Render unto Caesar

July 6, 2014

An El Paso Times editorial the other day “Humanitarian costs should be borne by feds” bothered me on several levels.

Yes, I agree that the feral government has no right to dump a problem that it created onto our local plate.

Obligation

How is housing, feeding, clothing and providing for the safety and welfare of people that it has detained properly deemed to be “humanitarian”?  To me it seems to be an obligation, after all the people are in custody.  Are they supposed to starve to death?

Political

The Times started it’s editorial by blaming the majority party in the house of representatives for failing to do what the Times wants.  They then supported the idea of the President taking action even while admitting that they had no idea what the President might do.

Who created the problem?

Those of you who have followed this blog for a while know that I believe that immigration is a state issue while naturalization is a federal issue as our constitution is currently written.

For various reasons the feral government has usurped the powers of the states to control immigration.  Recently we have seen the state of Arizona being sued by the feds for enacting a law that authorized state and local law enforcement authorities to enforce existing federal laws relating to immigration.

Evidently the feds believe that the states should stay out of the business of enforcing immigration laws.  Who does that leave other than the feds to enforce the laws?

The DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals)  program was created by the President two years ago.  Some say that it sent the message that dependent women and children that enter the United States illegally will not be deported but instead our government will attempt to find homes for them.

Private vs. government

Regardless of where you stand on the immigration issue it is a fact that we have women and children in need of help.  I believe that humanitarian help should come from private citizens and organizations, not taxpayer funded governments.  Once someone is detained though it is the responsibility of the detaining government to care for the individual.

I also believe that the feds should not aggravate the problem by letting people in who do not qualify legally.

Should we change our laws and make it easier to qualify legally?  That’s a whole different discussion as far as I am concerned.

We deserve better

Brutus

 

 

7 Comments | Federal Government, State Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Do it! I’ll tell you what “it” is later.

July 5, 2014

The Tuesday, June 17, 2014 meeting of the El Paso Independent School District board of managers contemplated changes to district high school graduation requirements.

From the board packet:

 EFFECTIVE AS OF THE 2014-15 SCHOOL YEAR …  A STUDENT MUST HAVE COMPLETED THE EQUIVALENCE OF AT LEAST 15 HOURS OF COMMUNITY SERVICE EACH SEMESTER WHILE ENROLLED IN A DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOL.

Maybe I should go back to school since I think that the appropriate word would have been “equivalent” instead of “equivalence”.

No mention was made as to how this would be administered or what would qualify as community service.

It seems to me that the board of managers should have decided what the rules are before issuing this mandate.

We deserve better

Brutus

5 Comments | El Paso Independent School District | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Independence

July 4, 2014

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.  Benjamin Franklin

Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.   John Stuart Mill

We deserve better

Brutus

4 Comments | City government, County Government, El Paso Independent School District, Federal Government, State Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Blastoff!

July 3, 2014

City staff’s proposed budget for next year is now out.

They are proposing a 3.1% increase in our property tax rate to 69.9 cents per hundred dollars of valuation.

They are also asking each city department to take a 5% budget cut.

Huh?

They want to cut each department by 5% but they need a 3.1% increase in our property taxes.  Yikes!

According to the Times the city needs the increase  “to pay for debt obligations such as the quality of life bond projects approved by voters in 2012.”

Actually

This graphic from the city’s web site tells us that they have only begun to spend the bond money:

qolrollout

A 5% decrease in spending plus a 3.1% increase in taxes comes to an 8.1% swing.  According to the chart above they will only have spent 20% of the quality of life bond money by the end of 2016.  So we evidently need 8.1% to pay for other debt.

Either our taxes are going to go up a lot more in the future or this year’s increase is needed to pay for other things than the quality of life bonds.  Tearing down city hall and buying and remodeling multiple buildings is probably the answer.

New tax rate comparison told us about how we had the 7th largest property tax rate of the 50 largest cities in the United States in 2013.  I guess they want us to do better.

Hold on to your hats!

We deserve better

Brutus

 

 

12 Comments | City government, El Paso Times | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

Changing neighborhoods

July 2, 2014

It looks like the state is going to fund the street car project after all.

There will inevitably be real estate opportunities as a result.  Building a store or restaurant along a fixed rail path is considered by many to be safer than along a bus route.  The reason is simple, it is harder to move rail.

The properties on the street car route will become more desirable as stores and restaurants than they are now.

It will be interesting to see who ends up owning them.

We deserve better

Brutus

11 Comments | State Government | Permalink
Posted by Brutus

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