Accountability in Public Spending . . . if we are to have public confidence in our public programs of all kinds, welfare to education, we simply have to apply critical standards of performance. Thus, though we may believe that a social safety net is good for our community, we must not blindly deny abuse of our welfare programs. If these programs and institutions are to be protected and maintained, we must build in safeguards to their integrity. And, in no case can we trust people internal to the agencies to judge themselves. The rise of the Tea Party movement is largely result of rising distrust of government fanned by right wing extremists who wish to cut all government except that which most benefits their patrons. Those of us who value the role of government to enhance our community for the benefit of all must address this distrust. I suggest that we need strict performance measures, independently applied, with mutually agreed upon priorities in the public arena. A vote for me to represent you in the NC Senate will insure that accountability issues will be raised.I’d love to know what you think. Read it all here July 18, 2014 My Fellow Citizens, The current leadership in Raleigh, including our incumbent Senator Shirley Randleman, has made radical changes since taking control of state government in 2013. I have decided to run for the NC Senate in order to provide a choice to our current representation in Raleigh. In the coming months, I will share comments on actions taken by our representatives and how these actions are affecting the people in our counties. Accountability in Public Spending My parents, who lived through the Great Depression, instilled in me a great dislike of waste of any kind. As responsible citizens, we need to be aware of wasteful government spending and accountability for our tax dollars. At the local level we hear stories of misspent welfare dollars: · people living irresponsibly, but being covered by Medicaid including travel expenses for trips for medical appointments · well-to-do farmers who unload their considerable property holdings onto their children so that Medicaid will pay for their nursing home costs Knowing some of our neighbors may abuse our community safety net makes us all angry. More importantly, it undermines confidence in our efforts to help those who are truly less fortunate. None of us wants to scrap our safety net; however, some people are convinced that our welfare programs are too generous. Nationally, only 19 percent of Americans say they trust the government to do the right thing most of the time. Before we get all hot and bothered by welfare spending, we should look at government accountability at the upper end of the income spectrum. A former McCrory campaign worker with no other experience was hired as the Direction of Communications at the DHHS with a salary of $85,000 DHHS. Secretary Dr. Aldona Wos hired an executive from her husband’s company as a consultant and paid him $310,000 for 11 months of work. DHHS let a $600 million contract to solve Medicaid problems. Maybe that is a reasonable price, but we don’t know because it was a no-bid contract. The evidence suggests abuse didn’t start with Republican takeover of state government. Exorbitant compensation packages for presidents of universities and community colleges including a 10% increase to over $500,000 for the most recent president of the UNC system during the height of the recession. Questionable staffing levels in state agencies including: A total of 2,297 employees at the Department of Public Instruction in Raleigh. That’s 23 staff per county in the state. Is this really necessary? Consider some recent policy issues— Charter schools sound great in theory but there are issues of accountability. Charter schools give opportunity to education entrepreneurs ……….and hustlers. Recently in Charlotte a charter school application listed the principal and vice-principal salaries as $65,000 and $55,000. When the school started operating, the salaries became $94,000 and $85,000. Fifteen years ago the Wilkes Chamber of Commerce brought in a consultant who pointed out that the measure used to assess the high school graduation rate overestimated that number. Apparently, school officials at the time much preferred to speak of a graduation rate of 95% rather than the actual rate of 60% at that time. Happily, the school system started paying more attention to this issue, and the graduation rate has increased substantially. To conclude, if we are to have public confidence in our public programs of all kinds, welfare to education, we simply have to apply critical standards of performance. Thus, though we may believe that a social safety net is good for our community, we must not blindly deny abuse of our welfare programs. If these programs and institutions are to be protected and maintained, we must build in safeguards to their integrity. And, in no case can we trust people internal to the agencies to judge themselves. The rise of the Tea Party movement is largely result of rising distrust of government fanned by right wing extremists who wish to cut all government except that which most benefits their patrons. Those of us who value the role of government to enhance our community for the benefit of all must address this distrust. I suggest that we need strict performance measures, independently applied, with mutually agreed upon priorities in the public arena. A vote for me to represent you in the NC Senate will insure that accountability issues will be raised. I’d love to know what you think. Join a discussion here or by email at [email protected] .
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 16:36:32 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015