The nation's capital is in a fiscal and political crisis. By 1995 the District of Columbia did not have the cash to pay its bills and faced a growing operating deficit. It was effectively shut out of the capital markets and at least three of its government agencies were in receivership. On any given day, 30 percent of the police vehicles were in the shop for repairs and 25 percent of the school buses were inoperable. Nor were adequate funds coming in: property assessors were making up the rules as they were undervaluing the tax base. In April 1995 Congress, beginning to come to grips with the...