Agenda Item 15 - A Power Grab
Mayor Schwan,
Even discussing a non-voter approved 3.5 year term is obscene. You, and at least one other member of the current council, will soon be term limited out of office.
Your power grab of a 1.5 year non-voter approved extension is obscene, and obvious. No wonder recall elections are warranted.
John Traynor
Carefree
#1 reason why you lost your home, equity or job ...
Remember in 2005 when McCain co-sponsored legislation that would regulate the mortgage buying requirements of Fannie, Freddie and the Big Banks?
Here’s the last paragraph of his announcement:
“I join as a cosponsor of the Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005, S. 190, to underscore my support for quick passage of GSE regulatory reform legislation.
If Congress does not act, American taxpayers will continue to be exposed to the enormous risk that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pose to the housing market, the overall financial system, and the economy as a whole.”
McCain sure got that right. What was Obama doing while McCain was warning us?
The "Lehman Brothers” collapse is traced back to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two big mortgage banks that got a federal bailout a while ago.
Freddie, Fannie and the Big Banks used huge lobbying budgets and political contributions to keep regulators off their backs. A group called the center for responsive politics keeps track of which politicians get Fannie and Freddie political contributions.
The two greediest U.S. Senators getting the biggest take from Fannie, Freddie and the Big Banks like Goldman Sachs, AIG, Chase, etc. were Sen. Chris Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, and Sen. Barack Obama."
In just four short years, Obama received more campaign money from Fannie, Freddy and the corrupt Big Banks than all other Senators combined over 20 years as reported by The Center for Responsive Politics, seen here at opensecrets.
Opensecrets.org is the non-partisan Internet arm of The Center for Responsive Politics. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenSecrets.org.)
Goldman Sachs alone, gave Obama well over $1,000,000.00 to start with, but they also got a Get Out of Jail Free card, remember a few months ago when Obama/Holder refused to prosecute them.
John McCain blew the whistle on Fannie, Freddy and the Big Corrupt Banks back in 2005, while Obama was getting his palm greased by the same group to block McCain’s bill.
You can thank OBAMA for the loss of your home, the loss of your equity, and the loss of your job. Obviously personal greed was much more important to OBAMA than you or the financial crisis our country is in now.
I'm a life-long Democrat who deeply regrets voting for Obama 4 years ago. I'm voting an all Democrats ticket, except for President.
This time I'm voting for honesty and integrity, not the greedy Chicago thug.
Sincerely,
Dave Murdock
Phoenix
Grammatical errors
Don,
Your article is good; however the word “media” is plural. The singular form is “medium.” One news medium; two or more news media:
"The national election is close and the nationwide media is (are) doing all it (they) can to re-elect Obama. ..." et cetera.
Best wishes,
Karl
Email
Happy birthday
Happy birthday to Mr. Bil Canfield, cartoonist for Sonoran News.
Bil is a true American, Navy war hero, funny, a good neighbor and friend.
It is a honor to know Bil.
Jim Ryan
Phoenix
Victims of Agent Orange Dioxin Poisoning
Victims of Agent Orange (AO) who are infected, Vietnam veterans, children of Vietnam veterans; then there are spouses and mothers or fathers who are victims by association. By banding together and pressing forward to be heard is the only way we victims can win.
We know how to help others, we have been there/are there. Our bodies are proof, our minds are not in denial, our lives are not equal to those without AO. We are strong and build our own Quality of Life, the hard way. Only we know what it is like to struggle with AO. Each day we live is a gift.
Yes, we suffer as do our loving family's who care about we who struggle with AO. Let us not forget, we have friends who care. Our consolation is knowing they love us and care about us. Our worse pain is the burden upon our loved ones. It is the most difficult of all pain to endure.
We know the frustrations of not being able to do the things as we have in the past. We know the frustrations our family have in having to take up the slack, for us at one time we were able to do for our selves. I know only to well how this feels to me and how it must feel for my family.
For these reasons we victims of Agent Orange Dioxin poisoning, our Congress and Senate must understand our needs. There are Bills in legislation that can make our lives less frustrating. Those Bills are House Bill HR-3612 and Senate Bill S.1629. Please urge your members of Congress and Senate to pass the Bills.
John J. Bury, US Navy, retired, Vietnam War veteran
Media, Pennsylvania
A tale of two job creators
Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities famously begins: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Yet, for two Arizona business owners who recently visited my office, it can only be described as the worst of times. Not only are these job creators up against the headwinds of a weak economy, but costly mandates and tax hikes enacted by the president and his allies in Congress are poised to crush their businesses and force many of their employees into the unemployment queue.
Bruce owns three restaurants in the Flagstaff area. He is currently deciding whether or not to renew a franchise contract on the third restaurant. Moving forward with that renewal would not only maintain restaurant jobs, but would also create new construction jobs from the $600,000 he plans to invest in rebuilding the restaurant. There is only one problem: ObamaCare would make a choice to move forward with the renewal the single worst business decision of his career.
Because of the additional employees in Bruce’s third restaurant, he will no longer meet ObamaCare’s definition of a small business. And although Bruce offers health-insurance coverage to all of his full-time employees, ObamaCare will declare his insurance plan not good enough, and Bruce will be fined $2,000 per employee.
Moreover, since his restaurants only earn $1,200 in profit per employee, he will not only lose all profitability but be $800 in the hole for each employee he maintains. The only rational business decision Bruce can make is to shed the third restaurant, which will unfortunately mean laid-off restaurant workers, fewer construction jobs, and community blight resulting from the newly vacant property.
The situation is no better for Mitchell, who owns 28 restaurants with about 500 employees. Mitchell’s restaurants earn a profit of $2,000 per employee, or $1 million. That sounds like a lot of money, but Mitchell hasn’t taken any cash for himself out of business profits for years – he leaves all of it invested in maintaining the restaurants. Regardless, ObamaCare will fine Mitchell $2,000 per employee, so he will lose every dime of profit – much of which he needs simply to pay the mortgage on his restaurant property.
But it doesn’t end there. Because ObamaCare does not allow business owners to deduct these fines, the tax code will treat Mitchell as if he still had $1 million in business profit, even though he already turned over 100 percent of it (which he never had in cash) to Uncle Sam. As a result, he will also owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in income taxes on $1 million that does not exist.
And it gets worse. Because the president and his allies consider Mitchell to be one of those “millionaires” who “aren’t paying their fair share,” they want to raise Mitchell’s tax rates again next year. In other words, turning over all his business profit and then paying hundreds of thousands of dollars in income taxes on phantom profits is not enough. For Mitchell, this arithmetic can only lead to bankruptcy and more senseless destruction of jobs.
Who loses in this scenario? Not only Bruce and Mitchell, but also the hundreds of workers and families who depend on those restaurants for their livelihoods. We have already experienced the 43rd consecutive month of unemployment above 8 percent. If we truly want our country to move forward, we must stop this war on job creators.
The first step in that process is to repeal ObamaCare, and I remain committed to doing so.
Sen. Jon Kyl
Senate Republican Whip
Visit www.kyl.senate.gov
In Memorial to Robert Thornley
Robert, you’re going to be missed. Your spirit has touched so many lives as you shared your gifts with us. You were blessed with artistic talent. You had the courage to live your dream. Forsaking a nine to five job, with all its security, you tirelessly carved stone. You gave us the gift of faith, having faith in oneself. You had the courage to follow a dream, and you did it without fear. You lived a simple life, and you lived it with gratitude. You always appreciated a sunny day and the beauty of your world.
You faced unbelievable difficulties with finances and health, and you never complained. You just followed your heart and kept on carving. You lived to carve, or as you put it, “make dust.” Most of us couldn’t play the hand you were dealt and yet you smiled and went on working, creating beauty in a chaotic world. At 70 years old, in failing health, exhausted and worn out, you worked harder than most of us and you loved it.
We’ll miss you at afternoon coffee. You also taught us to take a break, enjoy friends and enjoy life. God bless you, Robert. We can all learn from the example you set. Your motto was “Live life one day at a time, and make it a masterpiece!” That you did, my friend, and you did it well.
Robert was a founding member of the Sonoran Arts League and instrumental in starting the annual Hidden in the Hills event, both now very successful. These are gifts you’ve given our town, as well as the monuments. You gave us the beautiful Ruthwell Cross at the Christ Anglican Church on Cave Creek Road. At 18 feet tall and lit at night, thousands of people have passed it and admired it. You also gave us the sculptures at the Desert Foothills Library and the St. Francis at the Good Shepherd of the Hills Episcopal Church. These monuments you left behind, as well as the gifts of the heart, are your legacy.
Robert, you left this town a better place than when you found it and that’s one heck of a legacy. Thank you and you’ll be missed.
Robert Thornley passed away on Oct. 5, 2012. A community memorial service is being planned and will be announced at a later time.
Joe G.
Cave Creek
My fellow patriots
There comes a time when a people must dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and get back to basics. The American two party system is cancerous and it is killing America. When cancer is malignant there is only one treatment, cut it out!
It is time for a new American Revolution and the grass roots of America must rise up and remove any national, state, county or city elected official that is a party member of any party. Then only elect people who have no association to any political party to represent them in these offices. When doctors cut into a malignant cancer their main objective is to get rid of all of it. That is what the above will do.
The cause of the cancer is the Federal Reserve which is owned by the international moneychangers. For America to become what our founders believed it could become we have to get back to basics. Kill the bank again as Jackson did. Nationalize all twelve of their banks in order to keep the system working. The U.S. Treasury dept will then create our money needs without further debt resulting in full employment for everyone who wants to work. To protect our work tariffs should be erected to levels where nothing can come into America cheaper than we can make it.
Revoke all free trade deals. Disconnect from the World Trade Organization, the Bank of International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund. Over the past few years, China and other emerging powers such as Russia have been making agreements to move away from the US dollar in international trade. The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) also plan to start using their own currencies when trading with each other. Russia and China have been using their own national currencies when trading with each other for more than a year. We should join them in doing this.
Using U.S. dollars as the world’s form of trade payments was set into action by the international moneychangers with the goal of eventually having a one world currency under their control.
At the same time we need to repeal the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and the seventeenth amendment; dissolve the IRS because there will be no need for personal or corporate income taxes which will take away the strength of the tax free foundations that have been controlled by the international moneychangers as a means to alter society and cause wars.
Tom Millican
Conover, North Carolina
Obama's not a bad man, he's just a bad wizard!
Despite Associated Press Chairman Dean Singleton’s and George Soros’ wishes for Obama to have 4 more years to continue his destruction of America, it seems as if Mitt Romney finally got some traction by trouncing Obama during the first debate. Without his teleprompter Obama is like that man behind the curtain in the movie: Wizard of Oz. Romney is a winner with a track record of success. Obama is a bumbling community organizer whose lies about the 9/11 attack on our Libyan Embassy and Fast and Furious are just the tip of the iceberg. Kudos to debate moderator Jim Lehrer who finally won my respect for being as impartial as he possibly could be. Jim did America a real service! I’m sure he’ll pay for it!
Sincerely,
Joseph DuPont
Towanda, Pennsylvania
Spineless Court Of The United States (SCOTUS)
Our Constitution was originated by our Founding Fathers with three equal Branch components; Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary.
Each of these components have its own checks and balances; specifically, with "responsibilities" in confirming or countering the others.
Traditionalists have seen GW Bush's appointment, John Roberts to SCOTUS, to contain a lack of Conservatism "judgment" since reviewing Roberts' decisions.
There seems to be "adequate to overwhelming" evidence that President Obama may not be a "natural born citizen" and whereas, is not qualified to serve as President as defined by SCOTUS in MINOR v. HAPPERSETT.
Over the recent years, "legal professionals and scholars" have prepared cases to bring reasonable and justifiable cases before the Supreme Court seeking a hearing in proving that President Obama may not be qualified to serve as President. All cases have been "rejected" from presentations without comments before Chief Justice John Robert's Court. Why? Isn't the responsibility for SCOTUS to monitor the two other Branches of government and apply the law as empowered under our Constitution? I say "yes" and our SCOTUS is "failing in its Constitutional responsibilities."
American History may discover that John Roberts, appointed by President GW Bush, and sworn in as Chief Justice on October 3, 2005, is not a "true" Conservative as advertised earlier.
John Roberts' Court may end up serving as the Chief Justice's most Spineless Court Of The United States (SCOTUS). Americans are seeking Constitutional protections from without and within.
Oscar Y. Harward
Monroe, North Carolina
Thank you for your coverage!
Thank you very much for your coverage of our Whiskers & Wine event next Thursday, October 11! It is greatly appreciated and will benefit the Foothills Animal Rescue.
Steven R. Sampson
Scottsdale
The first debate – 2012
Am I the only one who noticed that Comrade Dear and Glorious Ruler is practically mute when not guided by his teleprompter? The man is inarticulate! Without George Soros' puppet- strings and his Minister of Propaganda's guidance, the gentleman is a bumbling, stammering Zero-bama!
I. Kerr Mudgin
Phoenix
The polemical papyrus
Karen King (Harvard University) recently presented an ancient papyrus fragment that caused worldwide sensation as it refers to the "wife" of Jesus. But Professor Francis Watson, (Durham University), argues that it´s a patchword of texts from the Gospel of Thomas: “The Gospel of Jesus' Wife is a modern forgery.. Other Coptic experts are critical of its appearance, grammar, script, lack of context, and ambiguous origins. Professor Giovanni Maria Vian, a specialist in the history of the early Church, said that the writing on the papyrus is "personal writing" whereas a Codex would have been written in a "very rigid" way like a printed text. "There is a business in fakes in the Middle East; it could be sold as a genuine article to get a higher price since "the theme raises popular interest." "Church tradition has no mention of a wife of Jesus. It is clearly said that Saint Peter was married. So why hide this for Jesus?" Also, Mark Giszczak, (Augustine Institute, Denver), said those who use sources like the papyrus to continue a controversy over whether Jesus was married are “really seeking to revive the ghost of Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’ novel. There is an obsession with making Jesus seem like nothing special, a mere human teacher rather than the Son of God.”
María Ferraz
Barcelona Spain
