the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Nov 11, 2019
Baltimore officials announced the city had a budget surplus.
This news is dumbfounding for Baltimore City taxpayers.
Most of the time, officials say the city is broke and cannot afford to do this or that. The city has a housing trust for building the affordable housing desperately needed. That has not been funded.
The city has a water and sewer system 15 years behind schedule in getting fixed, for which city residents have seen their bills double.
For city employees, the pension funds are not fully funded.
And for school children, some have sat through class with no air-conditioning in boiling hot weather or with no heat in the freezing cold.
Any “left-over” or “surplus” funds are needed—for what the city government is supposed to accomplish but hasn’t.
Why is there any discussion of a “surplus"? Oh yes, the primary race for Baltimore’s next mayor has begun.