Subject:

Public Finance

  • Blogs

    March 28, 2012

    Class Wafare? Fine, Let's Get This Party Started.

    The Republican presidential candidates all agree on one thing -- the same mantra between all their lines. They all want us to believe that the extreme polarity of rich and poor in this country is an expression of natural law. The super-rich just have to get super-richer. Everybody else, sadly, must ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 8, 2011

    Infowars Host Alex Jones and His Followers Occupy the Dallas Fed Friday

    Friday evening, two groups of protesters, Occupy Dallas and Occupy the Federal Reserve, lined opposite side of N. Pearl Street at Woodall Rodgers in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. "We got sold out, Feds got bailed out!" Occupy Dallas protesters shouted in unison on the west side of Pea ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 18, 2011

    Dallas Fed Head Attempts to "Separate Fact from Fiction" When It Comes to Texas Jobs

    Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas​Several Friends of Unfair Park, including a grumpy one below, have asked if we'll make mention of Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President and Chief Executive Officer Richard Fisher's speech given in Midland yesterday. Sure, absolutely, happy to. Because, first, I'm ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 27, 2011

    Tom Leppert May Forget His Past. We Don't.

    ​Did anybody else have a serious gag reflex reading our former mayor's what-a-good-boy-am-I essay on the op-ed page of The Dallas Morning News yesterday? Does Tom Leppert just assume people don't remember a single thing about him? Or does he not remember a single thing about himself? His op-e ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 25, 2011

    Wherein Ron Natinsky Tries to Explain Why He Didn't Try Harder to Stop Last Year's Tax Hike

    Photo by Sam MertenRon Natinsky​Last week, we revisited the Trinity River toll road and convention center hotel referendums with mayoral candidate Ron Natinsky because, well, there just wasn't enough space to explain it all in last week's cover story. Much like we quickly glossed over those is ... More >>

  • News

    April 7, 2011

    We Need a Mayor Who'll Cut Up City Hall's Credit Card.

    Photo by Sam MertenRon Natinsky​Last week, we revisited the Trinity River toll road and convention center hotel referendums with mayoral candidate Ron Natinsky because, well, there just wasn't enough space to explain it all in last week's cover story. Much like we quickly glossed over those is ... More >>

  • News

    March 3, 2011

    Tom Leppert Gets Virtuous.

    Photo by Sam MertenRon Natinsky​Last week, we revisited the Trinity River toll road and convention center hotel referendums with mayoral candidate Ron Natinsky because, well, there just wasn't enough space to explain it all in last week's cover story. Much like we quickly glossed over those is ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 1, 2011

    Tom Leppert Rediscovers His Virginity

    ​The Gromer Jeffers story in The Dallas Morning News Saturday reporting that Tom Leppert now opposes federal earmark money for the Trinity River project put me in mind of an old newspaper friend. He had struggled mightily with temptation during his younger married years. I should say, he stru ... More >>

  • Blogs

    February 14, 2011

    Two District 14 City Council Candidates Promise Not to Raise Taxes But Don't Have Concrete Solutions to Pending Budget Shortfall

    James Nowlin​Late last week, we took a look at three of the five potential candidates for Angela Hunt's District 14 city council seat -- Jim Rogers, Vernon Franko and Brian Oley -- one of which (Rogers) said Hunt's decision to run for a fourth and final term caused him to put his campaign on h ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 26, 2010

    Stick It In Your Earmark Redux, or: Surprise, News Views Ban as a Bad Thing for Trinity

    ​O.K., I promise not to go on about it, but there's an interesting little two-step today on Page One of Dallas's Only Daily Newspaper. I just wanted to call it to your attention. It's about congressional earmarks and us. For a week or so we have been going on and on about how the Republican ban o ... More >>

  • News

    November 25, 2010

    Send us Your Earmark: Could Congress Turn off the Tap on Trinity Money?

    ​O.K., I promise not to go on about it, but there's an interesting little two-step today on Page One of Dallas's Only Daily Newspaper. I just wanted to call it to your attention. It's about congressional earmarks and us. For a week or so we have been going on and on about how the Republican ban o ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 23, 2010

    Kosher Pork? One In a Series of Items About Flushing Money Down the Trinity River.

    ​Last week Friend of Unfair Park Shaggy predicted that the Tea Party will get over its aversion to congressional earmarks in however long it takes for the Triple R's (Really Really Rich People) to get Dick Armey to convey the new post-election marching orders down to the tri-cornered-hat persons: ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 20, 2010

    What Two Sentences in The WSJ Suggest About the Future of the Trinity River Project

    U.S. Army Corps of EngineersFrom the Dallas Floodway Extension Project Description, this 1989 photo: "US175 blocked by water backed up into White Rock Creek. Normally, this is a busy traffic artery leading to the central business district."​Wilonsky sent me an interesting Wall Street Journal artic ... More >>

  • Blogs

    November 17, 2010

    Stick It In Your Earmark, or: You Don't Have to Look Far To See When Good Money Goes Bad

    The Trinity Parkway Toll Road, looking south from Hampton Road, from the master plan​Not to be cranky or anything, but it's really irritating to read all this crap about congressional earmarks and realize nobody knows what the hell they're talking about. Stories in both The Dallas Morning News and ... More >>

  • News

    September 23, 2010

    If You Don't Want to Raise Taxes, Better Look At The Kind of City You Do Want.

    The Trinity Parkway Toll Road, looking south from Hampton Road, from the master plan​Not to be cranky or anything, but it's really irritating to read all this crap about congressional earmarks and realize nobody knows what the hell they're talking about. Stories in both The Dallas Morning News and ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 22, 2010

    Doing the Math After Today's Tax Rate Vote

    City of Dallas Facebook pageFrom yesterday's Pavaho Pump Station groundbreaking, though feel free to write your own caption​Didn't even get my print-edition column out the door this week before I got a major correction, and this one from a person who would know -- city council member Angela Hunt. ... More >>

  • News

    September 16, 2010

    The Biggest Tax from City Council is On Our Patience.

    City of Dallas Facebook pageFrom yesterday's Pavaho Pump Station groundbreaking, though feel free to write your own caption​Didn't even get my print-edition column out the door this week before I got a major correction, and this one from a person who would know -- city council member Angela Hunt. ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 12, 2010

    Leppert: Tax Hike Is "A Very Risky Gamble"

    ​Mayor Tom Leppert has said it time and again: No tax hike. No way, no how. But in case you missed it the first 29 times, his e-vite to tomorrow morning's council budget briefing serves as yet another just-say-no note in which he takes aim at Angela Hunt and the other seven council members support ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 8, 2010

    This Just In: Eight Council Members Tell Mary Suhm They Want a 4.91-Cent Tax Hike

    Do not expect a repeat of this scene any time soon, at least when it comes to the FY2010-11 budget.​Moments ago I received from council member Angela Hunt's office a memo that follows, in which Hunt and seven of her colleagues (Delia Jasso, Vonciel Hill, Steve Salazar, Carolyn Davis, Pauline Medra ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 30, 2010

    City Manager Mary Suhm: Call for Tax Hike "Pretty Universal" at Budget Town Halls

    Sam MertenMary Suhm​"Do a tax rate increase." That's how City Manager Mary Suhm sums up the feedback from Thursday night's budget meeting at Edna Rowe Elementary. "That's pretty universal when we're at town hall meetings," she says. Despite the overwhelming number of residents pleading for ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 24, 2010

    Leppert on Tax Hike: "I Don't Want it Coming on the Shoulders of the People Who Live Here."

    Sam Merten​While I had Mayor Tom Leppert on the phone Monday evening, to discuss the walkout by six council members before the tax-rate hike briefing even got going, we talked for a few minuts about his opposition to a property tax hike. He acknowledged: Yes, some council members are leaning that ... More >>

  • Blogs

    August 24, 2010

    The More Things Change: Yesterday's Council Walkout Brings Back Fond (?) Memories

    ​Fine print alert! When Mayor Tom Leppert tells you that yesterday's agenda item vote on the city tax rate didn't mean anything, he's got his hand deep in your pocket. It may be fine print, but ask Leppert why the vote was required by state law if it didn't mean anything. Yesterday's council walko ... More >>

  • News

    July 22, 2010

    Despite draconian budget cuts, DART continues to put on a happy face.

    ​Fine print alert! When Mayor Tom Leppert tells you that yesterday's agenda item vote on the city tax rate didn't mean anything, he's got his hand deep in your pocket. It may be fine print, but ask Leppert why the vote was required by state law if it didn't mean anything. Yesterday's council walko ... More >>

  • Blogs

    July 6, 2010

    Four Months After Hubbie Pleaded Guilty to Tax Evasion, Realtor Eleanor Sheets Joins In

    Eleanor Mowery Sheets and husband Nicky​Again, this is Candy Evans's beat -- why, just today she noted over on D's DallasDirt that the former manse of Eleanor and Nicky Sheets is selling at half off the original asking price after it failed to move at an IRS auction in February. Nevertheless, this ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 16, 2010

    The City's Budget Shortfall is $131.1 Million, So Far. Forthcoming: Service Cuts, City Hall Layoffs and Fee Increases. And, a Tax Hike?

    ​Maybe you heard -- the city's facing a $131.1-million budget shortfall, not as bad as last year's $190 mil but, still, bad enough to merit deep cuts once more. And while several council members, among them Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, have said a tax hike may be necessary to keep from gutting ci ... More >>

  • Blogs

    April 27, 2010

    Two Months After Taking Guilty Plea, Terri Hodge Sentenced to Year in Prison

    Sam MertenTerri Hodge​The staff was all tied up today and couldn't make it to the Earle Cabell for Terri Hodge's sentencing. But the guilty-plea-taking ex-state represenative got a year in federal prison, because U.S. District Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn didn't really buy her story that, look, it was ... More >>

  • Blogs

    March 15, 2010

    The Feds' Local Tax Busts Best-Of: The Chart-Topping Hits From 2009

    ​There's magic in these hits hot off the charts, all charged with original star power -- pure power! New, from K-Tel and the U.S. Attorney's Office, this hit parade of local tax preparers, investment advisers and other no-filing nogoodniks currently serving five to Top 10! The original hits of '09 ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 26, 2010

    Let's Be Business Brief

    Don't mince words, Richard Fisher, what do you really think?​Some Tuesday morning odds and sods:First, from The Wall Street Journal, this op-ed from Richard Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, who tells the Senate to lay off his boy Ben Bernanke as he tries to re-up his positi ... More >>

  • Blogs

    October 5, 2009

    Haunted House, or: The Dead Occasionally Qualify for Property Tax Exemptions

    Flickr photo: numberstumper​Here's the latest report from Craig Kinton's office: Audit Report on Inappropriate Tax Exemptions and Delinquent Property Taxes, which the mayor and the Dallas City Council were given on Friday. But the short version: The City Auditor's Office went through the Dallas Ce ... More >>

  • Blogs

    September 16, 2009

    Several Council Members Say That, You Know, a Teensy-Tiny Tax Hike Ain't a Bad Idea

    ​Speaking of the council and the budget and fees versus taxes ...As we mentioned yesterday, Tennell Atkins's budget amendment called for a 1-cent property tax increase -- which I didn't think would get terribly far, given council members, the mayor and the city manager's oft-repeated vows not to r ... More >>

  • News

    May 7, 2009

    "Who Do You Trust? | "Dirty Dozen,"

    ​Speaking of the council and the budget and fees versus taxes ...As we mentioned yesterday, Tennell Atkins's budget amendment called for a 1-cent property tax increase -- which I didn't think would get terribly far, given council members, the mayor and the city manager's oft-repeated vows not to r ... More >>

  • Blogs

    January 23, 2009

    I Had a Fake I.D. Once. Bought Beer With It. These Folks? A Little Busier With Theirs.

    Sixty-six-year-old Levander Carlton McLean and his wife Rita Murphy McLean, who's 21 years his junior, are gonna be spending a little time apart -- five years or so, give or take, thanks to U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade, who yesterday sentenced the Garland couple to federal prison for using fake d ... More >>

  • Blogs

    June 24, 2008

    No, Really, Will This Get Me Audited?

    Sixty-six-year-old Levander Carlton McLean and his wife Rita Murphy McLean, who's 21 years his junior, are gonna be spending a little time apart -- five years or so, give or take, thanks to U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade, who yesterday sentenced the Garland couple to federal prison for using fake d ... More >>

  • Blogs

    May 2, 2008

    Angela Hunt on DCAD's New Downtown Appraisals: Finally, a Level Playing Field

    Sixty-six-year-old Levander Carlton McLean and his wife Rita Murphy McLean, who's 21 years his junior, are gonna be spending a little time apart -- five years or so, give or take, thanks to U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade, who yesterday sentenced the Garland couple to federal prison for using fake d ... More >>

  • News

    August 30, 2007

    Judge 'Droid

    Wake him up and he votes

  • Blogs

    May 18, 2007

    You, Snooze. We Lose.

    Wake him up and he votes

  • Blogs

    July 13, 2006

    Hotels Not Taxing Dallas

    Wake him up and he votes

  • Blogs

    June 21, 2006

    TIF for Tat

    Wake him up and he votes

  • Blogs

    June 21, 2006

    A Taxing Sports Equation

    Wake him up and he votes

  • News

    June 7, 2001

    Al Strikes Back

    Lipscomb appeal finds a receptive audience in New Orleans

  • News

    March 22, 2001

    Road Rage

    Homeowners in a Denton County neighborhood wage battle against "taxation without representation"

  • News

    September 28, 2000

    New Model Army

    Can the big-brain boys of the defense community change the way America fights?

  • News

    October 7, 1999

    Bad break

    An arena foe sets her sights on what she claims are unlawful tax exemptions

  • News

    September 2, 1999

    Busted

    Even in these boom times, Dallas is broke, thanks to a city council that has been giving away the store

  • News

    June 3, 1999

    Nothing ventured

    The end of the 1999 legislative session proves that, for Gov. Bush at least, it's better to look good than to do good

  • News

    October 29, 1998

    Bush's free ride

    With a little help from his Democratic pals, George W. Bush has become the GOP front-runner for president. But it's a cold world beyond Texas' borders, and it may take more than charm and luck to carry a good ol' boy to the White House.

  • News

    December 28, 1995

    The new Civil War

    Tax breaks for corporations are about to tear us in half

  • News

    November 16, 1995

    Nasty and negative

    Colin Powell's decision reveals distasteful state of American politics

  • News

    September 28, 1995

    Copping out

    Dallas turns down federal millions that would put more cops on the street

  • More >>
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