political poppycock.-that was bernies assessment of the opening statement.- what he probably isnt saying is that the state had passed a bunch of their erstwhile responsibilities down to the counties.-then the state could lower their taxes while the counties had to increase their tax revenue to meet their new state-mandated responsibilities.-the crime rate is down because some of the offenses that used to be reported as crimes are now omitted because those are now listed as misdemeanors rather than crimes.-and , sure , teachers salaries are higher because there had been a state-mandated cut-back in teacher positions.-therefore , far fewer teachers were receiving a little more money for doing the work two and a half teachers had been doing.-unemployment rates were down since more and more workers were taking minimum wage work because the drawing period for unemployment had been cut and they now had no income at all .