SULLIVAN'S SALVOS
March 3, 2022
Sullivan’s Salvos 3/8/22
In this edition:
*I Appreciate the Kindness!
*County Budget
*Inflation
*The Politics of Petty Grievances
*Worldwide Perspective
*Did You Know?
*I Appreciate the Kindness!
Several of you reached out with kind words last week. I am a very lucky man! I truly appreciate all the kindness- thanks!
*County Budget
The vote on the FY23 County Budget is coming up. I plan on supporting the budget, though there are certainly some things with which I do not agree. As I have mentioned several times, a budget is a collaborative piece of work. There are some things I really wanted to see in this budget, and I got them. There are a couple of capital projects and a couple of personnel items that I really dislike that got three votes. That is how the process works – give and take throughout.
One of the most frustrating things in my mind: We have some Economic Development and Quality of Life grants that we do every year. The Board asked staff to give us some recommendations. Unfortunately, I disagreed with some of these recommendations. One organization got a 50% increase; a couple others got 25% increases. In a year where we said no to many of the requests from our own County Departments, that seemed very ill-advised.
I brought this up when we discussed the grants, which was late in the afternoon. A couple of my colleagues wanted to end the meeting. I was told that we could just accept the recommendations, then adjust them later in the budget process. So I acquiesced.
Then, a couple weeks later when we revisited the grants, I was told, “We’ve already voted on this.” I couldn’t get anyone to agree to review these grants. It felt very much like a bait and switch. And it is really unfair to our own Department Heads. I think this was a terrible process. But it is over, and I lost that fight.
I already emailed the staff that made these recommendations and explained my concerns. (They are great people, and they took my constructive criticism as it was intended.) Then I will try to get ahead of it next year.
So, there is one example of a thing in our budget that I find frustrating. But ultimately, these matters are relatively quite small in the scope of the whole budget. So I will be a “yes” vote, despite the fact that this budget contains a few things I don’t like.
I’m sure each Supervisor could relate an anecdote like mine, where they were unhappy with something that is in (or out) of the budget. Each Supervisor has something about which they can complain. It is a messy process, but ultimately, it produces a pretty decent product.
If you are so inclined, you can go through the audio of all of our budget meetings. You can review all our budget documents. You can access pretty much everything financial at the County website, www.johnson-county.com.
*Inflation
There is no question that inflation has become a problem. We’ve all heard about how the pandemic has led to supply chain issues, etc. The right-wing media is doing all they can to pin this on President Biden.
But here’s the thing: Big corporations are using this as an excuse to gouge the rest of us! Corporations are seeing record profits. CEOs earn more than ever. And these record profits come on the backs of consumers.
It is not the President’s fault. Hell, give him a couple more votes in the US Senate and watch what can be done when corporations get held accountable!
But think about it: prices are rising. Who is raising them? That is where you need to focus your anger!
*The Politics of Petty Grievances
The desire of Republicans in the Iowa Legislature to micromanage every bit of our lives has stripped away most forms of local control. It is bad. It is bad for this state, and bad for Iowans.
But there is an even worse trend coming from Republicans in the Iowa Legislature. I call it the “Politics of Petty Grievances.” In these situations, a lawmaker takes a single anecdote, then attempts to change state law to address this single petty grievance.
Look at the recent proposal that would literally attack the civil rights of landowners. (Mostly farmers, ironically!) It has always been assumed that you had a right to sell your land to whoever you want. It is your land, after all! But a bill proposed in the Iowa Legislature would make it illegal to sell land that could be grazed (which is basically all land) to private conservation groups. The Iowa Legislature is literally going to pass a law telling you to whom you have to sell your land. Why?
Because a couple farmers in Western Iowa mentioned to their House Member that a conservation group had purchased some land that they wanted to use for grazing. Never mind that about one tenth of one percent of Iowa’s land is preserved, while 96% of Iowa’s land is dedicated to agriculture. One small complaint leads to legislation that would violate the 4thAmendment!
There are hundreds of examples. Cross a Republican legislator in the most minor of ways, and he will respond with a bill specifically to attack you. Why? Because he can! No one in the Republican Party of Iowa has the guts to stand up to the foolishness.
GOP Legislator gets cold fries in the drive through? Expect legislation! Business owner angers a GOP Legislator? Look for new restrictions on their type of business. It is the Politics of Petty Grievances. And it is no way to run a state.
If I didn’t know better, I’d say these GOP lawmakers were snowflakes! Or buttercups, if you want to make it more local!
*Worldwide Perspective
The following was stolen red-handed from my friend Nick Johnson:
If you condensed 7.8 billion into 100 persons, the resulting analysis is much easier to comprehend. (In other words, these are percentages.)
Out of 100:
11 are in Europe
5 are in North America
9 are in South America
15 are in Africa
60 are in Asia
49 live in the countryside
51 live in cities
75 have mobile phones
25 do not.
30 have internet access
70 do not have the availability to go online
7 received university education
93 did not attend college.
83 can read
17 are illiterate.
33 are Christians
22 are Muslims
14 are Hindus
7 are Buddhists
12 are other religions
12 have no religious beliefs.
26 live less than 14 years
66 died between 15 - 64 years of age
8 are over 65 years old.
If you have your own home, eat full meals and drink clean water, have a mobile phone, can surf the internet, and have gone to college, you are in the miniscule, privileged lot of less than 7%.
*DID YOU KNOW? By the numbers: S&P 500 companies reported an average net profit margin — net income as a percentage of revenue — of 13.0% in the second quarter of 2021, according to data compiled by FactSet. This is the highest profit margin since FactSet began tracking the metric in 2008.
Anyone interested in learning more about County government should take a look at the County website-
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---Rod
posted by Rod Sullivan @ 1:27 PM
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