Category Archives: Fiscal Freedom

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement SWAT Public Domain, Link

March 9, 2017; Washington Post

Immigration courts are buckling under a backlog of more than 540,000 cases, and in lockstep with the unstaunched refugee crisis coupled with soaring immigration bond prices, there is no mystery as to how 350,000-plus detainees (asylum seekers, visa violators and those charged with crimes) wound up swelling ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) facilities between Oct. 1, 2015, and Sept. 30, 2016.

This federal fiscal year, President Trumps comfortless border security policies are going to give a huge bump to those numbers if his administrations simple and single-minded plans are implemented in full force. When it comes to protecting the rights of hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants and other detainees, theres no one guarding this ICE henhouse. Very few among the imprisoned can afford to post their own bonds, and other undocumented immigrants face detainment if they attempt to pay on their behalf. However, now comes Libre by Nexus, exacting pounds of flesh in exchange for freedom and a GPS tracking device.

Libre (free in Spanish) by Nexus is a middleman connecting desperate detainees to bail bond companies who front a percentage of the bond in surety to the government, securing detainee release pending resolution of forestalled court proceedingswhich may be years off and counting. Detainees can rarely afford their own bail nor have substantial collateral like houses or other property to put up for bail bond companies.

Libre by Nexus was formed in 2013 by two highly seasoned check-kiting felons, chief executive Micheal Donovan and his husband Richard Moore. They had a long history of leaving large bills unpaid, highlighted by Donovans 1999 plea to eight felonies for ripping off four Northern Virginia hotels, which led to time served of seven months after Donovan failed to pay a $45,000 bond. Accordingly, Libre by Nexus cant act directly as bail bondsmen because of the founders felony convictions.

Of particular interest to NPQ readers, the pair claimed that Project Nexus, a former venture assisting general population criminal defendants, was a nonprofit organization, though Libre by Nexus staff concede it was never registered as such. Their new business model, though, is highly profitable, as is always the case when customers have no other choicespend bottomless time in insufferable ICE facilities, or pay twenty percent of the immigration bond plus fees, as well as $14 per day for the privilege of donning an uncomfortable and discomfiting GPS tracker on their ankle.

Detainees released with Libre by Nexuss help claim their contracts come with verbal threats of return to ICE facilities if they dont pay the $420 per month for the GPS tracking devices, the equivalent cost of leasing a car. There have been cases of burns and other injuries from the GPS devices, and also claims of usury, as clients who have spent sizable sums to repay Libre by Nexus for the cost of the bond find they have made little headway in reducing the principal.

Donovan paints a different picturethat of a benevolent service provider stepping in where detainees have no other means of obtaining freedom. I care about our clients, he says. It would be awesome to not have to charge them any money, but thats not really the system we live in. He denies threats of re-detention, states that detainees are offered contracts in their native language, and promises the tracking devices are safe and a good deal.

On the last part, at least the numbers tell a different storyBI, a company that contracts directly with ICE, charges the government $4.41 per immigrant per day for the same service, a $50 million dollar annual expense for the agency. Court documents show Libre by Nexus rents the tracking devices for merely $3 per day, which is a lowball figure according to the company, though it wont disclose a countervailing figureperhaps because there isnt one.

These numbers and stories of woe shed light on Libre by Nexuss seemingly predatory enterprise, whose success will likely breed competitors to step in and share the spoils. Libre by Nexus has found practically free money, with nearly 13,000 customers to date and more than $30 million in annual revenues, with 200 employees scattered over 30 offices, including one in El Salvador. Donovan plans to hire at least 150 additional employees this year and expects his client list to double. Donovan and Moore were once lobbyists for bail bond companies, seeking to enact legislation in Virginia and Colorado (under the euphonious Safe Streets Colorado slogan) that would limit programs for and rights of criminal defendants in favor of bail bondsmens bottom lines (both efforts fell flat). Now, former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott is a lobbyist for their company.

Donovan attests to his efforts in support of immigration reform, including seeking protection for dreamers. Donovan states, I employ lobbyists every day that seek to pass legislation that would put us out of businessIm a bit of an enigma that way. More likely, this is a deliberately fashioned front in support of his underlying business model, knowing full well that there is little chance reform will occur against the current headwinds.Louis Altman

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Freedom's Just Another Word for $14 a Day - The Nonprofit Quarterly (registration)

FAYETTEVILLE -- Lawyers for a Christian college at the center of a kickback scheme want a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the school thrown out.

Arkansas legislators gave nearly $700,000 in public funds to help the private Ecclesia College buy almost 50 acres in Benton County. The lawsuit seeks information from the college about the state money.

Ecclesia's receipt of the grant money entered the spotlight after former state Rep. Micah Neal, R-Springdale, pleaded guilty in federal court Jan. 4 to taking a pair of kickbacks totaling $38,000 for helping two entities receive grants through the state's General Improvement Fund.

Former state Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, has since been indicted on 11 counts of honest services wire fraud, one count of honest services mail fraud and one count of money laundering in the case.

Also indicted in the kickback scheme are the college's president, Oren Paris III of Springdale, and Randell Shelton Jr. of Alma, a consultant. Each was indicted on nine counts of honest services wire fraud and one count of honest services mail fraud.

The General Improvement Fund consists of unallocated state funds at the end of each fiscal year and interest earned on state deposits.

The money is passed to the state's eight economic development districts for distribution to nonprofit groups or government entities. The beneficiaries are essentially decided by the lawmakers who direct the development districts where to send the funds, according to district directors and lawmakers.

The lawsuit against the school, filed in Washington County Circuit Court on behalf of Jim Parsons of Bella Vista, contends that private organizations that receive public money, engage in activities that are of public interest, carry on work that is intertwined with that of a government body or receive grants to promote economic development are subject to the requirements of the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Parsons is chairman of the Benton County chapter of the Transparency in Government Group. He said he's a former Ecclesia board member and faculty member.

The lawsuit asks a judge to order Ecclesia to make the documents available.

The motion to dismiss filed Wednesday said Parsons' complaint is moot because a judge didn't hear it within seven days, which the motion says is required by state law. The complaint was filed Feb. 9 and was assigned to Circuit Judge John Threet.

"Defendant Ecclesia, Inc. prays for an order of the court finding that plaintiff's complaint is time-barred...and that, therefore, defendant has substantially prevailed in the action," according to the motion to dismiss filed by attorney Travis Storey.

The motion also seeks attorneys' fees.

Attorneys for Parsons said state law does not require an expedited hearing..

"Ecclesia's motion is just a tactic to stop from complying with [the Freedom of Information Act]. We are confident that the circuit court will agree," attorney Chip Sexton III said in an email. "Ecclesia's motion doesn't cite even a single case in support of its bizarre argument. And, there is absolutely no authority for the proposition that a [Freedom of Information Act] complaint that isn't heard within seven days must be dismissed."

Sexton said state law allows either side to request an expedited hearing in writing but neither side chose to do so.

Sexton said they did not request a hearing because of concerns that the seven-day time period violates the separation of powers doctrine. The Arkansas Constitution provides that the state Supreme Court has the exclusive power to write the procedural rules that apply in this type of case, and the seven-day expedited process was written by the Legislature, Sexton said.

Ecclesia officials also declined a Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette request in early February to release documents related to its receipt and expenditure of General Improvement Fund money, claiming the school is a private entity and therefore not required to release the documents under the Freedom of Information Act.

Metro on 03/11/2017

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Ecclesia asks judge to toss records suit - Arkansas Online

The White House is not ruling out altering a Republican-crafted health care overhaul measure by accelerating a Medicaid expansion roll back, a move that could garner more conservative votes, although it could jeopardize support from GOP moderates and senators from states who have used the program to cover the uninsured.

The bill, which has been approved by two key House committees, would nix the 2010 health laws expansion of the entitlement program in 2020. Thats not soon enough for many House conservatives, and a reason why the White House and GOP leaders appear to lack the 218 votes needed to send the overhaul measure to the Senate.

Right now, the date thats in the bill is what the president supports, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters Friday. But President Donald Trump is willing to listen to other ideas, his top spokesman said.

The presidents also been very clear through all of the discussions... that as he meets with members of Congress and outside groups, that if someones got an idea that can make this legislation more accessible, give more choice to the American people, drive down costs, make it more patient-centric, Spicer said, he wants to listen to it.

[On Paper, Trumps First 50 Days Resemble Previous Presidents]

Both the House Freedom Caucus and Republican Study Committee have called for the change.

Earlier Friday, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy pushed back, saying, right now, that would be very difficult to do.

Most of the action between the White House and Congress in recent weeks has focused on the health care overhaul push. But that wasnt all on the agenda at Fridays briefing.

The administration wants to finalize its fiscal 2018 budget request, then use that to inform talks with Capitol Hill about funding the government for the rest of the current fiscal year. Stop-gap funding for fiscal 2017 currently expires April 28.

They go hand-in-hand. You need to close our FY-17, then our budget lays out where we want to go FY-18, Spicer said in response to a question from CQ Roll Call. And I think once we have a handle on FY-18, we can start to backfill 2017.

[(VIDEO)White House Watch: Three Things to Watch as Trump Navigates Health Debate]

Steve Bell, a former Senate aide now with the Bipartisan Policy Center, puts ehe odds of a late-April shutdown at 50-50.

Much depends upon the size of the anticipated defense/security supplemental which would increase deficits unless all of the reported $30 billion is [overseas contingency operations monies] or emergency, Bell said Friday.

If deficit hawks hold their noses and vote to extend the debt limit, and vote for repeal and replace even if it increases deficit/debt, Bell said, then it might be hard to get them to vote for large deficits that will be contained in the FY-17 appropriations bills.

Spicer also was posed several questions about whether Trump knew that his former national security adviser, Michael Flynn, needed to be registered as a foreign agent over work he did on behalf of the Turkish government.

He replied that, legally, it was up to Flynn to register himself.

We did the right thing then when Trump transition officials, prior to taking office, directed Flynn to take the information to the right lawyers, Spicer said. He declined again to say whether Trump would have hired him had he known.

Finally, Spicer confirmed that Trump has invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House. He did not say whether Abbas has accepted, nor when the visit might take place.

Joe Williams contributed to this report.

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Trump Open to Earlier Freeze of Medicaid Expansion - Roll Call

Republicans hold a majority in Congress, but are now at odds over how to fulfill one of their biggest campaign promises: repealing and replacing Obamacare.

Conservatives from the small-government wing are leading the opposition, but concerns are also coming from more moderate Republicans worried about healthcare disruptions for those now covered by the Affordable Care Act.

The GOP can lose no more than about 20 votes in the House and two in the Senate to pass the bill, assuming all Democrats vote against it. But already many Republicans are voicing reservations.

Here are some of the GOP lawmakers who could determine the fate of the repeal-and-replace bill.

Meadows is the chairman of the conservative Freedom Caucus. Like many small-government proponents, he does not think the GOP bill goes far enough in dismantling Obamacare, particularly its insurance mandates, federal subsidies for low- and moderate-income people and expansion of Medicaid. With about 30 members, the secretive caucus has enough votes to stop the bill.

Jordan has been one of the most outspoken voices opposing Obamacare. As a founding member of the Freedom Caucus, he also favors repealing Obamacare entirely, and reintroduced a 2015 bill with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to do just that. Then he wants to start from scratch on a replacement plan. He and other deficit hawks are particularly opposed to the new tax credits created in the GOP plan.

Brats concern is that the president is being sold a little bit of spin on repeal, and worries that elements of Obamacare remain. He says the GOP bill swaps one federal subsidy system for another and retains insurance rules that will not lower costs. It will not go well for the next eight years.

Labrador is among those taking his concerns to the White House, believing hell have a better audience with the administration than House leadership. Trump has generally endorsed the GOP plan, but he has also characterized it as a starting point for negotiations. Fiscal conservatives such as Labrador sense an opening.

Cotton, a newer but increasingly vocal senator, urged his House colleagues to abandon the arbitrary deadline they have set for themselves or risk appearing to repeal Obamacare in the same aggressive, partisan manner it was approved by Democrats. He said lawmakers should await the cost analysis by the Congressional Budget Office.

Paul is leading the Senate opposition, working closely with House conservatives. An ophthalmologist, he opposes federal subsidies to buy insurance and has offered his own replacement bill. Lets vote on all the replacement plans and see what happens.

Lee joined Paul in early opposition to the House plan, and has been particularly critical of GOP leaders for engaging in the type of back-room dealing that produced the bill and is now pushing it to a vote. Quieter than many colleagues, he is among the most conservative in the Senate, making him influential in and out of Washington.

Cruz is emerging as a possible deal-maker, shuttling back and forth between House and Senate conservatives and dinner with Trump at the White House. He opposes the House bill, but wants to address Freedom Caucus concerns and make sure Republicans dont miss this opportunity to get a bill to the presidents desk.

Collins is among the more moderate Republicans, but represents a growing flank of GOP senators concerned that patients will lose healthcare options, particularly with the House GOPs elimination of Planned Parenthood funds. Why should those women have to change doctors? she told Katie Couric at Yahoo News. That doesnt make sense.

Portman is among a group of four GOP senators who raised early concerns about reducing federal funds for states that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare. After a meeting this week with Vice President Mike Pence, he appeared no closer to supporting the GOP bill. We all share the goal of repealing and replacing Obamacare with a better plan, he said. I will continue to work with the administration and my colleagues to address these concerns.

lisa.mascaro@latimes.com

Twitter: @LisaMascaro

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Republicans unveil plan to repeal and replace Obamacare amid conflicting pressures

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Voices of internal opposition: These Republicans could tank the GOP Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill - Los Angeles Times

Rev. CJ Rhodes, Guest Columnist 2:54 p.m. CT March 10, 2017

The Rev. CJ Rhodes(Photo: File photo)

Clergy for Prison Reform applauds the Mississippi Legislature for its continued efforts to improve the criminal justice system in our state. Over the last several years, lawmakers have demonstrated courageousness by enacting common sense laws that focus on morality, not just money. As citizens, we have been proud to boast about the Mississippi criminal justice reforms, setting an example for other Southern states. Yet, there remains work to be done.

Since its inception in March 2015, CPR has advocated for a more holistic and humane approach to incarceration and remediation. A diverse group of Christian pastors and community leaders representing theological and political conservatives, moderates, progressives and Libertarians join hands and hearts to advocate for a system that considers both the human and fiscal cost of an unjust criminal justice system.

On Tuesday, CPR held its second annual Policy Summit at the state Capitol, where members of the clergy from across the Mississippi advanced CPRs 2017 policy platform. We urged the Legislature to consider the following:

Mississippians suffering from drug addiction and mental illness do not belong in prison. CPR supports the reclassification of low-level simple drug possession as a misdemeanor and other measures that focus on rehabilitation and healing over incarceration. CPR supports the use of prison alternatives, such as drug courts, for those convicted of nonviolent offenses.

Mississippi should reform its habitual offender statute to ensure nonviolent offenders do not spend the rest of their lives behind bars. CPR supports limiting the crimes that trigger sentencing enhancements. A defendants sentence should only be enhanced under the most serious circumstances where there are multiple convictions for crimes of violence. CPR supports redemption and forgiveness for all of Gods children. A persons mistakes should not follow them for the rest of their lives. CPR also supports the creation of a cleansing period for prior convictions after a period of time following the persons reentry into society, as well as not allowing past juvenile convictions to trigger longer prison stays as an adult.

Mississippi must pass state legislation to end the operation of debtors prisons. CPR supports bail reform because individuals should not lose their freedom simply because they are too poor to afford bail or other court fines and fees.

Mississippians deserve a chance for redemption and an opportunity to fulfill Gods purpose for their lives. CPR supports expanding parole eligibility to individuals who do not have a history of violence and have served a significant portion of their sentence.

As citizens of this great state and religious leaders in our communities, we will continue striving for better ways to reduce crime, recidivism and community disintegration which will include actively engaging with the legislative process. This issue extends beyond the criminal justice system. Adequate education, community investment, economic opportunities and spiritual and moral formation, among other things, are necessary elements in holistic criminal justice reform.

This is not simply about math it is about Gods men, women and children. We are grateful for the Legislatures commitment to improving communities and furthering justice, and we pray that this will be an opportunity to build on previous gains made by our state. Ultimately, we must extend the same love, forgiveness and opportunities for redemption to others as he has done for us.

Rehabilitating incarcerated people makes moral and fiscal sense. We have proven we can lower the prison population while preserving public safety. Legislators have an opportunity to directly impact the lives of tens of thousands of Mississippians.

We are moving in the right direction, but there is much more to be done. We must push forward. CPR has faith that Mississippis political leadership will make the right decision they will put Gods people before politics.

The Rev. CJ Rhodes is president of Clergy for Prison Reform and pastor at Mount Helm Baptist Church.

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Celebrate prison reform, yet push forward - Jackson Clarion Ledger

Tennessee is one of the nine states that significantly cut taxes in the 2016 legislative session, according to an annual report released last week by the American Legislative Exchange Councils Center for State Fiscal Reform.

In the ALEC news release, Johnathan Williams, chief economist and vice president of the Center for State Fiscal Reform, said that Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Utah were also highlighted for enacting changes that provided substantial taxpayer relief.

While hardworking American taxpayers have painstakingly waited 30 years for comprehensive tax reform at the federal level, states continue to take the lead by providing meaningful tax relief, he said.

Of the nine states, Mississippi, Florida, New York and Tennessee achieved landmark tax relief during their 2016 legislative sessions.

The report said Tennessees recent phase-outs of the death tax and Hall income tax the 6-percent tax on interest from savings, notes, stocks and bonds, which will be phased-out by one percent each year until its complete elimination in 2022 will likely heighten the states prosperity, based on evidence from other no-income states.

As Tennessee lawmakers are already considering ways to further provide taxpayer relief in the 2017 legislative session, the report pointed out that the burden of taxation can be successfully minimized by enacting a principled tax system that isnt aimed at class warfare or social engineering.

Tax reform may have stalled out on the federal level, but these nine states took a step in the right direction, Joel Griffith, director of the Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force at ALEC, added in the release. After all, states with lower tax burdens and more economic freedom regularly outperform their higher tax and more restrictive counterparts. Legislators successfully implementing pro-growth tax cuts are leading the way for others.

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Tennessee highlighted for 2016 tax cuts - Maryville Daily Times

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's Pruitts vow to empower the people means empowering corporations, and his claim that his agency will advance freedom is really about advancing the freedom to pollute.

Some governors and other state officials seem more interested in protecting polluters than their own citizens just one of a host of reasons why the Environmental Protection Agency needs more resources, not less, argues Elliott Negin. (Image by AK Rockefeller/ flickr CC 2.0)

A version of this post originally appeared at The Huffington Post.

During his nationally televised speech before Congress last week, President Trump vowed to promote clean air and clean water.

BY Bill Moyers | January 31, 2017

Is that right, Mr. President? Then why is your administration proposing to slash as much as 25 percent of the Environmental Protection Agencys current budget and cut its staff by 20 percent? That would cripple environmental safeguards, jeopardize public health and put future generations at risk.

The EPA has made remarkable progress cleaning up air and water pollution since its inception in 1970, but there is still more work to do. In 2015 alone, polluters dumped more than 190 million tons of toxic chemicals into waterways nationwide; at least 5,000 community drinking-water systems violated federal lead regulations; and some 116 million Americans lived in counties with harmful levels of ozone or particle pollution, which have been linked to lung cancer, asthma, cardiovascular damage, reproductive problems and premature death.

If anything, the environmental challenges of today suggest that the EPA needs more money and staffing to carry out its congressionally mandated mission, especially since Congress has already reduced its budget between fiscal years 2010 and 2016 by 28 percent in real dollars to $8.14 billion, a paltry 0.2 percent of the projected $4 trillion fiscal year 2017 federal budget.

Can state environmental agencies really compensate for an eviscerated EPA? The experts say no.

For his part, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt doesnt seem particularly fazed by the prospect of his agency having to make do with lot less, claiming that state environmental agencies can pick up the slack. As he explained during his Senate confirmation hearing in mid-January, he believes state regulators oftentimes best understand the local needs and the uniqueness of our environmental challenges, and, as far as hes concerned, they should shoulder the primary responsibility for enforcing the law.

But can state environmental agencies really compensate for an eviscerated EPA?

The experts say no.

States Rely on EPA Assistance

If anyone understands the relationship between the EPA and state environmental agencies, its Carol Browner, who served as EPA administrator during the Clinton administration after running Floridas Department of Environmental Regulation. State agencies, she says, are simply not equipped to take on the burden of federal functions.

State agencies play an important role in protecting their citizens from dangerous pollution, she said. But they cant do the job alone. They rely on the EPAs expert analysis and support to set and enforce pollution standards. Many states would not have the resources to replace the EPA work on which they rely.

What does that mean in practice?

I put that question to Ellen Gilinsky, who spent the last six years as an EPA water program policy adviser. Before joining the EPA, she was director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Qualitys water program.

States totally depend on the grants they get under the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act [and other federal environmental laws], Gilinsky said. Fifty to 60 percent of the funds for the Virginia water program came from the EPA. If we had doubled our permit fees to help fund our water program, we still wouldnt have covered the cost. And if we had, the business community would not have appreciated higher permit fees.

The EPA provides more than just money. It provides supporting information, new technology evaluations, training materials and other expertise.

The EPA provides more than just money, she added. It provides supporting information, new technology evaluations, training materials and other expertise. The EPA water division, for example, offers a permit writing training course for state workers. EPA experts train them. States dont have the wherewithal to provide training.

Ken Kimmell, who ran the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (Mass DEP) before becoming president of the Union of Concerned Scientists in 2014, also stresses the importance of EPA technical assistance, as well as its state grants, which comprise a significant chunk of the agencys annual expenditures. In fiscal year 2016, those grants amounted to nearly 45 percent of the agencys budget.

Having served as a state environmental commissioner, I know from personal experience that state environmental agencies are already strapped, Kimmell wrote in a recent blog post. They typically lack the technical experts employed at the EPA, and stand in no position to take on additional enforcement responsibilities shed by the EPA.

Mass DEPs staff was cut nearly in half between 2002 and 2012 due to budget cuts, even as the agencys responsibilities grew, Kimmell continued. That occurred in a state well known for its strong commitment to environmental protection. As a result, my agency was forced to cut back on important and effective programs, such as water sampling to locate sources of bacteria that pollute rivers. If the EPAs budget is cut, it will mean even fewer resources for states, because states now receive a significant share of the EPAs budget to cover enforcement activities.

Massachusetts isnt the only state that has had to tighten its belt. Forty state environmental agencies have reduced staff in recent years, according to an October 2016 report by the Center for Public Integrity. Since 2007, staffing at environmental agencies in Illinois and Arizona dropped by more than a third, in New York by nearly a quarter and in Michigan and Florida by a fifth.

With state cutbacks like those, theres a clear need for more support from the EPA, not less. But EPAs staff has shrunk by 10 percent over the last decade, from 17,000 in 2007 to about 15,000 today, and President Trumps proposed budget would reduce it by another 20 percent, to about 12,000. It hasnt been that small since the mid-1980s. By comparison, nearly 100,000 people work at the Agriculture Department, nearly 47,000 are at the Commerce Department and nearly 78,000 are at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Pollution Ignores State Boundaries

Another reason why state environmental agencies depend on the EPA is because, as Delaware Sen. Tom Carper painstakingly explained during Pruitts confirmation hearing, pollution does not honor political boundaries.

Delaware, like many states on the East Coast, sits at the end of what is known as Americas tailpipe, Carper said. Ninety percent of the air pollution in Delaware comes from outside of the First State, from power plants hundreds of miles away in places like Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and across the Midwest. As governor of Delaware, if I had eliminated every source of air pollution within my state, stopped every combustion source and ordered every motor vehicle off the roads, Delaware would still have faced deadly doses of air pollution.

Corporations may own polluting facilities in several states or a facility that emits pollutants into several states, making it difficult for a lone state agency to police them.

Moreover, corporations may own polluting facilities in several states or a facility that emits pollutants into several states, making it difficult for a lone state agency to police them.

Electric utilities, oil refineries and retailers like Walmart are all national companies, said Eric Schaeffer, director of EPA enforcement from 1997 to 2002. Only the federal government can deal with them. Take a BP refinery [in Indiana or Ohio]. It is polluting in more than one state. When the EPA takes enforcement action against a refinery, Schaeffer explained, states could be assured that refineries in other states were being treated the same way for the same violations.

Meanwhile, Walmart the nations biggest retailer had a consistent pattern of stormwater violations in a number of states, said Schaeffer, now executive director of the Environmental Integrity Project. It makes sense to deal with the company nationally. Why leave underfunded state agencies to deal with [Walmart] when you have these violations across the country? If you leave it to state agencies, companies can evade prosecution in states that dont have the ability to enforce the law.

Schaeffer also pointed out that states have little incentive to take action against major polluters within their own borders if their emissions wind up somewhere else.

You wont see a state agency, say in Ohio, bring an enforcement action against a large coal-fired power plant, he explained. It is not just a job issue. The bulk of the pollution from the coal plant is likely going into Pennsylvania, so you wont see Ohio sue. Thats why, Schaeffer said, its a good thing to have the feds come in from the outside to enforce environmental laws. Having the EPA standing behind state environmental agencies gives them leverage to negotiate with violators. States can say to a polluter: Either deal with us or with the EPA.

State Environmental Agencies Under Siege

To make matters worse, some governors and other state officials seem more interested in protecting polluters than their own citizens.

Florida is a prime example. Over the last six years, Gov. Rick Scott has ripped the states Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to shreds. When he ran for reelection in 2014, the Tampa Bay Times ran a scathing editorial calling his first term an environmental disaster.

Scott has bulldozed a record of environmental protection that his Republican and Democratic predecessors spent decades building, the editorial said. He weakened the enforcement of environmental laws and cut support for clean water, conservation and other programs. He simultaneously made it easier for the biggest polluters and private industries to degrade the states natural resources.

BY John Light | February 3, 2017

But Scott did much more than just weaken enforcement. He virtually eliminated it. In 2015, the Florida DEP opened 81 percent fewer enforcement cases than in 2010, according to an analysis of state records by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Case outcomes, meanwhile, were worse than in nearly any previous year. The Florida DEP collected the lowest number of fines in 28 years, PEER found and assessed no penalties in a third of the cases.

In Florida, polluters do not need a Get Out of Jail Free card because few pay any fine and virtually none risk going to jail no matter how egregious the environmental offense, Florida PEER Director Jerry Phillips, a former Florida DEP enforcement attorney who conducted the analysis, said in a press release. Under Gov. Scott, DEP staff are strongly discouraged from bringing enforcement actions and the plummeting numbers reflect it.

Despite the DEPs sorry record under Scott, a freshman US Representative from Florida, Matt Gaetz, introduced legislation in early February that would eliminate the EPA by the end of 2018 and devolve its responsibilities to state environmental agencies. Like Pruitt, Gaetz maintains that states and local communities are best positioned to responsibly regulate the environmental assets within their jurisdictions.

Of all people, Gaetz should know better. Before winning a seat in the US House of Representatives last fall, he served in the Florida Legislature, taking office in 2011 the same year Scott became governor. He had a ringside seat when Scott took an ax to the DEP.

Pruitt also should be well aware that a governor or other state officials, for that matter can run roughshod over environmental protections. After all, he did it himself.

Pruitt also should be well aware that a governor or other state officials, for that matter can run roughshod over environmental protections. After all, he did it himself.

As Oklahomas attorney general between 2011 and 2016, Pruitt dismantled his offices Environmental Protection Unit, halted efforts to reduce poultry manure in Oklahoma waterways, and sued the EPA 14 times to block stronger air, water and climate safeguards, including standards that would reduce regional smog and airborne mercury pollution.

Pruitt also stood idly by while hydraulic fracturing made Oklahoma the most earthquake-ravaged state in the country. Although Pruitts office does not regulate oil and gas development, he could have intervened to protect residents, for example, when their insurance claims were denied. And like Pennsylvanias attorney general, he could have investigated and prosecuted frackers for violating environmental laws and polluting the water supply. He did nothing.

Florida and Oklahoma are hardly exceptions. A number of other states have caved to polluters at the expense of public health. For example:

Americans Want a Strong EPA

Recent polls indicate that a majority of Americans support a robust federal environmental regulator and stricter environmental safeguards. According to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion survey released in mid-January, more than 60 percent of Americans want the EPAs authority preserved or strengthened under the Trump administration. Interestingly, nearly half of the respondents who identified themselves as Republican 47 percent agreed that the EPA should either remain the same or be strengthened or expanded. Meanwhile, a December 2016 poll conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 59 percent of Americans believe stronger environmental regulations are worth the cost.

Pruitt seemed to acknowledge that Americans want a clean environment during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference late last month. People across the country, he said, care about the air they breathe and they care about the water they drink and we are going to be partners with these individuals, not adversaries. He then went on to say: We are going to restore power back to the people. We are going to recognize the regulatory uncertainty and the regulatory state needs to be reined in, were going to make sure states are recognized for the authority they have, and we are going to do the work thats important to advance freedom and liberty for the future.

The administrations plan to wreck the EPA, however, belies Pruitts populist rhetoric. Reading between the lines, Pruitts vow to empower the people really means empowering corporations, which, after all, are considered people under the law. And when he says his agency is going to advance freedom, hes really talking about advancing the freedom to pollute.

How patriotic.

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Gutting EPA's Budget and Staff Would Endanger the Health of Millions of Americans - BillMoyers.com

A new amendment to a bill modifying how annual property tax increases are calculated would eventually create a flat tax increase of 3 percent a year for residential properties.

The Nevada Association of Counties presented the bill on Thursday to the Assembly Committee on Taxation, giving the committee members something new to think about during their second hearing of the bill.

The amendment also scrubbed a previous idea to calculate annual property tax increases using a 10-year rolling average of the Consumer Price Index. Instead, the annual increase would be set using the old method, doubling the previous years CPI or finding the 10-year average for the growth rate of taxable home value, whichever is higher.

For Clark County and most of Nevadas other counties, NACO executive director Jeff Fontaine testified, that would mean a newly established floor of 2.6 percent in fiscal year 2018 on both residential and commercial taxes.

The floor could increase to a maximum of 3 percent, where it would become locked. It could not decrease.

Fontaine said he expected most counties would reach 3 percent in five years.

At that point, residential property taxes would increase by 3 percent annually, because their ceiling is set at 3 percent. Annual increases in commercial property tax would retain their ceiling of 8 percent.

The point of setting floors is to avoid a situation like Clark County had in fiscal year 2017. Under the current property tax laws, both commercial and residential property taxes increased by only 0.2 percent.

The intent here is to stabilize a revenue source that the counties and other government sources rely on, Fontaine said.

More than 15 people most representing city and county governments testified in support of the bill, saying it would bring predictability to property tax revenues for local governments.

Lorinda Wichman, a Nye County commissioner and NACO executive committee member, said her county has reduced its staff by a quarter and eliminated services not required by law, such as subsidies to veteran services and animal shelters.

This amendment would allow counties to plan ahead when considering their budgets, she said.

About 10 people spoke against AB43, contending that an increaseed floor of 3 percent a year would hurt citizens, especially those living on a fixed income or enduring a financial hardship.

Were concerned about the fact that if you stabilize these taxes which may be good for government that for us when our incomes go down, (the tax) never goes down. It goes up every year, said Janine Hansen, state president of Nevada Families for Freedom.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Follow @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.

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Amendment to property tax bill would eventually create flat tax increase of 3 percent a year - Las Vegas Review-Journal

[Ed. Note: To see exactly what this former Reagan insider has to say about Trump and the fiscal threats from politics and the debt ceiling, David Stockman is sending out a copy of his bookTrumped! A Nation on the Brink of Ruin And How to Bring It Backto any American willing to listen before it is too late. To learn how to get your free copyCLICK HERE.]

At the peak of the Dutch tulip mania, bulbs sold for more than 10 times the annual income of a skilled craftsman and a single rare specimen bulb (Semper Augustus) purportedly changed hands for the equivalent of 12 acres of prime land.

But after rising 8X in a few months, the reckoning came in February 1637. The tulip bulb price index came crashing back to where it had started in, well, November of the prior year!

So it might be wondered whether this most recent November to February (into March) mania is there yet. That question is especially important in light of the fact that Trumps recent address to Congress amounted to the proverbial clanging bell at the top.

In giving the most fiscally irresponsible speech since LBJs guns and butter, the Donald proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he and his team have no clue about the horrific fiscal facts of life confronting them.

They are utterly unaware, apparently, that they are plowing right into a Grand Debt Trap that will put the kibosh on not only the vaunted Trump Stimulus, but on the entire 30-year era of Bubble Finance.

But before I get back to more detail on the Grand Debt Trap ahead, it is worth noting what happened during a more recent November to March blow-off rally. I am referring to the infamous dotcom mania, of course, and it just so happens that there is a nice symmetry in the numbers as they pertain to the present.

Between October 24, 1999 and March 22, 2000, the NASDAQ 100 rose from 2,460 to 4,600 or 87%. After that parabolic climb, however, it soon plunged back to where it had started in October. Nor was the year 2000 collapse close to done it plunged a further 67% through October 2002.

Like the NASDAQ blow-off of 2000, the current Trump-O-Mania rally started on November 2. As it happened back then, however, the NASDAQ 100 peaked shortly after the Fed raised interest rates (again) on March 21. Yet as CNN reported that day, the Feds action was considered to be no big threat to a then unstoppable bull:

For financial markets, the rate increase and the short announcement that followed was a non-event, mostly because Wall Street had widely expected the Fed to do exactly what it did.

There wasnt a black swan in the sky, it seemed until there suddenly began a dizzying two-year plunge of almost 85% from the nosebleed peak.

This time there is an Orange Swan hovering above the market, but it appears equally unrecognized by todays punters. I am referring to the fact that the headline reading algos have totally misread the Trump Stimulus.

The robo-machines and the remaining troop of day-trading carbon units that mimic them can only read words, not the political tea leaves. Accordingly, when the Donald promised a big, big corporate cut and a massive tax reduction for the middle class and also a $1 trillion infrastructure bill to rebuild Americas roads, bridges, airports, hospitals and schools, the machines dutifully priced it in.

But what they havent reckoned with is that the debt ceiling clock starts ticking on March 15 when the current holiday expires. It will then freeze in at approximately $20 trillion, leaving the Treasurys coffers with about $200 billion in cash.

But the Trump Administration blew through $204 billion of cash during its first 35 days in office. That fact was apparently unbeknownst to the President, who tweeted the complete falsehood that he had already reduced the public debt by $12 billion.

Au contraire!

The U.S. Treasury is bleeding red ink profusely notwithstanding Janet Yellens comical claim that the American economy is closing in on the Keynesian nirvana of full employment. During the first four-and-one-half months of FY 2017, in fact, Uncle Sams net debt increased an astonishing $532 billion. That amounts to an annualized borrowing rate of $1.3 trillion.

Given the Treasurys cash burn rate of $3-4 billion per calendar day, the U.S. Treasury will have 50-75 days of cash when the debt ceiling clock starts ticking again on March 15. Thats less than a week away.

And that means it will run out of cash long before any tax bill even gets out of the House Ways and Means Committee or infrastructure bill even gets tabled.

Indeed, the Wall Street robo-machines are abysmally un-programmed with respect to the entire budgetary process. The fact is, none of the components of the Trump Stimulus can happen until both houses pass and agree to a FY 2018 budget resolution with its 10-year path for revenues, spending, deficits and the public debt.

It is only through a budget resolution that encompasses a comprehensive long-term fiscal plan that it is possible to get a reconciliation instruction for the tax bill; and without that parliamentary mechanism, tax reform will die in a Senate 60-vote filibuster stage managed by the K-Street lobbies.

But heres the thing. The ticking debt ceiling clock will mightily interfere with if not block completely the process of reaching an agreement within the GOP caucuses on the FY 2018 budget resolution.

In fact, the legislative and political maneuvering in the run up to this summers debt ceiling vote will powerfully concentrate the minds of the backbench fiscal hawks. It will remind them that their fate under the massive deficits embedded in the Trump Stimulus will be to walk the plank time after time to raise the debt ceiling!

Moreover, as the media finally begins to focus on the rapidly dwindling cash balance at the Treasury, it will elicit a maneuvering, bargaining and posturing spectacle inside the GOP caucus that will make Speaker Ryan wish to send the gavel back to John Boehner.

The fiscal conservatives will demand entitlement reforms, but Trump says no. The Trump White House has embraced an utterly stupid and unnecessary plan to bust the sequester caps and add $54 billion to the already bloated $600 billion defense budget for FY 2018 alone and proposed to offset it with draconian cuts to domestic agencies and the State Depart/foreign aid budget which are already dead in the water in the GOP Senate.

But heres the newsflash. The FY 2018 sequester caps of $548 billion for defense and $518 billion for non-defense discretionary spending are chiseled in law under the BCA (Budget Control Act).

There is not a snowballs chance in the hot place that a bill could pass the House which raised defense to more than $600 billion, while slashing the domestic cap to under $500 billion. There would be blood on the floor from one end of the Capitol Building to the other.

By the same token, there would be an outright revolt by the Freedom Caucus if both caps are raised which is the only way to assemble a legislative majority.

In the meanwhile, the drive to repeal and replace Obamacare is already deeply fracturing the House GOP, and its going to get progressively worse.

Whats happening is that the Freedom Caucus is quickly figuring out what I documented already. Namely, that the Ryan plan for repeal and replace is actually little more than Obamacare Lite. Not only will the $7 trillion 10-year cost under current law not be reduced in any material way, but the Ryan plan will also establish what amounts to a new age-based entitlement to health tax credits.

Taken together, all of these battles over the sequester caps, Obamacare repeal, a new continuing resolution for FY 2017 appropriates which will be needed to avoid a government shutdown in later April will take their toll.

Accordingly, the Mother of All Debt Ceiling Crisis will occur for the simple reason that there is no pathway to a House and Senate majority for a multi-trillion debt ceiling increase.

Perhaps thats because Washington has never been there before. That is, facing down a $20 trillion public debt with $10 trillion more in the pipeline over the next decade, and a clueless team in the White House that wants to pile trillions more of red ink on top of that.

In a word, the algorithms driving the stock averages to tulip bulb mania highs cant possibly anticipate the political firestorm that is coming down the pike.

When it hits, the machines will begin puking up a tsunami of sell orders like never before. When the dust finally settles, there will surely be some new charts that will give the October-March plunges depicted above a run for their money.

Regards,

David Stockman for The Daily Reckoning

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It's Tulip Time! - Daily Reckoning

Michronicleonline

Trump's anti-immigrant policies causing severe pain in Detroit Michronicleonline Over the past fiscal year, Freedom House has helped 136 people from 26 different countries, 85 percent of whom were from Africa. The average length of stay was 217 days. Additionally, there were 7 percent from the Middle East, 3 percent from Asia, and ... and more »

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Trump's anti-immigrant policies causing severe pain in Detroit - Michronicleonline