The paradox of city services

City governments are involved in all sorts of industries that people claim are essential to our well being and can only be provided by government. Furthermore, it is argued that poor people wouldn't normally be able to afford services that are provided by tax dollars from those who are relatively well off. Ultimately, these arguments don't convince me. If you're really worried about poor people, why aren't they the only recipients of these services? Why are the rest of us forced to use city trash, when we could afford to pay for a private, more competitive service?

Another huge problem is that as the economy worsens, cities are forced to cut back on these services. Thus, at times when there are more poor people than normal and they are needed the most, government is busy cutting back or eliminating them all together. Trash collection is a great example of this. Last year, city officials were considering moving to a shifting trash collection schedule. Which ultimately means less and more complicated service. This is a classic case of what happens when you only have one trash collection provider by force to choose from.

Trash is now being looked at again, as Toledo unsurprisingly still has not solved its financial problems.

With a projected 2009 deficit of at least $22 million, Bill Franklin, the city's public service director, acknowledged that the city could no longer afford its $12.7 million trash collection operation.

There are only a limited number of ways the city can address this problem. According to this new Blade article, they are looking at hiring a private company to save money, or shelling out another large sum of money to buy automated trucks.This only goes to show that, once again, city services are behind the curve when it comes to what they offer, compared to what is typically available in the marketplace. Otherwise, the city still went ahead with its plan of raising trash collection fees and reducing the number of trash collection days it provides.

Another great example is how the city of Columbus suspended its yard waste pickup program. While their taxes previously went to pay for it, there will now be a $49.50 subscription fee when the service is reinstated. Clearly, the government provided service there has not been adequate to provide the people's needs. Once again, classic monopolistic behavior: cut services and raise fees. Yet another reason we shouldn't be forced to rely on them in the first place. Do I think people would suffer if the government didn't engage in monopolistic trash pickup? Not really. Nor do I think allowing personal choice in trash service would make the city become a giant garbage heap.

Excessive pay for government employees

At a time when most local government are facing budget problems, the overtime pay for government employees rose to ridiculous lofty heights. Ohio paid out more than $124 million in overtime last year. This only serves to underscore the terrible mismanagement of resources caused by government power. In related news, Toledo's city council failed to increase the taxes of 19,000 people who live in Toledo and work outside the city. So now, the combative mayor is laying off 75 city policeman instead. Just a couple years ago, Toledo policemen were paid over 3.5 million in overtime money. I'm sure it's a lot more now, probably at least $5 million. See this.

Perhaps what we should do is limit all government pay to the median local income. There is absolutely no reason why government employees should make a dime more than those they are supposed to serve. If there are so many people who believe that government is good, there should still be plenty of volunteers who would take the job. It is well known that they enjoy generous compensation and benefits, and getting rid of these would save millions of dollars locally and statewide.

Toledo's mayor Finkbeiner is paid $136,000. Toledo's median income for males as of the year 2000 was $35,407. Dropping the mayor's income to this level would save city taxpayers about $100,000. The average annual salary for a three year Toledo Police officer is $53,657 not including overtime pay or benefits. There are currently 628 police officers employed by the city. At these levels, which are probably pretty low, cutting their salary to the city's average would save taxpayers at least $11,461,000 per year... and a LOT more once their overtime is taken away.

We can no longer afford to sit by while government bureaucrats waste our money on thier own inflated salaries. The benefits we get from having a government (if any) are far less than what these people earn. Important resources are taken from the productive class and siphoned off to the political class, extremely hampering our economic well being. Things will only get worse unless we are successful in taking back our freedom. This would also make existing budget problems disappear.

The police are cracking down

Various media are carrying a small Associated Press report on a 2008 Metro Initiative which supposedly reduced fatal crashes in Ohio's big cities. As usual in the media, it's pretty thin on details and big on how successful the government is. If the government says they succeed at whatever they do, I guess that's good enough...

The 2008 Metro Report on their web site tries to justify these claims. It seems faulty at best, misleading at worst. It compares average serious crash levels from 2005-2007 with crash levels during the 2008 enforcement period. Why average? Why not compare each year individually? If there were tons of crashes in 2005, less in 2006, more in 2007, and less in 2008, the averages quoted in this report wouldn't really tell us anything at all. Sadly, it doesn't look like they thought about that.

When you look at the serious metro crash totals in Table 5 on p.11, it indicates 34,997 in 2005, 33,619 in 2006, and 31,907 in 2007. This corresponds to a steady 4% and 5% reduction between years. However, when you get down to the serious metro crash totals in Table 17 on p. 23, there were 775 in 2008 and an average of 906 from 2005 to 2007. These numbers don't make any sense at all. If anyone sees where I'm going wrong, please let me know.

Table 14 on p. 21 contains traffic stop totals per month in 2008. If they really wanted me to believe their claims, they would include traffic enforcement totals and serious crash totals for each month between 2005 and 2007, and then compare these with each month of 2008. I suspect that if this was done, there would be a lot more variance than what we see here. Which would in turn lead us to conclude that aggressive police enforcement of the metro highways does not necessarily reduce serious crashes.

Putting out such flawed reports like this only hurts the credibility of the highway patrol. If the reports were just a little more detailed, it would probably hurt their cause even more. The media seems like a willing propaganda tool in reporting their claims but not really even bothering to look at the report to see if they are true.

What does "Privatize" mean?

The Toledo Blade is reporting how Republican candidate for mayor Jim Moody wishes to privatize the Toledo Airport. Alas, this isn't really what he said. What he wants is to sell an equity share in the airport for $100 million, but that hardly means the airport will be privately owned and operated. And what will happen to the money after this stake is sold? It wouldn't even be returned to the taxpayers, but retained by the government and spent in some kind of Recovery Plan for Toledo. This hardly sounds like privatization at all.

If the government never went into the airport business in the first place, and we actually had airport freedom all along, that would be one thing. But this is nowhere near the case. Even if a portion of the airport was sold to a private investor we would still have massive airport regulations and Toledo would still own most of the airport. I doubt the presumably liberal Blade writer ever thought of that before he got all upset and wrote that sensationalist headline.

What would it mean to actually privatize our airports? For starters, abolish the FAA. Then, get rid of all the ridiculous TSA security procedures that bog down travel. Then get rid of the TSA itself. It is nothing but security theater, attempting to give us an illusion of safety. Don't regulate or bail out the airline industry. Don't maintain any air traffic control systems. That would only be for starters.

Nobody in government on either side of the aisle would be willing to even remotely approach any of these suggestions. Until they do, nothing in our airports will be private. The number one reason I hate flying is the massive government presence that permeates air travel. Without them, flying might actually be a pleasant experience. One can dream.

State promises crackdown on "under the table" pay

Ohio's government is complaining that they aren't able to confiscate as much money from the people as it wants. Boo hoo. They act surprised that some businesses actually try to circumvent taxes and hide their money. When you actually go and look at what your tax money supports, it's no wonder they are trying to do this.

Attorney General Richard Cordray used some pretty fuzzy math to come up with some estimates at what the State is losing... using studies of the undergrond economy in other states, which probably doesn't even apply to this situation. So please forgive me if I laugh out loud at his ridiculous claims. LOL.

What the State calls tax cheating, I would call protecting your income. The State assumes it has the right to take a portion of your money unto itself to provide for payment of "services" that people wouldn't normally want to waste their money on. I really don't blame anyone who doesn't want to play this game.

If my current employer was willing to pay me under the table, I would be more than happy to accept the offer. Alas, they aren't, so I will have to continue paying for a multitude of things I don't support. Anyone who is able to find a decent paying job under the table is a lucky bastard in my book. All the more power to them if they are able to avoid getting caught and thrown behind bars.

Cameras cut car crashes, so claim Toledo police

The Toledo Blade quotes Police Chief Navarre, referring to a mythical study done by the Toledo Police Department. I say mythical because I have not been able to find it anywhere. Not on Google, nor on the Toledo Police Department web site (which looks like it was done 10 years ago). I would like to actually see this study, rather than take the chief's word for it. Everything else I read says that red light camera results are inconclusive at best, and sometimes even increase the number of accidents.

That's the story told in the Toledo City Paper. Many local intersections really did increase the number of crashes once the cameras were put in. Then, after the initial strike, accident numbers fluctuated and did not show a trend one way or another. Their main conclusion is as follows:

Just like with rear end or side impact collision accidents, however, the data for injury and fatality accidents show that the numbers do not radically change after red light cameras are installed. Most of the records from the Toledo Police Department show that some years will contain as many as 20 accidents at an intersection, a few years later only 5, and then again back up 19 a few years after that. Blaming red light cameras, or conversely, giving credit to them, for affecting accident patterns and how safely people drive may be a futile way to measure their worth.

Other than citing one study which I couldn't find, the Blade's article is mostly emotional fluff. Even with a few cameras sprinkled through the city, there are pretty good chances someone will die in a car crash. I can understand the pain of people like Darlene Stokes, who lost her father 10 years ago when dump-truck driver ran into him. Well-intentioned though she is, installing more cameras won't bring him back. They will, however, be used as a cash generator by the city to steal even more money from hapless taxpayers. Even people who are generally careful drivers get busted.

Police departments are more than happy to use sad stories like this to their advantage in drumming up support for this stuff. Darlene is allowing herself to be used in this way. Thankfully, there is a new effort to put the issue of banning these dreadful cameras before the voting public. Police Chief Navarre reportedly said: "I'm concerned that people who have been issued violation notices will vote for the ban". You're damn right they will, Mr. Navarre. And rightfully so.

Acid dumped in Ohio city’s water supply

The good citizens of Bellaire, Ohio recently got an extra special bonus gift in their government treated water. It just happened to come in the form of toxic hydrochloric acid contamination. Fourty pounds of the stuff was dumped in there when workers noticed low levels of fluoride.

There are some major concerns that come up with this event. First of all is the wisdom of placing our water supply in the hands of the government. This kind of thing is exactly what I would expect to happen with that setup. Government ineptitude and inefficiency in the management of scarce resources is a well known economic problem that applies equally to water as anything else.

A follow-up question I would ask is why the government even adds fluoride to our water in the first place. Serious arguments exist to question why it is done this way. Leaving aside the crazy conspiracy theories, it seems like a tremendous waste of city resources. The section of that linked page titled "The precautionary principle" sums it up nicely. Please take a look and let me know if you can think of any good reason why cities should continue this policy.

I have to wonder if this would have ever even happened if 1) the government wasn't in control of the water and 2) if they weren't already adding fluoride. Sure, mistakes happen even in the private world. But private industry has built-in incentives to cover your bases first and take the necessary precautions so you don't lose customers to better organized and more effective competitors. No such incentives exist in government control of our water. They keep on doing un-necessary things to our supply, making it easier for mistakes to be made that otherwise wouldn't have happened.

It's great that there were no serious injuries, but it's only a matter of time until something worse happens. What are we going to do when there is a real pollutant added, such as nuclear waste? If someone who hates America actually got in to a centralized facility, I would hate to think of the results. Don't fool yourself into thinking we aren't vulnerable. It's a simple matter of important resources being centralized in the hands of government.

I try to avoid drinking tap water as much as possible. You can tell me as much you want that it's generally safe, I don't care. Currently, I buy gallons of spring water from the grocery store to drink at work. At home there is a reverse osmosis filter installed right in the sink. As long as the government is doing this, I will support the private production of water.

Fees or taxes? It really doesn't matter.

Governor Strickland was praised for not raising taxes in his next budget. He even got a standing ovation for it. Maybe that was a little premature, before he mentioned the 163 proposed new state fees. He defended the fees, saying they are "more of a payment for state services than a tax". Being a politician, he somehow doesn't realize that state imposed fees take just as much money from the people as raising taxes does. Did he forget that the state forcibly monopolized these services so they can collect the spoils, all on the back of the working class?

Looking over the list, we can tell that everyone in the state will be hard-hit in one way or another. For one example, there will be millions of dollars in revenue for 26 new agriculture fees. I don't know about the Governor, but I'm pretty sure the rest of us need to survive by eating food. How exactly is making food production more expensive in Ohio better than higher taxes? The answer remains to be seen.

Another troublesome sector is so-called public safety, where higher registration fees for passenger and commercial vehicles (as well as other fees) is expected to bring in well over $100 million. Even before this, I have always considered our insidious vehicle registration fees to be no different than a cleverly named tax. It's hard to see how this will be good for business and commerce, given that most retail goods are shipped by truck. How valuable is this state "service" to our public safety? Somehow, I doubt the world would completely fall apart without it.

I can't even begin to get into all the other fees in this one post. It is quite a stretch of the imagination to contemplate how fees like this can be part of a free society. I guess one can say we're free from state aggression as long as we don't want to drive or eat. Who needs those things anyway?

With some included spending cuts, the state's war chest still comes to a paltry $55 billion. Even this humongous amount has them claiming severe budgetary hardship. Sorry, I just don't feel bad for you. Maybe once you cut Ohio's whole government to a few million dollars, then we can talk.

Dog license requirements are not man's best friend

To go along with my recent post regarding the inhumane treatment animals receive from the state: The Toledo Blade kindly reminds us that the deadline for purchasing a county issued license for your dog is here. The warning is that if we don't pay up now, the fee doubles in size and an extra fine will be imposed. I love thinking how we supposedly live in a free country, but we can't even own a dog without handing over this extortion fee each year.

At least I don't live in Lucas county where this fee is required. But wait, I live in Wood county, the next one over, which still has a $14 fee. Not quite as bad as Lucas county, but still something I would really rather not be forced to pay. The Wood County Humane Society offers up many compelling reasons we should do this:

1. If my dog gets lost, it's the fastest way to get him back to us. I'm not sure why a regular tag with our phone number on it wouldn't be just as fast. Or are they seriously trying to tell me that a state approved tag would be faster than a normal tag? Somehow I think not.

2. The license fee keeps my city's shelter going. They don't explain why every dog owner should be forced to pay for this. And if it's anything like the shelter I previously wrote about, the one that abuses animals down near columbus, I'd definitely rather not pay for that. So much for that compelling reason.

3. Your dog license shows you are a responsible owner. How exactly does paying $14 or $25 for a tag that would normally cost $1 show that you are responsible owner? To me, being a responsible dog owner means picking up his poop when you go on a walk. Getting a one dollar tag with contact info on it would be just as responsible. If anything, for anyone willing to do this it shows they are irresponsible with managing money. Especially if their money is going to a shelter that abuses animals.

4. It's the law. It may be the law, but does that mean it's a good, responsible law? No, it doesn't. There can be arguments made for disobeying unjust laws. It's called protest. Obeying something just because it's the law is no reason at all. Our laws are getting increasingly more repressive, and this is just one more example. Now, I will admit that abolishing dog laws may not be on the top of an anarchist to-do list. But all these little things do add up, and that doesn't mean it shouldn't be addressed at some point. Many laws are nothing but a club that the government uses to bash us over the head with. These are the laws that people should disobey en masse.

In my opinion, none of the reasons they list for handing over yet more of your hard earned money to the state are compelling. The humane society says there are many compelling reasons to do this, yet there are only four given on their site. Upon closer examination, I see no good reason to purchase a dog license from my county government.

The government is "investing" in technology

I work in the technology industry for a private employer. According to this article, next year may be shaping up to be a good one for Toledo. I'm all for the expansion of technology, but only if they are doing it free from government subsidies.

From what I can tell, this is not the case. It turns out these guys get lots of funding from the state, to the tune of $15 million. It's funny how they still claim to be private-sector driven and funded development company right on their home page. But when you get down to it, they have twice as much money coming from the government as they do from private sources.

At first, I was excited to hear about new technology companies in the Toledo area. It's great when people invest in technology development, but ultimately, state "investment" is a bad idea. I would much prefer if the government wasn't sticking its nose in the technology sector. The extra money creates an incentive for people to embark on riskier projects that otherwise would not have made sense in a normal economic environment. It also takes money that people would normal spend on every day needs and misallocates it to places where it doesn't really belong. Shame on this company for claiming to be privately invested.

Free ride at the University of Toledo

But not free for the taxpayers. The University of Toledo has begun offering free tuition for students based on need. Nowhere have I been able to find out how much this program will cost. There are only two sources of the news through google, found here and here, both of which don't mention any dollar amounts. I guess it doesn't matter to them, as long as people are getting stuff for "free". How nice of our government to hand over our money in this way.

It may not surprise some of my readers that I most definitely oppose this measure. I don't believe anyone should be educated by the government at all. Why, you may ask? Hop on over to the Alliance for the Separation of School and State to find out. They have a pretty decent write up with a lot of good reasons. If you feel the same as they do, take a minute to sign their proclamation, stating simply:

I proclaim publicly that I favor ending government involvement in education.

I love how short and sweet this statement is. They're not trying to throw in any extra stuff that could turn away someone who is so thoroughly anti-state such as myself. So far, 30,500 other people have signed it.

I went to a private, church-owned university and I had a perfectly fine education. I would almost say that college is actually pretty over-rated. My computer science degree left me unprepared for the business world. What I do now as a consultant I learned mostly on my own, thanks to private companies who were willing to invest in my time. I feel like I might have been better off if I had worked on real-world projects for those 5 years instead of being stuck in classrooms.

Toledo clergy and state worship

We have all seen people gushing over how great our new president is. This frenzy has boiled over into practically every aspect of our lives, permeating every facet of our local media. It seems virtually impossible to breathe without hearing someone cry tears of joy about our new overlord. This hasn't been any different for some of Toledo's clergy.

For example, Rev. Robert Culp of Toledo's First Church of God says that attending Obama's inaguration will be comparable to "Simeon in the Bible when he saw Jesus". I don't understand how anyone could compare a politician, who's sole purpose is arguably to violate the 10 commandments, to God. If I was a member of his congregation and heard that, I would have walked out.

Then there is Rev. Thomas Fant, of St. Stephen AME Church, who declared that political changes have been "generated by God." He sees proof of divine intervention in Obama's ascent to power and that god is always working for the common good of all mankind. If there ever was anything that is NOT proof of working for the common good, it is politicians who are conniving enough to gain power in this gang of thieves.

I can understand how black people are happy to see their own race be successful. That is not the issue. What I don't understand is how any of them could possibly think the government is on their side, or ever will be. It's even worse when they bring religion and divine intervention into the picture. State institutions go against practically everything these people teach as good. And for them to claim that their favorite politicians are divinely inspired is no different than the old "divine right of kings" doctrine, re-applied to democracy.

To me, it makes no difference whether we can change leaders once every four years. All they will do is keep most of the same power structure in place. The only good that could ever come of this would be for Obama to decrease the government's control over my life. I don't see any possibility that this will happen. I also don't see Obama slowing down the government's war machine. He virtually promised to keep military aggression going on my dime.

It is complete tomfoolery to presume that the government can do anything that remotely approaches divine. The state has always been the first in line to desecrate anything religious. Pastors and religious folks would do best to recognize this and repudiate their claims of divine intervention in government.

Take Back Toledo

A new effort has begun to try and recall Toledo mayor Carty Finkbeiner. Take Back Toledo charter members include local libertarian talk show host Brian Wilson. Among the reasons they list of why he must go:

• $10,000,000 deficit this year and twice that for next year
  
• many failed city projects
• erratic behavior in firing and demoting staff
• lots of other strange behavior
  

It really doesn't matter to me who is the mayor of Toledo. The disease of government incompetence will surely affect anyone who occupies that office. Even so, it would behoove the people to know that public officials can and will be removed from office if they fail to live up to their duties.

In my opinion, ALL government officials fail the people. Especially local ones who really should matter to us the most. They should all be removed from office as often as possible. If these government idiots knew they could be recalled at any moment they might actually attempt to do what is best for the city instead of only themself and their friends.

Ultimately, I don't think it would improve democracy enough to make me want to keep it. But it might make things more tolerable for the time being - at least until we can figure out how to do away with government entirely. For now, if somebody came to my door, I would happily sign their petition to recall the mayor. I would also happily add the entire city council and county government as well.

The casino debate in Ohio - missing the point

There are a few problems with how this debate is framed that I would like to discuss. Casino proponents in Ohio have been trying time and time again, and are set for another round. For me, this is just another highlight of the injustices in the government we are forced to live under. It's disturbing how people waste so many resources on fights like this, in order to have the simple freedom to bet their own money on games of chance. It is yet another glaring problem with democracy and mob rule - the vast economic resources that are spent trying to get things past instead of allowing people the freedom to choose.

To the christian groups fighting this, who think gambling is immoral - banning it will NEVER succeed in getting people to stop or getting it out of society. Just like how banning alcohol did nothing to eraticate the unpleasant side affects of alcoholism. Gambling has been here for thousands of years, and is here to stay. Why do you keep insisting on holding the rest of us down? Does it makes you feel better about yourselves to have this control over people who don't share your views? What do you gain from this, other than smug self-satisfaction?

Another problem with these continual ballot measures is the state control aspect even if they do pass. There would still serious restrictions on gambling in the state. Only certain companies could legally set up gambling operations in approved locations. Thus we see that, even if the measures are successful in getting passed, the state would still be handing out monopolies on this priviledge. True freedom would entail the ability for people to set up mini-casinos in their basement if they wished.

I've never been a very big gambler myself. The only form of gambling that I really enjoy is the Texas Hold'em variation of poker, a game which actually takes tremendous skill to be successful over the long run. I played it online virtually every day for 2-3 years, before I got burnt out. When I stopped, I actually ended up with only minor losses. I suspected I would have a renewed interest in playing the game if I go down to the neighborhood bar and pay $20 to enter a multi-table tournament. Currently, holding a neighborhood tournament like this is outlawed in most states as far as I know. Even in states where some semblance of gambling is legal, you can only do it in state-approved institutions, thus ensuring their monopolist take on this highly lucrative venture.

There are so many reasons why living in a democracy ultimately ends up being repressive and not free at all. I'll concede that we have more freedom than other countries have had in the past, but the situation is still far from ideal. True freedom will never exist until people have the ability to set up any non-violent activity they wish without being raided by the police. Even if some people end up engaging in self-destructive behavior, society would be must better off over all.

Red light camera challenge coming for Toledo

For those locals who are suffering under the ongoing fines imposed as a result of these abhorrent machines, relief may soon be on the way. A group called the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST). I previously wrote about traffic enforcement and automatic cameras here, and you could say my views haven't changed since then. You can see that post here.

Police departments around the country are still trotting out the tired old claim that cameras increase public safety. Toledo's chief Mike Navarre is no different. It's pretty funny how he didn't bother to give out any numbers. Probably because there is no proof whatsoever of those claims. If I was him I would probably say that too, given the massive amounts of cash the cameras rake in.

I'm glad there are people like COAST who are taking it upon themselves the challenge of combating this government abuse. Even though I am against all taxes, I could at least agree that additional taxes are bad and support them in this cause. These red light cameras are nothing but an additional tax imposed on the people by the Toledo city bosses. Undoubtedly, they will squander the money away on corruption and waste. One can only hope people will rise up against them and put an end to this blatant money grabbing.

Derrick Foster gets 5 years for shooting cops in self defense during drug raid

This former Ohio State football player got his jail sentance. He bowed down to the state and apologized, saying he still respects the police and isn't a bad person. It makes me wonder what he would have gotten for sticking up for himself. I'm not sure I would have been so grovely, but I can't say I blame him for trying to appear remorseful in front of the leviathan.

Very few government policies are so vastly wasteful and hypocracy ridden than the so-called war on drugs. This guy will sit and rot for 5 years in a penitentary for shooting what he thought were robbers busting down his door. This isn't just an isolated case, either. Ryan Frederick is currently suffering the same abuse at the hands of the authorities, except in his case the officer he shot actually died while these two didn't.

The worst part is that no one in the house was charged with any drug crimes. This leads one to ask some serious questions:

Upon what evidence did the police conduct this raid? Why was this "a suspected crack house?" Why no drug charges? What does the affidavit say? Where there any controlled buys at the house? Is it typical for the narcotics unit to conduct three raids in one night? Early reports described a witness who claims to have heard police give an order to smash in the house's windows just prior to the raid. Did that witness hear an announcement? Was it loud enough to be heard by the people inside?

The officers who were shot said nothing except that someone who opens fire on another person needs to be held accountable. This clearly doesn't apply to the police, since they shoot innocent people to death all the time and completely get away with it. Only when they do it, it's called "duty". Well, I guess it really is one of the primary duties of the state to murder innocent people. I think we would be much better off with private competition in security. When it's provided by the government it instantly becomes insecurity.

Sheriff Gerald McFaul gives raises to niece, friends amid 21 layoffs

In a move that would make even the most corrupt political machine bosses proud, the Plain Dealer is reporting that Cuyahoga County's Sheriff has given jobs to his relatives while firing others with 10-15 years more experience. I've seen enough now that I'm convinced that local county government positions and contracts exist only so politicians can give jobs to their friends and relatives that would otherwise be unemployable and unproductive.

I suppose I should be happy that the government fires the most experienced people in favor of favored appointees. On the one hand, this maks them even more incompetent than they otherwise would be if they only had good people in all government positions. On the other, I'm paying through the nose to support bums in office that provide no value whatsoever to my daily life.

For example, the mayor hired his son-in-law as a garage superintendent and gave him a 100 percent raise to basically wash cars and oversee two other city employees. If there wasn't a better example of waste and incomptence, I don't know what. I guess the city needs all their cars to be washed, and they will be just that much cleaner if they pay their employees this well... hogwash.

This isn't the only corruption going on in Ohio's most populous county. The county commissioner and auditor are still under investigation for corruption charges of accepting gifts in exchange for county jobs. People always ask me how we could ever survive without local governments sapping our money and telling us what to do. I wonder how we survive with these hypocrites and scumbags in charge wasting vast sums of our money. We would definitely be better without these parasites, and the sooner people learn this, the better.

The best part is we don't even vote for most of these city positions. We vote for the people who get to appoint their friends and relatives to lucrative make work jobs that provide no value whatsoever to our economy. Quite a system of patronage we have going here. It's simply amazing that people don't care, and yet still claim that this is the best possible system of government we can hope for. I hope and believe we will eventually find a way to prevent these hypocrites from ruling our life.