{"id":107,"date":"2019-05-22T20:00:04","date_gmt":"2019-05-23T00:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/takomatorch.com\/?p=107"},"modified":"2020-04-23T13:22:15","modified_gmt":"2020-04-23T17:22:15","slug":"amid-budget-crisis-takoma-park-socialists-propose-roscoebucks-cryptocurrency-to-fund-tax-cuts-pool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/22\/amid-budget-crisis-takoma-park-socialists-propose-roscoebucks-cryptocurrency-to-fund-tax-cuts-pool\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid Budget Crisis, Takoma Park Socialists Propose \u2018Roscoebucks\u2019 Cryptocurrency to Fund Tax Cuts, Pool"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"council\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Frustrated by a tight city budget, a group of Takoma Park socialists is developing a new cryptocurrency that will allow the city government to eliminate local taxes, prevent budget cuts and construct a new centrally located swimming pool.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under the plan, all funding for the city\u2019s new $500 million budget would come from a new Takoma Park cryptocurrency called Roscoebucks. \n\nThe plan would bar new businesses from opening within the city limits, since their tax revenue would no longer be needed. Property taxes would be reduced to zero. Construction of the new $65 million pool would proceed immediately, and there would be no budget cuts. \n \nUnder the plan, local businesses would be barred from accepting anything other than the Roscoe-denominated cryptocurrency. The city would set up currency exchange booths on all of Takoma Park\u2019s borders.\n \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 40 members of the new group Socialists Perturbed About Spending Money (SPASM) hailed their  proposal to cut taxes, prevent development and boost spending at a raucous City Council meeting that lasted until 3 a.m. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many members complained of extreme financial hardships and said they were in danger of having to shop at Aldi rather than the beloved food coop at Takoma Junction.\n\u201cWe\u2019re being taxed out of our homes,” local socialist Mark Stephenson said, wearing ‘Bernie 2020’ and ‘Medicare for All\u2019 buttons decrying the city\u2019s proposed property tax increase of $100 per household.\u201cEnough is enough! We need to take back control of Takoma Park!\u201d \n \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephenson, whose 2,500 square foot Victorian house is worth $800,000, called for a \u201cbold, creative, 21st century approach to budgeting\u201d that would fund tax cuts and pay for an Olympic-sized pool with a weight room and public yoga classes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf we set our\u00a0minds to it, we can do anything in Takoma Park, and that includes developing our own currency,\u201d fellow SPASM member\u00a0Steve Peters, said, while an audience member waved a sign saying \u2018Pools Not\u00a0Schools\u2019 Peters said his 18-year-old son is already “coding his socks off” to create the Roscoebucks cryptocurrency, which will feature the famous Roscoe the Rooster.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur plan is a foolproof way to guarantee lower taxes, high services, halt gentrification in its tracks and prevent any additional wine bars from opening,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cAlso, we really need a better swimming pool. What could go wrong?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frustrated by a tight city budget, a group of Takoma Park socialists is developing a new cryptocurrency that will allow the city government to eliminate local taxes, prevent budget cuts and construct a new centrally located swimming pool. Under the plan, all funding for the city\u2019s new $500 million budget would come from a new Takoma Park cryptocurrency called Roscoebucks.  The plan…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-local-news","wpcat-9-id","wpcat-17-id"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/takomatorch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/council.png?fit=900%2C588&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paPZSG-1J","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":986,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107\/revisions\/986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}