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FIRST, IT WAS NO BULLET TRAIN FOR FLORIDA, NOW, IT’S AGAINST WOMEN,

PARENTS AND FAMILIES?

Florida Governor Scott rejected the money that was made available for the famous and dead bullet train project. Now, the Florida Legislature has sent back another piece of federal money: $ 4.9 million. Yes, another hit. Now it’s against programs around the state that provide in-home visits to parents in areas with high rates of premature babies, poverty, crime, substance abuse, joblessness, child abuse and other issues. These in-home visits are designed to combat those problems by deploying professionals who teach parenting and other skills.

Now you tell me what is wrong with this, especially in these times. The Florida Legislature decided to reject the money and have it given to other state. One legislator stated that private, faith-based groups should have a bigger role helping parents. This is probably true, but in these economic times these groups do not have the means to provide this type of specialized service.

So what is the REAL reason for all of this?  DAMM POLITICS and DAMM POLITICIANS.

These people in Congress and most of our governors and state legislators, no matter what party you belong to only think of themselves and how far they need to go to “buy” votes. It is a true discrace and shame to have come to a point where the political discourse in this country has become more a fight between animals with no respect for humans at all. So, this will probably end the day we get rid of ALL of them. The owners of the circus and their animals are coming to town to show how fierce they are….the same thing will be repeated the week after in Charlotte. The end result: there is no hope for the poor and for those that can’t defend themselves in this country. Yes, WE ARE A THIRD WORLD COUNTRY!!

See you next week!

 

WHY DO POLITICAL PARTIES HAVE CONVENTIONS?

The time is almost upon us, when the Democrats and Republicans will get together for their respective conventions. Each candidate will get a post-convention polling bounce that will fade a week later. It happens every year. It is a ritual that sometimes seems irrelevant — and other times seems important? Do political conventions still matter? It is said that initially, the purpose of a political convention is to give the citizens more of a say in selecting their parties’ candidate. Is this really true? And worse of all, we are the ones paying for this huge, big, all scripted, good for nothing parties!

According to Brian Faler (http://go.bloomberg.com/political-capital/2012-06-08/who-pays-for-the-conventions-we-all-do/) the events where President Obama and Republican Mitt Romney will receive their parties’ official nominations costs $136 million. And Congress doles out the money.

Where does the cash go? Faler explains $100 million pays for security at both conventions, plus $18 million for each party to pay for such things as balloons and signs — and even alcohol. The money was designed to reduce the influence of campaign contributions. But with lawmakers’ promises to cut the government’s $1.2 trillion deficit, Senator Tom Coburn said both parties ought to say “no thanks” to the cash.
Think of this…with all the problems we have in this country; the economy in shambles, unemployment and an inoperable Congress, look where all this money is going! Especially when we don’t need any convention…WE ALREADY KNOW WHO THE CANDIDATES WILL BE!
This is just another example to show you that, we live in a ME world where greed, power and stupidity tend to use and abuse all of those out of Washington, no matter the party. By the way, the County is spending 400k for the inaugural party to promote Hillsborough County Tourism. That’s good, except THE PARTY IS IN ST. PETE!

See you next week.

 

We have reached number 21. Thanks to all that read our blog and write to us. Your ideas are appreciated. Someone asked me, why vote?, why even bother/. I found an interesting article that I want to share with all of you about voter registration;

Should You Register to Vote?

By Ann DeLaney

Many of us — more than 50 million citizens in this country — are eligible to vote, but do not bother to register. Every citizen of the U. S. over the age of 18 is eligible to register and vote.

In all but four states, you must register before Election Day in order to vote. Maine, Minnesota, and Wisconsin allow their citizens to register on Election Day. North Dakota is the most voter-friendly of all — it doesn’t require you to register at all!

Every other state requires registration in advance of Election Day. Most states close the registration period 30 days before they hold the election. You must be registered in order to vote for any elective office in the U. S., from president to township advisory board. You only have to register once as long as you live at the same address and vote now and again.

Upsides and downsides of registering

Maybe you’re not registered because you’ve convinced yourself that you should avoid politics. However, avoiding politics is not possible. Political decisions will be made for you even if you elect not to participate. You still have to pay taxes even if you don’t vote. Elected officials make decisions about which streets get paved, which sidewalks get repaired, and which schools close without regard to your opinions, if you don’t vote. There is no hole deep enough for you to bury your head in to avoid politics completely. You can’t run, and you can’t hide — so you may as well participate.

Make a difference

If you do participate, you can make the system better. It may never be perfect, but improvement is possible. You have the power to make your elected officials respond to you. Your voice will be loud enough to be heard by everyone.

Voting is a valuable right that you, as an American, have. Many Americans take that right for granted . . . even the politicians. In the 1994 elections, a wave of voter reaction — a “throw ’em all out” after years of inaction and deadlock by Congress — shook up both major political parties, changed the dominant party in Congress, and made the politicians brutally aware of the issues about which voters had been concerned for years, and which the politicians had bypassed. That reaction reminded every politician not to take the voters for granted. The politicians heard the discontentment among voters, and they had to respond.

Become important

In truth, there are so many compelling reasons to vote in our country, it’s a wonder the voting turnout here doesn’t come close to approaching that of the countries that demand it.

When you vote and participate, elected officials have to consider what you think. They may not always do what you want, but they have to listen to your opinions. When you vote, you become someone important.

Cynics are probably saying, “Yeah, but not as important as PACs and special interest groups with money.” Keep in mind, though, that a district (be it a small town or the entire country) has only so many voters. Although money is in potentially limitless supply for a candidate (it can be raised from many sources), it’s illegal to buy votes, and you can’t give someone else your proxy to vote for you; so the number of votes cast in any election is finite. You and only you can cast your vote. Your vote has the same weight as the vote of every other citizen. Rich or poor, young or old, male or female, black or white, each vote is equally important.

Political power

Each American has the same number of votes. You may not have an equal share of the world’s financial resources, but the secret ballot gives us all an equal amount of voting power. Each registered voter has one and only one vote to cast — regardless of what you hear to the contrary about certain big-city or downstate rural districts, where the concept of “vote early and vote often” is allegedly in force, or where that age-old question — “Is there voting after death?” — is supposedly answered in the affirmative.

A person who has contributed $1 million to a candidate counts for no more than the vote of the person who has given nothing to a campaign. After all, winning elections is all about getting a majority of the votes cast. Secret ballots like the one in the U.S., do not permit unequal weight to be attached to a certain person’s vote. Votes are one-size-fits-all. Politicians need the votes of the “little people,” and there are more “little people” than there are rich and powerful ones.

Since John F. Kennedy was elected, the percentage of eligible voters participating in presidential elections has declined in almost every election. That is true in local elections as well.

When we all vote, we are a powerful force that can move mountains, or at least politicians. When we don’t, the small number of special interest voters have more clout because they are a bigger percentage of a smaller pie.

Lets just register and VOTE!!

 

See you next week!

 

 

Sorry, we could not work on our blog last week due to technical problems…but here’s this week’s…enjoy and comment:

MAYBE WE COULD LOOK AT THE FRENCH TAX REFORM MODEL?

I was reading about the tax changes proposed by French president François Hollande and, even though nobody likes tax hikes, his government has made some points that, in my opinion, could be considered:

WEALTH TAX: this is a tax that will have its highest effect on those that make whose net taxable assets are over 1, 623,000 dollars. The following table explains it better:

Net taxable asset value rate	%
Less than 992,000 dollars	0.00
Between 992,000 and 1,623,000 dollars	0.55
Between 1,623,000 and 3,184,000	0.75
Between 3,184,000 and 5,006,000 dollars	1.00
Between 5,006,000 and 9,552,000 dollars	1.30
Between 9,552,000 and 20,800,000 dollars	1.65
Above 20,800,000 dollars	1.80

So, if you make less than a million dollars, your taxes will stay the same. Other subtle changes have also taken place: Mr. Hollande has actually taken the train ride around France; he also used the train to go to Brussels, without the need of flying or having a state jet following him, and his ministers have been ordered to hit the rails when possible (with a free pass on the national railway system).

Ministers and other government officials have been encouraged (ordered) that if they need to fly, to use in coach class on commercial airlines. Why does a congressperson need a private airplane?  Official cars have been diminished in size and in luxury. Mr. Hollande has given up the presidential Citroën C6 for a smaller but hardly shabby Citroën DS5 diesel hybrid. He has reduced the ranks of his official drivers to two from three, and they are now supposed to stop at red lights. French Prime Minister Ayrault gave up his C6 for a cheaper Peugeot 508. Cabinet ministers have also traded down, and the housing minister, Cécile Duflot, an ecologist who was criticized for wearing jeans to an Élysée Palace meeting, has ordered four official bicycles.

Champagne at receptions has largely been replaced by Muscadet, a considerably cheaper white wine, and prices at the official cafeterias for ministerial employees, always a bargain, have been raised modestly.

Even security has been put to the knife, at least a little. Junior ministers no longer get bodyguards, and the number of security workers attached to the presidency has been reduced by a third.

In general, Mr. Ayrault has ordered his ministers to reduce their official budgets sharply, by 7 percent in 2013 and by an additional 4 percent in each of the next two years.

As he promised during the campaign, Mr. Hollande has cut ministerial salaries by 30 percent (including his own, to $18,000 a month from $26,000). And for the first time, the salaries of ministers cannot exceed the prime minister’s salary, which is about $16,000 a month. Pierre Moscovici, the finance minister, told L’Express that “my salary is lower than that of my chief of staff, 12,000 euros, and of a few hundred of the civil servants” at the ministry. That is about $14,600 a month.

It has also been stated that these tax increases would be in effect until 2017, when the government should have a balances budget.

Maybe we should consider some of these things and think about them. We know this will not happen here because our GREED, but I just thought to throw it out there for you to be informed. Little tweaks can go a long way. See you next week

References

http://www.businessinsider.com/francois-hollande-rises-tax-to-75-2012-8

http://siddalls.wordpress.com/2012/07/11/hollande-government-tax-proposals/

Do we need “recycled” politicians?

I have been reading and observing that the recycling of politicians is really overwhelming in these days. Ex representatives, ex city council members and other political figures are fighting to continue to vampirize the system and guarantee for themselves, not for the people, their own future. I cannot understand how some people can be so naïve and continue to vote for these people that have done nothing but enrich themselves and make a career out of the exploitation of the community. I know that term limits is out of the question, because when they are no good where they were before, they continue to run for other positions to continue to do no good. This has been evident in state, county and city government.

I believe that it is time to think of politicians as some “gods” of the world. They are just humans like the rest of us and should learn to live like the rest of us. Don’t be afraid to challenge them.

Even though I am nonpartisan (I offend everybody equally), I half to agree with the statements that we made by Warren Buffett in his proposed Congressional Reform Act of 2011. Here it is if you have not seen it before:

1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office.
2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.
3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.
4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.
5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.
6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.
7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen are void effective 1/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen. Congressmen made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

This should also apply to the State, City and County governments.

Let’s wake up and demand we change our country. Oust all recycled politicians, no matter what position they are running for. We need NEW ideas and less corruption.

See you next week!!

WHICH IS THE MOST ARROGANT NATION IN THE WORLD?

Have you ever thought about this? I found an interesting website that made a study to find out which country is the most arrogant in the world*. They start this analysis making an interesting statement; “Many nationalities of this world can appear arrogant as a stereotype. It all depends on ones point of view. One insulting country is another country’s friend. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter etc. Here, they have tried to make this ranking a bit of fun. I hope nobody is offended, then again…i don’t care. Which is the most arrogant nation on earth?”

Fun? Yes but, arrogance is not a virtue. It is more a defect. Arrogance is something you need to do when you feel inferior than the rest of all. Some define arrogance as a “weapon” used by people and cultures to hide their real identity. Think about this befor you want to sound arrogant in your next conversation.

Anyway the study concluded that, out of all the votes received, the top ten are:

		Country	Flag	Score*
1.		USA		60.20 (=)
2.		France		43.49 (=)
3.		England		34.92 (=)
4.		Israel		30.49 (=)
5.		China		29.22 (+ 1)
6.		Russia		25.80 (- 1)
7.		Germany		18.78 (+ 1)
8.		Iran		16.02 (+ 4)
9.		Japan		15.88 (- 2)
10.		Vatican		15.72 (- 1

 

Any surprises?? Maybe the Vatican??

Well the US is again number one in something.

See you next week!

If you want to see the whole list, go to

*http://www.rankopedia.com/Process_Form_New_Vote.htm?refresh=17821315

AGAIN, THE GOVERNOR TRIES TO”IDIOTIZE” US

 It is with disbelief but without doubt that you can expect our governor to think the people of Florida are idiots. This governor has now decided to convince us that he is some kind of health savior and is putting at risk the lives of many for his own political gain. He has told our poor and underprivileged that he will not expand health insurance through Medicaid even though the federal government is paying almost entirely for the plan.

I don’t know; can you believe a governor that was part of a hospital fraud of millions of dollars? Can you believe a governor who “purchased” the elections in order to win? Can you believe a governor that wanted to impose drug testing, benefiting him economically?  No wonder we need a reform in our health systems, people like him are the ones that are running up the tab and benefiting economic interests like pharmaceutical companies and others. We definitely needed something as a starting point to reform the abuse of the health system to those that can’t afford to make them more profitable. One thing is to be profitable and another is to steal.

The time has come for health reform and the time has come for the near minded people like the Governor of Florida to understand that in no way form or circumstance you can treat the people of Florida like idiots. Your record of doing NOTHING for the poor and disenfranchised of this state speaks for itself. I am sure that, in the same way you wish the President be a one term President, a lot of people hope and are working to make you a one term Governor.

Please show some respect. It’s the least you can do.

See you next week.

POLITICAL TALK MAY AFFECT YOUR HEALTH

As the national conversation now goes around healthcare, let’s combine it with the political war we live in. We are constantly bombarded from the left and the right with personal attacks, innuendos and insults every time we listen to the radio or watch on television. Have you ever thought that this might not be good for your health? The truth is that political talk aims to give the listener or the viewer something to be unhappy about. That is the way the climb in the ratings. They want you to feel anger and unhappiness about the other side, in order to convert you in “attack dogs” against others. So far…its working! According to the blog “The Positivity Blog” (http://bit.ly/QHkwQh), this style of “unhappy negative talk” can hurt you.

The Blog states: “No one is an island. Who we socialize with, what we read, watch and listen to, has a big effect on how we feel and think.

It becomes a lot harder to be happier if you let yourself be dragged down by negative voices. Voices that tell you that life will in large part always be unhappy, dangerous and filled with fear and limits. Voices that watch life from a negative perspective, like some talk show hosts and politicians”. No wonder we have so much division and war in our communities, we are being manipulated.

Some practical solutions, so you don’t get absorbed by this type of commentary are as follows:

Replacing those negative voices with more positive influences is very powerful. It can be like a whole new world opening up.

So, spend more time with positive people, inspiring music and books, movies and TV-shows that make you laugh and think about life in a new way.

You can start small. For example, try reading an uplifting blog or book or listen to an audio book while eating your breakfast.

This will never disappear, but you don’t need to get sick.

See you next week.

WHY DO PEOPLE LIE IN THE WORKPLACE?

I was reading and listening about the way certain people that call themselves “public servants” either lie about their job or lie to get promotions, all under false pretenses. I decided to look into this because, for me, lying is really immoral, and more if your job is to serve your community.

According to a study made by Jennifer Argo of the University of Alberta, self-esteem and threats to our sense of self are drivers when it comes to lying to co-workers, rather than strangers.

A recent study she co-authored showed that people are even more willing to lie to coworkers than they are to strangers. “We want to both look good when we are in the company of others (especially people we care about), and we want to protect our self-worth,” Argo said. (http://bit.ly/PYqr3g)

The experiment involved reading a scenario to a subject, telling them they had paid more than a coworker for the same new car. When the coworker, in the scenario, mentioned what they had paid, $200 or $2,000 more in different versions of the experiment, the subject was asked to report how they would respond.

Argo found that her subjects were more willing to lie when the price difference was small and when they were talking to a coworker rather than to a stranger.

Let me call it as I see it: People lie because they are sociopaths. Yes, these people are sick. These are probably the hardest people to deal with, and to be able to detect when they are lying. They don’t always know that they are lying, because they have become so good at it that they can look you straight in your eyes and lie without blinking an eye. They often pride themselves on their ability to lie and get away with it. Some can even pass lie detector tests because they have no conscience. These people are discusting and should be called out. There is no room for liars that serve the people.

See you next week!!

 

DO PEOPLE REALLY CARE WHO WINS AN ELECTION?

Listening to all the political hoopla, and the media working hard for ratings, there is an interesting factor in all of this: are people REALLY interested in the elections? How many people are interested enough to go out and VOTE? According to some polls…NOT A LOT, NOT ENOUGH.

According to the United States Election Project (http://elections.gmu.edu/Turnout_2008G.html), out of the 213,313,508 people eligible to vote, only 132,653,958 voted in the past election. That is about 62%. That means that 38% of the eligible voters DID NOT VOTE! Is this fair?

Here are some interesting facts:

In the 2008 Census Bureau voting survey, topping the list of reasons for not voting is a lack of interest (13%) or a dislike of the candidates or issues (13%).  More than a quarter of registered nonvoters in 2008 didn’t vote because they weren’t interested or didn’t like their choices.

Many reported illness or disability (15%), especially among older registered nonvoters.  Others were too busy, or had conflicting schedules (17%).  That’s about a third of the registered nonvoters.

Of the remainder, many had some logistical problem with the process:  6% had problems with their voter registration, 3% did not have convenient polling places, and another 3% had some sort of transportation problem.  And 0.2% reported that bad weather conditions kept them from the polls on Election Day.

So, even though the reasons are somewhat logical, they also show that the system does not facilitate the process; many countries have much higher voter participation than the United States. It all boils down to big interests and the political parties who do not cooperate in providing a fair system, a system where EVERYONE can vote and be heard. A simple example, why do elections have to be on a work day? Why can’t they be on a weekend? That would probably eliminate the fact that some people are too busy or have conflicting schedules.

I think its time that the American people open their eyes. It is a corrupt system, no matter what party is in power. It is not a representative democracy; it is a representative dictatorship, based solely on ideological and big interests only. As I have said many times, the voice of all Americans will never be heard as long as the people demand respect and not money to “purchase” elections….just like in Florida.

See you next week!