Enjoyed the Ward Voting Debate on Hal Row's Show - Harry Hipps

I’d like to offer a couple of thoughts on the WHKY debate on the ward specific election, and the campaigning in general.  In the interest of full and fair disclosure I should say that I know Joe Brannock personally but do not personally know Mr. Byrd, though I would like to. Joe is a smart, likeable guy with a lovely family. And though I haven’t met Paul Byrd, he sounds like a thoughtful, concerned man who thinks things through and is sincerely interested in the welfare of the City.  I also will say that I plan to vote Yes! for the amendment. 

Both Joe Brannock, representing the Citizens for Equity in Government (advocating for the amendment) and Paul Byrd, representing the No Steps Backwards Coalition (opposing the amendment) represented their positions well in an informed and civil debate. Both were persuasive and articulate and I think this was one of the finest events in Hickory’s political history. It was evident that both gentlemen had carefully thought about the facts and had the best interests of the City at heart as they made their cases. They were frank in their disagreement, but stuck to the issues in a statesman like way and it was a true pleasure to hear this in our City.

It struck me as ironic that this is exactly what is missing in City government and why we are discussing this issue in the first place. City council votes unanimously almost all the time with little or no discussion. Some matters are routine of course and don’t require a debate, but the controversial and more substantial issues aren’t often given proper debate either. Furthermore, the vote is over before public input is allowed and so the citizens are routinely deprived of the type of debate we heard on the radio. This lack of input and discussion is a contributing factor in much of the disgruntlement we have today and has led to some poorly conceived ideas.

The contrast between the great debate between Mr. Brannock and Mr. Byrd and the debate with Mr. Brannock and Mayor Wright was stark. The WHKY debate was public, recorded and civil. The Republican’ Women’s debate was public but drew the Mayor’s ire when it was recorded. I’m not sure why because it was PUBLIC, and if you want to talk to the citizenry what difference does recording it make?  Furthermore, the Mayor struck an angry, conspiratorial, and even threatening tone that has characterized the debate (with some parties on both sides going to the nastiest and most personally vicious arguments).  It was disappointing to witness the same political atmospherics we have in Washington politics applied to Hickory. It’s fine to articulate your views and opinions passionately, but the ominous, dark, patronizing tone was sad to hear.

At the end of the debate on the radio, it was good to hear Joe and Paul joke about eggs and ending on a neighborly note even though they disagree on this issue. Years ago, politicians debated, campaigned, then after the vote, put the election behind and worked together to do the people’s work. All concerned were glad to live in a country that allowed everyone to speak their mind and still live as neighbors when we don’t always see eye to eye. At the end of this, too, we are going to have to move forward, because there will always be challenges to face. And we have to do something to keep Hickory the nice, livable hometown we want it to be while adapting to a tough, fast changing world.

To those who oppose this issue I would like to ask this: If this isn’t the way you want to go, what do you propose to allow the voices to be heard that aren’t heard now? What do you propose to focus on the blighted, neglected areas of Hickory? What do you propose to change the rubber stamp council that votes unanimously almost all the time and doesn’t allow for public comment until after the vote is taken? And to those that wish to comment on all sides of this issue, can we have more of the enlightening, thoughtful competition we heard on WHKY and less like we heard at the Republican Women’s Forum? We can disagree without being disagreeable and draw strength from the different perspectives we have. Thank you, neighbors!

Hal Row's Show - Ward Voting Referendum Debate - August 29, 2012

I appreciate you coming to catch up on information pertaining to Hickory as a community or to find out information related to the current Ward Referendum Election process. I promise that no information below will be profane in any way. And a special thanks to those who have come here in spite of the Mayor, and his friends, telling you not to. Your open mindedness is especially appreciated.

Below is the debate that occurred this morning on Hal Row's First Talk program presented without any commentary by myself. A special thanks to Hal Row and WHKY for recognizing the historical context of the preceding petition, the subsequent certification by the election board, and the discussion of the issue. This has been a true Public Service provided by Hal and WHKY. In my book, he gets an A+ for his involvement and neutrality on the issue and letting the issue speak for itself.





As I have said, don't shoot the messenger. I do support the passage of this Ward Referendum and I make no bones about that, If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please feel free to contact me at hickoryhound@gmail.com

William Shadup Gets It -- Letter in the HDR from Sunday

This has got to be a pseudonym, but these comments are spot on. Some are comments I have alluded to in this blog and a couple are points that I haven't even thought of:

From the Hickory Daily Record on Sunday, August 26, 2012:

I have a few questions regarding the referendum on Sept. 18: Why is the movement to defeat this refer­endum spearheaded by incumbent city council members and city leaders? What are our city council members so worried about? Do they not serve each of their wards well enough to get re-elected by the voters they represent? How is it not a conflict of interest for people such as our honorable Mayor Wright, and council members Jill Patton and Bruce Meisner to contribute money to a campaign to defeat the measure? Why wasn’t everyone in her ward asked to attend the meet­ing arranged by Sally Fox at Patrick Beaver Library a few weeks ago so she could inform us as to why we are better off voting against this measure?

Instead, it was only for people who have contributed to her cam­paign, many of them not from her ward. Why are we paying $50,000 for a special election, when the mayor has stated that the council could vote to enact the true ward system?

Of course, he also stated that the city council could not vote to enact the true ward system. So which one is it? Do we have a mayor that is incompetent or dishonest?

According to his Facebook page, Mayor Wright supports voting no on Sept. 18, because he wants to pre­vent “crackpots” from being elected to the city council. Why would a mayor use such an ugly word to describe his own constituents?

I think we know who the “crack­pots” are Mr. Mayor, thanks to you and the city council.

WILLIAM SHADUP

Hickory

CEG on Hal Row's Show - Vote Yes on Referendum - August 27, 2012

Joe Brannock and Billy Sudderth of the Citizen's for Equity in Government make the case for voting yes for the City Council Ward Voting Referendum on Hal Row's First Talk show.

Starts playing at 18 seconds. Oops. Misspelled Voting (Voring) and Their (There) on the story board.

Economic Stories of Relevance in Today's World -- August 26, 2012

America’s Descent into Poverty ~ Paul Craig Roberts - www.paulcraigroberts.org - August 24, 2012 - The United States has collapsed economically, socially, politically, legally, constitutionally, and environmentally. The country that exists today is not even a shell of the country into which I was born. In this article I will deal with America’s economic collapse. In subsequent articles, i will deal with other aspects of American collapse.                      Economically, America has descended into poverty. As Peter Edelman says, “Low-wage work is pandemic.” Today in “freedom and democracy” America, “the world’s only superpower,” one fourth of the work force is employed in jobs that pay less than $22,000, the poverty line for a family of four. Some of these lowly-paid persons are young college graduates, burdened by education loans, who share housing with three or four others in the same desperate situation. Other of these persons are single parents only one medical problem or lost job away from homelessness.                  Others might be Ph.D.s teaching at universities as adjunct professors for $10,000 per year or less. Education is still touted as the way out of poverty, but increasingly is a path into poverty or into enlistments into the military services.                    Edelman, who studies these issues, reports that 20.5 million Americans have incomes less than $9,500 per year, which is half of the poverty definition for a family of three.                    There are six million Americans whose only income is food stamps. That means that there are six million Americans who live on the streets or under bridges or in the homes of relatives or friends. Hard-hearted Republicans continue to rail at welfare, but Edelman says, “basically welfare is gone.”                  In my opinion as an economist, the official poverty line is long out of date. The prospect of three people living on $19,000 per year is farfetched. Considering the prices of rent, electricity, water, bread and fast food, one person cannot live in the US on $6,333.33 per year. In Thailand, perhaps, until the dollar collapses, it might be done, but not in the US.....


8 Economic Threats That We Were Not Even Talking About At The Beginning Of The Summer - The Economic Collapse Blog - In the crazy times in which we live, it helps to expect the unexpected.  Sometimes you can think that you have it all figured out and then this world can throw a real curveball at you. Very few people anticipated that we would see a massive outbreak of the West Nile Virus in Texas this year or that the Mississippi River would be in danger of drying up after experiencing historic flooding last year.  Who would have thought that we would see the worst drought in more than 50 years or that horrific wildfires would burn nearly 7 million acres of land?  This is why economic conditions are always so hard to predict.  A single "black swan event" can come along and change everything almost overnight.  Our world has become incredibly unstable, and so who really knows what the rest of 2012 will bring?  Will we see a stock market crash?  Will the hurricane season be unusually bad?  Will war erupt in the Middle East?  Will we see a major earthquake on the west coast or even a volcanic eruption?  Will the upcoming election cause an eruption of anger and frustration in America?  We don't know the answers to those questions yet, and the truth is that we will probably see some things happen that very few of us are anticipating at this point.                 This is an exciting time to be a "news junkie", but unfortunately the vast majority of the news these days is bad.                        It is almost as if a "perfect storm" is developing.  Our weather is going crazy, our financial system is on the verge of collapse, our politicians seem more insane than ever, there is evidence of social decay all around us and the drumbeats of war in the Middle East grow louder with each passing day.           As strange as 2012 has been so far, I fear that things are about to get a whole lot stranger.             Not that we haven't had some very unanticipated events happen this year up to this point.         The following are 8 economic threats that we were not even talking about at the beginning of the summer....


Rising Jobless Claims Seen Keeping Unemployment Rate High - Thursday, 23 Aug 2012 - AP through Newsmax - The number of people seeking first-time unemployment benefits rose a slight 4,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 372,000, evidence that the job market's recovery remains modest and uneven.                The Labor Department said Thursday that the four-week average, a less volatile measure, increased 3,750 to 368,000.                 Applications are a measure of the pace of layoffs. When they fall consistently below 375,000, it generally suggests hiring is strong enough to lower the unemployment rate.                Applications have risen for two straight weeks. Some economists said that indicates that hiring in August may slow from July's solid gain of 163,000 jobs......



Obama's Budget to Add $4.4 Trillion to Debt in Next Four Years - The Weekly Standard - DANIEL HALPER - August 23, 2012 - By the end of this year, the federal debt is expected to be $16.2 trillion, which is $6.2 trillion more than when President Obama first came into office four years ago. Moreover, new analysis by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee finds that, over the next 4 years, if Barack Obama remains president and his budget is enacted, $4.4 trillion will be added to the federal debt.             Here's a chart illustrating the projected debt over the next four years:

Republicans Eye Return to Gold Standard - The Financial Times through CNBC - Robin Harding and Anna Fifield, Financial Times - August 24, 2012 - The gold standard has returned to mainstream U.S. politics for the first time in 30 years, with a “gold commission” set to become part of official Republican party policy.            Drafts of the party platform, which it will adopt at a convention in Tampa Bay, Florida, next week, call for an audit of Federal Reserve monetary policy and a commission to look at restoring the link between the dollar and gold.                     The move shows how five years of easy monetary policy — and the efforts of congressman Ron Paul — have made the once-fringe idea of returning to gold-as-money a legitimate part of Republican debate.                      Marsha Blackburn, a Republican congresswoman from Tennessee and co-chair of the platform committee, said the issues were not adopted merely to placate Paul and the delegates that he picked up during his campaign for the party’s nomination.                      “These were adopted because they are things that Republicans agree on,” Blackburn told the Financial Times. “The House recently passed a bill on this, and this is something that we think needs to be done.”                        The proposal is reminiscent of the Gold Commission created by former president Ronald Reagan in 1981, 10 years after Richard Nixon broke the link between gold and the dollar during the 1971 oil crisis. That commission ultimately supported the status quo. “There is a growing recognition within the Republican party and in America more generally that we’re not going to be able to print our way to prosperity,” said Sean Fieler, chairman of the American Principles Project, a conservative group that has pushed for a return to the gold standard.                     A commission would have no power except to make recommendations, but Fieler said it would provide a chance to educate politicians and the public about the merits of a return to gold. “We’re not going to go from a standing start to the gold standard,” he said.                        The Republican platform in 1980 referred to “restoration of a dependable monetary standard," while the 1984 platform said that “the gold standard may be a useful mechanism”. More recent platforms did not mention it.......

http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000111494


 Big Income Losses for Those Near Retirement - New York Times -  CATHERINE RAMPELL -  August 23, 2012 - Americans nearing retirement age have suffered disproportionately after the financial crisis: along with the declining value of their homes, which were intended to cushion their final years, their incomes have fallen sharply. The typical household income for people age 55 to 64 years old is almost 10 percent less in today’s dollars than it was when the recovery officially began three years ago, according to a new report from Sentier Research, a data analysis company that specializes in demographic and income data. Across the country, in almost every demographic, Americans earn less today than they did in June 2009, when the recovery technically started. As of June, the median household income for all Americans was $50,964, or 4.8 percent lower than its level three years earlier, when the inflation-adjusted median income was $53,508. The decline looks even worse when comparing today’s incomes to those when the recession began in December 2007. Then, the median household income was $54,916, meaning that incomes have fallen 7.2 percent since the economy last peaked.......

U.S. Incomes Fell More in Recovery, Sentier Says - Bloomberg - By Jeff Kearns - August 23, 2012 - American incomes declined more in the three-year expansion that started in June 2009 than during the longest recession since the Great Depression, according an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by Sentier Research LLC.                    Median household income fell 4.8 percent on an inflation- adjusted basis since the recession ended in June 2009, more than the 2.6 percent drop during the 18-month contraction, the research firm’s Gordon Green and John Coder wrote in a report today. Household income is 7.2 percent below the December 2007 level, the former Census Bureau economic statisticians wrote.              “Almost every group is worse off than it was three years ago, and some groups had very large declines in income,” Green, who previously directed work on the Census Bureau’s income and poverty statistics program, said in a phone interview today. “We’re in an unprecedented period of economic stagnation.”                      While gains in hourly earnings and average hours worked per week may have had “a minor mitigating effect” on income declines, they couldn’t offset a jobless rate that hasn’t fallen below 8 percent since February 2009 and a record duration of unemployment, according to the Annapolis, Maryland-based firm.                  The average duration of unemployment increased to a record 41 weeks in November and remains at 39 weeks, Labor Department data show. Almost 5.2 million Americans have been out of work for at least six months..............