Thursday, 15 December 2016
We're From The Government And We're Here To Run Your Life
They say that
Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort.”
It appears that one of the other sort
Bruce Nesmith, a Coe College professor and longtime resident, a member of a Rezone Cedar Rapids advisory committee,
was biking home one day (why am I not surprised >)
When he saw GASP
TWO Anti-social Homes!!
So he Blogged about them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now you might wonder, What makes a Home Anti-Social?
Well Our City Council Woman Ann Poe can tell you that.
“We don’t like the design of the garage being the focal point of the home,” said Ann Poe, a Cedar Rapids City Council member and chairwoman of the council’s development subcommittee. “I don’t know if banning them is the appropriate term, but we have an interest in what we can do to discourage the development of snout style homes so the focal point is not the garage.”
Yes SHAME on those tacky people for making a garage a focal point of their home!!
It is OBVIOUS to the Spiritually Evolved that creatures of this sort Cannot be left to make their own decisions!!
Some view snout houses as unwelcoming, garage-lined streets as unsightly, and the design in conflict with a goal to create a walkable, bikeable community.
Myself I don't recall every being asked if I wished to live in a hive
Commute to work via mass transport and at home live in a walkable, bikeable community.
Or did I want to live in my own home and drive where I wished to.
I suppose that is something that is best decided by our betters such as Ann Poe and Bruce Nesmith,
We not being able to decide by ourself what is best for us and the Planet,
Being the Deplorable Anti=Social types that we are.
Turns out that
The homes are being built by the nonprofit Neighborhood Development Corp. of Cedar Rapids through the ROOTS housing program, a city-backed program created to replace homes lost due to the flood.
The snout design allows builders to give homebuyers more home for their dollar with larger kitchens and common areas, as well as laundry rooms, tucked behind the garage, said Randy Dostal, of Thomas Dostal Developers and past president of the Greater Cedar Rapids Housing and Building Association.
Design is dictated by the lot size, he said. The cost of ground has gotten more expensive, so lots have become narrower, he said. City zoning requirements control how far the structure must be set back from lot lines and the city is moving away from alleyways, which would facilitate a garage in back, so the garage sticks out in front, he said. It’s the most efficient, cost-effective design, he said.
And that is the CRUX
The design gives WORKING FAMILIES Better Larger Nicer Homes and Poe and Nesmith cannot abide THAT
It would interfere with their goal to create a walkable, bikeable community.,.
I mean if they let the peasants decide what kind of house they have for a home they might make the garage and their car the focal point
And forget what their places are.
What I think is that we need to REPLACE Poe and Nesmith and any other City Council Member or City Employee.
Who wants to decide for everyone else how they should live and what kiind of home they deserve
With people who can remember that they are supposed to be Public SERVANTS
And should spend their time on the necessary functions of Government and keep their Stuck Up Noses out of the Public's Private Business,
Tuesday, 15 November 2016
Rules for Tuesday Meeting
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David Chung
Rules for Tuesday MeetingTo my friends in the Linn County Republican Central Committee:
I am sorry that I am not able to be with you at the November 15th LCRCC meeting, I am spending the week working at a client site in Milwaukee Wisconsin.
I am writing this letter to give my input on the proposed rules for the election of officers. While I have serious reservations about the wisdom of adopting these rules, I will limit my comments to the parliamentary issues surrounding their adoption.
- The proposed rules require slates to be submitted to the Secretary by 7:00pm. The problem is that the rules are still proposedtherefore they must be approved by the body before they take effect. Since the time called out is the scheduled time for the meeting to come to order, the proposed rules, should they be adopted, will have the effect of requiring an action to have occurred in the past. As a parliamentarian I would advise that such an ex post facto rule be considered out of order.
- Since our county constitution and bylaws do not state how officers are to be elected, elections are governed by Robert’s Rules. Under Robert’s Rules individuals have a right to make nominations from the floor and offices are voted on individually. Since the proposed rule takes away the rights of members to nominate, run, or be voted on individually it requires 2/3 vote for approval.
I trust that the LCRCC will follow its parliamentary authority (RRONR) and put this rules proposal to a vote requiring two-thirds for its adoption. |
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Saturday, 12 November 2016
A Marked Deck Of Cards
At some point every Father should explain to a son that someday a Man will come up to you with a deck of cards whose seal has not been broken and invite you to play a friendly game,
DON'T
On November the 10th two days after a historic National Election many members of the LCRCC were offered a hand from a marked deck of cards.
While most of us had all of our attention and energy focused on an election that we felt might determine the course of the Nation for generations to come,
It would appear that our Executives were spending their time plotting a completely different Election,
Unless we are to believe they woke up Nov 9 and said to each other
HEY Let's have a LCRCC Officers Election and we have only ONE DAY to get the notices in the Mail!!
No my friends call me cynical but I surmise the spent quite a bit of time on this effort rather then the General Election,
They have in the past sprumg surprises on the Committee like this
There is usually some overwhelmlng emergency that requires us to ACT NOW.
In this caee we got the notice on Thursday, they want the election on
Tuesday and Oh yes they want the Rules to limit who can run for office
To only people in a full slate composed of a Chair Co-Chair, Treasurer
and Secretary
No we cannot allow anyone to just run for an office by themselves
Also they don't seem to be eager for anyone to run against them.
The little more than 4 days notice combined with the Slate requirements?
If not a Marked Deck looks a lot like Stacked Deck or maybe Loaded Dice?
We need to take time to reflect, examine and ponder our options,
THIS Time I say enough,
I say we REMIND them that the
Constitution of the Republcian Party of Linn County
Says
The Executive Committee is subject to the orders of the Linn County Central Committee, and none of its acts shall conflict with actions of the Linn County Central Committee.
That THEY work for us and at our pleasure not the Reverse
Friday, 11 November 2016
None So Blind
Everyone is so focused on the National Elections the State and Local Elections get over looked
The above map is shows the balance of power in State Legislatures BEFORE Tuesday :?
That changed. Here in Iowa we flipped SIX State Senate Seats and took control of BOTH Houses in the Legislature
State Senate Results for Iowa
There are two things to consider here,
First Donald Trump had nothing to do whatsoever in the creation of the situation we see in that map.
Sedond, After the Election there are more Red States,
Solid color Red or Blue means one party controls both Houses, Yellow the Legistlature is split,
So despite how things looked about the House of Reprsentatives the Presidency, the Senate and how those last two might affect the structure of the Supreme Court.
When I would hear earlier this year langauge about How the GOP was finished?
I would look at the balance of Powers in our State Capitols and think'
In what Universe?
It boils down to this folks
Either the GOP is doing a Lot of Things Right.
Or the Democrats are doing a Lot of Things really Really REALLY
Wrong
But I don't think they even see that,
COOL.
November Surprise
All of us who have engaged over the years in elections are familiar with the phrase October Surprise
That being something sprung at the last minute in October before an election with the intention that the opposition would have no time to respond,
Well it would appear that our Executive Committee has decided to spring a November Surprise on the Central Committee.
On the 10th of November after we were winding down from an exhausting election we got notification that they plan an Officer's election at the November meeting on the 15th.
It would appear they choose to justify the short notice because they found a sentence in the Constitution of the Republic Party of Iowa which says
Each member of the County Central Committee shall be given written notice at least five days in advance of the time and place of any meeting scheduled for the election of officers.
Before I go further into Constitutional Issues let me say. Never has the LCRCC Officers Elections to my knowledge been held in the Fall.
Never to My Knowledge has an Executive Committee given such short notice,
Yea I raalise tht Article VI Section 2 of the Constitution of the Republcan Party does say that is all that is REQUIRED
But it would appear that previous Administrations have been more considerate of the Central Committee.
Bear in mind we do NOT have an election until the COMMITTEE says so,
Our County Constitution reads "
The Executive Committee is subject to the orders of the Linn County Central Committee, and none of its acts shall conflict with actions of the Linn County Central Committee
In addition the notification quotes Article VI Paragraph 2 of the Republican Party of Iowa Constitution as justification for the 5 day notice
BUT they have over looked a following section which says
The term of office of an officer begins upon his or her election and continues until the organizational meeting two years later and until the officer's successor is elected and qualified, unless the officer dies, resigns, or is sooner removed by the County Central Committee for any
So HAS the 2 year period term of office been fulfilled?
Not hardly.
Now last Eelction was at its time unique too,.
It was the only one to my knowledge that had nominations and an election in the same meeting.
Upcoming LCRCC Nominations & Elections
Previously we had nominations in Feburary and Elections in March.
This was to give Members time to find out about the candidates and maybe launch their own campaigns
Something it seems our Exectutive Committte wishes to avoid,
I submit if they insist on using the Constitution to justify a short 5 day notice before the Election?
They are bound by the rest of the requirements of that Same Constitution.
Accordingly I would support a Motion to Remove the proposed Eelction from the Agenda and postpone it til Feburary with Nominations in January.
Five days IMO is not sufficient time particularly when it is being sprung on us 3 to 4 months before we have ever had these elections.
Call me cynical but this smacks of a power grab and quick and unethical practices,.
Some of us have been asked why there is such division and can we not work together?
I feel this is a perfect example of the main problem.
Thursday, 8 September 2016
No Wages Are Not Living Wages
There has been a lot of talk lately about Minimum Wages
Quite a few people, with the best of intentiions favor raising them.
Their assumptions are that this will allow people who are now making
the minimum wage to have a higher income and that their lives will become
BETTER.
What if they are wrong?
At present we have the Lowest Labor Partition Rate in almost 40 years
That means a lot of people looking for jobs
Some of them were making minimum wage,
Some were making $10 to $15 an hour.
There are reasons for the difference
We all know these reasons so there is no need to go into them here,
The point is that in the past people making a minimum wage
were not competing with the people that an employer would offer
$10 to $15 and hour.
They will will be in the future.
So what does this mean?
For the people who were already making $10 to $15 an hour
There will be a lot more jobs out there for them,
Their Lives will get better,
For the people who were making the Old Minimum Wage?
Their Lives will get just a little bit harder.
I heard the County Supervisor vote on the Second Reading was 4 to 1.
I want to commend John Harris for his principled stand
To try to protect the ability of our lowest wage earners to find jobs,
But I do not expect him to suceed,
Thursday, 9 June 2016
Brother Third Party's Magical Revival and Political Healing Camp Meeting
Yes Brothers and Sisters Come on IN!
To Brother Third Party's Magical Revival and Political Healing Camp Meeting
Let the Hand of the Libertarian ease your brow.
If you have
FAITH
If you
Buh-LEEEV!
Your afflications will be lifted From You!
No longer will you have the burden of choosing between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton!!!!!!!!!
You can Vote for a Third Party
And a Candidate who
And who shall wear the starry crown?
Saturday, 4 June 2016
Elections Are Binary
Or perhaps Trinary.
I have not figured out who will come out ahead on the Democratic side.
In any case there are a lot of upset people out there.
There are those on the Left who voted for Bernie,
There are those on the Left who voted AGAINST Hillary,
They are not however of the same mind,
There are those who used to be on the Left who plan to vote for Trump
UMW members are among that group. The Democratics insistence
that the Coal Industry be destroyed has had consequences.
There are those on the Right who do not like Trump at all,
Despite the FACT that the GOP nomination is all but over they still insist on explaining why he is not qualified to be President
I have no earthly idea what their goal is.
Third Party candidates in the past have only been a gift to the Left.
In fhe end to paraphrase the Highlander
Yes folks afer Tuesday, November 8, 2016
There can be only One
President Elect.
Maybe you did not get what you wanted,
You might get what you need
Or not,
I don't want to hear anything about Trumps qualifications from a Conservative
Just answer ONE QUESTION
Of the AVAILABLE choices?
WHICH
Would be the Worst outcome for the Nation?
If you truly believe that would be Trump
Then you have no Ethical choice but to do what you can to prevent that,
If you believe other than that?
What is your Goal?
If years from now my great or great great nieces and nephews ask me
What did YOU do Uncle Danny to try to prevent what would be the Worst Outcome for the Nation?
I do not intend to tell them
I stayed home and pouted
Because the person I wanted to get the nomination Lost
YOU have to decide what YOU will tell those that come after what YOU did,
Thursday, 10 March 2016
Letter from the chair/ The Rest of the Story
My Responce to some comments by our Chair to the New Members
To all new LCRCC members, I want to welcome you to the Linn County Republican Central Committee and introduce myself
My Name is Dan Kauffman. I understand the Chair sent out an email also welcoming you and made a few statements that
I believe concern me,
This is my response for those who think it is wise to hear more than one side of a Story
Let me put the Crux of the matter that the Chair sent here now
For too many years a small group has bullied and harassed the Linn County Republican Central Committee (LCRCC) body, and, in some cases, even the guest speakers who came to address the members. They have used the ruse of Roberts Rules to intimidate those who are trying to conduct the business of getting Republicans elected. They twist and manipulate the intent of Roberts Rules to the point that we must engage a parliamentarian at every meeting.
This process has repeated itself every two years for more than the past decade.
1) The first 2 meetings after caucus bring many new faces. This small band of detractors makes these meetings so unbearable that many leave.
2) The 2 months before the general election, they do something outrageous to either attract negative media attention to the Republican Party or to disenfranchise members of LCRCC who are volunteering to help elect Republican candidates.
3) They use blogging, anonymous emails, and fabricated “infractions”, attempting to destroy the reputations of those who dare stand up to them.
4) One of their group has “threatened to sue” the LCRCC executives, Republican Party of Iowa, and anyone else who tries to hold him accountable.
5) Well-intentioned volunteers who have dared attempt to “lead” this organization have left – vowing never to return.
This cycle is now in the process of being repeated. It must be stopped or we all lose!
We need a change of attitude if LCRCC has any hope of being relevant in the effort to elect Republicans in Linn County. We need you to participate to help heal and move us forward.
I do believe I will fit under the Blogging, Parliamentarian and I feel like I may have been accused of "fabricating" infractions.
But First let us look at the "This process has repeated itself every two years for more than the past decade."
I first started attending meetings in the Fall of 2004 I have seen 5 Chairs, Abolons (sp?) Conklin, Palmer, Armstrong and Golding
To the best of my recollection the only administrations that had much controversy during meetings were that of Palmer and Golding
So IMO the claim that this problem repeats itself every 2 years is either a "fabrication" or an exageration
As for "They twist and manipulate the intent of Roberts Rules to the point that we must engage a parliamentarian at every meeting. "
The role of Parliamentarian was introduced by the Chair Before Ms Golding a Mr Armstrong
The Committee was emerging from one of the periods of controversy which did exist and there was a general feeling by some
that the previous chair had abused his power and used Roberts Rules of Order ---when we felt like it
Mr Amstrong made a commitment to the Body to follow the Rules of Order, the County Constitution and the By Laws
As an expression of Good Faith he appointed a Parliamentarian
ME
A Post I held for close to 4 years I have also bee Parliamentarian for Special Meetings, County Conventions and I have been Sgt at Arms
at Two State Convetions
I will also be Head Sgt at Arms at the County Convention Saturday
I wish to State categorically that I have never IMO "bullied and harassed the Linn County Republican Central Committee (LCRCC) body"
I HAVE pointed out those times when our Executive strayed from the path.
Which brings us to the charge that I " fabricated “infractions”
Our By Laws State that expenses above a certain amount, not budgeted must be approved by the Body they also State that all checks must
be Co-signed by EITHER the Chair or Co-Char AND must ALL be signed by the Treasurer
Sometime back the Chair came to the Treasurer to sign a check and was told the Body would have to approve the expense
Rather than do that she browbeat the Co-Chair into signing with her
This is NOT a fabrication there exists a check used by the Chair to pay an expense without the authorization of the Body or the signaturue
of the Treasurer., Violations of our By Laws
Our County Constitution States that the Executive Committee is under the ORDERS of the Central Committee and NO decision of the Executive Committee shall conflict with one of the Central Committee
Some time Back the Committee voted to reward volunteers for certain functions,. We had some young people who took that challenge
and ran with it
Then we discovered that the Chair did not FEEL like paying them and would not sign the checks,.
Our Treasurer at that time had the Co-Chair Sign the Checks this was brought up in a meeting
It is not a fabrication it happened
Some time later the Treasurer was asked to step aside while some issues were being dealt with the Temp Treasurer and the Chair thus
become responsible for the Rewards Program and
DID NOTHING
At a later time when it was brought up in a meeting that one of our Young Volunteers was owed a payment
The subject was stonewalled and the Chair did nothing
I and another member of the Committee later decided it was disgraceful that the Committee had not paid this young person
for their efforts dug into our pockets and made them whole
I could give other examples but that would make this too lengthy
I do not know anything about anonymous emails.
I myself have gotten a few emails ;-) they were not anonymous
I have also gotten mail from someone who cared enough to by stamps they are quite amusing
The last item I wish to discuss is the Welcome Package you may have gotten at the first meeting
In it there is a Roadmap to Victory in 2016
Part of it says "To accomplish this the Executive Committee moves to accept the following plan for 2015-2016
That is not completely True
This is the THIRD Version I have seen
There was the Version we DID vote on and pass,
There was another version where I guess they decided they did not like the Team Leader who was Voted by the Body and tried to change it
The Body rejected that attempt
Now this version where they have changed the wording
The Truth is all of the versions are the same EXCEPT for the Section Called Membership & Meeting Setup
The Truth also is that when presented there were something that in hindsight were not right
The Executives told the Committee that
ALL motions and decisions made before the Executives Election were VOIDED by that Election that Robert's Rules of Order said this
AND that they had been told this by a gentleman who is in Iowa Republican Circles one of THE Go To Persons for Parliamentary Procedure
The Problem is?
Neither of those two statements are TRUE
When asked by myself and others the gentleman denied ever telling them that,
Which is not hard to understand because? It is NOT in Robert's Rules of Order and in addition one of their circle
actually WENT to the Official Online Roberts Rules of Order Forum and ASKED that
question and was told NO
I can SHOW that online to anyone who really cares about the Truth
In Conclusion, I don't do Anonymous nor do I do Fabricate
If you want to look at more details the link to the Evil Blog is Below
You now have two narratives it is up to you to determine what the Truth is
The Truth is also the only person who can keep you from helping elect Republicans is YOU
In the last year I have actually supported the LCRCC monetarily more than any other Committee Person
I have also supported fund raisers in about 3 or 4 counties and donated to 7 or candidates in both
the 1st and 2cd Districts and I am not finished when I was preparing this missive I added everything
up and discovered to Conservative Orgs and Local Candidates I have for the last year donated
about 10% of my income
Thursday, 3 March 2016
But The Truth Can Be Positive
Recently the Republicans of Linn County Iowa were introduced to a concept on our Linn County Face Book Pages
Yes it is best to stay away from negativity.
The Truth however can be very Postitive and even Liberating
Todays lesson on truth concerns a document presented in the New Members Package purported to be the Team Structure Voted upon and passed by the Body of the LCRCC
The problem is that so far the Exectutives have presented 3 versions
They are identical in all respects EXCEPT for the portion which concerns the
Membership & Meeting Setup Team
There is the original version that was actually Debated, Voted upon and passed
Membership & Meeting Setup – Membership records, meeting setup, credentialing for voting (Justin Wasson, Mike Dupree, Deb Dupree)
Which had Justin Wasson as the Team Leader
There was a second one, where it seems the Executives decided THEY could alter and change what the Committee Voted on and Passed
Membership & Meeting Setup – Membership records, meeting setup, credentialing for voting (Mike Dupree, Deb Dupree, Justin Wasson uncommitted)
Then the final version in the New Members Package that did not have the members (not that important)
But DID have an alteration of the wording
Membership & Meeting Setup – Membership attendence records, meeting setup, credentialing for voting
There being a difference between Membership records and Membership attendence records, that was rather important.
Call me funny but I think that when presenting what the Body Voted on and Passed one should restict oneself to what actually happened rather than what one would prefer to have happened
The Secretary has presented his case for his grab of power in the comments to the previous Post,.
I reccomend those reading this pull up another window and look through his claims
As to his claim about how things were done in the past?
That was voided by the vote establishing the Membership & Meeting Setup Team
As to his claim stated previously that Robert's Rules of Order lists Membership records as a Duty of the Secretary?
That is TRUE
Our By Laws however State
IX. RULES OF ORDER Robert's Rules of Order Revised shall prevail unless modified by these by-laws.
It is that last Clause Mr Ellis over looks
unless modified by these by-laws.
You see the By Laws are very specific about the Duties of the Secretary they state
3. The duties of the Secretary are to keep the minutes of the meetings and read them at the following meeting, unless waived.
They don't state
And all other duties listed in Robert's Rules of Order
The Body rejected the Secretary's claim of authority over the Membership & Meeting Setup up Team
And DESPITE the Section of the County Constitution which states
The Executive Committee is subject to the orders of the Linn County Central Committee, and none of its acts shall conflict with actions of the Linn County Central Committee.
He keeps making the Claim
I just wish he would refrain from trying to rewrite history and work with the Team
They are willing to work with him
But his "Work together"
Seems to consist of them doing what He tells them to do.
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