Critique of a Blogger Piece

Well, it's finally happened.  I have found a topic that a conservative blogger and I can agree on!  It is so shocking that I'm certain that the Devil is ice skating in hell right now. Yesterday, David Jennings at Big Jolly Politics proclaimed that the Tea Party, particularly the Texas Tea Party, is full of it.  Now this is something every progressive has known for the past two years, but the fact that conservatives are finally taking notice that the Tea Party offers no real solutions (and never did) just makes me smile.

The author, David Jennings, is obviously writing from a conservative perspective. He is critical of the fact that the points laid out in the Tea Party's press release is all rhetoric with no details.  He points out that if the Texas Tea Party Advisory Committee was serious about cost savings it would have figured out how much their suggestions would have saved the state.  As Mr. Jennings points out, you can't really figure out the cost of banning citizens from other nations and states from using Texas parks and facilities, the over-all cost to society if we do not fund state parks, or the difficulty in not accepting federal funds with "strings attached". So many of the suggested ideas from the Tea Party are unrealistic, impractical or just have no clue what they are talking about, which are points that I and Mr. Jennings happen to agree upon.  For example, the Tea Party suggest going after state benefits including longevity pay.  The longevity pay for state employees doesn't even kick in until after you've been employed for two years and it starts at 20.00 a month.  Yes, it eventually gets bigger the longer you work there but it's meant to help with inflation. Pay raises are actually few and far between, especially when the state budget is in crisis, so the piddly amount of longevity pay is to help with inflation and to keep workers actually there; instead of going to the private sector for more money.  I won't even get into the pension, it's way too long and complicated for this post, but just know employees pay for their pension, it's not a glorious freebie, and newer employees like myself are required to pay for the pension and a 401k without a match, as a fail safe in case the pension disappears before reaching retirement age.

The author, Mr. Jennings, seems fairly credible.  While I disagree with his opinions in his other posts, he has issued corrections and apologies when he has made mistakes, or given false information.  Fairly impressive for a blogger since he has no real liability to do so, heck the real press neglects to correct mistakes it makes, and they're professionals.  So kudos to Mr. Jennings for being a responsible blogger.

Slightly off topic but still relevant to Texas politics.  Has anyone else noticed that the wackiest stuff seems to keep coming from Tyler?  First it was Leo Berman, now the press release from The Texas Tea Party Advisory Committee.  Could there be something in the water?  Radioactive waste?  Secret Government experiment gone wrong?  Whatever it is, every time I see Tyler, TX in the press, I prepare myself for the potential loss of active brain cells.  

Critique of an Editorial Piece

I choose to critique this editorial article in the Saturday January 22, 2011 in the Austin Statesman, written by the staff of the Statesman.  While I agree whole-heartedly with what the piece was saying, I disagree with the way it was being communicated. 

You see ,it was written no differently than a normal news piece found in the Statesman, filled with technical jargon and no real details about the impact the state budget would have on life for your average Texans, even for Texans on the upper income spectrum.  This lack of communication left an otherwise good article open to attack to "right-wing trolls" who dismissed it at just more liberal whining. 

When the author said your taxes will rise at a local level, he meant local sales tax rates, court fees,  ticket fines, library fines, and any other way your local city can think of to cover a revenue short fall.  It is possible that state and county agencies will have to increase fees for registrations, drivers licenses, permits, etc. 

The budget woes in the school districts will mean there will be less teachers, larger class rooms, more paper work back log, more need for parental volunteers to cover the shortage in staff in the class room as aides, cafeteria, the office, and as crossing guards.  Disciplinary actions may become more broad and less individualized as the school just doesn't have the time to deal with students one on one any more, causing swift one size fits all punishment leading to deeper student/parental dissatisfaction.

In addition, college students will take a very large hit.  The state of Texas offers 16 different types of student financial aid including waivers, loans and grants.  The article mentions a 41% reduction in funding which would more than likely affect loans and grants before waivers.  With more and more students enrolling in higher education due to the recession, options for school funding will become more and more limited.  This is an issue of great concern to me, as I received a grant this semester, as I'm sure many of the students in this course did as well.  It made a big difference in my financial aid package and it was one less worry since I did not have to pay it back.  Next semester that amount may have be filled with a loan instead. 

Decreased funding in Medicaid providers will push the already scarce amount of doctors and clinics to close their doors to needy patients forcing more and more patients to overworked, under-staffed emergency rooms who are not equipped to provide the long term care many of these patients require.  In addition, elderly patients on Medicaid living in nursing homes may find themselves forced to either find alternate ways to pay for their care or be taken in by relatives.   Working families are already struggling to find ways to make ends meet, adding additional medical expenses for relatives is just another burden residents will have to shoulder. 

The article itself does speak the truth.  The budget bill currently being considered by the house will cripple the state for many years to come.  Now, I realize that the opinion writer(s) probably did not have the space to go into as much detail to cover all the topics as needed, but if I'm reading the opinion section I actually want an opinion, not repeated numbers and factoids found in the normal news stories. It appears the staff at the Statesman who wrote this opinion article did not get into "opinion" mode before publishing.  When I look for an opinion on a subject, I want an analysis on how certain news could affect my life and  it's opposing views so that I may consider the whole picture.  This article , in my opinion, lacked this kind of coverage. 

Texas Budget Crisis

The great state of Texas is in serious financial trouble.  No, this is not solely a great recession problem; it’s a great fiscal responsibility problem.  We do not have enough incoming revenue to cover our very basic expenses now, nor in the future.  

            The shortfall stems from court mandated school finance reform which led to severely flawed legislation.  The asinine idea that tax cuts somehow pay for themselves and create revenue, has once again been proven fictitious.  To make matters worse, legislators have been adamant about not "raising" taxes even when our constitution requires a balanced budget every biennium.

            I'll be writing more about this subject in the future, as well as any updates related to the pending bills in the house and senate related to the franchise (also known as margin) tax.  In the mean time, please read this article dated January 31, 2011, in the Austin Statesman.  It underscores the serious nature of our current budget crisis, and the fact that we will continue to have this problem until our incoming revenue is increased.  

            It also never hurts to contact your state representative and tell them to fix our revenue stream by either raising taxes or "correcting" the under-performing margin tax.  

Travis County: Mark Strama (512) 463-0821  

Williamson County: Charles Schwertner (512) 463-0309