Category: Government and Free Choice

It’s your choice

Only in Paris Texas can Robin Hood be perverted into a public purpose.

The Supreme Court of the United States declared in Loan Association v. Topeka, 20 Wallace 655, that while it was not easy to decide what was a public purpose, and that the court was justified in interposing only when the case was clear, affirmed in most positive terms an inherent and essential general rule as to what the court recognized as a public purpose was recognized by the court in these words:

“In deciding whether, in the given of cash, the subject for which the taxes are assessed falls upon the one side or the other of this line, they must be governed mainly by the course and usage of the government, the objects for which taxes have been customarily and by long course of legislation levied, what objects or purposes have been considered necessary to the support and for the proper use of the government, whether State or municipal. Whatever lawfully pertains to this and is sanctioned by time and the acquiescence of the people may well be held to belong to the public use, and proper for the maintenance of good government, though this may not be the only criterion of rightful taxation.”

But it was said that, in the case at bar, no line could be drawn in favor of the manufacturer, which would not open the coffers of the public treasury to the opportunities of two-thirds of the business men of the city or town.

 

So is giving cash JUSTIFIABLE?

        “. . . legislative determination is not conclusive and is subject to judicial review.”

When it comes to government and corporations, most claims of acquiescence and compliance are symptoms of emotional insanity.

The PEDC, the City of Paris, and Lamar County – all governmental units – gave a 10-year tax abatement to a Limited Liability Corporation that has purchased the former Earth Grains, Sara Lee, J, Skinner building.

The PEDC proudly made sounds about a total investment $3.5 and $5.5 million over the next three to five years by the company, and an initial creation of 100 jobs – with a promised minimum of an annual $50,000 salary. The PEDC said that part of the incentives was “cash for jobs.”

That – and the abatement – was all the information released. Possibly, because the cash promised “for jobs” will come from some Paris families making much less then $50,000 a year.

Is that a “public purpose” in Paris?

Robbing the poor to give to the rich is more like insanity.

What is the time limit for the “initial creation” of the promised 100 jobs? Is it the same amount of time allowed for the 400 to 500 jobs promised by J. Skinner?

We get all the Happy Talk assumptions about industrial money-hunters coming to Paris, but we never hear or see a report about the industries that left Paris. But the lack of transparency in both instances are problems. (Shouldn’t a report on how much “cash money” taxpayers lost on J. Skinner be public, as well as all the incentives in all agreements? If not, how do taxpayers know the net gain to the community?)

Is the sin of commission greater than the sin of omission?

While the Paris Texas Chamber appreciates job creation and new investments – especially those that help hold the line on property taxes – we realize that what the Supreme Court of the United States declared in Loan Association v. Topeka, about the giving of cash, is correct, “…no line could be drawn in favor of the manufacturer, which would not open the coffers of the public treasury to the opportunities of two-thirds of the business men of the city or town.”

The PEDC is taking the widow’s mite to give to $50,000 wage-earners –

We can’t even get Robin Hood right . . . !

 

 

In 2017, the Paris Texas Chamber of Commerce urged development of the flood plain swamp ground areas at Lake Crook as a state and/or national Wetlands and Wildlife Area. This, we said, would drastically reduce the costs of a new sewer treatment plant, now and in the future, and be a visitor’s and educational draw for Paris.

We even published a survey of new treatment facilities of varying sizes and their costs in cities across Texas, and a few in other states.

Using the development of a Wetland project, projections showed a greatly reduced overall cost for a new plant, the cost coming in at a low of $30 million to a high of $35 million.

We warned, based on what other cities were doing, that the process being engaged in by the City of Paris for a treatment plant, with its estimated cost of $40 to $70-million, would likely end in an exorbitant cost, as bids were not being solicited.

Neither the City of Paris, nor its taxpayers, listened or seemed interested.

The city, the PEDC and the Lamar County Chamber reportedly claimed the Paris Chamber didn’t know what it was talking about –

So, here in 2023, Paris is facing a new sewer treatment plant cost of $100-million-or more. (with the highest 2017 cost under-estimated by $30-million?)

The result for simply not looking at all possible options is that a newly-born baby in Paris will owe another estimated $4,000 dollars of the costs of this one item – as will every man, woman, and child inside the city limits – in addition to the $2600 each already owe in fees and taxes to cover the annual city budget.

While its true that worlds of knowledge exist that we personally know little-to-nothing about, we do know that wasteful spending and higher taxes is no way to run a railroad.

Or a city.

Those in charge of our local community and economic development shouldn’t be talking about anyone not knowing what to do when Paris has lost population for over a quarter of a century.

For decades, not a city council has looked after the taxpayer’s actual interest.

For instance, for over over 25-years Paris has known a new plant was needed. A period of time when city council after city council increased water, sewer and trash pickup fees; money which has generally disappeared into the general budget – and to pay for costly studies. How much of such funds were set aside to meet the future costs?

How were bids requested? Where? When?

City leaders have again contracted for another $300,000-plus study of the problem, which is more waste of money.

It’s worse than gambling: A Paris is always beaten by a flush . . .

return to The Paris Texas Chamber

The Nation’s Largest Employer has over 22-Million employees –

Elected and appointed local, district, regional, state and national office-holders, can, IF all 22-million wish, express concepts and ideas and take actions that support and approve and help create laws on issues and things that they hate or love.

The following is the result of word games. For instance, civil servants are not the same as government employees, an example being that military employees are not considered as government employees, which distorts – (no, lies about) – federal employment.

(grey)  Local government employees
(yellow)  State government employees
(Blue)  Federal government employees
(The blip up in hiring at the Federal level every 10 years is for the United States census)

But do these officials have the right – moral or legal – to do or say things that do NOT reflect the same promises and commitments they expressed to the voters who elected them and pay for the positions they occupy?

IF they do or are doing so, shouldn’t voters be able to remove them from office? They lied to get the position they hold; thereby, violating their Oath of Office.

A baseline fact is that they were not employed to act as social directors, guiding the community citizens thru the throes of progressive socialism, which they see as progress thru the fog of an unique version of history or just an inability to see cause and effect.

Voters have allowed every level of government to create too many platforms to serve government’s cause . . . 

Today, according to the U. S. Department of Labor, manufacturing employment is down to about 16-million workers. This is a loss of over 2-million jobs in this category since 2000, while government jobs increased over 6-million in the same time period – making it the nation’s largest employer. 

But in addition to the city, state and national government employees there are millions of other elected and appointed office holders  Seldom ever considered, examples are such as those employed in special taxing districts (the Visitor’s group and the PEDC, Lamar County Water District, etc., and a multitude of other tax districts); plus, staffs of numerous government-funded research centers, foundations, think tanks, and various other organizations; plus millions of school and college administrators, teachers and instructors.

Its likely that most employees in the list do not view themselves as office holders but, basically (as with any government office or office holder), they occupy offices that work to inform, educate, direct, promote, publicize, and affect and / or effect public issues, events, and/or a public cause or purpose.

Examining recent decades of voting records, it seems most Paris and Lamar County citizens will vote for or appoint any idiot who claims to love America and wave the flag while promising a “free” government handout or to “make our children safe.” But the same voters will remove their hats (if wearing one) and place a hand over their heart when that flag comes by and, when the national anthem is sung, they’ll join in (at least, on the words they can remember).

Whether the voters are yellow-dog Democrats with standards that haven’t made the change to those of their new “woke” party or an old time Republican who still treasures his or her “I Like Ike” button, they’re not stupid. They just have a real low threshold for electing or appointing self-promoters who cannot or will not walk their talk.

Or, maybe, we only hear what we want to hear and read what we want to read and see what we want to see.

That, however, only proves that we’re semi-members of the human race, which also seems to be a worldwide tendency, except in those totalitarian countries where there is no choice on what to see or read or hear.

Neither Paris, nor Lamar County, is an enclave of socialist thought, regardless of certain characteristics we sometimes demonstrate or read in the paper.

That’s where the fun and the cussing starts. 

But there’s nothing funny about the growing socialist mess Paris and the nation are in––

 

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