Hindsight

I keep seeing conservative Republicans praise Ronald Reagan's presidency.

For the record:

The Reagan gang were so corrupt, they would sometimes rack up more convictions and forced resignations in a single day than the Clinton Administration managed in its entire eight years.

Clinton had fewer convictions and forced resignations than any two-term adminstration since Teddy Roosevelt, making it the cleanest administration of the 20th century.

Reagan's administration was:

the first administration in American history to have a sitting cabinet member indicted.

the first administration in American history to have an Assistant Secretary of State indicted.

the first administration in American history to have an Assistant Secretary of Defense sent to prison.

the first administration in American history to have over 100 members of an administration charged with crimes.

the first administration in American history to have more members of his administration charged with crimes than the cumulative total of all other presidents in the twentieth century.

There is a growing realization that the starting point for many of the catastrophes confronting the United States today can be traced to Reagan's presidency.


Reagan slashed income taxes for the wealthiest Americans with his "supply side" economics, which held falsely that cutting rates for the rich would increase revenues and eliminate the federal deficit. Reagan's budget director David Stockman once blurted out the truth, that it would lead to red ink "as far as the eye could see."

Bush's Reagan-esque tax cuts for the rich blew another huge hole in the federal budget and the Reagan-esque anti-regulatory fervor led to a massive financial meltdown that threw the nation into economic chaos.

Lets not repeat these mistakes. Cutting taxes without first cutting government operations will result in even more red ink.

For an interesting read, check out Ronald Reagan's Legacy at http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Ronald_Reagan/Ronald_Reagan_Legacy.html
Also check out The Myth of Ronald Reagan by William Kleinknecht, summarized at the same site.

Also interesting is this chart showing debt as a percentage of GDP:

National debt by president

U.S. president Party Term Start End Increase ($T)Increase debt/GDP
(in percentage points)
Roosevelt/TrumanD 1945-1949 117.5% 93.1% 0.05 -24.4%
Harry Truman D 1949-1953 93.1% 71.4% 0.01 -21.5%
Dwight EisenhowerR 1953-1957 71.4% 60.4% 0.01 -11.0%
Dwight EisenhowerR 1957-1961 60.4% 55.2% 0.02 -5.2%
Kennedy/Johnson D 1961-1965 55.2% 46.9% 0.03 -8.3%
Lyndon Johnson D 1965-1969 46.9% 38.6% 0.05 -8.3%
Richard Nixon R 1969-1973 38.6% 35.6% 0.07 -3.0%
Nixon/Ford R 1973-1977 35.6% 35.8% 0.19 +0.2%
Jimmy Carter D 1977-1981 35.8% 32.5% 0.28 -3.3%
Ronald Reagan R 1981-1985 32.5% 43.8% 0.66 +10.8%
Ronald Reagan R 1985-1989 43.8% 53.1% 1.04 +9.3%
George W. Bush R 1989-1993 51.1% 66.1% 1.40 +13.0%
Bill Clinton D 1993-1997 66.1% 65.4% 1.18 -0.7%
Bill Clinton D 1997-2001 65.4% 56.4% 0.45 -9.0%
George W. Bush R 2001-2005 56.4% 63.5% 1.73 +7.1%
George W. Bush R 2005-2009 63.4% 83.4% 2.63 +20.0%
Barack Obama D 2009-2013 83.4%

(Source: Whitehouse FY 2011 Budget - Table 7.1 Federal Debt at the End of Year PDF, Excel)


Please note the large increases when Republican presidents were in office. Check out the website www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Historicals/ The blogger word processor doesn't like charts.

Transparency in government

One of the sets of promises made to us by McDermott was improved transparency and accountability in Pocomoke government, specifically televised council meetings and a website. I am grateful that Pocomoke government now has a website, but it is not kept current and is way under-utilized. Council meetings are still not televised on public access television.

I have been researching transparency in government and found a wonderful slide presentation developed by UNPAN, the United Nations Public Administration Network:

http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/un/unpan012062.pdf

This presentation provides clear, concise information about governmental transparency.

What is transparency:

Transparency is citizen access to a government's information to facilitate understanding of its decision making processes.

Some examples of ways to promote transparency:

Freedom of information acts,
Televised governmental meetings,
Published audit reports,
Free, fair elections.


Impediments to transparency:

Excessive rules,
Discretion without accountability,
Lack of timely, publicized information,
Information not available,
Lack of service culture.


Why is transparency important?

Provides accountability,
Serves as check against mismanagement and corruption,
Promotes public confidence,
Allows informed participation of citizens.

Transparency implies a PROACTIVE effort to make information accessible to citizens.
Transparency is a indicator of a government that is citizen-focused and service-oriented.

I will look at Pocomoke's government in the next several posts with these key points in mind. I welcome your comments as well.

It has been very disappointing

I will not be voting for Mike McDermott in his run for state delegate. Not even if he is the only candidate in that race.

I can remember being so excited when McDermott won the position of mayor in Pocomoke. I was sitting in my hotel room in OC where I was attending a training. I saw the news about his win and had to call Lynn Boyd, my very dear friend. We celebrated. She is now deceased and I know she is very disappointed too.

I was excited because I believed his promises. That is what is so disappointing. In my view he has not fulfilled his promises. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice - not happening.

Yes, Pocomoke City now has a website. It is not kept current. Biggest problem is there is no allowance for citizen feedback. None. Rather than deal with negative feedback they choose to deal with none. If you really value good communication, you have to allow for feedback. Yes, set ground rules for civility but don't prevent feedback from happening.

As Mayor, Mcdermott developed a blog to keep us informed. This was a good initial effort, but he has not kept it up. More telling is that it is not linked to the Pocomoke website or vice versa.

McDermott now has a blog for his candidacy, ElectMikeMcDermott, and a facebook page of the same name. Negative comments have been deleted and now it appears that comments are not allowed. McDermott says he values communication. He has many times said he wants "intellectual honesty."

There are two intellectually-honest debate tactics:
1. Revealing errors or omissions in your opponent’s facts
2. Revealing errors or omissions in your opponent’s logic

You cannot do either if negative statements are not addressed appropriatedly. Deleting them is not addressing them. McDermotts actions speak louder than his words.