|
|
Sound Off | |
03/07/10 |
         
|
Sound Off is where citizens can express their views on matters of concern to Llano residents. The usual caveats apply: Nothing defamatory, follow the "K.I.S.S." rules , and no anonymous submissions. If you don't have the strength of your convictions to use your real name and where you reside, it won't be published in Klee's Kaleidoscope. If you wish to have your name withheld from publication I'll be glad to do it. Sound Off has been expanded to include news releases or special articles submitted from time to time that may have particular interest to Llano citizens. Submission of material will constitute consent to publish unless you specifically state otherwise. Klee's Kaleidoscope reserves the right to make editorial corrections to improve readability but will not make any substantive changes to the material submitted. All submissions are kept posted for 6 months. E-mail all material for publication to Klee's Kaleidoscope. Disclaimer The opinions or views expressed herein are those of the authors and are published as a public service. They are not to be construed, explicitly or implicitly, as reflecting those of Klee's Kaleidoscope or the owner of this web site. {This is a copy of the controversial letter Glen Beck read on his TV show from a listener in Arizona} One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels.. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This is not to be confused with legal immigration. Two, the STIMULUS bill. I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you No, but you did it anyway... I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal. Three: Czars. I want the circumvention of our constitutional checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution, and honor it. Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There are many conflicting opinions and it is too soon for this radical legislation. Quit throwing our nation into politically-correct quicksand. Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision that will burden me, my children, and grandchildren. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night without even reading it. Slow down! Fix only what is broken -- we have the best health care system in the world -- and test any new program in one or two states first. Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. More is not better! Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real [Constitutional] obligations. Why don't you start there. Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes -- how did they pull that one off? Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with any of our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate. Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs -- and that is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person! Why do you want me to hate my employers? And what do you have against shareholders making a profit? Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves. Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Every company must sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. (Have you ever ripped off a Band-Aid?) We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us. Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk.. Please stop trying to manipulate and appease me with clever wording.. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me. Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now. Take a breath. Listen to the people. Slow down and get some input from nonpoliticians and experts on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed-reading our bills into law. I am not an activist.. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent.. I work. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave. I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not. It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is needless urgency and recklessness in all of your recent spending of our tax dollars. From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on bringing our concerns to Washington . Our president often knows all the right buzzwords like unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons. We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented.. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work, pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone... and we are now looking at you. You have awakened us, the patriotic freedom spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office. We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us who will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution. Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution, and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them.. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you. If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming." History is About to Repeat Itself Again To President Obama and all 535 voting members of the Legislature, It is now official you are ALL corrupt morons: The U.S. Post Service was established in 1775. You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure. You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM?? (Name Withheld by request) A Doctor Speaks Out on Health Care Reform (February 16, 2010) Dr. Roger Starner Jones, a physician who specializes in emergency medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center wrote the following letter to the White House. Unfortunately, Obama and the Democrats still don’t get it. Dear Mr. President:
While glancing over her patient chart, I happened to notice that her payer status was listed as "Medicaid"! During my examination of her, the patient informed me that she smokes more than one costly pack of cigarettes every day and somehow still has money to buy pretzels and beer. And, you and our Congress expect me to pay for this woman's health care? I contend that our nation's "health care crisis" is not the result of a shortage of quality hospitals, doctors or nurses. Rather, it is the result of a "crisis of culture", a culture in which it is perfectly acceptable to spend money on luxuries and vices while refusing to take care of one's self or, heaven forbid, purchase health insurance. It is a culture based in the irresponsible credo that "I can do whatever I want to because someone else will always take care of me". Once you fix this “culture crisis" that rewards irresponsibility and dependency, you'll be amazed at how quickly our nation's health care difficulties will disappear. Respectfully, Starner Jones, MD Letter to Barry Rand, Executive Director, AARP (February (, 2010) Dear Mr. Rand, EDITOR's NOTE: Try WWW.AMAC.US the new senior organization. Writer Disagrees that Islam is a Religion of Peace (February 8, 2010) I’m just fed up. I’ve had enough. I’ve been stuffed full of it. President Bill Clinton told us that Islam is a Religion of Peace. George Bush assured us that Islam is a great faith of Peace, hijacked and perverted by a few extremists. President Obama continued the narrative in his famous Cairo speech about what a great gift to The United States is Islam. We have post-Ramadan celebratory feasts at the White House. I’ve had all of the Islam is Peaceful brainwashing I can stomach. Islamic doctrine is not peaceful. It is violent, bloody and bellicose. Dying in the act of killing non-Muslims guarantees one a ticket to Paradise. Jihad, or waging holy war against Infidels, is the highest calling of all Muslims. Islam is at war with non-believers, and has been at war with us since Muhammad’s death in 632 AD. His last instructions were that the war must be waged until Islam dominates the entire world. We’re wasting our time, money and precious lives trying to defend and befriend Muslim governments. Don’t feed me any more Islam is peaceful. I can’t swallow another bite of it. For an American soldier’s take on the idea Diana West published a letter today that every American should read: “You correctly assessed that we have not gained anything positive from our efforts in Iraq and that the nation is not our ally. (The same is true for Afghanistan.) I will go as far as saying that the Iraqis are our enemies—enemies better equipped to wage jihad against us than they have ever been. We will regret what we have done. We will regret that we created this officially Islamic nation. And we will regret that we created an officially Islamic Afghanistan. We will regret that we have placed ourselves in the service of Islam, waging jihad worldwide as we advance the Religion of Peace and eliminate Christians in the process. (So much for the accusation that the U.S. is on a “Crusade.”) It is a shame that so many people refuse to recognize how horrible Islam is, and that the U.S. made a fatal mistake when it refused to declare war against Afghanistan and Islam—when it refused victory by binding the greatest military force of all time…” All Muslims do not answer the call to violent jihad. Most Muslims live peaceful lives. But the doctrine that underpins Islam is anything but peaceful. Our elected political leaders and our Press Corps have turned a blind eye for years to what the Koran actually says, what the Hadithe say, and most importantly what recognized mainstream leaders of the Muslim World truthfully say about jihad. There are approximately 1.5 billion Muslims in the world. If only ten percent of them subscribe to, or participate in, strict adherence to Islam’s mandates, there is an Army of some 150 million Soldiers of Allah lined up to wage war against us. It is time for America’s government to awaken to what we are really facing. Stop trying to befriend Muslims States that will never truly be our allies. Don’t feed me any more of that Islam is Peace stuff. I’m full. John L. Work Ron Moore Responds to “Along Came a Spider” Article (January 25, 2010) I thought you had been to (sic) quiet about this office so I was not surprised to find out you are on my case again. Not that I am a fan of FEMA or the proposed floodplain maps since they have good news for most Llano residents on the Eastern end of the county but not so good news on the Western end but to go public with an accusation that this department has required the new-proposed maps or regulations to be in effect is absolutely false. Like you wrote, the maps and changes that may go with them are proposed by FEMA, are being offered for public opinion by Llano County even though FEMA’s 90 day period has not started and will be sent back to FEMA with any protests or appeals. Eventually, FEMA will send them back to Commissioners Court for consideration but that may be this summer. Until Commissioners Court adopts the new maps it is not legal to use them for any purpose other public review so I don’t know what your source is that claims we required the new maps to be used for building a home but is wrong and needs to be verified. Have a Happy New Year! Ron Moore, Llano Editor’s Note: After checking back with the original source, they have not been able to substantiate that the FEMA proposed maps or regulations were put into effect without them being approved or adopted. It seems the underlying problem might have started with the County Surveyor, Fred Thompson, and not Ron Moore. Thanks for bringing the matter to our attention. Klee’s Kaleidoscope History is About to Repeat Itself Again (January 25, 2010) To President Obama and all 535 voting members of the Legislature, It is now official you are ALL corrupt morons: The U.S. Post Service was established in 1775. You have had 234 years to get it right and it is broke. Social Security was established in 1935. You have had 74 years to get it right and it is broke. Fannie Mae was established in 1938. You have had 71 years to get it right and it is broke. War on Poverty started in 1964. You have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor" and they only want more. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965. You have had 44 years to get it right and they are broke. Freddie Mac was established in 1970. You have had 39 years to get it right and it is broke. The Department of Energy was created in 1977 to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It has ballooned to 16,000 employees with a budget of $24 billion a year and we import more oil than ever before. You had 32 years to get it right and it is an abysmal failure. You have FAILED in every "government service" you have shoved down our throats while overspending our tax dollars AND YOU WANT AMERICANS TO BELIEVE YOU CAN BE TRUSTED WITH A GOVERNMENT-RUN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM?? (Name Withheld) The U.S. Should Pull Out of Washington An interesting letter in the
Australian Shooter Magazine this week, Pat Hoffman Spicewood A Doctor’s Response to the Health Care Bill (Note: Dr. Stephen E. Frazer, MD practices as an anesthesiologist in Indianapolis , IN ) Senator Bayh, As a practicing physician I have major concerns with the health care bill before Congress. I actually have read the bill and am shocked by the brazenness of the government's proposed involvement in the patient-physician relationship. The very idea that the government will dictate and ration patient care is dangerous and certainly not helpful in designing a health care system that works for all. Every physician I work with agrees that we need to fix our health care system, but the proposed bills currently making their way through congress will be a disaster if passed. I ask you respectfully and as a patriotic American to look at the following troubling lines that I have read in the bill. You cannot possibly believe that these proposals are in the best interests of the country and our fellow citizens. Page 22 of the HC Bill: Mandates that the Govt will audit books of all employers that self-insure!! Page 30 Sec 123 of HC bill: THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get. Page 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill: YOUR HEALTH CARE IS RATIONED!!! Page 42 of HC Bill: The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC benefits for you. You have no choice! Page 50 Section 152 in HC bill: HC will be provided to ALL non-US citizens, illegal or otherwise. Page 58 HC Bill: Govt will have real-time access to individuals' finances & a 'National ID Health card' will be issued! Page 59 HC Bill lines 21-24: Govt will have direct access to your bank accounts for elective funds transfer. Page 65 Sec 164: Is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in unions & community organizations: (ACORN). Page 84 Sec 203 HC bill: Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC plans in the 'Exchange.' Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans -- The Govt will ration your health care! Page 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill: Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services. (Translation: illegal aliens.) Page 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18: The Govt will use groups (i.e. ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals for Govt HC plan. Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans. (AARP members - your health care WILL be rationed!) Page 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill: Medicaid eligible individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. (No choice.) Page 12 4 lines 24-25 HC: No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt monopoly. Page 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill: Doctors/ American Medical Association - The Govt will tell YOU what salary you can make. Page 145 Line 15-17: An Employer MUST auto-enroll employees into public option plan. (NO choice!) Page 126 Lines 22-25: Employers MUST pay for HC for part-time employees AND their families. (Employees shouldn't get excited about this as employers will be forced to reduce its work force, benefits, and wages/salaries to cover such a huge expense.) Page 149 Lines 16-24: ANY Employer with payroll 401k & above who does not provide public option will pay 8% tax on all payroll! (See the last comment in parenthesis.) Page 150 Lines 9-13: A business with payroll between $251K & $401K who doesn't provide public option will pay 2-6% tax on all payroll. Page 167 Lines 18-23: ANY individual who doesn't have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income. Page 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill: Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay.) Page 195 HC Bill: Officers & employees of the GOVT HC Admin.. will have access to ALL Americans' finances and personal records. Page 203 Line 14-15 HC: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax." (Yes, it really says that!) Page 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill: Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid Seniors. (Low-income and the poor are affected.) Page 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill: Doctors: It doesn't matter what specialty you have trained yourself in -- you will all be paid the same! (Just TRY to tell me that's not Socialism!) Page 253 Line 10-18: The Govt sets the value of a doctor's time, profession, judgment, etc. (Literally-- the value of humans.) Page 265 Sec 1131: The Govt mandates and controls productivity for "private" HC industries. Page 268 Sec 1141: The federal Govt regulates the rental and purchase of power driven wheelchairs. Page 272 SEC. 1145: TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing! Page 280 Sec 1151: The Govt will penalize hospitals for whatever the Govt deems preventable (i.e...re-admissions) Page 298 Lines 9-11: Doctors: If you treat a patient during initial admission that results in a re-admission -- the Govt will penalize you. Page 317 L 13-20: PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. (The Govt tells doctors what and how much they can own!) Page 317-318 lines 21-25, 1-3: PROHIBITION on expansion. (The Govt is mandating that hospitals cannot expand.) Page 321 2-13: Hospitals have the opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input is required. (Can you say ACORN?) Page 335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339: The Govt mandates establishment of=2 outcome-based measures. (HC the way they want -- rationing.) Page 341 Lines 3-9: The Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Advance Plans, HMOs, etc. (Forcing people into the Govt plan) Page 354 Sec 1177: The Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of 'special needs people!' Unbelievable! Page 379 Sec 1191: The Govt creates more bureaucracy via a "Tele-Health Advisory Committee." (Can you say HC by phone?) Page 425 Lines 4-12: The Govt mandates "Advance-Care Planning Consult." (Think senior citizens end-of-life patients.) Page 425 Lines 17-19: The Govt will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. (And it's mandatory!) Page 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3: The Govt provides an "approved" list of end-of-life resources; & nbsp;guiding you in death. (Also called 'assisted suicide.') Page 427 Lines 15-24: The Govt mandates a program for orders on "end-of-life." (The Govt has a say in how your life ends!) Page 429 Lines 1-9: An "advanced-care planning consultant" will be used frequently as a patient's health deteriorates. Page 429 Lines 10-12: An "advanced care consultation" may include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. (AN ORDER TO DIE FROM THE GOVERNMENT?!?) Page 429 Lines 13-25: The GOVT will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order. (I wouldn't want to stand before God after getting paid for THAT job!) Page 430 Lines 11-15: The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end-of-life! (Again -- no choice!) Page 469: Community-Based Home Medical Services = Non-Profit Organizations. (Hello? ACORN Medical Services here!?!) Page 489 Sec 1308: The Govt will cover marriage and family therapy. (Which means Govt will insert itself into your marriage even.) Page 494-498: Govt will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, and rationing those services. Senator, I guarantee that I personally will do everything possible to inform patients and my fellow physicians about the dangers of the proposed bills you and your colleagues are debating. Furthermore, if you vote for a bill that enforces socialized medicine on the country and destroys the doctor-patient relationship, I will do everything in my power to make sure you lose your job in the next election. Respectfully, Stephen E. Fraser, MDThis was written by a Canadian woman, but oh how it also applies to the U.S., U.K. and Australia. It was written by a housewife in New Brunswick, to her local newspaper. This is one ticked off lady. 'Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we? Was it
or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores
on September 11, 2001 and have continually threatened to do so since? And I'm supposed to care that a few Taliban were
claiming to be tortured by a justice system of the nation they come from and
are fighting against in a brutal insurgency.
'Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they
made a difference in the world. But, the Soldiers don't have that problem.' Only five defining forces have ever offered to die for
you: One died for your soul, the other 4 for your freedom.
American Capitalism Gone with a Whimper The following was sent to me by a reader who checked it out on Snopes and found it to be TRUE. It’s a letter that was written and published by the Russian News Agency in the English edition of Pravda and well worth while reading. It must be said, that like the breaking of a great dam, the American descent into Marxism is happening with breath taking speed, against the back drop of a passive, hapless sheeple, excuse me dear reader, I meant people. True, the situation has been well prepared on and off for the past century, especially the past twenty years. The initial testing grounds was conducted upon our Holy Russia and a bloody test it was. But we Russians would not just roll over and give up our freedoms and our souls, no matter how much money Wall Street poured into the fists of the Marxists. Those lessons were taken and used to properly prepare the American populace for the surrender of their freedoms and souls, to the whims of their elites and betters. First, the population was dumbed down through a politicized and substandard education system based on pop culture, rather then the classics. Americans know more about their favorite TV dramas then the drama in DC that directly affects their lives. They care more for their "right" to choke down a McDonalds burger or a Burger King burger than for their constitutional rights. Then they turn around and lecture us about our rights and about our "democracy". Pride blind the foolish. Then their faith in God was destroyed, until their churches, all tens of thousands of different "branches and denominations" were for the most part little more then Sunday circuses and their televangelists and top protestant mega preachers were more then happy to sell out their souls and flocks to be on the "winning" side of one pseudo Marxist politician or another. Their flocks may complain, but when explained that they would be on the "winning" side, their flocks were ever so quick to reject Christ in hopes for earthly power. Even our Holy Orthodox churches are scandalously liberalized in America. The final collapse has come with the election of Barack Obama. His speed in the past three months has been truly impressive. His spending and money printing has been a record setting, not just in America's short history but in the world. If this keeps up for more then another year, and there is no sign that it will not, America at best will resemble the Wiemar Republic and at worst Zimbabwe. These past two weeks have been the most breath taking of all. First came the announcement of a planned redesign of the American Byzantine tax system, by the very thieves who used it to bankroll their thefts, loses and swindles of hundreds of billions of dollars. These make our Russian oligarchs look little more then ordinary street thugs, in comparison.. Yes, the Americans have beat our own thieves in the shear volumes. Should we congratulate them? These men, of course, are not an elected panel but made up of appointees picked from the very financial oligarchs and their henchmen who are now gorging themselves on trillions of American dollars, in one bailout after another.. They are also usurping the rights, duties and powers of the American congress (parliament). Again, congress has put up little more then a whimper to their masters. Then came Barack Obama's command that GM's (General Motor) president step down from leadership of his company.. That is correct, dear reader, in the land of "pure" free markets, the American president now has the power, the self given power, to fire CEOs and we can assume other employees of private companies, at will. Come hither, go dither, the centurion commands his minions. So it should be no surprise, that the American president has followed this up with a "bold" move of declaring that he and another group of unelected, chosen stooges will now redesign the entire automotive industry and will even be the guarantee of automobile policies. I am sure that if given the chance, they would happily try and redesign it for the whole of the world, too. Prime Minister Putin, less then two months ago, warned Obama and UK's Blair, not to follow the path to Marxism, it only leads to disaster. Apparently, even though we suffered 70 years of this Western sponsored horror show, we know nothing, as foolish, drunken Russians, so let our "wise" Anglo-Saxon fools find out the folly of their own pride. Again, the American public has taken this with barely a whimper...but a "freeman" whimper. So, should it be any surprise to discover that the Democratically controlled Congress of America is working on passing a new regulation that would give the American Treasury department the power to set "fair" maximum salaries, evaluate performance and control how private companies give out pay raises and bonuses? Senator Barney Franks, a social pervert basking in his homosexuality (of course, amongst the modern, enlightened American societal norm, as well as that of the general West, homosexuality is not only not a looked down upon life choice, but is often praised as a virtue) and his Marxist enlightenment, has led this effort. He stresses that this only affects companies that receive government monies, but it is retroactive and taken to a logical extreme, this would include any company or industry that has ever received a tax break or incentive. The Russian owners of American companies and industries should look thoughtfully at this and the option of closing their facilities down and fleeing the land of the Red as fast as possible. In other words, divest while there is still value left. The proud American will go down into his slavery with out a fight, beating his chest and proclaiming to the world, how free he really is. The world will only snicker. Eye-witness Account of Obama in Montana (August 31, 2009) This was sent to me by a reader who is a friend of the
author who was Hello All, very remote location. Nothing is around there. They chose to use a hangar that is the most remotely located hangar. You could not
pick a more remote location, and you can not get to it easily. It is totally
secluded from the public. which have chairs and tables, and would not have to be
SHIPPED IN!! $$$$$ folks were with them.....professing abortion
rights with their T-shirts and preprinted signs. (BTW, all these folks
did have a permit to protest in ANOTHER area) over by that remote hangar I mentioned. They were conveniently parked on the other side of the buildings FAR away. None of these crowds were even visible to them. I have my doubts that they knew anything about
the crowds. America needs your prayers and your voices. If you care
about our country please get involved. Know the issues. And let Congress
hear your voices again and again!! If they are willing to put forth so much
effort to BULLY a small town one can Scary!! What Could Possibly Go Wrong? (August 31, 2009) Let me get this straight: The Obama health care plan will be: Written by a committee whose head says he doesn't understand it, Passed by a Congress that hasn't read it, Signed by a president who smokes, Funded by a treasury chief who did not pay his taxes, Overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and Financed by a country that is broke. What could possibly go wrong? Richard Fishman, California Government Financing – Don’t Try This at Home (August 31, 2009) It is a slow day in the East Texas town of Madisonville. It is raining, and the
little town looks totally deserted. He enters the only hotel in
the sleepy town and lays a hundred dollar As soon as the man walks up
the stairs, the hotel proprietor takes the The butcher takes the $100
and runs down the street to pay his debt to The pig farmer then takes
the $100 and heads off to pay his debt to the The guy at the Farmer's
Co-op takes the $100 and runs to pay his debt to The hooker runs to the hotel
and pays off her debt with the $100 to the The hotel proprietor then
lays the $100 bill back on the counter so the At that moment the traveler
from the East walks back down the stairs, He picks up the $100 bill
and states that the rooms are not No one earned anything.
However the whole town is now out of debt, and And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the United States Government is doing business today. [Contributed by a reader – author: anon] School Budget Decisions (August 24, 2009) Dear Klee’s Kaleidoscope: In the interest of clarifying the Llano ISD budget considerations, I submit the following facts. Keep in mind that I speak solely for myself, and the Board of Trustees has not considered this paper or acted on it. School districts in Texas maintain two distinct and separate funds: the Maintenance and Operations (M&O) Fund and the Interest and Sinking (I&S) Fund. The M&O Fund is used to cover operations (salaries, fuel, utilities, maintenance, etc.). The tax rate needed to cover these costs cannot rise above $1.04 per hundred dollars of appraised value unless approved by taxpayers in an election. The M&O side is subject to Chapter 41 of the Education Code popularly known as Robin Hood. The Robin Hood payment is based on a complex formula, but basically a district can keep $476,500 of appraised value times WADA (weighted daily average attendance) adjusted for several items such as high school allotment, mid-sized school adjustment and a few other small items. Thus, “putting the District in a stronger financial position” would have no impact whatsoever on the Robin Hood payment. As an aside, two years ago, the Legislature cut the amount of Robin Hood payments but reduced State funding payments by the approximate same amount. This made them look good to some but didn’t do much for us. Currently, about 50% of our taxes go to the State in Robin Hood payments. To the extent there is a deficit in the I&S Fund, it must be paid for out of the M&O Fund revenues which have been subjected to Robin Hood. The I&S Fund can legally be used to create bonded indebtedness for the purpose of purchasing fixed assets (buildings, buses, etc.) and to retire the bonds so created and approved in advance by the taxpayers. No part of this fund may be used for operating costs. As a result of our last bond election, we purchased buses, computers and related infrastructure, and added to buildings in Kingsland and Llano. To avoid the trap of buying short term assets with long term debt, we did two things: Front ended the repayment schedule of the bonds to the extent we could and sell the bonds, and attach a “call option” to the bonds a certain period out, which gives us the right, but not obligation, to “prepay” the bonds and stop the interest costs. This is the current issue. Do we exercise the call option or not? If we don’t, we still have to repay the bonds plus the interest. In either case, the bonds must be repaid. Having the least amount of debt possible has its advantages- the main one being a possible reduction in interest rates on bonds. While I am not aware of any proposal for more bonds at the current time, should that need arise, I would like to have the lowest rate possible. We also took advantage of our financial strength this year by refinancing the 1998 bonds and lowering our effective interest rate to under 3%, thus saving taxpayers over $1 million in future interest costs. Setting the I&S rate is a bit of an educated guess. We know what we have to pay out and when, but we don’t know when the taxpayers are going to remit their taxes. If a substantial number wait until after February to pay, we have no option but to make the payment deficit out of M&O, which requires approximately twice as many tax dollars. This is not an idle concern given that two of our largest taxpayers filed bankruptcy in the past year. Hence, I tend to be conservative. One other issue not a part of this: The State took Federal stimulus money and gave it to us to give teacher pay raises. However, they have informed us that we may not get this money next year. Try to manage that! Our Board and the Administration try to be open on budget issues. School finance is very complex and sometimes unbelievable. If you or any of your readers have further questions, I will be happy to respond to them. I can be reached at (830)596-2680 or at rrudd@tstar.net. Ronnie Rudd, President LISD School Board of Trustees An open letter to President Obama On Independence Day (July 13, 2009)
Dear Mr. President:
|
This site was last updated 02/25/10
During my shift in the Emergency Room last night, I
had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an
expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of
elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis
shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular
R&B ringtone.