Good Leaders Make Tough Decisions, Governor Beebe

             Historically Good leaders make tough decisions, even if unpopular, gut-wrenching, against popular political pillars or even against friends. Truman and McArthur come to mind.

Despite it causing every bone in his body to shake and ache, Governor Beebe needs to make a tough decision. I suspect that he never read the Military’s Manual on Leadership. Actually, he probably never read anything on the subject. To a certain extent you can’t rally fault him.

You see he’s a career politician, and that requires special skills unrelated to getting the job done and making tough decisions. He stumbled into or formulated, if you think that he’s that cunning and sneaky, the political career enhancement strategy of  “don’t do anything to upset anyone, cause a controversy, or force serious consequences. Just float and do a few popular things”. Like, for example, reduce the grocery sales tax. (And thank you very much for that.) Meanwhile the departments he’s to oversee as the Chief Executive of the State are running amok! But to address these things might cause some controversy or impact some political cronies.

Nevertheless, he needs to “man up” as they say. He should ask each Game and Fish Commissioner to immediately submit resignations.

            Despite the fact Beebe appointed some of them, he needs to take them all out and start over with a batch that at least starts with “clean hands” and, well, maybe even no state cars. (OK Shirley, I’m dreaming on that.) They have, as a group, demonstrated on a consistent basis that they operate “out side” the laws. (In the old west that was called an “outlaw”.) Whether the laws are State Statues, their own Commission’s procedures, or just plain old laws of honor, integrity, and sound judgment.

            To review some of their recent actions:

1.      They had more vehicles than employees. To overcome this imbalance one Commissioner took TWO home to his farm.

2.      They had their lawyer figure out how they could ignore the Freedom of Information Law. What better way to avoid the embarrassment of having folks discover that they have poor business practices, to whit:

3.      Now its been discovered that as a matter of normal business practice they pay out monies without contracts, prior to contract awards, and over the contractual limits. $800,000.00 in “mistakes” in one year may not seem like a lot of money to you, but folks, that could buy the G&F commissioners another 20 cars or so.

Governor Beebe didn’t cause this mess. Perhaps some of the members he appointed have not even been part and parcel to these activities. Nevertheless, the public has lost confidence in the Leadership at the G&F. As Julius Caesar once noted, “Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion.” None of the current commissioners reach that pinnacle of trust. The Governor should step in and demand the immediate resignations of ALL on board.

Two things might result. First it just might send a signal to the next batch to be appointed. Second, it might be a wakeup call to the other departments in the state to get their act together ASAP! Actually a third thing might happen, The Beebe might turn into a real leader. (OK Shirley, I know that I’m reaching).

Sadly, this action requires a leader; a leader who is willing to make tough decisions and tough actions.

Arkansas’s Secy of State Office has officially stated that they don’t need a system to track usage of their pool of 23 state owned cars.

Ms. Alice Stewart, of the same office, says ”keeping a written log of use of the office’s vehicles is neither required by law nor necessary. Supervisors make sure that any time any of the 23 pool vehicles are checked out, they are being used for a work-related reason, not personal business” (The Secy of State himself doesn’t have a supervisor). “A written record is not maintained, because there is no need for one.”

Feeling all warm and fuzzy about the control of vehicles that you, the taxpayer paid for, and oh by the way, you also buy the gas that is used. To further set us at ease, Ms. Stewart, a fine respected Scottish name, says “The procedures and policies we have in place are working. There’s not a problem, so why change what we’re doing?” (Since they don't track vehicle use, they have no policies or procedures, ergo they "are working". Get it?)

Well to answer her question as to "why change": so as to give us taxpayers confidence and assurances that the state vehicles, for which we’ve paid, are not being used inappropriately.

An example, gas receipts on state credit cards show gas purchases at stations in Northwest Arkansas just a few miles from the Secy of State Mark Martin’s home as well as that of his Chief of Staff Doug Matayo. An "independent" Democratic Blogger by name of Matt Campbell dug this up and alleges that it shows the potential that the vehicles were regularly used for weekend trips, not for state business. The CC receipts didn’t indicate just who purchased the gas on the several occasions, but it was rumored from an anonymous former employee of the Dept that is exactly what was going on.

The neat thing about the Secy of State’s office's ‘Vehicle Use Tracking System’ (actually there isn’t one) is that it provides not a shred of evidence to support or deny this allegation. And why should it, per Ms. Stewart “There’s not a problem, so why change what we’re doing?”

And if you are Mr. Martin and Mr. Matayo driving 150 miles one way on weekends to your home at state expense in a state car, it obviously is working pretty well and per Ms. Stewart “… not a problem.”

The foxes win again over us chickens. OK Shirley, I understand that they aren’t totally stupid and can schedule a meeting of some type near their home on Friday’s to cover up the vehicle use. Where’s the old ‘Honor System’ when we need one? Or even better, where is personal honor?

Why Gold Does Well When Other Investments Don't

The article below is taken from an email by Justice Litle of the Taipan Publishing Group. I have no doubt that he and they would welcome your subscribing to their work. It has great insights and stimulates thought, if not action (on my part).

There are at least three areas in which I am totally inept at giving sound advice; investments is at the top of the list, if only based on my years of total failure at it. So don’t think that I’m pushing anything. But you dear reader should decide where we are headed and how do you wish to arrive. 

Why Gold Does Well When Other Investments Don't
by Justice Litle, Editorial Director, Taipan Publishing Group

Dear Reader,

I came across another anti-gold column this week. The author doesn't spring to mind, but the gist was easy to recall.

It was the tired old argument that "gold is not an investment" because you can't value it like a traditional investment. Because gold does not have cash flow, or offer some form of intrinsic asset comparison, it has to be a "speculation." (With speculation implied as a dirty word.)

This line of thinking seems silly to me. Who is to determine what counts as a speculation and what doesn't?

Buying a growth stock at 50 times earnings sure smells like a speculation, even if there are tangible cash flows and assets to measure. One could say the same for the entire S&P 500 at certain valuations, which means even plain-vanilla index funds have "speculative" qualities at times.

At the same time, buying gold as a crisis hedge -- with total exposure in the 5% to 10% portfolio range -- seems a lot more like common sense, or a form of insurance, than a seat-of-the-pants speculative play.

Traditional investors don't like gold because they don't know how to value it and they don't like to think about it. So they pooh-pooh gold and misunderstand its value in times of crisis.

In one sense, gold is a hedge against government folly. The more foolish the monetary policy, the better gold does.

That is partly why gold is more relevant than ever now -- because free markets are witnessing one of the most intense periods of government intervention in all of financial history.

If you really think Bernanke and his Europe/China counterparts have gotten it right, you don't want to own gold. In fact you probably want to be short.

But if you suspect they haven't gotten it right -- or may have even screwed up royally -- then gold makes natural sense as a hedge against that risk.

Gold also has a unique investment property. Along with its characteristics as a metal, gold can do well in periods of inflation OR deflation.

When market conditions are inflationary, gold rises along with other commodities. This is why gold has been doing well for nearly 10 years now -- conditions have been inflation-prone since the early 2000s.

But gold is unique because it can also shine in times of deflation -- when general prices, including commodity prices, are falling. Why does that happen? Because of gold's role as a "neutral currency."

In times of deflation, the central banks of the world tend to panic and pump out more liquidity. It doesn't do much good -- the "pushing on a string" effect -- but gold outperforms anyway as the one form of currency not being actively debased.

The environment where gold does poorly, as we hinted at earlier, is in periods of sustained moderation, where economic growth is decent and inflation is mild or even falling.

That explains why gold was a terrible investment for nearly 20 years, from 1982 to 2002. Having peaked in the late 1970s, Western inflation and interest rates then declined continuously for the next 20 years, even as leverage grew.

So if we look to the lessons of history, there are a few questions we can ask in respect to gold's attractiveness:

• Is the present-day period of crisis and uncertainty coming to an end?
• Have the major problems of the day been resolved, or otherwise addressed powerfully?
• Can we reasonably expect inflation to fall... and general economic growth to rise?

I don't have to tell you, the answer to all three is "NO."

If anything, the level of uncertainty is rising, not falling. Potential for new crisis has gone up, not down, due to the extra layers of leverage baked into the systemic crisis cake. In the 1970s it took a bold leader, Paul Volcker, to "break the back of inflation" with firm and decisive action; today there is no such sheriff in sight.

And finally, any meaningful drop in inflation threatens deflationary bust, thanks to "extend and pretend" and stimulus gone wild.

In sum, there are plenty of historical reasons why gold remains a good "speculation" -- if not a wise hedge against inflation and deflation. When uncertainty peaks and pro-growth, low-inflation conditions return, we'll know.

The Last 6 Seconds of Two Brave Marines, by Lt General John Kelly

Sometimes you read something that you wish to keep, to retain, but there isn't a good place to put it. The article below is one such for me. Then I thought that this blog would be the perfect place for me to store this remarkable story of those who are sent to defend us.

On Nov 13, 2010 Lt General John Kelly, USMC gave a speech to the Semper Fi Society of St. Louis , MO.   This was 4 days after his son, Lt Robert Kelly, USMC was killed by an IED while on his 3rd Combat tour.  During his speech, General Kelly spoke about the dedication and valor of the young men and women who step forward each and every day to protect us.  During the speech, he never mentioned the loss of his own son.  He closed the speech with the moving account of the last 6 seconds in the lives of 2 young Marines who died with rifles blazing to protect their brother Marines.

"I will leave you with a story about the kind of people they are…about the quality of the steel in their backs…about the kind of dedication they bring to our country while they serve in uniform and forever after as veterans.  Two years ago when I was the Commander of all U.S. and Iraqi forces, in fact, the 22nd of April 2008, two Marine infantry battalions, 1/9 “The Walking Dead,” and 2/8 were switching out in Ramadi.  One battalion in the closing days of their deployment going home very soon, the other just starting its seven-month combat tour. Two Marines, Corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, 22 and 20 years old respectively, one from each battalion, were assuming the watch together at the entrance gate of an outpost that contained a makeshift barracks housing 50 Marines.  The same broken down ramshackle building was also home to 100 Iraqi police, also my men and our allies in the fight against the terrorists in Ramadi, a city until recently the most dangerous city on earth and owned by Al Qaeda.  Yale was a dirt poor mixed-race kid from Virginia with a wife and daughter, and a mother and sister who lived with him and he supported as well.  He did this on a yearly salary of less than $23,000.  Haerter, on the other hand, was a middle class white kid from Long Island .  They were from two completely different worlds.  Had they not joined the Marines they would never have met each other, or understood that multiple America ’s exist simultaneously depending on one’s race, education level, economic status, and where you might have been born.  But they were Marines, combat Marines, forged in the same crucible of Marine training, and because of this bond they were brothers as close, or closer, than if they were born of the same woman.

The mission orders they received from the sergeant squad leader I am sure went something like: “Okay you two clowns, stand this post and let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass.”  “You clear?”  I am also sure Yale and Haerter then rolled their eyes and said in unison something like: “Yes Sergeant,” with just enough attitude that made the point without saying the words, “No kidding sweetheart, we know what we’re doing.”  They then relieved two other Marines on watch and took up their post at the entry control point of Joint Security Station Nasser, in the Sophia section of Ramadi, Al Anbar, Iraq .

A few minutes later a large blue truck turned down the alley way-perhaps 60-70 yards in length-and sped its way through the serpentine of concrete jersey walls.  The truck stopped just short of where the two were posted and detonated, killing them both catastrophically. Twenty-four brick masonry houses were damaged or destroyed.  A mosque 100 yards away collapsed.  The truck’s engine came to rest two hundred yards away knocking most of a house down before it stopped.  Our explosive experts reckoned the blast was made of 2,000 pounds of explosives.  Two died, and because these two young infantrymen didn’t have it in their DNA to run from danger, they saved 150 of their Iraqi and American brothers-in-arms.
 When I read the situation report about the incident a few hours after it happened I called the regimental commander for details as something about this struck me as different.  Marines dying or being seriously wounded is commonplace in combat.  We expect Marines regardless of rank or MOS to stand their ground and do their duty, and even die in the process, if that is what the mission takes.  But this just seemed different.  The regimental commander had just returned from the site and he agreed, but reported that there were no American witnesses to the event-just Iraqi police.  I figured if there was any chance of finding out what actually happened and then to decorate the two Marines to acknowledge their bravery, I’d have to do it as a combat award that requires two eye-witnesses and we figured the bureaucrats back in Washington would never buy Iraqi statements.  If it had any chance at all, it had to come under the signature of a general officer.

I traveled to Ramadi the next day and spoke individually to a half-dozen Iraqi police all of whom told the same story.  The blue truck turned down into the alley and immediately sped up as it made its way through the serpentine.  They all said, “We knew immediately what was going on as soon as the two Marines began firing.”  The Iraqi police then related that some of them also fired, and then to a man, ran for safety just prior to the explosion.  All survived.  Many were injured…some seriously.  One of the Iraqis elaborated and with tears welling up said, “They’d run like any normal man would to save his life.”  “What he didn’t know until then,” he said, “and what he learned that very instant, was that Marines are not normal.”  Choking past the emotion he said, “Sir, in the name of God no sane man would have stood there and done what they did.”  “No sane man.”  “They saved us all.”
 What we didn’t know at the time, and only learned a couple of days later after I wrote a summary and submitted both Yale and Haerter for posthumous Navy Crosses, was that one of our security cameras, damaged initially in the blast, recorded some of the suicide attack.  It happened exactly as the Iraqis had described it.  It took exactly six seconds from when the truck entered the alley until it detonated.

You can watch the last six seconds of their young lives.  Putting myself in their heads I supposed it took about a second for the two Marines to separately come to the same conclusion about what was going on once the truck came into their view at the far end of the alley.  Exactly no time to talk it over, or call the sergeant to ask what they should do.  Only enough time to take half an instant and think about what the sergeant told them to do only a few minutes before: “…let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass.”  The two Marines had about five seconds left to live.

It took maybe another two seconds for them to present their weapons, take aim, and open up.  By this time the truck was half-way through the barriers and gaining speed the whole time.  Here, the recording shows a number of Iraqi police, some of whom had fired their AKs, now scattering like the normal and rational men they were-some running right past the Marines.  They had three seconds left to live.

For about two seconds more, the recording shows the Marines’ weapons firing non-stop…the truck’s windshield exploding into shards of glass as their rounds take it apart and tore in to the body of the driver who is trying to get past them to kill their brothers-American and Iraqi-bedded down in the barracks totally unaware of the fact that their lives at that moment depended entirely on two Marines standing their ground.  If they had been aware, they would have known they were safe…because two Marines stood between them and a crazed suicide bomber.  The recording shows the truck careening to a stop immediately in front of the two Marines.  In all of the instantaneous violence Yale and Haerter never hesitated.  By all reports and by the recording, they never stepped back.  They never even started to step aside.  They never even shifted their weight.  With their feet spread shoulder width apart, they leaned into the danger, firing as fast as they could work their weapons.  They had only one second left to live.

The truck explodes.  The camera goes blank.  Two young men go to their God. Six seconds.  Not enough time to think about their families, their country, their flag, or about their lives or their deaths, but more than enough time for two very brave young men to do their duty…into eternity.  That is the kind of people who are on watch all over the world tonight-for you.

We Marines believe that God gave America the greatest gift he could bestow to man while he lived on this earth-freedom.  We also believe he gave us another gift nearly as precious-our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines-to safeguard that gift and guarantee no force on this earth can ever steal it away.  It has been my distinct honor to have been with you here today.  Rest assured our America, this experiment in democracy started over two centuries ago, will forever remain the “land of the free and home of the brave” so long as we never run out of tough young Americans who are willing to look beyond their own self-interest and comfortable lives, and go into the darkest places on earth to hunt down, and kill, those who would do us harm.

Marriages Lasting Longer

            The U. S. Census Bureau has updated our knowledge about marriage longevity.

Per a report on May 19^th, more than half of all currently married couples, 55%, have been together 15 years and 35% over 25 years. The number of couples reaching the silver and golden anniversaries have gone up 1-2% since 1996, per the Census. I know Shirley, they didn’t take a census in 1996, but the number is improving so live with it. No, I don’t know where they came up with the 1996 data.

            Interestingly of all people 15 years and older in 2009, 55% had been married just once, per the Census Bureau (CB). Yes Shirley, if they dropped the age from 15 down to 6 years old the percentage would even be higher and look better. But give ‘em a break, they have to start at some age and 15 does make more sense that 6, OK? Yes, I know that they didn't take a census in 2009 either. Jeewhiz you are a real pest on facts and details; relax this is government work.

            The CB also reported 12 % had been married twice and 3% had been married 3 or more times. That causes me some concern.

What was the person thinking who remarried the 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, etc. time? Did they allow ‘hope’ to conquer ‘experience’? If you marry a twice or trice-plus divorced person who has already promised to two or more former spouses, to the state, and to God that it will last forever, or at least “until death do us part”, how can you believe that this third, or more time will be any different than the past 2 plus divorce fiascos?

            The CB mentioned that divorcees remarried within about 4 years. Perhaps that’s an answer to this puzzle. Man’s memory for pain lasts less than four years.
          

A friend once told me a sure way to avoid divorce. He was speaking from experience. He said if you were considering remarriage, just go find a woman you can’t stand to be around, buy her a house and car. That way you save all the divorce expense and headache.

Probably has to be within four years of the last divorce to work though.

A Fox’s Report On The Condition of the Hen House?

          On March 13 the National Association of State Retirement Administrators reported, “Pension contributions from state and local employers aren’t blowing up budgets. They amount to just 2.9% of state spending, on average.” The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College puts the figure about 30% higher at 3.8%.

Boston College goes on to state “On average, with the assets on hand today, plans are able to pay annual benefits at their current level for another 13 years.” (emphasis mine). They did note that this assumed no future plan contributions and no growth in assets. Probably the real experience over the last few years.

            I’m told a hundred or more times a day that the three largest problems with the Federal Government’s debt are Entitlement programs: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Yet supposedly Social Security has a ‘trust fund’ that will keep it solvent until the year 2037. That’s 27 years versus the 13 years quoted above. If 13 years is fine, why do we have a crisis with 27 years? The reason ‘cousin’ is that the devil is in the details.

            Notice the caveat “at their current levels”, apparently not included in the analysis is annual cost of living or other types of increases. Remember the Social Security has had none for 2 years; wonder how many state and local retirements systems have had zero increases in individual payouts over the last two years?

            Also there is a big disparity between individual states and local governments. Kentucky has only assets to cover the next 4.7 years, the worst state position. Other states like California, Wisconsin, and North Carolina were listed as having between 17 and 19 years coverage.

            Also of interest 91% of full time state and local government workers have access to defined-benefit plans whereas only 30% of workers at medium and large companies were covered by defined-benefit plans. Care to guess why the private sector has gone from 84% in 1980 to only 30% today? You would be correct if you said costs.

            Also reported was that “on average, state and local pensions were 78.9% funded with about $688 billion in unfounded promises to pensioners”. But the National Association of State Retirement Administrators assures us that won’t be a problem.

            Not even discussed is what is the average State and Local Govt (S&L) pension payout in dollars. Nor the percent of payout versus the S&L pensioner’s last year’s salary. Or the amount that each S&L pensioner puts into the system annually as a percent of their annual pay. Nor is it compared to the average private pensioners situation. Nor is it mentioned that in Arkansas, for example, some local government employees get credit for two years employment for every one year actually employed. Such anecdotal incidents as Bell City, California leave us all with the impression that the government employees may have a much better retirement that we the taxpayers, who are paying for their retirement, have.

            All in all, the article is supposed to rebut the current claim that the government workers pensions are a real issue, at least per the Foxes that are in charge of the hen house. But to review some of their facts:

1. 91 % of S&L government workers had a defined benefit pension versus 30% private employees. That’s a good deal.
2. These pension are 78.9 % funded; that will require the states to put up an additional $688 Billion to just get even with current employees at current salaries. Future ‘negotiated’ benefits or salary increases will add additional funding requirements.
3. Some states like Kentucky appear to have a darn near crisis on their hands. Read that as higher taxes to fund pensions for S&L retirees in the next 5 years.
4. I would agree that the S&L plans at 13 years funded may be better off than Social Security since the Social Security Trust Fund has been spent by our elected folks in D.C. and thus will require new taxes or something to be repaid where as the states plans are rat holed away from the hands of the politicians.
5. The stock market has recovered almost 90 % of its recent decline, yet the funds are still $688 Billion under funded. Cousin, that’s a lot of new tax dollars to come from somewhere.

But rest assured by the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, “Pensions aren’t sapping states”. So when the next political crisis arises to fund these perks, just relax, there really isn’t a problem.

An Example of Why We’ll Never Fix the Federal Budget

             “There is no honor among Thieves”, nor apparently among politicians when ‘free’ money is involved.

            The City of Little Rock, claiming desperation to find money, has raided the FEMA funds. OK Shirley, to be more accurate, they are using disaster funds awarded to Pulaski County to help pay for new sidewalks, curbs, and landscaping around the site of a new police station on 12^th street, that at the moment they can’t afford to build.

            Did you get that? Both points?

            Let’s go more slowly. Pulaski County was declared a disaster area in 2008. Not all of it was a disaster, just a small portion was hit by tornados and floods. Apparently the County was awarded $70 million. The City of Little Rock was not damaged. The area around the new police station not yet built was not damaged, but nevertheless the City has requested $278,000.00 to perform this work. How can you use disaster relief funds to build a sidewalk and bike path in a location that wasn’t damaged, you ask?

            Well, it seems that some enterprising State employee in 2009 asked the Feds to modify how the disaster funds could be spent. (Remember that there is no greater sin in government than returning money doled out to you for some purpose.) The state received permission to divide the funding into specific categories:

1.      $10 million for affordable rental housing, what ever that is, a “double wide”?

2.      $10 million for drainage and flood control. Now this sort of fits the original intent, well not really unless the flood control stuff was damaged.

3.      $10 million on economic development. Think of “boon dogles” and meeting expenses.

4.      $5 million on downtown revitalization.

5.      $5 million on neighborhood revitalization, and it is under this area that we have seen our best and brightest minds work to spend the above mentioned funds for a new sidewalk (1 bloc), bike path, and curb for a police station not yet built.

6.      etc.

It seems that the State Development Finance Authority which apparently oversees these funds can’t even report how much of the $33.6 million dispersed so far for 81 projects actually went to repair storm damage. Remember, if the money gets returned to the Feds, and the Feds have to ‘fess up' that they didn’t spend it all, then their next year’s budget just might get reduced. A bureaucrat's nightmare!

But back to the police station’s curbs, sidewalk, and landscaping for $278,000.00; seems that the bids to actually build the building came in at $3 million, twice the City’s $1.5 million estimate. This is the second building in two weeks that has come in $3 million. Seems that the City is hung up on that for a small building’s cost. The building was hoped to house the Detective Division as well as a Patrol Unit. The city is now asking the local citizenry to up their sales tax to help pay for this station, plus 167 pages of other ‘Stuff’ not yet revealed to the populace.

Meanwhile the local “Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight”, having found a soft target in the Fed’s funds states “the city is looking at all grant opportunities,” said City Director Ken Richardson. “it’s an allowable use, he said of the disaster funds that will take away from the city’s obligation of the entire project's price tag.” (Just so that you understand; the city is seeking more disaster relief funds to build projects that were not damaged in the disaster so that they can tell you how frugal they are for using Fed funds for disaster relief to build a curb, sidewalk, and landscape.) A fantastic use of disaster relief funds as the project is described: “plans call for a 5 foot wide sidewalk, decorative street lamps, and new curbs and gutters for the block! $ 278,000.00 for one city long block for a five-foot wide side walk, decorative street lamps, and curb and gutters! Bet if you or I wanted to do this for our own house, it would probably be less than $50,000.00, but heck I’m just an old ‘skin flint’!

“When the other City Directors heard about the grant application earlier this week, they hoped Little Rock would apply for more funding for street improvements and enhancements for major roads in their wards.” (None of which were damaged in any disaster.)

One fool of a City Director said ”She thought the city could have put the money toward actual disasters in the city.” (With that kind of attitude, she won’t last long. The very idea of using disaster relief funds for rebuilding disasters.)

But once again the LR Gang has been out done and out smarted by the NLR leaders. NLR was told in February that it would receive $ 1 million for drainage, street, and sewer improvements; plus a sidewalk and a bike path.

Seems that one can’t fix streets without putting in sidewalks and bike paths, and spending a ton of cash doing so.

Lets hope that the LR’s “Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight” has found an easy mark at the Federal level and may just skip the whole sales tax increase idea.

Hey “Foxy Loxy”, Are you Guarding the Hen House?

             Remember the story of how “Foxy Loxy” led “Henny Penny, Ducky Lucky”, Goosey Lucy” and all the others into his den to feed his family. Well bad things happen to us ‘chickens’ when the Fox is relied upon to guard the hen house. Here is a current example of another “Henny Penny” episode.

            On May 5^th the Arkansas Supreme Court (composed of a group of ex Circuit Court judge types) decided in a 6-1 vote to reject the recommendation of the ‘judicial disciplinary committee’ and to ONLY reprimanded Circuit Court Judge L. T. Sims. The judicial disciplinary committee had recommended that the judge be removed by a vote of 7-1 saying that he had shown evidence of “judicial bias”. Even I understand that to be a bad trait for a judge. But then I’m not on the Supreme Court.

            A little background on all this “Foxy Loxy” charade. Seems that the judge has been recommended for removal from the bench TWICE since 1997, that averages about once every 7 years.

Simes was disciplined in 2004 for appearing in his judicial robe on the cover of a CD he sold for profit. (Must not have been too popular since he was only ‘disciplined’, whatever that is).

In 2009 the Supreme Court suspended Simes without pay until the end of his term for continuing to practice law during his term as a judge. (How would you like to be the opponent in a trial where the opposing attorney is de judge?) The commission had recommended removal for this too; it didn’t happen then either.

Yet the august body known as the Supreme Court (remember that they too had been Circuit Judges like their friend Judge Simes) in this recent ruling stated, “That the Simes’ handling of the sanctions does not evidence a pattern of conduct.” Folks, he has been recommended twice for removal from the bench and disciplined FOUR times! If that isn’t a pattern of conduct, then the sky must really be falling as “Henny Penny” told “Foxy Loxy”.

In this latest ruling the Supreme Court stated the following points:

1.      Sims did violate some rules governing judicial conduct;

2.      But that he did not act “with knowledge that the act is beyond the judge’s lawful judicial power”; (Oh great, we also have an ‘ignorant of the law’ judge);

3.      “or with conscious disregard for the limits of the judges authority”. (And you and I thought that ignorance of the law was no excuse.)

4.      “Judges cannot be disciplined for merely making mistakes.” (Judicial bias is merely making a mistake? By the way, when a private firm has an employee that consistently ‘makes mistakes’ what does the firm do? Fires the bum!)

5.      “Judge Simes did not comply with the law, nor did he act in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.” (Based on this alone, why is he still in office?)

6.      But on other points, the SC found that Simes committed “LEGAL errors” that he should not be disciplined for”. (Can you believe it? The SC ended a sentence with a preposition! But more to the point, a dumb judge is OK.)

If any of this sort of surprises you, a review the character and conduct of some of the Associate Justices on the SC might give you some perspective. Meantime, better hope that you don’t come up before the Helena-West Helena Court. Excellent Legal knowledge, Zero judicial bias, No ignorance of conduct limits, and complete disregard of personal gain may not be the key character traits you find behind the bench.

Hey, “Foxy Loxy” how are us little chickens doing in the Hen House? We’re counting on you to protect us!

Fed Reserve President Bullard declares that High Oil Prices not a Threat!

             James Bullard, President of the formerly respected Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, admits that oil prices are high, but one theory that he espouses holds that they are not high enough to threaten the country’s economic growth.

            I’ll admit a sense of great relief upon hearing this. Only a day prior I had filled the tank on my 16 year old Ford WindStar, (the best car that I ever owned), at a cost of about $70.00. At the time I was contemplating the options of doing without electricity for a week, or just not eating for 10 days to help defray the cost of filling up my tank with gas that is not a threat to the economy. But when I heard from President Bull(ard) that the cost wasn’t a national threat, I was much relieved. 
             So now I sit in the dark with a rumbling tummy much comforted to know that he and the Fed Reserve understand the situation of a former member of the middle class

“The Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight” has Moved into Little Rock City Hall.

          I was ‘Shocked, Shocked’ to learn that the Management team in the Little Rock City Hall has again blundered in their fiscal foresight. (See posting titled “We Didn’t Enter into this to Make Money, per City Mgr. Bruce Moore”)

            Remember the “Shovel Ready Infrastructure Projects” promised by my President Obama in 2009 under the “Stimulus Package”? Well it appears that one of those was to build a new Fire Station in west Little Rock, Arkansas. And now the leadership of the fair city of Little Rock have been ‘Shocked, Shocked’ to find out that the $2 million in Stimulus funds is a million short of what their new Fire Station’s ‘bids to build’ reflect. “Lack sufficient funds to even break ground”, since they could reach a point where there isn’t any money to put on the roof.

            The frightening thing for the Leadership team is that they have to hurry up and spend this money prior to December 2012, or, Oh Alas, give it back to the Federal Government.

            Fire Chief Greg Summers stated, “Something will have to come out of that project, but right now we just don’t know what that is.”

            To my crude, uninformed, limited experience, and uneducated mind, a Fire Station is a large indoor parking garage with a sleeping room, kitchen, place to eat and watch TV, an office, bathroom, toilet, and a rack on which to hang hoses and stuff. Pulaski County is claiming that they will build a prison addition to house, feed, guard 240 prisoners for $5.3 million and yet the city needs $3 million for a new Fire Station to house 2 trucks and six or so men?

            Like Chief Summers, I don’t have a clue as to what needs to “come out of that project”, but based on the comparison of a 240 bed prison versus the Fire Station costs; perhaps they should cancel the Olympic sized swimming pool, state of the art gymnasium, gourmet kitchen appliances, individual apartments, artist indoor decorations and outdoor sculptures and professional landscaping by the Queens Own Gardener, Ltd.

            OK Shirley, I don’t really know that those items are actually in the plan, but it does seem awfully inflated compared to the cost of building a 240 bed prison.

            In all fairness to the LR Mayor Mark Stodola, City Manager Bruce Moore, and Fire Chief Summers the news paper article was slightly confusing in that it stated that the “Bids came in last week at $1 million more than the $2 million in stimulus funds.” Then it stated “Estimates in January put the project’s cost at $1.9 million, not including any landscaping.” No explanation if the “estimate” was a bid or the City’s internal work versus the world’s reality, or if they planned to spend a million bucks on bushes and grass.

            Oh, by the way, once this is all resolved and they spend the $2 million from the Feds, the city lacks funds to hire the Firemen to man the station.

            But to be fair, the Management Team is addressing this oversight. They are frantically holding neighborhood meetings to sell the citizenry on an unspecified amount of a sales tax increase to fund this and other unspecified things they desire to do. Very similar to the “Obamacare” health care bill, “Go ahead and vote for the tax increase and we’ll see the details later.”

            My normal optimistic enthusiasm for support of our elected officials is dipping to a new low ebb with this “Gang that Can’t shoot Straight”! Nevertheless I've taken it as a civic duty to help them out of this mess. I've recommended that they hire the Pulaski County Architect to design a prison to house two large trucks, and SUV with a red 'thingee' on top and rooms to sleep, feed, house upto twelve guys. Bound to come in less than the $3 million 'Taj Mahal' fire station.

We Didn’t Enter into this to Make Money, per City Mgr. Bruce Moore

             I was 'Shocked, Shocked' to learn that the city of Little Rock, Arkansas passed an ordinance that is costing it more money than it is recovering in fines! No wonder the Mayor, referred to by some as the Honorable Mark Stodola, is seeking to raise the sales tax on the citizenry.

            Ten months ago the City passed an ordinance to ban the practice of parking cars on lawns and in yards. Seems that certain neighborhoods were experiencing this as part of their community ambience. So the Little Rock City Board responded making such nefarious and anti-societal behavior illegal. The Officers have been diligent in their enforcement, issuing 869 citations against 1,456 complaints. Turns out that only 4 people have been convicted in court of violating this city code and all 4 were sentenced to do community service rather than be hit with a fine of up to $1,000.00.

            “It’s doing nothing but eating up the budget,” said Luke Skrable. “Just the gas alone”, (for the inspectors?), "is well over a $1,000.00.”

            City officials aren’t happy with the results either, but they said that ” they’re not ready to abandon the ordinance.”

            Seems that the Board wrote the law so that the Inspector has to go out first and give a warning citation and then go back 7 days later to see if the violation remains. If not, no ticket, no trial, no income to the city.

            Seems that all of our ‘best and brightest brains’ are not sent to Washington nor to the Fed Reserve.

That Prison Must Have Been a Really Bad Place

            The Afghan Security Force actually defeated a Taliban attack on Mother’s Day.

The Taliban bad boys had barricaded themselves inside a hotel and after two days they were removed or killed dead. Turns out that Kandahar, where this event occurred, is the birthplace of the Taliban so this was sort of a symbolic attack, perhaps to revenge the death of Usama bin Laden?

            The hotel was next to the government buildings housing the police and the intelligence agency. Took two days to eliminate the miscreants, they fought to the death. Why? You might ask. Well, here’s the rest of the story.

            Remember last month when over 480 incarcerated insurgents escaped from Sarposa in Kandahar, the Afghan security force’s prison, through a tunnel over 300 feet long? Well they returned to fight another day and it was these very tunnel rats that attacked the two government buildings. (Talk about recidivism.) Over 24 were killed and only 4 captured. Nine of the dead blew themselves up with suicide vests rather than be captured and re-incarcerated in Sarposa.

            Sarposa must be some sort of real mean place, but then again they probably don’t allow 72 virgins there.

Kudos to Governor Beebe on Clemency

            I try to be equitable in my comments about our elected officials. I scour the printed records to glean just any small sliver of exemplary conduct or decision making by them. (Yes, Shirley, that does consume a considerable amount of the day.)

            Well it seems that Governor Beebe wins a well deserved ‘KUDO’ for his refusing to follow the Huckabee practice of giving clemency to an incarcerated felon at his daily luncheon. OK a gross exaggeration. Huckabee only averaged about 1 clemency every three weeks over his ten-year term.

            In fact, since becoming governor in 2007, Beebe has given only ONE felon clemency despite the Parole Board sending him 250 ‘let ‘em go free’ recommendations. (Not to be confused with Parole recommendations, see below). Without reviewing the facts of that specific case with you, The Beebe’s restraint screams of good solid decision making in doling out this executive power privilege. For a Democrat to demonstrate such restraint almost makes me proud to be one, except this is an exceptional case, not the ordinary execution normally fostered on the citizens. Still, Governor Beebe, KUDOS to you for keepin’ ‘em behind bars!

            Just to educate us all, an incarcerated felon has 4 options to exit prison: 1. do the full time; 2. be pardoned; 3. be paroled; and 4. receive clemency. A parole is the release of a prisoner prior to the full term of his sentence based on some legal lapsed time plus good behavior, etc. They have to report to a parole officer and do stuff. A pardon/clemency releases the felon from prison with no further obligations. Clemency releases the felon for no good reason other than some dude has to power and authority to grant it and the felon gets out of jail free, even gets back the right to vote and carry firearms. The conviction is even ‘expunged’ which allows me to lawfully, but not honestly, state that I’ve never been convicted of a felony. (These things get confusing. For example, if the record is ‘expunged’ upon clemency; is the record ‘punged’ upon conviction?)

How does all this work, you ask? Well for example, say a felon has a friend named Jim Hill who asked the Governor to consider giving a prisoner named Robbie Brooks clemency. If Mr. Hill were a political colleague of the governor’s and investigation proved that clemency was warranted under some non specific set of rules, unwritten guidelines, or personal feelings, then Robbie could be ‘Clemenced’. (Not certain that that’s a word, but what is the past tense of receiving clemency?)

            In 2000 Huckabee commuted Maurice Clemmons sentence, who was later sent back to prison, even later paroled by Huckabee and went up to Washington where he shot and killed 4 police officers. So you can see the advantage of not letting these folks out of prison on a wholesale basis.

            But I don’t want you to give you the idea that Governor Beebe is a hard cased, red necked conservative, totally unredeemable and outside the acceptable parameters of the New Democratic Party. He sponsored and got the Legislature to pass a new law that allows a non-violent felon to skip jail alltogether and go straight back out on the streets. Sort of negates the need for a bunch of that clemency stuff in the future. Until then he has granted 397 pardons, at the rate of about one every three days or so. Still, to date none of those have gone up to Washington and killed anyone. I think that he’s selecting a better class of felon than Huckabee.

On Good Governance and Some Weaker Governors

            It has been said before that a politician’s primary goal is to protect their political career. There is no price too high for a politician to pay to maintain his/her position and its power, perks, and prestige. That said, there are some interesting actions being taken by recently elected officials, perhaps spurred by the ‘Tea Party’ rising up and becoming such a vocal and active political influence.

            First out in California, which is facing over a $15 billion deficit, Jerry Brown, elected after a hiatus of some 40 years, has taken the first step of requesting that 50% of all State Government cell phones be turned in. Savings estimate is $20 million a year; a small drop in the bucket of need, but a good first step at attacking expenses. And the reaction of some of the state workers? One was quoted as saying, “Better the cell phone than my job”.

            Up in Ohio the new Attorney General fired off a letter on his first day in office stating that Ohio was joining the Florida lawsuit against the “Obamacare Health Law”. When asked by a reporter why when there are already 20 states on the suit, the new AG said the following, “It was one of my campaign promises. That I would file against it on my first day in office”. When asked if one more state would make any difference, he responded to the effect that, ‘There is power in numbers. The more states that file against the law, the more we show the Courts how united we are and our concern over the Federal government’s violation of our citizens Constitutional Rights’. A politician that keeps his promises, we need to watch this AG. (Think a call from him to Dustin McDaniel would do any good? Naw, your right.)

            Over in New Jersey the current governor has begun to haul that state back from the edge of bankruptcy by making some very unpopular decisions (with some) on spending. When asked recently if he would run for President, as he was the only Republican leading Obama in some poll or other, he responded “No!” When asked to explain he responded with two interesting points. First he had made a commitment to the people of New Jersey and he believed that he should keep his commitment. Secondly, the job in New Jersey wasn’t done yet. A very dangerous precedent, a politician who keeps his commitment even at the expense of a potentially greater personal political opportunity.

            Which brings us to the Arkansas Conundrum. We have a very popular governor who just won a landslide reelection. His biggest claim to fame other than having been born in a tar-paper shack (a constant political ad) was that he reduced the sales tax on groceries by about half. No trivial feat considering the voracious appetite of governments for money, plus implementing the tax reduction in perilous economic times while still balancing the State’s budget. Kudos for that and well done and thank you very much!

But why so popular? I think it was the tax reduction plus his very consistent and studied policy to never ever do anything controversial or that would offend or upset a single potential voter.

            To do the Right or the Good thing always has a cost. To do the Wrong or Evil or Illegal thing always has consequences, especially when found out. But to do nothing…., therein lies genius. To do nothing allows you to avoid difficulty on all sides. Give you some examples you ask. Well, Ok, I’ll do my best from memory; the facts may be just a tiny bit off, but not the incidents.

            Let’s go back a couple of years to the Lou Hardin affair at UCA. As memory serves allegedly this man forged a letter that recommended that he receive about a half-million dollar bonus. Somehow the scheme was discovered and he either returned the money or it was held up in payment. The result of this alleged forgery and attempted embezzlement? He was allowed to move to Florida rather than to Cummings.

Another case recently involved a woman who embezzled about $50,000.00 from her district. She too had to return the moneys but is now in the ‘slammer’. The difference in handling the two cases? Well, it has been rumored that Mr. Hardin was a long serving politician and perhaps a friend and even mentor of other high placed political figures.  Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said in an advisory opinion that the funding source the board planned to use for Hardin's bonus - housing fees and food and book sales - was public (Arkansas) money. He left it up to the Feds.

            A second area of being ‘Absent’ is not serving the interests of the citizens of Arkansas as relates to the “Obamacare Health Law”. Regardless of one’s attitude about the desirability of providing the new features promised under the legislation, it breeches the Constitutional Rights of every citizen by permitting the Federal government to dictate that each of us must purchase a specific private enterprise product or be subjected to IRS harassment and fine. Both the Governor and the Attorney General followed their Party Line and refused to join the other 21 States that took exception and filed lawsuits.

            We have over 8,000 vehicles owned by the state. Only after a blistering expose by the AR Dem Gaz did the Governor ASK department heads to look into the matter. Turns out that at least one was using TWO state owned vehicles for their personal use. What did the Governor or AG do? If you guessed nothing, you win.

            I could go on and on, but my point is that our current Governor and AG practice the fine political art of “Doing Nothing” lest it offend some voter.

            It takes courage to lead. What does it take to hide?

A Priest Strives to Become Chaplain Inside Prison

The Reverend Charles Thessing, pastor of Sacred Hearts Catholic Church in Morrilton, was taken to the Lincoln County Jail on March 23^rd after being caught attempting to smuggle illegal substances into the Varner Supermax Unit. (His apprehension may be indication of why it’s called a ‘Supermax’ Unit.)

Seems that the Reverend was caught during a ‘pat-down’ concealing a 1 gallon sized plastic bag half filled with tobacco hidden under his garments. In case you didn’t know, tobacco has been banned from Arkansas state prisons since 2000. No doubt an attempt to ensure the good health of our incarcerated brethren, particularly those on Death Row.

The good Reverend was later charged with a single count of introducing prohibited articles into a correctional facility. (Good thing for him the charges weren’t based on ‘leaf count’.)

Kyle Hunter, the Prosecuting Attorney for the county said that the charge is routinely filed against people caught attempting to take prohibited items into a prison.

Arkansas Department of Corrections spokesman Dina Tyler said that the Corrections Department referred 4 cases to the state police last year after visitors were caught. It was further explained that not all visitors caught with contraband are referred for charges. “The department considers all the circumstances in deciding whether a visitor appears to have made a mistake or is trying to smuggle an item inside”.

An example provided was that of one Betsy Wright, a death penalty opponent and former Bill Clinton aide. (That probably shocks us all). She was arrested after guards found 49 tattoo needles, a box cutter, a knife and tweezers among her possessions while she was attempting to visit a death row inmate in 2009.  Surprisingly she denied attempting to smuggle the items into the prison. (Apparently every woman, at least those who worked for Bill Clinton, in a normal day’s work carry 49 tattoo needles, a box cutter and a knife in the purse, probably to ward off advances from notorious individuals whom I will not name.) Anyway Ms. Wright used the creative defense that the tattoo needles were in a bag of Doritos she had purchased from a vending machine in the entrance building. (A common experience that we have all read about or seen.). Initially she faced 51 felony counts. (One for each needle; the Reverend was let off light.) The prosecutors dropped the charges related to the tattoo needles and tweezers; she pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors in connection with the box cutter and knife and was fined $2,000.00 and spent a year on unsupervised probation, (the best kind, I’m told.) Seems to me she could have explained the need of the knife and box cutter to open the Doritos sack as it was very resistant to her attempts to get inside. Almost as if it were reinforced by something metal. Why 49 needles? Four dozen is 48 and 5 dozen is 60; what did she do with the missing 11 needles? Open up a business? Since her probation is now up, one wonders if Ms. Wright has resumed providing comfort and succor to the inmates, or did she employ the Reverend to fulfill her prior avocation.

So you see, the Reverend’s case was thoroughly researched before formal charges were filed on May 4^th. Apparently his assumed defense of being a heavy, chain smoker on a budget was overwhelmed by the fact that the bag was taped to his body underneath his underwear. This also was used to refute his assumed defense of just having forgotten about the ½ gallon of tobacco taped to his torso, where all good Catholic priests stash their stuff. The diocese has employed the best attorney that money can buy; of the J. Noble Dagget of “True Grit” caliber. He has demanded to know the instant that the warrant for arrest was served. He has not asked for my assistance but I suggest that he pursue the line of defense that the priest was merely hiding his own personal use from the Bishop and that in no way did he plan to strip in front of a bunch of ‘horny’ inmates to retrieve the bag of stash. This logic just might carry the day, don't you think?

The Catholic Diocese stated that the “Reverend Thessing is admired and greatly appreciated,” (especially among the incarcerated brethren is my bet), “and his status as a priest in good standing with the diocese remains unchanged.” (One can only assume that this must be some kind of frequently occurring incident as their priests attempt to provide comfort, relief and succor to their incarcerated flock, otherwise surely the diocese would have expressed some concern about his action. Oh well, it’s probably a welcome relief to the diocese from all the child abuse stories that hit the papers).

The Department of Corrections did note the Reverend has been temporarily barred from visiting state prisons. Perhaps he can be assigned pastoral duties from the inside, should things not work out well at his upcoming hearing.

Do You Really Want to View a Picture of Bin Laden?

             Ms. Martha MacCallum on the Fox News Channel has made her daily bread this 4^th of May by beating on the dead horse of the ‘post mortem displaying of pictures of Osama bin Laden’.

I will admit that I have been impressed by our President’s decision to withhold the public release of any such pictures. His new, young, and clueless Press Secretary even read a statement attributed to the President’s interview on an upcoming CBS program that contained very sound, solid and worthy reasons for keeping the photos under lock and key. Of course no amount of intellectual rational will stop those with prurient interest from wanting to view such sordid snapshots.

            But I ask you, have they really thought this through? If you’ve watched a sufficient number of “CSI” type TV episodes you know what the first thing they do to a dead body. Right? The first thing that they do is to strip the body plumb naked. Naked a Jay bird. (I’ve often wondered about that as I’ve never seen what appears to me to be a naked Jay bird, but what the heck, we all understand what it means.)

            Do they really want to see a naked picture of Osama bin Laden. It is asserted that only such a public display will quell the potential of all the “Conspiracy Buffs” from fomenting the theory that Osama isn’t really dead. Well, since neither you, nor I, nor they, know what parts of the nude body must be displayed to reveal any personal identifying marks, tattoos, body piercings, birthmarks, or cellulites that would confirm or deny that he is who we claim that he is. Well then it follows that a complete frontal, totally nude photo would be required to circulate all over the airways, FaceBooks, Twitters, etal. To be followed by a rear view of the same clarity and total exposure.

            Well dear reader, (I have one that’s been confirmed), I’m just not ready for that.

I’m perfectly willing to receive this good news and trust my President isn’t lying to me this time. The prospect of being misinformed is far superior option to the prospect of viewing a picture of a totally nude Bin Laden.

“The Wicked Witch Is Dead” Celebration Controversy

             Osama bin Laden’s demise has generated much celebratory outbursts in America, and I assume some even abroad. I suspect that there are some few in Muslim communities that even share this feeling. Yet there have been several who take umbrage that we Americans should celebrate the death of another human being. (A questionable premise in my mind if applied to Bin Laden.) I hold to the belief that there will be shouts of joy in Heaven when Satan is finally disposed of in the Lake of Fire. So I’m not too upset with the celebratory outbursts over the death of a murdering terrorist. Sort of like the joy in Oz when the “Wicked Witch of the East” was killed. And if it’s good enough for Dorothy and a kid’s classic, then it’s good enough for me.

            But that’s not what intrigued me the most. Turns out that the Senate Indian Affairs Committee has a real problem with the Operation’s use of the code name “Geronimo” for Bin Laden.

            Per Loretta Tuell, Staff Director and Chief Counsel for said Committee, “It was inappropriate to link Geronimo, whom she called one of the greatest Native American heroes, with one of the most hated enemies of the United States.”

            Well, I sort of agree with her that it is not very complimentary to Geronimo to be linked to Bin Laden. I’m not certain that I would even condone linking Charles Manson to Bin Laden; well I may have to rethink that one.

            But when I contemplate the career of Geronimo and what he did to settlers on both sides of the border, I can’t help but think that they just might call Geronimo the same type of murdering, torturing terrorist that Bin Laden was. I really doubt that Geronimo was viewed as a hero by them. What he did to innocent folks on night time raids shouldn’t be discussed in mixed company.

            I also find it interesting that Ms. Tuell, a member of the Nez Perce tribe, thinks of Geronimo as a “hero”. But I guess if I grew up on an Indian Reservation as she did, I too might not consider myself as an “American” but as a “Native American” as she does. No wonder we have problems in our society. Indians still feel as if the ‘whites’ are enemies; Blacks still feel like they are still mistreated slaves; Whites think they have bent over backwards and are now the discriminated against ones; and the Orientals, well heck they just seem to be going to school, making good grades and getting on with things.

            The good news out of all this is that while the U.S. faces the single largest financial crisis since the Revolutionary War; one that threatens the very fiscal future of our kids, heck even ourselves. While all this is swirling about us, the Senate Indian Affairs panel (whatever that is) had already scheduled a meeting for 5/5/2011 to discuss “racial stereotypes of native people”. Ms. Tuell has now assured us that the use of “Geronimo” in the Bin Laden raid will be discussed.

            It’s comforting to know that while things seem to be crumbling down all around our nation’s Capitol, we can focus on such issues of paramount importance. By the way, weren’t our “Native American” Indian folks once Orientals?

Why we need lawyers to understand these things.

 Little Rock, Arkansas taxpayers are scratching their heads this week.

Per ‘de judge’ “Little Rock taxpayers that paid an illegal property tax before the filing of the suit that resulted in it being declared illegal, won’t receive a refund because those payments are considered voluntary”.

“No Shirley, I’m not making this stuff up. I’m not that creative.”

            Circuit Judge Tim Fox, (hopefully not to be re-elected after this ruling), ruled that any payments made before the lawsuit, filed May 18, 2008, fall under a voluntary rule and won’t be refunded.”

“It falls under ‘Common Law’ County Attorney Karla Burnett said. “Taxes voluntarily paid are not refundable. Taxes paid before the lawsuit was filed are considered voluntary.”

OK now, let’s think about this for a minute. First you receive a tax bill from the County for x dollars. You pay the amount due on this tax bill by the statuary-time dead line that will prevent you from having a lien filed on your property by the County. You are now a voluntary taxpayer. That’s voluntary?

We should all wait for the Sheriff to show up and collect our taxes from us under threat of property seizure, then we are ‘non-voluntary’ and would be eligible for a refund if a future law suit determines that the tax we were billed is in fact an illegal tax.

I doubt that any of us are ‘voluntarily paying taxes’. I suspect that all taxes are paid because of the implicit threat behind the ‘if you don’t pay, then…’

I’m sorry, but not being a lawyer this ruling just seems intuitively stupid, far-fetched and ludicrous. But that is because I lack the legal understanding of stupid.

By the way, the pictures of the victorious politicians behind the illegal tax that won’t be refunded because we paid ‘voluntarily’, were all smiling. “Gothcha!”

How Are WE Doing Economically?

             Here are some headlines from Wednesday’s Paper.

1. Ford’s Profit rises 22%. 1^st quarter is the best in 13 years.
2. March new-car titlings rise 21% in Arkansas.
3. Wal-Mart store sales, open at least one year, have now fallen for SEVEN consecutive quarters.
4. Housing Prices nearing NEW LOW. February decline in real estate prices dropped by the most in more than a year. Property values in 20 major cities fell 3.3% from Feb 2010 to Feb 2011. At 139.27 the gauge is just shy of the six year low of 139.26.
5. Top five largest U S airlines showed combined losses of more than $1 BILLION for the first quarter.
6. Consumer Confidence on upswing. The Conference Board consumer confidence index rose to 65.4. Still a far cry from 90 that indicates a healthy economy.

And INTERNATIONALLY:

7. UBS bank of Switzerland profit down 18%, but drop less than expected.
8. Spain has to pay more to float their paper. From 0 .9% to 1.4%, a rise of 55%.
9. China protectionism has increased since the 2008 global crisis.

All of the above from the little old local paper dated April 27^th, this year. So are we dong better? Or are we going nowhere, maybe worse? Be darned if I can tell. But I do know this, Ben “BerBanke” and the Fed Reserve have assured me that inflation IS NOT A PROBLEM. I’m greatly relieved to know that gasoline prices and food prices are just a mirage or hallucination and are not real. Now if I can just determine if the economy is going better faster or slower, slower. Well, you know what I mean.

Do You Have Your Government License to Live?

            “OK, Shirley, I know that the title is an exaggeration, but just barely.”

            This whole thing has surfaced because of ‘equine teeth floating’.  Until April 27^th of this year, yes I’ll admit it, I was totally ignorant of the fact that a horse’s teeth continue to grow throughout its life time. This has the same result as its hoof’s growing; sort of like our fingernails, they must be trimmed.

            Not that the horses’ teeth are trimmed, they are ‘floated’, a term describing the process of their being filed down by some technique foreign to my knowledge. Well, up till about the year of our Lord 2000 ‘teeth floating’ was performed by ‘Teeth Floaters’, a group of stalwart and independent folks that made a living filing down horses’ teeth. About that year the Arkansas Veterinary Medical Examining Board decided that this should only be performed by licensed professionals, i.e. members of their own brotherhood. From that date forward to ‘float teeth’ you had to have a ‘Vets License’ or they hounded you with fines and threatened jail time. I’m certain that the need for more revenue from licensing fees had nothing to do with this; nor would the desire to drive more business toward their own membership of licensed vets.

            Now don’t go and get all 'het up' and compare this to your own dentistry experience. It turns out that other, much more intrusive, to my way of thinking, procedures are preformed on livestock by ‘non-vet/non-licensed’ folks. Some examples are: horse shoeing, hoof grinding, dehorning, branding, tail docking, and castration. All of these can be done without government approval, but not ‘teeth floating’. Well the Arkansas Legislature has decided that ‘teeth floating’ may not require a vet license after all, perhaps influenced by the fact it had been done for hundreds of years without requiring a license from the State Vets Bureau. But so as to not be too hasty, the Legislature passed a law allowing ‘non-vets’ to again ‘float teeth’ but only for the next two years while a special committee studies this most serious of societal issues. Meanwhile, if you happen to be a male horse, watch out for that stranger sneaking up behind you, he doesn’t need a ‘vet-license’ to remove your manhood.

            But the most amazing part of this whole issue wasn’t the expose of the practice of professional brotherhood organizations putting non-members out of business. The most remarkable piece of news in the article was that nationwide, 29% of all workers require some type of permission, licensing from the government before they can work. Barbers, beauticians, doctors, lawyers, and the list goes on, all require some type of government permission to work.

            Oh, yes, one final fact. The Arkansas Veterinary Medical Examining Board has put twice as many ‘teeth floaters’ out of business in the last 10 years than they have put incompetent vets out of business. Perhaps it’s the ‘Fox watching the Hen house’ situation. Or perhaps there was an inordinate number of equine complaints about hurtful ‘teeth floaters’.