Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 130, No. 5, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 15, 2012 Page: 4 of 28
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Opinions
[p@lfe bounty Enterprise
Page 4A ■ Sunday, January 15, 2012
Legislators must fix the gimmicks
A s a boy, cleaning
/ \ my rcx)m usually
X Ameant pushing toys
under the bed and shoving
clothes into drawers. On cur-
sor) inspection the room was
clean.
but should my mother dare to
open the closet door . seri-
ous injury to Life and limb
was not out of the question.
I remember once try ing
to move my bed, so I could
shove more clutter under
it, only to find in doing so I
exposed rubble from previous
such exercises in “cleaning."
I^t'sjust say I don’t recall
my parents being overly
amused.
In the same way, taxpayers
shouldn’t be amused by the
tricks and gimmicks legisla-
tors employ to keep up ap-
pearances that state’s fiscal
house is in order.
A top priority for the next
legislature must be to correct
the creative accounting and
get rid of the gimmicks so the
state can have an honest
budget. Or at least so Texans
can have an honest budget
debate.
It is absolutely true that the
lion’s share of the biennial
budget balancing act was ac-
complished through reduc-
tions in spending. Yet it is
also undeniably true the leg-
islature balanced the budget
with no small number of
MICHAEL QUINN
SULLIVAN
tricks that will demand a
reckoning.
A recent story in the Dallas
Morning News recounts how
a portion of the money from
red-light cameras is supposed
to go to the state, and then to
fund emergency trauma care.
While cities are remitting the
cash generated by the cam-
eras, the money isn’t flowing
to the trauma centers from the
state.
Why? The legislature is us-
ing the funds - some $46 mil-
lion - to help keep the books
in the black.
In fact, the Associated
Press reports $4 billion in
taxes and fees earmarked for
funding specific projects were
withheld by the legislature.
And that doesn’t include the
spending gimmicks, such as
the purposeful under-funding
of Medicaid (budgeting for
18 months instead of 24).
While such actions might
make the books balance, it is
a practice that crosses well
past the borders of honesty.
If the legislature is going to
assess a tax or a fee for a spe-
cific purpose, then those dol-
lars should be used only for
the specified purposes. Those
revenues shouldn’t sit in a
slush fund protecting legisla-
tors - and the public - from a
clear discussion about spend-
ing priorities. Use the money
as intended, or don’t collect
it.
Of course, there is nothing
new about this practice. For
years we’ve watched federal
lawmakers rob the Social
Security tmst fund the way a
child might sneak cookies
from a cabinet, replacing the
dollars with an IOU and a
smile.
State legislators have for
years used constitutionally
dedicated gas-tax money to
fund projects and programs
with only a passing relation-
ship to the maintenance and
construction of roads and
bridges.
When it is suggested we
must stop the diversions, the
push back is always the same.
“But then we’d have to get
the money somewhere else!"
Perhaps so. Or, perhaps, with
a clear view of all the spend-
ing and revenues, the people
of Texas and their legislators
would start prioritizing proj-
ects and consider previously
unsought efficiencies in ser-
vices.
It is cliche to note the
cleansing power of sunlight
in government, but it is cliche
only because it is also true
We need to true up the state
budget so the people can see
precisely what the politicians
are doing.
legislators are our em-
ployees, hired by the people
to execute the affairs of the
state. They are not mlers,
lieges nor lords; the money
and power they wield are ours
and only delegated to them.
As such, we expect them to
be good stewards, accurately
describing to us - as their em-
ployers - the finances of the
state. Using budget gimmicks
might get them through a
session, even an election, but
such things do not serve well
the long-term interests of the
people of Texas.
Rather than rearrange the
furniture, Texans deserve the
opixirtunity to see a clean
fiscal house. That will begin
with an honest budget, one
free from smoke, mirrors,
gimmicks and tricks.
Michael Quinn Sullivan is
the president of Texans for
Fiscal Responsibility (www.
Empower Texans.com).
USDA cuts: Gentlemen, start your salmonella?
aybe the news
|\/| left you yawn-
.L T Aing over your
nutritious breakfast, but it
shouldn’t. Every American
has a stake in the fact that the
United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA) has
announced the closing of
nearly 260 offices, labs and
other facilities.
The coming months will
see a testing of our uneasy
love-hate relationship with
the USDA. We hate bureau-
cracies, waste and over-
regulation — but we love
our benefits and food safety
programs.
In these tough economic
times, the USDA’s Blueprint
For Stronger Service calls
for trimming the fat. (“Yea,
verily, thou shalt trim the fat.
And thou shalt cut it with
thine right hand, which be-
longs to a person not under
16 years old and has been
dipped seven times in...
Sorry. Old habits.”)
My day job involves work-
ing at a farmers' cooperative
store; but almost everyone
knows that the USDA over-
sees a wide array of pro-
grams, including emergency
aid to fanners, grants for
rural development and food
assistance programs for the
DANNY TYREE
poor. You may be unaware
of some of the other ser-
vices that face getting the
old heave-ho: sensitivity
training for scarecrows; scru-
tiny of the dating practices
of “extra-virgin” olive oil;
helping former farmers with
“summer rain falling on a tin
roof’ withdrawal; transporta-
tion assistance so this little
piggy doesn’t have to cry
“wee wee wee” all the way
home...
Also endangered: the
military’s contingency plan
for blocking the Straits of
Des Moines and stopping the
flow of com to Iran. Yes, in
spite of the announced cut-
backs, American agriculture
is still the envy of the world,
especially Iran. Our drone
planes unveil the construc-
tion of a wheat enrichment
bunker that poses an immi-
nent threat to Israel’s pride,
if not its physical security.
(“How do ya like THESE ba-
gels, trespassers on the land
of Palestine?")
One might well ask what
else can happen to belea-
guered rural communities.
First, the Postal Service an-
nounced the closure of many
convenient post offices. Now
the USDA wants to consoli-
date and make farmers drive
farther. (Don’t tell the EPA.)
I understand that Phase 3
of Uncle Sam’s war on the
agrarian lifestyle involves
sending underemployed
National Guard troops on
clandestine “cow tipping ma-
neuvers.”
The official line is that
the nation’s food safety pro-
grams will not be impaired.
Many of us remain skeptical.
The USDA became a sepa-
rate entity under Abraham
Lincoln and achieved
Cabinet status under Grover
Cleveland. Now, under the
current administration, it Will
have earned a motto of “We
make more cursory glances
before 9 a.m. than most
people do all day.”
Initial misgivings will
spread exponentially if we
see unemployed USDA
workers holding signs that
say “Will work for ...Air
Jordans...or Kindle Fire...or
anything but FOOD!” And
perhaps someone should tell
the Department of Education
to make a preemptive strike
against schoolchildren sing-
ing “Old MacDonald had
a farm...E. coli — E. coli
- O!”
USDA Secretary Tom
Vilsack insists that the de-
partment can’t continue to
conduct business the way
it did 50 years ago. Yes,
teleconferencing, online
forms submissions and other
modem innovations have
rendered many brick-and-
mortar, face-to-face transac-
tions obsolete; but there was
something charming and
innocent about the USDA
in 1961. (“I saw it — right
there on TV! A talking horse!
It said ‘Willl-burrrr!’just as
clear as a bell! We need to
regulate and subsidize this
before the commies catch up
with us!”)
©2012 Danny Tyree. Danny
welcomes reader e-mail re-
sponses at tyreetyrades@aol.
com. Danny's ’ weekly column
is distributed exclusively by
Cagle Cartoons Inc. newspa-
per syndicate.
Suicide by Tea?
Ideological purity has tail
wagging the elephant
Contact your representatives
11 S Son John Comyn:
202/224-5922
202/225-4901
http://comyn senate gov
http://hutchisqn.senate.gov
Sen Rnhert Nichols:
512/463-0570
202/224-2934
US. Rep. Kevin Brady
936/699-4988
www.house .state tx .us/members/
www.house gov/brady
www.nichoB.senate.state.txu*
member-page/?distict-18
"Nt T'ou’ve heard of
y “suicide by cop”?
A America is now
seemingly witnessing political
suicide by tea.
Tea Party, that is. Only a
few months ago Republicans
seemed poised to fulfill a
dream: if the economy con-
tinued to recover slowly or
was barely on the mend, and
if President Barack Obama
continued to appear to be a
nice guy who could give a
terrific scripted speech but
was inept as a leader and
problem-solver. Republicans
could capture control of the
Senate, Congress and White
House. They could then re-
peal “Obamacare” and com-
plete the job of taking over
the Sifyreme Court, which
petulant Democrats trying to
teach their own party a lesson
by staying home in various
elections helped the GOP
nearly achieve.
But now it doesn’t seem to
be in the tea leaves, largely
because catering to the pow-
erful Tea Party pushed the
party so far fo the right it
sparked a new ideological
purity war and threatens to
alienate the country's center
When the Tea Party burst
on the scene in 2009 top
GOPers saw the conservative
and libertarian movement’s
potential and moved in and
tried to consolidate it as part
of the party's base. Now the
tail is wagging the elephant
(to the right).
A new Gallup poll under-
scores Republican perils.
It finds 40 percent of the
electorate now describe
themselves as independents,
up a percentage point from
the previous year — but
it’s a record high. Thirty-
seven percent self-identify
as Democrats and 25 percent
as Republicans. Democrats
made gains at the expense of
Republicans. Another finding:
many independent voters lean
Republican.
This fits in with what I
found during a three-month
tour last year of the mid-west
and East Coast. I ran into
many people who said they
had been Republicans but
they a) were independent now
because their party was too
far right for them, b) were
turned off by demonizing
rhetoric, c) felt Republicans
need to work with Democrats,
and, e) felt their party was
now too far to the right on
social issues.
The frenzied scramble
to please the Tea Party
and conservative base has
been particularly tough
for former House Speaker
Newt Gingrich and former
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt
Romney. Both were politicos
who occasionally had worked
with and compromised with
JOE GANDELMAN
those on the other side. Both
in previous incarnations were
center right. And they have
been in a battle over who is
the biggest hypocrite in terms
of being conservative.
Romney all but obliterated
Gingrich in Iowa with mil-
lions of dollars in TV ads paid
for by a friendly PAC. And if
you Ixriieve Romney didn’t
know about the ads. then let
me tell you about a little furry
bunny who’ll sneak into your
house and hide painted eggs
this Easter. Gingrich had
enough of Romney’s paint-
ing himself as just a modest
businessman who merely
dabbles in politics because of
a sense of public service and
said enough with the “pious
baloney.” Which was ironic:
over the years Gingrich has
generated enough pious balo-
ney to supply all of Hebrew
National’s orders for the next
two years. Except Gingrich’s
baloney isn’t Kosher.
To get the nomination.
Romney and others have to
jump through hoops. Romney
did it clumsily and is getting
stuck in some of them. If
he gets the nomination he’ll
likely be damaged goods and
it’s a pity: if this had been 10
or 15 years ago he’d be the
perfect big tent establishment
Republican to head the ticket
and capitalize on Obama's
and the Democrats’ weak-
nesses.
Few pundits now predict
the GOP will sweep the
House, Senate and the White
House. Exiled
Republican moderates,
centrist Democrats, moderates
in the general electorate, inde-
pendents and centrists may be
unhappy with Obama but they
could feel they have limited
options on voting day.
Voters will sometimes
choose for President someone
inept but predictable over
someone who appears batty.
And my betting is that if
trending continues, the least
repulsive option won’t be one
where they see they also have
to swallow a big gulp qf tea.
Joe Garuielinon is a vet-
eran journalist who wrote for
newspapers overseas and in
the United States. He can be
reached at jgandelman@themod
erate\’oice.com. Representations
of fact and opinions are solely
those of the author.
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Reddell, Valerie. Polk County Enterprise (Livingston, Tex.), Vol. 130, No. 5, Ed. 1 Sunday, January 15, 2012, newspaper, January 15, 2012; Livingston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth659785/m1/4/: accessed June 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Livingston Municipal Library.