There's a lot of nonsense, hype and hyperbole being bandied about concerning the annual federal deficit and the national debt.
One of the problems for members of the public trying to cut through the hype is, what do the words mean? The Washington Post has provided a public service by explaining in pretty clear terms what the basic concepts are describing. The article is worth reading.
The Post could have done a better job, though, of explaining why managing the federal budget isn't like managing a household budget. I'll give that a try tomorrow.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Town of Oriental Referendum 1993
The North Carolina Legislature in its 1991 session passed An Act to Set a Referendum on Possible Changes in the Electoral System for the Town of Oriental (Chapter 878, Senate Bill 968). That act is posted on the Town of Oriental's web site at pages four and five of "town charter and amendments" under General Ordinances and Town Charter. The 1991 act scheduled a referendum for a special election to be held November 3, 1992.
Anyone reviewing the 1991 Act can see immediately that each of the three choices to be presented to the voters begins: "(a) Sections 3 and 7 of Chapter 184, Private Laws of 1899 (the original 1899 charter) are repealed."
Section 3. of the 1899 charter stipulates: "That the officers of the town shall be a mayor, three commissioners, a constable, who shall be elected by the commissioners, and such other officers as the commissioners may deem necessary and proper, as provided by said chapter sixty-two of The Code [of 1883]; Provided that no person shall be a mayor, commissioner or other officer of said town unless he be a qualified voter therein."
Before the special election was held, the state legislature passed "An Act to Make Technical Corrections to a 1992 Charter Amendment to the Town of Oriental, and to Reschedule a Referendum. The act rescheduled the referendum for November 2, 1993, modified option B to provide for a five-member rather than a six-member board and stipulated that whichever choice received a plurality of votes would go into effect beginning with the 1995 regular municipal election. That act is not posted on the town's web site, but is posted on the web site of the North Carolina Secretary of State.
The Pamlico County Board of Elections conducted the referendum at the same time as the November 2, 1993 municipal election. Sherrill Styron was elected mayor with 265 votes. Commissioners were Radford Lewis (265 votes), Joe Harris (249 votes), and Dave Nelson (185 votes). A plurality of voters voted for question 'C', a mayor and five member board of commissioners with the mayor voting only in case of a tie (218 votes). Question 'A', keeping a three-member board received 73 votes and question 'B', a five member board with the leading vote getter serving as mayor, received 69 votes.
The Pamlico County Board of Elections retains a copy of the abstract of canvassing (the vote count) for that election, as well as a copy of the ballot used for the election.
The 1993 repeal of sections 3 and 7 of the 1899 charter had no immediate effect. The town continued to have a "mayor-council" form of government, which gave the board of commissioners as much operational control of day to day operations, including hiring, as the board wanted to exercise. But in 1997, the town amended the charter by ordinance, changing to a "council-manager" form of government. Under that form, the commissioners have no day to day administrative powers - only the right to establish general policies and exercise general oversight.
North Carolina General Statutes establish the duties and responsibilities of the manager by law.
Anyone reviewing the 1991 Act can see immediately that each of the three choices to be presented to the voters begins: "(a) Sections 3 and 7 of Chapter 184, Private Laws of 1899 (the original 1899 charter) are repealed."
Section 3. of the 1899 charter stipulates: "That the officers of the town shall be a mayor, three commissioners, a constable, who shall be elected by the commissioners, and such other officers as the commissioners may deem necessary and proper, as provided by said chapter sixty-two of The Code [of 1883]; Provided that no person shall be a mayor, commissioner or other officer of said town unless he be a qualified voter therein."
Before the special election was held, the state legislature passed "An Act to Make Technical Corrections to a 1992 Charter Amendment to the Town of Oriental, and to Reschedule a Referendum. The act rescheduled the referendum for November 2, 1993, modified option B to provide for a five-member rather than a six-member board and stipulated that whichever choice received a plurality of votes would go into effect beginning with the 1995 regular municipal election. That act is not posted on the town's web site, but is posted on the web site of the North Carolina Secretary of State.
The Pamlico County Board of Elections conducted the referendum at the same time as the November 2, 1993 municipal election. Sherrill Styron was elected mayor with 265 votes. Commissioners were Radford Lewis (265 votes), Joe Harris (249 votes), and Dave Nelson (185 votes). A plurality of voters voted for question 'C', a mayor and five member board of commissioners with the mayor voting only in case of a tie (218 votes). Question 'A', keeping a three-member board received 73 votes and question 'B', a five member board with the leading vote getter serving as mayor, received 69 votes.
The Pamlico County Board of Elections retains a copy of the abstract of canvassing (the vote count) for that election, as well as a copy of the ballot used for the election.
The 1993 repeal of sections 3 and 7 of the 1899 charter had no immediate effect. The town continued to have a "mayor-council" form of government, which gave the board of commissioners as much operational control of day to day operations, including hiring, as the board wanted to exercise. But in 1997, the town amended the charter by ordinance, changing to a "council-manager" form of government. Under that form, the commissioners have no day to day administrative powers - only the right to establish general policies and exercise general oversight.
North Carolina General Statutes establish the duties and responsibilities of the manager by law.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Paper Money: Let 10,000 Banknotes Bloom
If you are a businessman, how would you like to operate in a country with 10,000 different kinds of banknotes?
Sounds pretty chaotic, doesn't it? How would you know which banknotes were issued by sound banks and which were not?
That's what we had in the United States in 1860. Samuel P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury during the Civil War, brought some order to that system.
Sounds pretty chaotic, doesn't it? How would you know which banknotes were issued by sound banks and which were not?
That's what we had in the United States in 1860. Samuel P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury during the Civil War, brought some order to that system.
Oriental Town Charter Loose Ends
At the end of the Oriental Town Board meeting/press conference last Friday, Commissioner Venturi announced that she had asked town employee Lori Wagoner to compile the 1899 town charter and all amendments.
It's a really good idea to have and to publish on the town web site an annotated charter. The annotations should include not only the two amendments (November 4, 1993 by referendum and 1997 by ordinance), but also all changes dictated by changes to state law and annexations not listed in Section 2 of the 1899 charter.
This won't be a simple task. A cursory perusal suggests that, in addition to the repeal of sections 3 and 7 by referendum, Sections 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, and 14 have been amended or replaced in whole or in part by subsequent changes to North Carolina law. It would be helpful to the public for these changes to be annotated on a public copy of the charter.
I propose the board of commissioners appoint a citizens committee empowered to contact the state legislative library, the Secretary of State's office and the School of Government to develop an accurate annotation.
It's a really good idea to have and to publish on the town web site an annotated charter. The annotations should include not only the two amendments (November 4, 1993 by referendum and 1997 by ordinance), but also all changes dictated by changes to state law and annexations not listed in Section 2 of the 1899 charter.
This won't be a simple task. A cursory perusal suggests that, in addition to the repeal of sections 3 and 7 by referendum, Sections 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, and 14 have been amended or replaced in whole or in part by subsequent changes to North Carolina law. It would be helpful to the public for these changes to be annotated on a public copy of the charter.
I propose the board of commissioners appoint a citizens committee empowered to contact the state legislative library, the Secretary of State's office and the School of Government to develop an accurate annotation.
Job Squeeze
I keep hearing it said that "government jobs aren't real jobs," that in fact, some assert, government jobs squeeze out private sector employment and actually hurt the economy.
Really?
If people who live in Eastern North Carolina really believe that, they should petition their representatives and senators to close down the Marine Bases at Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune, the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base at Goldsboro, the Army Base at Fort Bragg, state funded institutions such as ECU, and on and on. In Raleigh, the legislature's new budget has cut the funding for the capitol police in half. Can't we do more?
One of the mysteries of political discourse is the ability of participants to hold conflicting views at the same time and actually act on them. This requires a skill at intellectual compartmentalization that I never acquired.
By the way, those who serve in our military actually hold government jobs. When they walk into Wal-Mart or Target, their money looks like anyone else's. Their checking and savings deposits have the same economic effect on their community as anyone else's. And if they lose their jobs through a reduction in force, it contracts the economy just as much as if they had been working for General Motors or Google.
We hear a lot about the GDP. What actually goes into the GDP? GDP equals private consumption and investment, plus net exports, plus gov’t spending. It's as simple as that. Reduce government spending without increasing private consumption and investment, and the economy will contract.
The reason private consumption isn't increasing is that people have no money. The reason companies aren't investing in increased production capacity is that they have ample excess capacity already and can't see a near term increase in customers.
This is elementary business plan stuff. Businessmen (unless they have grown soft in the head) make business decisions based on reality, not on whether the president or members of Congress have hurt their feelings.
Economist Jared Bernstein has a good question and answer posting on his blog today.
In today's circumstances, any reduction in federal spending can only contract the economy. To be sure, some reductions would be worse than others, but right now any reduction will be bad.
As we await news from Washington on increasing the debt limit, I have my fingers crossed that the outcome will be merely very bad (reducing spending when we really need a stimulus) rather than disastrous (going into default).
Really?
If people who live in Eastern North Carolina really believe that, they should petition their representatives and senators to close down the Marine Bases at Cherry Point and Camp Lejeune, the Seymour Johnson Air Force Base at Goldsboro, the Army Base at Fort Bragg, state funded institutions such as ECU, and on and on. In Raleigh, the legislature's new budget has cut the funding for the capitol police in half. Can't we do more?
One of the mysteries of political discourse is the ability of participants to hold conflicting views at the same time and actually act on them. This requires a skill at intellectual compartmentalization that I never acquired.
By the way, those who serve in our military actually hold government jobs. When they walk into Wal-Mart or Target, their money looks like anyone else's. Their checking and savings deposits have the same economic effect on their community as anyone else's. And if they lose their jobs through a reduction in force, it contracts the economy just as much as if they had been working for General Motors or Google.
We hear a lot about the GDP. What actually goes into the GDP? GDP equals private consumption and investment, plus net exports, plus gov’t spending. It's as simple as that. Reduce government spending without increasing private consumption and investment, and the economy will contract.
The reason private consumption isn't increasing is that people have no money. The reason companies aren't investing in increased production capacity is that they have ample excess capacity already and can't see a near term increase in customers.
This is elementary business plan stuff. Businessmen (unless they have grown soft in the head) make business decisions based on reality, not on whether the president or members of Congress have hurt their feelings.
Economist Jared Bernstein has a good question and answer posting on his blog today.
In today's circumstances, any reduction in federal spending can only contract the economy. To be sure, some reductions would be worse than others, but right now any reduction will be bad.
As we await news from Washington on increasing the debt limit, I have my fingers crossed that the outcome will be merely very bad (reducing spending when we really need a stimulus) rather than disastrous (going into default).
Friday, July 15, 2011
Excitement in The Town of Oriental
The day began with an 8:30 public meeting of the Board of Commissioners at Town Hall. The meeting was originally called to discuss the board's hiring of a police officer.
There was no quorum, and it turned out there was no need for one. Mayor Sage explained that, after discussing the town's charter and subsequent amendments with the town attorney and with the North Carolina School of Government, it turns out that, under North Carolina law, hiring the police officer(s) is the job of the town manager rather than the board of commissioners.
Then the Pamlico County Board of Elections met at 10:00 to review candidate filings for November's municipal elections. Three municipalities - Arapahoe, Grantsboro and Vandemere did not have as many candidates file as there are openings for elected office. The board of elections decided to exercise the option to extend the filing period by five days for those three towns.
Just before the filing period closed, Ms. Jennifer Roe of Oriental filed to run for mayor of Oriental. There are now three mayoral candidates in Oriental: incumbent mayor Bill Sage, candidate Katy Pugh and incumbent commissioner Jennifer Roe.
There was no quorum, and it turned out there was no need for one. Mayor Sage explained that, after discussing the town's charter and subsequent amendments with the town attorney and with the North Carolina School of Government, it turns out that, under North Carolina law, hiring the police officer(s) is the job of the town manager rather than the board of commissioners.
Then the Pamlico County Board of Elections met at 10:00 to review candidate filings for November's municipal elections. Three municipalities - Arapahoe, Grantsboro and Vandemere did not have as many candidates file as there are openings for elected office. The board of elections decided to exercise the option to extend the filing period by five days for those three towns.
Just before the filing period closed, Ms. Jennifer Roe of Oriental filed to run for mayor of Oriental. There are now three mayoral candidates in Oriental: incumbent mayor Bill Sage, candidate Katy Pugh and incumbent commissioner Jennifer Roe.
Debt Ceiling
We wouldn't be talking about the debt ceiling if President Clinton's budgeting policies had continued. There would be no debt.
Publicly held debt of the United States right now is about 63% of GDP. Most US households would be happy if their debt, including mortgage, car loan, etc. were no more than 63% of annual income.
If the US defaults on its obligations, and you owe any money to anyone, you can expect your payments to increase, because one or more of your payments is likely pegged to US T-bills. This will drag our economy down even more.
Last week a columnist for the News and Observer wrote in glowing terms about the US economy of 1834. If that's where we are going, believe me - you won't like it. Where are you going to stable your horses?
Publicly held debt of the United States right now is about 63% of GDP. Most US households would be happy if their debt, including mortgage, car loan, etc. were no more than 63% of annual income.
If the US defaults on its obligations, and you owe any money to anyone, you can expect your payments to increase, because one or more of your payments is likely pegged to US T-bills. This will drag our economy down even more.
Last week a columnist for the News and Observer wrote in glowing terms about the US economy of 1834. If that's where we are going, believe me - you won't like it. Where are you going to stable your horses?
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Bastille Day
Happy Bastille Day!
Historian David McCullough puts our ties with France in perspective in today's New York Times.
He gets one thing wrong, though. What we call "French fries," (originally "frenched fries" for the way they were sliced or "frenched") are actually Belgian. Belgians become very agitated when pommes de terre frites are ascribed to France. You can read all about it in Asterix and Obelisk cartoons.
Historian David McCullough puts our ties with France in perspective in today's New York Times.
He gets one thing wrong, though. What we call "French fries," (originally "frenched fries" for the way they were sliced or "frenched") are actually Belgian. Belgians become very agitated when pommes de terre frites are ascribed to France. You can read all about it in Asterix and Obelisk cartoons.
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