Johnston

The JLF policy report "Johnston County's 'Dumb Growth' Plan: The Growth Management Committee Fails to Understand Basic Economics" itself fails to understand basic economics.

Higher Property Taxes. With the increase in the value of housing countywide, the next revaluation in 2011 will show a marked increase in property tax levels. This will pose a hardship on the elderly and others on fixed incomes.

Basic economics and basic property tax comprehension show this to be a false/incorrect statement. Especially when there is an "increase in the value of housing countywide," there is no overall relationship between the revaluation and the property tax levy. When revaluation is done, especially on an eight year schedule (the longest term legally allowed) it is almost 100% certain that the tax rate goes down. Some people's taxes will go up and some will go down. The County is required to publish a "revenue neutral" rate so people will know if net taxes are actually being raised. For example, if the tax base doubles in value, they have to publish the rate (half as much as before) that would get the government the same amount of money if the revaluation had not been done. That's not to say the County won't decide they need to raise taxes, but that's a separate issue and unrelated to a revaluation. The great minds at the JLF should know all this.

the future of Johnston county. It may be the future of your county, too, if you live nextdoor to a metropolitan area.

The room was, as expected, stuffed full of developers, more realtors, and housing industry people. They all cheered and clapped whenever someone stood to expound upon the evil, the destruction and the fear we all should feel from "Smart Growth" initiatives.

I passed your van in downtown Clayton on my morning walk today. Let me first thank you for covering the story. (I tried to link to your story, but couldn't find it on your website.) I know your news team will cover the Growth Management Committee meeting in Smithfield tonight.

I have a challenge for you, should you choose to accept it:

At tonight's meeting, make a special effort to correctly identify the speakers and people interviewed on camera.

The story in this morning's newscast stated that "some county residents" don't like the Growth Management Committee recommendations. To back up that claim, the report followed with an on-camera blurb from Joe Coletti (the paid John Locke Foundation guy.) Your on-screen graphic identified Joe as "Resident". So we get it -- the guy made an indelible and notable impression on your reporter. It was kinda funny the first time.

There was an awful lot of hot air circulating up in DC last night. I got home in time to watch the Dubya train ... rolling off the tracks in slow motion. Lucky me. The saviors of the evening were Jim Webb and the SOTU live blogging thread here. Most excellent friends -- y'all had me in stitches when I shoulda been dozing off to sleep. But let me get to the question in my title ...

[Editorial note: the kitties are just for decoration. No kitties were harmed in the writing of this rant.]

In case you weren't aware, we had an open meeting of the Johnston County Growth Management Committee last night in Smithfield. Woohoo!, right?

Well, GUESS WHO CAME to stick their nose where it don't belong?!

Healthcare is one of the few growing segments of the American job market. There are real economists with lots of papers from fancy places on their walls who will tell you that Healthcare is the only segment of the American job market that still has decent middle-class wage-earning growth in it for the average American worker.

Unfortunately, Healthcare is also the biggest growing domestic crisis, and very few in political leadership want to get serious about fixing it.

Maybe that's because, until it hits a citizen personally, the Healthcare crisis is pretty easy to ignore among the Presidential signing statements, the Torture bills, the Mark Foley's, Kevin Geddings' and Ted Sampley's. Those are all very noisy issues that are very loud when they wreak their special havoc. The Healthcare crisis wreaks it's havoc in private lives, and takes it's toll in smaller places, away from cameras and crowds.