Another Rematch

This week's Blue Bag Rag sports yet another rematch of competing realities of a Founding Councilman and the Head Cheerleader.

Let's start with the Founder, who points to the office occupancy rate raising the alarm that a rate fifty percent higher than the national average might be alarming. Should be. Doesn't seem to bother bureaucrats at city hall, who simply pivoted from encouraging overdevelopment of office space to overdevelopment of apartment units. See? They can adapt. This Founder also points out that the worst is yet to come as some leases are held on spaces no longer occupied and not likely to be renewed. What he points out is alarming enough, or is it? Unoccupied also means loss of Occupational Tax revenue, which as anyone who has operated a business knows is a tax for the mere privilege of writing paychecks to your employees. Not as big as employer FICA/MC contributions but, still, a chunk of change. There are other knock-on effects. Fewer workers means fewer computers, networks, all things electrical, which means less power consumption and less franchise fees, which are a tax on the use of utilities, often necessary to run a business. There is also a loss of customers for those expensive restaurant build-outs in all those Developers Authority endorsed (and subsidized) buildings. The city gave up on controlled growth, selling out to the immediate greed of developers and now they are in a fiscal bind. Of their own making. 

This week's Head Cheerleader was, frankly, spectacular. It was a political version of a call-to-the-altar revival sermon: the quoting of the scriptures; the homily, descending to a whisper; the crescendo of the call for redemption. Adequate shaming of the sinners with no outright condemnation. Masterpiece of political sermonizing. Supported throughout with background vocals of How Great We Art, it starts with some overwrought testimony to transparency, reaching the pivotal phrase:

"And, we are committed to a robust public process should changes be necessary in our revenue process." 

And, given no similar mention of a "spending process" and how that might incur necessary changes, the pivot was to belabor "same as always" approach to millage rate, without the inconvenient observation that the city rakes in a back-door tax increase. Same as always. And maybe someone should tell the folks at city hall that shifting blame to DeKalb got pretty tiresome about five years into this dumpster fire of a city, and that the fact that appraisals come from Decatur in no way absolves city hall of responsibility for a millage rate above the roll-back rate. To the Head Cheerleader's point: the city sets the millage rate. 

It gets even more interesting as some of the tried and true politi-speak oozes, with the use of relativism compounded with incomplete comparisons. Comparing a Dunwoody homeowner's tax burden to anyone else is irrelevant. This city was founded on promises not applicable, not comparable to these other cities and their homeowners. And "we do more with less" begs the questions: more of what; and less than what? Certainly not less tax revenue. And "managed well, but even without adding additional services" flies in the face of reality. There has been mission creep (adding "services") as well as scope expansion (adding costs, just because). Are SUV's more economical than patrol cars? Really? How much money is spent on PR? Are four-color glossy mail-outs really a good value? A better question: what value are they, and are they covering for a less than glossy reality? Is the Head Cheerleader going to shake her pompoms at the legal expenses incurred to defend some indefensible (proven in court) police antics? But yes, that kind of "pride" is indeed incredible. 

Where Do You Get Yours?

Disinformation that is. The most reliable source seems to be the Federal Government, with their most recent dissemination regarding added jobs. Turns out the Labor Department (that is in the executive branch, right?) boosted the actual numbers reported between 4/23 to 3/24 by over 64%. 

How could that happen? Do they consider that "margin of error?" Or, are they just making these numbers up? For some particular reason?

Could it be that these inflated numbers were blowing up the tube man known as Bidenomics, and now that the baton is passed, different economic pressures are blowing the new flag a different direction? Who knows? But one thing is certain, if you're in the market for disinformation, you can look beyond random blogs, commercial sources, and non-profits, because your Uncle Sam is in the business. In a big way.

Not A Dime's Worth Of Difference

Or just two sides of the same coin. 

From the senile side we get "just another way of saying restoring the American dream."  Sounds familiar in a bumper-sticker kind of way, now doesn't it? It's a lot like what we've been getting from the crazy side with "make America great again." Both rooted in nostalgia, looking back while claiming to move forward with one aligned with self-proclaimed "progressives." 

Do we really have two major political parties? Really? Is senile and crazy really the best they can put on offer? Outside of party extremists is there anyone who still thinks ranked voting is a bad idea?

Crisis Is The Fulcrum

Agenda is the lever.

And both were in full misuse in a recent opining from the AJC's fave left wingnut when he took his anti-conservative agenda and propped it on a recent school shooting to someone draw a twisted line, one that can only be straight in his mind, between parental desire for age-appropriate materials and practices and a reluctance on the part of Republicans to eviscerate a constitutionally enumerated, inalienable right. He pulled out all the Liberal Fascists' Propaganda Handbook memes. Hyperbolic "weapons of mass destruction." Dancing around "we ain't teaching CRT." 

Given a recent op-ed from the AJC exposing the incredibly poor performance of our schools at teaching reading, one might have thought the most obvious response to age-inappropriate material in schools would be: "no worries, they can't read it anyway." This would unravel as a brief glance at most classroom and libraries would reveal that words are few and pictures dominate. A concession to the fact that schools haven't been teaching reading for some time, that they are well aware of that fact and have adjusted accordingly.But...not the agenda.

But there are real issues here that deserve informed debate by rational, deliberative stakeholders. How has allegedly representative government schools disenfranchised parents, voters and taxpayers to the point that asserting their position as stakeholders results in vitriolic vilification? In the presence of this failure how do parents best care for their children and what are the socioeconomic consequences? What role should parents have in directing curricula, modalities and pedagogy? And yes, how do we enforce current laws prohibiting firearms from our schools. And why has law enforcement, at all levels abdicated their primary responsibility as well?

But all we get, and all we're are likely to get, is incessant harping from nags drunk on partisan agenda.

Ossoff: Handel-ed

Though not nearly as bad as that fateful Wednesday when hordes of women queued up at Goodwill to drop off tear-stained blue pantsuits[1] this Tuesday's results have left them confused, angry and conflicted. Clintonistas whose argument inevitably devolved into "don't you think it is about time we had a woman president?" found themselves battling against sending the first female Republican to Congress instead supporting an ill-qualified rich white guy, a man who's money came from deceased relatives, a man who so loves the district he choses not to live here. But neither character nor logic has a place in personality, gender or party politics. Not then and certainly not now.

What of those who voted for Ossoff to "send a message"? These folks see our representative government as little more than an opportunity to raise the boy scout sign as they screech "read between the lines" to some far off unseeing, unhearing mythical foe. Are they of such an intellect or character that they can accept that a message has been sent? And that it has been sent to them? And what of the outside monied interests promoting an outsider for what is otherwise a local issue in the sovereign state of Georgia? Are they different in kind to the alleged Russian meddlers they blame for the bad press used to excuse their candidate's failure in November? Are the millions of dollars their establishment spent a projection? Does it say "Our votes in Congress are for sale, so we cannot comprehend how we cannot buy yours"? They tried. They failed. They will spin. But at least, for now, we can bask in the benign neglect these coastal elites afford the fly-overs.




[1] While you may have thought your Mexi-Maids had been issued new uniforms the fact is the second-hand market was flooded with blue pantsuits sporting only one wear, no wash and deep discounts.

Fifth Stage Of Drunk

If you're an aging Parrothead you may have heard Mister Boofay's rendition of God's Own Drunk wherein he enumerates the Stages Of Drunk* which reaches a tipping point at stage five, Fuck Dinner, sliding downhill rapidly to God's Own Drunk (And A Fearless Man).

It would be easy to pick on a local politician who blew a 225 at 2:25--in the AFTERNOON--but better comics that TOD can take that on. Anyone who knows anything about drinking, anyone who has ever been commode-huggin' drunk, knows exactly what was on that dash-cam--a hardcore drunk. It takes practice and lots of it to blow a 225 and not be staggering and slurring yet if he'd not been speeding he'd still be wastin' away in his own little Margaritaville.

More interesting than the event itself is the reaction around it, especially in the Republican power structure. Fighting their normal inclination to throw him under the bus they are rallying 'round. Why? Because his opponent in the primaries is our own local version of Donald Trump who is not kissing the right arses or licking the proper boots. And it is not just moral support. The AJC reports donations from fellow Republicans and the Likker Lobby, key parts of the incumbent's power structure. Both political parties are monstrous machines of, by and for the insiders--just look at another recent AJC report on incumbency, massive war chests and buying power--that are increasingly distant from and angering those they negligently consider loyal constituents. They will tolerate no outsiders nor internal disrupters. They are as drunk on their own power as their candidate was when behind the wheel of that car.

The saying goes that a man has a drink ... the drink has a drink ... the drink has the man. What do the Republicans have?


*Also attributed to Lewis Grizzard, another that only old farts remember.

Corrupting Farce

Much has been said of Boyer's recent career implosion but a common thread seems to be "the system itself is fundamentally broken" and that as it stands it is a powerful corrupting system that would defeat the best of us. A lot of folks believe this and further believe that Boyer's slide into the abyss is proof positive.

Clearly folks in daVille are not buying any of this. How say? Well, if you really did believe this would you take one of your finest, your most highly regarded local luminaries and push them through this ethical meat grinder? And if you did would you not expect the same putrid sausage we always get coming out the other end?

The only way to make any sense of this is to conclude either that quite a few folks do not believe the system is all corrupting or they have found the one candidate immune to the corrosive agents running thru DeKalb politics like ebola in Africa. THEY have found the Saint George fitted out to slay our dragons. Really? Isn't that pretty much what all supporters say of  THEIR candidate? And is it not true that without fail we have caught these white knights wallowing in their own mud?

You do not put a prime cut thru the sausage grinder and profit well from it. It seems like smart people (and we are smart, aren't we?) would fix the real problem instead of using this failed system to destroy our best and brightest.