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.

Two more Georgia children killed in shooting accidents

Children die. Too often and too soon. Disease takes their lives. Birth defects still their hearts. All parents and potential parents face a risk of losing a child.

But shot to death by a brother or a sister in their own home?

Two accidental shootings in Georgia this weekend killed two kids.

Each with a different story. "My little sister wanted me to hold her 12 gauge shotgun. It went off while I was unloading it." If that is what happened, oh, the hole left in the parents hearts.

A little girl shot to death with a 12 gauge shotgun by her brother. It's said that children imitate adults.

The second 'accidental shooting' resulted in an arrest. Different city in Georgia. Different situation. Different color skin?

Meanwhile, police in Savannah are investigating the death of an 11-year-old boy who was killed by a gunshot while he and a friend handled the weapon in west Savannah.

Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police say a 12-year-old, who they described as a playmate, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct and possession of a firearm by a person under 18.

West Savannah. Let OutKast describe it. "Frazier home." "Baseball caps slightly pointed east." "Sade in the tape deck." "Diggin' the scene with a gangsta slouch." "Nine in the hand ... "
Words from OutKast.

So one 12 year old from west Savannah is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct, and possession of a firearm by a person under 18. He's black.

The other family was white.

Guns do not provide justice. It seems like Georgia doesn't care about providing justice either.

Fallacies of market economics and its conflict with justice

Well crap!

I ran out of reading material in the bathroom. With no more science fiction to read, I'm reading a new kind of fiction.

Market economics.

Here's what I've learned so far.

There's no justice in the market.

It was like an electric shock when this idea popped into my head. Here's the example which should be explored by others.

Somewhere there's a city square and people trade for foods and other items. Let's concentrate on food.

A man has apples for sale which means he has surplus apples and would like to eat other kinds of fruit or food.

Another man wants apples and offers to trade peaches for apples.

A fair bargain is reached where both get equal value. A peach is worth an apple.

Wow. Big deal. Where and when does anyone make money in a fair market? Answer: No one makes money in a free and fair market.

There can only be profit in the 'market' when one side finds advantage in the trade.

No justice in deceiving others. Is there?

GOP shuts down court system. Shutting down government didn't work. Ballot box didn't work. Kills Justice.

Starve the Beast!

First time I heard this battle cry, mobs were feeding (female) virgins to volcanoes and dragons. Well, maybe I am not that old.

But, the modern version is to cut spending until social programs collapse. Oddly, Conservative Chief Justice of the Supreme Court refuses to be called a Beast. Good for him.

He issued a 15 page report, 2013 Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary.

Being something of Populist myself, I liked the mention of ghosts and guardian angels in the first sentence.

"The year’s end brings predictable constants, including the revival of
favorite phantoms—Scrooge’s ghosts and George Bailey’s guardian angel—
who step out from the shadows for their annual appearance and then fade
away."

I agree with Roberts, some popular stories have a basic truth or a moral lesson. Capra and Dickens were teaching and entertaining. We human feelings are aroused by the back stories of the characters. Not they're looks, money, or station in life.

In each of these Christmas stories, social justice or injustice speak to our humanity. Who would want to be Scrooge before the hauntings? Most of us want to feel like George Bailey raised back to his old life.

Read Chief Justice Roberts and remember, citizenship has a price as does justice.

Cutting budgets and funds for justice does not starve a beast. It feeds a Beast. One already hard to fight.

Id' rather feed myself to a volcano or a dragon.

Yahoo News

Got another one

A little payback. Not much. Just some.

Got ya!

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – The head of a San Diego mortgage company was sentenced Monday to serve more than three years in prison for creating bogus property purchase agreements that netted him more than $1 million in illicit profits.
In addition to handing down the 41-month custody term to Brian Nels Peterson of San Diego, District Court Judge John Houston ordered him to pay a $50,000 fine and $542,075 in restitution to Citi Mortgage.
Peterson, who ran a firm called Terra Finance, admitted that he devised a scheme to procure mortgage funds through deceptive means, including falsifying income on applications to qualify borrowers for loans.
The company facilitated loans in several San Diego neighborhoods, including the upscale Ivy Gate housing development in 4S Ranch and the Rolling Hills subdivision in southern San Diego County.
In its heyday, Terra Finance generated between $80 million and $100 million worth of residential mortgage loans, according to court documents.
Peterson, who held a state broker’s license, personally signed most of the fraudulent loan applications containing false income, employment, asset and liability information submitted under his license number, prosecutors alleged.
Peterson earned more than $1 million from his fraudulent loan business through broker’s fees, kickbacks from cash-out refinances and other sources in 2006 alone. He admitted that he failed to report that income and evaded taxes by various means, including arranging to be paid in cash.
Peterson also orchestrated fraudulent conduct on the part of employees, borrowers and industry professionals as the head of Terra Finance, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Diego.
Peterson recruited a cadre of loan officers, loan processors, office staff, real-estate investors and other industry professionals to participate in his scheme, including appraisers, tax preparers and lender representatives, prosecutors contended.

Did you get the details on that? He created a financial mafia in San Diego.