Ford's Solution to Competition

So Ford is losing market share to the Japanese. Seems the Americans prefer Toyotas.

Does Ford announce that they are going to build a better car? Nah.

They decide to fire 30,000 workers. Perfect!

But maybe it's just me.

It's an ill wind that blows no one any good.

When I was much younger, that saying never made any sense to me. I have subsequently learned that it means that even what we at first might think of as a tragedy might have some beneficial outcome or result, that a purely "ILL" wind is pretty rare indeed.

Disasters, even of the scope of Katrina and 9/11, have brought people together, people who might never have been able to work together before.

In Rhode Island we face a looming fiscal crisis. The numbers don't lie and the handwriting is clearly on the wall for anyone to read. Taxpayers are simply unable to sustain the yearly increases in tax burdens being placed upon them. It's no secret. People are fleeing the state and the most vulnerable are often forced to sell their homes. Even a cursory examination of the data available at the Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council's website will quickly confirm it. RIPEC.

So we find ourselves struggling with ways to lower taxes, to make living here more affordable. Who would deny that this is a worthy goal? And yet we get resistance from unions, advocates and entitlement program administrators, in short, anyone who depends on our tax dollars, who worry that important programs and benefits might be cut. These are legitimate concerns and need to be addressed as well.

But there reaches a point when the goose runs out of golden eggs. I hope that it won't take a tragedy to get all of us working together to find ways to make our tax dollars go farther and do more than they do currently. We can have the quality of life we want and pay for it too but we must step back and question "business as usual".

For example:

Do we actually need 39 different fire departments? 39 different school administrations? 39 different health insurance contracts? Or is it that we've gotten used to them, that we just WANT them because they're familiar?

Is this the best way to spend taxpayers' money? Might there be a better way?

We have a long way to go and the work will be hard, but boy, it will be well worth it.

But maybe it's just me.

A fine state indeed

I have been privileged to participate in a meeting convened to discuss the direction Rhode Island is going especially as it relates to spending. It was painfully clear from the data supplied by RIPEC that the current rate of spending, at all levels is, in a word, impossible.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that as long as outgo exceeds income we are on a collision course with disaster.

The most obvious solutions traditionally focus on how to cut the ever increasing spending. Some facts: (from Lookout TV show January 6, 2005

Third highest spending on total welfare ( averaging $50,000 per family)
Among highest percent of people on welfare.
Seventh highest in education spending
Bottom third in student performance nationally
From 1996 - 2004 40th in getting people off of welfare, among the worst in the country
By 2010 25% of all children will qualify for welfare
By 2010 20% of everyone will be eligible for state aid.
Reimbursement for medical providers are among the lowest:
Low md's pay
Low nurse pay
Low prescription payments

At our meeting it came as no surprise that the most frequently mentioned solutions included:

Cut spending
Force more efficiency
Tax limits to force the above and then
Cut spending some more.

These are indeed necessary. But in the longer view we need to decide on the long range goals.

So I ask the following: Is it enough if we:

Lower cost for education
Lower costs for municipal spending, fire, police, roads etc.
Increase productivity, increase output per employee.
Cut spending on entitlement programs, AFDC, Medicaid, RITE Aid etc.
Force cuts by tax limits?

Is it enough that we have lower spending on education and all the rest? I believe it will be a Pyrrhic victory unless we also:

Make this the best state it can be, not just the least expensive
Have the best educated people. I'd be proud to spend the most on education IF we also had the best students in the country.
Have excellent infrastructure, roads, bridges, and how about putting up enough street signs to help visitors navigate? etc.
Reduce not only spending but dependence on welfare, with compassion.
Have a legislature that will not be deterred from doing the people's business by getting "Abramoffed".

To succeed, we must include in the effort, the recipients of our tax dollars as well as the producers of those tax dollars so that, working together, we can send this message to the legislature - "Listen to the most important 'special interest group' of all, the people of Rhode Island"

Teachers
Firefighters
Police
Municipal
Business owners
Town managers
Taxpayer groups
League of Cities and Towns
Citizen advocates.

United we can thrive, divided we shall fail.

But maybe it's just me.

An American Taliban

The latest comment by Pat Robertson is beyond belief. His attitude is precisely the same as the narrow minded Neanderthal thinking of the fundamentalist Taliban. Only the name of their 'god' is different. Below is a copy of an email I sent to channel 12 which broadcasts the 700 Club every morning:

I have always questioned your decision to broadcast a show with a religious agenda such as the 700 Club. This last outrage from Mr. Robertson is the last straw.

I know that it will not mean much to you but it means something to me. I shall not watch Channel 12 again as long as this bigoted program is broadcast by your station.

I'm only one person but one has to do what one feels is right.

Society = One person at a time.

Harvey Waxman

"It's for the kids". Yeah, right.

This morning's Providence Journal reported a sad fact. Education Week gave Rhode Island a "D" in resource equity and an overall grade of "C", among the lowest in the country for its education system. Shame. What's worse is that this is nothing new. Since I have been talking about property tax reform for the last five years these numbers have changed little if any according my research.

Leadership on both sides, management and employee, legislators and unions, have to stop spending all their time arguing money issues ( we already spend among the most in the country on education ) and begin to concern themselves with performance and attitude.

Only then will the claim "It's for the kids" mean anything.

But maybe it's just me.

Is it a tax incentive or a bribe?

Bribe: make payments in exchange for favors or influence.

When we provide tax incentives to certain companies to entice them to locate here in Rhode Island, are we being fair to other businesses in our state? I don't see much difference between those incentives and bribes. Don't they both try to influence behavior that otherwise would not take place?

Our entire tax system, federal, state, and to a lesser extent local, appears to be riddled with influence peddling.

Maybe it's just me.

Property Taxes and Obesity

The accepted treatment for property tax anguish is to try to lower tax levies. We can do this by reducing budgets or increasing revenues. It's simple math. But does reduction of the tax levy accomplish the goal of 'fixing' the most hated tax in America? (Google the 'most hated tax' and see for yourself).

Allow a small comparison. We have an obesity problem in America. In Rhode Island for example, 56% of the public is either overweight or obese. (CDC 2004). Now that's a problem for sure. Using the logic of the property tax solution, we would simply require that everyone reduce their food consumption by some amount, say 10%.

But what about the people in Rhode Island that aren't getting enough food as it is? Should they too reduce their already inadequate food intake? Clearly not. The solution ignores the obvious fact that the distribution of food is at least as important as the total consumption.

Likewise, the distribution of the property tax is more important to the individual tax payer than the total tax levy. The 'deadly duo' of revaluation and ad valorem taxes ignores this issue and is creating a devastating imbalance in the burdens of property owners. Believe it or not many property owners (most often the larger corporations) receive tax reductions as budgets increase due to unfair distribution resulting from the revaluation process.

Budgets are too high and should be lower. In many cases we are not getting the results we deserve from our 'highest in the nation' taxes. But any budget, low, high, or just right, should be distributed in a fair manner.

We have one suggestion on our website, that we believe will do just that. Take a look and then post your comments here. I'd like to know what you think.

Statistics. Use with care, may be hazardous.

There was an excellent letter this morning in the Providence Journal letters to the editor section. A physician was writing about the recidivism of drug offenders. He compares the average cost per offender in prison to the average cost of methadone treatment, $30,142 (minimum security) versus $4250 average for methadone treatment.

Those pesky statistics can be misleading. The infrastructure, buildings, the minimum staffing of a prison facility means the cost per prisoner goes down dramatically as the number of prisoners goes up. If the average cost per prisoner is say, $75,000, a prison will not save $75,000 for each released prisoner.

That is not to diminish the doctor's main points in his letter. He is spot on when he points out the failure of our penal system in its treatment of substance abusers. Methadone clinics certainly do a better job at addressing the recidivism problem but what's right is right, independent of the cost.

Statistics can be misleading. Use with great care.

But maybe it's just me.

(Please use the "comments" link below to post your thoughts.)

"We have met the enemy and he is us" Pogo 1952

Society:

A group of humans broadly distinguished from other groups by mutual interests, participation in characteristic relationships, shared institutions, and a common culture.

The institutions and culture of a distinct self-perpetuating group.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

You settle in with the morning newspaper and a cup of coffee.

The headlines are discouraging to say the least; corruption evident at the highest levels in government, taxes out of control, trash littered streets, our students falling behind other countries' students, millions with no health insurance, increasing poverty levels, global warming, fuel costs out of sight, another shooting in a ghetto neighborhood.

Commentators conclude that our problems won't be solved until "we as a society" make the commitment to (you fill in the blank).

What does 'we as a society' really mean? Can we all act together? And if we did, what would be the difference between 'society' and any other mob or special interest group, or union? See the above definition.

To me, this phrase - as a society - is a cop-out, an excuse for doing nothing. After all, 'we as a society' haven't made the commitment. Not my fault. Why should I do anything until 'we as a society' do something.

Now there, doesn't that feel better? Cop-out!

As long as this myth of 'society' exists, individuals won't take the action necessary to make changes. Our very democracy is at risk under the current deadly combination of apathy, helplessness, and cynicism.

In a democracy, legislators are expected to consider and pass laws that are in the best interest of the people. "The happiness of the people is the purpose of government", John Adams.

Can we trust that our elected officials are willing or even able to make such choices? From the news it would appear the answer is 'no'. That some of our state representatives have cast votes for absent members is a disgrace; an insult to the people of Rhode Island.

Americans are blessed with a form of government that allows us to change legislators in elections. Yet the vast majority of legislators continue in office, suggesting that we are generally pleased with their performance. Are we?

So we continue to read our papers and listen to the news, muttering disapproval all the while.

Change will come only when each one of us understands we must act as individuals, not society. It will come when YOU put the gum wrapper in your pocket instead of throwing it on the street, use a turn signal, act with courtesy and respect and teach your children to do the same. When you and I, as individuals, keep the snow shoveled from the front walk, let a motorist into line, slow down for the yellow light, take the time to contact our government representatives about how we feel.

When that happens there will be a sea change in our country, in the way we govern ourselves.

One can only imagine the impact of not a few hundred identical letters from a group, but of tens of thousands, of millions of individual letters from the people, you and me, making our feelings known. A veritable tide from the people.

Today we can make a simple toll free phone call to vote for the latest goofball who appears on some reality TV show.

Isn't it at least as important to express your feelings about the important issues of the day? When was your last letter to the editor?

When all is said and done, there is no 'society'.

There's just you. There's just me.

But maybe it's just me.

Medical News TIC (tongue in cheek)

Medical Breakthrough
Wickford, RI September 24, 2005

In a stunning and unprecedented surgical procedure begun in 1993, when McDonald's was successfully sued for scalding an 81 year old woman who spilled hot coffee on herself, members of the American Surgical Society of Lawyers (ASSoL) have at last, successfully removed "accident" from the English language. The 'patient' was not even aware that the operation, known technically as an accidentectomy, had taken place but the word has been effectively rendered non-functional and useless and is expected to shrivel up and fall off by itself shortly.

Lawyers have conclusively proven that there is really no such thing as an 'accident'. Every unexpected, unpredictable event, if it has or might cause pain, inconvenience or even embarrassment to a person or persons, or their heirs, now or in the future, must be compensated for.

There must always be someone at fault, to blame and to punish. For everything. In short, there are no accidents and someone must pay.

In a related story, "personal responsibility" is becoming redundant and, like tonsils or troublesome wisdom teeth, is scheduled for eventual removal. Additional candidates for future removal due to infrequent use include:

integrity
patience
honesty
altruism
courtesy

But maybe it's just me.