The Shrinking Budget Deficit

Every Democratic President since Lyndon Johnson has either left office with a surplus or less than what the deficit was when they took over from a Republican predecessor.  On the other hand, every Republican President since Eisenhower has  left office with a larger deficit than the one they inherited from thier Democratic predecessor.  Go figure.

Senate Democrats Letting Speaker Boehner's Agenda Run Over Them

The malaise that permeates our nationally elected Democrats continues to deepen. The mind boggling aspect of all this is the fact that John Boehner’s battle plan is so simple that it seems to confound the Democratic leadership. If Speaker Boehner’s $100 billion dollar budget amputation was so odious in H.R. 3 then why does it suddenly become palatable to the leadership across the aisle if it’s chopped into increments amounting to the same thing? The grin on Boehner’s face in light of this is only going to get more indelible when the GOP takes this maneuver and runs with it against the Senate Democrats in 2012. There is a page on Facebook calling for Alan Grayson to take the reins of the Florida Democratic Party. I say let's forget that and start a movement to make him the head of the national Democratic Party. Mr. Grayson would be just what the doctor ordered for this creeping malaise that doesn’t seem to show any signs of abating in the near future.

Questioning The Validity Of Teacher Pay Polling

Whenever ever I see polls about teachers like the one on CNN this morning I’m always leery of the wording the poll question takes. There were two: (1) “Should teacher pay be based on quality of work?” and (2) Should teacher pay be based on a standardized scale for all teachers.” The problem with asking the second question is like any query using the word “standard.” The first question works perfectly if teachers have control over their environment. In reality though teachers are more susceptible to conditions outside their control i.e. class sizes, more and more politically driven budgetary concerns, economic conditions, and on and on. That’s why it continually gets driven toward the standard end. Right now across the country communities are demonstrating their lack of value in education through their elected representatives’ continuous propensity to make it the first thing they target in budget cuts. Perhaps when value is shown through actions the first question can finally be the yard stick everyone desires.

City of Jacksonville Budget Workshop Well Attended

I just got back from the first of five planned City of Jacksonville budget workshops here in Arlington at the Regency Square Branch Library. This was my first time attending one of these and it was well worth the time. It was a capacity crowd that needed extra seats brought in to hold the participants. I talked to one of the Mayor's assistants and she indicated the first one is always the most popular but as they start running through the schedule attendance drops off. I ran into City Council District #1 candidate Lindsey Brock again and we exchanged pleasantries. The event itself was fascinating and very informative. I was pleasantly surprised and will definitely attend these things on a regular basis. I got a small bit of insight into the budget priorities of the city and how it spends our tax revenue. I'll have a more comprehensive recap later with some thoughts about what I saw and who was there.

City of Jacksonville Budget Workshops & Citizen Input

Imagine my excitement this past Tuesday when I got my confirmation to have a seat at the table at one of five City of Jacksonville budget workshops scheduled between February 23rd, and April 16th of this year. Immediately, my first thought was of Jack Nicholson’s malevolent character “The Joker” in Tim Burton’s “Batman” when he turned to the camera and uttered this warning followed by a chilling cackle, “Wait’ll they get a load of me.” All kidding aside I was actually thinking this opportunity, if anything, will be a sobering experience and a privilege to be taken with a great deal of seriousness.

I’ve always been annoyed at candidates for Mayor and City Council [or any other public office for that matter] whenever they would try and qualify their candidacy with their successful business background or burnish their credentials with free market theories regarding matters of public sector accounting. Private and public sector spending and accounting work under not only two different sets of accounting principles [for the uninformed that would be GAAP for private and GASB for public] but under two different sets of goals and means with which to achieve their bottom lines. To set the record straight I am not an accountant nor do I play one on TV. Heck I haven’t even gotten a good night’s sleep at a Holiday Inn to claim as a qualification. But my toils at the University of Florida to get a degree in history and a minor in political science has given me some knowledge in the rudimentary workings of federal, state and local governments. Civics lessons aside I think I can get most of the plumbing details down enough to understand how these government sausages are eventually made.

I hope to take this as more of a learning experience than to have any real expectations of an impact from a private citizen such as myself who happens to be a property owner. And by the way being a property owner does not nor should it give me any special weight at one of these things. I’m just gratified to see that any citizen, regardless of their circumstances economic or otherwise, is open to register for a seat at the table.

On February 23rd I’ll be at the Regency Square Library location with issued workbook in hand. With my registration they even gave me some homework to do before arrival: reviewing the budget process (including decision making & timelines); the current city budget breakdown (including revenue, expenses, cap improvement and pensions); and millage rates (for police, children, fire, parks and water works). Looks like I’m in for quite an evening. As I’ve already indicated I don’t expect to have much input into this process at all but I’m looking forward to the sausage making process so I can be a little more informed while I’m throwing darts at the lobbyists, special interests and individuals who have agendas outside the best interests for the city and communities.

I’ll be sure to take pictures and be ready with commentary. Perhaps I can even live tweet the event! Stay tuned.

No Room For Children In Gov. Rick Scott's Vision for Florida

One of the less endearing traits of conservatives is their tendency to not let practicality or the human condition get in the way of ideology. Let’s forget for a moment the GOP/Conservative clarion call to cut taxes and shrink government no matter the economic condition or circumstance. One of the more striking elements of this one size fits all ideological blueprint for economic redress is the lack of a standard for a perfect equilibrium regarding the optimum size of government and just how much taxes is enough for the basic services one might expect from local, state or federal government. This brings us to two elements of this ideology that are counter intuitive regarding the human condition and they both have to do with children.

Governor Scott’s proposed inaugural budget seems to base its virtue on the draconian nature of its harshness and severity especially in regards to government services concerning our states children. The one service and state agency that seems to bear the brunt of this push for austerity at any cost is the Department of Children and Families. This includes the elimination of homeless services, agencies that deal with school suicide prevention and finally domestic violence which always seems to have children as collateral damage. The Governors rhetoric seems only to find compassion for children if a family’s tax bracket rates a tax cut. Overall his budget and tax cut numbers tell us it comes down to $540.00 savings per household over two years. Take it to per month and it equals less than $23.00. Only a politician so disconnected from the people he serves would think that ranks as some kind of tax savings windfall for the taxpayer. These so called savings broken down per month won’t even cover the cost of a tank of gas.

The counter intuitive element of this budget/tax policy brings the centrality of its focus on the social issue at the very core of the conservative movement: its anti-abortion or right to life stance. If one is to cut all meaningful services that would act as a safety net or as an agent of aid for children that would be forced into this world through a rigid social policy that not only discourages abortion no matter the circumstance but education as well about how to prevent unwanted pregnancies. Low income and needy children would be left at the mercy of the vagaries of the market place where under these policies there is no room for compassion or help for the economic and socially disadvantaged.

This brings us to education. The planned per pupil cuts in costs would total around 10 per cent in a state that already ranks as one of the lowest in the nation in per pupil spending (Florida ranks 45th out of 50). This counter-intuitive policy would shackle the state’s public education system with burdens that could only work to undermine the classroom environment to the point where it becomes untenable with the rising school age population contrasted against an ever shrinking budget to support it. How children of low economic circumstance are expected to make wise choices in life when the public education system they rely on fails them economically is beyond me.

These policies certainly tell us all we need to know about Governor Rick Scott the person as he uses the plight of these at risk children as a means to an ideological end.