Nationally
Some people, mostly left-wing liberals but creeping into right-wing MAGA, have been railing about Immigration Control Enforcement arresting Illegal Immigrants and deporting them.
The Bible Joe Biden swore upon had not yet been stored in its special place before this “new” president started signing executive orders. I searched the Internet and found NO reports on what we all know happened to open or remove borders when 45 left office.
Mayorkas told Martha Raddatz, “The border is safe, the border is secure.”
Google it to fact check me. Or click on this link to see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu4CIeyntV4.
Regardless of the method to relax border immigration control, judge after judge turned loose illegals to return into communities. Liberals gave the war cry for us to protect these illegals.
As an aside, I saw the slogan “No human can be illegal.” It was one of those limp-wristed attempts at using human rights as a defense of a lawbreaking illegal immigrants. Do they even think about these things they say and wave on signs?
Anyway, our bulldog Tom Holman understands the assignment and has been relentlessly arresting and deporting illegal immigrants and jailing those wanted for crimes in our country.
As the plug was hammered into the holes leaking illegal immigrants, the doctor of democracy, President Donald Trump and other patriots have begun reversing the effects of Democrats “open border” by demanding a new census. Why does that matter you may ask. Districts are set by population, and a process called gerrymandering allows districts to be drawn to include certain groups who vote certain ways. These illegals were in the last count and have skewed the representation.
Righting one wrong often leads to righting the wrongs resulting from the first wrong.
There are people at a national level who have sworn to do a job, but have failed us!
Locally
A fish rots from the head down, and governments do as governments see. Which leads me to the conclusion the city of Augusta is infected with the same overreach, same bloat, same corrupt malaise as our federal government.
I don’t even have the data, but I would bet you there are more city employees now even though city population has been declining. Five years ago, 10 years ago, I don’t know how far to prove the point. Waste and corruption are also happening and it didn’t take the tax commissioner “losing” $25,000 to make me think that. It didn’t take Hawthorne Welcher to lose $6.4 million to wake me to that reality.
These are just the big things we notice. The devil is in the details. While things like SPLOST, ESPLOST, stormwater fees, coliseum fees, tax hikes and other schemes to get money from taxpayers have increased year over year the average Augusta sees less and less of government services.
I used to love keeping the right of way in front of my house mowed and semi-manicured. I even had a neighbor who would scoff at me doing the county’s job. I no longer give it a thought under the premise if the city doesn’t care, why should I?
A group has been chosen for a charter review to look at the structure of our government. An admirable attempt, I am sure. But somewhere in local government, without a change in the charter, someone sees the same trash on our roadways. Someone knows what department has 12 employees not doing their job when eight employees working would get the job done. Someone knows where the $25K went and saw the $6.4 million disappear.
Call 311 is the answer we hear. The people at 311 don’t go fill a pothole. They don’t go trim brush from blocking a STOP sign. No, rather a three man crew goes to fill the pothole by patching a three inch deep hole with asphalt 3 inch above the road level and, I guess, think they did a great job.
Where is the leadership? I am not talking about district commissioners. I am talking about supervisors, shift leaders, and department managers. Everyone with an eye notices the number of county-owned four-door trucks these day to carry four-person crews to do (look at) what two people used to do.
Our local government could use a Elon Musk, a guy called Big B@11s, and a team to analyze effectiveness, cost of services, headcount and waste, fraud and abuse. Put a person to shadow a city employee for a day, do an accurate org chart, measure performance. Ask the question “What did you do today?”
This article may lack clarity, but the bottom line is an expectation of people to do what they were hired to do. Have some pride. Seek a feeling of satisfaction from a job well done, not an accomplishment of “Making Eight.”
