If the bond rating agencies say it, it must be true

One of the scandals of the current recession is that the bond rating agencies gave high (often AAA) ratings to mortgage backed securities that were collateralized by underlying real estate values that were becoming more and more absurd. People who invested their savings in these securities thought they were purchasing a safe and prudent investment, but obviously that proved to be false. The ratings were misleading, and the rating agencies did not effectively do their job.

That's why I chuckle when those same ratings agencies refer to Ken Ulman's "conservative management". Ulman's approach to fiscal prudence as well as his politics are big government-SWPL-Columbia liberal. His favorite tactic of late is spend money but claim that it does not count as spending because the funds entered the bank account through some means other than taxes. For example, he recently used drug money to pay for elaborate prom parties and used interest earned on another account to give a small number of people some trees. Remember that ALL government spending is taxation. Ulman's lack of fiscal prudence is why we have a $20 million budget deficit.

Also, Ken Ulman is so afraid the angering the police union that he let police SWAT teams shoot and kill two family dogs during two separate botched raids on innocent people. Also, note that Ulman was all over the Halloween shooting UNTIL the murder charges were dropped against the suspect. Then we did not hear another word from him about it.

Trent Kittleman smartly sees the problem with Ulman's lack of fiscal restraint:

Kittleman said Thursday that although the county's AAA bond rating is great, and federal and state governments spend more than the county does, "we have got to get out of that [spending] mentality." With huge liabilities looming for retiree health care and the possibility growing that the county will have to begin paying for a growing part of teacher pensions, Howard County is facing major fiscal challenges. Even the $24,000 in confiscated drug money Ulman used to help all 12 county high schools pay for after-prom parties is indicative of the impulse to spend, she said.

Legalize it

The economic benefits of marijuana legalization are becoming too obvious for fiscally crunched states to ignore:

On Wednesday, the California secretary of state certified a November vote on a ballot measure that would legalize, tax and regulate marijuana, a plan that advocates say could raise $1.4 billion and save precious law enforcement and prison resources.

Indeed, unlike previous efforts at legalization — including a failed 1972 measure in California — the 2010 campaign will not dwell on assertions of marijuana’s harmlessness or its social acceptance, but rather on cold cash.

“We need the tax money,” said Richard Lee, founder of Oaksterdam University, a trade school for marijuana growers, in Oakland, who backed the ballot measure’s successful petition drive. “Second, we need the tax savings on police and law enforcement, and have that law enforcement directed towards real crime.”

I strongly support a more federalist approach to government, meaning that more power resides with local and state governments and not with the feds. This is how our country used to, prior to the Civil War. The information needed to make the right governing decisions is widely dispersed all over the country, so centralizing power in Washington is a recipe for disaster (as history has shown). I also find it hard to believe that the current mortgage crisis would have happened without a federal push for homeownership and if banks had to rely on state governments for their bailouts.

The federal ban on marijuana is one of the most obvious policy blunders of government since alcohol prohibition. If this legislation passes in California, the federal response will be immensely interesting. If the feds just take a passive approach and let states do what they want, many states may choose to ignore other federal mandates like Obamacare. And if the feds strong arm California into maintaining a ban on marijuana, I can't even imagine the legal and political fireworks such a move would produce. Therefore, the feds may finally realize it's time to legalize.

Ummmmm

Why is Healthy Howard using their twitter account to promote a diet plan that claims to let you lose 37 pounds in 10 days without diet or exercise?

Health care reform

Peter Bielenson was on the radio yesterday talking about what HCR means for Howard County. According to Bielenson there are three main things that HCR does:

1. Insurance reform. This means that Insurance companies will not be able to turn anyone down for pre-existing conditions, they will not be able to drop coverage, and there are no more lifetime caps on what the insurance company has to pay out per person. The latter two take effect this year.

2. Expand eligibility to Medicaid. People making 133% of poverty or less than $29K per year can now become eligible for Medicade. Insurance subsidies will be available for those making more than $29K per year.

3. Cost controls. This includes two pilot programs that move from fee for service to bundled care, and having some organization look at cost effective health care as far as what is paid for and what is not. I have no idea what this even means, and it seems to be in direct opposition to the other two.

Bielenson said that out of the 20K uninsured in Howard County, this reform would mean that 15K-16K thousand of them could be insured either through the Medicaid expansion or through the insurance subsidies. This would make HoCo 98% insured.

The fines for not having health insurance don't start until 2014, and the tax on Cadillac plans does not begin until 2018. Basically, the consequences (both the good and the bad) of this plan will not be felt for a couple of years.

Governments seem to have an amazing ability to provide goods and services now while sticking the bill with future generations and future politicians. The mandated ponzi scheme that is Social Security is a great example of that. Social Security is no different than what Bernie Madoff was doing, except that participation in Bernie Madoff's ponzi scheme was not mandatory. I was shocked to read this pro HCR op-ed in the Baltimore Sun which spoke of Social Security as if it were something great that the government has done for us.

I fear that this bill will actually prove to be a boon for insurance companies, who realizing how "to important to fail" that they are will push their costs into the future and pray for an insurance industry bailout. I also predict this is will be much more expensive than projected, leave us with a mountain of debt, weak dollar, and impending economic collapse. It would be a riot if this all occurred at the same time Social Security becomes bankrupt. And of course, the "unregulated market" will be blamed for all of this as the politicians frame themselves as our saviors. I certainly hope to be wrong, but I doubt I will be.

2010 trees in 2010

Get two free* trees from the county government! They come in 5 gallon containers, so they are not seedlings. If only there was a place to plant trees somewhere around here...

* you paid for them

LOL

First I received a letter from the Census Bureau telling me that I should expect to receive the 2010 census, then I actually received the 2010 census, and now I just received a postcard letting me that I should have already received the 2010 census!

Carrs Mill Park

Last Sunday, I visited Carrs Mill Park. I was curious about it because every time I drove by, the gate was locked. I finally decided to venture in and see what was up. After walking up a short paved driveway through some trees, I reached the main park area. The park consists of an open field. That's it.



It appears it is "limited use" and you need a permit to use it:




There are several of these "campsites":



This is essentially what the park looks like:







Great use of tax dollars!

Health care legislation vs. HHAP

I am wondering what the health care legislation will mean for the
Healthy Howard Access Plan? I assume it is a death sentence but I
guess we'll see. This could be the perfect excuse for Ulman to pull
the plug while at the same time framing HHAP as a successful stop gap
program. Taxpayers have committed $1 million to HHAP and the lastest
enrollment figures I have heard is 700ish participants.

Hear Dick ramble

What would you think of a biologist who advocates inbreeding? That's about what I think of a self proclaimed economic guru who advocates buying local.

After listening to the most recent podcast of "And Then There's That..." with guest Dick Story, a great budget cut occurred to me. Cut all grants to the Howard County Economic Development Authority. The Howard County EDA is at best a completely useless organization, and at worst they foster crony capitalism. I have blogged before about how absurd I think the HCEDA is.

I wish the hosts of ATTT would have asked Story about what benefits if any were achieved from the 2008 taxpayer funded trip to India, but unfortunately they didn't.

Trent's on Twitter

I can't really stand politicians so don't take this as an endorsement, but Trent Kittleman is on Twitter. It looks like her tweet volume is pretty low but I suspect that will heat up pretty soon. Ken Ulman can do two things well: spend money like it grows on trees and promote himself via social media. We'll see if Kittleman can surpass him on the latter.

I received my census form. Yay.

According to the map on the census website, last time Howard County had an 82% participation rate in the census. This compares to 73% for Maryland and 72% for the nation overall.

According to this FAQ, there is a $100 fine for not answering their questions. I guess that is either not enforced or they made lots of money in fines. I am betting on the former.

Title 13

Sec. 221. Refusal or neglect to answer questions; false answers

(a) Whoever, being over eighteen years of age refuses or willfully neglects, when requested by the Secretary, or by any other authorized officer or employee of the Department of Commerce or bureau or agency thereof acting under the instructions of the Secretary or authorized officer, to answer, to the best of his knowledge, any of the questions on any schedule submitted to him in connection with any census or survey provided for by subchapters I, II, IV, and V of chapter 5 of this title, applying to himself or to the family to which he belongs or is related, or to the farm or farms of which he or his family is the occupant, shall be fined not more than $100.

(b) Whoever, when answering questions described in subsection (a) of this section, and under the conditions or circumstances described in such subsection, willfully gives any answer that is false, shall be fined not more than $500. (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, no person shall be compelled to disclose information relative to his religious beliefs or to membership in a religious body.

Count me out

I received this silly letter in the mail this week:



The fact that the feds are distributing money to pay for services that local governments or private businesses should be providing is abhorrent to me. Furthermore, the data obtained from this census may be used to rationalize more government intervention in the economy. This letter, along with the census itself, will go into the recycle bin.

And then there's that interview with Greg Hamm

Be sure to check out the latest podcast of "And Then There's That...". The tagline is porn, proms and sprinklers, but many people will find the most interesting part to be Greg Hamm speaking about the issues being raised by the group "Taxpayers Against Giveaways". This starts at about the 14:00 mark and goes for more than 10 minutes. Hamm speaks about the amenities that GGP will be providing ($100 million dollars worth), and makes the point that traffic through Columbia will increase regardless of what development occurs because of BRAC.

If Columbia interests you, this full interview is a must listen.

Suck it, people needing treatment for drug and alcohol addiction

In economics, there is a concept called Pareto efficiency which simply means that no one can be made better off without making someone else worse off. For example, if you have a banana and I have an apple, but you would prefer to eat an apple and I would prefer to eat a banana, it would be a Pareto improvement for us to trade. If there is only one orange that I have and we both want, me giving you the half of the orange is not a Pareto improvement because I was made worse off by the transaction.

I bring this up because many people seem to be talking about funding drug free prom parties with money taken from drug dealers as a Pareto improvement. Hey, let's use this free money which basically fell from the sky and didn't come from taxpayers to pay for drug free prom parties which keep kids safe, right?

On the Kojo Nnmandi show that was recorded yesterday, Ken Ulman mentioned that those funds are earmarked to be used for drug and alcohol treatment and related programs. So basically, those prom parties were paid for by cutting resources available to help drug addicts and alcoholics recover. Taking that money away from people who need some help to return to society as productive members and giving it to rich kids who just spent hundreds of dollars on dresses, tuxedos and limos (which they probably got drunk/stoned and had sex in on the way to the prom hehe) is not the best use of those funds in my opinion. But parents are a concentrated interest with a great deal of political power, so they get the resources and not the drug addicts who need some help to get back on their feet.

Taking from the poor and giving to the rich. Ken Ulman, you are certainly not Robin Hood.

OK, the second most ironic thing I read today

Money that cops confiscated from drug dealers is being used to pay for "sober" after prom parties. The county guvmint is distributing $2,000 to each high school from a slush fund that was funded with confiscated drug money.

"That is an extremely generous contribution that is going to be greatly appreciated," said school system spokeswoman Patti Caplan. "I know how much time and effort the PTAs put into raising money for the post-prom parties. This is a very positive use for those funds."

Ummm, no, it's not a generous contribution. The cops took the money from drug dealers, and now Ulman is distributing it to high schools. There is no generosity at work here. You can't be generous with money that was never really yours to begin with.

The most ironic thing I read today

School Board Member Allen Dyer on Doughoregan Manor:

i consider the historic significance of doughoregan manor beyond dispute and that significance should guide discussion of how best to deal with the FUTURE of doughoregan. in light of its historic value, the "private property" aspect of doughoregan is a sham issue. the question is whether the american public is going to sit by, in ignorance, while an irreplacable american historic site is destroyed piecemeal.

howard county local politics is much too small a forum for planning the destruction (or preservation) of doughoregan manor.

allen dyer

Yes, private property rights are a "sham issue" when dealing with the history of a nation founded out of respect for private property rights and individual freedoms as opposed to collectivist government intervention.

Oh, snap!

Awesome quote from H.L. Mencken:

"The kind of man who demands that government enforce his ideas is always the kind whose ideas are idiotic."

Very true, and this cuts both ways. Most people would like this quote when it supports their own position on an issue. If you are like me and you advocate for the legalization of drugs, for example, it would be fun to throw this quote in the face of someone who supports continuing the government bans on drugs. But this also means we should not legislate ideas that most of us support. I am sure we can all agree that discrimination based on gender, race, religion, etc. is bad, but that does not mean that we should pass laws to ban such types of discrimination. Legislation does not stop or reduce discrimination. People like Martin Luther King Jr., Jim Rouse, Susan B. Anthony, etc. who worked to change minds are what reduces discrimination. In that regard, legislation is little more than a lagging indicator of public opinion or an indicator of the direction in which the political winds are blowing.

Why does a salad cost more than a Big Mac?

It's the government subsidies, natch.



Here.

Green to red

In July of 2008, the mother of a motorcyclist who was killed by a negligent driver in an SUV successfully lobbied to get a traffic light installed at the left exit of Rt. 29 to I-70. Personally, I liked the left exit before the light was installed, but I have found this new traffic light to be so inconvenient that I have been using the right exit from Rt. 29 to I-70 when I travel in that area.

Regardless, a 92 year old woman was recently killed at that same intersection, this time with the traffic light installed. The driver on Rt. 29 failed to stop for a red light and hit a car crossing Rt. 29 to I-70 with a green light. It seems pretty likely that this was a case when people were watching the traffic lights rather than traffic. I know I'm making a contrary to fact hypothesis here (which is dangerous business) but it seems highly probable to me that this accident would not have occurred if the yield sign was in place rather than the new traffic light.

It would not surprise me if studies show that traffic lights are more dangerous than stop signs or yield signs in certain situations because the latter two devices require to people to rely on their judgement rather than waiting for the light to turn green so they can floor it. This is one of those contrarian ideas that is probably supported by evidence.

Interestingly, a common element between both of these accidents is that the drivers at fault were both over 70 years old.

This will go down on your permanent record...

Ken Ulman is super tough on crime. Note that if you shoot and kill someone, the police will completely fail to gather enough evidence to charge you with any crime, but the homeowners where the shooting occurred will be harassed with zoning violations and other nonsense.

The notices and letters included the following:

• The Howard County Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits wrote in a letter to the homeowners that they had violated the county building code by hosting “parties open to the general public,” such as “nightclubs and dance halls” do. Since the home is zoned for residential use, the homeowners would need to apply for a permit to change its zoning to “assembly use,” wrote department director Robert Frances.
If the homeowners host parties there in the future, county officials will “immediately post the structure as unsafe, vacate the premises and issue a civil citation,” Frances wrote. Civil citations can result in fines of up to $500 per day, he added.

• The Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning ordered the homeowners to “cease use of the property as a commercial nightclub/dance hall” or face fines of up to $500, court injunctions or other penalties.

• The county Fire Department charged that the homeowners created a “hazardous condition” when they held the alleged party and could face fines of up to $500 if they hold such events in the future.

• The Health Department wrote in a letter to the homeowners that they had violated the county health code by serving food at a “public event” without consulting health officials and that they must not hold any future parties without doing so.

Also, the cover charge was $5 for girls and $10 for guys, so I fully expect the county to bring a gender discrimination suit as well.

Yee-haw, sheriff Ulman is in town!

Sprinkler mandate approved

Adam Smith once wrote about a conceited theorist who "seems to imagine that he can arrange the different members of a great society with as much ease as the hand arranges the different pieces upon a chess-board."

The Howard County Council is a collection of conceited theorists who believe that people are too stupid to make their own decisions about residential sprinkler systems, therefore the Council has mandated that all new single family homes must have residential sprinkler systems.

Guess what, County Council? People are not inanimate objects that you can arrange. Unlike chess pieces, people have their own desires, talents, responsibility and resources. They certainly don't need pencil pushing bureaucrats who have no unique skills or insights (other than an ability to win a popularity contest called an election) to make decisions for them. People have numerous competing desires on which they spend their resources. One of those desires is to stay alive. Therefore, people will carefully measure the costs and benefits of a residential sprinkler system without some arrogant guvmint official making the choice for them.

This silly sprinkler mandate comes at the expense of safer cars, better medical care, college savings and numerous other worthy things on which people can choose to allocate their limited resources.

Vote all five of these County Council morons out of office.