?"
And how about an article on Catania's Healthy DC universal health coverage and what a bust it's turned out to be.
So, DC spends $120M on a failed tax system that lets employees steal between $40M and $50M, and now decides to start all over?
How much will be spent on getting a system that works?
How much of the $120M will Accenture be paying back to the city?
Are there any adults in charge of the DC government, or is it just a bunch of inmates running the asylum?
DC is always going to have murder, violent crime, and Metro injuries - just hope you're not involved in any of them. statistics that go up and down are meaningless and rarely show that things are worsening or improving. they're just an attempt to make us feel better or scared.
Well said.
the world is becoming one huge mess of statistics. gun related crime is up 30%, Metro injuries are down 44%, pandas are having 200% more sex.
Oh, people can come up with statistics to prove anything. 14% of people know that.
I am surprised some right-wing-nuts haven't jumped all over these "hippy-crites".
Yeah, I say we stop relying on objective data and just use personal anecdotes.
Well, of course three people were shot on Monday. They had to make up for the people who didn't get shot during the All Hands on Deck weekend. DC only had one lousy stabbing. We all knew they could do better than that.
Alright, so the the software for tracking DCPS payroll and expenditures cost tens of millions and still doesn't work. The sofware for tracking DC contractors can't communicate with the tax and revenue department. And now the software for collecting revenues has a backdoor that allows people to walk out with tens of millions of dollars. My monkey sense is tingling and telling me DC has a problem with software vendors selling "upgrades" that consist of refurbed ENIACs and Colecos connected by Habitrails filled with fossilized hamsters. Best $120 mil you'll ever spend! Now lets talk rustproofing! Because those Colecos will RUST up on you! I've also found that the tax filing system only works smoothly if you click the checkbox that says "Do you wish to contribute the full amount to the Harriet Walters Caymen Island Offshore Holding Company?"
Let's hope Accenture is better at creating software for the Department of Homeland Security. Love how these guys are based in Bermuda, where they don't have to pay taxes. What do you expect from the company that used to be [ARthur] Anderson Consulting? Now, don't you feel safe?
pandas are having 200% more sex.
200 times zero is still zero.
I see the hyphenization of the National Mall continues. Apparently one factor in the decision over the Arts and Industry Building was the possibility that it would become a Latino history museum. I dislike the idea of using the National Mall this way. Perhaps I'd be little more open to the idea if it weren't for that train wreck that is the NMAI. I hope the African American museum will be better, but I'm not holding my breath.
They should use at least part of the Arts and Industries for a few decent restaurants that both tourists and locals could use. The stunning lack of decent food options on the Mall is a bit of a travesty.
It will be at least a decade before funding and organization gets approved to even begin putting together a National Latino museum (it took the African American museum well over that). In the meantime, a campaign should be underway to renovate the building and turn it into a space for temporary and special exhibits, and also to create a top-notch restaurant in it. The Mall area lacks a decent non-fast food restaurant, and you couldn't ask for a nicer building to have one in (aside from the condemned roof, haha).
Clearly, Reid is hanging with the wrong crowd of pandas. The Mormons could teach you a thing or two about how to have a righteous good time with pandas. Just don't get caught.
I submit that if the Smithsonian were to improve on the cafeteria food at the museums, they'd get a lot of complaints from the cornfed midwesterners who don't want to eat strange food like "tapas" and "vegetables."
Haha, I agree with you Monkey, but I'm not even calling for a new "cafeteria," but instead a full sit-down restaurant. Tourists can still get their overpriced burger and limp fries at a regular museum cafeteria. Plus, with few other fine dining options in the area, I think that Smithsonian staff, and other federal workers would provide more than enough business to ensure this was a success...particularly if there is an interesting special or temporary exhibit to take in while you wait for your table.
If the Ma and Pa Kettle want to eat small portions of precious chichi, they can walk their assess over to Wolfgang Puck's place at the Newseum.
Federal buildings have a bad history with providing upscale food. Anyone who ever went to Michael Jordan's in the Reagan Building will tell you that.
IMGoph: I don't think they're talking about the front end Web platform that the city offers for e-filing your tax return. I think they are talking about the software system internally that the Tax Office uses to process your tax return on their end and make sure you get your refund.
It seems that it was pretty easy for some within the Tax Office to manipulate the system to their advantage, by siphoning off unclaimed tax refunds, and government contract kick-backs.
Re: April being so deadly, it's Spring. The crazies have been cooped up all Winter and are just getting this out of their system. Things should settle down until the Annual Summer-long "All Hands on Deck".
drew: if that's the case, then fine...as long as i can keep filing online, 'cause i don't want to lose the ease of that transaction. i just wish the tradmed folks would be a little more clear with their reporting on that.
I have no problem with there being a Latino-American Museum in DC, but that building seems totally unsuitable for it. It's a high Victorian structure with gobs of ornamentation, lots of nooks and crannies and serves as a symbol of 19th century technological and scientific progress.
What better than to move the Army Medical Museum from Walter Reed back here to the Mall, near where the collection was originally housed. Another NMAI-like feel-good museum = boring.
Severed limbs and petrified fetuses in a lavish 19th century setting = awesome!
Let's split the difference and have a Latino-American Army Medical Museum on the Mall. Elephantitis infected genitals right next to Mexican American War relics. Imagine what they could do with the snack bar.
So we've got the American Indian Museum.
And plans for an African-American Museum.
And now plans for a Latino-American Museum.
When do the Asians and Pacific Islanders-Americans start demanding their own museum?
What about the Racially-Mixed-Americans?
And the Adopted-So-Not-Fully-Sure-of-Our-Racial-Ancestry-Americans?
"I have no problem with there being a Latino-American Museum in DC"
Nor do I. I simply think that the Mall is not the place for it.
What better than to move the Army Medical Museum from Walter Reed back here to the Mall, near where the collection was originally housed. Another NMAI-like feel-good museum = boring.
Severed limbs and petrified fetuses in a lavish 19th century setting = awesome!
Ooooh, yes! Medical oddities on the Mall would be a huge draw. Better yet: good restaurant *and* medical oddities in the same building! Okay, maybe those two don't belong together after all.
Cranky: I hear ya. It's getting a bit excessive.
The SI already celebrates diversity with events for each "heritage" month:
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
September and October are Hispanic Heritage Months
November is American Indian Heritage Month
February is Black History Month
March is Women's History Month
Didn't know this was MY month - what do I get? a free happy meal?
Stop it now, or some of us will start demanding a Gay American Museum.
It'd be worth the millions spent just to see Flyover State Americans turn purple and temporarily lose the power of speech.
hillman: you've convinced me, sir. let's get that museum under construction by COB today.
I'm with Hillman. We need a Gay American Museum. Consider all the contributions gay Americans have made to our nation. What would Hollywood Squares have been like without Charles Nelson Reilly's goofball laugh and cravatte? Or Rip Taylor swanning about throwing confetti like a raging queen? And we all know why they put Paul Lynde in the center square, and it wasn't for his womanizing.
Yes, a Gay American Museum is what we need. Imagine how much fun they could have with the souvenier room! The commemorative Mary Cheney dental dams would be worth the price of admission. Not to mention the Walt Whitman antebellum whalebone cock rings. And we could get Mies van der Rohe to design it. He does a great job designing multistory gloryholes. Waitaminit. He's dead. We'll get his brother Curly Joe. It'll be cheaper. Oh, and Vera Wang can do the drapes and Donna Karan simply must do the splashguards around the bidets! Oh, there's just so much to do! Let's get busy, girls!
re: gay american museum
in the words of tim gunn - "make it work"
And in the words of Alcoholics Anonymous, "It works if you work it."
Doesn't seem to work for all the drunkard homos, but there it is.
well then lets just call in missy elliot, because if it's worth it, she'll work it.
put her thang down, flip it and reverse it, too.
well then lets just call in missy elliot, because if it's worth it, she'll work it.
Might I suggest we put in a call to Big Daddy Kane too? He gets the job done.
Before condemning the parties involved, may I suggest people read the letter from Accenture's Lisa Mascolo?
WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Commentary - Lisa Mascolo: Accenture’s integrated tax system serves the District well
MAY 17, 2008 3:00 AM
http://www.examiner.com/a-1395918~Lisa_Mascolo__Accenture_s_integrated_tax__system_serves_the_District_well.html