Saturday, 28 February 2015
Et Tu Brute?
One of my Readers is displeased with me.
They left a comment
It is good to see Jeremy participating again, But unlike the Past this time we differ a tad.
I am not one of those Libertarians who feel Govenment can or should be abolished and Taxation eliminated.
I feel there are some things Government needs to do.
That has to be paid for some way.
One of the ways in the Past we have, as a State chosen to fund road repair and upkeep, has been through a Fuel Tax.
Now I realize everyone seems to want what they want and also wants someone else to pay for it,
But when the Musical Chairs get down to a single one,.
Someone gets to set down, the rest are left standing,
Fuel Tax seems an almost Libertarian type of tax anyway.
Users pay nonusers don't.
Yes I know that non drivers will pay some higher for goods and services due to increased fuel costs but again that is their portion of the Road Usage.
Another thing to take into consideration is how inflation eats away at buying power.
That effects the State's ability to fund what it needs to fund as well as it does our abilites to pay our bills.
In this case we are not talking about an abuse of this principle.
We are not talking about Built In Annual Funding Inceases that are several multiples of the inflation rate such as the Democrats like,'
No we are talking about an increase that raises the buying power of the Fuel Tax Levy to about
75% of what it was 27 years ago,
That does not seem excessive to me.
Should anyone disagree, Feel free to use my comments section to respond with YOUR ideas on how Road Repair and Upkeep should be funded and how to maintain the needed level of funding.
Of course if they spend this money for something else besides roads and bridge repair all bets are off,.
Lest anyone misunderstand. A Raise in Taxes does not make me jump up and cheer,
I participlated in Three Campaigns to Oppose Raising the Local Option Sales Tax,
We won Two we had a combined War Chest for those two of less than 8K we faced City Hall, The Chamber of Commerce most of the large Corporations and Old Money in the County who for those two Referendums spent a combined total of about One Million dollars.
Like I said we won twice and the third time they buried us,
All three campaigsn were run out of the Star Lite btw the Way. It has turned into a Conservative Hub over the years.
So I think my Anti-Tax credentials are overall pretty good, much better than those of anyone who did not show up at the Star Lite back then to oppose LOST
THAT Tax cut all of us a lot deeper than this one will,.
This one IMO is Much Ado About Nothing
Friday, 27 February 2015
No Free Lunch
Tanstaafl
"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
Made famous in Heinlein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" is a concept that seems beyond the grasp of a lot of people.
There are decisions that I feel people should make for themselves and then there are things that the government needs to do.
In my opionion roads without ruts and safe bridges fall among the latter.
So we have a Fuel Tax increase and along with that comes screaming that sounds a lot like Stuck Pigs,
Over what exactly?
I looked at the figures, I believe that it will cost me a bit less than $2 a month,
But some of you might be thinking you live a very boring life and never go anwhere, For others it will cost more,
There is a lot of truth in that. So I looked at the
And I discover that the per capita gasoline consumption of Iowans is about 510 gallons a year.
So a 10 Cent Tax incease will hit them about $51 a Year or a tad less than $1 a week.
Last time I was in Hy Vee a diet coke cost me $1.59 plus deposit,
So we are not speaking of a Tax Increase that threatens the stability of the State's economy.
Also I have what some might call a pessimistic attitude,
They might even say my idea of positive thinking can be summed up by the words, "It could have been worse."
In this case that is true,
The last time the Fuel Tax Levy was increased was in 1988 and since then adjusted for Inflation and in Cosntant Dollars it has DECLINED by about 50%.
You can check that yourself at
What does that mean? It means WITH the 10 Cent incease our Fuel Tax Levy is in Constant Dollars 25% LESS than it was in 1988.
These matters of High Finance aside. There are other reasons why unlike others I am not that incenced over this Tax Incease,
I have more important things to concern myself with,
I have a President who feels like he needs to do what the Legislative Branch of the Government is not doing In His Opinion,
AND
He feels like he does NOT have to do what the Legislative Branch writes into Law,
In other words he feels he can govern by Executive Edict.
That is on the National Level,
On the Local Level it seems to me that we ALSO have Executives who feel like they should Govern the Central Committee by Executive Edict.
Neither is too concerned with small matters such as what the Constitution says or the Rule of Law.
Oddly enough I wonder if all the fuss and feathers on the Local level about a Tax increase that adds up to somewhere between 50 Cents to $1 a week might not be Misdirection.
Watch the shells see where the pea goes.
Let me see in one hand I have 50 Cents to $1 in the other my Basic Rights and Liberties are being attacked.
Which hand should I pay attention to?
Another thing I have noticed absent,'
In none of the Comments Sections where they are railing about the 10 Cent Tax Increase have I seen a Single Responce admonishing them
What does this have to do with Electing Republicans!
Still it is nice to see that they feel it is necessary to Rise Up on matters of Principle to Lash Out at other members of Our Party when they feel they are not living up to the Principles We are supposed to Stand For,
I mean that is What I Do.
And here I thought they did not approve of such activity and it turns out that might be the one thing on which we agree.
Thursday, 26 February 2015
The Webmaster Who Ran Away And Hid
Here are some posts that can be found on the LCRCC Facebook Fan Page
We have been under attack for years, are you going to fight for your party?
My friends of Linn County GOP I got to ask you this. If you knew there was a burglar knocking to enter your home through your front door, would you let them in knowing this?
Then why would you allow Iowa Conservative Union members participate in your organization? They have for the past 6 months or more publically published how they are working to 'destroy the LCRCC' and continual bashing all of you!
I ask you to give this some serious thought. You just voted in new officers...
See More
Now First of all this looks more like personal attacks rather than GOP business but more than that it demands action be taken against another Conservative Group for actions taken solely by ME..
And it does this while HIDDEN.
In that there seems to be a Block on my reading this unless I use someone else's profile
Which means I cannot respond in my Own Name on the LCRCC Fan Page. to these charges
Now is this because I have been a nuisance, say putting unwanted things on the Webmasters personal FB Page?
Nope that is something Our Webmaster specializes in.
The only reason I can think of him doing it this way is that he wants
To Throw Charges at Me
and Then
Run Away and Hide.
For Evil To Flourish
They say for Evil to Flourish all that is needed is for Good People to Remain Silent.
It is also a good idea for Good People to think from time to time on the Nature of Evil its different Forms and how it has Shown its Face in the Past.
Some think because we do not see a Great Evlil ie people being marched off to Death Camps there is not much to worry about,
They over look the reality that a mulititude of Small Evils can and have equaled a Great Evil.
Then there are Incremental Evils that appear small at first and without attention can grow very large.
They also Forget the Past and sometimes they hear something and they think now that sounds good I will use it, without considering or even Knowing where it came from.
After our last meeting when we elected officers a former Chair from another County who often visits our meetings asked me if I noticed that the person who won the office of Secretary promised to
Make the Trains Run On Time,
OUCH
The two Greatest Quotes from the Facistic States of the 20th Century were.
Hitlers Ein Volk Ein Reich Ein Fuhrer (One Folk, One Regime, One Leader)
and
Mussolinis's Make the Trains Run On Time
But at least he did not march up to the podium and Scream
One Central Committee, One Executive Board, One Chair!
However we do know that the Gentleman is not that enthusiastic about thngs such as Constitutions and Rules of Order when he thinks they get in the way of What HE Thinks everyone should be doing,
He looked me in the eye once and told me that we should get RID of Robert's Rules of Order because they got in the way of Gettiong Things Done,
I knew at that moment that I would never forget that being said and never Trust this person in a position of power,
He also when we were voting on removing a member of the Committee for a Violation of the Constitution ie supporting a candidate running against a Republican Huffily Grumped "What does THIS have to do with GETTING REPUBLICANS ELECTED" and Out of Order I might add but Rules of Order do not seem to matter to him and voted against enforcing the penalty in the Constitution,
I am Odd in that I THOUGHT I was supposed to support Getting Republicans Elected BECAUSE they SUPPORTED the Constitution and Rule of Law.
The Logic that we should IGNORE a Constituion, ByLaws and Rules of Order to help Elect someone who will uphold A Constitution and Rule of Law escapes me.
So we do not need Great Evils we have a multitude of Small ones trying to Grow Larger.
Someone needs to stand up and not be Silent,
But I will admit if I ever start to go into a meeting and I hear a bunch of people chanting
One Central Committee, One Executive Board, One CHAIR!
I'm Getting Out
Tuesday, 24 February 2015
I'm Shocked, Shocked I Tell You
I'm shocked, Shocked I tell you said the Chair that our Webmaster is putting inappropriate Posts on Linn County GOP Pages.
Or so we are told.
"I have chosen to focus on re-aligning our LCRCC to be prepared for the upcoming intense election cycle. I don't have time to follow what others are saying on FB."
The Chair also used a version of something I have seen before.
The phrase "What does this have to do with getting Republicans Elected!"
That seems to crop up anytime the Subject of Violations to the Constitution, ByLaws, Rules of Order or other Inappropriate Behaviour is mentioned,
Though in this case it looks like our Chair has created a Permanent Get Out of Jail Free Card,
"I have chosen to focus on re-aligning our LCRCC to be prepared for the upcoming intense election cycle."
That would be the election in about 2 years?
And since there will never be a time when an election will be MORE than 2 years away,
It would appear that the Chair is saying our Webmaster can do anything he wishes to because she will ALWAYS be too busy to pay attention.
By the way our Chairs definition of derailing the LCRCC and Meetings can be loosely translated as
Diagreeing with me and insisting that the Constituion, ByLaws and Rules of Order be adhered to .
With the subject of the SHAMEFUL incident where the Webmaster slandered a Formerly generous Republican Donor on LCRCC Fan Page and EVEN put his call for a boycott on the Facebook Pages of some 20 people INCLUDING the Facebook Page of a Sitting Congressman the Chair states
"You know full well that - as soon as I became aware of the issue to which you refer - I asked James to remove the post. He did."
Really? That is IT?
No Public Retraction and Appology to the Business that was slandered?
No Appology to the people including our Congressman whose Facebook Pages were smeared our Webmaster's spleen?
How about ANY sort of action Taken by the Executive Board to disipline or admonish him?
Nothing
But the Chair has a lot of vague charges to fling at me.
There are some differences.
I do not represent the LCRCC
This website does not belong to the LCRCC
I am pretty specific when I make a charge about the Chair or the Executive Board's actions.
When I deem the Constitution, ByLaws and Rules of Order are Violated I WILL speak up.
It is true there was a time when the Office of Parliamentarian required me to be Neutral.
That is no longer the Case.
OOPS
ROAD MAP TO VICTORY 2016
The LCRCC was given a passing of the Flag oration by the new Executive Board, which included well deserved thanks to the Officers who will not be returning for their Past Service.
With however ONE GLARING OMISSION.
There is thanks to Don Nelson, Mary Ernzen and Jim Miller but deadening silence concerning someone who has served as a Former Chair as Treasurer more than once and this time for the last 4 years.
We were exhorted to put the past behind us and come together for the needed work of the Future
But not it seems without a Parting Slap in the Face to what is for almost one half of the membership one of our more respected members.
It would seem that it is WE who are supposed to Forgive and Forget and THEY who get to gloat and rub it in.
So as one of our hardest working volunteers told a few of us last Saturday Night,
We saw 5 minutes of mutual peace and then they started up again.
I mean we have a Webmaster posting on a LCRCC Facebook Fan Page that almost half the membership should be driven out of the Committee AND have a Co-Chair who Clicked LIKE to the Post?
It is true the Co-Chair later added this comment
I do appreciate ICU's forum, encouraging such dialogue.
Now we have this insulting announcement.
Who was it said Gentleman may Cry Peace Peace, but their IS no Peace?
Dear Republican ,
Now that the elections are behind us, we have a job to do. 2016 elections will be upon us before we know it. We have a Straw Poll, 1st in the Nation Caucus, County, District & State Conventions, Primaries, and the all-important 2016 Presidential Election.
As the first order of business as the Chair, I want to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to Dr. Don Nelson and Mary Ernzen.
Don served diligently as Co-Chair for the last 2 years, taking the reigns when I was out of town and navigating through the rough waters of the Ad Hoc committee.
Mary served the LCRCC as Secretary for 4 years. She was elected in Dec 2010 and we learned the ropes together. Please thank them for their service when you see them.
I want to thank Jim Miller for so much time and effort spent during the last several months.
The second order is to welcome our new Executive Team. Brett Mason, Co-Chair, Gary Ellis, Secretary, and Robin Tucker, Treasurer. We are looking forward to serving you as we move forward in a positive direction.
2014 was a huge success because of the hard work of so many volunteers – to those who worked tirelessly for their favorite candidates, those who manned phones in the Victory office, door-knocked the neighborhoods, and the dozens who volunteered as poll watchers and Official Poll workers – THANK YOU.
2016 will require lots of hands to get the job done. What part do you want to play?
If you have a particular interest or skill, please let us know by contacting one of the officers.
Please come to the March 17th meeting as we start planning our
ROAD MAP TO VICTORY IN 2016.
Thank you,
Cindy Golding
LCRCC Chair
Monday, 23 February 2015
Problem In the LCRCC Found
I am moving this comment from a previous post for those who might have overlooked it.
Because I think it brings to light what the Main Problem in the LCRCC is.
In that post I asked some questions that I will now repeat.
I Question whether the Posts written by Mr Knox on the Linn County GOP Fan Page Are in Fact.
APPROPRIATE Linn County GOP Business
And I Call upon the New Leadership to RESPOND with Why it is appropriate if they do feel that way
Or
What they intend to Do about it
If they feel it is not appropriate.
We are Waiting
We Can't HEAR You.
Sunday, 22 February 2015
GOP Business
It has been the policy of the Communications Sub-Committee to reserve the Linn County GOP Group Page for Republican Party Business in Linn County,
We saw the Group Page as a means of communication within the Committee of Local items.
The Linn County GOP Fan Page was seen as a very good method of acheiving a broader reach to those outside the Committtee the wider Republican and Conservative audience,
Which is Why I Question whether the Following Posts on the Linn County GOP Fan Page Are in Fact.
APPROPRIATE Linn County GOP Business and I Call upon the New Leadership to RESPOND with Why it is appropriate if they do feel that way or What they intend to Do about it if they feel it is not appropriate.
It is true that Mr Knox must have me blocked because when I went to the Linn County GOP Fan Page I did not see this but I have Loyal Readers who are willing to inform me and send me screenshots such as:
UPDATE: It would seem our New Co-Chair "likes" Mr. Knox's idea of purging ICU members from the LCRCC. So I guess that is the answer from ONE member of the Executive Board.
The Dark Side Of A Stag Party
Most people when they hear the word Stag think of a magnificent Male Deer with a head full of antlers.
But there is a darker side to the term Stag.
It is also a Bovine neutered after Sexual Maturity.
Which give an entirely different meaning to the event known as a Stag Party.
Friends of the ICU I do believe that we have all been invited to a Stag Party by the Webmaster of the LCRCC.
Today I had an old man ask (yelling it at me) when are does the purge begin. I had to laugh for many reasons but I prefer culling or neutering.
So not content with just driving us out of the LCRCC.
Are you willing to take more actions to stop this insanity? Are you willing to stand up to the bullies (like burglars of your organization and Republican Party) and toss them out the door locking them out?
I am, join me in this effort of calling them out and showing them the door for we need to focus upon 'Electing Republicans' and this includes removing permanently that which stands in the way of our unified goals!
He would like to Castrate us during the Process?
After the Officer's Election there WAS a Call for all of us to Get Along and concentrate on the Election of Republicans.
In my opinion someone needs to have a serious talk with Mr Knox on the meaning of the words
Get Along.
Now I KNOW that what he has suggested has been used in the past with domestic animals to make them more docile and keep them from wandering.
But I doubt that any member of the ICU will accept his aid.
We might even actively oppose his solution to our mutual problems.
Saturday, 21 February 2015
Balance of Power
Yesterday one of the Illuminate posted a stirring call to Purify the LCRCC.
It has since been taken down. Perhaps it was decided that giving warning of an Impending Purge would be counter productive to a Sucessful Outcome.
The Gentleman last tried to rouse the Faithful to a Pogram against Godfathers.
One wonders how that is working for them?
In any event I was considering his attitude that the recent Election has given his Forces a Mandate to Sweep the House Clean.
As I recall there was NO vote on the Chair Election.
Our Candidate simply walked away from it.
A Voice vote was insisted upon denying the 3 people presiding over th Election their Right to Vote and denying anyone else of expressing their displeasure with a Write In Vote.
The vote tallys we do know about were
Co-Chair 35 to 28
Secretary 35 to 28
Treasurer 25 to 39
I could be mistaken but those are the totals I remember if I am mistaken there won't be but a vote or two difference,.
Add up the Votes for One Side and Compare it with the Votes for the Other,
You get? 95?
That's a dead split of voters for each side,
There is no way of Telling what might have happened to the Chair, the Co-Chair and the Secretary Elections if the other Candidate for Chair had stayed in the Election
Would it have increased or decreased either sides tally.
One thing is certain.
There is no mandate for driving the Unfaithful out of the Temple.
What we have looks more like a Mexican Stand Off.
SO if we want to get anything done this next year we better learn to get along
And calling for a Purge of almost half the membership?
Probably not the Best Start
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