Vouchers and Entitlements

Given that closer proximity to November, the anti-voucher side is starting to move. I’ve noticed an increase in letters to the editor opposing vouchers using the old arguments that they are for the rich, etc. (which I have addressed in the past). You may also want to refer to the “vouchers make sense” site as well form further background on some of the myths and facts regarding the vouchers system passed by the legislature. Obviously, there is also an increase in the number of letters from the pro-voucher side as well.

Anyway, one argument that is partially new is that the voucher program will be a new entitlement program. The argument is incorrect in that this would not be a new entitlement as a taxpayer funded education entitlement program already exists. Vouchers would only change who (parents vs bureaucrats) has the power to allocate a portion of money in the entitlement and dictate which school your child will attend. However, the argument is correct that this type of program remains an entitlement. If government mandates payment for something benefiting certain group(s), its an entitlement, plain and simple. But this is, ultimately, not any new entitlement.

The other flaw in this argument, if ‘officially’ adopted by the anti-voucher camp is that it has the potential of becoming a major wedge issue. The argument essentially states that public education is a big entitlement and that entitlements are bad. This ultimately carries on to the conclusion that the program should be drastically cut and parents and communities etc. should shoulder their responsibility to educate their children. As a matter of fact, the closing sentence in the letter to the editor seems to imply exactly that:

What needs to happen is adults need to get off the entitlement bandwagon and start owning up to their responsibilities.

Somehow, I doubt this argument would sit well with the UEA, which is constantly shrieking about funding (and then administrators taking the lion’s share of it).

As a side note, I lived in Australia for a while. Australia has a plethora of private schools (particularly grade 7-12) in addition to public schools. As I recall, Australian students consistently score higher and are just as capable as US students.

Finally, if you want a new entitlement, the proposed RAP tax serves as a perfect example.

Sadr Suspends Mahdi…

FoxNews is reporting that “Iraqi Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr Suspends Mahdi Army Activities“:

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has ordered a six-month suspension of activities by his Mahdi Army militia in order to reorganize the force, and it will no longer attack U.S. and coalition troops, aides said Wednesday.

The aide, Sheik Hazim al-Araji, said on Iraqi state television that the goal was to “rehabilitate” the organization, which has reportedly broken into factions, some of which the U.S. maintains are trained and supplied by Iran.

I initially found the story on FreeRepublic and the first comment to the post immediately tempered the story: “In other words, please stop shooting at us while we reload.” This is also reflected in al-Araji’s words that they wish to “rehabilitate” the organization. More:

The order was issued after two days of bloody clashes in the Shiite holy city of Karbala that claimed at least 52 lives. Iraqi security officials blamed Mahdi militiamen for attacking mosque guards, some of whom are linked to the rival Badr Brigade militia. [details on this clash can be found at the FoxNews story].

A pro-Sadr member of the Karbala city council, Ahmed al-Husseini, blamed the violence on pro-Iranian groups among security forces that guard the Karbala shrines.

This could be further indicative of the ongoing fracture of the Mahdi, where it appears that there may be some elements who don’t appreciate Iran’s influence in the organization. It may also mean that Sadr has lost control and is attempting to regain it. If so, the next few months will tell, my bet is that his force is fractured enough and Iran has built enough influence therein that attacks won’t really subside. I suppose it’s possible that Sadr has lost enough control and may be willing to turn to peacefully participating in the political process as another big insurgent leader appears willing to do but I doubt it. There is more good news in the article, however:

Meanwhile, the U.S. military said U.S. and Iraqi special forces had captured a suspected commander of a rogue element of the Mahdi Army that targets Iraqi citizens for kidnappings and killings.

The man, whose name was not released, was picked up on Monday in Baghdad and is also suspected of attacks targeting Iraqi and U.S. forces, the military said in a statement.

With respect to Iran’s involvement in Iraq and Mahdi, Jeff Emanuel has a pretty good summary (found off a HotAir post, Iranian funded Hezbollah is also involved) including information about the Quds Force and the Iranian shelling of Iraq’s Kurdish areas in the northeast.

Farmington Slaps Down RAP Tax

A minor amount of good news on the tax front:

The resolution to submit a ballot question for Farmington residents that would impose sales and use tax within the city to fund a Performing Arts Center was turned down by city council members Tuesday night.

Reading the article indicates the council may have tried to run with it if we weren’t already in the middle of a tax outcry.

I still don’t understand when we went from asking our neighbors to help out in projects to forcing everyone to pay for our pastimes. Even service groups like the Lion’s Club are often seen more as funding sources for snappy pro-tax brochures (ala Recreation Center) rather than a way to garner voluntary community support for a project.

This comes from someone who has hobbies that could benefit from the RAP tax, but I would never dream of forcing someone else to subsidize (or entirely pay for) my hobby.

If your personal hobby is so great, then you should have no problem getting the community to voluntarily fund it.

In the meantime, the County Commission and the Davis School District (click for separate stories) continue to try to pass off its temporary valuation break as a tax break. Sorry, I’m not buying it and I’m not the only one.

Blast post: Newark Massacre, Imams, Iraqis, School Policy

Basically, this is a bunch of stuff I would like to address, but don’t have the time to right now, so you get to hit the links and read it yourself:

Newark Massacre

I’ve been trying to keep up with the Newark murders and found Malkin recently brought up an interesting program which may have benefited one of the perps:

Did the Newark murder suspects benefit from illegal alien amnesty programs?

Malkin is also pushing for State Attorney Generals to stop the “criminal alien revolving door” along with further details for the criminals’ viciousness and possible links to the MS-13 gang. Shurtleff’s contact information is listed on her post. More on this and other cases is available at her site.

Much of the attention is also focusing on sanctuary cities, such as Salt Lake City.

Flying Imams (John Doe)

The Flying Imams finally dropped their suit on the John Doe passengers…too bad Congress’ John Doe provision was watered down, however.

Why We Fight (Iraqi Resolve)

Five-year-old lit on fire by jihadis for no apparent reason

Iraqi Resolve: What it’s Like to be a Cop in Fallujah

Ridiculous Item

Based on the available information, this shows how irrational some people (school administrators, in this instance) are about firearms:

Arizona School Suspends 13-Year-Old Boy for Drawing Gun

Please tell me this mentality is not present in Utah schools (especially the public schools).

I’ll reserve further judgment and see if any more details come out to, somehow, justify the reaction.

Update: More details here: 13-Year-Old Suspended For Doodling Gun. Apparently, the drawing is now in the students permanent file. Note: the drawing on the FoxNews Site is an example of the drawing provided by the boy’s family (video available).

Davis County & Board of Ed Opt for Gimmick, Increase Taxes

Yeah, I’m two days late on this. DCW is much more efficient than I.  Excerpted from the linked article:

Davis County Commissioners voted today to adopt the 37 percent tax increase approved last December.

The commission also approved a letter of intent to provide $5.5 million in one-time tax abatement to homeowners hit especially hard by skyrocketing property valuations.

In other words, the Commission opted to keep their hands in your wallet but gave you a couple of bucks for the trouble. Ultimately, they seem to hope taxpayers will be pacified by a short term gimmick while the long term tax increase remains (more on that at this post). The gimmick may also be an attempt to interdict any movement towards a “Prop 13″ variant.

Apparently, the Davis Board of Education has also bought into the gimmick and passed its tax increase (don’t buy the article’s headline - it’s a valuation break).

If anything, all three Commissioners (Hansen, Downs, Millburn) are now, officially, on the record of supporting the tax increase.

Opportunity to Help Veterans’ Families in Utah

I saw this in the SL Tribune the other day and forgot to post it. For all of those of us in Utah, and elsewhere, we will soon have the opportunity to show our gratitude to our Veterans and their families by making sure they have a comfortable place to rest and be close to loved ones while treated at the VA Hospital:

The families of veterans coming from afar to receive medical treatment at Salt Lake City’s Veterans Affairs Medical Center sometimes sleep in their cars because they cannot afford to stay in a hotel, state Department of Veterans Affairs director Terry Schow said Monday.

Huff said Fisher House facilities “help in the healing process” by allowing families to be nearby…Schow noted that the Salt Lake hospital has one of the largest coverage areas of any such facility in the V.A. system, with patients coming from hundreds of miles away for care.

Schow said that’s why he and others are throwing their support behind the Fisher House organization, which has named the Salt Lake V.A. campus as one of 10 locations it is considering for the building of a 21-suite hotel where the families of injured service members and veterans can stay. With 37 homes in 16 states and one in Germany (near Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, where combat wounded service members are transported from Iraq and Afghanistan) the privately-run Fisher House facilities are typically opened to families for free or at greatly reduced costs.

Now for the important bit (emphasis added):

…officials say the nonprofit Fisher House Foundation has asked that one-tenth of the $5 million in anticipated construction costs be raised locally - local fundraising chairman Ray Bachiller said he is not yet ready to begin taking checks.

Bachiller said he is going to try to raise the money in small donations from hundreds of community members, rather than seek out a single large donor for the project. “The real importance of a project like this is to make sure it reflects everybody in the community,”

Apparently Bachiller is not geared up for the donations, yet.  I will have to try to get some contact information for him and will post how donations can be accepted as soon as possible.  In the meantime, the Fisher House Foundation is a great charity focused on helping military families.  Check them out - plenty of donation opportunities there (including your airline miles).

Trust But Verify: Top Insurgency Leader Ready to Cooperate (Iraq)

This will be a very short post. Captain Quarter’s has the (AKI) article linked up at their post entitled “Has Maliki Ended The Insurgency?“

IF accurate, this would be a massive blow to the insurgency, Sadr, and terrorists of all stripes.  There are several statements of warning and optimism (as well as the first update which discusses some possible motivation for the decision).  I suggest reading the entire post (hence, no excerpt).

While I’m at it, I’ll plug Yon.  He’s got a new post up for a series on COIN in Fallujah and Anbar.

Davis County Taxes - Issue Missed

I noticed an article a few days ago and and just got around to posting a link. Apparently, the North Salt Lake Mayor has come out strongly against the higher valuation on property bills and Davis County and the School District have also come out with a ‘rebate’ plan on the valuation.

The problem is that they all are missing the key issue (DCW has also noticed this). The valuations are just a symptom of the disease of higher taxes. So government bodies are jumping to ease the valuation, while preserving the tax increase. Essentially, it appears to be an attempt to cloud the public’s vision of the driving force for the increases. They are trying to mollify taxpayers by letting you see a slight reduction on the valuation of property. The various government layers ultimately hope that the tax increases will go unnoticed and, ultimately, unquestioned and unopposed (particularly avoiding a Utah version of Prop 13).

Remember, too, that not all are affected by the valuations. Those, primarily in North Davis County, who have not had their valuations increase, will have still have their taxes increased. The above proposals by the County and Schools only help South Davis County.

Basically, it appears that the government is trying to focus taxpayers on one hand (with a couple of bucks in it) while the other hand remains in your wallet.

PS If you are interested in fighting you valuation, check out North Salt Lake’s site. Remember, however, this is a very short term aid. For an actual, longterm solution, focus on the taxes.

Davis County/Local Elected Officials: Tax and Spend

This list is too good to pass up for future reference. I usually only post excerpts but the Citizens For Tax Fairness op-ed is mostly comprised of a list of taxes so here goes:

Elected officials in Davis County profess to be conservatives, but the record shows otherwise. In fact, at a time of unprecedented economic growth, rapidly rising tax revenues and record surpluses, Davis County “conservatives” continue to increase taxes and to expand government spending and programs at an unprecedented rate.

Since 2002, Davis officials have proposed multiple tax increases. A partial list of these includes:

* 2002 — County commissioners proposed a 138 percent property tax increase and eventually enacted a 24 percent increase ($152 per year on a $163,000 home).

* 2004 — After “conservative” state legislators authorized the creation of special-recreation districts, the “conservative” county commissioners and mayors in South Davis County created the South Davis Recreation District and implemented a new property tax ($52 per year on $180,000 homes).

* 2004 — A Davis County RAP tax supported by mayors across the county was placed on the ballot by county commissioners and defeated by the voters.

* 2004 — The school district increased property taxes in order to get Legislature-approved matching funds for reading programs ($12 per year on a $167,000 home).

* 2006 — 1.25 percent tourism tax enacted by commissioners after state legislators gave them the authority to raise taxes.

* 2006 — Mosquito Abatement District property tax increase approved ($2.50 per year on a $171,000 home).

* 2006 — 37 percent property tax increase passed by Commissioner Alan Hansen and two lame duck commissioners while commissioners-elect P. Bret Milburn and Louenda H. Downs gave their tacit approval by their silence. ($60 per year on a $171,000 home).

* 2007 — $10 vehicle registration fee increase enacted by county commissioners with encouragement of state legislators.

* 2007 — School district proposes a $35 per year property tax increase on a $230,000 home — again for reading programs — in order to get legislator-approved matching funds.

* 2007 — .1 percent RAP sales tax placed on ballot by county commissioners at request of mayors and with authorization granted by legislators.

* 2007 — .25 percent sales tax increase placed on ballot by county commissioners, authorized and encouraged to do so by state legislators.

As can be seen from above, Davis County state legislators take the Pontius Pilate approach to tax increases. They provide authorization and incentives for other elected officials to increase taxes, and then they wash their hands of the whole matter.

At the county level, prior to the Republican convention, all county commission candidates, including Bret Millburn and Louenda Downs, were asked to sign the CitizensForTaxFairness.org’s “No New Tax Pledge,” but they refused. That was a warning sign of things to come.

Immediately after they were elected, Millburn and Downs chose to sit silently by while lame-duck commissioners increased taxes by 37 percent over citizens’ strong objections. They could have spoken out against the increases, but they didn’t. In the seven months since taking office, they have raised fees and approved putting multiple tax increases on the November ballot.

When assessed property values exploded, leading to huge property tax increases, Commissioner Downs told Davis County citizens, “I’ve been in office since January. I was blindsided by what happened with these valuations.” At a salary of $100,000 per year, plus a car allowance and additional payments for serving on boards, one would think that commissioners would be paying closer attention to something as fundamental as property valuations and the county budget.

Let’s face facts: Our current “conservative leaders” no longer respect taxpayers but treat them as a never-ending source of new revenue for the continuing expansion of government.

It is time that citizens stand up and say enough is enough. If our elected officials are unable to voluntarily control their tax and spend addiction, we will vote them out of office and we will enact, for lack of a better term, a Proposition 13 with strict tax-and-spending limitations.

This goes right along with the “South Davis Cities: Pushing Higher Taxes, Fees” post as well as others listed under the “taxation” tag.

Immigration Agents Bribed By Islamic Extremeists

I found this off FreeRepublic.com.  This was published in the Washington Times yesterday and it is not good. U.S. agents accused of aiding Islamist scheme (excerpted):

A criminal investigations report says several U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services employees are accused of aiding Islamic extremists with identification fraud and of exploiting the visa system for personal gain.

According to the document, other potential security failures include reports that:

Employees are sharing detailed information on internal security measures with people outside the agency.

A Lebanese citizen bribed an immigration officer with airline tickets for visa benefits.

A USCIS officer in Harlington, Texas, sold immigration documents for $10,000 to as many as 20 people.

A USCIS employee, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal, said many of the complaints in the multipage document are as many as three years old.

“Terrorists need immigration documents to embed in our society and work here without raising alarm bells,” said the employee.

The article is relatively short but provides more details as well as some information about the DEA report on Islamic extremists linking with drug cartels and  posing as hispanics.   I will have to keep an eye out for follow up articles and would expect that this be thoroughly investigated as it would appear to border on treason.  Which begs the question, would this be treason?