Category Archives: Georgia politics

The hypocrisy of local control advocates

November 6 there will be a proposed constitutional amendment to the Georgia state constitution (Georgia Charter Schools Amendment 1) on the ballot that would grant the General Assembly the authority to create charter schools directly, thus bypassing creation by the local school board. This activity had been found to be unconstitutional in a May 2011 ruling by the Georgia Supreme Court – hence the amendment to make it constitutional. This amendment is quite the conundrum: voting yes would marginally increase school choice at the expense of creating an entirely new government bureaucracy to oversee “state” charter schools. However voting no would prevent new bureaucracy, but at the expense of continuing to maintain the monopoly privilege of the local school system. A bit like trying to decide if I would prefer to be kicked in the mouth or the stomach.

When the positions of both sides are contrary to the principles of a free society it makes it that much easier to pick apart their rhetoric. The argument from the pro camp is essentially that in order to increase choice we need to just stop pouring money into the current (local) system, and now pour money into an entirely new (state) system. Trust us. We know what we’re doing. They claim it will not divert money from the local schools, and that is true, to an extent, as the amendment makes specific mention of non-diversion of funds. However, it is laced with qualifying language such as “prohibits…deduction of CERTAIN state funds from local school districts”. Funds are fungible, although non-discretionary funding may not be touched, there is no doubt that discretionary funding will magically become scarcer. And when that happens you will have one side shouting “draconian cuts!” and the other “no change in funding!” and both would be correct. Is it any wonder voters are turned off by the political process?

The con side is just as bad. They employ the same anti-competitive rhetoric usually reserved for discussions of vouchers. Charters are evil because the competition they would engender results in (a) wasteful duplication of effort and (b) would siphon money away to evil non-local “for profit” school organizations. So I suppose then it would be an equally good idea if we were to outlaw private groceries and establish a local government run “food board” that monopolistically sells food to citizens in its region in order to eliminate duplication of effort and the export of “local money”. It’s much easier to misdirect the spotlight from one’s own pro-monopoly rhetoric if it is draped in anti-local jingoism. I guess a local monopoly is preferable to “foreign” competition.

The perplexing part is that both sides are right and wrong. Both local control and more choice ARE better, but monopolistic trusts and bureaucratic government programs are not the way to achieve those goals. The truly hypocritical position lies with the local school boards that take great offense at the state intruding into their perceived power domain, however, they have no qualms about intruding into a parent’s right to have ultimate control over their child’s education. A true advocate of local control defends the rights of the most local decision makers: the parents. Parents have the right, not the privilege, of deciding how their children will be educated – without being required to suffer the diminishment of choice via the act of reaching into the parent’s wallet in order to pay for the choice already made for the parents by the school board.

In the end I reluctantly recommend a “no” vote if only to send a message to the legislature that we want better legislation. We do not need more government control of the education market, we need less. We need an option that provides for less outside control and more local control, control by the parents.

Cui bono?

I recently saw a pro-TSPLOST bumper sticker on a truck. I thought “that’s odd, why would average Joe Citizen be so impassioned about infrastructure policy that they would feel the need to advertise it on their vehicle.” Then as I passed the truck the reason became all too clear: a bright blue logo signified that this truck was owned by a road construction firm. Yes my friends, that company is a “rent seeker.” Rent seeking is that process that distinguishes the market entrepreneur (one who must compete in the free market for paying customers) from the political entrepreneur (one who gains an advantage over his competitors by lobbying the government to pass laws favorable to his line of work, such as regulations, licensing laws, or outright government purchasing.) The construction company in question sees the potential $18 billion that will be raised and they want their share of that pie.  If you want to evaluate the merits of any newly proposed program, simply ask “cui bono” (to whose benefit). If the answer comes back in the form of concentrated benefits (construction firms and those selling right of way) and diffuse costs (“it’s only a penny!”) spread among the taxpayers, then chances are it is a political boondoggle that will accomplish little at a greatly inflated cost and should be promptly voted down.

The TSPLOST is being sold to the public the same way every new government expenditure is sold to the citizenry: through FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt). The fear of what will happen if we don’t pass it (roads will crumble, bridges will fall, kittens and babies will be slaughtered!) comes first, then uncertainty surrounding our future (how else can we build and maintain roads?) and ultimately the third leg of doubt is brought to bear (there’s no way anything else can work). The tenuous justifications for “regional” projects are laughably juvenile in their simplicity. The Project Sheets for the Constrained Project list were apparently assembled from the “TSPLOST” template found in Microsoft Word; only the titles and locations have changed. Miraculously all the projects “could assist in having a positive impact on the economic vitality for this region”, “improve access to jobs”, and “improve travel times for drivers.” Sounds grand, however these descriptions were used to describe the two projects for Morgan county: a 1 mile driveway (Stanton Springs parkway) extension and widening of a lightly travelled rural highway (441 south of I-20). Someone please explain to me how widening a road will enhance access to jobs? Is there some impenetrable Great Wall of Georgia that these new wider roads are going to get us around?  The sad part is that for Morgan county the two projects aren’t even fully funded by TSPLOST. The county will come up $24 million short after 10 years (see spreadsheet). Naturally we’ll need to extend the TSPLOST for ANOTHER 10 years when it comes time for renewal in 2022 else we will have to raise property taxes to make up for the shortfall.

Which raises a final point. It has been suggested TSPLOST will save money through reduced property taxes, however that math does not work. It was stated that county officials “hope” to lower taxes by 1 mil. Using the median home value in Morgan county (US Census) of $169,400 we find that would be savings of about $67. Using the median household income in Morgan county (same source) of $46,000 and the fact that people on average spend about 36% of income on sales taxable goods (food will be taxed under TSPLOST), that translates into an increased sales tax burden of about $165 per year or a net increase of $100 on average. Everyone that would like to reach into their pocket at Christmas and hand over $100 to the government, please raise your hand. Yeah, that’s what I thought. Property tax savings is a red herring. For the overwhelming majority of residents there will be a net increase in taxes. Who benefits? The public or the politically well connected?

On July 31, vote NO on TSPLOST.

Are those pumpkins next to that tree?

Democracy is sometimes described as “the tyranny of the majority over the minority” (e.g. two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner), however a more appropriate description might be “the tyranny of the uninformed over the informed.” Georgia’s new license plate is but just one mundane case in support of this secondary meaning.

To be fair, it is an attractive design… for a t-shirt. But it’s not going on a t-shirt, it’s going on a moving object and its sole purpose is to rapidly convey information to an observer (e.g. plate number and state). At this it fails miserably. I recently observed a new stationary plate not more than 30 feet away while filling my car with gas and I simply could not make out the number even after staring for some time (yes, my vision is fine). The plate is simply too busy. There is too much color and too many contrasting objects. These design elements while “pretty” do nothing but serve to camouflage the numbers. Sometimes “less is more” (think Apple’s simple package designs vs Microsoft’s “where is Waldo” package designs). Fortunately there is a “plain” tag, although it is not much better due to a dark colored peach in the background obscuring the two central numbers. The only designs that came close to being appropriately designed for the task were tags #1 and #8 and possibly #4.

Georgia is not alone. In the past decade many states have updated their plates to more colorfully busy designs that look great on a magazine cover but are utterly unreadable from more than 6 feet away. This plate beautification trend is symptomatic of a larger dysfunctional political process wherein it is believed that uninformed popular opinion can never be wrong. Rather than choosing politicians who possess the requisite abilities for proper job execution (fiscal discipline, faithfulness to the constitution) we choose them based on superficial qualities (i.e. attractiveness, personality, pandering ability or sometimes whether or not they have a D or R next to their name). The result is a political class that for the most part doesn’t understand what the purpose of government is. Likewise, by employing uninformed popular opinion in its decision making process, government has managed to fumble even the simple task of choosing a plate that succeeds at just one function (legibility) by turning it into a popularity contest that seems more suited to choosing a design for a t-shirt.

And it gets even better. The final design wasn’t even chosen by the people, although it was winnowed down to the top three through a biased on-line voting scheme. The final design was chosen by none other than Governor Nathan Deal. Reminds me of that commercial…”you wouldn’t want your doctor doing your job (cut to doctor playing instrument or running jackhammer), so why are you doing his.” Do you really want your governor acting as an untrained art director, going simply on his gut of what looks “nice” versus actually having someone with training in the field of design who understands the actual task of a license plate: being legible from a distance. Perhaps the governor should decide what books are read in our state run schools based on the cover design?

Having people vote on the final license plate design is not like having them vote on the Peachtree Road Race t-shirt. Rather, it is more like having them vote on which model of police cruiser should be purchased or how thick the asphalt should be on a new road. Hopefully our government buildings won’t someday be engineered by uninformed popular opinion… unfortunately our laws are driven by the same misguided process. Perhaps that explains the mess we are in.

What does that “L” stand for again?

On July 31, 2012 there will be a statewide vote on whether to adopt yet another 1¢ sales tax (bringing us to 8%! ) This new tax is known as the “TSPLOST” (Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax – authorized by the 2010 “Transportation Investment Act”). This SPLOST tax is unique from all prior SPLOST initiatives in that it represents the first step toward loss of local sovereignty. The TSPLOST breaks Georgia up into 12 “economic development” regions. It is the aggregate vote within each region that determines whether the tax is implemented. This multi-county vote aggregation is unique in the history of Georgia as it violates the central tenant of “home rule” written into the Georgia constitution. This means simply that even if one county is 100% opposed, if all the other counties in a region (see map of region here) are for it, then the tax will be imposed in all counties for the next 10 years (even in the ones that did not approve it). This is a disturbing precedent toward slowly shifting political power away from the local level and towards a more centralized authority. We see the same trend today with the states versus the central authority of the federal government. The parallels are uncanny. Just as the states send money for education or highways to the federal government only to have it redistributed back to the states in a non-proportionate manner we will see counties sending TSPLOT money to the state only to have the state send back less to some counties and more to others (see this file for details). Now some might argue that unequal distribution of tax receipts is endemic to any taxing scheme in a region, whether it be city, county, or state. That is quite true. However using the fact that our current tax system is unfair is a poor justification to continue using that same system at a new level.

Those in favor of this new tax rely on the same old hackneyed Keynesian fallacy that somehow public works projects magically pump up an economy… by forcing the taxpayer to spend money on roads and bridges and bike paths (dubiously justified) when they would have otherwise spent it on other goods or services. Road construction companies will be doing quite well (an additional $19 billion over the next 10 years) to the detriment of all other businesses that will see a decline in sales of $19 billion. At best it is a zero sum game, the only difference being that with the tax we are saying we think the government is more properly suited to know how to spend our money and without the tax we are saying we should decide how to spend our money.

Ok, so by now you’re asking, “Ok, Mr. Smarty pants, how should we fund transportation infrastructure?” – Well, I’m glad you asked! Transportation more than any other government monopolized “service” is a user based service for which assessing a service use fee is easily implemented and justifiable (if you use it, then pay for it). There are a number of ways to do this and I’ll list them in increasing order of their effectiveness in terms of fairly assigning cost to usage: gasoline tax, annual odometer tax, general highway tolls, “tiered” highway tolls (i.e. pay more to drive in less congested lanes), fully private roads (where the desire for profit drives new PRIVATELY FINANCED road construction). Any of these options would be better than a general sales tax because those who are on limited or fixed incomes and who do not drive much are being forced to subsidize large businesses and freight carriers who disproportionately utilize the “public” roadways. Taxing activity directly related to road usage at least makes an attempt to fairly assign cost to those that are using them. It is a step in the right direction and it is the step we must take lest we continue sliding down the slippery slope of nebulous centralized taxation for anything that seems like it might be “good.” Vote for local control and fiscal responsibility and vote NO on TSPLOST.

Rage against the machine

Imagine that you are a pioneer of the old west. Over many years you have worked hard to establish a home and a farm. Now imagine that a marauding gang of thieves has begun to harass you. They destroy your crops. They threaten your safety in order to extort money from you. When you are away they vandalize your home and poison your livestock. Year after year it continues. You are peaceful and do not resort to violence. You follow all legal remedies attempting to end the persecution, but it is all for nothing. Judgments in you favor are simply ignored. You soon learn the marauders in fact want what you have created; they want your land for their own use. You offer to sell it to them if only to end the nightmare. They refuse. They would rather scare you off so they can simply take what is yours.

Sounds pretty terrible? Surely this is a scenario for which we need government? Sadly, it is government itself that is the villain in this story. This story is true. It took place in our own backyard in Roswell, Georgia. The gang of marauders is none other than the local code enforcement office and police department of the city of Roswell. This is the story of Andrew Wordes (aka “the chicken man”) and his fight against an intransigent bureaucracy. When you battle an implacable foe something must eventually give.

The details of this story are sufficient fodder for a feature length film. To read a more detailed account please see this report or to hear the story in Mr.Wordes own words please listen to this. In synopsis: In December 2008 Andrew Wordes was cited by the Roswell zoning department for having chickens on his property (even though the ordinance specifically permitted such chicken husbandry). The mayor of Roswell actually stepped in to help but the city bureaucratic “machine” ignored all attempts at reason. Even former Governor Roy Barnes represented Mr. Wordes in his suit against the city (being a chicken farmer Mr. Barnes was partial to his plight). They won the suit against the city. In response the city rewrote the law so that he could only keep chickens if the city fixed a drainage problem that the city itself was responsible for: they refused to fix the problem. Then the harassment really began. He was constantly in court due to numerous petty citations (e.g. improperly stacked firewood). The city’s police department routinely waited outside his house in order to follow him and issue citations for minor infraction. The city (illegally) pressured his mortgage holder to foreclose on the mortgage. Someone poisoned all his chickens when he was away one weekend. He was jailed for 3 months for minor zoning violations (grading himself to try to fix the problem the city refused to fix) and while in jail had to file bankruptcy. While jailed his home was burglarized. He spent his life savings legally fighting every instance of this unwarranted harassment. On March 26, 2012 he was to be finally evicted. The police showed up and after multi-hour standoff he instructed them all to move back. Seconds later he lit the match that ended his life and engulfed his home in a fireball.

They pushed him to the edge. And for what? Turns out that the “Roswell 2030 Plan” includes a parks area that just so happens to be centered on his property. Imagine that. Perhaps the scariest part of this story is that even with the political clout of the mayor and a former governor on his side he remained helpless against the onslaught of harassment from those truly in power: the faceless machinery of the “state”. When even elected officials cannot help the average citizen in their fight against unelected bureaucrats we are well on our way on the road to serfdom.