Some numbers from today in DC.
TOO HIGH: The Washington Business Journal reports that the cost of doing business in North Virginia falls above the national average for big cities. Eighth among metropolitan areas, NoVA — by which KMBG LLP pollsters meant the D.C. metro area — earned a cost index of 101. (The national average is 99.4.)
Low electric and employee benefits costs were cited as reasons that it doesn’t cost more to do business from Arlington to Bethesda. But why does it cost as much as it does in the first place? One (totally uninformed and baseless) guess: traffic, including time lost to commuting and business delayed by the Beltway, but also a development establishment that emphasizes building new, lesser-used Metro stations along spurs in Virginia and Maryland over improving infrastructure, building new stations, and relieving congestion in the city’s interior.
TOO LOW: The AP notes that 58 percent of D.C. students graduate from the public school on time, a few points above the 52 percent who graduate from the 50 big cities surveyed by Editorial Projects in Education. Though that puts DC squarely in the center of graduation rates in big cities (22nd of 50), it’s a number that’s pathetically low in comparison to the national average of 70 percent. Which is itself totally unacceptable, especially in an employment environment in which a bachelor’s degree or trade certificate is considered an entry-level requirement for middle-class living.
JUST RIGHTS?: David Catania proposes “Healthy DC,” which will extend healthcare eligibility to those whose income is too high to qualify for Medicare or D.C. Health. That’s around 25,000 residents, says the Examiner, a number that strikes this writer as large enough to put a strain on the city when those uninsured get sick and seek care at free clinics or emergency rooms or (in some cases, almost worst) show up to work ill.
Universal healthcare doesn’t come at no cost, though, and Catania’s city-subsidized mandate will be paid for in part by smokers, as taxes on cigarettes will double (from $1 to $2). According to the Washington Post, Healthy DC registrants will pay from $20 to $100 a month depending on their income; the city would pay $21 million and CareFirst BlueCross Blue Shield would chip in $5 million. Mandating healthcare also has to come with a penalty for those who opt out: Catania has yet to flesh out that part of the plan.
Photo by kezee
