Hall County's Budget and the duty of Government

I wanted to attend the Hall County budget meetings but couldn't. Had I gone, here's what I would have said.

Good evening and thank you for letting me speak about the budget issues.

As you discuss the budget, remember, you're not the federal government with borders to defend, currency to protect, and international affairs to manage.

No, your jobs are much harder. On your small stage, one county, you must deliver Justice. Without Justice there is no government.

Justice on the personal and situational lever can be very expensive but easy to understand. If we find an orphaned baby, we take it in. Give it comfort and shelter. Clothe it. Bathe it. Feed it. Give it educational opportunities. And help the child grow into a responsible member of our society. Easy but expensive.

If, as Commissioners, you find a man standing before you at budgetary hearings who says, "My house is very valuable. It's the most important thing in my life. But, because of you, I can't enjoy it. You're stealing my happiness with your excessive and burdensome tax rates. Cut my taxes so I can be happy again."

How do you deliver Justice to such a man? Do you go with cheap and easy by not cutting taxes? Or, do you give him what he deserves?

He deserves frustration, anger, and bitterness as these are the rewards of selfishness, pride, and greed. Not easy to confront another adult and then endure their rebukes. That's the expensive part of Justice at the personal and situational level.

There's another level to county wide Justice. Time.

County government covers more time than three public meetings on the budget. It's more time than a year, the budget term. It's generational.

My grandfather was a farmer. My Dad a soldier and factory worker. My children are grown. And, my grandchildren growing. Justice also means honoring past labor, acknowledging existing struggles, and preparing a future.

As you contemplate the annual budget for your county, the job is not about juggling a few accounts or balancing a checkbook. Your first duty is to Justice. Justice within the county on a personal and situational level and across the time span of five generations.

Thank you.

USDA, EPA, DOT .... all they do is keep you safe ... from corporations!

Why are the roads safe to drive on? Hell, why do we get to drive for hours without stopping to pay private tolls on roads?

United State Department of Transportation .... which is making sure roads are designed for safety.

Why don't we choke to death like people in China? EPA ... which is making sure we have clean air.

USDA ... is a little behind in their work. For over a year, a private, job creating, legal person called a corporation has been killing Americans with salmonella.

A year. Link to story at Yahoo.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An outbreak of antibiotic-resistant salmonella linked to a California chicken producer continues to sicken people more than a year after it started.

Despite the illnesses, producer Foster Farms has not initiated a recall, and the government has no apparent plans to shut it down.

The federal Centers for Disease Control says there were 50 new reported illnesses in the last two months, bringing to 574 the total number of cases in the outbreak. Most of the illnesses are in California.

574 cases of salmonella and no one has died? Make me believe it. " Bloodstream infections caused by nontyphoidal salmonellae in Africa were reported in 2012 to have a case fatality rate of 20–25%."

For this outbreak? "Thirty-seven percent of victims were hospitalized and 13 percent of the victims had developed blood infections, almost three times the normal rate."

In a letter from USDA to Foster Farms last October, the department said inspectors had documented "fecal material on carcasses" along with "poor sanitary dressing practices, insanitary food contact surfaces, insanitary nonfood contact surfaces and direct product contamination."

In January, USDA inspectors briefly closed a Foster Farms plant after finding cockroaches.

Yeah. No one has died from this version of corporate citizenship. That we know about.

What's wrong with market theories as the basis for economic policy?

For 'market theory' to work, all transactions must be between two perfect people with perfect knowledge and with the freedom not to inter into a transaction involving an item with infinite shelf life for which there are unlimited substitutes available from an infinite number of other possible sources.

Well, apart from a need for every one and everything to be perfect, markets work perfectly. Just like Obamacare.

Just a little more detail on what it takes to have a 'market.'

Infinite buyers and sellers – An infinite number of consumers with the willingness and ability to buy the product at a certain price, and infinite producers with the willingness and ability to supply the product at a certain price.

Zero entry and exit barriers – A lack of entry and exit barriers makes it extremely easy to enter or exit a perfectly competitive market.

Perfect factor mobility – In the long run factors of production are perfectly mobile, allowing free long term adjustments to changing market conditions.

Perfect information - All consumers and producers are assumed to have perfect knowledge of price, utility, quality and production methods of products.

Is the US government Hell on Earth as conservatives say?

I've said that government is not a Waffle House. A place where you select from a menu and pay by a menu. I'll try making it a single bank.
A single, world wide US dollar based bank. All dollars come from it. There's no other source of dollar bills. Please look at this as being an example of a BANK then compare it to a government. It's a difficult concept. No. It's simple. If you connect anything to this example other than a bank, you're doing it wrong.
That bank creates and maintains an entire financial system 24/7/365 everywhere on the globe. Everything associated with money passes through the bank. Every expense is paid from vault cash. Advertising. Rent. Water. Sewer. Remodeling. Pencils. Pens. Erasers. Wages. Retirement. Janitors. Windex. Paper clips. Wages. Repairs. Having the grass cut. Landscaping. Dividends. Bonuses. Stock options. Toilet paper. Soap. Coffee in the break room. Microwave to warm up food. Training. Professional memberships like the Chamber of Commerce. Medical benefits. A Christmas party. Holiday pay. Heating. Cooling. Everything is paid from vault cash. That's a bank.
Now I walk in holding a single dollar bill. "HEY! You basterds over charged me because I didn't get invited to the Christmas Party. You over charged me by wasting paper clips, putting coffee and microwaves in the break room. Heck! Having a break room is waste!"
Even if I have a billion dollar bills in my hand, I don't own the bank. Run it. Manage it.
I am a part of the global financial system since I use dollars. I was forcibly opted in at birth. Forever associated with the bank. Unable to ever divorce myself from their way of doing business.
Moving to a system/shadows of governments and your question about hypocrisy.
I'm sure there are lots of things done by governments which are opposed by the 'ruled.' Let's just agree to that as a fact. NO ONE LIKES everything. Another way of saying the world isn't perfect. Banks aren't perfect. Governments aren't perfect. People aren't perfect. Hell, even you and I aren't perfect unless we are grading A holes.
You are opposed to the system. I'm assuming system means the US government. I'd rather think you are opposed to parts of it.
So if you are not opposed to the US government and seeking to destroy it by any means, I'll keep going.
MHO, it is the worst hypocrisy to measure the value of government by individual examples. i.e. "I paid a dollar in taxes. I didn't get any welfare check so I should get a dollar tax refund." "I paid a dollar in taxes and opposed the Iraq invasion so I should get a two dollar tax refund." "I have a billion dollars in my hand so you should kiss my ashe."

What we are lacking in this ... is a way to measure the value of government. Other than taxes and dollars and the use of paper clips.

A New Candidate for Office?

Left on Lanier is a Hall County blog that does quite well with local, state, and some national issues. I just read of my candidacy for County Commissioner at LoL.

LoL could mean 'Laugh Out Loud' or Left on Lanier. In this case, it could be either.

Yes, I've been saying that any idiot would do a better job that that Chris Lutz guy. Why? Just because he associates with Craig Fetterman* who is a certified true Conservative. That is reason enough.

But do I want to run? Yeah. I have things that need to be said. I don't want the job of County Commissioner or any other 'elected' position. Winning a debate doesn't excite me much either. Winning an election? Only a rat can win a rat race. I'm disqualified at least on DNA.

So why invest enough time and effort to at least not embarrass myself?

I don't see any pay off in being known as 'politician' in our community. Being the third nutcase on the left is a better reputation.

While I'm still thinking about how much better government could be, please remember.

The GOP has been getting elected for 30 years on a platform that says our government is the problem. And our government and our economy has gotten steadily worse for 30 years.