Washington Comes to City Hall   A collective howling was heard
across the United States last Thursday, but it wasn't wolves
baying at a full moon that caused all the cacophony but rather
local politicians and 'dependent' constituents. All the fuss
centered around President Bush's proposal to cut Community
Development Block Grants (CDBG), which is a federal program to
fund projects and social service agencies in lower income areas,
initiated by the Nixon administration. The disbursement of CDBG
funds has become an important annual event in most cities.
Agency directors, developers, lobbyist and aspiring leeches line
up and present their case to local politicians so that they can
receive the federal grants, which consist of forcefully
confiscated taxpayer monies. Did I fail to mention most of the
folks receiving these grants are politically connected or that
these grants are used to curry political favors and for
electoral gains? In Miami, over 100 senior citizens showed up at
city hall worried about the fate o