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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment