New Slate and Press and Journal Article

Making Political Sense: Harrisburg Mayor Needs an Economist

By: James Miller

Published 02/22/2011

Within the past year, Harrisburg Mayor Linda Thompson’s administration has been plagued with a number of resignations.

These resignations, including recent Communications Director Chuck Ardo and City Solicitor Phil Harper, have occurred due to the perceived incompetence of Thompson in dealing with the city’s financial problems.

Behind the scenes derogatory remarks plus an investigation by the Security and Exchange Commission are not helping her image either.

Though Harrisburg’s fiscal situation is dire, there are many solutions which the mayor could choose from. Declaring bankruptcy or an outright default would be a start.

Sure, default would be disastrous but it would only result in short-term pain and would set the stage for Harrisburg to renegotiate its labor contracts and get the city back on a more sustainable track.

Unfortunately, Thompson has dismissed this option, but she may not have a choice if things do not start turning around soon.

It is no secret that Harrisburg’s $1 billion debt crisis is a national laughingstock. While states and cities across the country are facing massive deficits, Harrisburg is often listed as one of the worst.

With some Harrisburg businesses struggling to stay open due to a decrease in sales, a tax on those who work within the city should seem like a short-sighted idea.

So it should come as no surprise that a call for a commuter tax is precisely the kind of thing Thompson would ask for.

The current tax on those who work in Harrisburg is $52. Some, such as “The Patriot News,” have called to increase it by as much as $8.

What Thompson and others do not seem to realize is that increasing a tax by $8 dollars a year, though seemingly small at first glance, is a tax on businesses within Harrisburg that could potentially receive the taxed away income.

Taking away $8 from one Harrisburg worker takes it away from such businesses as Neato Burrito or Molly Brandigans. Even if the money is not spent in Harrisburg, it is often spent on other companies somewhere in the state.

It can also be used to supplement the savings accounts of Pennsylvanians which could in turn be lent out by banks to aspiring entrepreneurs or others wishing to purchase a car or home.

Either way, a tax on Harrisburg workers ends up being a tax on Pennsylvania as a whole.

Therefore, Thompson must hire a competent economic advisor that can inform her of such unintended consequences that are a result of raising taxes.

If Thompson was serious about rejuvenating the economic activity of Harrisburg, she would embrace pro-competitive and growth initiatives such as ending the parking monopoly the Harrisburg Parking Authority has on the city.

As of right now, if someone who owns a parking lot in Harrisburg, they are barred from using it as a commercial parking lot.

Getting rid of restrictions to entry in the parking business would promote competition and cheaper prices, as an increase in land owners are able to use their property to provide in-demand parking to an already congested city.

This would have to correlate with a selling off of the city-run parking garages of course.

The initial sell-off would mean a fall in revenue initially, but could be made up by more and more commuters coming to the city who are able to spend the money saved on businesses within Harrisburg.

The implementation of a commuter tax is the act of choosing a short-term gain on the back of long-term prosperity.

After a number of high profile resignations, the Thompson administration desperately needs to hire someone who can restore fiscal sanity to Harrisburg fast.

Cleaning up her language and an investigation from the same agency that missed the likes of Bernie Madoff, Enron and the 2008 financial crisis are just mild nuisances compared to running the capital of Pennsylvania.

Financial solvency cannot be solved through tax raises themselves. They are a trade off of removing money that could be spent within the city for the sake of continuing an already unsustainable public sector.

The sooner Thompson and other like-minded politicians realize this, the better the city, the state and the country as a whole will be.

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O, brave new world of the Web

by James Miller

“Congress shall make no law‚ abridging the freedom of speech.”

As everyone should know, this is the direct language from the first, and arguably most important, amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

What contains just 10 simple words lays the foundation that is absolutely necessary for a prosperous and content society.

Without the ability to dissent one’s own government without fear of retaliation, social and economic progress becomes stifled. Once the brakes are put on economic progress, so too are the brakes put on improving our lives.

Nowhere is that more evident than Egypt. What began with a man in Tunisia setting himself on fire in protest of the police seizing his vegetable cart literally snowballed into a movement to topple a 30-year tyrant propped up by our own foreign policy and tax dollars.

Faced with losing the powerful position he occupied for the past three decades, Honsi Mubarak did what any tyrant does when they are desperate to maintain their control: He shut down the people’s means of communication. In this case, it was the Internet and social media giants Facebook and Twitter.

By being able to communicate and organize instantaneously at little cost, the mass mobilization of people is just a mouse click away. Fifteen years ago, this would be inconceivable. From the brain of a socially awkward Harvard student came a new tool in fighting oppression. And from the idea of providing a service for anyone to communicate instantly to a small group rose a network that can relay messages to the almost 7 billion people of the world.

 Any government that strives for ultimate control of information must now deal with these two juggernauts.
Mubarak tried, and though he was successful initially, he ultimately failed due to a number of groups outside Egypt who provided Internet access outside the government’s control. Mubarak may have thought he had some control inside Egypt, but outside the country is another story.

With the whole world watching how the Internet revolution can bring a long established tyrant to his knees, how does a country founded on a limited role of government react? By introducing legislation to allow the president to essentially “kill” the Internet in a time of emergency, of course!

There is a bill before Congress that was introduced by senators Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins that grants the executive branch the power to shut down the Internet in a time of emergency or cyber attack.

Senators Jay Rockefeller and Olympia Snow have also introduced bills that would have the same effect.

While President Obama condemned Mubarak for shutting down the Internet, those in Congress are attempting to give him the same power. So much for showing support for the oppressed.

With the rise of the Internet has come a standard of living that no one would ever dream of giving up. The rapid flow of news has brought what was once considered a rather large world even closer together.

With more information comes a more educated population. Relatives can now speak to each other halfway across the globe. And a 23-year-old can now organize with people to protest what he or she sees as an illegitimate government.

With that being said, it should not be surprising that those in control fear the freedom of information and expression.
It begets the rise of decentralization to a structure built on accumulating power.

Lord Acton famously proclaimed, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” The people of Egypt realized this and forced change. Let us hope that the American people continue to realize this and put a stop to our federal government’s never-ending appetite for control.

James Miller is a public administration major at Shippensburg University and a 2006 graduate of Middletown Area High School.