Semantics of the budget records have shifted to murky waters
Reporting by R.S. Gates Story by The Legendary Jim Parks
Waco - There seems to be no answer forthcoming to a fair question.
Does McLennan County Sheriff Larry Lynch, in fact, receive a salary supplement of $12,000 per year for monitoring and administrative duties supervising a contract to house prisoners of McLennan County at a privately operated facility, the Jack Harwell Detention Center on Highway 6?
The matter is one of some confusion because the notes in the salary budget schedule for FY 2011 say that the payments of $1,000 per month are “contingent upon receipt of funds paid the contractor for housing of federal prisoners at the downtown jail annex.” There are no prisoners housed in that jail.
They were all moved to the Jack Harwell Detention Center, operated by CEC (Civigenics), last summer.
In the present budget proposal, the semantics have changed.
The notations for the salary budget schedule for 2012 say that “The Sheriff receives a salary supplement of $12,000 for monitoring and administrative responsibilities relating to county detention facilities operated for the county by a contractor.” The semantics of these two statements differ from those published for the 2009 budget proposal, which read, in part:
(3) The sheriff's salary may be supplementted from non-tax revenues up to $12,000 for detention monitoring compensation subject to, and contingent upon actual receipt of monitoring reimbursement funds under the Facility Lease, Operation and Management Agreement regarding the housing of Federal Prisoners at the Downtown Jail. This means that the sheriff receives the salary supplement, but there are no records to show that he does, or that he conducts regular monitoring or administrative supervision of the facility.
So, what are the true facts? Either the potential for the salary supplement exists, but the sheriff is paid no funds because the contractor is not in receipt of funds from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, or the policy has changed and taxpayers fund the supplement. Which is it?
There would be records if the sheriff paid supervisory inspection visits or monitored administrative records. In fact, no such records exist, according to Chief Deputy Randy Plemons, a candidate to take Sheriff Lynch's place in the elections of 2012. Despite repeated requests to the Sheriff's Department, the Budget Director, the County Treasurer, and County Judge's office, no official of the county has been able to supply an answer to the question of whether, in fact, the Sheriff receives such payments.
No agency or department of the county government has written records of monitoring or administration of the jail facilities operated by a private contractor.
It is a fair question, one that is worth $12,000 to McLennan County's taxpayers, but there is no answer in sight.
Washington – Critics of the Obama administration's policies on illegal immigrants called a new focus on criminals “backdoor amnesty” for millions of people in the U.S. illegally.
Undocumented aliens with prior criminal convictions will be the focus of deportation proceedings while students, military veterans and spouses of active duty military personnel will be soft pedaled, according to an announcement by the Department of Justice.
“This plan amounts to backdoor amnesty for hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of illegal aliens,” said Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said on Thursday. Her state enacted a tough law that would have allowed police to detain anyone they suspected of being in the country illegally for investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The law was struck down by a federal district judge in Phoenix earlier this year as unconstitutional.
These revelations came on the heels of announcements that the ICE officials have been conducting "paper raids" on some 3,000 employers nationwide to determine if their employees are undocumented. By examining I-9 forms through computer analysis, hundreds of thousands of illegal workers have been identified. The employers were given the option of firing the workers, which they did.
None of them have been deported. They are still here.
Beijing - Though the head of the Bank of China said he is concerned about the debt crisis in the United States, he is confident in U.S. officials and expects Washington to deal with the issue.
The statement came during a state visit by Vice President Joe Biden to the largest foreign creditor of the U.S. The Bank of China is that nation's chief exchange bank, through which the purchase of billions of dollars in U.S. Treasury bonds have been routed.
"We are a little concerned, but we are confident that the U.S. government should be able to solve this problem," said bank president Li Lihui, when asked whether he was concerned about the stability of the dollar and the U.S. debt situation.
Forty percent of Obama's jobs record is Perry's jobs record. Even if the Texas governor isn't "responsible" for it, that's still a formidable record. - Derek Thompson, “The Atlantic”
This impressive statistic is the result of geology, geography, history, and politics.
- Geology blessed Texas with oil, natural gas and other energy and agricultural resources that powered Texas through the early part of the recession and bolstered the state's recovery in the subsequent global commodities boom.
- Geography gave Texas open, arable land that encourages wide, cheap housing and a Mexico border offering a steady stream of cheap immigrant labor.
- Recent history, especially the S&L crisis of the 1980s, gave Texas a lesson in conservative banking practices that served it well in the 2000s.
- And as national politics is responsible for high military spending that is a backbone of the San Antonio economy, many companies in Texas also benefit from the state's conservative regulation, which holds down the cost of business.
...Article 1, Section 10 of the Constitution says, “No State shall… coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.” This straight forward provision allows states to require that only gold and silver coin may be used as legal tender. How could this provision have been used by the states to check Federal power?
Sadly, previous generations failed to use this method of nullification. Should their failure stop us from implementing this constitutional remedy today? No. Article 1 Section 10 is still in the Constitution. Thus, today we can, and should, use monetary nullification to begin the process of rolling back thousands of Federal mandates by demanding that our state legislators implement sound money and require the Federal Government to use it as a tender in payment of debts.
This would ultimately reduce the size of, or eliminate, agencies such as the NSA, TSA, EPA, FDA, NEA, DEA and others. How?
Today, these agencies receive, on average, 43% of their funding through deficit spending. This is only possible because a privately owned central bank (the Federal Reserve) can print money and lend it to the Federal Government to finance this excess spending.
When states demand sound money as payment, the Fed’s monopoly on monetary policy and economic (mis)management is nullified. A strong competitive currency will bring about the end of the Fed, not through statute, but through the free market rejection of its debt-backed fiat money. Without printed money, alphabet soup agencies would see their budgets slashed. How many would survive to continue to implement their unconstitutional mandates? Few if any.
Constitutional tender is, therefore, the necessary companion for every nullification effort underway in this nation. Without it, the tens of thousands of labor hours and tens of millions of dollars invested in pursuing nullification through the courts will be wasted. Why? M.A. Rothschild was correct when he said, “Give me control over a nation’s currency and I care not who makes its laws.” The bankers cannot be allowed to simply use another paper money system to buy back the victory we achieve at the cost of our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor...
Reporting by R.S. Gates
Story by The Legendary Jim Parks
Waco – McLennan County Commissioners will hold two public hearings to ponder raising property taxes by raising assessed valuation of property appraisals.
According to a public notice, “The average taxable value of a residence homestead in McLennan County last year was $91,468.
“Based on last year's tax rate of $0.464258 per $100 of taxable value, the amount of taxes imposed last year on the average home was $424.65.
“The average taxable value of a residence homestead in McLennan County this year is $94,272. If the governing body adopts the effective tax rate for this year of $0.454193 per $100 of taxable value, the amount of taxes imposed this year on the average home would be $428.18. (click image below to view larger)
“If the governing body adopts the proposed tax rate of $0.464258 per $100 of taxable value, the amount of taxes imposed this year on the average home would be $437.67.”
At this time, more than $70 million in reserve funds are held in various accounts of the budget – better than 50% of the entire FY 2012 outlay of $118 million. This compares to a 25% reserve in Coryell County, where the Commissioners' Court is contemplating a spending cut while making modest increases in salaries.
Almost $300,000 in general fund expenditures could be cut, if the Coryell County Commissioners' Court approves a proposed 2012 budget.
That would also mean that more than $800,000 would be cut from the total budget, according to the County Judge, John E. Firth.
The court says that for two years most county employees have experienced static pay, including those receiving social security and military retirement.
The proposed budget would provide an increase in the cost of living allowance for most county employees and could also provide others on fixed incomes with a small allowance to offset the rise in living costs.
The first hearing on McLennan County taxes takes place on Friday, August 19, at 9 a.m. in the Commissioners' Courtroom at the courthouse. The second hearing will be held on Tuesday, August 23, at the Courthouse, 9 a.m.
