Tuesday, 9 August 2011
They're Both Wrong
These days when you turn on the TV, listen to the Radio on the way to work, or open up a Newspaper,
Everyone seem to be talking about the Deficit and the Debt Crises.
The one thing they all can agree on, is this is NOT a good thing
But they do disagree on what to do about it.
Some say, we need to raise taxes, which would give the Government more Revenue and fix the problem.
Others say no, raising taxes would dampen a weak economy and that instead we should lower taxes, stimulate the economy and that would give the Government more Revenue and fix the problem.
Now both of them can't be right,
But both of them CAN be
Dead Wrong
You see, for generations the American People with just a few exceptions HAS been sending DC more money each year than the year before.
But for generations with just a few exceptions DC has SPENT more money than we sent them.
So Raising Revenue
Has NOT been Working!
If it was, we would not have this problem.
Just to give an example of our present reality,'
Picture the Federal Government as a household making 40K a year,
The MidEast Conflict would be like them taking out a Loan for 20K and paying for 8 years on it at the rate of $50 a week.
That is like something a lot of us have done.
But this last year was like that same family spending 70K.
If that should be a member of your family, you might try to talk to them,
If you found that they did not see any problem and in fact planned on doing the same thing next year and the year after and so on.
You would probably be talking to the rest of the Family about getting them some help.,
We need to get Uncle Sam some help.
Right now and for SURE
Next November.
Thursday, 28 July 2011
There's a Farm Shortage?
I found it interesting to learn recently that one of the Flood Recovery Programs that the City Hall is lauding was a Farm in Timecheck?
CEDAR RAPIDS — A proposal to permit an urban farm in a piece of the flood-hit Time Check Neighborhood won a ringing endorsement on Monday from a City Council committee and the city’s community development director.
The council’s Community Development Committee unanimously agreed to move the idea, called the Ellis Urban Village, forward.
For generations Timecheck has supplied single unit affordable housing for lower income families.'
Such housing is always in short supply, but I was unaware that Iowa was experiencing a shortage of Farms and Vegetables.
This seems to be part of the Urban Village Plan that was part of the Preferred Plan that City Hall tried and failed get passed in Last Springs LOST Referendum.
Along with a myriad of OTHER, "Needs" that City Hall has been working on,
The City Council is expected to award a construction contract Tuesday evening to build a new off-leash dog park on city property near the city’s Gardner Golf Course and community gardens at highways 100 and 13.
The park has been in the works for more than two years.
Two contractors bid on the project, with Gee Grading & Excavating Inc. of Cedar Rapids submitting the low bid of $150,635. Dave Schmitt Construction Co. Inc. of Cedar Rapids bid $178,385.
Work is slated to start on Aug. 22 and be complete in November, the city reports.
So THAT'S what they have been working on since the Flood?
Recently I got an email from a good friend who is a Flood Victim. He knows I take an interest in these issues and had a question,
Subject: Is this true?
At the July 26, 2011 Cedar Rapids City Council Meeting the city will be approving the following:
$6.4 Million to Remodel the New City Hall (Many City halls cost less than this to build !!!!)
$41 Million to Renovate the Cedar Rapids Convention Center
(Which does not include the following:
$13 Million New Parking Ramp
$18 Million to Buy and Remodel the Crown Plaza Hotel.
6.4 + 41 + 13 + 18 = $78.4 Million
WT* - This is why we don't have FLOOD PROTECTION !!!
Who is to blamed for this: The Mayor and ALL City Councilors !!!!!
As you can see, he had not only a Question
Is this true?
But a reaction
WT* - This is why we don't have FLOOD PROTECTION !!!
Quite right friends, Sometime back I heard that during a heavy storm, some neighborhood streets were flooded because the sandbags blocking the Storm Drains have
NEVER BEEN REMOVED!
It would appear two things are in action,
One they want us to be reminded of Flooding
Two they are rapidly spending all of our money on pipe dreams so that next spring we will HAVE to give them an extension on the Local Option Sales Tax,
CEDAR RAPIDS — The petition drive has begun to again put an extension of the local-option sales tax to a vote, this time for a scaled-down plan extending the tax just 10 years and putting all the funds toward flood recovery.
Supporters have dubbed the drive CREST — Cedar Rapids Extended Sales Tax — with a goal of collecting at least 4,032 signatures to require the Linn County Board of Supervisors to call a new election, likely on March 6
BOHICA (Bend Over Here It Comes Again)
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Big Blue Taxi
I came up with a catchy little jingle to put the spotlight on our Local government wanting to do things like: build bike trails instead of fixing the streets.
It's based on a Folk Song made famous by Judy Collins, Big Yellow Taxi, so I dedided to name this one Big Blue Taxi of course 'Don't it always seem to go" is used in the original and this version,
Am I not truly Evil to use one of the ultimate Eco-activist songs for this? New agers will be making ths Sign of the Pentacle when they see me and getting
their children to behave by saying Dan Kauffman will come and get bad little boys and girls who do not recycle and eat all their vegan dinners.
Or should that be "unsocially educated vertically challenged genderfree persons" ??
They paved paradise and put up a parkin' lot
They built a Bike Trail but left all the Streets Full of Ruts
With a pink hotel, a boutique, and a swingin' hot spot
Made a Green Zone,with an Organic Cafe and a Fung Shui Meditaton Spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
Their Tax Increase never Ends
They paved paradise and put up a parkin' lot
They built a Bike Trail but left all the Streets Full of Ruts
They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum
They planted the blocks all with Trees
And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them
Raised the Sales Tax one percent for Urban Farms for the Bees
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got till it's gone
Their Tax Increase never Ends
They paved paradise, and put up a parkin' lot
They built a Bike Trail but left all the Streets Full of Ruts
Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT
Hey City Hall leave our Wallets Alone
I don't care about spots on my apples,
You keep Raising Taxes
Leave me the birds and the bees - please
We'll have nothing left of Our Own
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you got till it's gone
Their Tax Increase never Ends
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot
They built a Bike Trail but left all the Streets Full of Ruts
Hey now, they've paved paradise to put up a parking lot
They'll build Bike Trails but leave the Streets Full of Ruts
Here is the orginal
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Stuck In the Gears of the Government
These days, every time you turn on the TV, or listen to the radio while driving, or open a newspaper, someone is talking about the Deficit.
One thing everyone agrees on, is that it is NOT a Good Thing,
What they don't agree on, is what to do about it.
Some say we need to Raise Taxes so the Government wil have more Revenue
Others say, No if we Raise Taxes the Economy will slow down even more than it has, that to increase Revenue we need to Lower Taxes and grow the Economy,
Now they BOTH can't be Right, but they BOTH are
DEAD WRONG
If increasing Tax Revenue would fix this problem there would be NO Problem
For generations the American People with very few exceptions have been sending more money each year to Washington than the year before
And for generations with very few exceptions Washington has spent more money than we sent them
So sending Washington more Money is
NOT WORKING
There is only one solution,
Washington must STOP spending more money than we send them
But they find that distasteful
So here we are STUCK
In the Gears of the Government.
Just like Charlie of the MTA
The Man Who Never Returned
Yes on the Natiional Level
On the State Level
On the Local Level
The Same Song can be sung.
To Paraphrase
Citizens of Linn County
Don't You Think It's A Scandal
That the People Have to
Pay and Pay
If we Pass the LOST Extention
Will Our Money Be Returned
Or Will It's Fate Always Be Unlearned
No It May Never Return
It Will Never Return
And It's Fate Will Be Unlearned
It Will Set Forever
In The Hands of the City
And Our Money Will Never Return
Friday, 20 May 2011
The New Sudetanland
At 1:30am on 30 September 1938 Europe sold out Czechoslovakia to Adolph Hitler
Munich Agreement
A deal was reached on 29 September, and at about 1:30am on 30 September 1938,[1] Adolf Hitler, Neville Chamberlain, Benito Mussolini and Édouard Daladier signed the Munich Agreement. The agreement was officially introduced by Mussolini although in fact the so-called Italian plan had been prepared in the German Foreign Office. It was nearly identical to the Godesberg proposal: the German army was to complete the occupation of the Sudetenland by 10 October, and an international commission would decide the future of other disputed areas.
Czechoslovakia was informed by Britain and France that it could either resist Nazi Germany alone or submit to the prescribed annexations. The Czechoslovak government, realizing the hopelessness of fighting the Nazis alone, reluctantly capitulated (30 September) and agreed to abide by the agreement. The settlement gave Germany the Sudetenland starting 10 October, and de facto control over the rest of Czechoslovakia as long as Hitler promised to go no further. On September 30 after some rest, Chamberlain went to Hitler and asked him to sign a peace treaty between the United Kingdom and Germany. After Hitler's interpreter translated it for him, he happily agreed.
On 30 September, upon his return to Britain, Chamberlain delivered his famous "peace for our time" speech to delighted crowds in London.
In 1937, the Wehrmacht had formulated a plan called Operation Green (Fall Grün) for the invasion of Czechoslovakia[16] which was implemented as Operation Southeast on 15 March 1939.
On 14 March Slovakia seceded from Czechoslovakia and became a separate pro-Nazi state. On the following day, Carpathian Ruthenia proclaimed independence as well, but after three days was completely occupied by Hungary. Czechoslovak president Emil Hácha traveled to Berlin and was forced to sign his acceptance of German occupation of the remainder of Bohemia and Moravia. Churchill's prediction was fulfilled as German armies entered Prague and proceeded to occupy the rest of the country, which was transformed into a protectorate of the Reich.
Those who have studied history are doomed to watch those who have not repeat it.
On March 2, 2007 in Chicago, Illinois. President Barack Obama gave a speech which in effect places Israel in far more vulnerable state than the deeding of the Sudetenland to the Nazis did Czechoslovakia if it is implemented.
Congressman Ted Deutch analyzes President Barack Obama's speech on Israel
"Yesterday, the President also spoke of the 1967 lines and land swaps. Should Israel find a partner for peace who is willing to join Prime Minister Netanyahu at the negotiating table, Israel cannot be expected to make any territorial concessions that do not acknowledge the reality on the ground. The 1967 borders are indefensible. References to 'land swaps' must mean that major Israeli population areas in the post-Six Day War territory, including the Jewish suburbs of Jerusalem, will forever continue to be a part of the Jewish state of Israel.
At the end of World War Two the civilized world vowed
NEVER AGAIN
Today that vow has morphed into
NEVILLE AGAIN
Thursday, 19 May 2011
End of an Era
This is the screen play for a video I dreamed up
The scene is: A family is gathered around a large kitchen table the men and women are dressed plainly but in clean working clothes
The men look grim, the women are teary eyed and wringing their hands
Words scroll across the screen
If America was a family making 40K/yr the 1.1 Trillon dollar Iraq War would be like them making $50/week payments for 8 years
Man's voice. "The last 8 years have not been easy for the family, but we made our payments"
Words scroll across the screen
This years Federal spending and deficit are like that same family spending 70k, every penny they are going to make, and 30K they don't have
Man's voice "But what he is doing now we just can't afford"
Woman ducks her head.
Man's voice "He not only plans to spend every penny we are going to make this year, but 30K we don't have, and he plans on doing the same thing NEXT Year and the Year after and has NO intention of changing!"
Woman puts hands to face and gasps Men straighten up and their faces tighten
Man's voice "If this goes on, the Family Business is GONE, there will be nothing left for our Children!"
Men look Grimmer Woman Sobs
Man's voice "We don't have a CHOICE we have to get him some HELP, we have to,. to save what we have left"
Women are weeping softly, Men are blinking their eyes and trying to maintain
Man's Voice "We CAN'T ignore this ANY LONGER!
We HAVE to do SOMETHING about UNCLE SAM!"
Man's voice softly speaking "while there is still something left to save"
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
What Is Razor Grass
What Grassroots movements turn into when they get ticked off.
Sunday, 1 May 2011
What's In the Poke?
There is an old saying, "Don't Buy a Pig in a Poke"
This goes back to Medieval times when baby pigs were sold in pokes and sometimes what was in the poke was not a pig at all but a Cat.
Which also lead to the saying, "Letting the Cat Out of the Bag" which means Finding Out the Truth.
When you think of it, it's hard to understand how people living so close to the land would fall for such a scam.
But one version I read, said that these transactions were not done in broad daylight in markets, but in the dead of night in a rushed manner due to the heavy Taxation of the Day.
That sound familiar??
On May 3 we are going to be given a poke to buy and there is a strange rush about the whole matter.,
My Father used to say that Big Decisions you needed to Sleep On. Meaning take your time and find out all the details.
He said if they rushed you and you could not "Sleep on it"?
Might be Best to Just Say No.
All of the details are here.
There is too much that is vauge about this new Lost Extenion.,
They are in too much of a hurry.
The original 5 year plan we just passed does not exprire until 2014, but we must extend it 20 more years
NOW!
I find myself remembering what my Father and those who came before him said
Sleep on it or Say No
and
Don't Buy a Pig In a Poke
Now there are some Good People who have been trying to look inside this Poke you can find them
at
WeCanDoBetterCR
You might want to take a look at whatr they found when they
Looked insde Poke to Try to Let the Cat Out of the Bag.
They are a much smaller grassroots movement than the Yes side.
You can tell that because they have been outspent 100 to 1 in their efforts to get their message out.
And it might interest you to know MANY of them are
Flood Victims
and
They ARE NOT HAPPY
With the way things have been going so far and
Think We Can Do Better.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Don't Feed The Pig
I remember once hearing an alcoholic giving a talk about what life was like before he got sober
He said,
"People used to accuse me of drinking too much,
But in my eyes, I never drank enough,
Because when I had finished all the liquor that was there,
I needed MORE."
It sometimes seems to me that politicians are a lot like drunks
People accuse them of Taxing too Much.
But in their eyes they do not Tax Enough
Because when the have spent all the Tax Revenue that there is.
They need MORE!
There are of course some differences.
With drunks and addicts the solution is total abstinence, but we do need Government to fulfill some basic functions so moderation, rather than abstinence is required
They DO need help with that it seems.
Left to their own devices, they are powerless against the elusive sense of ease that comes with a Tax Increase and they persist in making our lives unmanageable.
But they are not junkies, they are uncontrolled gluttons.
In "What's the Matter with Kansas" the author seems puzzled and deeply troubled by the tendency of Conservatives to vote against what he sees as their economic self interests and instead in support of what they see as their Principles
In his eyes he this is a result of manipulation,
Some may, however see it as representative of the actions of responsible citizens.
Indeed the Original Tea Party was not about individual economic self interest.
The Taxed Tea would have been less expensive than Smuggled Tea,
It was instead about Principles,.
Taxation without Representation and an assertion of the Rights and Liberties of Englishmen enshrined in the 1679 Act Declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject and Settling the Succession of the Crown. often called the English Bill of Rights.
Which the Crown (Government) had ripped from them
If one reads again the Declaration of Independence, one is left with the haunting impression that History's Wheel has come full circle.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
As their forefathers the Present Tea Party, stands more on Principle than individual economic self interest.
Much to the dismay and derision of those like the author of What's the Matter with Kansas"
Among these Principles are the concepts of Fiscal Responsibility, Limited Government and Less Taxation.
In recent times there has been enacted Local Option Sales Taxes called for brevity LOST
They were presented and voted down and represented until they passed.
One justification given to encourage Marion to pass this a while back was a claim that Marion would receive more revenue back from the State than they collected in Taxes.
Now it is desired to extend this 5 year levy to 20 years.
And a justification given for voters in the Unincorporated portions of Linn County to Vote for it is a claim that they would collect 10% of the Tax and receive 17% of the revenue.
For those who believe in Fiscal Resposibilty . Limited Government and Lower Taxation
there is a Question hidden in thiese claims
It is bluntly this
What do they need to offer to Buy your Vote and encourage you to Abandon your Principles?
The Price for MY vote is
Fiscal Resposibilty, Limited Government , Lower Taxation and Less Intrusion of the Government in my Life
If you cannot offer me that
You don't get it
Sunday, 6 February 2011
Open Season on Marion Businesses Sticker
In a bizare example of governmetal excess the Police Cheif of Marion Iowa has taken it on himself to encourage local businesses to post stickers informing the general public that they are totally defenseless against criminals
Read all about it here
In what is surely an egregious waste of taxpayer money, the Police Chief of Marion, Iowa has taken it upon himself to send a letter, complete with two stickers, to the businesses in his city, encouraging them to post their businesses as “weapons-free zones” (WFZ) - or more appropriately, safety-free zones.
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