New Cave Creek Town Council dumbs it down
Many wondered how a group of individuals who have little or no experience or knowledge about how to accomplish the important long term goals of a town, while effectively delegating day to day operations, were going to function at Town Hall. Well, it isn’t working for the town.
The top priority of this council should be taking advantage of the economic recovery to complete the purchase of the annexed open space which would insure the rural, naturally beautiful character of Cave Creek for all time. That purchase also secures the value of our residential and commercial property. It is simple supply and demand.
The citizens of Cave Creek have consistently seen State Land open space acquisition as a corner stone bench mark for achieving one of the goals of the General Plan for Cave Creek. This council has been handed a great opportunity through the foresight, hard work, and donations of the former council, Town Manager, staff, and citizens.
So what is the response of this new council to this great opportunity? They have done absolutely nothing. They ignore it like the plague.
Instead, the new council dumbs down leadership to meddling in day to day operations. An example is the councils’ announced focus on a ten year road maintenance plan. That is accomplished by staff in every town and city in Arizona. It is driven by Roadway Maintenance Guidelines, and an understanding that in many cases a stitch in time saves nine.
But golly, when you can’t or won’t tackle the more complex important issues you have to pretend you are doing something. Like sending out self promotion at town expense, giving your humble subjects one hour of time at 8 a.m. once a week to bask in your magnificent presence, firing competent staff, and keeping that Facebook page current.
But perhaps you must waste your time with the day to day pot hole repair, when your new Town Manager has no experience running a town.
The problem for us is that this dumbing down may be a political necessity for this bunch, but it sure isn’t leadership.
The questions remain:
When is this council going to create a plan to finance the purchase of the open space this town worked so hard and long to secure through one of the most creative and highly regarded agreements in Arizona history?
When is this council going to secure an auction of the open space from the Arizona Land Commissioner?
Citizens of Cave Creek, do we want higher property values bolstered by a core of gorgeous Sonoran Desert from Carefree Highway to the National Forest, with trails, and access for all of our citizens and visitors? Or do we want more self serving dumbing down, expanded running of the bulls, and systematic trashing of the reputation of Cave Creek.
Right now we have Cave Creek serving politicians; what we need is citizen representatives serving Cave Creek.
For the Love of Cave Creek keep asking why this council does nothing to secure enhanced natural beauty necessary to the maintenance of the rural character of our town.
Steven LaMar
Horseman and Citizen of Cave Creek
"Middle class hidden tax increases"
President Obama's budget demonstrates a real disconnect with American families and a fundamental lack of understanding of how jobs fuel the economy. Continued efforts to double tax the oil and gas industry are especially troubling.
The president keeps talking about everyone paying their “fair share” but the oil and gas industry created more than 60,000 jobs last year, injecting millions of dollars of revenue into our economy every hour. But even more than that - it is unfair and un-American to single out an industry to selectively increase taxes on for political gain.
American families need gasoline to power our businesses. We have to travel long distances for work, school, summer vacations. History has shown that when the government further taxes one industry, those costs are eventually passed along to consumers.
Filling our cars with fuel is hardly a luxury item. Raising taxes on the oil and gas industry is a tax increase for all of us.
Let's hope Washington has the sense to reject job-killing tax increases.
Edward Diaz
North Phoenix
Let's make Detroit the most attractive place in the country
The following is a letter to Michigan Governor, Rick Snyder from Roger Buchholtz, FairTax Michigan State Director, describing what needs to happen to return Detroit to a culture of success.
Governor Snyder,
I own a number rental properties and homes I'm selling on Land Contract in the city of Detroit. By selling on Land Contract I have attempted to make homeowners out of families that would otherwise never have the opportunity to own a home.
Let's make Detroit the most attractive place in the country to live and do business, and all with free enterprise and no extra government help. The formula would be simple:
- Eliminate the City and State income tax for all residents.
- Eliminate the State business tax to all businesses located in the City.
- Eliminate the State Education Tax (SET) on all business property located in the City.
- Replace the revenue with a retail sales tax on all new goods and services.
- To protect families living at or below the federal poverty level and to make the sales tax progressive, provide a payment to each legal household to offset what the tax would be on spending up to the poverty level. To be eligible for this payment each household would annually have to confirm the number of legal residents by completing a brief form showing the names and Social Security numbers of each resident. This would reduce paperwork considerably relative to that necessary for current State and City income tax.
- Review and minimize the regulatory burden placed on businesses in Detroit.
By adopting this tax plan Detroit would be a "tax haven" for businesses and individuals, and the tax would capture the VERY significant underground economy of people working "under the table" and illicit activity such as the illegal drug trade, prostitution, etc.
Roger Buchholtz
FairTax Michigan State Director
Even the unions agree
Did you see what the labor unions are saying?
Labor Unions: Obamacare Will 'Shatter' Our Health Benefits, Cause 'Nightmare Scenarios' (Forbes, July 15, 2013)
Republicans are not the only ones anymore who see the disaster that is Obamacare. Now even the labor unions are realizing the onerous laws and regulations of Obamacare.
You can always count on me in Washington to fight to repeal Obamacare.
If you agree that Obamacare must be repealed and replaced, then I hope you will stand with me today.
Thanks,
Jeff
Read on...
From: Jeff Flake
Subject: Let's delay Obamacare permanently!
Dear Friend,
The Obama Administration seems to finally be catching on to what the rest of the country already knew: Obamacare is a disaster.
Earlier this month, the Obama Administration decided to delay Obamacare's employer mandate until after the midterm elections.
Whether this decision was made for political reasons or simply because the law is just too cumbersome to implement, it demonstrates how unpopular and destructive Obamacare will be if it goes into effect.
Republicans have voted dozens of times to repeal Obamacare. We have a plan to replace the law with healthcare reforms that use competition and the free market to control cost and spur innovation.
But we need your help.
As long as Harry Reid and the Democrats control the U.S. Senate, you can be sure they will do the White House's bidding. Democrats will move ahead with the law's implementation once they have a lock on the Senate and the President is on his way out of office.
We can't let that happen. Republicans must take back control of the Senate and make sure that the employer mandate and the rest of Obamacare is delayed permanently.
While I have deep worries about the direction our country is headed, the patriotism and commitment to liberty of citizens like you gives me confidence that the greatness of America will persevere.
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Jeff Flake
U.S. Senate
I'm less concerned about Rolling Stone Magazine than Obama and Associated Press!
Considering the embarrassing way our government allowed the Boston Marathon bombing to take place and the FBI blowing away an unarmed friend of the alleged perpetrator, I think the censorship of Rolling Stone Magazine is a bit excessive. I am more concerned with the media hyping President Obama after he started supporting Al-Qaeda and the Osama bin Laden Brigade in Syria, allowing our men to die in Benghazi, selling guns to the drug thugs in Mexico and harassing churches and 2nd Amendment leaning organization. It is almost comical that Obama went after Associated Press, even after they got Obama elected for a second term!
Sincerely,
Joseph DuPont
Towanda, Pennsylvania
Concerns of journalists
Attorney General Eric Holder
Office of the Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
Dear Attorney General Holder:
The Society of Professional Journalists commends you and the Department of Justice for taking seriously the concerns of journalists regarding DOJ policies affecting investigations that involve members of the news media.
The revisions to Department policy outlined in your report should provide additional protections to working journalists and ensure tighter departmental review of the use of last-resort tools to demand access to news media records.
We appreciate your continued support of legislation to facilitate judicial review of all demands for press records.
SPJ continues to support a Shield Law that would involve an impartial judge when there is a demand for a reporter's records because of the ability to test the government's need for records before they are seized.
SPJ is the nation's oldest and most broad-based journalism advocacy group in the country, founded in 1909 and with about 8,000 members. SPJ is dedicated to the perpetuation of a free press as the cornerstone of our nation and liberty.
Sincerely,
Sonny Albarado, President
Society of Professional Journalists
It's time for reparations
rep·a·ra·tion
n.1. The act or process of repairing or the condition of being repaired.
2. The act or process of making amends; expiation.
3. Something done or paid to compensate or make amends.
4. reparations Compensation or remuneration required from a defeated nation as indemnity for damage or injury during a war.
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[Middle English reparacion, from Old French, from Late Latin reparti,
repartin-, restoration, from Latin repartus, past participle of reparre, to repair; see repair1.]
Synonyms: reparation, redress, amends, restitution, indemnity
These nouns refer to something given in compensation for loss, suffering, or damage. Reparation implies recompense given to one who has suffered at the hands of another: "reparation for our rights at home, and security against the like future violations" (William Pitt).
Redress involves setting an injustice right; the term may imply retaliation or punishment: "There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law" (Abraham Lincoln). Amends usually implies the giving of satisfaction for a minor grievance or lesser injury: How can I make amends for losing my temper? Restitution is the restoration of something taken illegally: "He attempted to enforce the restitution of the Roman lands and cities" (George P.R. James). Indemnity implies repayment or reimbursement: Homeowners demanded indemnity for the damages caused by the riot.
Reparation now!!!!!
Sincerely,
M.E Goodwin
Los Angeles, California
Where some compromise, others have conscience
The Arizona Republic recently ran a story suggesting Congress has lost the art of compromise. To make the point, they highlighted the recent votes in the House on the FARRM Bill.
Claiming this bill was “a federal lifeline” for farmers and “families in need of help putting food on the table,” they pointed out that I didn't “compromise” and voted against this measure.
The point was also made that a vote seemingly as uncontroversial as a farm bill, should not be a vote of principle but merely a difference of opinion on policy, and therefore something both sides could agree to pass.
I disagree.
We are in the midst of a spending crisis. Those of us committed to stopping out-of-control spending need to step up our game. As a conservative, I do not oppose excessive spending measures to be disagreeable. I simply recognize what many in Washington ignore -- we can't afford them.
Each and every one of these spending votes is, in fact, a matter of principle. It is morally wrong to continue to spend money we don't have while racking up debts so great that our children will never begin to pay them off.
Excessive government spending has hurt our economy, created millions more in unemployment, and driven our national debt to dangerous levels. And that is not a matter of opinion, policy or lack of compromise. That's reality.
Consider the food-stamp program.
It's reality that in the 1970s, just one in 50 Americans received food stamps. That number is now one in seven.
It's reality that taxpayers currently spend $80 billion a year on food stamps --- a 62 percent increase from the last FARRM Bill.
It's also reality that in the past five years our national debt has more than doubled to more than $17 trillion. Every high-school graduate owes $910,553, and every baby born this year owes $1,496,098.
That’s tragic.
Even though it was a huge win for taxpayers that the House split the food-stamp portion out of the farm bill, the farm portion was still riddled with waste and abuse.
Since the New Deal, Washington has been picking winners and losers in the agriculture industry through a combination of price controls, import restrictions, subsidies and cash payments. While this was initially a laudable goal, the farm bill today has become nothing more than corporate welfare -- where, bizarrely, some farmers are even paid not to farm their land.
Some can claim it’s members like me, holding out for real and lasting spending reforms, that are standing in the way of “compromise.” If you use Washington's definition of compromise, which seems to be spending more money than we have, then maybe you are right.
However, true compromise cannot be an excuse to keep spending away America’s future. Sadly, that's where "compromise" has gotten us thus far.
I was elected on a platform of reducing the size and cost of government that have left us trillions in debt and threatened our economic prosperity.
I plan to continue doing just that. I promise to stand firm and unequivocally oppose legislation like the farm bill that continues the Washington tradition of out-of-control spending with money we don't have.
Because with more than a $17 trillion national debt, the stakes are too high to abide by Washington's definition of "compromise."
U.S. Rep. David Schweikert
Republican– Arizona's Sixth Congressional District
