Getting It Right - The Many Issues Of Our Day….Have You Formed Your Position On Each Of Them?

This column presents a non-partisan, conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week: (This will be a two part presentation)

There are many, many important issues facing us collectively as citizens of the United States, as Floridians, and as residents of Jackson County. These issues involve many facets of our lives including matters that are social, environmental, personal, financial, family, religious, criminal, judicial, political, medical, educational, and even sexual in nature. Have you studied each and developed a personal philosophy in each arena?

PART ONE

In this column I will try to present many of these issues for consideration. Developing your own, unique opinions is one of your valued personal rights.

Social Issues:
♦ Should one of government’s roles be to redistribute wealth from those who have acquired wealth to the less fortunate?
♦ What needs should government provide for its citizens? Housing? Food? Medical Care? Child Care? Education? Safety from aggression from other nations? Safety from criminals? Safety from personal risks taking actions? College? A Job? Senior Care? Minimum Income and standard of living? Medicine? Fire Protection? Utilities? Transportation? Everything possible to assist those with handicaps? Legal advice? Clothing? Recreation? The Arts? Telephone Service? Television? Computer Availability and service?
♦ Should disability pay be removed from the Social Security funding?

Environmental Issues:
♦ Since our economy is being crippled by the cost of Mid East oil, and citizens are beginning to suffer financially due to the high cost of energy, should drilling off Florida’s shores be allowed? In Alaska?
♦ Should the U.S. begin to build additional refineries?
♦ Should the U. S. build additional nuclear power plants?
♦ Should a property owner have the right to cut trees that are on his own land?
♦ Should a property owner have the right to drill a well for water? To construct a septic tank? To build his house to his own specifications? To dig a pond?
♦ Should local governments be able to modify EPA requirements?
♦ What should take precedence on local, small environmental issues– Personal rights, property rights, EPA regulations, city rights, county rights, states rights?
♦ What is your opinion as to whether man or nature is causing global warming?
♦ Should the EPA be forced to make the water retention pond regulations more flexible and tailored to the need of each project, site drainage provisions, and soil conditions?
♦ Do you feel the Fish and Wildlife Commission over-regulates salt water fishing? Fresh water fishing? Hunting?

Personal Issues:
♦ Should government have the right to force you to fasten a seat belt? Children on a school bus? A golf cart? On an airliner? A helmet when riding a motorcycle?
♦ Should government have the right to force you to immunize your children?
♦ Should government be able to stop your car at road blocks at will with no justification?
♦ Should you be able to wear "Baggy Pants"? Thong bathing suits" Nothing?
♦ Should government have access to your medical records? Your bank records? Your telephone records? To listen to your conversations? To your computer records? To film you without your knowledge?

Financial Issues-
♦ Should government take a bigger percentage of income from the wealthy than from the middle or low earners?
♦ What should be the maximum percentage the government should tax?
♦ Should everyone be taxed? Should tax be paid on social security income?
♦ Should estates be taxed upon a person’s death (death tax), thus forcing families to be forced to sell the family farm or business just to pay the taxes?
♦ Should the tax system make marriage more expensive?
♦ Should the tax system be so complex citizens are forced to hire accountants to figure out how much to pay? Do you favor a flat tax? The Fair Tax Plan? A national sales tax?
♦ Does the IRS have too much power? Does it abuse it’s power?
♦ Should Capital Losses be treated differently than Capital Gains?
♦ Should the Earned Income Credit be eliminated?

Family Issues:
♦ Should government have the right to prohibit you from spanking your child? Working your child? Educating your child?
♦ Can government prohibit you from owning a gun? A bow and arrow? A knife? A club? Can government force you to register and license each?
♦ Can government enter and search your home?
♦ Can government provide birth control pills for your daughter without your knowledge or permission? An abortion? Sex education?

Religious Issues:
♦ Should all religion be separated from government? At public buildings? At schools? At the start of public events? Government sessions? From our money? From our Pledge of Allegiance? From court proceedings?
♦ Should abortion be legal? Never? Only during first term? Only outlawed during late term? Is this a personal and religious issue instead of a legal issue?
♦ Should stem cell research be allowed? Cloning research? Genetic engineering?
♦ Should churches be tax exempt? Parsonages? Recreational facilities? Church businesses?
♦ Do you believe in the death penalty for heinous crimes?
This ends Part One of this subject. It will be continued in next week’s column.

RUDAMENTS- ODDS AND ENDS WORTH MENTIONING:
♦ We welcome Jim Dean to the Marianna City Manager position. We wish him good fortune and wise decision making in the months to come.
♦ The Florida Legislature is busy looking out for our best interest. Instead of solving our economic problems, drug problems, gasoline problems, insurance problems, or property tax problems…..they are busy passing a law that tells our schools how to deal with students wearing baggy pants to school.
♦ If you live or work in Marianna, please take time to participate in the political forum that will be held on Thursday, April 3, just days before the city election for the new Chief of Police.
♦ I applaud the County Commissioners for deferring the $18,000,000 new administration building construction project. We should all now work to urge them to purchase the old Wal-Mart building before it becomes occupied again.
♦ Spring has sprung upon us and all of Jackson County is a blooming flower….what a glorious place we live in! (Especially for those who do not have allergies!)

I hope you will take time to list the issues presented in this column and you will develop your personal opinion on each. Then go out and figure out which candidates best coincide with your beliefs….Then vote when the time comes. Do these things and you will be "Getting It Right"!

"Getting It Right" Public Officials – Earning the Public Trust…or Distrust

This column presents a non-partisan, conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:

Our World Is Unfortunately Comprised Of Many Bad People, and Even More Unfortunately, Many Of Them Hold Elected Offices or Bureaucratic Positions.

That isn’t to say that all politicians and bureaucrats are bad, most of them are honest, hard working individuals doing their best to do a good job. But the old statement "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely", has a strong sound of truth in it. Many of those in public office start out with honest, sincere intent to improve the system of government and to serve their constituents…and the taste of power finally taints their vision.

This malady is true for the lowest "crat" inspecting some work site for code compliance to a law enforcement officer serving as a traffic cop, to the lofty position of President of the United States of America. None are immune.

When a public official commits an ethical crime through abuse of their position, it is much more visible and much more publicized because of the fact that the public trust has been violated. We thus tend to focus more on the bad and to take the good for granted. That is why congress has such a low approval rating in polls.

The Strings Attached To Our Votes:
When the public elects someone to a public position, the votes cast for that person are an expression of the public’s faith in that individual. To accept those votes and to step into that elected job is an acceptance of a special public responsibility. The oath of office for that position should not be given casually. The elected official is to become the custodian of public funds, they are expected to represent the needs and work to the benefit of their supporters, they are expected to set the example of work ethics with high standards of performance.

They should always perform with a high degree of ethical behavior. Whenever any taint of bias or favoritism is present in a situation, they should refrain from involvement in the final vote or decision. Efficiency, frugality, honesty, and ethical behavior are essential components of a public position. They should only hire and/or appoint those that are best qualified for the job…never for political favors or campaign donations.

The funds donated by lobbyist are the source of much of the ethical failure of our public officials. The funds donated by utilities get our bureaucracy to allow profitable rate increases. The funds donated by insurance companies creates allowance of higher premium charges and reduced benefits. The funds donated by banks creates allowance of usurious interest rates and bank fees. The funds donated by environmental groups allows foolish policies to be enacted. The funds donated by Unions allows favors for particular groups of employees, or allows abusive practices such as is demonstrated by activities in the New York trash collection business or at our nations ports by the dock workers.

The funds donated by law organizations facilitate laws that create a "sue me" lifestyle where class action suits make millions for legal firms.

All of these negative elements of our society exist because of political corruption.

Business Corruption Vs. Government Corruption:
Corruption in business is not the same as corruption in government. In business, if you misuse money it is either money you have earned as a business owner, or at worse it is money you wasted that negatively impacted your fellow employees. Business ethics are violated, and a small number of people are impacted, but nothing to match the damage that occurs when someone in government performs a similar misdeed.

Positions of power in the business world are usually gained through hard work and good job performance; in government positions of power are gained through making public promises and pledges for votes. In business, the money spent is money the company generated through sale of goods or services. In government, the money spent is money forced from the bank accounts of citizens and their families by government laws and rules in order for the system to deliver needed public services. This money is money that in many instances is keeping families from going on memorable vacations, driving a better vehicle, and in some cases perhaps is money needed for special medical care that is rendered unavailable because of forced payments to government. Any misuse or waste of these types for funds is a serious failure.

Additionally, as role models for us all, creators of the laws, enforcers of the laws, there is appropriately also a higher moral standard for those in public positions. That is why instances of moral failure such as demonstrated by President Nixon, President Clinton, Senator Ted Kennedy, and the current star Governor Spitzer of New York, are so representative of moral failure of government officials.

This trust is why when a Senator has his freezer full of money taken from businessmen for special favors, and the transaction is filmed with undercover cameras is so unsettling to us all. It is corruption at its worse.

Personal Experiences of Failures:
As I have lived and worked a varied career over my lifetime I have personally experienced many instances of government corruption. I am sure most of you have similar experiences.

♦ I was working with a client in Hialeah who was moving his factory into a larger building. We were setting up the new facility and were on a tight production start up schedule. We began to have many small code requirements added that held up granting of a certificate of occupancy. Finally, the owner gave the code guy $10,000 and the next day we got the C.O..

♦ I know of one local couple that was involved in a small commercial project and one of the local "code-a-crats" told the attractive wife of the owner that if she would perform "favors" the project would have no problems with code requirements.

♦ The trucking industry and it’s Teamster Union forces many companies to pay into the union coffers in order to get their goods picked up and delivered on schedule. Complaints to public officials always fall on deaf ears.

As one moves up the scale to national positions, the stakes become much larger. I have often wondered about that period during Clinton’s term when those Chinese politicians and businessmen were being dined and lodged at the White House while politicians were promoting "most favored nation trade status" for China. The measure passed and was enacted and today China is capturing a major part of the U.S. market with its manufactured goods. I wonder how many Swiss bank accounts were filled for our politicians during these negotiations.

The Closed Environment Factor:
When people with power are placed in a closed, sheltered environment, it is common for them to lose touch with reality and feel a sense of superiority and immunity. This is true to some extent with the attitude of many doctors in the closed environment created by the hospital. Professors and officials of colleges become similarly "Godlike" within the campus confines. Unfortunately, this same condition develops for top bureaucrats, Senators, Congressmen, Governors, and Presidents within the government complexes at state capitols and in Washington D.C.

Over time they build up such an organization of support from those getting special favors, government contracts, favorable legislation, and "insider information" that it is large enough and powerful enough to gain them repeated reelection. It becomes a position held through graft and corruption.

Pure of Thought and Deed:
When a person is placed inside this system of corruption it is difficult for them to remain pure of thought and deed. It demands strength of character.

In my opinion, all public officials should constantly be on guard to never allow their purity to be violated by the "system" around them. They should never vote for some legislation that gives the bureaucracy or elected officials special favors or privileges at the expense of the public. They should never allow any person or organization to have any special privileges or gains.

Contracts should always be awarded to the firm with the lowest bid with acceptable service. Nepotism and "good ole boy" hiring and appointments should never be considered. Jobs should only go to those best qualified, regardless of political contacts, family, race, or creed. Tax money should never be taken and spent just because it is available. It should only be used when necessary. If a school or college doesn’t really need a new road, building, or program, the school officials should not take the grants and continue just because some lobbyist was able to create the opportunity.

Public officials should never look the other direction, make special deals in smoke filled back rooms, or play the "I’ll scratch your back if you will scratch mine" political game. Programs that are failing should be immediately corrected or eliminated. Programs created in order to appease, please and entice special interest groups should be eliminated. Money should only be spent when absolutely necessary. Unnecessary, abusive, intrusive, and special interest legislation should be repealed. Any time a public official allows a wrong to exist or to take place without involved resistance, they are violating the public trust that got them there.

Qualifications For Public Positions:
My wife often states that she feels for every public position there should be a set of minimum qualifications. She promotes using a series of tests with minimum allowable scores set for each. These would include intelligence, personality, psychological, morality, common sense and reasoning.

Personally, I have come to the opinion than the most important factor that a public official must have in order to gain my support and vote is not experience, not educational achievements, not political contacts,…..the most important personal attribute is….ETHICS!

RUDAMENTS- ODDS AND ENDS WORTH MENTION:
♦ I applaud the County Commissioners for placing the proposed construction project for a new county administration building on "hold" until next January. However, I feel they are falling short of doing what really needs to be done.

In my opinion they should engage a qualified firm to evaluate the suitability and costs of preparation for consideration of the old Wal-Mart building and also the "Food World" building for use by the county. If the cost is a reasonable figure, they should immediately proceed with purchase and the next three years as leases of existing leased space expire, begin to phase county functions into the new purchased facility. I thank those citizens who have become involved in this matter by expressing their opinions to their Commissioner. I encourage you to try to get them to not merely drop the matter and continue to operate in a costly, fragmented format. They now need to continue and complete the job.

♦ Will the Kelson Street project in Marianna never end? I encourage everyone to drink a lot of water and to flush often, after all water fees are paying for this street work.

♦ The political races are heating up. I encourage everyone to go to the forums, to talk to the candidates, to determine which ones will hold the line on growth and budget increases, and finally to vote wisely.

Do these things and you will be "Getting It Right".

Getting It Right - A Glimmer of Hope….But Not A Flash of Enlightenment!

Commissioners Discuss Administration Building Project

This column presents a non-partisan, conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:
At this Tuesday’s meeting Commissioner Chuck Lockey brought up concerns he feels about the advisability of the county proceeding with the construction of the proposed $18,000,000 new four story County Administration Building. I see this as a glimmer of hope for efforts of myself and many other citizens to detour this costly, unnecessary project towards the less expensive, larger, existing Sally Mae facility. Only God knows where the road will ultimately take us.
At the meeting, based on comments made during the discussion following Commissioner Lockey’s statement of concern, it appeared that Commissioners Spires and Branch are pushing to proceed with the new administration building construction, while Commissioners Lockey and Pittman have concerns and reservations about going into debt and spending the money. Commissioner Crutchfield did not comment during the discussion.
I have another example which was brought to my attention where another Florida government entity has moved their overcrowded administrative functions into large, empty shopping center facilities. In 2000 the City of Lake Wales relocated its Municipal Administrative Building into an area vacant shopping center in a $1,400,000 project. This is another example of government filling its needs in a frugal, efficient manner.
The discussion in this week’s commission meeting was directed toward the advisability of proceeding with the new construction or delaying the project. No mention was made of the availability of the Wal-Mart facility and the need for investigating the exact cost of purchase and preparation of that facility.
I want to clearly state in my opinion the Commissioners are absolutely correct in recognizing the need for consolidating the now fragmented and scattered county functions into one facility. The consolidation will enable better management, increase accessibility and service to the public, and will reduce the cost per square foot per year to the county. We need to consolidate…….at a reasonable cost.
The county is currently paying lease cost or rent for four facilities scattered around the court house area. These include the existing space for the Supervisor of Elections, Public Defender, States Attorney, and the V.A. Office. As is the case of a renter vs. a home owner, the county is building no future ownership equity as it pays rent for these functions. It would be better for these county functions to be located in space we own.
The Commissioners should not posture and dilly-dally around this issue. If they want to seriously consider the Wal-Mart/Sally Mae building as a possible solution, they should proceed with the necessary information gathering and evaluations immediately. Otherwise, the facility will be bought by some other entity and the opportunity that currently exists will be lost. To delay, lose the opportunity, and then use that as an excuse to proceed with construction of the new building would be a transparent ploy.
They need to step up to the plate and do what is right for the hard working, tax paying citizens they represent.
RUDAMENTS: ODDS AND ENDS WORTHY OF MENTION-
♦ The Federal Government is concerned about our economy and the potential for a serious recession in the eye of an election. In my opinion the existing situation was created by over reaction to a booming market by the retiring Alan Greenspan. He kept jacking up interest rates until he killed the goose, and now they are trying mouth-to-mouth trying to revive it. They are planning to send all families a rebate check in an effort to get people to spend it and revitalize the economy…….When I get mine I will have to merely endorse the back of it and then give it back to them as an aid in paying my taxes. I’m not sure how that stimulates the economy, but maybe it will help.
♦ I continue to get a severe electric shock each month when I see my power bill from Florida Public Utilities. I also feel a surge of anger at the greedy utility and the Public Service Commission which was supposed to look after the interest of the public as they regulate the utilities. It is going to be a hot summer.
♦ I am surprised that no one has yet registered to run for some of the constitutional officer positions that are up for reelection. As much as they all pay, and with the benefits they enjoy I would expect people to be clamoring for a chance to hold one of these jobs.
I encourage everyone to get involved in what is going on. Take time to participate…it is your money that is at risk. If you agree with my position on the county administration building, express yourself to your commissioner. Evaluate all candidates closely and try to determine how they feel about government growth and spending. Choose wisely, voice your opinion in letters to the editor, and ultimately vote wisely. Do these things and you will be "Getting It Right"!

Getting It Right - Issue for Discussion #1 From Dirt to Pavement

A Much Needed Change Paving Plan Perplexes Panel

This column presents a non-partisan, conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:
Our County Commissioners have committed themselves to a more aggressive approach to reducing the percentage of dirt roads in Jackson County. They are now struggling with devising a method of defining road paving priorities, and funding these projects in a manner that fairly allocates the improvements between the five county districts.
As a beginning step to the process, road priorities were determined by a formula that used population density, traffic estimates, and location as criteria. This rating process seems to be appropriate and has developed a procedure for determining which roads would seem to justify paving first. Based on this data, each Commissioner has defined the road in his district that will be the first priority for paving. This is where the paving issue rests at this time.
However, the situation is not as clear cut and easily defined as it would appear. Initially, the board discussed using miles of new pavement as the criteria, with each commissioner and his district being allowed five miles of pavement in the first paving cycle. This approach soon raised the discussion about funding differences, since five miles of new paving on one road might cost much more than five miles on a different road. This cost per mile difference can be caused by differences in the condition of existing road beds, culvert requirements, soil differences, and terrain differences.
Because of these factors, it would appear that an approach which provides equitable allocation of a stated amount of paving funds for each district is the most appropriate system. I hope that this issue can be quickly resolved so that we see some paving underway this summer.
The one cent sales tax revenues which are supposed to be used for paving, historically have amounted to approximately $2,000,000 per year. It would appear to be prudent for the Commissioners to enter into a short term, five year loan agreement for each paving cycle. This would involve creating a $10,000,000 loan which would be retired over the next five years from the $2,000,000 per year revenues. Then each district would be given $2,000,000 from the loan proceeds and a paving project could begin simultaneously in each district. The interest involved in the cost of the loan would be offset by the savings in paving cost from inflationary cost increases during the five years. This approach will work and in my opinion (as well as other citizens), is the approach that the commissioners should approve and use.
ISSUE FOR DISCUSSION #2
You Can Be "Politically Correct" and Still Be Very Wrong
I am writing this part of the column on President’s Day. I just finished taking my grandson Ryan to school, I am now looking across the street as people come in and out of the court house, while down the street businesses are open and doing normal business. A couple of weeks ago it was Martin Luther King’s birthday and all county schools were closed, the court house "crats" were all at home enjoying one of their eleven holidays, and many of the businesses were closed. I think we have our priorities seriously out of whack in our efforts to be "politically correct".
If King’s birthday is a historical date worthy of closing our schools and public offices, while our "President’s Day", is not deserving of that much recognition…then we are indirectly stating that Martin Luther King was a greater patriot than all of the President’s combined. That perception is flawed, and so are the political motives that are creating this difference in our levels of recognition. We are being "Historically Incorrect" in our efforts to be "Politically Correct".
Do not get me wrong. I believe that Martin Luther King demonstrated great wisdom, foresight, and courage as he forced this nation away from a system of social injustice that was in direct contradiction to the principles upon which this nation was founded. It is appropriate that we recognize his great service to his race and our national ethic.
However, George Washington refused to become our King and implemented our democracy and a system of peaceful transfer of power from president to president. Abraham Lincoln had the courage to abolish a terrible system of human slavery, President Roosevelt led this nation out of the depths of economic despair during the Great Depression, and then provided the needed leadership to lead our nation to a final victory in World War II, and many, many other Presidents have provided great, lasting services to our nation. We can not allow their contributions and sacrifices to be diminished or ignored.
The truth to the situation is our politicians are using their proclaimed support of the Martin Luther King holiday as a political ploy in an effort to "buy" the black vote. It is a transparent, shallow political scheme that should be recognized for what it is by all voters. In my opinion, we should properly recognize both holidays by closure of schools and public offices…..or neither. And while we are evaluating these things, we should throw in Veterans Day as another equally qualified event.
I understand that schools are closed for Presidents Day in other counties across the State, so it must be a policy determined by local school boards and school administrators. I encourage you to begin to correct these inequities by encouraging your elected school officials and your City and County officials to get their priorities in order. Do this and you will be helping us to "Get It Right".

Getting It Right - The "Big Squeeze" Is On

These are the times that try men’s souls…..and their pocket books!

By Sid Riley

This column presents a non-partisan, conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items which are impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week:
The citizens of Marianna and surrounding area are suffering from a severe ‘electric shock’ as they realize the full impact of the Florida Public Utilities rate hike. The January billings are now due and payable….and people are upset and complaining…..But it is too late, the deal is done, and as usual the people will suffer while the "system" wins.
It seems, these days, in order to really be successful in business, it is necessary to have a niche that gives you unfettered access to the public’s pocketbook which you can mercilessly exploit. Some examples of these essential and exploitative elements of our society which constantly siphon lifeblood from ordinary citizens and reduce the average standard of living in our nation are described below.
Gasoline
I do not need to waste too much time describing the pain and drain that the greed, exploitation, speculation, and profiteering that everyone from the bearded sheiks’ in the Middle East, the oil brokers, the oil producers, the gasoline refiners, the gasoline retailers, and the futures speculators are having on the American public. My only meaningful statement in this regard is that all of the Washington Senators and Congressmen that served over the past twenty years should be kicked out and crucified for allowing our great nation to be placed at the mercy of those creatures crawling around the deserts of the Middle East. Could our politicians have allowed this to happen because the petroleum industry has historically donated heavily to their campaigns?
Pharmaceutical
Another group of scallywags that are busy robbing us is the executives and owners of those companies that develop, manufacture, and sell our much needed medicines. They are certainly entitled to a reasonable level of profit for their wares, but they have developed a system that is designed to allow exorbitant pricing while cleverly hiding behind our patent protection laws. To me, charging some elderly person living on social security ten dollars a pill for some needed medication that actually only costs a few cents to produce, puts the transaction in the same category as a pay toilet. They are busy robbing Medicare, Medicaid, insurance companies, and the poor private citizen. Could this possibly be allowed because these companies all donate heavily to the politicians?
Monopolies
In some instances the systems fail which are supposedly established to protect private citizens from exploitation at the hands of entities which enjoy a government granted monopolistic, non-competitive position in the business sector. These are the providers of necessary products such as electricity, gas, water, or even cable TV. In my personal opinion, this is what has happened in the instance of the outrageous rate increases and unreasonable business practices of our local, beloved Florida Public Utilities. Could this possibly have been allowed to occur because Florida Public Utilities as well as most other utilities frequently donate heavily to the politicians and their parties?
Banking
Jesus threw the money changers out of the temple. In some religions it is considered sinful and usurious to loan another person money and then to charge for it. The legal and political systems are designed to provide maximum protection and profitability for the banking industry at the expense of the private citizen. It is not by accident that the tallest and most expensive buildings in every U.S. city are bank buildings. For credit card companies to be allowed to flood your mailbox with solicitations for you to take a credit card so that they can charge you 25% interest and unreasonable fees, is wrong and abusive. The entire credit monitoring system with it’s "big brother" credit score feature is seriously flawed and slanted against the consumer. Could the reasons that these practices are allowed possibly be due to the fact that the banking industry donates heavily to politicians and their parties?
Insurance
Another government regulated and protected, highly profitable industry is the insurance industry. Their buildings in most cities are almost as tall as the bank buildings. Again, this is not by accident. They, too have donated heavily to the political establishment and have thus been rewarded with assured high profits, and any other needed protective legislation to help their cause. They have recently been allowed to charge all Florida property owners crippling insurance premiums, which has contributed greatly to the existing depression in our real estate market. We have had two full years with no hurricane claims, where could they be stacking all of the money they are generating? Could it be in Tallahassee?
Governments and Government Parasites
To me this is the worse area of exploitation of the public on this list. The politicians make all of the rules, and have direct access to everything you earn and own. Governments at their various levels and in their various forms are already consuming approximately sixty percent of all that we earn, and they are continuing to expand and consume us. I am a fiscal conservative libertarian who wants only the absolute minimum level of government influence in our lives and our pocketbooks. Government should only provide those absolutely essential services related to public safety and health…..and then let us manage our own lives and properties. In my opinion, approximately 50% of government services we now pay for and endure are unnecessary.
Conclusion
This list is far from complete, but space is limiting my ability to continue. I could add dissertations about the real cost related to the foolishness introduced into our society by having too many lawyers that strive to slow down and complicate the political processes in order to maximize their billings from individuals, businesses, and government. Other worthy exploiters of mankind are the overzealous environmentalists, labor unions in the public sector and the private sector, air lines being allowed to create a national transportation monopoly at the exclusion of rail transportation, the postal system, Internal Revenue Service, law enforcement activities which are designed to raise funding for the system, Medical Malpractice Insurance, and the list goes on, and on, and on. So this Christmas when you are trying to scrape up the money to buy presents for your children and other loved ones, and you look back and wonder where all of your hard earned income went, remember that a lot of it went to others because they organized and donated to the political system for favors. Your high utility bills, your high gasoline costs, your high insurance premiums, your high interest rates and bank charges, your high cost of medicines and medical services, and most of all your crippling cost of government are combining to constantly reduce the standard of living for you and your family. The only way the private citizen can hope to resist all of these negatives is through his ability to vote out the culprits who just perpetuate the system….and hope they are not merely replaced with others with the same motivation. Vote wisely, be aware of what is really going on around you, and you will be "Getting It Right"
P.S. I just returned from the Tuesday night meeting of our County Commission….no mention at all concerning investigating the advisability of considering the Wal-Mart facility for a new Administration Building.

Getting It Right - "Recession" A Bad Word At A Bad Time?

By Sid Riley
To have a significant economic recession occur during an election year is potentially political suicide.

This column presents a non-partisan, conservative viewpoint about items of interest in our community and our lives. Focus is on items impacting your pocket book, your personal freedoms, and your rights. I hope you will read the column regularly and it occasionally influences your opinions and actions. Now, on to the subject of the week.
Recessions- A Brief History:
The rise and fall of our economy is as natural an occurrence as the rise and fall of the oceans. It seems an economic reality that every ten to fifteen years our economic system has to struggle through a financial correction. It appears we are about to experience another of these unfortunate, difficult periods.
There was an especially difficult recession during Jimmy Carter’s tenure in the mid 1970’s. This event was sparked by our first experience of a gasoline shortage, when people had to line up at those few stations which were open and had gasoline available for sale. Interest rates jumped to over 20%, and as a result, industry immediately slowed to a crawl with lay off’s and business closures becoming common place. A similar but not quite as severe downturn occurred in the early1980’s, and another of short duration in the early 1990’s.
During all of this period the scenario went through the sequence of an expanding, growing economy creating a demand for goods and services which thus caused upward pressure on costs and pricing. In order to restrain this inflationary trend the Federal Reserve would steadily increase interest rates. Finally, the high interest rates would cause a slow down in growth, which would then snowball into a recession. Then the Federal Reserve would lower the interest rates, and expansion and growth would resume.
Recessions were definite, contributing factors in the defeat of Jimmy Carter, and George Bush, Sr.. At the present time, polls are showing that to the general public, the primary factor of concern in this election is the condition of the U.S. economy. If the economy continues on a negative trend into a serious recession, this factor combined with an unpopular war, will assure a Democratic Presidential victory in the fall elections.
Recession- Why this One May Be Different:
If our struggling nation is about to enter a recessionary period, I am fearful that this economic demon may be of a different variety than previous ones….and may be harder to correct. When all of the previous recessions were encountered, we were still an industry based economy. When Greenspan and the Federal Reserve loosened the reigns on the interest rates it impacted a major portion of our economy. Plants bought new equipment, expanded operations, housing surged, and retail blossomed.
Since the last major recession in 1974, the economic structure of our nation has undergone a complete transition. We are no longer an industrial based economy. In the face of new global marketing economic concepts, we have evolved into some sort of hybrid economy based on technology, government, and distribution.
Under the new structure, when the Fed manipulates the interest rates (which has always been the off-on tap for their control over our economy) the change now impacts only a small, relatively insignificant portion of the U.S. economy. Essentially, the home construction market is about all that is impacted. We thus no longer have firm control over our economic fate. We have transferred that privilege to China and the Middle East.
This is the basis of my fear that if the U.S. does now move into a deep recession, we may not have the tools at hand to easily correct the situation. We are entering uncharted waters.
I have enjoyed watching the presidential candidates wildly point their fingers at each other, looking for someone to blame for this economic dilemma. It actually started during the Clinton era, when the new economic "buzz words", ‘ global marketing’, ‘free trade’, and ‘global economy’ were at their height of support….from misdirected politicians in both the Democrat and Republican parties.
Their support spawned NAFTA, GATT, and "most favored trade status for China" during this period. Do your remember when the Chinese traders were invited to sleep over at the White House?
The full impact which resulted from the implementation of these concepts are just now coming to rest. Here in Marianna it led directly to the loss of our Russell Corporation jobs, empty factory buildings on Kelson and at the Airpark, and the end of Lehigh Furniture. If my fears concerning the impact of these changes on our ability to control our economy are true, we may be about to discover an even more serious effect of these bad deals.
I believe that the long term reality of these "global" concepts are an equalizing of the standard of living over the globe. This means that the historically rich and powerful nations will suffer a decline in their lifestyles, while the undeveloped nations will see their massive populations have better lives. We lose…they gain. It will be another fifty years or so before we can see the truth or error of that belief.
In the meantime, we are quickly moving to a condition where the Chinese population is getting off their bicycles and buying cars, while we park our cars, dim our lights, and start pedaling.
Recession- A Glimmer of Hope:
There has been another change in our economic structure that may work to lessen the impact of recessionary cycles. Over the past thirty years we have also been evolving away from a free enterprise, capitalistic economic system and into a government dominated, socialistic-communistic economic system. As a result, a much larger segment of our business structure and labor force relies on getting a check from some government function instead of from the free marketplace.
Although this is the very aspect of our changing society that I constantly battle and berate in this column, it may work as an advantage during a period of downturn. Government tends to be recession proof since it never reduces, lays off, or declines its work force. This has always been the situation in this area, where our local economy has traditionally been insulated from the woes of industry because of our reliance on agriculture, prisons, and assorted government agencies for employment. That condition is more widespread across the nation today. It may make us almost recession proof. I am not sure how bad recessions get in Socialistic and Communistic economies.
However, in much of the previously industrialized Northeast, serious economic problems prevail. In Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and similar states they are really in a recession which was induced by the changes in our industrial base. They are suffering from high unemployment, no growth, and declining standards of living. Not because of the "housing bubble" and the mortgage crisis, but because of empty steel mills, mines, and auto plants. Thus, when our candidates venture into this depressed land they have to blame each other for the bad trade deals that led to those conditions.
Recession- What Can We Do?
Almost nothing, we are pawns of the system. Be observant, avoid speculation in purchasing and investments until this pending danger has passed. To try to save some of your income in the face of horrendous prices for utilities, gasoline, milk, insurance, and taxes is almost impossible…but if you can eek out a savings to help if things do get worse, it would be a wise step. Do this and perhaps you will be "Getting It Right".