Author: mopress

Of course we are thinking about the economic structure of the private detention of migrants in Texas as we read that “U.S. judges admit to jailing children for money.”–gm

By Jon Hurdle

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Two judges pleaded guilty on Thursday to accepting more than $2.6 million from a private youth detention center in Pennsylvania in return for giving hundreds of youths and teenagers long sentences.

Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan of the Court of Common Pleas in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, entered plea agreements in federal court in Scranton admitting that they took payoffs from PA Childcare and a sister company, Western PA Childcare, between 2003 and 2006.

“Your statement that I have disgraced my judgeship is true,” Ciavarella wrote in a letter to the court. “My actions have destroyed everything I worked to accomplish and I have only myself to blame.”

Conahan, who along with Ciavarella faces up to seven years in prison, did not make any comment on the case.

When someone is sent to a detention center, the company running the facility receives money from the county government to defray the cost of incarceration. So as more children were sentenced to the detention center, PA Childcare and Western PA Childcare received more money from the government, prosecutors said. . . .

By Greg Moses

With worrying economic news we continue to explore Civil Rights in an economic context. What does it mean when Texas leaders point to jobs growth in Texas?

In October 2008, the actual Nonfarm Employment in Texas (not seasonally adjusted) increased by 43,600 jobs for a total of 10.7 million Texas jobs. It was the Service Providing Sector that kept Texas in the job-growth zone after the Goods Producing Sector lost a total of 3,000 jobs.

Of the 46,900 new Service Producing jobs in Texas, a hefty 33,700 came from the Government sector, especially from Local Government Educational Services, which added 26,200 jobs. This, my friend, is your local property tax at work, providing an equivalent of half the actual Nonfarm job growth in Texas for October 2008.

Goods Producing

The Goods Producing Sector offered 1.8 million jobs in Texas during October after losing 3,300 jobs. Within the Goods Producing sector, Natural Resources and Mining was up 1,500 jobs while Construction was down 700.

Within Construction, Heavy and Civil Engineering was down 1,100, and Specialty Trade Contractors were down 800. Building Equipment Contractors and other specialty trades decreased by 1,700. On the positive tick in Construction, Building Construction was up 1,200, thanks to an increase of 900 jobs in Building Finishing, Foundation, Structure, and Building Exterior Contractors.

Texas Manufacturing slipped to 926,800 jobs after losing 4,100.

Durable Goods

The Manufacturing Durable goods sector lost 2,500 jobs, with biggest hits coming from Transportation Equipment Manufacturing (-900 jobs); Wood Product Manufacturing (-600 jobs); Agriculture, Construction, and Mining Machinery Manufacturing (-600 jobs); Computer and Peripheral Equipment Manufacturing (-500 jobs); and Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing (-500 jobs).

Bright spots in Texas Durable Goods Manufacturing came in two sectors. The Machinery Manufacturing Sector increased to a total of 97,900 jobs after adding 300 jobs in October. And the Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing sector grew to 47,600 jobs after adding 200 jobs in October.

Non-Durable Goods

In Non-Durable Good Manufacturing a total of 1,600 jobs were lost, with the biggest loss coming from Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing (-400 jobs).

The Chemical Manufacturing Sector still reports a total of 74,300 jobs after losing 100 jobs in October.

The largest sector in Texas Non-Durable Goods Manufacturing is Food Manufacturing, which grew to a total of 90,800 jobs after adding 600 jobs in October. Animal slaughtering also added 300 jobs in October for a total of 39,600 jobs.

Service Providing

The Service Providing Sector in Texas grew to nearly 8.9 million jobs after adding 46,900 jobs in October. Of those new service jobs, 33,700 came from the government sector of nearly 1.8 million jobs. And of the new government jobs, 26,200 came from Local Government Educational Services.

In the Private Service Providing Sector of nearly 7.1 million jobs, there were 13,200 new jobs added in October.

Retail

Retail employment grew by 5,700 jobs to nearly 1.2 million. Retail sector leaders were Clothing Stores (+1,700 jobs); Electronics and Appliance Stores (+1,500 jobs); General Merchandise (+1,400); Miscellaneous Store Retailers (+1,300 jobs); and Office Supplies, Stationery, and Gift Stores (+1,100).

Retail sector losses were felt by Automotive Dealers (-1,400 jobs); Motor Vehicle and Parts Dealers (-800 jobs), Gasoline Stations (-700 jobs), and Automotive Parts, Accessories, and Tire Stores (-300 jobs).

Transportation

Also in the Private Service Providing Sector, the Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities sector was able to add 1,800 jobs, bringing total employment in that sector to 442,400. Sector leaders were Support Activities for Transportation (+1,800 jobs); Transportation and Warehousing (+1,100 jobs); Utilities (+700 jobs); Warehousing and Storage (+500 jobs); and Courriers and Messengers (+300 jobs).

Truck Transportation on the other hand was down by 1,100 jobs to 119,300. Air Transportation was down by 200 jobs to 63,100.

Information

The Information sector was able to add 700 jobs, 200 of them from Data processing, hosting and related services. Telecommunications fell to a total of 94,800 after losing 500 jobs. And publishers of Newspapers, Periodicals, Books, and Directories fell to a total of 31,100 after losing 100 jobs.

Financial Activities

Financial Activities lost 1,600 jobs, bringing the sector to a total of 653,900 in October. While Depository Credit Intermediation services lost 500 jobs, another 900 jobs were added for Nondepository Credit Intermediation.

Rental and Leasing Services lost 700 jobs.

Professional and Business

Professional and Business Services added 14,200 jobs in October bringing the sector to a total of nearly 1.4 million jobs. Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services added 7,000 jobs. Administrative and Support Services added 7,400 jobs.

Educational and Health

Educational and Health Services added 6,100 jobs in about equal parts Health and Education for a sector total of 1.3 million jobs.

Leisure and Hospitality

Leisure and Hospitality employment fell by 9,800 jobs, with heaviest losses coming from Accommodation and Food Services (-5,700 jobs); Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (-4,100 jobs); Accommodation (-3,800 jobs); and Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries (-3,800 jobs).

Other Services

In the “other services” sector, Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations lost 1,700 jobs.

Priorities

Something needs to be said after comparing the fastest growing sector in October — Office Supplies, Stationery, and Gift Stores (+4.3 percent) — to the fastest declining sector, Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation Industries (-4.6 percent). As global economic news turned from bad to worse, Texans left the casinos for office supply stores, assisted in some part by renewed government employment in state and local education. If this is how Texas continues to meet the hard times, you gotta believe karma will return good things.

Note: numbers taken from actual Nonfarm employment figures (not seasonally adjusted). Get the spreadsheet directly in xls format, or find the link at Texas Tracer.

It started out as a desk-cleaning exercise on Christmas Day. We opened a catalog of Henry George materials.

Half a day later (from a still messy desk) we were sending an email to Neale Upstone at the Cambridge (UK) City Council, advising him of our newfound interest in Henry George.

Councillor Upstone replied with links to a movement. A new coalition based upon Georgist principles of Land Value economics has just released news (as of midnight GMT) that a dozen “think-tanks, charities and political pressure groups” will be advocating a Georgist resolution to the latest economic meltdown.

“History shows that economic bailouts will not provide a long-term solution,” says Robin Smith of the Systemic Fiscal Reform Group think-tank, “because Land, which is at the heart of the matter, has been obscured from political, media and academic scrutiny.”

Following the Land Value analysis of 19th-Century American populist economist Henry George, the new coalition wants “to shift tax off enterprise and labour onto a form of annual Land Value Taxation,” says the chairman of the coalition, John Lipetz.

The new Coalition for Economic Justice (CEJ) will try to get a national debate going in the UK. But the issues they are raising sound relevant to anyone seeking critical tools of analysis for the early contours of Obamanomics.

Councillor Upstone puts the case plainly. Against the emerging outlines of a Keynsian Green New Deal (GND) he argues in favor of a Georgist Systemic Fiscal Reform (SFR).

The Georgist approach is appealing as a quick study, because it connects with our common-sense insight that real-estate speculation is the giant culprit of our global economic meltdown. What the SFR movement adds to this insight is the Georgist claim that land speculation is the foundational cause of many bad effects besides the cycles of land value crashes.

Henry George learned his economics by watching San Francisco. He seems to be calling out from beyond the grave: California did it again!

So if you like the idea of change and want to think a little harder about what it could look like, here’s the press release from the Georgist SFR movement:

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EMBARGO 00:01 27th December 2008

In an unprecedented move to advocate an original solution to the current economic crisis, twelve think-tanks, charities and political pressure groups have joined forces. The new cross-party group, called the Coalition for Economic Justice (CEJ), has argued for the reduction of existing taxes to be replaced by an annual Land Value Tax in order to prevent future crises and alleviate the current one.

The Coalition issued in a statement: “The current economic crisis highlights, yet again, the inadequacies of the current economic system which is unstable and deeply flawed. Events are clearly demonstrating that the speculative rise in land prices is a common feature of the repeated economic booms and busts. In order to address this problem we call for a new approach that delivers both economic justice and prosperity for all. This solution must be based upon the annual collection of land value for public purposes”.
Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance commented: “I look forward to learning more about the campaign as it develops in the New Year. I very much hope that the coalition manages to generate a national debate on taxation, particularly now we are in recession.”

The Chair of the CEJ, John Lipetz explains that “in response to the financial crisis, a group of charities, think-tanks, political factions and pressure groups from right across the political spectrum have for the first time sat down together to agree the best way to cure the current crisis, and prevent future ones. This is to shift tax off enterprise and labour onto a form of annual Land Value Taxation. We invite others sharing our concern to join us.”

Robin Smith of the think-tank Systemic Fiscal Reform Group says “It is clear that enterprise is once again taking the hit, particularly hard working small businesses, from this latest debt-fuelled land boom. History shows that economic bailouts will not provide a long-term solution because Land, which is at the heart of the matter, has been obscured from political, media and academic scrutiny. The founders of the CEJ are calling for new thinking around economic reform and it represents a real movement towards progress and prosperity for all.”

Heather Wetzel of the Professional Land Reform Group adds: “If we are to establish economic stability, encourage sustainable growth and end poverty it is necessary to look for new solutions. An annual Land Value Tax on all land will prevent future land price speculation, enable modest interest rates on business investment and provide income for both essential infrastructure investment and for the reduction of taxes on individuals and trade.”

Organisations involved in the CEJ are:

Labour Land Campaign (LLC)
Liberal Democrat Action for Land Taxation and Economic Reform (ALTER)
Social Liberalist Party (SLP)
Systemic Fiscal Reform Group (SFRG)
School of Economic Science (SES)
Land is Free (LF)
Henry George Foundation (HGF)
Land Value Taxation Campaign (LVTC)
Professional Land Reform Group (PLRG)
Christian Council for Monetary Justice (CCMJ)
Global Justice Movement (GJM)
The 1909 Group

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END

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INFO:

Information about Land Value Tax
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax

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CONTACT:

Chairman – John Lipetz
robinsmith3.googlepages.com/coalitionforeconomicjustice

Labour Land Campaign (LLP) – Dave Wetzel
www.labourland.org/

Liberal Democrat Action for Land Taxation and Economic Reform (ALTER) – Tony Vickers & Chris Glover
libdemsalter.org.uk/

Social Liberalist Party (SLP) – Anton Howes
www.voteliberalist.org

Systemic Fiscal Reform Group (SFRG) – Robin Smith
www.systemicfiscalreform.org

School of Economic Science (SES) – Peter Bowman
www.schooleconomicscience.org

Henry George Foundation (HGF) – David Triggs
www.henrygeorgefoundation.org/home/

Land Value Taxation Campaign (LVTC) – Henry Law
www.landvaluetax.org

Professional Land Reform Group (PLRG) – Heather Wetzel

Land is Free (LF) – Tommas Graves
www.landisfree.co.uk

Christian Council for Monetary Justice (CCMJ) – Peter Challen
www.ccmj.org

Global Justice Movement (GJM) – Peter Challen
www.binaryeconomics.net

The 1909 Group – Jock Coats
www.1909.org.uk

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Excerpt from article on local taxation by Dr Roy Douglas from the Land is Free website:

Such a tax, when designed for the special needs of local government, is known as Site Value Rating, or SVR. To apply SVR, the value of all sites in the local authority area would first be assessed. Professional va
luer
s assure us that this would be a simple and cheap operation. A tax, or rate, would then be levied on the basis of that valuation, just as the old rating system used to levy a tax, or rate, on the basis of the total value of a property (i.e., site plus “improvements”). As site values vary over time, periodic (perhaps annual) reassessment would be necessary.

The principle behind SVR is that each occupier will pay for the benefit he receives from what he has not created, but will not be penalised for what he has done to make the property he owns more valuable. One of the arguments in favour of Local Income Tax (which, as we have seen. is really flawed) is that it will fall most heavily on the people most able to bear it. As wealthy people usually live on valuable sites, while poor people live on less valuable sites, SVR will do exactly that.

But will there be hard cases, such as elderly people on small incomes, whose site values are high? Yes, indeed, SVR, like any other kind of taxation, may involve hard cases, unless Parliament makes careful provision to avoid those hardcases. But the possibility of such hard cases arising provides a challenge to the legislators to avoid them. It does not provide an excuse for failing to deal with the general problem.

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From the left side of the Atlantic, check out the work of Renegade Economist Fred Harrison, a Yank of the Georgist persuasion.

The last week of November 2008 wore signs of worry from economic authorities in Texas.

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) on Nov. 26 announced in a press release that it will begin notifying people with unemployment benefits that they may qualify for seven more weeks of relief because of a new federal law. TWC has an online portal for payment requests and benefits. TWC will need updated address information to send out the notices.

And the Dallas Federal Reserve on Nov. 28 featured information about RAISE Texas, an “asset building project” that helps to foster savings accounts, tax preparation services, small loans, and foreclosure deterrence. RAISE Texas has been working with the Texas Foreclosure Prevention Task Force to notify homeowners about a national bilingual hotline that works around the clock to provide advice on how to deter foreclosure. The HOPE hotline is reported to be open 24/7 at: 1-888-995-HOPE.