BCT Editorial – 11/30/06

This page was last updated on December 3, 2006.

Boom town; Editorial; Beaver County Times; November 30, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Economic growth sometimes boils down to the maxim that the three most important things in real estate are location, location and location.

“The torrid economy in Northern Virginia is a good example of that.

“To its credit, Virginia ranks among the states that have the lowest personal and businesses taxes. However, it has a huge engine driving its economy from which it derives huge economic benefits at very little cost - Washington, D.C.

“The Washington Post reports that Northern Virginia is booming in large part because information-technology firms and defense contractors want to be near their major source of business - the federal government.

“On top of that, higher federal spending has lead to more lobbyists. The Post reported the number of lobbyists - 30,000 - has doubled in the last six years. Consulting companies are also booming.

“Northern Virginia is booming because of a deal between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton in 1790. Keep that in mind whenever someone wonders why our region isn’t booming like Northern Virginia is - and blame Jefferson and Hamilton.”

[RWC] What an idiotic, ignorant, and counterproductive editorial!

Without getting into the details, the capital’s location was not “because of a deal between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.” The deal was between Hamilton and two Virginia congressmen at a dinner hosted by Jefferson and covered much more than a location for the capital. The deal also covered federal government assumption of state debts. Southern states threatened to secede unless these issues could be resolved.

As a side note, wasn’t it a Times editorial of just four days ago that criticized a 19-year-old for her history knowledge?

Here’s a translation of the editorial: We’re victims of the decision 216 years ago to locate the U.S. capital where it is instead of in Delaware or eastern PA.

I’d like to hear the Times explain why the location of the capital has any effect on economic activity in our area. What is it with liberals and cherishing victimhood?