Archive for February 2nd, 2007
It is time for a no nonsense, honest President. Special interests beware!
WASHINGTON — Libertarians and conservatives alike, frustrated by their early options among the so-called 2008 front-runners, may turn to a familiar face in pursuit of the White House: Rep. Ron Paul.
Paul, R-Texas, has been a fervent advocate of limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He’s now considering taking his no-nonsense show on the road in an under-the-radar run for the White House.
Paul is an absolute original — never voting for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution. It’s an iron rule that sometimes annoys his Republican colleagues.
A medical doctor by training and certification, Paul is nothing if not a thinking man. When he voted against authorizing military force against Iraq, his rationale read like a lawyer’s analysis:
“This resolution is not a declaration of war, however, and that is an important point: This resolution transfers the constitutionally-mandated congressional authority to declare wars to the executive branch. This resolution tells the president that he alone has the authority to determine when, where, why, and how war will be declared. It merely asks the president to pay us a courtesy call a couple of days after the bombing starts to let us know what is going on. This is exactly what our Founding Fathers cautioned against when crafting our form of government . . .”
Read the rest: Rep. Ron Paul: Running to Win in 2008
[tags]Ron-Paul, president, libertarian, republican, honest, conservative[/tags]
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Some people just don’t get it!
[tags]libertarian, satire, government, political, freedom, liberty, youtube[/tags]
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The head of the Buffalo firefighters union Thursday told the rank and file that they will not be voting on a new five-year contract that was unanimously approved by the city’s control board Wednesday.
President Joseph E. Foley said the union was precluded from submitting the tentative agreement to its membership for ratification later this month because the resolution approved by the control board deviates from the agreement that was reached between the city and Local 282, Buffalo Professional Firefighters Association.
Foley objects to the fact that the Control Board wants the threat of litigation for back wages nullified. The proposed contract calls for a $5,000 raise, followed by subsequent 3.4% increases beginning in a few months. The overall pay increase over the terms of the contract would lead to a 34 - 40% increase for fighters, depending on the pay grade.
It would be fiscally irresponsible to permit the contract to be approved without assurances that further compensation wouldn’t be sought in court.
Foley should let his union members vote on the proposed contract, then the public will know where they stand. Approval would be a good step to establish themselves as concerned members of the community at large. A nay vote would be just another snub aimed at the taxpayers.
Source: Buffalo News - Firefighter contract won’t be submitted for ratification
[tags]Buffalo, Firefighters, Joseph-Foley, contract, control-board, taxpayers[/tags]
I hear that train a-comin’, it’s rollin’ around the bend
And I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when
I’m stuck in Folsom prison and time keeps draggin’ by
They caught me with an ashtray. I hang my head and cry.
The lyrics were written in response to Ohio’s new smoking ban.
Source: BY PETER BRONSON | ENQUIRER STAFF WRITER
[tags]smoking, ban, nanny-state, government, liberty, freedom, libertarian[/tags]
Saturday 2/3
High: 20°F
RealFeel®: -3°F
Low: 6°F
RealFeel®: -17°F
Breezy and colder with lake-effect flurries and squalls, accumulating 3-6 inches
Sunday 2/4
High: 8°F
RealFeel®: -19°F
Low: 2°F
RealFeel®: -24°F
Mostly cloudy, breezy and colder with snow showers, accumulating a coating to an inch
Monday 2/5
High: 11°F
RealFeel®: -16°F
Low: 9°F
RealFeel®: -18°F
Mostly cloudy with snow showers; windy and frigid
Tuesday 2/6
High: 10°F
RealFeel®: -18°F
Low: 1°F
RealFeel®: -24°F
Mostly cloudy and frigid with snow flurries
Seeking “unprecedented” increases in school aid, Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer on Wednesday proposed a state aid increase of $40.2 million - or 9 percent - for Buffalo schools and $21.7 million more for suburban Erie County schools.
The system does not need more money. Eliot Spitzer, of all people, should be intelligent enough to realize that throwing good money after bad does not equal good results.
Gary M. Crosby, Buffalo’s chief operations and financial officer, said he is “feeling very good” about the nearly double-digit aid hike. But he cautioned that from $20 million to $30 million of the new money will be needed to pay additional health care premiums if the district cannot reach an agreement with the Buffalo Teachers Federation on a single carrier.
The ink on the plan is barely dry and already there is speculation that up to 75% of the money could be used to pay for the health care premiums for the teachers. If you figure out the teachers’ rate of pay per hour and compared that to a normal job, many are making close to $100,000 per year. This is based on a school day which is much shorter than the normal 8 hour workday and a work year that contains far fewer weeks than the average job.
School choice does not require more money, in fact, it would probably lead to savings for taxpayers. New York State already spends over $14,000 per student. Yet, Catholic schools that do a better job for about $4000 per student are closing left and right.
The obvious cause of this travesty is the power of the unions and Eliot Spitzer does not appear to be the man who will challenge the status quo. If we had real school choice, the Catholic schools would not only remain open, but would be able to expand, as would many other private school options. For each student enrolling in a Catholic school the State (taxpayers) could receive a $10,000 savings and a better educational value for their money. If 5,000 students in Buffalo enrolled in Catholic schools, the savings to the taxpayers would be $50,000,000. Instead we get a $40,000,000 increase in spending. The difference in Buffalo alone is almost $100 million. Is it any wonder people are leaving the area in droves?
Spitzer promised to develop methods to assess the effectiveness of school superintendents and principals, minimum standards for granting teacher tenure and report cards on individual students that chart assessment test results over several years.
We’ve heard the same song and dance about assessing effectiveness since 2002, the year Bush implemented No Child Left Behind. The number one complaint from that bombshell is from school administrators complaining about their hands being tied by government over the classroom programs.
School choice is the answer, not government supported monopolies.
Source: The Buffalo News
Everybody Supports the Troops
by Ron Paul
Before the U.S. House of Representatives, January 18, 2007
Mr. Speaker, I have never met anyone who did not support our troops. Sometimes, however, we hear accusations that someone or some group does not support the men and women serving in our armed forces. This is pure demagoguery, and it’s intellectually dishonest. The accusers play on emotions to gain support for controversial policies, implying that those who disagree are unpatriotic. But keeping our troops out of harm’s way, especially when war is unnecessary, is never unpatriotic. There’s no better way to support the troops.
Since we now know that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and was not threatening anyone, we must come to terms with 3,000 American deaths and 23,000 American casualties. It’s disconcerting that those who never believed the justifications given for our invasion, and who now want the war ended, are still accused of not supporting the troops! This is strange indeed!
Instead of questioning who has the best interests of our troops at heart, we should be debating which policy is best for our country. Defensive wars to preserve our liberties, fought only with proper congressional declarations, are legitimate. Casualties under such circumstances still are heartbreaking, but they are understandable. Casualties that occur in undeclared, unnecessary wars, however, are bewildering. Why must so many Americans be killed or hurt in Iraq when our security and our liberty were not threatened?
Read the rest: Everybody Supports the Troops by Ron Paul
[tags]Ron-Paul, war, Iraq, troops, lewrockwell.com, President, Congress[/tags]
It is that favorite time of year to get your paperwork together and file your taxes. Residents of New York State have 3 free options for online tax preparation and free e-filing. You can get all the info here. The choices are TaxEngine.com, Intuit, Inc. (TurboTax) and Taxslayer.com.
Make sure you use the links provided on the NYS Tax page to receive free services. The qualifications differ among the 3 choices.
TaxEngine free service requires a Federal AGI between $0 and $30,000.
TurboTax free service requires:
- Qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit for tax year 2006, or
- Earned $28,500 or less in federal adjusted gross income (FAGI), or
- Were Active Duty Military (including Reservists and National Guard) with a military W2 and your AGI is $52,000 or less.
TaxSlayer free service requires:
- your federal adjusted gross income (FAGI) is less than $10,000, or
- you qualify for Earned Income Tax Credit, or
- your household income is less than $52,000 and
- you are age 25 or younger, or
- you are age 65 or older, or
- you are an active military personnel
Based on personal experience, I highly recommend TurboTax. This is my 11th year filing with using their program. I have used both the online program and the purchased software version and it is very thorough. I’ve used Taxslayer when helping some friends and wasn’t impressed with their software.
There are other free e-file options on the IRS website, but they don’t include free state e-filing too.
[tags]income, tax, e-file, return, IRS, New York, online, software, free[/tags]
