Doing the Right Thing?

On April 11, 2011 The Texas Comptroller's Office finally admitted that they had left the personal information of some 3.5 million Texans on a public website for more than a year.  Two weeks prior, on the 31st of March the issue was noticed and corrected.  Since the 11th the Comptroller, Mrs. Susan Combs, has done nearly everything in her power to diminish her role in the mishap.  When the news first surfaced that the screw-up had occurred, Susan Combs looked to spread the blame to other departments that had originally offered the information.  However, this was swiftly rebutted by the department heads in question and they proved that they had done everything by the books to keep the confidential information safe.  Seeing that blame would not work, Mrs. Combs then began looking for free programs that could monitor the affected personnel's credit for any misuse.  She then learned that no such programs exist and was left with no other option than to offer free credit monitoring to anyone who's social security numbers were made public.  The only noble thing that she has done in this debacle is she has said the funds required to offer such assistance, will be pulled from her campaign funds.  Too little, too late?  Only time will tell, as Susan Combs has already began campaigning for the Lieutenant Governor position in 2014.  With someone so reluctant to accept fault, do we really want to give her more responsibility?  Hopefully the voters will remember the name Susan Combs when it comes election time once again.

Soda tax? Can't we do better than that?

How much is a soda really worth???  Texas Chitchat is correct in saying that the small tax increase will probably go unnoticed by many of the people that consume sodas. However, if you lobbying this on the basis that it would be a healthier decision for America and an incentive to decrease or stop your consumption all together then shouldn't they "demonize" something that causes more harm than a refreshing Coca-Cola?

Take beer as an example. Are there any nutritional aspects in a bottle of beer? Probably not. I'm certain that the amount of beer consumed on an average weekend in Austin greatly dwarfs those numbers that consumed a soda. "Coke" has been around for a long time and as far as I know there have been zero deaths contributed to the consumption of one. People don't have one to many sodas and go out and kill an innocent family in a horrible car crash.

If we are gonna put a tax on something shouldn't we at least hit the big vices before we go after the little guys. The government raised taxes on cigarettes in an effort to get folks to stop smoking. Why can't the same be done for drinking?

The Unseen Windstorm

The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) is an Austin, Tx based quasi-government company that was created by the State and overseen by the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), however it is ran as a private company with no government benefits.  Most Austinites have never heard of TWIA because it deals solely with hurricane prone counties along the coast, but here lately this relatively small company has made national headlines with it's conspiracies and under the table dealings.

In the last month, three of the company's top officials have been fired for unethical conduct.  Reggie Warren and Bill Knarr were the first to be released when they were suspected of being involved in fraudulent claims adjustments with a private claims company.  Next to go was General manager Jim Oliver for his suspected involvement and lack of action in the fraudulent claims.  Since then, TDI has taken control over all executive decisions and left all the other "higher ups" within TWIA fearing for their jobs.

Who's being punished for the sins of the executives?  Not the public because the claims are all getting paid in a timely manner.  Not TDI because they claim that TWIA was it's own entity to run as they saw fit.  It's the lower-rung employees that are taking the brunt of the backlash.  With every VP and section supervisor afraid that they are next on the chopping block, they are projecting their fears onto their subordinates in an effort to look like they are part of the solution and not part of the problem.

Dear Texas Department of Insurance, when you are done with the executive managers, please take a look further down the chain of command.  I'm sure you will find some more unsavory characters that are in desperate need of a career change.

Sincerely,
"Slim"