Recent editorials from Mississippi newspapers:
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Feb. 18
The Greenwood Commonwealth on concerns about the accuracy and security of the upcoming census count:
On the heels of worries about electronic voting comes another concern about computerizing another essential government function: the census.
The U.S. Census Bureau is trying to eliminate as much paper as possible in the upcoming headcount. Most residents are going to be encouraged to fill out the census on the internet. Where census takers have to make a personal visit to a home to get the information, they will record the answers and transmit them using smartphones and a new mobile app that’s not been thoroughly tested.
Sound familiar? Another improperly vetted app recently created days of delay - and fueled conspiracy theories - in the Iowa Democratic caucuses.
The Census Bureau has been trying to downplay concerns about accuracy and security. There would be a lot more confidence in this modernization, though, if the agency were still not working through the kinks a couple of weeks before the count begins.
Online: https://www.gwcommonwealth.com
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Feb. 16
The Daily Journal of Tupelo on police quashing rumors of “ticket quotas”:
Tupelo’s leaders have long said there are no ticket quotas in the city, despite recurring rumors and accusations that police officers are pressured to write more tickets.
Their language has been firm.
“We don’t give quotas because it’s not professional to do such a thing,” said Tupelo Police Chief Bart Aguirre during deposition testimony related to a civil lawsuit.
That same message came from City Hall last week.
“Having a quota is a bad thing. We absolutely as an administration do not and will not ever have a quota,” said Don Lewis, Tupelo’s chief operations officer.
This position is commendable, and we call for members of the city’s police advisory board to heed these words.
Lewis made his comments quoted above during a meeting of the advisory board last week. As reported by the Daily Journal, several advisory board members don’t seem to understand this issue well.
“I wouldn’t care if you had a quota,” said one member.
“Ticket quotas? Like that’s a bad thing? Is it a bad thing?” said another.
Yes, it’s a bad thing.
Quotas encourage officers to write citations where they might otherwise give warnings. They may encourage officers to patrol in low-income areas where they are more likely to find violations like expired driver’s license, expired tag or no insurance. They promote resentment among members of the public and can imply that law enforcement agencies are motivated by profit rather than public safety,
Some states have outright banned quotas. Even as accusations of informal quota often arise against law enforcement, few are willing to defend them as a matter of formal policy.
Mayor Jason Shelton’s administration created the advisory board in 2017 as a tool to promote engagement, build trust and improve communication between local police and the wider community.
Comments like those heard last week from among the advisory board’s membership serve none of those purposes.
The advisory board is made up of local volunteers, and we do not intend to criticize anyone who gives of their time seeking the community’s betterment. We appreciate the service of all who sit on the advisory board and commend them.
However, the city needs to consider how it can better equip these willing volunteers to understand and fulfill their mission.
To serve on the board, all advisory board members must take a course designed to educate civilians regarding police operations and the court system. That’s prudent.
But comments like those lauding ticket quotas undermine the broader mission and may suggest to some in the community that the advisory board is only a public relations arm of the police department, not a fair and neutral community partner.
Some other educational measures look increasingly necessary to ensure that the advisory board is effectively able to communicate with all quarters of the community. Otherwise, the credibility of the board is at risk.
Online: https://www.djournal.com
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Feb. 13
The McComb Enterprise-Journal on the federal government’s fiscal health:
Only in America could this good news-bad news-worse news combo occur.
The good news is that the federal government’s tax revenue for the first four months of the budget year, October 2019 through January, is up 6 percent from the year before.
The bad news is that the government’s spending for the same period is up 10 percent - a lot more than the revenue increase.
To put those figures into dollars, tax revenue for the first four months was a record $1.18 trillion. Unfortunately, the spending for that period was also a record: $1.57 trillion, or about $389 billion more than revenues.
But the worst news of all, even though it’s not really a surprise, is that the feds appear to be on track to spend $1 trillion more than it takes in this year.
Such a $1 trillion deficit has not occurred since 2009 through 2012, when the Great Recession knocked a hole in tax revenue and when spending increased for corporate bailouts and safety net programs.
There’s no such excuse now. The economy is a lot stronger. Unemployment is at a 50-year low. Tax revenues have never been higher.
In the good old days, times like these are when the budget would be balanced. The difference is that nobody in today’s executive or legislative branch cares. Democrats long ago abandoned any pretense of fiscal sanity, but it’s a shame to see Republicans doing the same thing.
Online: http://www.enterprise-journal.com
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