The Farce of The News Media

The news media likes to brag about their role in Watergate yet for more than 75 years has completely failed to report on a totally illegal design of the DC Taxicab "zone system" fare system.

DC is the only major city in this world that in April of 2008 will be installing meters to compute local taxicab fares. The local and national "reporting" on this issue has been so shallow that few DC residents, taxicab drivers and tourists have ever been informed that DC initially had used a meter just like every other major city in this world that equitably computes local taxicab fares as well as has a reliable means to record and collect the tax revenue from the local taxicab companies and drivers.
Among the countless issues that go totally unaddressed by politicians and unreported by the news media is the farce of the news media's manner of "reporting" or writing editorials in concern of the "regulation" of the DC Taxicab Industry.
Your mission, should you decide to accept it, will be to remain very sensitive to the upcoming "reporting" on the sudden installation of meters in DC taxicabs and counting how many magazine, radio or television news departments will in the near future openly refer to DC residents, taxicab drivers and the millions of tourists visiting Washington DC the undeniable facts that:
1) DC had initially used meters to compute taxicab fares and as a reliable means to record and compute the tax revenue that was due from DC taxicab companies and drivers.
2) That the zone system has been in operation for 76 years despite the fact that it wasn't ever approved and in fact the unique DC taxicab zone fare system had been denied for 20 impressive reasons by the DC Public Utilities Commission. (Public Utilities Commission order no. 956 11/6/31)3)
3) The initial denial to use the zone system to replace meters in DC taxicabs had been upheld by a Judge having ruled that, "the zone system is only a means to exploit the labor.
4) Every major city in this world uses a meter to equitable compute local taxicab fares as well as a reliable means to compute the tax revenue that was due from every local taxicab company.
Due to the farce of the news media very few know of the initial and still standing government and court decisions that had totally denied, "any version of the zone system to replace the use of meters in DC taxicabs." (PUC order no. 956 11/0631) The Congressional objective was reached in that the unique DC Taxicab Zone System has continued since 1934 to provide the cheapest and most reliable taxicab service for white people in the downtown and NW area of DC.
For 76 years the unique DC taxicab zone system fare structure has continously cheated countless tourists who don't have the slightest idea of the correct fare and even more importantly has continued to insult the predominantly Afro-American residents of DC with inequitable zone boundaries such as Alabama Ave SE, Atlantic St. Se, Wheeler Rd, SE, 19th St NE,42nd ST. NE, South Dakota Ave. NE and so many other examples in the predominantly Afro-American residential areas of the city.
Members of the DC City Council have since their creation by Congress dared to insist that either they are not on the appropriate committee or that only the Mayor or the Chair of the Council committee responsible for regulating the DC taxicab industry can directly address the Congressional corruption of the DC taxicab zone system! In modern terms that means that everyone you contact of the DC Council will only be able to refer you to Mayor Fenty and Council member Graham.
My initial address to the Congressional corruption of the DC taxicab industry was presented to DC City Council member John Wilson in 1975. After the September 2007 DC Taxicab Commission hearing I was able to refer Mr. Bruce Johnson of WTOP news to my research that I was able to provide via google.com under the subject "Karl Rudder's Blog".The issue is not,
" Why have "reporters" from local and national magazine and radio and television shows and the news refused to ever responsibly research and report on the corrupt origin of the DC taxicab fare structure?
The real issue is just why have tens of thousands of national and local "reporters" of the newspapers, magazines, radio and television news media failed for 76 years to ever responsibly research and clearly report on the Congressional corruption of the DC Taxicab Industry. Please call any "reporter" from the local channels of CBS,NBC,WTTG or ABC and newspapers and if at all possible ask them, "Why have you chosen to not ever responsibly research and report that the unique DC taxicab zone system was actually denied for 20 reasons when it was initially proposed?
Do you think that if DC was the residents of primarily white people that the essential facts of this issue would have been kept so well hidden for 76 years? (I am asking an answer to this question from everyone but the employees of the news media)
The UnSolved Mystery is that since 1934 national and local politicians and professionally trained "reporters" have written and published countless articles on the DC taxicab industry yet not once ever have any of them ever researched and referred specifically to the initial and still standing government and court decisions that had totally denied the DC taxicab zone system in 1931. The past 76 years of misleading articles or editorials by the staff of Washington Post, the Washington Sun, The Washington Times and The Examiner and totally invalid and very costly "studies" have yet to do anything but continue to further confuse the issue among DC residents and taxicab drivers and tourists while allowing the DC taxicab zone system to remain in operation despite the fact that it had not ever been approved !
The DC & MD Afro-American newspaper has been the only major local newspaper that has most openly respected and reported on the initial and still standing government and court decisions of the Congressional corruption of the DC taxicab industry. ("The Congressional Corruption of the DC Taxicab Industry" Letter to the Editor 09/08/07)

The very unique DC taxicab zone system has been cheating the constant flow of tourists to DC and by the time the majority of them realized that they had been cheated by a DC taxicab driver they were on their way back home and it was impossible for them to reliably file and process a complaint.
There has yet to be a DC Delegate, Mayor or City Council member (other than John Wilson in 1975) to ever use any of their well paid time and staff to responsibly research and stimulate the local news media to expose and address the legal facts of the Congressional corruption of the DC taxicab industry.
There isn't any simple two sentence solution to the regulation of the DC taxicab industry.
A sudden announcement on October 17, 2007 by Mayor Fenty of his intentions to install meters in DC taxicabs should have stimulated a careful, factual review of this entire issue.I look forward to coming to truly understand just why Mayor Fenty, Delegate Norton and many current and previous DC Council members are law school graduates, if not serving as Professors of law, yet not one of them has ever dared to openly refer to the initial and still standing government and court decisions that had totally disallowed the zone system to have ever been allowed to go into operation in 1934! Why ?
DC City Council member Graham and supporters of the zone system have convinced Mayor Fenty to form one more "Task Force" composed by individuals that one more time will "study" the use of meters in DC taxicabs.
Although the facts of the origin of the unique DC taxicab zone system have been well hidden by local and national politicians the fortune to the Truth is that, regardless of how well it is hidden, the Truth will not change!

Congressional Corruption of the DC Taxicab Industry

Bell and City Cab Company were the major taxicab companies in 1931. To serve corporate purpose they had tried, without authority, to start to use their unique "zone system fare structure to take the place the use of meters in DC taxicabs.
The automobile was still a new invention in 1931.The weekly rental fee in DC for the new invention of the automobile had since 1928 been an agreed percentage of the weekly earnings of the drivers as indicated by the meter.The Depression in 1931 motivated many DC taxicab drivers and passengers to start to give Bell and City Cab Company a big headache by making quick oral contracts and not at all engaging the meter. Hack Inspectors were writing loads of tickets to cab drivers as they were observed to pick up a passenger but would fail to engage the meter.
Bell and City Cab Company began to lose a lot of money every week. Many cab drivers would argue over their rental fee due to many reporting back at the end of the week with the meter showing little income and Bell and City Cab Companies insisting that they had to have made more through the course of the entire week. Without any authority Bell and City Cab Companies chose to solve this new problem by suddenly removing the meters in their cabs and started using an unapproved "Zone Map" to calculate taxicab fares while charging the drivers a flat rental fee each week.
Due to some cabs having a meter and many others using various versions of a Zone Map the DC Public Utilities Commission(PUC) responded to the confusion of the public by holding extensive public hearings from September- October of 1931.On November 6, 1931 the PUC issued order no. 956 and listed 20 reasons to,"deny any version of the zone system to replace the use of meters in DC taxicabs."
Among the 20 reasons given in 1931 to deny the use of the zone system it is fascinating to know that in the overtly racist society of 1931 the zone system was initially denied for reasons such as, "that under the zone fare system operators have frequently refused to render service where long hauls were involved - that the zone fare system unduly favors certain riders, and unduly discriminates against others."It is essential that I emphasize that in 1931 this country had "colored restrooms", segregated housing and schooling and was decades away from beginning to initiate the social progress against the overt expression of racism that American has made since 1960. The DC Public Utilities Commission was protecting white people from "discriminative taxicab service" and the exploitation of the labor of "white" DC taxicab drivers in 1931 in their total denial of the zone system to take the place of meters in DC taxicabs.
The DC Public Utilities Commission refused to replace the use of meters in DC taxicabs in 1931 due to it being found that, "proper accounting records cannot be secured under the zone fare system. (reason no. 9 of PUC order no. 956 11/06/31)It is very important to make a special referral to the 19th reason listed on PUC order no. 956 which had specifically stated that: "Taximeters can be secured and installed without undue expense." The importance to this element is just how can there be any validity to supporters of the zone system claiming of the "high cost of the meter" now if that exact same argument was denied by the DC government and the courts during the beginning of the Depression that this country was beginning to go through in 1931?
The DC Public Utilities Commission ruled that the zone system was a means to exploit the labor of the 1931 DC taxicab driver by their ruling, "That under the rates at present in effect operators are not able to earn a reasonable wage without working for such long hours as to impair their efficiency and thereby endanger their passengers and the public- that approximately 40% of the mileage is not revenue producing.( the 16th reason of PUC order no. 956 11/06/31 )
I find it very insulting that over the course of 76 years that local and national politicians and the news media have refused to ever "report" or "address" for the benefit of DC residents, taxicab drivers and tourists that not only had the unique Taxicab Zone System been initially denied for 20 very impressive reasons by the DC government, but this very important government decision by the DC Pubic Utilities Commission was completely upheld by a very detailed decision by Judge Adkins. (1932 PURC pg. 1)
Judge Adkins agreed with every element of reasoning expressed by the DC Public Utilities Commission denying the unique DC taxicab zone system and specificaly ruled that the proposed Zone system was, "only a means to exploit the labor of the cab driver." (1932 PURC pgs. 17,19) The third strike against the use of the Zone System was the fact that Judge Adkins decision was completely upheld by the DC Appeals Court.(1932) F2d 1005
This last decision by the DC Appeals Court however shows the power of Congress. The Appeals Court decision completely upheld Judge Adkins decision however a very puzzling sentence was included in their decision. The DC Appeals Court denied any enforcement of the order to eliminate the use of the zone system until after Congressional legislation on the matter had been completed.
I trust that it will be very hard to find another Court decision that delayed the enforcement of a law until after Congress considered legislation on the matter.Congress cannot overrule a Court decision yet, after Bell and City Cab Company promised Capital Hill a huge Zone One, Congress began to reach into their legislative pockets in 1934 and for the past 76 years have pulled out several legislative tricks that has resulted in the continued use of the Zone System.
In 1971 Mr. John Earl Rudder played a key role in organizing a Union of DC taxicab drivers. The members of the Brotherhood of DC Taxicab Drivers knew that the entire issue of the corrupt zone system had been due to tricky, Congressional legislative restrictions. It is very important to point out that Congress in 1971 had yet to allow the residents of the District of Columbia to elect a Mayor and the members of a DC City Council to address any of the needs of the Washington DC community. The members of the Brotherhood of DC Taxicab Drivers resolved to stage a strike against the Capitol Hill area during the evening rush hours.The objective of the strike was to discomfort and stimulate Congress to openly address the unique DC Taxicab Zone System. The strength of the strike by The Brotherhood caused enough discomfort on Capital Hill to stimulate Senator Inouye, the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee to begin a rare series of Congressional hearings in early December 1971 in concern of the unique DC Taxicab Zone System.The testimony before Senator Inouye and the members of the Senate Appropriations Committee during these hearings was reported by the Washington Post.
"Mr. John Earl Rudder, President of the Brotherhood of DC Taxicab Drivers, testified before Senator Inouye and informed the Senate Appropriations Committee that, "The case for meters is so apparent that it begs the question of sanity to think otherwise." ("Ban on Taxi Meters in Force since '32 Will be Challenged" Washington Post 12/07/71).
The results of the 1971 Senate hearings ended with revealing reports from the Senate Appropriations Committee supporting further study on the Zone System vs. Meter issue.
A professor from the School of Business of the University of Maryland was awarded a contract by Congress in 1971 to "study" the use of the Zone System vs. Meters in DC taxicabs. This study on using the Zone System vs. Meter issue in DC turned out to be nothing more than a quick and very shallow popularity survey from a very small group of respondents.The design of the 1972 University of Maryland study on the DC Taxicab Zone System and all others since 1972 have all strangely failed to responsibly research and refer in any manner to the initial government and still standing Court decisions against the use of the zone system as well as refer to just a few of the many tricks that Congress began to pull since 1934 forcing the computation of DC taxicab fares by the use of a very unique Zone System.
The first Congressional legislative trick on this issue was "reported" only by the 11/13/71 Washington Post editorial, "The Taxicab Rider". This editorial made a very shallow referral to a strange legislative provision that was authored by Rep. Cannon in 1934 and had conveniently become a legislative "rider" attached to every annual, insulting DC Appropriations Act between 1934 -1987. This Congressional legislative provision completely ignored the merit of the initial and still standing government and Court decisions and simply stated, "The DC government no longer has the authority to consider or enforce any rules or regulations made in regards to installing meters in DC taxicabs."The DC government in 1934 was therefore forced to adopt a uniform Zone Map due to on one hand they had laws against the use of any version of the zone system and on the other hand they had to respect restrictive legislation from Congress.
The Second Congressional trick in relationship to the regulation of the DC Taxicab Industry occurred in 1987 when Congress removed the "Taxicab Rider" from the DC Appropriations Act yet suddenly created a very expensive DC Taxicab Commission. Since 1987 the annual budget of the DC Taxicab Commission has cost hundreds of millions of dollars to operate yet there is not even one report on the tax revenue that the DC Taxicab Commission had been able to record and collect from DC Taxicab Companies and drivers while "regulating" the DC Taxicab Industry!
The third Congressional legislative trick on this issue occurred in 1996. The DC City Council had passed legislation in 1996 that was signed by Mayor Barry and ordered for DC Taxicabs to be installed with meters by 1998. ( The Washington Post 09/07/96 "New Cab Fares - but Old Problems")
Congress played their third legislative game in respect to this issue in 1996 when they simply refused to appropriate the necessary funds to allow this legislation to install meters into DC taxicabs by 1998 to go into effect. Not a word of protest to this Congressional trick has ever been expressed by any appointed or elected DC Mayor or member of the DC City Council.The 4th and most recent Congressional trick and insult to the DC government in concern of the "regulation" of the DC taxicab industry was the Senate passing legislation in 2006 that allowed the next DC Mayor to have the authority to decide to install meters in DC taxicabs by October 17, 2007 unless he chose to do otherwise.
Senator Carl Levin (D -Michigan) had an opportunity to confess of Congress having very irresponsibly limited the DC government for 75 years from even considering this issue. Rather then responsibly trying to employ himself at very openly and responsibly correcting just one wrong that Congress has expressed to the DC community for more than 75 years Sen. Levin and his colleagues, with the aid of the news media, suddenly and very quietly passed the regulation of the DC Taxicab Industry over to Mayor Fenty.
After 75 years of having enjoyed legislative restriction on the DC government Congress quickly and very quietly allowed Mayor Fenty to suddenly have the authority to install meters in DC taxicabs or have the DC government take full responsibility for maintaining the unique DC taxicab zone system.
Mayor Fenty waited until the last date that Congress had allowed him and on October 17, 2007 suddenly announced, without making referral to the initial and still standing governmental and court decisions that had denied the zone system, his having decided to install meters in DC taxicabs.DC City Council members Graham, Schwartz, Brown, Catania and Marion Barry and all other supporters of the zone system strangely continue to fail to express any familiarity with the corrupt origin of the zone system and have served the interests of the supporters of the zone system by expressing an invalid insistence that only due to many past and recent "studies" and there being an alleged "preference" by DC residents and cab drivers that the zone system should still be used.
My question is, "Just how valid is any alleged "preference" of the respondents to any "study" on an issue when the respondents have a very low level of common knowledge about the basic facts of the issue ?
DC City Council member Carol Schwartz , news media reporters and other supporters of the Zone System have since 1975 insisted that the initial and still standing government and court decisions, that had all denied the zone system to replace meters in DC taxicabs, "were made too long ago and don't relate in any direct manner to the present need in regulating DC taxicabs !"
It is very important that the education of American children and immigrants does not leave them with the impression that the merit of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution and many other very important laws of this country had only been valid for a few years after these legal documents had been issued.
The initial government and court decisions that had denied the zone system 75 years ago haven't ever been overruled. They were merely hidden from public awareness and review.
Zone System supporters ignore the high popularity and need of the DC subway and bus service. Supporters of the DC taxicab zone system are only good for coming up with costly and very creative "New Findings" in their effort to keep the Zone System in operation.
The quality of any report by the news media in respect to any effort by Congress,(Delegate Norton), DC Mayor Fenty, DC Council Chair Vincent Gray, the members of the DC City Council, as well as the DC Taxicab Commission to "study" and address the DC Taxicab Zone System can be easily calculated by seeing just how well any of their effort openly refers to the initial and still standing government and Court decisions that 76 years ago denied, "any version of the zone system to replace the use of meters in DC taxicabs."(Public Utilities Commission order no. 956 11/6/31)