Category Archives: Fiscal Freedom

In response to Federico Sturzeneggers Oct. 31 article for AQ, a reader writes:

While the Oct. 27 election results in Argentina werent surprising Alberto Fernndez defeated incumbent Mauricio Macri, whose four years in office left a veritable economic and social scorched earth former Central Bank president Federico Sturzeneggers analysis of Macris tenure was rather surprising. For starters, his statements on freedom of the press and the independence of the justice system are not supported by actual events. Opposition media owners were persecuted and imprisoned under false pretenses, as recent reports have shown, and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers requested information regarding serious allegations about the executives meddling in the justice system.

Sturzenegger does get it partially right on two counts. First, Macris presidency is a failure in economic terms. Second, that failure cannot be blamed on the previous government or on bad luck, but entirely due to policies implemented by his government. However, the rest of Sturzeneggers statements on the economythe focus of my letterare troubling.

The writer takes for granted that the mainstream economics view is the only point of view, and that inflation is a result of the fiscal deficit. But with Argentinas economy functioning well below full capacity (currently below 60%), there is clearly room for more demand without it being inflationary. Why, then, did yearly inflation more than double?

We can start by looking at the floating exchange rate championed by Sturzenegger, a highly problematic policy in a country like Argentina where foreign exchange shortages are a recurring problem. Price formation in Argentina is closely linked to fluctuations in the exchange rate and when it increases, so do prices. Furthermore, the government linked key prices to the dollar, including electricity, gas, fuel and transport. The elimination of export taxes on primary products, a mechanism used to decouple domestic prices from world prices, also meant basic foodstuffs (wheat, maize, beef, dairy products) were now linked directly to world prices, leading to increases in lockstep with the exchange rate.

Add to that a broad deregulation of capital flows resulting in a lot more foreign exchange flowing out of the country than into it. Regulations were also changed to allow exporters to keep their revenue in foreign currency abroad instead of changing to pesos locally, further aggravating the dollar shortage and pressuring the exchange rate upward, with the expected impact on the price level.

Therefore, the Macri administrations inability to control inflation was due to the combination of floating exchange rate policy, deregulation and the dollarization of key prices, not the fiscal deficit. This, of course, means that the policies implemented by the central bank to try to control inflation were not only not attacking the root problem but making it worse.

The second major problem, alluded-to only in passing by Sturzenegger, is the massive debt accumulation by the Macri administration. Sturzenegger states that the government had financed itself with short-term dollar debt, which was easily available until early 2018. That statement contains a substantial conceptual confusion: Government spending is in pesos and the government has no need to borrow in foreign currency for expenditures in the national currency.

This confusion led the Macri administration to double Argentinas public debt, in fact financing record levels of capital flight, debt service and the trade deficit (that turned to a surplus in 2018 thanks to a substantial economic recession). The current debt levels and service schedule are a veritable financial time bomb for the next government that will be difficult to deactivate.

The conceptual and theoretical confusions of the Macri administrations neoliberal economists highlight the importance of real-world economics as opposed to mainstream academic textbook models. Sturzeneggers fascination with general equilibrium models and self-adjusting external balances through floating exchange rates may work in the mainstream textbooks, but not in a periphery country like Argentina.

-Alan B. Cibils,Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento, November 12.

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Letter to the Editor: An Appraisal of Macri - Americas Quarterly

Gas is flared as waste from a shale formation where gas and oil extraction using hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, takes place in California. Deep well and horizontal drilling is used extensively in fracking, which was used to extract natural gas from 98 per cent of wells brought into production in 2017, according to the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission.David McNew / Getty Images files

Credits issued by the provincial government to natural gas companies could cost taxpayers more than $2 billion in foregone revenue, according to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Between 2016 and 2018, about $1.2 billion in credits for deep-well and horizontal drilling were issued to gas producers, who can use them to reduce future natural gas royalty payments to the government when wells go into production.

B.C. collected $145 million in natural gas royalties in the 2017-18 fiscal year and $164 million in 2018-19, according to the budget and fiscal plan.

The deep well credit program has been in place for 17 years to compensate companies for the higher costs associated with so-called unconventional gas production, which is now so common that the credits are an embedded subsidy to the industry, said CCPA policy analyst Ben Parfitt.

Is the government lowering royalty fees and effectively propping up fossil fuel extraction that would otherwise be unprofitable? wonders a report by the CCPA, a progressive think tank.

The top three credit earners in the gas field in 2017-18 accrued $344 million in credits: Cutbank Encana Partnership, Painted Petroleum and Tourmaline Oil Corp. In all, 26 companies earned $703 million in deep well credits last year, the documents show.

Gas producers have $2.6 billion in credits already on the books, according to B.C.s most recent public accounts report.

These are revenues that are being foregone, said Parfitt, who obtained credit figures with a Freedom of Information request. Down the line, those credits are reimbursed in the form of lower royalty payments.

The program was initiated as an incentive to take on more expensive extraction projects, which Parfitt argues have now become mainstream.

Deep well and horizontal drilling is used extensively in hydraulic fracturing, which was used to extract natural gas from 98 per cent of wells brought into production in 2017, according to the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission.

Virtually all the new wells being drilled in B.C. are deep wells and horizontal wells for to extract natural gas and valuable liquids such as condensate, which is used to dilute bitumen, said Parfitt. But when it comes time to pay the province the taxpayers for those extracting those products, the royalties are reduced.

The governments three-year fiscal plan notes that the royalty rate is expected to decline in the next two years due to increased utilization of royalty programs and infrastructure credits.

What we would like to know is how much those (gas) companies are actually paying in royalties for a publicly owned resource, and its been like pulling teeth with this government, said Parfitt.

What forest companies pay for cutting trees on public lands is freely available to the public online, he noted.

Energy Minister Michelle Mungall defended the program earlier this year, noting that companies can only use credits to reduce their royalty rate, not to avoid royalties altogether. She added, many of the credits that (Green party Leader Andrew Weaver) speaks of will actually likely never be used as the wells are closed.

With a file from Vaughn Palmer

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Natural gas drilling credits eat up royalty revenue from extraction industry: report - Vancouver Sun

Bitcoin (BTC) proponents are criticizing United States presidential candidate Andrew Yang after he claimed he was literally trying to give everybody money.

In an ongoing Twitter debate which Yang started on Nov. 16, Bitcoiners took the presidential hopeful to task over his policy of paying a form of universal basic income (UBI) to all U.S. citizens.

Im literally trying to give everybody money, Yang wrote.

Yang plans to provide a united front on cryptocurrency regulation if elected. Unlike previous statements about UBI, which he has termed the Freedom Dividend, Yangs latest pitch appeared to touch a nerve with commentators.

In the face of record-high U.S. and global debt, the idea of expanding access to fiat currency as a benefit appeared to generate more anger than applause.

Please be specific that youre giving away fiat, not money, Blockstream CSO Samson Mow replied.

Others continued to highlight the distinction between Bitcoin as hard money and fiat as easy money which authorities can manipulate at will.

Responding to Yang, Travis Kling, chief investment officer at Ikigai Fund, summarized:

Bitcoin is a non-sovereign, hardcapped supply, global, immutable, decentralized, digital store of value. It is an insurance policy against monetary and fiscal policy irresponsibility from central banks and governments globally.

By putting more units of an infinitely inflatable currency into consumers hands, meanwhile, Yangs policy arguably finds comparisons to schemes which have already crumbled.

In particular, OneCoin, the notorious cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme whose creators the U.S. is attempting to prosecute, was also known for arbitrary supply inflation.

At one of its dedicated conferences in 2016, for example, co-founder Ruja Ignatova announced she would double attendees OneCoin holdings.

A press release from the time states that Ignatova told the crowd that all current Networkers will have the number of their OneCoins (mined until 1. October, 2016) doubled, as a token of appreciation to everyone who believed in the OneCoin concept from the start.

She allegedly commented:

We do not expect a steep price movement after these changes. Cryptocurrency value is driven by supply and demand, and demand is driven by brand and usability. By creating more coins, we will be able to bring the coin to more people and places and strengthen the brand.

OneCoin in total conned victims out of around $4 billion a tiny fraction of the worlds $255 trillion combined debt that is expected by the end of 2019.

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Andrew Yang Will Literally Give Everybody Money Like OneCoin Did - Cointelegraph

This article was featured in our weekly newsletter, the Liberator Online. To receive it in your inbox, sign up here.

Last month, ZeroHedge put out a story about Illinois residents wanting to leave the state. Specifically, it cited the motivations of those with the intention of leaving. Last year, 53 percent of Illinoisans had entertained the idea of moving out of the state. Now, in 2019, that number has increased to 61 percent, based on a new poll from NPR Illinois and the University of Illinois Springfield.

Many are wondering whats the main motivating factor behind them leaving the state. Well, according to the poll, state taxes are the number one reason for them wanting to leave the state. The poll found that 27 percent of the respondents cited taxes for their desire to move. The next reason most people decided to move was state government and policies, at around 17 percent. In third place, was better weather, in which 15 percent cited this factor as a motive for moving.

This poll serves as a warning to Governor J.B. Pritzker, who wants to eliminate the Illinois Constitutions flat income tax provision and create a progressive income tax system. According to the poll, Respondents reporting a household income of more than $100,000 a year (68%) are nearly ten percentage points higher than other income groups to say theyve considered moving out of the state, with those reporting a household income lower than $45,000 (58%) being least likely. At a glance, those with more resources appear like the ones who are most likely to leave.

Tax reform attempts like the progressive income tax that Pritzker is pursuing represents another way for politicians to extract money from the private sector to finance big spending. As far as taxation is concerned, Illinois is by no means slacking on that front. The state recently passed 20 new tax and fee hikes, which included a gas tax that was doubled, all to support a large $40 billion state budget.

The tax hikes that Illinoiss political class is proposing arent just coming out of nowhere. When we look at public employee pensions theyre already eating up a large share of Illinois state budget one-fourth of it to be exact. Illinois pensions have exploded by 501 percent since 2000, which has put tremendous upward pressure on property taxes and has also resulted in cuts to state services.

One thing to note is that Illinoisians arent just entertaining the idea of moving out of state. Some have already taken the initiative by moving out. During the past five years, Illinois has earned the unfortunate distinction of being one of only two states to lose population on a consecutive basis. In this time period, Illinois lost 157,000 residents.

People arent leaving Illinois on a whim; its largely because of public policy. Although Illinois got marijuana legalization right, the state still lags behind in certain aspects of economic freedom. Catos Freedom in the 50 States index has it in 46th place for local tax burden. Not only are taxes high at the local level, but there arent many jurisdictions locally that people can move to in order to reduce their tax burdens. The authors of this index gave Illinois policymakers a wise recommendation Reform the retirement systems of localities to reduce local taxes, which are sky-high. By exercising some modicum of fiscal restraint with pensions, Illinois could likely stem the flow of people leaving the state.

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Recent Polls Show that Illinoisans are Leaving Because of Taxes - The Liberator Online

In the City of Richmond, the Human Resources Department is responsible for, among other things, advertising and filling vacant jobs within the city government.

On Oct. 9, 2018, the citys director of human resources, Korita Jones, resigned to accept another job.

A few months later, between Jan. 1 and March 31, five relatives of the since-fired chief administrative officer, Selena Cuffee-Glenn, were hired with at least three of them directly arranged for by the citys director of the Public Works Department, Bobby Vincent Jr.

While he was orchestrating this hiring spree, one department employee claimed and was paid for nearly 2,000 hours of overtime. For reference, a full-time employee working 40 hours per week accrues 2,080 hours over the course of a year.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Public Works Department provided cumulative overtime hours and pay for fiscal year 2019 through the pay period of June 14. The citys fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30. Even though this incomplete information already had been provided, a subsequent request for all of the departments fiscal year overtime data was denied with the city claiming an exemption from the act for personnel information.

Even though only partial year information was provided, in total more than 60,000 hours of overtime were accumulated by the departments employees up to that point, costing taxpayers $1.6 million. Four employees accumulated more than 750 hours of overtime, three more accumulated over 1,000 hours, and one employee claimed and was approved for 1,954.75 hours of overtime through June 14.

The 1, 954.75 hours plus the standard 40 hours a week means this employee would have had to average 79.1 hours a week during the 50 weeks included in the records. The overtime was worth $42,232.79 to this one employee.

A search of court records found that a person with the same name and birth date as the employee with the 1,954.75 hours of overtime was arrested in 2008 for stealing $73,000 worth of fuel while working for the Richmond Public Schools. However, the case was ultimately dropped by the Richmond commonwealths attorney before it reached trial.

In January, auditors critiqued the citys Public Utilities Department for paying excessive amounts of overtime, including one employee receiving 1,889 hours of overtime pay during fiscal year 2017. Auditors found that there were many instances where overtime hours were lacking properly authorized documentation. Payments were made anyway. The Public Works Departments high overtime payments were also noted in the auditors report.

The auditors made several suggestions to help remedy the overtime issues, including placing a cap on the amount of overtime one employee can work.

When contacted, Vincent and the Public Works Department chose not to answer any questions or provide comment regarding these findings, citing an ongoing investigation into overtime practices. No timetable was available for when the investigation will be concluded.

This discovery portrays a seemingly never-ending pattern here in Richmond.

Problems are found. Investigations happen. People are moved around as a result, but those same people keep working for our government. Not surprisingly, the problems continue to exist.

It seems as though they dont really care and only take action when caught. Imagine what could be found if someone with a trained eye had full access to City Hall practices.

The fact that they are looking into the overtime issue is good, but Richmond always has investigations.

The auditors already pointed out several issues with overtime and issued suggestions on how to fix them, but here we are, still investigating. At some point, Richmond must not only investigate, but also implement reform if it ever wants anything to change.

Justin Griffin is a small business attorney who lives and has his law practice in Richmond. He earned his law degree from the University of Richmond and has an accounting degree with an economics minor from the University of Tennessee. He operates the websiteNoColiseum.com and was recently named a member of Styles 2019 Top 40 under 40 Class.

Opinions expressed on the Back Page are those of the writer and not necessarily those of Style Weekly.

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OPINION: Ongoing Problems - Style Weekly

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Some of Americas states are not in good financial shape.

A report from Truth in Accountings tenth annual Financial State of the States provided a comprehensive breakdown of how all 50 states fare financially. For advocates of fiscal restraint at the state level, such indices are very useful in learning about the fiscal health of their states.

The report highlights that states have introduced more transparency largely due to the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles set by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, which now require governments to disclose pension and other post-employment (OPEB) benefits on their balance sheets. If the benefits in question do not receive full funding, they are categorized as liabilities, or debt, because they represent money owed to government employees in their retirement.

Of note, this years report discovered that 40 states dont have enough money to pay all of their bills. Worse, states have accumulated a whopping total of $1.5 trillion in unfunded state debt. The studys Taxpayer Burden or Surplus ranks states based on how much debt each taxpayer would have to shoulder on a per capita basis.

The bottom three states Connecticut, Illinois, and New Jersey have the highest debt burden per taxpayer.

Obviously, these three states have major spending problems that will require fiscal discipline in order for them to get back on sound financial footing. However, focusing on fiscal issues exclusively gives us an incomplete picture of whats truly going on in these jurisdictions.

These states are also known for having forced unionization, sub-optimal tax policies, bad environments for starting a business, and their lack of affordable housing options thanks to heavy land-use restrictions. None of these are policy coincidences. Its the product of state governments that believe in having a strong government presence in the way people interact with each other whether it be social welfare or business operations. The governments desire to either regulate or provide certain services stifles human innovation or comes at a high cost for future taxpayers.

Because of the short-term nature of politics, politicians dont understand how distinct forms of state growth social spending and government regulation are interconnected. To have a functioning society based on liberty, policymakers cannot simply pick and choose which freedoms citizens can have. When the rubber meets the road, there has to be a comprehensive plan that moves towards maximizing freedom. By conceding that certain aspects of state infringements are acceptable, political actors do the heavy lifting for more ambitious successors who will likely expand upon previous interventions, if not find other areas to which they can control.

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New Report Shows that Some States are in Terrible Financial Shape - The Liberator Online

The University of Wisconsin is advocating for Senate Bill 446 to provide funding for research to find and identify Wisconsin soldiers who are missing.

Torrey Tiedeman, the communications and outreach coordinator of the Missing in Action Recovery and Identification project, said the purpose of the project is to advance the recovery of missing-in-action service members from overseas by using different practices and student volunteers across the UW system.

According to the projects website, it brings together four scholarly disciplines: history, archaeology, forensic anthropology and genetic analysis. These areas work together to survey sites and exhume and identify remains. These teams are composed of students, researchers, student veterans, alumni and volunteers.

The researchers specializing in archaeology and genetics have been working with the United States Department of Defense since 2013 to identify missing U.S. soldiers, according to AP News.

State lawmakers sign bill to fund UW project to find missing soldiersState lawmakers seek to fund the University of Wisconsins project to find missing soldiers, with 88 lawmakers signing a bill. Read

State Sens. Roger Roth, R-Appleton, and Dale Kooyenga, R-Brookfield, and state Reps. Ken Skowronski, R-Franklin, and Christine Sinicki, D-Milwaukee, are the lead authors on the bill. It will provide $360,000 to the project over the next two fiscal years if passed.

Tiedeman said that since 2014, the project has found and identified three soldiers, all of whom were killed in France during World War II. These recovery missions are assigned to the UW MIA-RIP and funded by the DOD, according to AP.

Angela Roidt, communications director for Roth, wrote in an email that some projects can cost $1.5 million and take up to two years to complete, and due to the success of its past missions, the U.S. Department of Defense began partnering with similar programs throughout the country.

The DOD has not assigned the team any Wisconsin MIA cases, which is why the state is helping with this bill, Roidt wrote.

Charles Konsitzke founded the project and is the team leader. Konsitzke is also the associate director for the UW Biotechnology Center, which hosts the projects. He said he started this project because a civilian asked UWBC to help them find a missing soldier. Konsitzke said he doesnt have personal connections to any missing-in-action soldiers, but he did come from a military family. He said he felt motivated from witnessing how academics can further the search for soldiers.

Roth is a lead author on the bill and circulated it for support among his legislative colleagues in the senate and the assembly. Twenty-seven state senators and 61 representatives have signed onto SB 446 since its introduction Sept. 23.

UWPD to add officer position off campus in Langdon St. areaThe University of Wisconsin Police Department will add an officer position on Langdon St. and the surrounding downtown area to Read

Roidt wrote in an email that Wisconsin has 1,500 missing-in-action service members of the 82,000 nationwide.

Families all over the state are missing their loved ones without the closure of knowing what happened to them, Roidt wrote.

Roidt also wrote that Roth served four tours in the Middle East. He was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and three times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Roth is a military officer in the Wisconsin Air National Guard holding the rank of first lieutenant. Roths military experience allows him to understand the sacrifice of those who serve, as well as their families, made for our freedom.

It is our duty to give every effort and attempt to bring their remains back home to their families, Roidt wrote.

The bill will benefit both the Wisconsin missing-in-action soldiers and their families at a lower cost and with greater effectiveness because of the resources UW would have access to. Roidt wrote that with the increase in funding under the bill, the project could conduct recovery missions in areas of the world that are off limits to DOD missions.

Wisconsin has led the nation on missing-in-action recovery projects. With this bill, Wisconsin could become the first state in the nation to fund the projects mission, Roidt wrote.

Finance Committee rejects adding new officers to MPDMadison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and the City of Madison Finance Committee met for eight hours Monday night to discuss the Read

This project has worked closely with the Defense Prisoners of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency since 2016.

[The project] is tasked with recovery missions from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Tiedeman said.

The DPAA provides the UW project available information on the case, equipment and some of their own personnel.

Tiedeman has a military background. He said the project has enabled him to continue serving without being in the military.

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UW pushes for bill to fund project that finds and identifies missing soldiers - The Badger Herald

For almost two decades the United States Marine Corps has focused on a counterinsurgency fight through almost exclusively ground-based combat. While the Marine Corps has always met the demands of the nation, recent history has presented a challenge to its character as a naval service that requires a reinvigorated relationship with the U.S. Navy. The Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) and the Chief of Naval Operations have signaled to the Naval Service that force design will be conducted along complementary, parallel, and coordinated paths toward transforming into future naval expeditionary and fleet forces.

The Marine Corps, as a service, must be prepared to operate inside actively contested maritime and littoral spaces in support of fleet operations or wherever its role as the nations naval expeditionary force-in-readiness takes it. In similar fashion, given its understandable reticence to risk capital ships, the Navy must be comfortable with and capable of operating with regional partners and projecting power within a given adversarys weapons engagement zone (WEZ) in a command and control degraded/denied environment. As stated in the Commandants Planning Guidance (CPG), these Stand-in forces must be, designed to generate technically disruptive, tactical stand-in engagements that confront aggressor naval forces with an array of low signature, affordable and risk-worthy platforms and payloads. In his planning guidance, the CMC further states, I will continue to advocate for the continued forward deployment of our forces globally to compete against the malign activities of China, Russia, Iran, and their proxies with a prioritized focus on Chinas One Belt One Road initiative and Chinese malign activities in the East and South China Seas.This is not intended to be a defense of the status quo as our forces currently forward deployed lack the requisite capabilities to deter our adversaries and persist in a contested space to facilitate sea denial.

Additionally, the CMC has identified investment in large unmanned surface vessels, extra-large sub-surface vessels, and Expeditionary Advanced Bases (EABs) as critical in countering the local numerical superiority of adversaries in great power competition. While significant exercises and experimentation has been conducted by the Fleet Marine Force (FMF) to address peer threats in the high arctic and western Pacific, it must be understood that the Naval Service does not at present have the capabilities required to execute Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) as envisioned. The Naval Service must take immediate steps to strengthen its forward posture in the littorals through stand-in forces.

The Naval Services must develop and train a naval expeditionary force that is tailored to support stand-in forces within the adversarys weapons engagement zone. A near-term approach doesnt necessarily entail a departure from the three-ship Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and associated Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). But new force packages that are better aligned with future missions and force structure will make for a more preferable interim solution. One solution is a set of stand-in force constructs that are complementary to current formations and fleet tactics the Littoral Combat Team (LCT), the Littoral Combat Group (LCG), and Littoral Strike Squadron (LSS).

The Littoral Combat Team

A naval expeditionary unit for stand-in forces would be comprised of multiple maneuver elements: embarked troops and their associated support, combatant vessels, and small craft. This is not intended as fully meeting the CMC and CNOs desired end state with respect to LOCE or EABO. Rather, it is a bridging solution as the Naval Service endeavors to move toward a modern fleet.

It must be understood that the Littoral Combat Team (LCT) is an integral part of this concept as a bridge to future EABO. The LCT consists of Marine and naval forces deployed to key maritime terrain throughout partnered nations Economic Exclusion Zones (EEZ). These LCTs are essentially inshore weapons platforms and Forward Arming and Refueling Points (FARP). The LCTs perform the missions of Theater Security Cooperation (TSC), deterrence, and ultimately, disruption of adversary freedom of access to key maritime terrain. They are comprised of task-organized Marine forces, including electronic warfare, unmanned aviation systems, engineers and construction battalions, and missile batteries, to name a few.

Supported by host nation forces, the LCT would also lower the fleets signature, distribute its networked combat power, and reduce the requirement for L-class shipping. They must be virtually self-sufficient, leveraging a small, but diversified logistics element capable of contracting and advanced manufacturing, drawing upon pre-positioned stockpiles of all classes of supply and operating autonomous logistics resupply platforms. In their dual role as FARPs, LCTs extend the range and sortie generation of fleet rotary wing and unmanned aviation assets and their ability to penetrate an adversarys weapons engagement zone.

The Littoral Combat Group

Given the fiscal constraints of building the additional amphibious ships required to support the creation of multiple ARGs in the Pacific, a Littoral Combat Group (LCG) may provide a similar capability. A heavy variant of an LCG could be comprised of an L-Class ship and an Expeditionary Sea Base (ESB)Montford Point-class ship, supported by a composite Littoral Strike Squadron comprised of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS). These ships would embark the aforementioned littoral combat teams and their associated equipment sets. Augmenting these ships as UAS launch/recovery platforms could be Cyclone Class patrol craft and Small Water Plane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) vessels (-i.e. FSF-1), and support vessels/small craft, such asNavajo-class salvage ships, Mark VI patrol boats and Landing Craft, Utility (LCU) to aid in mobility/counter-mobility.

The purpose of these ships would be to distribute warfighting capabilities throughout the stand-in forces area of operations, with their lighter drafts permitting in-shore mobility. Lighter options for LCGs would drop the L-Class vessels, relying on an ESB, four LCS (performing various composite warfare functions) and multiple smaller support/ inshore vessels (FSF/SWATH, T-ATS, LCU x2, Mark VI x4). The LCGs would, in turn, be supported by the ARG and carrier groups operating from outside the adversarys WEZ. Survivability of these vessels within the WEZ is dependent upon coordinated efforts between the stand-in forces warfare commanders.

The Littoral Strike Squadron

Current organizational tables for the Navy are heavily reliant upon the capital ships of the Expeditionary Strike Groups and Carrier Strike Groups to provide for the defense of the Amphibious Task Force and fleet, as well as strike missions in support of fleet action. The much-maligned LCS may be an answer to the rational hesitancy to risk cruisers within an adversarys WEZ. While all naval vessels and small craft must be armed for close-in defense, (not to mention some limited offensive capability) they will still require surface and subsurface combatants to act in the role of picket ships. This Littoral Strike Squadron could be optimized with an embarked Marine Air Defense Integration System (MADIS), MAGTF Unmanned Expeditionary (MUX) UAS, and Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM) or Mine Warfare (MW) modules.

The LCS fits the role of power projection and LCG defense without the cost and risk that comes with building and employment of guided missile cruisers and destroyers. Common Unmanned Surface Vessels (CUSV), the Anti-Submarine Warfare Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV), and Orca Unmanned Undersea Vessels (UUV), coupled with the MQ-8B Fire Scout would support LCS MW and Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) missions, respectively. By operating with a diversity of unmanned platforms and electronic warfare systems, this force erodes an adversarys advantage by complicating their surveillance and targeting.

A cursory glance at the U.S. Navys list of ships and small craft reveals a shortfall in capacity and capability to support the formation of stand-in naval forces. Investment in a Heavy LCG is not insignificant, requiring multiple ship types. Given the Navys shipbuilding program focus on carriers, DDGs, and SSNs, building toward these new force packages is not a likely course of action. Light LCGs, relying on ESBs, LCSs, and smaller support vessels and craft would undoubtedly be a more economical bridging option. Additionally, employment of the U.S. Coast Guards (USCG) Long Range Interceptor (LRI) 11 andLegend-class Cutter WMSL-758 in RIMPAC and PACIFIC BLITZ exercises demonstrated those platforms and crews relevance in littoral operations. The LRI-11 and WMSL-758 should be considered for future acquisition by the U.S. Navy and (more importantly) as a USCG detachment within the LCG, given the utility of the vessels hull form and the capability the USCG brings with respect to TSC, maritime policing, and low-intensity conflict.

A final question that confronts the Naval Service is who should invest and man small craft and connectors in support of stand-in naval forces. Traditionally, with the exception of the now-deactivated Marine Small Craft Companies and 31stMEUs boat company, the Marine Corps has deferred to the Navy in the programming for and operation of small craft. Given the reliance of the LCTs on small craft for logistics and maneuver, the Naval Service would do well to revisit this situation to determine where efficiencies are to be gained (i.e. Royal Dutch Marine crews manning of surface connectors).

Conclusion

The Navy has been in this existential fight before in these very same seas. Tin Can Sailors have disrupted a more powerful fleet due to the training and leadership of its crews, as well as the enemys uncertainty as to what sort of naval force they were facing. The LCG, with that in mind, is a purpose-built Tin Can Navy; an interim solution until such time as a more operationally effective fleet is fiscally possible. It gives the Fleet a forward presence in times of peace and leading up to conflict; the ability to be present and to compete within a contested maritime environment

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The Marines' Are Preparing To Fight Near Russia And China's Borders - The National Interest Online

My dear and esteemed friend of more than 50 years, Peter White, wrote in the Globe and Mail on Nov. 9 of the dangers to Canada of too severe a criticism in English Canada of Quebecs Bill 21. This measure prohibits some categories of recently hired provincial government employees who deal with the public from wearing articles of clothing or decoration that indicate religious belief or affiliation. Government monitors may judge that such articles transgress the provinces official requirement of laicism. This could become a serious wedge between Canada and Quebec, in ways that incite pessimism in Quebec that the primarily English-speaking majority of Canada and the French-speaking majority of Quebec can durably co-exist in the same country. Lord Durham, the governor of Canada sent to investigate what to do about the Gilbert and Sullivan Mackenzie-Papineau uprisings in 1837, famously wrote in his report that Canada is two nations warring in the bosom of a single state. His solution was to unite Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and Quebec) into the so-called United Province of Canada, with English-Canadians given the mission of relieving the French of the supposed burden of being French and assimilating them to the English language.

This could become a serious wedge between Canada and Quebec

This, Durham blindly assumed, was what they wished, was the cause of the minor rebellion (little more than a few rowdies in a bar north of Toronto, and the florid tracts of some Quebec pamphleteers) and would be a form of liberation for French Canadians. Durham was quickly fired for exceeding his jurisdiction, but his report was implemented and Quebec and Ontario were united. Fortunately, the leaders of the two communities, Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine, ignored the nonsense about assimilation and worked closely together to gain responsible government legislative autonomy in everything except defence and foreign affairs and external trade, and to secularize the University of Toronto and open a great deal of land reserved to the Church of England for non-sectarian development. These were great causes in the day, and on their achievement, Baldwin and LaFontaine, having accomplished their purposes, graciously retired, selfless public servants, like Cincinnatus and Washington. Their places were shortly taken by John A. Macdonald and George-tienne Cartier and George Brown to bring on Confederation (and restore the provinces of Quebec and Ontario).

Confederation accorded authority over property and civil rights to the provinces and ever since there have been frictions intermittently over the English Common Law defence of individual rights and the French Civil Law tradition of putting the collective rights of society on vital issues ahead of the rights of individuals, which are otherwise as respected as they are in common law jurisdictions. The Anglo-Saxon view that rights must be universal to individuals, even opposite the state, other than in extreme and temporary emergencies, sometimes collides with the Quebec traditional view that it is nonsense to allow official promotion of rights to be abused by people who agitate for systems of belief and government that suppress rights. This issue arose with Quebec premier Maurice Duplessis Padlock Law, which allowed the provincial police to close buildings where communist literature was published for up to a year and impound subversive materials. It was a publicity stunt that was only resorted to a few times between its adoption in 1937 and the determination by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1957 that while it was within the provincial jurisdiction of civil rights, it trespassed in the federal jurisdiction of criminal law (although the penalties involved did not extend to imprisonment and the offence was not designated a crime).

It is, on its face, outrageous to allow government officials to prohibit individuals from wearing any religious symbolism

Bill 21 revives such questions, though not the criminal aspect and there is no window to attack it on the basis of jurisdiction; Quebec is acting within its constitutional rights. But it is, on its face, outrageous to allow government officials to prohibit individuals from wearing any religious symbolism: a cross, star of David, scimitar, female head coverings while leaving the face visible. It is a gratuitous and unjustified restriction of individual rights, use of property, freedom of expression and exercise of constitutionally guarantied rights of religious practice. It is generally conceded that public security requires that all people be identifiable in public, but this measure is objectively oppressive.

But there is more to it than the traditional Quebec legal and philosophical treatment of rights. Quebec is now, for reasons that are unclear, but cyclical, at the peak of its denial of its Roman Catholic past. When the British army defeated the French army (narrowly) in the North American theatre of the Seven Years War, (1756-1763; Canadians, English or French, have never been conquered by anyone), all the French departed except the clergy. The Roman Catholic Church is almost solely responsible for the survival of the French culture in Canada from 1763 to the end of the Second World War. Then Duplessis government maintained clerical personnel in the schools and hospitals at low pay levels (compared with secular jurisdictions), kept taxes low, budgets in surplus, and devoted most of the budget to infrastructure and school and university construction. Quebec became a modern state with a standard of living comparable to Ontarios. And the proverbially high Quebec birthrate in the times before oral contraception maintained Quebecs relative demographic importance in Canada despite heavier immigration to Ontario and the far West.

With the change of government in 1960 following the death of Duplessis and his successor, Paul Sauv, the schools and hospitals soon had the same people performing the same vital functions in the education and health-care systems, but as secular employees at much greater cost to the taxpayers and with much more disturbed industrial relations, necessitating much higher taxes and large deficits. The unborn children who were the consequence of the collapsed birthrate were replaced by immigration from Haiti, Morocco and Lebanon, but they were more multicultural or Canadian in their perspectives than Quebecers, and were less susceptible to the appeal of Quebec nationalism than were native Qubcois. It was reform, but it was not, objectively, a great public policy improvement in its results. However the entire mythos of modern Quebec is based on the agreed upon fiction that Quebec has liberated itself from a dark age (hence the rubbish about la grande noirceur). In fact, social and economic progress was much greater between 1945 and 1960 than since then, but that is a psychologically unbearable contradiction of a necessary historical invention. Quebec was priest-ridden and narrow-minded, but it was very focused and successful.

Bill 21 is mainly a group affirmation of the triumph of atheism in Quebec

Bill 21 is partly a reaction to Islamist annoyances, but it is mainly a group affirmation of the triumph of atheism in Quebec. History indicates that that may not always be considered a liberation; religious practice fluctuates and has never been durably eradicated. But since the entire society is invested in the liberation myth, too much hostility from English Canada, and especially the federal government, could, as Peter White wrote, be dangerous for Canada. That is particularly true as the Trudeau governments war against Alberta and the oil industry continues, and as Alberta contemplates a provincial constitution (as Quebec possesses), disassociation from many shared programs including police and tax collection (as in Quebec), and the right to petition for a referendum on continued participation in Canada (as Quebec has held twice).

In the past five years Quebec has been by some margin the most prudently and successfully managed jurisdiction in Canada and has a better economic growth rate and lower unemployment rate than the rest of Canada. In both Quebec and Alberta, irritation with overbearing federalism and the promise of a better fiscal regime could combine to feed secessionist sentiment. This is no time for Canadian federalists to tell the government of Quebec how it should exercise its constitutional rights, even though Bill 21 is an irritating act of authoritarian myth-making and a churlish manifestation of psycho-historical reaction.

Email: cmbletters@gmail.com

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Conrad Black: Bill 21 is an outrage, but Canada must tread carefully - National Post

By RICK BRUNDRETT

As state agencies prepare their proposed fiscal 2020-21 budgets, what they likely wont reveal is the amount of other fund surpluses carried over year after year collectively billions of dollars.

As of June 30 the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year state agencies and divisions, plus several major state funds, had a total of nearly $3.9 billion in other-fund cash balances, according to S.C. Department of Administration records released to The Nerve under the Freedom of Information Act.

That amount works to be roughly $752 for every man, woman and child in South Carolina.

Since the end of fiscal year 2015, the total amount of year-end, other-fund surpluses has grown by more than $1.1 billion, or 43%, The Nerves review found.

Other funds include such things as fees and fines, college tuition, lottery proceeds, state gasoline taxes and a portion of the state sales tax earmarked for K-12 education. That money makes up nearly $12 billion, or about 40%, of the states total $30 billion state budget for this fiscal year, which includes state ($9.2 billion) and federal ($8.8 billion) funds.

The Nerve over the years has reported about massive other-fund surpluses. And that doesnt include state agency general-fund reserves.

The Nerve last month reported that state agencies had a collective $431.9 million in general fund reserves at the start of this fiscal year, according to state Comptroller General Richard Eckstroms 2018-19 year-end report.

That amount was nearly $53 million more and $280.3 million more than the balances of the states general and capital reserve funds, respectively the two big rainy day funds required by the S.C. Constitution as of June 30.

Lawmakers also have been squirreling away plenty of money for their respective legislative chambers. The Senate and House chambers had other fund reserves of $726,713 and $247,024, respectively, at the end of last fiscal year, Department of Administration records show on top of massive general-fund surpluses $23.4 million for the House and $5.2 million for the Senate as The Nerve reported last month.

Few surplus funds are ever refunded to S.C. taxpayers, however. For this fiscal year, lawmakers designated $61.4 million generated by a one-time lottery jackpot to be returned to eligible taxpayers; $50 refund checks are scheduled to be mailed on Dec. 2, according to Eckstroms report.

As for other fund surpluses, the state Department of Transportation easily led all state agencies in The Nerves latest review with a collective $1 billion in reserves at the end of last fiscal year a hike of $685.3 million since the end of fiscal 2015.

Its not clear whether the $1 billion surplus included reserves in a special state fund created with the gas-tax-hike law that took effect July 1, 2017. DOT spokesman Pete Poore did not respond to written questions this week from The Nerve.

The Nerve has repeatedly pointed out that DOT has spent relatively little from the special fund, known as the Infrastructure Maintenance Trust Fund. As of Aug. 31, the cash balance in the fund stood at $451.7 million, or 54.5% of the $828.1 million in collected revenues under the gas-tax-hike law, which raised the state gas tax 12 cents per gallon over six years, and increased other vehicle taxes and fees.

In passing the law, legislators promised that the revenues would be used to fix the states crumbling roads and bridges. But relatively few major road repair or reconstruction projects have been completed, as The Nerve has reported since the law took effect.

Besides state agency surpluses, Department of Administration records recently released to The Nerve also show large other-fund reserves in several major funds, including country transportation funds. Under state law, county legislative delegations appoint County Transportation Committees (CTCs) that approve local road projects with C funds, which come from part of the state gas tax.

The statewide surplus in those funds totaled $165.1 million at the end of last fiscal year.

Following is a list of the top-10 largest other-fund reserves as of June 30, according to Department of Administration records:

Besides DOT, The Nerve this week sent written questions to the Department of Administration, STIB, Commerce, Clemson and USC about their other fund surpluses. Commerce, Clemson and USC spokespersons didnt reply by publication of this story.

In an email response Tuesday, STIB spokeswoman Tami Reed said the $91.7 million other-fund surplus for the agency as of June 30 included the balance in the Act 98 account for Act 98 projects (until balance is exhausted), and our operating fund for payments on all other projects and the administration of the Bank.

Under Act 98 of 2013, $50 million was transferred annually from the DOT to the STIB to finance bridge replacements, and rehabilitation projects, and expansion and improvement projects for existing mainline interstates, according to STIBs website. Over the years, the STIB funneled several billion dollars to large construction projects in select counties.

The Department of Administration had an $84.5 million cash balance at the end of fiscal 2019, the majority of which, according to agency spokeswoman Kelly Coakley, is designated for improving K-12 school technology and other technology programs, replacing state vehicles, and distributing funds from the sale of surplus state property.

Still, the departments other fund reserves grew by nearly 19% since the end of fiscal year 2016 a trend shared by most state agencies, The Nerves review found.

Brundrett is the news editor of The Nerve (www.thenerve.org). Contact him at 803-254-4411 or rick@thenerve.org. Follow him on Twitter @RickBrundrett. Follow The Nerve on Facebook and Twitter @thenervesc.

Nervestories are free to reprint and repost with permission by and credit to The Nerve.

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