SUNDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2010
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CLOSE TO HOME THE DISTRICT A gazetteer of the fading pay phone
“Yeah, time is a fast-moving dude, man!” the deejay voice used to intone after midnight on now-vanished WINX-AM radio in Rockville. That fast-moving dude yanks the tablecloth out from under everything dear to those of us a nostalgic stripe. In the parade of the disappearing, cute beats clunky. Who wouldn’t object to the end of Mom and Pop bakeries or corner hardware stores? There was at least a murmuring of complaint when Giant Food axed Heidi cakes and pies. But in this BlackBerry world, the coin-operated phone appears to be unmourned as it fades.
But as the throngs line up outside the new Georgetown Apple store to buy the latest iPhone, I feel the pain of loss. This is nothing new to me. I am an emotional Luddite.
Imiss the clank of a milkman’s bottle on the porch and the rurr-rurr of a four-barrel-carbureted, Detroit-made engine turning over. And right now there’s no more tragic a sight than that of a gutted tel-stand in the middle of Friendship Heights Metro, or a Brassai-esque oval shadow on the wall of my neighborhood CVS, or even the plaintive stare of two eye-holes denoting severed phone cables in a concrete platform not far from Dupont Circle. Never again can I phone my loved one from the Newark Street Giant, just to say: “Here comes the doggone bus. I’m slogging aboard as we speak.” Now, everywhere I
BY CHRIS EARNSHAW A phone shell in Northwest.
go, no cell equals no calls. But not very long ago, this was definitely not the case. Here are some coin telephone moments in this writer’s field of recall. Mid-2000s. Historic-style phone sconce at Wisconsin and Massachusetts avenues, after dark. I’m on the air with
radio host Lionel. He chuckles, “My screener handed me Chris, from a pay phone somewhere in Washington, D.C. So Chris, I understand you are a fellow fan of tragic guitar phenom Danny Gatton?” (Pause — we hear a short cut of Gatton’s unforgettable “Harlem Nocturne.”) “Yeah, Lionel,” I blurt. “Gatton was the greatest influence.” Lionel shouts a hurried thanks, and the phone goes dead. 1993. Children’s Hospital loading dock, phoning my florist boss about a severely delayed balloon delivery. “A spidery figure blowing kisses to a thousand sick kids blocked my way, sir.” The boss asks who it was. “Michael Jackson, the entertainer. What? You’ve never heard of him?” The boss’s response is unprintable. Mid-1970s. Leaning into the phone beside the Georgetown Booeymonger Deli, Prospect and Potomac streets. I’m in the middle of an outdoor set for the TV movie “Washington Behind Closed Doors.” My dear Dad, on the other end of the line, asks when I can return his precious bottle-green Chevy Impala. “Well, Dad . . ..” I’m rudely cut off by a cop grabbing my shoulder. “Get over to that extras bus or your ass will be grass!” End of conversation. Yes, the open-air angst and mechanical aggravation is lost to us, but hold the phone. I know of a few choice sites where a Niagara of coins will still overflow from the down slot if you don’t drop ’em in fast enough. Connecticut Avenue and Jefferson Place NW. Opposite the ancient Guitar Shop. I’ve recently observed musicians, restaurant workers and street hustlers successfully place calls at this location. Hotel Harrington, 11th and E streets NW. One lonesome phone sprouts from the sidewalk by Harry’s Café and a D6 bus stop. Below ground in the hotel basement, you will find outdated directories. Cairo Liquors and Lottery, 17th and Q streets NW. In the shadow of the once-shabby Cairo Hotel stand a pair of beat-up phones. Left one doesn’t work, right one does. And I recently stumbled across a dual payoff: In the
McDonald’s a block from the White House, one finds a menacing phone pedestal in the back. It gleams so brightly of the Watergate era that you can wink at yourself as you punch the buttons and say, “This is Deep Throat.” And just east of the White House, the phone gods have seen fit to restore to service a single “historical” cast-iron kiosk, so now you can lean in once again and make a call — just like they did 20 years ago. Chris Earnshaw, Washington
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NEXT WEEK’S TOPIC Whom do you support in the Maryland governor’s race? See “Your Endorsement” below.
THE MARYLAND GOVERNOR’S RACE Governing in hard times
The Post asked the candidates: How will you close Maryland’s budget deficits? And what more can a governor hope to achieve in a time of such severe fiscal constraints?
By Martin O’Malley
Just as every small business and family has been impacted by the na- tional recession, every state in the na- tion faces tough budget challenges in the year ahead. Many other states have cut public education funding, putting thousands of teachers in un- employment lines; increased college tuition; and cut critical social ser- vices. In Maryland, we have made some tough but smart decisions to in- vest in the most critical priorities for our families: education, public safety and job creation. Because of this, Maryland is in better fiscal shape than most states and is better prepared to emerge from this global economic recession. Together, we have made the tough choices to restore fiscal responsibility in Annapolis, protect our shared priorities and position Maryland for long-term economic growth. During the past four years, I have cut $5.6 billion in state spending and abolished 4,200 state positions. Today, Mary- land’s General Fund is smaller than it was four years ago (for the first time since the Great Depression), and we have the lowest number of state employ- ees per capita since 1974. We addressed the $1.7 billion struc-
We’ve worked together with law enforcement and local officials to bring Maryland’s violent crime and overall crime rate to their lowest lev- els since the 1970s. The choices we’ve made over the past four years haven’t always been easy. But with a government that works and an administration that fights on the side of Maryland fami- lies — these tough choices have al- lowed us to protect the very things that move us forward. Public educa- tion. Affordable college. Job creation. Public transit. The bay and our envi- ronment. As we look ahead to the next year, we face more tough choices. There
by Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.
Across Maryland, families and small business owners have spent the past few years making difficult ad- justments to their monthly budgets to cope in a tough economy. They’ve cut out the luxury spending, paid down their credit card balances or put off hiring new workers until their bal- ance sheets are in order. Yet the same can’t be said for the
state government that represents them. After four years of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s leadership, here are the stark fiscal realities we face: First, total spending under O’Mal-
residents enjoy 17 cents of services for every dollar they pay to the state in taxes. Families and entrepreneurs get horrible value for their dollar, and the next governor gets a massive budget shortfall on the horizon. Iwill end this mindset and institute
a Value-for-Dollar Initiative. The goal will be to align government expendi- tures with revenue by delivering out- comes for Marylanders at a price they are willing to pay — and not a penny more. This means shifting govern- ment’s starting point from last year’s base entitlements to what citizens are willing to pay for core government services. In fact, we’ll require agencies to remove last year’s entitlement en- tirely and begin budgeting anew. Conservative budgeting:
PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS/ASSOCIATED PRESS Robert Ehrlich, left, and Martin O’Malley debate this week at The Washington Post.
tural deficit left by the previous ad- ministration, we reduced general fund spending by 3 percent (in con- trast to the Ehrlich administration, which increased spending by 33 per- cent) and we submitted four balanced budgets below the tough spending af- fordability guidelines set by the Gen- eral Assembly (three of four budgets submitted by the previous adminis- tration failed to meet this basic threshold for fiscal responsibility). As a result, Maryland is creating
jobs at twice the national rate. We’ve created more than 33,000 new jobs since January, the best year for job creation our state has had since 2000. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce ranks Maryland as one of America’s two best states for innovation and entrepreneurship, and we’ve main- tained our coveted AAA bond rating (one of only eight states to do so dur- ing the recession).
While making these tough and fis- cally responsible decisions, we have also moved our state forward: We’ve made record investments in public education and school con- struction, and made college more af- fordable at Maryland universities. And Maryland recently won Presi- dent Obama’s Race to the Top initia- tive to continue reforming our public schools. We provided health care for more than 200,000 more Marylanders, half of whom are children, and we im- proved important services provided by the state by expanding school and summer lunch programs, and creat- ing a new online application system for services. We’ve made tremendous progress toward restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay, including bringing back Maryland’s blue crab popula- tion, preserving open space and mov- ing forward with renewable energy sources.
are no quick fixes or easy answers. Former governor Bob Ehrlich’s empty promise that we can all eat cake and lose weight won’t move us forward in tough times. We have to be willing to make tough choices. Many of the same promises that were made and broken eight years ago are once again being made on the campaign trail today. Bob Ehrlich has proposed over a billion dollars in new programs, but he hasn’t told us how he will pay for them, except for cut- ting public education funding. This is not a plan that will move our state forward. As we continue to fight our way out of the recession and into better days, we will continue to cut spending and continue to make tough choices. And we will continue to protect the priori- ties that give our state a competitive advantage and fuel our ability to move forward — forward with more jobs, better schools, safer streets, more affordable college and a cleaner bay.
We can continue to win this battle for our future, if we are willing to make tough choices that put our fam- ilies first. And to do that we need a governor who fights every battle on our side.
The writer, a Democrat, is seeking reelection as governor of Maryland.
Your endorsement
The Post’s editorial board makes its endorsement in the Maryland governor’s race today. Now it’s your turn. Make the case for your candi- date in 200 words or fewer, and e- mail it to
letters@washpost.com with “My Endorsement” in the subject line. Include a day and evening phone number (not for publication)
ley has risen by $22 billion over the past four years compared to the previ- ous four. It should surprise no one, therefore, that the state’s revenue only covers 84 percent of its expenditures. Second, a record tax increase hailed
by O’Malley as the “long-term solu- tion” to Maryland’s budget woes in 2007 has actually left Maryland with $6 billion in out-year deficits. Third, as Marylanders pay down their own debts, state debt has in- creased 27 percent. With revenue shrinking, politicians took up the dangerous habit of issuing debt to pay for current-year expenditures. In oth- er words, they’ve been paying their mortgage with a credit card. Missing in Annapolis is an adult
conversation about the wisdom of spending money we don’t have. I see the next four years as a historic oppor- tunity to create a government of the future, rather than preserve a govern- ment that clings to the past. With a sorely needed dose of candor and hard work, we can transform the mis- sion, reach and scope of state govern- ment to deliver services at a reason- able cost that citizens are willing to pay. Here’s how: Value-for-Dollar Initiative: Gov- ernment’s legacy the past four years has been to enact higher taxes and provide fewer services in return. In Montgomery County, for instance,
and a note describing any con- nection you have to the candi- dates, their campaigns or Maryland politics in general. We’ll publish some of the submissions on the Oct. 24 Lo- cal Opinions page, as well as on the All Opinions Are Local blog, at http://voices.
washingtonpost.com/local- opinions/.
To maximize the Value-for-Dol- lar Initiative’s success, my ad- ministration will only adhere to conservative revenue estimates when formulating annual budgets. Doing so will help overzealous agencies and legis- lators avoid unpleasant shocks associated with revenue not meeting expectations. It will also help us replenish our rainy-day fund, 50 percent of which O’Malley has spent. Pension reform: A preemi- nent threat to Maryland’s long-
term fiscal solvency is its pension obli- gations. The Pew Center on the States recently raised “serious concerns” about Maryland’s pension liabilities, noting that Maryland has only 65 per- cent of the funds needed to meet $33 billion in obligations. I will introduce bipartisan pension reform that is fair to both pension beneficiaries and the taxpayers who finance the system. We can control the costs of state pensions while still protecting the benefits that existing state employees have already earned. Review mandates: Nearly three-
quarters of Maryland’s $32 billion budget is mandated spending. Over the past four years, Maryland’s gover- nor and legislators have gone to ex- traordinary pains to pretend this ele- phant is not in their living room, even as it strains our fiscal solvency. A bi- partisan review of entitlement spend- ing in state government and ineffec- tive expenditures is long overdue, and will start in my first year. Skeptics should consider my first term in office. We inherited more than $2 billion in deficits from my pred- ecessor. In less than four years, we eliminated $1.4 billion in unnecessary spending, reduced the executive branch bureaucracy by 7 percent and tripled the state’s rainy-day fund to $1.4 billion. Even in those tough fiscal times, I increased investments in our public schools more than any gover- nor in history, including O’Malley. To- day, I remain as committed as ever to ensuring every student has access to an education that prepares them to compete in the 21st century. Maryland’s families and job cre-
ators deserve credit for making tough decisions to put themselves on stron- ger financial footing. Sadly, their gov- ernor has failed to show the same re- solve. With new leadership next year, we can and will do better.
The writer is the Republican candidate for Maryland’s governorship.
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PETER GALUSZKA CHESTERFIELD, VA. The Tea Party reshuffles Virginia’s Republican deck
Democrat-bashing was the order of the day at the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Convention in Richmond last weekend. Yet something more important emerged: just how much the populist, conservative movement is turning Virginia’s Re- publican Party on its head. Clearly, the belle of the ball was
Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia’s hard- right and furiously independent at- torney general, who has won na- tional attention as a political comer capable of defying the carefully laid plans of his state’s GOP estab- lishment.
Speaking before hundreds of screaming supporters, Cuccinelli said: “I don’t think there’d be a Tea Party if the Republican Party had been the party of limited govern- ment in the first half of this dec- ade.”
That one probably went down a
little hard for the more traditional Republicans in attendance, includ- ing former senator and governor George Allen and current Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling. Absent, perhaps not so curiously, was Republican House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Hen- rico County, whose penchant for pork barrel spending has earned him open Tea Party scorn. It wasn’t supposed to be this
way. Until not too long ago, remem- ber, Allen had long been seen as the state’s archetypal GOP star, with his cowboy boots, “aw shucks” manner and business-first bona fides — until he self-destructed during his 2006 Senate race against Jim Webb when he was caught on video dissing a man of Indian descent. No matter. The
party found a different kind of star in McDonnell, the law-and-order attorney general who had been a legislator from Virginia Beach. Highly telegenic, McDonnell ran into one big problem as a guberna- torial candidate in 2009: The Post’s revelation of a master’s thesis he wrote in the 1980s revealed what can charitably be called Neander- thal attitudes about gays and wom- en. But a quick makeover suc- cessfully recast him as a moderate. The stocky, glad-handing Bolling was supposed to be the jobs guy of the partnership — and McDon- nell’s natural successor as gover- nor. The stars have since aligned against the GOP planners. Don’t expect to see Bolling running to the center the way McDonnell did any- time soon. As Cuccinelli moves
with great drama against climate science, gays, illegal immigrants and Obamacare, he is without question the potential gubernatori- al candidate with the momentum on the right. At the convention, this dynamic was plain to see. McDonnell and Bolling got cheers for supporting a constitutional amendment to let states nullify federal laws they don’t like, but it was nothing like Cuccinelli’s reception. The Tea Par- ty convention crowd, with its Pat- rick Henry garb, “Guns Save Lives” stickers and openly toted .45-cali- ber automatic pistols, is Cuccinelli’s natural base, and it is organized in Virginia like it’s never been orga- nized before. It’s not just Cuccinelli who’s
gaining. Another obvious potential beneficiary is Corey A. Stewart,
chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors, who pushed through a county-level anti- immigration law designed to force lower-income immigrants from Prince William. Stewart was manning a small booth for his “Virginia Rule of Law” movement, which is meant to take the Prince William approach state- wide. Stewart told me that the county’s initiative was used as a template by Arizona when it fa- mously adopted anti-illegal-immi- gration policies such as requiring police to check the citizenship sta- tus of anyone they stop. He ad- mitted to me that Hispanic groups are not happy with his movement but insisted that “it isn’t racist.” Stewart’s tough-guy stance reso- nates with the Tea Partyers, and at the convention there was talk that
he might make a better candidate against Webb in 2012 than would Allen in a rematch.
At their core, such sentiments re-
flect current economic frustrations. They are also making the reputa- tions of politicians with a knack for the politics of resentment. The question is, do Cuccinelli and Stew- art have positive ideas for address- ing the state’s more pressing prob- lems, such as its crumbling infra- structure, insecure jobs and inadequate education standards? Take heart, Bill Bolling: Those questions will remain long after the gleeful Richmond Tea Party fades from memory.
Peter Galuszka is a Virginia writer who blogs at Bacon’s Rebellion. He participates in The Post’s Local Blog Network.
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