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.

Remember when?

Newcomers sweep polls in Pocomoke - Worcester County... - [Cached Version]
Published on: 4/7/2005 Last Visited: 4/8/2005
POCOMOKE CITY -- Calling the results "a new day in Pocomoke," Michael A. McDermott and Bruce Morrison were swept in by a near record turnout in the Pocomoke City municipal election Tuesday.
...
McDermott, 43, a newcomer to city politics and a supervising detective in the Worcester County Sheriff's Office, received 632 votes while incumbent mayor Marion L. Butler, 79, got 343 votes.
...
Following the announcement of the results, McDermott said, "I think the voters have spoken, loud and clear.I look forward to working with the council to see things through."

He added, "I will be the mayor of all the people."
...
During the days leading up to the election, McDermott had said that one of the key issues would be the manner, style and character of leadership that will govern Pocomoke City.

"It is leadership which will allow access in the decision making process ... " he said."The size and nature of our growth will either be determined by a few people or by the collective dreams of all the people ... All of the other issues rise or fall on our leadership."

McDermott said in a previous interview: "How much we want to grow will have a great impact on all secondary questions.

Control issues

Being a police officer does not mean you are not an abuser. Years ago I taught at a business college. One of my students was a beautiful young woman in the process of divorcing her husband, a state police officer. She told me about being beaten by him repeatedly and then raped afterward.
A number of cops are not cops to help people. They are cops for the power trip. They do not view themselves as civil servants. They are there because they can tell you what to do. They like to be in control.
An clear example is the recent beating of the Maryland college student by police officers on horseback and swat members. Thank goodness the video came to light and that his family had the ability to push the matter. And this addiction to power and control is not unique to some cops. It is also can be present in appointed and elected officials, such as mayors and city managers.
Hence the need for transparency and accountability in government. Just as someone had to forethought to tape the assault by police on the student. shouldn’t our officials work hard to have meetings televised or make the meeting audio tapes available through a website. Shouldn’t the website be kept current. They could use YouTube very easily.

District 2

Current council member Honiss Cane

In a class by himself - a class I hope no future Pocomoke council member would aspire to reach.

It is perhaps best if I relay incidents I have observed and been told over the last 17+ years.

You will recall that the former Pocomoke police chef was found guilty for obstruction of justice in office. A Pocomoke police officer fixed tickets for Mr. Cane's son. Mr. Cane said he did not ask for the tickets to be fixed. I worked in Pocomoke city hall during the time of this trial and I know differently. In essence the former police chief "took the fall." I heard much discussion of this during that time in the city manager's office. Mr. Cane should have insisted that the tickets be paid. As a council member he should have known better than to allow the tickets to be fixed on his son's behalf.

Mr. Cane purchased a home in another district yet maintained that he still lived in District 2. Yet his neighbors say he in fact lives in this new home. Perhaps his not running again is his acknowledgement of this.

Further, when called on this during a council meeting, he verbally attacked the citizen doing so and berated her for having unpaid medical bills. Unbelievable!!
Especially so if you consider that he was always at least 2 years behind in paying the taxes on his Pocomoke properties during the time I was in city hall. He was drawing a city salary! He apparently felt entitled to be delinquent. The same was true for the city manager and another council member. All of them should have known better.

My thoughts on current Pocomoke council members

For what it is worth (may not be much) I offer my opinions of our current council members, starting with 5th District, my district.

Rob Clarke
The one council member I trust. He is honest, respectful, forthright, intelligent, logical. I trust him far more than his predecessors. He listens to me and considers my opinions. This does not mean he agrees with me. But he listens. I think he would do this for any Pocomoke citizen without bias. He does not play games like his predecessors did and does not let emotion or favoritism get in the way. What you see is what you get. Very decent man. State Forester for Worcester County.

District 1, Robert Hawkins
Basically a good man. But he has been there too long. Goes along to get along. The fence sitter. Needs more backbone. Not as straight forward as I would like. Retired from NASA.

District 3, Bruce Morrison
Another basically good man. I lived next door to his mother for seven years. She was very kind to me and a good mother. Based on that I believe he cares about Pocomoke.

District 4, Tracey Cottman
I have limited knowledge of Tracey, just what I read in the paper and council minutes and what I observed on election day in 2009. She was the director for the Local Management Board in Somerset and is coordinator for Somerset Safe Schools, Healthy Students. She reportedly does very good work there. Rob Clarke tells me she is not in Cane's back pocket. But even the mayor was quoted as saying she was not always responsive to her constituency.

And last, District 2, Honiss Cane . . . .


More later.