[Vision2020] Fw: Idaho Falls Post Register
Tom Hansen
thansen at moscow.com
Wed Nov 2 18:24:10 PDT 2011
They are faulty contracts (regardless if the contracts are complete or not) between a private enterprise and a corrupt public official. In the case of “Bridge to Nowhere” the corrupt public official was Sarah Palin.
The original discussion of this thread is/was related to waste and where budget cuts can be applied, right Mr. Falen?
I am simply stating, and substantiating, that a good place to start would be the pork-barrel earmark contracts with private enterprises initiated by corrupt public officials.
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
On Nov 2, 2011, at 6:12 PM, "Jay Borden" <jborden at datawedge.com> wrote:
> No, the “Bridge to Nowhere” is NOT an example of wasteful spending due to a private enterprise’s failure to live up to a contractual obligation. The “Bridge to Nowhere” is an example of a wasteful spending due to an inept and corrupt system of government. The earmark was cancelled in Congress, not because any private enterprise failed to live up to their end of the bargain.
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> You’ll get hardly any argument from anyone that wasteful spending exists on this level. You’ll find me more in agreement than not when it comes to decrying backroom deals between elected officials and private businesses.
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> But the original statement was “businesses bid on government contracts and cannot fulfill the obligation and the taxpayer has to pay for it. This is common”.
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> Where are these facts and figures?
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> Either back up the statement with facts and figures, withdraw it, or recognize that opinions without fact are just OPINIONS….
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> Jay
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> From: Tom Hansen [mailto:thansen at moscow.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2011 5:57 PM
> To: Jay Borden
> Cc: Donovan Arnold; lfalen; Art Deco; Vision 2020
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Fw: Idaho Falls Post Register
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> They are called "pork barrel earmarks", fat government contracts awarded to private businesses as a reward for their support . . . like the famous "Bridge to Nowhere" in Alaska.
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> Here, read for yourself . . .
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> http://membership.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_earmarks
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> Let me know when you finish that article and I'll give you an article-by-article tour of Congress . . . or do you prefer state-by-state. We can start here at home in Idaho with Luna's "educational reform" and his out-of-state contracts with computer/software companies.
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> Seeya round town, Moscow.
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> Tom Hansen
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> Moscow, Idaho
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> On Nov 2, 2011, at 5:41 PM, "Jay Borden" <jborden at datawedge.com> wrote:
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> You have given a link for the DOD’s Contract division… I assume in the hopes that I would do the leg work for you… which is exactly what you (and others) lambast Roger for.
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> I suggest one of the following:
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> 1) Provide the data requested to back up the statement.
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> 2) Recognize that opinions that lack factual data aren’t fact… they’re just OPINIONS.
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> Jay
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> From: Tom Hansen [mailto:thansen at moscow.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2011 5:13 PM
> To: Jay Borden
> Cc: Donovan Arnold; lfalen; Art Deco; Vision 2020
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Fw: Idaho Falls Post Register
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> Mr. Borden -
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> Not ALL contracts at the following link are success stories. The names Halliburton and Blackwater come to mind.
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> And guess who pays the bills.
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> http://www.defense.gov/Contracts/default.aspx
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> Seeya round town, Moscow.
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> Tom Hansen
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> Moscow, Idaho
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> On Nov 2, 2011, at 5:01 PM, "Jay Borden" <jborden at datawedge.com> wrote:
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> 1) Where are your facts and figures (and how common it is) about how much the government loses on private businesses inability to fulfill government contract obligations?
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> 2) A consumer votes with their feet… if a business winds up passing their errors onto to the customer, a customer is free to simply change vendors/providers and take their business to a more efficient enterprise.
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> 3) Didja actually READ the “2011 Pork Report”? 1/3 of the report deals with education…. the other 2/3’s deal with health care and public renewal and public works projects.
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> Jay
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> From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com] On Behalf Of Donovan Arnold
> Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2011 3:56 PM
> To: lfalen; Art Deco; Vision 2020
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Fw: Idaho Falls Post Register
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> Roger,
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> In addition to the trillion dollar bailouts the taxpayers all the time have to pay for private business enterprises mistakes and inefficiencies. Businesses bid on government contracts and cannot fulfill the obligation and the taxpayer has to pay for it. This is common. And the consumer also has the costs of a business's errors passed on to them in products and services.
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> As to the Idaho Pork Report, yeah, I guess if you are an Idaho Conservative Republican you would think there is a lot of government waste if you believe education has no real value. There are elementary, middle, and high schools in just about every town, some with many of them.
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> Donovan Arnold
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> From: lfalen <lfalen at turbonet.com>
> To: Art Deco <deco at moscow.com>; Vision 2020 <Vision2020 at moscow.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 2, 2011 11:51 AM
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Fw: Idaho Falls Post Register
>
> I may have mistyped something. If you are really interested do a search on the Idaho Pork Report.
> Roger
> -----Original message-----
> From: "Art Deco" deco at moscow.com
> Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:06:01 -0700
> To: "Vision 2020" Vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Fw: Idaho Falls Post Register
>
> > This link is invalid.
> >
> >
> > From: lfalen
> > Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2011 3:31 PM
> > To: Art Deco ; Vision 2020
> > Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Fw: Idaho Falls Post Register
> >
> >
> > Check the Idaho Pork Report. You can find it at opencda.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/4d28b5aq3768b7.pdf.pdf
> > Roger
> > -----Original message-----
> > From: "Art Deco" deco at moscow.com
> > Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2011 13:36:23 -0700
> > To: "Vision 2020" Vision2020 at moscow.com
> > Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Fw: Idaho Falls Post Register
> >
> > > Roger,
> > >
> > > Tell us exactly where and exactly how much there are in those places of "a lot of waste in state government and plenty of places cuts can be made."
> > >
> > > If you cannot do this, then you are just promulgating more Tea Bagger bullshit. You then are part of the problem, but not part of the solution.
> > >
> > > w.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > From: lfalen
> > > Sent: Monday, October 31, 2011 11:15 AM
> > > To: Shirley Ringo ; Vision 2020
> > > Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Fw: Idaho Falls Post Register
> > >
> > >
> > > I think that there is a lot of waste in state government and plenty of places cuts can be made. I do not think that the care and treatment of the menally ill is one of them.
> > > Roger
> > > -----Original message-----
> > > From: "Shirley Ringo" ringoshirl at moscow.com
> > > Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2011 07:44:55 -0700
> > > To: "Vision 2020" vision2020 at moscow.com
> > > Subject: [Vision2020] Fw: Idaho Falls Post Register
> > >
> > > >
> > > > Visionaries:
> > > >
> > > > The Idaho Legislature's "cost containment" for Medicaid programs and help for those with disabilities will prove to be anything but that.
> > > >
> > > > Shirley
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > Idaho's ugly 'new normal'
> > > >
> > > > Corey Taule
> > > >
> > > > ----------------------------------------------------------
> > > >
> > > > Ugly, sad and potentially tragic as it was, the recent shootout between local law enforcement and Scott Daniel Parker wasn't surprising. The 911 call from Parker's mother indicated her son was mentally ill and in crisis. Unfortunately, we've been down that road before.
> > > >
> > > > In September 2010, a mentally ill man shot Ryan Mitchell in the back as he left a Pocatello coffee shop. The shooter, Gerald Durk Simpson, had been told a few months earlier that because of budget cuts, the state could no longer afford to treat his mental illness.
> > > >
> > > > That jibed with what the State Planning Council on Mental Health told Idaho's lawmakers in February 2010. Cutting mental health funding, this panel of experts said, would result in three things:
> > > >
> > > > - More suicides.
> > > >
> > > > - More violent encounters between the mentally ill and police.
> > > >
> > > > - More mentally ill folks landing in emergency rooms.
> > > >
> > > > A check with local law enforcement shows this panel knew what it was talking about. Bonneville County Coroner Jonathan Walker said suicides and attempts are up, something he attributes directly to a reduction in available services.
> > > >
> > > > Bonneville County Sheriff Paul Wilde noticed his deputies were dealing more frequently with the mentally ill. So, he checked the numbers. What Wilde discovered was startling. From January to October of 2008, officers responded to 61 calls concerning psychiatric episodes or suicide attempts. That same time period in 2009 resulted in 118 calls. That jumped to 139 last year. So far this year, officers have responded to 256 calls.
> > > >
> > > > Sometimes those calls result in arrests. A severely mentally ill inmate needs to be segregated and watched constantly. Often, however, no arrest is made. But for their own good, the person with mental illness needs to be hospitalized.
> > > >
> > > > Eight years ago, a busy week for the Bonneville County Prosecutor's Office meant handling one or two civil commitment cases. But when Bruce Pickett became prosecutor, he noticed civil commitments were on the rise. So, he began tracking them. So far this year, Bonneville County has averaged nearly four per week.
> > > >
> > > > Each case must be judged by two state-designated examiners. Because many of these folks are indigent, taxpayers bear those costs, plus hospital and doctor's fees. The increase in cases means the Behavioral Health Center often can't handle them all. Several times this year, deputies have transported mentally ill folks who committed no crimes to hospitals in Pocatello, Twin Falls and Boise. So, cutting budgets on the front end is resulting in more expense -- not to mention a healthy dose of human misery -- on the back end.
> > > >
> > > > Jessica Hill isn't surprised. A licensed social worker, Hill said the agency she works for has fewer clients because of budget cuts. The need for services, however, has not gone down.
> > > >
> > > > But Hill sees this from another perspective. She's also an Idaho Falls police officer and SWAT team member. Too often, Hill said, officers encounter the mentally ill in full crisis mode. Many of these folks, Hill said, tell police they no longer qualify for services.
> > > >
> > > > "I knew this was going to happen," Hill said. "It's not a surprise to me whatsoever."
> > > >
> > > > Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter has overseen a massive reduction in state government, something he describes as "the new normal."
> > > >
> > > > Let's be clear, then, about what "the new normal" really looks like to those who get to deal with the consequences of the politicians' numbers crunching:
> > > >
> > > > - It looks like Gerald Simpson, a man with no history of violence, opening fire on a stranger.
> > > >
> > > > - It looks like Scott Daniel Parker leaving the house armed with automatic weapons and mad as hell.
> > > >
> > > > - It looks like the guy using his own feces to draw pictures on jailhouse walls.
> > > >
> > > > - It looks like the little old lady who once had a social worker to help keep her on medications, but who now must go it alone. Sometimes that works. Sometimes a sheriff's deputy wades through months of accumulated garbage and animal waste in her living room so he can drive her to the only hospital with room to treat her, in Boise.
> > > >
> > > > Idaho is building a considerable budget surplus. Already, some Republicans are saying they want to hand it over to corporations and rich folks through income tax cuts.
> > > >
> > > > The first job of government, however, is to protect its citizenry.
> > > >
> > > > Clearly, Otter's "new normal" isn't doing that. Lawmakers need to fully restore the mental health budget cuts of the past three years.
> > > >
> > > > Before things really turn ugly.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
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