I Don’t Think Boyd is “Getting It Right”

Congressman Boyd appears to be in bed with Pelosi and her band of liberals.
This column presents a 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 subjects of the week:
Boyd Bashing:
Congressman Boyd was faced with a crowd filled with dissatisfied 2nd district constituents at his “town hall” meeting in Marianna this Wednesday. It is my understanding that he had similar experiences in Blountstown and Bristol the preceding day. It appears the “sleeping giant” of public involvement has finally awakened and is speaking out. Now the only question is…Is Anyone Listening??
It seems our elected representatives soon forget their roots, their campaign promises, their pretended philosophies, and what is best for the nation, when they arrive in that segregated, capsulated Washington environment. They are soon totally consumed by the wining and dining from the lobbyists, the thrill of the power brokers of their party leadership, and the special deals and promises made to them for their vote. The poor, ignorant voters back home are rendered irrelevant
However, it appears that when they return back to Washington from this trip home, many will return with enough scars and bleeding wounds to hopefully retain memories of the trip home for awhile. It appears the public is finally ready to “Cast the devils out!” Many voters are ready to issue some “pink slips”. The mid-term elections can’t get here soon enough!
Utility Bills:
Everyone I talk to is moaning and groaning over last month’s electric bills from Florida Public Utilities. In almost every instance the charges set a new lifetime record for the home and family, even after they had reduced their consumption by 20%-30% over last year. I have heard some saying they were incapable of paying the charge and did not know what they were going to do. It is a sad situation.
I fear we will soon all be forced to rarely use our air conditioning and heating systems, and reducing our home lighting to a single bulb hanging down from the ceiling with a pull string. Many families will be forced to drastically alter their lifestyles in order to survive in this greed driven world.
I realize that costs have risen, but the degree in increases the citizens of our area who are under the delivery umbrella of Florida Public Utilities are experiencing charges that are significantly higher than those of other areas. The consultant the City of Marianna used conducted a cost survey which disclosed FPU was charging rates that were among the highest in the state. I believe that overcharging is present at the producer level and the delivery level in the local system. I hate to think of what our costs would be if “Cap and Trade” is implemented.
In my opinion the real culprits in this issue are the members of the Public Services Commission who are supposedly charged with protecting the consumer from abusive pricing from the utilities who enjoy a monopolistic position in their markets. This Commission has become a political pawn of the dominant political party, and the utilities donate generously to the campaigns of the politicians and the party system, and thus have a very significant role in the selection of the members of the Public Services Commission which supposedly regulates their actions. The PSC has become a politicized, $64 million dollar item of waste in the State budget. The loser in this system is the consumer.
Going to the local utility office to complain is fruitless and ineffective. The avenue to changing this horrible system is through our state legislators. Complain to them at every opportunity. In the meantime, all we can do is hunker down and try to survive.
Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
• Please note the story in the Sports Section about the Marianna Angels girls softball team deciding to not spend all of the money they were granted for their trip to the State Championships, and instead gave it back for the better use for a pitching machine for all future teams to use. I hope some of our grant spending politicians and bureaucrats take note. They should give any unspent money back for the betterment of the State or the Nation instead of selfishly keeping it for themselves. To make up a reason to spend the savings is a wasteful practice, and it negates the value of competitive bidding to save on the cost of projects.
• Well, the Florida Dept. of Environmental Regulations has put another local company out of business. We can say good bye to Bryant’s Store on Orange Street, after fifty years of successful business operation. Their storage tanks were deemed to be a menace to society, and had to be replaced immediately…regardless of the consequences. Now the lot and building will sit for years, decaying and impossible to sell because of our “all knowing, all seeing” Big Brother bureaucracy. The “Green Movement” has successfully removed another evil business from existence. Maybe we can eventually get rid of all of our nation’s polluting, ugly, concrete and asphalt using businesses, stores, and factories and replace them all with trees and grass. What a beautiful world it would be!....Goodbye Bryant’s Store, we will miss you!!!
• I hope our city fathers plan to soon put the new light at Riverside and Jefferson on blink mode after school is over for the day and everyone is asleep. I feel sort of silly sitting there waiting for it to change when there is no one stirring late at night. Doing this would save energy, and also, the late night lights might disturb the turtles in the Chipola River.
• It would appear to me that if we already have a serious mold problem in our brand new, shiny, million dollar EOC building…..somebody has apparently done something wrong. I hope our county officials are not going to hold the taxpayers responsible for fixing it.
• Goodbye Roy Hutto…I will remember and value your friendship until I join you. You were one of those men who always “Got It Right”.

Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Hatcher Publications.

A Place Where the Sun Doesn’t Shine

Where? Every County Courthouse in the State of Florida

By Sid Riley

This column presents a 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:
“Across our state, elected county officials are skirting the “sunshine laws” which exist to assure public disclosure of all government affairs.”
A situation has been created through legislative action in Tallahassee over succeeding decades which in my opinion, needs to be corrected. The situation is enabling uncontrolled, unmonitored wasteful spending of millions of Florida taxpayer dollars each year.
A body of laws has been enacted by legislators in Tallahassee through the years which has effectively created a protective “wall of independence” for the Constitutional Officers within the county government which has become a shield that enables county employees who work in these offices to enjoy benefits, wages, and policies which are not available to other county employees. This creates an inequitable, unfair advantage for the privileged few who work in the Court House for a Constitutional Officer.
This condition has been attained through the effective influence of the combined lobbying associations which all have permanent offices located near the Capitol in Tallahassee. They wine, dine, promote, campaign for, and help selected legislators…..and expect favorable legislation which benefits the Constitutional Officers in return. That is how the system works in our state capitol. Each Constitutional Officers Association has one or more lawyers on staff to assist their membership with any legal issues they may encounter as they perform their elected tasks at the county level.
This creates a level of separation and unfair independence for the Constitutional Officers as they deal with the demands of the elected County Commissioners, who are charged with the ultimate responsibility for the affairs of the county government. They are given the responsibility for managing the budgets, policies, and expenditures of the Constitutional Offices, but find their ability to exercise direction and management of these functions taken away by the lobbyists and lawyers for those offices.
For example, for all other county employees a well defined job classification system with specific pay scales for each job class exist in the payroll policies manual. If a citizen wants to know what any employee is making, the information is readily available. Also, all raises, bonus payments, and policies relating to accrual and buy-back of vacation and sick days is clearly defined. It is all very public…..and is out in the sunshine for all to see.
However, the same is not true for employees working in many of the Constitutional Offices within the Court House. Their pay policies, bonus arrangements, vacation and sick day accrual rates, buy-back rules, and promotion criteria are all very separate from the county system, very departmentalized in format, and very secret! If you don’t believe me, just go into the County Administration office and ask what a grader operator is paid…then go across the street and ask what a specific person in a Constitutional Office is earning. Chances are good that in at least three of the offices you will not find the answer.
The inequities of this system have become more acute as County Commissioners have been forced to engage in cost cutting, austere management of available funds as a result of the current economic downturn. While the general county workforce has been forced to do without raises, or has been held to very minimal increases, the Constitutional Officers have been able to continue to award big bonuses and generous raises to their staffs. Very Unfair! Unfair to the other county workers who are being forced to sacrifice….Unfair to the County Commissioners who are supposed to be in control of wages….and Unfair to the Tax Payers who expect frugal management in these times.
Additionally, the lack of control over the budgets and expenditures of the Constitutional Offices opens the doorway for wasteful spending. I do not blame our existing county officers. The system was there before them. It is the way it always has been, and they are only following the procedures used by those who preceded them in their position. The opportunity to give special raises, bonuses, and benefits to their loyal staff members is there, their staff expects it, and they would be harshly criticized by their employees if they did not take advantage of their situation. The degree of secrecy over pay scales, bonus payments, revenues and expenditures, and amount of disparity from the policies and benefits which apply to the general population of county employees varies greatly between Constitutional office functions. Some of our Constitutional functions are letting the sunshine shine, while others are wearing a lot of sunscreen.
As a result, locally thousands of dollars are being spent wastefully, secretly, without controls, and usually well hidden from the sunshine….the cost quickly becomes millions of taxpayer dollars being spent. If you total the impact of this condition state wide, and consider all wasteful expenditures made by Constitutional Officers in every court house across Florida. Their “wall of legislative protection” is better than the strongest union contract in industry….it is based on laws gained for them by their lobby organizations!
The solution lies in public outcry forcing a reversal of this situation in Tallahassee. Constitutional Officers and the operation of their departments should be required to comply with the same rules and operating policies as the rest of county government. All county revenues and expenditures should be controlled by the elected County Commission. It is up to Marti Coley and Brad Drake, and their peers to stop these unfair, wasteful, and hidden areas of waste. I hope they will “Get it Right” by working to correct this situation.

Rudiments: Odds and Ends Worth Mentioning-
● Our illustrious elected legislators are returning home from Washington to face hostile, angry constituents. In my opinion the people are not merely venting against the proposed socialization of our health care system. They are also venting against years and years of mismanagement which has eroded their lifetime savings, and is lowering their standard of living every day.
● Boyd is back in Florida from his time in the Disneyland world of wine and fine pork, known as Washington, D.C.. He will be in Marianna on August 19 at the Agricultural Center to face all of those local voters he ignored when he supported Nancy Pelosi and the Party leadership by voting for “Cap and Trade” and agreeing to the proposed socialized health plan. I will be there….hope you can come too.
● Please say a prayer for the soldiers and their families who are involved in our “international incidents” in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Note: The opinions stated in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Hatcher Publications.

Amazing...Absolutely Amazing!!

Amazing things are happening in Washington!

This column presents a 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:

“There are astounding new programs underway in Washington at this time”.

ENERGY INDEPENDENCE- I find it utterly amazing that our government has been able to create a national energy policy which is cleverly designed to lead our nation into complete energy independence from the shackles of our total dependency on Mideast Oil. Their policies are so cleverly designed that I am unable to completely understand how they work at this time.

I am not sure how you can gain complete energy independence while forcing the nation to discontinue use of its most abundant energy resource, coal. We plan to penalize and heavily tax any company, power plant, or other entity which dares to attempt to use this horrible energy source which threatens the “green” movement. Also, ignore the fact that a coal burning energy plant is coming on line each week in China.

Also, we have a cleverly designed national energy policy which prohibits the construction of any new nuclear power plants anywhere in the nation. Again, this horrible source of energy could be mismanaged and damage occur to our “green” movement. Also, ignore the fact that nuclear plants are being built in many other nations which share our planet.

Also, we have a cleverly designed national energy policy which will not allow oil drilling on known vast reserves of oil in wastelands of Alaska and in numerous off shore sites. We fear the migratory patterns of the caribou will be impacted in Alaska, and tourism might suffer in Florida.

Thus the “green” movement again stops use of these energy reserves.

Also we have a cleverly designed national energy policy which denies the mining of the vast oil shale reserves which exist in our rocky mountains. Again, the “green” movement doesn’t want our mountains scraped.

The same energy concepts will not allow any domestic refineries to be expanded or new refineries to be built. Again, the “green” movement prohibits any thought of increasing the presence of these smelly, smoking, job producing plants.

So how can we reduce our critical dependence on outside sources of energy if we follow the edicts of the “greenies” and do not use any of our natural resources to solve the problem? I think I finally have figured out what their plan….their national energy policy…really is.
Their solution is
not to increase
our supply of energy….
it is instead to reduce our demand for it!
The concept is diabolical in its simplicity.
If we destroy enough of our industrial complex and there are no longer any factories fouling our industrial parks, and there are no other energy consuming industrial operations in existence within our borders, the power they consume will no longer be required, thus reducing our demand and simultaneously reducing our dependence on foreign sources. Clever!!
Secondly, if we take all of the disposable income away from the population by taking away all of their jobs, only leaving low paying service type jobs, and then we simultaneously overburden them with taxes, fees, fines, and penalties, they will no longer have the funds needed to buy vehicles, to purchase gasoline, and to take trips in gas consuming vehicles. Thus, as the society becomes more and more destitute, the demand for foreign oil will drop. How Amazingly Astute!
They have decided that replacing a national population fouled with prosperity, net worth, decadent spending, and wealth and replacing it with a population uniformly totally dependent on a huge Central Government for all of their needs, they can solve our energy problems. Through creating a society more concerned with day to day survival than it is concerned with travel, air conditioning, large homes, extra automobiles, and other unnecessary luxuries, the demand for all energy will automatically fall.
To insure this concept works, they can also make the cost of electricity become so high that no ordinary citizen can afford to have a well lighted house, use air conditioning, or other unessential consumption of electrical energy. This can be accomplished through programs such as “Cap and Trade” which will place heavy taxes on the electrical companies, the cost of which will then be passed on to the consumers in their monthly bills.
Thus the real national energy policy for our government has become a quest to reduce demand instead of increasing supplies. How foolish we have all been! All we had to do was destroy our national economy and remove all wealth…the solution was so simple
Rudiments & Odds & Ends Worth Mentioning
● The “Cash for Clunkers” program has created a small, temporary increase in demand for new cars. This is helping some consumers purchase a new car by paying them more than their old car was worth as a trade in, it is helping struggling dealers, helping the auto unions, and is helping the government owned automobile companies. However, it is actually throwing away future tax dollars of our great grandchildren. You can not pay more than something is worth and then destroy what you bought… and be doing something beneficial in the long run. Of course, it supposedly is also helping the “green” movement.
● Congressman Boyd will be coming home soon. I understand the “Tea Party” group of Concerned American Patriots is eagerly awaiting his first public appearance in our area. I don’t think they feel he has been “Getting It Right” in Washington. These events should create some interesting news stories.
● Florida has a new sunshine web site which is supposed to show state spending. It is www.MyFloridaCFO.com/SunshineSpending.
● Our legislators helped balance the State Budget by increasing our fees and taxes by $2 billion. Meanwhile, the State buildings in Tallahassee are still overflowing with bureaucrats over-administering unnecessary programs….and drawing government paychecks and generous benefits.

The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Hatcher Publications.