Category: Taxes
The Disease of Regulation: The Scam of Legalized Extortion
People ask me all the time why I ride a motorcycle in the snow and extreme cold. When you have to spend the day within our court system, as I have this week, several things become extremely obvious, if you consider the situation with logic, regulations created from law makers are born and breed to employee people. And when you realize how foolish that is, such trips in the snow help me see the truth of things.
A court-house is filled with security, court clerks, bailiffs, administrators, judges, police officers and many other support personnel. The hallways around the court rooms fill with eager faces at exactly 8:30 to 9:00 pm waiting for their cases to be called. Attorneys walk purposefully with arms filled with documents, because this is their battlefield and are comfortable in the environment.
If one is punished with a case that extends for the entire day, or for multiple days, the pattern emerges. By 1 or 2 PM the busy court-house diminishes in its busyness and the hallways clear after tears are shed from some of the occupants, and congratulations occur on the other. These are palaces of high emotion and loaded with drama.
As I weighed out much of what was happening around me, including the case I was involved with, I had to measure how much of it had any true social merit. The answer was very little.
The system works like this, regulations are created by a law-maker someplace either locally, at the state, or the federal government, and the citizen out there in the world either knowingly or un-knowingly breaks those regulations. If someone chooses to hold the citizen accountable for breaking the regulation they can proceed to court. This can be instigated by a private citizen, or an officer of the law.
Lawyers try the cases in a courtroom and the wins and losses of these cases establish case-law, which forms the ebb and flow of the legal system.
The entire system is built to employee all parties that play supporting roles in that process. It could be argued that without that system many people would suffer injustice. But much of what I observed, including the case I was on, involved people seeking to abuse the system to work the case-law into their advantage in some way, and if some of those regulations were not in place, there wouldn’t be near so many cases on the court dockets, and a lot of the people who filled the parking garage in the morning wouldn’t need to be there.
You can see this first hand at your local court on virtually any day through the week. You can see it also in your state house for whatever state you live in. And of course you can see it in Washington to great effect. Much of what you see as far as employees rushing around like ants at an ant farm is unnecessary.
Therefore the goal of all this regulation is not to make a safer, more just society. It is to create jobs and a reason for people to show up to work.
That might seem preposterous, especially if you are one of the people who are in the process of regulation creation, or enforcement.
At the conclusion of many of these cases, the plaintiff attorneys and defense attorneys, locked in immortal combat shook hands at the end and wished each other well. The whole thing had the appeal of a game of football. While all these opposing forces are together, the clients walk behind their counsel like dogs on a leash. Nobody speaks to each other as invisible walls restrict it. Eyes do not meet between defense and plaintiffs. But attorneys treat the whole thing like a game, because it is.
Regulation costs us economically, and if the economy were allowed to expand on its own accord, jobs would be created as a natural by-product. But the kind of jobs that are created through regulation are the kind of desirable, well-paying jobs that exist between 9 to 5, which is how many want it. And the act of manipulating the nature of economics corrupts and restricts it in unnecessary ways.
Human nature will of course take advantage of the regulations because it allows the power behind the enforcement to make people stronger than they individually would be otherwise. A single, selfish, human being can take on an entire corporation with a simple accusation that should shoulder the burden of proof. But the defendant will have to hire counsel to defend themselves which can cost an extraordinary amount of money to prove their innocence, because the regulations are so incredibly great, that individual citizens and companies can handle their own legal affairs, because of the complexity. And as we’ve discussed here on this site, complexity means money. Whenever something is too complicated for an individual to do the work themselves, it is built to be that way so people can’t understand the foolishness behind the complexity. Because the intent behind the complexity is to support government oriented jobs that exist from 9 to 5. It’s that simple.
Riding a motorcycle in the snow is something that this regulation society of ours doesn’t do. And that’s why I do it every day. Because spending days on end in court can turn you into something you don’t want to become.
Rich Hoffman
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com
A Gaze Back and Looking Forward: Education Funding is Changing Forever
The gravy days are over. The citizens are paying attention to many aspects of education that were never discussed, like teacher salaries being excessively high, and buildings with luxurious amenities. In a recent survey from Braun Research Inc. who conducted phone interviews with more than 3,400 Hoosier registered voters November 12-17, 2010, that firm’s president, Paul Braun, expressed confidence in the accuracy of the study’s results, due to “thorough briefings stressing objectivity, heavy monitoring, sample performance reviews, verifications and post-data-collection checks on each survey by interviewer and phone center.” Of the many conclusions of that survey Indiana voters lacked awareness and information about how much is spent in public schools. Nearly two out of three respondents (64 percent) underestimated per-student spending in the public schools.
As usual, Doc Thompson did some great work on this topic that he covered on the January 12, 2011 broadcast that is worth listening to. It is refreshing to have real discussions about these issues now. The gist of this discussion is that things are going to change, and change rapidly for public education funding.
But know the door has been opened. I know how difficult it was and I felt the wrath of attacks when I first started the enterprise of enlightening the public about education funding. The organized labor behind these tax levies attempted to apply The Delphi Technique on me, like they do everyone who speaks against wasteful spending, so I understand first-hand how the information has been kept quiet all over the nation for such a long time.
I countered that technique by using aspects of my personality that are entertainment oriented, something I’ve developed over the years performing in wild west shows and interviews for other projects, to throw a curve-ball at their strategy and start the ball rolling so others could hold the door open, and then others behind them could start pouring in to get control of the out-of-control spending that has been occurring in schools. It took that initial surprise from the organized unions by my approach to pry the door open. They really believed that by painting me as some hick cowboy running around with a whip that I would be made into something of a fool, which they counted on. What they didn’t know was that I have a business background, and I’m better at understanding difficult concepts than I am with the whip work. So because of their one-dimensional understanding of people, they were unprepared. And much to my surprise, people enjoyed the image I was projecting, of rugged individualism, and standing firm in overwhelming odds.
The truth of the matter was that it felt that way to me, like I was against the world. But I actually had hundreds of people behind me supporting the structure of everything, people who put up the money for the yard signs, people who went to all the meetings and took notes that they’d pass to me. People from inside the school system that was tipping us off to what was going on, and people who were going door to door to pass out literature. There were other people who worked the email campaign, and helped in so many other ways. But since I was the face of it, the wrath came at me, and I deflected it with the cowboy image while the business side worked with some very smart people to crunch numbers and get to the truth.
At the end of the day, that cowboy image says more about me than the business side. My children and grandchildren won’t discuss someday how good I was at working with numbers in a spreadsheet or negotiated a contentious point in a dispute. They’ll talk about the speed and accuracy competitions at cowboy events, and the many times I’ve shocked audiences with my fire whip displays, including professional stuntmen. So that image is far from just some conjured up image for marketing reasons. But it did help in this case, to overcome the opposition in a unique way.
What usually happens in management is that once you show people how to do something, they’ll then take that information and put their own spin on it. And that’s what’s happening by people who are far more passionate about education reform than I am. I have discovered now through correspondence from people who have been fighting this fight for many, many years, that all some of these people needed was a crack in the door. And they understand more about how the game is played than ever, now that we’ve started having really intelligent conversations on WLW.
Darryl Parks has been talking this talk much longer than I have, so it wasn’t difficult for him and me to feel some passion about the shake-down that occurs. But I think everyone was surprised when I went on WLW with our treasurer, Dan Varney and discussed the wage levels back in September, because that information was straight out of the newspaper. But the game that is played is that information is released in March, when the last things people are thinking about are schools or elections. Spring is on their minds, and coming out of a long winter. So most people would wad up the paper and toss it in the trash.
But my good buddy Graham George, who is a senior citizen, and is always organized kept that paper from March of 2010, and we went on the air at WLW and discussed it with Scott Sloan. The reaction from the public was so violent and sudden that I was surprised that nobody had done this kind of thing before.
Fortunately I had scheduled with the Cincinnati Enquire to have a backyard interview with me because of my YouTube video, A Whip Trick to Save America the very next day, and they wanted to do a feature about that and how it applied to my resistance to the school levy. So when that story came out, the gloves came off. The progressives all over the state that were listening to WLW decided to make me out to be some illiterate cowboy, which of course didn’t fit the facts I was able to put out on the radio broadcasts. People saw how the game was played and when I didn’t turn away and hide, but only increased my activity, it allowed people to see the structure of the game.
Now that the deed is done, the School Board is struggling to figure out what to do next. They are talking about solar panels, which is fine, but still doesn’t address the largest cost to the budget which is wages, and should be explored regardless of a budget crisis. The board is now fighting for the president position arguing over who should lead. Ray Murry is talking the right type of issues, discussing whether or not the district should have spent 90K on an employment search for a new treasure and superintendent. Those are nice discussions and I’m happy to hear the debate on both sides, but in reality, it’s just politics because the numbers are just peanuts compared to the elephant eating them.
However, the problems will only get tougher, so while the School Board is struggling with each other to figure out what the community wants, they would be very “wise” to accept the help of our local business leaders that have offered to assist.
I have placed the offer to the board and was told that “most business people would probably become frustrated by the restrictions.” That was a polite way to say that the situation is too complicated for most businessmen to deal with. Well, that complication has been made complicated for a reason, and it’s to prevent “outsiders” from being able to offer fixes. It’s all part of the organized labor strategy, and the community knows it.
And I can promise that the education of those types of methods will only increase as more and more people send me information hoping that I’ll articulate it on the radio or on this blog.
So it is advisable that the games stop now. Grab the hands that are offering to help and be ready to do things you’d consider unthinkable 6 months ago. If you do it now, you can save the district and yourselves, and many, many jobs. If you don’t we will go off a cliff as a district.
The next levy attempt will not be about Rich Hoffman the cowboy whip cracker. Too many people want to be involved and I will gladly accept their help. I have enough personality and success that I don’t need the attention. I’ll put myself out there if people don’t feel comfortable doing it themselves, but I don’t see that being a problem in 2011. Because I see a wave of volunteerism, and other people who can speak coming boldly forth to push that door open even wider. So the decision doesn’t just sit on the shoulders of Lakota, but every public school everywhere.
So stop the games. Embrace the public, because they are your employers anyway, and be ready to do what’s right. Things are at a point where many things can be fixed and nobody has to be contentious enemies. It’s just business, and there are people who can offer that assistance for free, and once it’s done, Lakota could serve as a bright light of hope for all others to follow. But it takes one school to courageously step forward and be the first to open the door. Everything else will take care of itself.
But cling to the way things have been done, and the world will soon swallow you up. So make a decision…..quick!
Rich Hoffman
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com
School Choice is a New Choice: Education Funding for the Future
Doc Thompson had on Chad from School Choice Ohio on 700WLW. If you don’t know what School Choice is, listen to the conversation with Chad below. Not only do they talk about School Choice, but there is some great discussion of several incidents of gross waste from districts surrounding Cincinnati.
I’m a tremendous supporter of School Choice, because people are thinking and it is working where it’s being used. So why isn’t it being implemented? Well, organized labor is very much against it, because they have to maintain the current structure in order to support the collective bargaining agreements they’ve negotiated for themselves.
School Choice is being tossed around by a new group of several representatives from districts all over Ohio that have been meeting to implement educational changes, called Educate Ohio, which I’m a proud part of.
There are options out there. We don’t have to just do the same old thing time and time again, which are just to put funding issues on a ballot for a school levy against our property taxes.
I spoke recently on WLW about how both my kids took online classes during their senior years and finished their entire senior year before Christmas. Now my kids are smart kids. They had been on the honor roll a number of times all through their education and tested well above average on their SAT tests. They attended Mason for about half their youth, were home schooled by their mother for about a year, and then spent their high school years at Lakota. During their entire education lives they excelled. But once they got past their junior years, they wanted to move on, which they get from their father, not having the patience to just cruise through life held back by the shackles of people happy with a mundane existence. Both my children spent their remaining years of their senior years traveling Europe, camping at Stonehenge and exploring places like the British Museum, and I’m eternally proud of them, while the other kids their age were spending their Friday and Saturday nights drunk and puking at mindless parties and wasting away while they waited for college classes to start in the fall of the following year.
The system we’ve had in my opinion is broken. I’m happy to go along with things as long as all those mediocre enablers called school officials don’t ask for more money than we already pay in property tax.
But they are asking for more money, and asking for us to pay for their communist leaning tendencies, and yes, they do have a communist leaning. If you don’t know that, or can’t understand that, or don’t want to call it that, go do some reading, then get back to me. I’m not going to waste my time giving you an education that you should already have.
Meanwhile, it’s time to explore other options that bring out the best in our individuality, and we reject the collectivism that has emerged with the current, “expensive” system, because we can’t afford it, financially, or intellectually.
Check out the below article from Indiana. This is the way things will be done in the future. The sooner we get started, the better.
New Poll: Indiana Voters Support Choice in Education, Substantially Underestimate Public Education Spending
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Voters in Indiana decidedly favor school vouchers and charter schools, and desire a balanced variety of options when it comes to educating their children, according to a poll released today by the Indianapolis-based Foundation for Educational Choice.
The poll-“Indiana K-12 & School Choice Survey”-also reveals that Indiana voters are unaware of how much is spent in public schools; most respondents substantially underestimated per-student spending.
“Hoosiers see the tremendous value in giving families options,” said Robert Enlow, President and CEO of The Foundation for Educational Choice. “If a school voucher, charter school, private, or home school can give a child an effective, personalized education, that child has a right to receive it. This poll shows Indiana voters agree.”
Braun Research Inc. conducted phone interviews with more than 3,400 Hoosier registered voters November 12-17, 2010.That firm’s president, Paul Braun, expressed confidence in the accuracy of the study’s results, due to “thorough briefings stressing objectivity, heavy monitoring, sample performance reviews, verifications and post-data-collection checks on each survey by interviewer and phone center.”
The following are the poll’s key findings:
Indiana voters are unsatisfied with the current public education system. On average, registered voters in Indiana are more likely to think K-12 education is on the “wrong track” (51 percent) compared to the “right direction” (31 percent). Indiana voters describe the state’s public school system more often as “fair” or “poor” (55 percent) versus “good” or “excellent” (42 percent).
Indiana voters lack awareness and information about how much is spent in public schools. Nearly two out of three respondents (64 percent) underestimated per-student spending in the public schools.
Hoosiers support charter schools. Indiana voters are far more likely to favor charter schools (66 percent) than to oppose such schools (16 percent). Respondents who said they “strongly favor” charter schools outnumber those who say they “strongly oppose” by a four-to-one ratio.
Hoosiers support school vouchers. Indiana voters are far more likely to favor school vouchers (66 percent) than to oppose them (24 percent).
Indiana voters indicate they should have a variety of schooling options. If they had the option to select any type of school to obtain the best education for their child, 41 percent said they would choose a private school, 10 percent a charter school, and 7 percent a home school.
“This poll shows most Indiana voters do not realize how many of their tax dollars are being spent on an education system they do not even consider effective,” said Enlow. “Giving families the freedom to choose the education that’s best for their children would ensure funds were spent more effectively, and it would give every child access to the education they deserve.”
To see a summary of survey results, a series of PowerPoint slides highlighting key findings, and description of the methodology, visit http://www.EdChoice.org/IN-Survey.
Braun Research callers interviewed 1,017 registered voters in Indiana to produce an initial statewide sample. Braun Research then made additional phone calls to achieve at least 350 total completed interviews in each of eight counties. The margin of sampling error for the statewide survey is ±3.1 percentage points and approximately ± 5.4 percentage points for each of the eight countywide samples.
About The Foundation for Educational Choice
The Foundation for Educational Choice is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, solely dedicated to advancing Milton and Rose Friedman’s vision of school choice for all children. First established as the Milton and Rose D. Friedman Foundation in 1996, the Foundation continues to promote school choice as the most effective and equitable way to improve the quality of K-12 education in America. The Foundation is dedicated to research, education, and outreach on the vital issues and implications related to choice and competition in K-12 education.
Please visit our website to read the full study at http://www.EdChoice.org/IN-Survey.
Rich Hoffman
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com
Defend Ohio Rally in Columbus was Organized by Socialists
The shooting in Arizona is tragic. But at this time, the facts are still coming in, and there is other news going on at the same time that needs attention. One of those news stories is the impact of the man who structured the Defend Ohio rally up in Columbus to protest John Kasich’s position on organized labor is a Socialist!
Meet him here:
Doc Thompson had a great banter with a spokesman from Defend Ohio, a group I had never heard of because it was apparently formed just last weekend to attack John Kasich’s Administration before it could even get started. But the fellow came on WLW to discuss his position, and for that I give him credit. Listen to that conversation here:
If these people weren’t so dangerous, in trying to compete legitimately in the battlefield of ideas, I might just pat them on the head and encourage them to keep learning and trying. But, as I’ve discussed on this forum many times and in many ways, socialism, communism, progressivism, imperialism, and on and on, are infantile mutterings of the lazy, collective oriented that lack true courage, because they seek to hide their ambition behind a government entity that they wish to use as a bargaining chip.
I have news for those childish minds. The country was built on capitalist principles. Not socialist principles and unions. In fact, the growth of our nation has stopped since socialist started penetrating our political culture and used the aspects of American Culture we collectively feel guilty about, like slavery, like our treatment of women, and the handling of the poor, to manipulate the political spectrum in a way that has made the United States less competitive. For people who believe such things, their minds are like shallow streams and their recollections of American History are just as deep. American History may only be as deep as a mighty river, but there is much more under the surface that makes up the contents of the river. America is not just simple poor against rich, working man against the white-collar man, black against white, men against women, its swirls of all those things and a lot more to add. Such duality in thinking is only useful to small-minded souls that can’t see beyond their individual cages.
When I heard the interview above on Doc Thompson’s show, I thought the man from Defend Ohio was naive, but well-intentioned, and I had figured he just needed to think things through a lot deeper. But now I know after a little research, that the people behind this rally are socialists! No wonder they don’t like Kasich!
Before 2010, I thought communists and socialists in our American society was something that was attempted during the McCarthy era, and even then, I actually thought that McCarthy was far-reaching in his pursuit to weed out communists. I thought that because I believed what the media told me, that Joseph McCarthy was a right-winged-paranoid-do-gooder. I started to question the media when I saw that they used the same approach to attack Kenneth Star, when he investigated Bill Clinton. Star was just doing his job. Clinton had flat-out lied in federal court. It happened right in front of our faces, so that made me question the reporting of the socialists in the McCarthy hearings.
Now, the evidence is everywhere. Socialists have their own party. They try to put up candidates, they have infiltrated unions, newspapers, television, Hollywood, publishing. They are a legitimate competitor for political ideas and they have done it under the radar.
So now they have met at the capital of Ohio on January 8, 2011 to protest a Governor that is trying to bring capitalism oriented ideas back to a state to attempt to save that great state from the damage done by socialist that have infiltrated the political culture for decades. The difference between now, and when they originally started, is it’s out in the open who and what they are. And America has to make the decision about what they want to do about it.
It’s ok to be wrong. And socialist are out-of-their-minds wrong. But it’s not OK to wreck American Culture to pursue the infant diatribes of half-baked minds.
Now, to understand what is behind Defend Ohio, read this article. I put it up here so it doesn’t disappear after this rally turns out embarrassing for the organizers.
U.S. | Labor & Workers
SOCIALIST CANDIDATE’S BACKERS FOUND NEW ORGANIZATION TO FIGHT TO DEFEND OHIO JOBS AND SER
by Dan La Botz
Tuesday Dec 7th, 2010 8:33 AM
Ohio leftists create Defend Ohio campaign and launch Stop Kasich movement against new government’s radically anti-worker program
Supporters of the Dan La Botz, Socialist for Senate campaign of 2010 met in Columbus, Ohio over the weekend to found a new organization and launch a campaign to fight for jobs and public services in Ohio—and they pledged to resist the policies of Republic Governor-elect John Kasich. Dan La Botz was the Socialist Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in Ohio in November 2010 and received 25,000 votes.
The labor and movement activists from cities throughout Ohio created the Buckeye Socialist Network (there will soon be a BuckeyeSocialist.org website). The Network’s first campaign is called DEFEND OHIO and will focus on defending public employees’ jobs and public services.
“Governor Kasich has unleashed a class war in Ohio,” said Dan La Botz. “And we intend to fight back. Kasich’s inauguration is the ideal occasion for Ohio’s working people to protest in at the Capital in Columbus and to show the governor that he is going to face four years of fierce resistance by unions and social movements.
“Kasich,” said La Botz, “pledged to revoke the union organizing rights of home care and child care workers in Ohio. This is a vicious and despicable attack on the some of the state’s hardest working and lowest paid workers. And it is not so different from President Obama’s recent promise to freeze the wages of Federal employees. These attacks on public employees parallel the private employers drive for two-tier labor contracts intended to lower wages and they parallel attacks on social programs for low-income people in our society.
“We will be organizing working people to fight to defend public employees’ jobs, their wages, and their right to unionize. We will be fighting to defend all of the many services that these workers—teachers, social workers, water workers, garbage collectors, and so many others—provide. In doing so, we will be beginning the fight to rebuild the power of unions in Ohio.”
Union members from the Teamsters, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, American Federation of Government Employees, Communication Workers of America, and United Food and Commercial Workers were among those in attendance at the founding meeting of the Buckeye Socialist Network. Representatives from Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton/Yellow Springs, Canton, and New Philadelphia attended the half-day meeting.
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Hey, you can’t make this stuff up. Progress Ohio has their name all over this. These “types” of people are in the minority, but because they are motivated radicals, they must be dealt with equal passion from those of us that think correctly. And yes, there is a correct way to think and an incorrect way to think. Individuality and the power of the individual are correct. Collectivism is wrong. It allows the worst of people to live in a state of mediocrity. This popular video of the New York Public worker wrecking a car on a snowy street is a perfect example of what you get when you allow people to live in that state of mediocrity. This is your typical union employee. And I say that from lots of experience.
Don’t ever ask me to pay for people like this with tax dollars.
Rich Hoffman
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com
“B” Day is Coming!!!!!! Lakota’s dreaded busing cuts!
“B” Day is coming! “B” Day is the day that the school busing cuts are implemented.
On January 18th, Lakota will proceed to cut busing to students K through 8th grade within a mile radius. And all high school students will lose their busing.
I remember in 2005 when the same program was implemented except it was only half as tough, the radius was only a half mile. My wife had already been driving my kids to school each day so we didn’t think life would change much.
On January 7, 2011 I went on WLW to talk about this experience with Doc Thompson along with a number of other issues that center around the growing budget problems regarding school funding. We had a great discussion that covered a lot of ground. Worth listening to!
Instantly, the day of the “B” Day in 2005, the roads filled students trying to get to school, and what used to take 15 minutes turned into 30 to 40 minutes of roads loaded with the extra traffic. Accidents happened and my wife was an unfortunate victim. She had a collision with an inexperienced young driver that was cast into a situation he wasn’t prepared for. The boy didn’t have enough experience to be driving, and had been rushed through his licensing process because his parents couldn’t drive him to school.
The airbags deployed in the collision to our beloved Jeep Grand Cherokee which was paid off and a wonderful vehicle which totaled the vehicle even though it only sustained a damaged bumper. Because of the air bag deployment the cost of repair exceeded what insurance agreed to pay for the repair.
That Jeep Cherokee was an unfortunate victim to the “B” Day of 2005.
The “B” Day of 2011 will be equally devastating for some unfortunate victim, because when you put that many people on the road at the same time, bad things are bound to happen. And when it does, remember that cutting busing which only saves $600,000 this year, and 2.8 million next year only represents a fraction of the overall operating budget. For every bus they keep off the road the school system saves $70K.
Also remember that the school system was paying Ryan Fahrenkamp, the Lakota teacher busted in January for child pornography with a school computer involving students of his class, 70K a year. That teacher cost the same as operating a bus for one year. I think a bus is more valuable than a pervert teacher that stayed hidden behind layers of union protections for the last 2 years. But that’s just my opinion.
The leadership of Lakota thinks it’s more efficient to take away buses. That’s why we have budget problems. Just so everyone remembers the last levy attempt and the numbers numbers involved, here is a collection of the media blitz in the final days prior to the vote.
It’s important to remember how we got here, and the smoke screens that get put in place to make you forget.
Rich Hoffman
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com
Gas Over $3 Per Gallon is the Fault of Politics and Nothing Else
Many people forget that during the summer of 2008 fuel costs were up over $4 per gallon. What happened was all the money that Americans normally spent on McDonalds, Walmart, and other consumer outlets, suddenly went to the excessive fuel costs and a long way to creating the recession we are currently in. Americans were using their expendable income on fuel costs, not on other items in the economy.
And here we go again. Doc Thompson has on a guest that discusses this very issue.
It is unacceptable to have fuel costs higher than what they are now. If fuel costs go up, it is entirely due to the ineptness of our political structures. Americans should not be “nudged” into other forms of energy while our economic competitors fuel their economic engines with unregulated drilling. In America we have regulated ourselves into a poor strategic position. 
It is not my fault that our politicians screwed up and stood with weak backs to environmentalists that are in actuality communists at heart and crave an end to American Imperialism by crushing their great independent “car culture.” I will not spend the extra money on fuel. Instead, I will spend less. I will ride my motorcycle when I’d normally take a car. I’ll ride a bicycle or even walk before I use my extra money on a tank of fuel.
America would be wise to only use the fuel it needs, and respond to these price increases by hurting the revenue of all the government hands that have their hands in the cookie jar that is fuel industry. If you want to punch back the government that screwed all this up to begin with, hurt the money they take in with each gallon of gas that you buy. Below is some information on how much we pay in taxes by state for each gallon of gas.
| State | Gasoline | Diesel | Additional Sales Tax | Comment |
| (¢/g) | (¢/g) | (%) | ||
| Alabama | 18 | 19 | 4 | The gasoline gasohol and diesel rates include a 2 cents per gallon inspection fee. Alabama-registered LPG vehicles pay an annual fee based on vehicle type in lieu of the volume tax. |
| Alaska | 8 | 8 | 0 | |
| Arizona | 18 | 19 | 5 | The fuel tax on diesel remains at 18 cents per gallon for light and exempt vehicles but is set at 27 cents per gallon if used to propel a truck with more than two axles or with a declared gross weight over 26 000 pounds. |
| Arkansas | 21.5 | 22.5 | 4.5 | The gasoline gasohol and diesel rates include 0.4 cents per gallon Environmental Assurance Fee. Applicants for LPG user permits must pay a fee in lieu of the volume tax. |
| California | 18 | 18 | 6 | LPG users may pay an annual fee in lieu of the volume tax. |
| Colorado | 22 | 20.5 | 3 | Owners of LPG vehicles registered in the State must pay an annual fee in lieu of the volume tax. |
| Connecticut | 25 | 45.1 | 5 | The tax is computed at 5% of the gross earnings from the first sale of a petroleum product in the State. |
| Delaware | 23 | 22 | 0 | The tax rate varies annually based on the average wholesale price of gasoline for the previous year. |
| Dist. of Columbia | 23.5 | 20 | 5.8 | |
| Florida | 16 | 16 | 0 | Tax rates are variable, adjusted annually. For gasoline and gasohol, in addition to the rates shown, there is a State-imposed State Comprehensive Enhanced Transportation System (SCETS) tax that varies by the county from 0-5.0 cents per gallon. All counties levy the SCETS tax on gasoline, but a few levy less than the maximum rate. LPG vehicles registered in the State pay an annual fee in lieu of the tax on alternative fuels and the SCETS tax. |
| Georgia | 7.5 | 7.5 | 4 | |
| Hawaii | 17 | 17 | 4 | Effective 01/01/02, alternative fuels pay an amount proportional to the diesel tax as follows: .29 for ethanol, .5 for bio-diesel, and .33 for LPG. An additional 1 cent is added to these amounts, and then rounded to the nearest 1 cent. |
| Idaho | 25 | 25 | 5 | LPG users may pay an annual fee based on vehicle weight in lieu of volume tax. |
| Illinois | 19 | 21.5 | Motor carriers pay an additional 6.3 cents per gallon on gasoline, 6.5 cents on diesel, and 5.9 cents on LPG. | |
| Indiana | 18 | 16 | 5 | Motor carriers pay an additional 11 cents per gallon. LPG vehicles pay an annual fee. |
| Iowa | 21 | 22.5 | 5 | Effective 07/01/02, motor fuel tax rates will be adjusted annually based on the amounts of ethanol blended gasoline being sold and distributed annually. |
| Kansas | 24 | 26 | 4.9 | LPG users may pay an annual fee based on mileage and gross vehicle weight in lieu of the volume tax. |
| Kentucky | 24.1 | 21.1 | 6 | Tax rates are variable, adjusted quarterly. A 2 percent surtax is imposed on gasoline and 4.7 percent on special fuels for any vehicle with 3 or more axles. The gasoline, gasohol, and diesel rates include 1.4 cents per gallon Petroleum Environmental Assurance Fee. |
| Louisiana | 20 | 20 | 0 | |
| Maine | 29.5 | 30.7 | 0 | Rates are variable, adjusted every February based on past years Consumer Price Index. Rates are effective on the following July 1. |
| Maryland | 23.5 | 24.25 | 5 | |
| Massachusetts | 21 | 21 | 5 | |
| Michigan | 19 | 15 | 6 | For vehicles defined under the Motor Carrier Fuel Tax Act, diesel fuel is discounted 6 cents per gallon at the pump; and assessed a 12 cents per gallon surcharge on a quarterly return, with a provision for a 6 cent per gallon refund on fuel purchased in Michigan. |
| Minnesota | 27.1 | 27.1 | 6 | There is a credit to the wholesaler of 15 cents per gallon of alcohol used to make gasohol. |
| Mississippi | 18.4 | 18.4 | The gasoline, gasohol, and diesel rates include 0.4 cents per gallon dedicated to the Groundwater Protection Trust Fund. | |
| Missouri | 17 | 17 | 0 | LPG vehicles 18,000 pounds or less gross vehicle weight registered in the State pay an annual fee in lieu of the volume tax. |
| Montana | 27.75 | 27.75 | 0 | LPG vehicles registed in the State pay an annual fee based on gross weight in lieu of the volume tax. Out-of-State vehicles purchase trip permits. There is an alcohol distiller credit of 30 cents per gallon of alcohol produced in the State with State agricultural products and used to make gasohol. |
| Nebraska | 26.8 | 26.8 | 5 | Rates are variable, adjusted quarterly. The gasoline and gasohol include 0.6 cents per gallon and diesel rate includes 0.2 cents per gallon Petroleum Release Remedial Action Fee. Effective 01/01/02, new Nebraska ethanol production facilities may receive an ethanol production credit equal to 18 cents per gallon of ethanol used to fuel motor vehicles. |
| Nevada | 24 | 27 | 0 | |
| New Hampshire | 18 | 18 | 0 | The gasoline, gasohol, and diesel rates include 1.5 cents per gallon Oil Discharge and Disposal Cleanup Fee. Alternative fuel vehicles pay twice the usual registration fee in lieu of the volume tax. |
| New Jersey | 10.5 | 13.5 | 0 | In addition to the rates shown, there is a Petroleum Products Gross Receipts Tax. The tax is computed on a cents-per-gallon basis and is applicable to a wide variety of petroleum products. |
| New Mexico | 18.875 | 22.875 | 5 | The gasoline, gasohol, and diesel rates include the Petroleum Products Loading Fee of $150 per 8,000 gallons (1.875 cents per gallon). Owners of LPG-powered vehicles up to 54,000 pounds gross vehicle weight may pay an annual fee in lieu of the volume tax. |
| New York | 24.35 | 22.55 | 4 | Rates are variable, adjusted annually. Rates include the Petroleum Business Tax of 14.6 cents per gallon. The gasoline rate includes a 0.5 mill (0.05 cents) per gallon Petroleum Testing Fee. |
| North Carolina | 30.55 | 30.55 | 0 | Rates are variable, adjusted semiannually. |
| North Dakota | 22 | 22 | 5 | Rates are variable, adjusted semiannually. |
| Ohio | 28 | 28 | 5 | Commercial vehicles formerly subject to the highway use tax pay an additional 3 cents per gallon. Dealers are refunded 10 cents per gallon of each qualified fuel (ethanol or methanol) blended with unleaded gasoline. |
| Oklahoma | 17 | 14 | 4.5 | Rates shown include 1 cent per gallon tax dedicated to the Petroleum Underground Tank Release Environmental Cleanup Indemnity Fund. When the Fund reaches specified balance, future tax revenues will be deposited in a highway fund. The gasoline, gasohol, and LPG rates include 0.08 cents for fuel inspection. LPG users may pay an annual fee in lieu of the volume tax. |
| Oregon | 24 | 24 | 0 | The diesel and LPG rates shown are paid by users for vehicles not under the jurisdiction of Public Utility Commissioner. Vehicles under the jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Commissioner and paying motor-carrier fees are exempt from payment of the motor-fuel tax. |
| Pennsylvania | 31.2 | 38.1 | 6 | The rates include the Oil Franchise Tax for Maintenance and Construction, a variable rate tax adjusted annually. LPG rate is based on the gasolie gallon equivalent. |
| Rhode Island | 33 | 33 | Rates includes 1 cent per gallon tax for the Underground Storage Tank Financial Responsibility Fund. | |
| South Carolina | 16 | 16 | 5 | |
| South Dakota | 22 | 22 | 4 | As of 7/1/2009, South Dakota taxes gasoline at 22 cents and ethyl alcohol at 8 cents. |
| Tennessee | 20 | 17 | 6 | LPG users without permits must pay in advance at the beginning of the fiscal year, others pay quarterly. Fee is based on vehice weight and fuel efficiency. |
| Texas | 20 | 20 | 6.3 | Owners of LPG vehicles registered in the State must pay an annual fee in lieu of the volume tax. |
| Utah | 24.5 | 24.5 | 4.9 | LPG is tax exempt if user purchases annual exemption certificate. |
| Vermont | 20 | 29 | 0 | Diesel vehicles 10,000 pounds and over pay 26 cents per gallon. LPG vehicles are subject to a registration fee 1.75 times the usual fee. The gasoline, gasohol, and diesel rates include 1 cents per gallon for the Petroleum Cleanup Fund. |
| Virginia | 17.5 | 17.5 | 0 | Vehicles weighing 26,000 pounds or more having 3 or more axles pay an additional 3.5 cents per gallon. |
| Washington | 37.5 | 37.5 | 6.5 | Owners of LPG vehicles pay an annual fee. |
| West Virginia | 32.2 | 32.2 | 0 | Rates are variable, adjusted annually. |
| Wisconsin | 30.9 | 30.9 | 5 | Rates are variable, adjusted annually. |
| Wyoming | 14 | 14 | 4 | LPG is subject to sales tax. The gasoline, gasohol, and diesel rates include 1 cent for the Underground Storage Tank Corrective Action Account. |
There is no reason for gas to go over $3 a gallon. If you put up with it, it’s your own fault. Our economy has not yet recovered from the last recession. The arrogance of politicians who believe Americans have enough expendable income to ride the fuel price hikes are at best out of touch. And the best way to hurt a politician is to take away the money they rely on. So lower your consumption and therefore the revenue politicians collect at the gas pumps.
Rich Hoffman
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com
Executive Order 10988: The Start of Public Sector Unions
Defeating the Lakota Levy in November of 2010 was not considered a victory, as many would assume.
We all know what the real trouble is; it’s the wage levels of the teachers that are forcing a re-evaluation of tax allocation. Prior to the last election, many people in our community didn’t know how much teachers actually made. Teachers aren’t alone; all public sector employees are experiencing this issue, where the tax payers are paying the servants of the community more than they make. The tax payers just cannot support the expectations set by public sector unions. The failure of 1962 is now completely obvious and must be reversed before it bankrupts our entire government. You see, government unions did not always exist. In fact, it was FDR that warned us about them in 1937.
“Meticulous attention,” Roosevelt insisted, “should be paid to the special relations and obligations of public servants to the public itself and to the Government….The process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service.“
So, how did government unions come to be?
At the federal level, government unions came to being as a result of President Kennedy’s 1962 Executive Order 10988. Unions in the federal government were created not by law but by Executive Order.
So now in 2011 we have arrived at a place where the cost of those unions followed by a recession where funds are short in the private sector, have finally come to a point nobody can afford.
State funding will be drastically decreased, so Lakota will find itself even more strapped for cash. The union step increases are set to devastate our community budget. So the fight is far from over.
The campaign never really stopped. The LEA should have done the right thing and renegotiated their contract to save the community money. But they didn’t, so now things will get rough. To think in terms of wins and losses is to miss the real problem. The fight will continue until Lakota can live within its supplied budget without breaking the financial back of the community. 
So for the sake of information, I include below Executive Order 10988 for analysts of that devastating decision that has thrust our nation into its current peril.
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EMPLOYEE-MANAGEMENT COOPERATION IN THE FEDERAL SERVICE WHEREAS participation of employees in the formulation and implementation of personnel policies affecting them contributes to effective conduct of public business; and WHEREAS the efficient administration of the Government and the well-being of employees require that orderly and constructive relationships be maintained between employee organizations and management officials; and WHEREAS subject to law and the paramount requirements of the public service, employee-management relations within the Federal service should be improved by providing employees an opportunity for greater participation in the formulation and implementation of policies and procedures affecting the conditions of their employment; and WHEREAS effective employee-management cooperation in the public service requires a clear statement of the respective rights and obligations of employee organizations and agency management: NOW, THEREFORE, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution of the IUnited States, by section 1753 of the Revised Statutes (5 U.S.C. 631), and as President of the United States, I hereby direct that the following policies shall govern officers and agencies of the executive branch of the Government in all dealings with Federal employees and organizations representing such employees. SECTION 1. (a) Employees of the Federal Government shall have, and shall be protected in the exercise of, the right, freely and without feel of penalty or reprisal, to form, join and assist any employee organization or to refrain from any such activity. Except as hereinafter expressly provided, the freedom of such employees to assist any employee organization shall be recognized as extending to participation in the management of the organization and acting for the organization in the capacity of an organization representative, including presentation of its views to officials of the executive branch, the Congress or other appropriate authority. The head of each executive department and agency (hereinafter referred to as “agency”) shall take such action, consistent with law, as may be required in order to assist that employees in the agency are apprised of the rights described in this section, and that no interference, restraint, coercion or discrimination is practiced within such agency to encourage or discourage membership in any employee organization. (b) The rights described in this section do not extend to participation in the management of an employee organization, or acting as a representative of any such organization, where such participation or activity would result in a conflict of interest or otherwise be incompatible with law or with the official duties of an employee. SEC. 2. When used in this order, the term “employee organization” means any lawful association, labor organization, federation, council, or brotherhood having as a primary purpose the improvement of working conditions among Federal employees or any craft, trade or industrial union whose membership includes both Federal employees and employees of private organizations; but such term shall not include any organization (1) which asserts the right to strike against the Government of the United States or any agency thereof, or to assist or participate in any such strike, or which imposes a duty or obligation to conduct, assist or participate in any such strike, or (2) which advocates the overthrow of the constitutional form of Government in the United States, or (3) which discriminates with regard to the terms or conditions of membership because of race, color, creed or national origin. SEC. 3. (a) Agencies shall accord informal, formal or exclusive recognition to employee organizations which request such recognition in conformity with the requirements specified in sections 4, 5 and 6 of this order, except that no recognition shall be accorded to any employee organization which the head of the agency considers to be so subject to corrupt influences or influences opposed to basic democratic principles that recognition would be inconsistent with the objectives of this order. (b) Recognition of an employee organization will continue so long as such organization satisfies the criteria of this order applicable to such recognition; but nothing in this section shall require any agency to determine whether an organization should become or continue to be recognized as exclusive representative of the employees in any unit within 12 months after a prior determination of exclusive status with respect to such unit has been made pursuant to the provisions of this order. (c) Recognition, in whatever form accorded, shall not— (1) preclude any employee, regardless of employee organization membership, from bringing matters of personal concern to the attention of appropriate officials in accordance with applicable law rule, regulation, or established agency policy, or from choosing his own representative in a grievance or appellate action; or (2) preclude or restrict consultations and dealings between an agency and any veterans organization with respect to matters of particular interest to employees with veterans preference; or (3) preclude an agency from consulting or dealing with any religious, social, fraternal or other lawful association, not qualified as an employee organization, with respect to matters or policies which involve individual members of the association or are of particular applicability to it or its members, when such consultations or dealings are duly limited so as not to assume the character of formal consultation on matters of general employee-management policy or to extend to areas where recognition of the interests of one employee group may result in discrimination against or injury to the interests of other employees. SEC. 4. (a) An agency shall accord an employee organization, which does not qualify for exclusive or formal recognition, informal recognition as representative of its member employees without regard to whether any other employee organization has been accorded formal or exclusive recognition as representative of some or all employees in any unit. (b) When an employee organization has been informally recognized, it shall, to the extent consistent with the efficient and orderly conduct of the public business, be permitted to present to appropriate officials its views on matters of concern to its members. The agency need not, however, consult with an employee organization so recognized in the formulation of personnel or other policies with respect to such matters. SEC. 5. (a) An agency shall accord an employee organization formal recognition as the representative of its members in a unit as defined by the agency when (1) no other employee organization is qualified for exclusive recognition as representative of employees in the unit, (2) it is determined by the agency that the employee organization has a substantial and stable membership of no less than 10 per cent of the employees in the unit, and (3) the employee organization has submitted to the agency a roster of its officers and representatives, a copy of its constitution and by-laws, and a statement of objectives. When, in the opinion of the head of an agency, an employee organization has a sufficient number of local organizations or a sufficient total membership within such agency, such organization may be accorded formal recognition at the national level, but such recognition shall not preclude the agency from dealing at the national level with any other employee organization on matters affecting its members. (b) When an employee organization has been formally recognized, the agency, through appropriate officials, shall consult with such organization from time to time in the formulation and implementation of personnel policies and practices, and matters affecting working conditions that are of concern to its members. Any such organization shall be entitled from time to time to raise such matters for discussion with appropriate officials and at all times to present its views thereon in writing. In no case, however, shall an agency be required to consult with an employee organization which has been formally recognized with respect to any matter which, if the employee organization were one entitled to exclusive recognition, would not be included within the obligation to meet and confer, as described in section 6 (b) of this order. SEC. 6. (a) An agency shall recognize an employee organization as the exclusive representative of the employees, in an appropriate unit when such organization is eligible for formal recognition pursuant to section 5 of this order, and has been designated or selected by a majority of the employees of such unit as the representative of such employees in such unit. Units may be established on any plant or installation, craft, functional or other basis which will ensure a clear and identifiable community of interest among the employees concerned, but no unit shall be established solely on the basis of the extent to which employees in the proposed unit have organized. Except where otherwise required by established practice, prior agreement, or special circumstances, no unit shall be established for purposes of exclusive recognition which includes (1) any managerial executive, (2) any employee engaged in Federal personnel work in other than a purely clerical capacity, (3) both supervisors who officially evaluate the performance of employees and the employees whom they supervise, or (4) both professional employees and nonprofessional employees unless a majority of such professional employees vote for inclusion in such unit. (b) When an employee organization has been recognized as the exclusive representative of employees of an appropriate unit it shall be entitled to act for and to negotiate agreements covering all employees in the unit and shall be responsible for representing the interests of all such employees without discrimination and without regard to employee organization membership. Such employee organization shall be given the opportunity to be represented at discussions between management and employees or employee representatives concerning grievances, personnel policies and practices, or other matters affecting general working conditions of employees in the unit. The agency and such employee organization, through appropriate officials and representatives, shall meet at reasonable times and confer with respect to personnel policy and practices and matters affecting working conditions, so far as may be appropriate subject to law and policy requirements. This extends to the negotiation of an agreement, or any question arising thereunder, the determination of appropriate techniques, consistent with the terms and purposes of this order, to assist in such negotiation, and the execution of a written memorandum of agreement or understanding incorporating any agreement reached by the parties. In exercising authority to make rules and regulations relating to personnel policies and practices and working conditions, agencies shall have due regard for the obligation imposed by this section, but such obligation shall not be construed to extend to such areas of discretion and policy as the mission of an agency, its budget, its organization and the assignment of its personnel, or the technology of performing its work. SEC. 7. Any basic or initial agreement entered into with an employee organization as the exclusive representative of employees in a unit must be approved by the head of the agency or an official designated by him. All agreements with such employee or organizations shall also be subject to the following requirements, which shall be expressly stated in the initial or basic agreement and shall be applicable to all supplemental, implementing, subsidiary or informal agreements between the agency and the organization: (1) In the administration of all matters covered by the agreement officials and employees are governed by the provisions of any existing or future laws and regulations, including policies set forth in the Federal Personnel Manual and agency regulations, which may be applicable, and the agreement shall at all times be applied subject to such laws, regulations and policies; (2) Management officials of the agency retain the right, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, (a) to direct employees of the agency, (b) to hire, promote, transfer, assign, and retain employees in positions within the agency, and to suspend, demote, discharge, or take other disciplinary action against employees, (c) to relieve employees from duties because of lack of work or for other legitimate reasons, (d) to maintain the efficiency of the Government operations entrusted to them, (e) to determine the methods, means and personnel by which such operations are to be conducted; and (f) to take whatever actions may be necessary to carry out the mission of the agency in situations of emergency. SEC. 8. (a) Agreements entered into or negotiated in accordance with this order with an employee organization which is the exclusive representative of employees in an appropriate unit may contain provisions, applicable only to employees in the unit, concerning procedures for consideration of grievances. Such procedures (1) shall conform to standards issued by the Civil Service Commission, and (2) may not in any manner diminish or impair any rights which would otherwise be available to any employee in the absence of an agreement providing for such procedures. (b) Procedures established by an agreement which are otherwise in conformity with this section may include provisions for the arbitration of grievances. Such arbitration ( 1 ) shall be advisory in nature with any decisions or recommendations subject to the approval of the agency head; (2) shall extend only to the interpretation or application of agreements or agency policy and not to changes in or proposed changes in agreements or agency policy; and (3) shall be invoked only with the approval of the individual employee or employees concerned. SEC. 9. Solicitation of memberships, dues, or other internal employee organization business shall be conducted during the non-duty hours of the employees concerned. Officially requested or approved consultations and meetings between management officials and representatives of recognized employee organizations shall, whenever practicable, be conducted on official time, but any agency may require that negotiations with an employee organization which has been accorded exclusive recognition be conducted during the non-duty hours of the employee organization representatives involved in such negotiations. SEC. 10. No later than July 1, 1962, the head of each agency shall issue appropriate policies, rules and regulations for the implementation of this order, including: A clear statement of the rights of its employees under the order, policies and procedures with respect to recognition of employee organizations; procedures for determining appropriate employee units; policies and practices regarding consultation with representatives of employee organizations, other organizations and individual employees; and policies with respect to the use of agency facilities by employee organizations. Insofar as may be practicable and appropriate, agencies shall consult with representatives of employee organizations in the formulation of these policies, rules and regulations. SEC. 11. Each agency shall be responsible for determining in accordance with this order whether a unit is appropriate for purposes of exclusive recognition and, by an election or other appropriate means whether an employee organization represents a majority of the employees in such a unit so as to be entitled to such recognition. Upon the request of any agency, or of any employee organization which is seeking exclusive recognition and which qualifies for or has been accorded formal recognition, the Secretary of Labor, subject to such necessary rules as he may prescribe, shall nominate from the National Panel of Arbitrators maintained by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service one or more qualified arbitrators who will be available for employment by the agency concerned for either or both of the following purposes, as may be required: (1) to investigate the facts and issue an adsvisory decision as to the appropriateness of a unit for purposes of exclusive recognition and as to related issues submitted for consideration; (2) to conduct or supervise an election or otherwise determine by such means as may be appropriate, and on an advisory basis, whether an employee organization represents the majority of the employees in a unit. Consonant with law, the Secretary of Labor shall render such assistance as may be appropriate in connection with advisory decisions or determinations under this section, but the necessary costs of such assistance shall be paid by the agency to which it relates. In the event questions as to the appropriateness of a unit or the majority status of an employee organization shall arise in the Department of Labor, the duties described in this section which would otherwise be the responsibility of the Secretary of Labor shall be performed by the Civil Service Commission. SEC. 12. The Civil Service Commission shall establish and maintain a program to assist in carrying out the objectives of this order. The Commission shall develop a program for the guidance of agencies in employee-management relations in the Federal service; provide technical advice to the agencies on employee-management programs; assist in the development of programs for training agency personnel in the principles and procedures of consultation, negotiation and the settlement of disputes in the Federal service, and for the training of management officials in the discharge of their employee-management relations responsibilities in the public interest; provide for continuous study and review of the Federal employee-management relations program and, from time to time, make recommendations to the President for its improvement. SEC. 13. (a) The Civil Service Commission and the Department of Labor shall jointly prepare (1) proposed standards of conduct for employee organizations and (2) a proposed code of fair labor practices in employee-management relations in the Federal service appropriate to assist in securing the uniform and effective implementation of the policies, rights and responsibilities described in this order. (b) There is hereby established the President’s Temporary Committee on the Implementation of the Federal Employee-Management Relations Program. The Committee shall consist of the Secretary of Labor, who shall be chairman of the Committee, the Secretary of Defense, the Postmaster General, and the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission. In addition to such other matters relating to the implementation of this order as may be referred to it by the President, the Committee shall advise the President with respect to any problems arising out of completion of agreements pursuant to sections 6 and 7, and shall receive the proposed standards of conduct for employee organizations and proposed code of fair labor practices in the Federal service, as described in this section, and report thereon to the President with such recommendations or amendments as it may deem appropriate. Consonant with law, the departments and agencies represented on the Committee shall, as may be necessary for the effectuation of this section, furnish assistance to the Committee in accordance with section 214 of the Act of May 3, 1945, 59 Stat. 134 (31 U.S.C. 691). Unless otherwise directed by the President, the Committee shall cease to exist 30 days after the date on which it submits its report to the President pursuant to this section. SEC. 14. The head of each agency, in accordance with the provisions of this order and regulations prescribed by the Civil Service Commission, shall extend to all employees in the competitive civil service rights identical in adverse action cases to those provided preference eligibles under section 14 of the Veterans’ Preference Act of 1944, as amended. Each employee in the competitive service shall have the right to appeal to the Civil Service Commission from an adverse decision of the administrative officer so acting, such appeal to be processed in an identical manner to that provided for appeals under section 14 of the Veterans’ Preference Act. Any recommendation by the Civil Service Commission submitted to the head of an agency on the basis of an appeal by an employee in the competitive service shall be complied with by the head of the agency. This section shall become effective as to all adverse actions commenced by issuance of a notification of proposed action on or after July 1, 1962. SEC. 15. Nothing in this order shall be construed to annul or modify, or to preclude the renewal or continuation of, any lawful agreement heretofore entered into between any agency and any representative of its employees. Nor shall this order preclude any agency from continuing to consult or deal with any representative of its employees or other organization prior to the time that the status and representation rights of such representative or organization are determined in conformity with this order. SEC. 16. This order (except section 14) shall not apply to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, or any other agency, or to any office, bureau or entity within an agency, primarily performing intelligence, investigative, or security functions if the head of the agency determines that the provisions of this order cannot be applied in a manner consistent with national security requirements and considerations. When he deems it necessary in the national interest, and subject to such conditions as he may prescribe, the head of any agency may suspend any provision of this order (except section 14) with respect to any agency installation or activity which is located outside of the United States. Approved—January 17th, 1962. JOHN F. KENNEDY |
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Rich Hoffman
Battle Cry from the Fly Over States
It was an absolutely frigid day in the streets of Wilmington, Ohio just to the south of the Murphy Theater when Glenn Beck came onto the frozen stage and proclaimed that he thought the term “We Are Wilmington” could become the mantra of the entire nation. He said this because of Wilmington’s tenacious nature.
Inside the Theater during the 8 PM show, Beck made the announcement of his E4 Project to be launched in 2011, and it was these words that intrigued me from the moment I first heard them. Since my day in Wilmington at that event, I haven’t been able to shake the simplicity of the terms, yet at the same time the potential power they could possess in a restoration of our national value. They are Enlightenment, Education, Empowerment, and Entrepreneur. I explain them as I heard them in the video below.
As the snowy days passed and I worked out in my back yard with my bullwhips, I began to feel the urge to step onto this battlefield and help anyway possible.
On one hand Americans are viewed simply as faceless consumers, with advertising and didactic entertainment aimed at manipulating the consumer to their various products. But at the same time, we ask the same overly stimulated minds to be reasonable and vote with intelligence. That’s where progressives take over on the tired minds of the modern American.
So a focus on something like Beck’s E4 Project can help bring the issues to the mind of those weary consumers, and provoke them to think about the world around them that exists in a more subtle way.
2011 will be a lot of fun, and a time to proclaim to the world, “WE ARE WILMINGTON!”
Rich Hoffman
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com
Net Neutrality is the Villian from Tron
The following line is NOT a bit of dialogue from the new Disney film Tron.
“We must take action to protect consumers against price hikes and closed access to the Internet—and our proposed framework is designed to do just that: to guard against these risks while recognizing the legitimate needs and interests of broadband providers.” FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski
What?
Who do these people think they are? That’s almost as audacious as trying to regulate the air. But that statement almost sounded like the uttering’s of the character Clu as he addresses a sea of program soldiers about to be unleashed upon society in the new Tron Legacy film.
This is clearly a power grab by the FCC to further attempt to justify their existence. It must be terribly frustrating for them to have a part of the media that they don’t have any control over, and this is an attempt by a government agency to get control.
If you don’t understand what NET NEUTRALITY is, listen to Bill Cunningham of 700 WLW discuss it here:
As far as the platform the FCC is using to justify this move, the prices on the internet have regulated themselves. Prices too high are beat out by companies that offer better rates. It’s pretty simple really.
I can remember when the internet was new, and charged by the hour, then service for the month for a flat fee. There were many different combinations of price packages that were created along the way, but ultimately cheaper prices in a competitive fashion created the internet we have today, where a single user can talk on their Smart Phone, while talking on a headset over their XBOX and answering their email on a laptop, all done on the internet. The bandwidth drop that the FCC is talking about is a complete fabrication.
It has regulated itself and is one of the only aspects of society that is free. The internet is the model for what society should mimic.
But the FCC under the disguise of “fairness” is attempting to get their little feet in the door, and once there they will unleash many, many, many more regulations, just as they have for television and radio. It won’t take long for everyone that wants a website to have apply for one to the FCC just as a radio broadcaster does. And if you violate their terms, you’ll lose your license.
You have to consider what we’re talking about here, and that is access to the internet. Since the internet is just a bunch of computers talking independently of each other, it might as well be air. It has no central location and does not stop at a nation’s border. Therefore, the only way a government can get control of the internet is to control the on-ramp to the World Wide Web. In this case the FCC is using “fairness” to begin a relationship with internet providers that will become a much more parental relationship down the road.
This power move is so audacious that they by-passed congress to do it. We can’t even blame the incompetence of our congressional politicians on this one. This is a raw power grab from a branch of government functioning without any checks or balances, and in the context of things, is very serious.
If you dear reader scanning over these words don’t find this whole NET NEUTRALITY issue to be EVIL, and doesn’t provoke you into an outrage of forced accountability of the FCC, you can count the days that you soon won’t be able to read these words, because I will, along with this entire Blog Site will be found in violation of the FCC regulations, and will be shut down. And you will have to get thoughtful comments from an “orthodox” source that the FCC has given an approved license to.
That’s what’s at stake. As always, government sells itself as having your best interest in mind. It’s all about fairness, according to them. But history says otherwise.
The internet has thrived without any government regulation. And now, those public employees that have their socialist tendencies toward securing their own wallets in a collective utopia desire to hang themselves like parasites from internet commerce.
As always, it’s about the money.
While I write this there is a court case against WLW for setting up a Christmas manger at their tower in Mason, Ohio. The reason for the law suit is because they have a FCC license and that the argument is any government entity should have a separation of church and state.
Also, the FCC is using AL Sharpten to crack down on conservative talk show hosts like Rush Limbaugh, because the bottom line is people like Rush need to be shut down in order for government to expand, which is the goal of these types of regulators. They desire to secure employment for themselves from tax dollars. That’s all there is to it. The whole concept is incredibly short-sighted and selfish. But that’s what you usually find are the quality of people that desire to make a living off government work.
Once this line is crossed, these parasites of government regulation will embed themselves like a tick on a dog to suck the life-force of the creature.
Without Net-Neutrality, an entire industry, which young people are quite aware of has risen. These sad politicians wouldn’t know much about that industry because they are too busy pursuing lobby supplied prostitutes on K-street, or exotic dinners where they believe their discussion will pave the way for the nation.
No.
You can see the future by simply turning on a Nintendo Wii. The interface of either the Wii, the XBOX or the PlayStation 3, which is all internet based, provides at a glance Netflex, weather updates, news from around the world, and a portal to play Black Ops with a friend from half-way around the world in real time. That is the world of tomorrow, and it was created without governmental control.
Before I went with my family to see the new Tron film, I watched my kids swordfight with each other on the Wii, and many of those images came to me while I was watching that very interesting film. Tron is all about the world of cyberspace and the empires that can rise and fall within that world. And every new game created is a new experience for each and every human being on this planet to be a part of. But the overall theme of Tron was the perilous course of pursuing perfection.
In Tron, Jeff Bridges created an exact opposite of himself called Clu to implement the perfect world, a utopia. What it turned out to be was a hellish digital fascism that Bridges was unable to control and that society completely turned on him. It was heady stuff, not intended to be watched with just a light eye for entertainment.
Net Neutrality is in our world the fictional villain of the Tron film. Initiated with good intentions, but resulting in a hellish existence.
Art becomes reality, most of the time. “Your focus will determine your reality,” a line from another great science fiction film proclaims, and it’s true. Too bad human beings don’t think through things and learn from their art, instead of repeating the same mistakes over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over…………………………………infinity.
We don’t remember what life was like before social security, or Medicare, or any number of government programs. But every one of us knows what the internet was like before the government decided to stick its nose in it. And it has thrived.
Don’t believe the lies. Encourage the new congress to escort the FCC to court for this gross imposition on our freedoms and liberty, and instruct them to stay out of our nation’s way.
Guess who is the main man behind this push………………..George Soros. Listen to Rush Limbaugh discuss it here.
Rich Hoffman
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com
