The Misunderstanding of opposing Subsidizing Extreme Home Makeover

Muir Boda

I think many people misunderstand why there is opposition from many of us who oppose Wicomico County subsidizing the project by Extreme Home Makeover by waving fees, paying overtime to law enforcement and other expenses of the project they requested for no cost by local businesses. I think baseless arguments and finger pointing at the Tea Party and those who oppose Obama has nothing to do with this issue. Saying we are not  “Christian” or are heartless because we do not wish our tax dollars to be used in this manner, again are baseless statements and comments and hold no merit.

First, Extreme Home Makeover is a for profit business. They sell advertising to fund their production and to pay their talent. What they do, I think is a great concept and it has been a very successful show which has led to the indirect success of HGTV. 

I also wish to commend all of the people who donated their time by helping uplift that neighborhood, San Domingo. I do believe this created a sense of volunteerism and tapped into one the greatest assets we have here on the Eastern Shore and that is our willingness to step up to the plate and serve our neighbors and friends when they need it. We saw this with the search for Sarah Foxwell and the outpouring of love to the family of Alice Davis.

The heart of the matter is waving the fees associated with permits and inspections, the waiver of tipping fees and paying law enforcement to work traffic and crowd control around the project. Some say it is worth the price to help the family in need and many on the County Council and in the County Government were quick to waive the fees and get things approved as quickly as possible. Government officials were very quick to cut through red tape so that the project could get underway. 

Yet this is the same County Government that has cut its budget the past couple of years because of decreased revenues. Our board of education is talking of making drastic cuts and changes in our schools because of budget shortfalls. This affects all of our children and families.

This is the hypocrisy many of us are seeing from our elected officials. They nickel and dime everything and then when Hollywood comes calling, they say, “It’s whatever you need.” 

Many have no objection to our tax dollars being used this way because “it’s for a good cause.” They point the finger at many of us who oppose this for not being “Christian” and being heartless. I take exception to that. The Christian thing would have been for all the Churches in the area to help with love offerings to help cover the fees and costs associated with this, not force taxpayers to burden the cost. I did not vote for my elected officials to use my tax dollars or waive fees in this manner.

Charity should be given freely and managed by organizations who do charitable work. For profit businesses should all be treated the same whether they are businesses that provide jobs and sell products or businesses that come into to do “charitable work” but are still businesses for profit.

If someone wants to donate their time, energy and money, I encourage and applaud those people because it is their money that they earned. Tax dollars are everyone’s money and should be used for the basic operations of our government not to grant special favors for pet projects no matter how noble.

Muir Boda

Vice-Chair Maryland Libertarian Party