Posted By
5775
on August 01, 2004 at
23:45:10:
Before any
politician can run for
public office they must be
bonded or insured at a
minimum of $1 million on a
city level, $10 million on
the state level, and $100
billion on a federal level.
You wouldn't hire someone to
roof your house if they
weren't insured or bonded!
These $ amounts could be
adjusted by individual
cities, counties, states, or
the federal is the people of
the corresponding entity so
decide. Why would you allow
someone to represent you
through the White House,
Congress, U.S. Senate, State
Legislature, or any city,
county, state, or federal
branch of government without
some kind of protection? The
very people you elect to
represent you should pass
bills and laws which protect
the U.S. taxpayers-citizens
against any mis-representation,
accidental or otherwise
resulting in
misappropriation of funds
resulting in waste, fraud,
theft, or influence due to
campaign contributions,
gifts through the Washington
lobby, or any outside
influence!
It should be written in the
constitution to protect the
interest of We the People &
America as a nation. The
Vietnam war & now the war in
Iraq with no exit plan or
plans for natural disasters
such as hurricane Katrina
prove We the People cannot
sit by and let our
representatives fail with a
safety net.
As individuals we are forced
to have insurance for our
cars, homeowner insurance
would be a costly mistake
should some one break their
neck on your doorstep. Why
do we allow our
representatives to enter
into public office with the
support of campaign
contributors who expect &
receive tax cuts in return
which taxpayers absorb?
Taxes individuals absorb
which force property taxes
up, individual income tax,
sales tax, & most all the
taxes we pay while the
corporations which
contribute to campaigns to
our representatives,
{pennies on the dollar}
enjoy the luxury of tax cuts
which turn into huge
profits. How many of our
representatives invest in
companies who's stock rise
due to those tax cuts?
I don't know of any
insurance companies that
cover this but I'm sure if
enough people backed an idea
such as this we could
convince Congress to pass
such a law to enact some
sort of financial security
put down by any politician
before they can run for
office. Any insurance would
not be taxpayer funded as
this would defeat the
purpose.
If I'm
not mistaken, many of our
representatives are rich
with millions of dollars in
properties and other assets.
Bush &Cheney are
millionaires who could no
doubt come up with enough
$$$ to be bonded! It is
ridiculous to believe any
millionaire would run for
public office while spending
millions of his or her own
$$$ on a campaign when the
office they run for offers
far less a year in salary.
While it is true our
representatives accumulate a
retirement and health care
unmatched by their employers
this is not the motivating
factor for public office.
Campaign contributions and
gifts through the Washington
lobby play a significant
roll. How much $$$
would a corporation willing
to donate $1,000,000 to the
republican party while
$500,000 to the democratic
party in the same election
stand to gain in profits and
would that be a benefit to
any Congressman or U.S.
Senator who had knowledge of
the benefits a corporation
would secure through such
tax cuts or incentives?
Pennies on the dollar, the
price paid through a
democracy evolved into a
democratic dictatorship
while young Americans die in
Iraq in the belief they are
promoting democracy while
un-American corporations
such as Halliburton with
political affiliations with
the White House & several of
our mis-representatives. The
sons and daughters of those
representatives are NOT in
Iraq, they don't work for
minimum wage which our
representatives hold down in
the interest of the same
corporations which
contribute!
Idaho is a good example of
why this idea should be
supported by the taxpayers.
Boise, Idaho's former Mayor
Coles and his sidekick,
unlucky Lyman were removed
from office for misuse of
public funds. As it turns
out they were traveling
around the country on tax
$$$ while entertaining
female co workers.
The Idaho Governor as well
as legislature have failed
miserably costing the
taxpayers millions of
dollars. The Boise Tower and
University Place are just
two examples! While being
promoted by these
representatives the taxpayer
are continuing to pay in
legal and other ongoing
expenses. State Senator
Noble in the following
scandal.
The
latest in scandals in Boise
is a really good one, true
colors by one of our mis-representatives.
Kuna, State Senator Jack
Noble introduces a bill to
change the way the 300 foot
distance between schools and
liquor distributors is
calculated. This would allow
the Jacksmart store, Noble
owns in Melba, ID., to sell
liquor. Currently the
distance is property line to
property line and Noble’s
bill would have it measured
from building to building
allowing Jacksmart to have a
liquor license. This was
brought to the attention of
the world by Dan Popkey in
the Idaho Statesman and
eventually brought before
the ethics committee at
which time Noble LIED
through his teeth. After
further investigation it
came to light that Noble
owed more than $10,000 to
the state in sales and use
taxes and $934 in unpaid
unemployment taxes. Later it
came to light that Noble is
fighting a bank’s efforts to
foreclose on assets for
allegedly defaulting on
$724,412 in loans. I could
go on but I think it is
clear what is going on in
Idaho.
There is obviously a
conflict of interest in the
Idaho Legislature. Term
limits ring a bell? How long
are the American people
going to continue to allow
themselves to lose money by
elected officials who fail
miserably through gross,
proficient
incompetence & self gain at
the expense of the taxpayer?
Noble
resigned! The ethics
committee didn’t have the
stones to do their job and
only censured Noble. After
it became clear he would be
expelled as 25 votes were
amassed, with more than the
two-thirds of the 35 member
Senate needed Noble handed
in his letter of
resignation. What I find
interesting is the attitude
of some of Idaho’s Senators.
Some comparisons to the U.S.
House of Representatives
were made: 22 cases in which
U.S. representatives have
been censured, selling of
military academy
appointments, assaulting
another member, bribery, &
payroll fraud.
It’s pretty damn clear to
this taxpayer that the
Senators of Idaho are
shirking their
responsibility! This
entire process has made it
clear, term limits are in
the best interest of the
citizens of Idaho who voted
for term limits! Voted in
three times and upheld by
the courts yet repealed by
Idaho's honorable
representatives?
This all comes back to full
disclosure! We the People
need to demand full
disclosure by our
representatives, who they
accept campaign
contributions from, gifts
from the Washington lobby,
tax those as the $20 tax for
every $1 contributed idea
suggest. Next an
investigation into how they
vote and how those votes
apply to contributors as
well as how they are
invested in the market. Is
there a conflict of interest
and is there insider
trading? Had Jack Noble been
a little more patient he
could have worked his way up
and been in a position to
really make the bucks. A
state legislator is child’s
play, a stepping stone to
wealth and a place among the
POWER ELITE! You blew it
Jack and you opened the door
as Nextrev will use this to
help expose the truth about
politics in America. That is
if the American people have
the stones to back these
ideas. I DOUBT IT BECAUSE
THAT WOULD GO AGAINST THE
GRAIN! That would be like
standing up for yourselves
and we all know the America
people have it better than
anyone in the world. This is
the greatest country in the
world. If for just one
minute the American people
would realize they could
have so much more, you know,
like what you pay for in
blood, sweat, $$$, and
tears!
We're losing more everyday.
Jobs, health care, Social
Security, Medicaid,
Medicare, $$$ for education,
$$$ for veteran's health
care, and more yet our
representatives live a life
unparalleled in that they
are compensated whether they
fail U.S. or not. Great
salary, health care,
retirement which we are
losing as a result of their
failing.
Two Ideas posted by
Linda E on May 29, 2004 at
16:09:09:
The first idea I
have and have been writing
and researching about is to
IMPEACH Mr. Bush. I do not
understand how our
governmental body could go
through the process for Mr.
Clinton when all he was
being accused of was lying
about a sexual indiscretion.
Well Mr. Bush has lied about
much more than that and yet
our governmental body does
nothing?
: The most important
thing I think we need to do
besides that is get rid of
the electoral vote. If every
American knew that their
vote actually counted. You
can bet your American bippy
that everyone would be
lining in to do just that.
: I keep thinking about
our forefathers and what
they did prior to the
Revolutionary war... like
say the Boston Tea Party. It
was a means of deliberate
resistance and it did indeed
get the governments
attention. What if every
single person in American
called in sick and didn't go
to work for a day. If we all
just stayed home, didn't
drive anywhere, didn't spend
any of our hard earned
money. Just shut the country
down. I mean it turn off
your radios and tvs and just
stay home. But alas, with
all the letters I have
written to my Senators, and
while they tell me they
share my concerns, the
latest legislation passed
proves otherwise. At least I
am thinking and pondering
and sharing ideas.
: Linda E.
Posted by
5775 on August 17, 2005
Investigation
into our representatives,
who contributes to their
campaigns, and full
disclosure as to our
representative’s investments
and relationship to their
votes in Congress and the
U.S. Senate!
Included in this idea would
be a law against all tax
incentives, city, county,
state, or otherwise so
corporations would choose a
location for reasons other
than those tax incentives
which are absorbed by the
people who don’t work for
those corporations!
Idaho Statesman, 8-10-05:
Dan Popkey commentary.
Kempthorne feeds at firms’
campaign troughs. Dan
writes, As we learned in May
when I reported Kempthorne
bounced checks to his
hairdresser, Kempthorne
struggles to live on $98,500
salary & $54,000 housing
allowance. In 2003, he
charged $22,356 to the
campaign, $33,169 in 2004, &
$15,079 in the first six
months of 2005, a total of
$70,604.
In the past
decade, Idahoans have seen
their total property taxes
grow from less than $700
million to $1.1 billion.
Income taxes raised $979
million, $878 million from
individuals, $101 million
from corporations!
Property taxes: $461.3
million from owner-occupied
residential homes. $327.2
million from commercial &
industrial properties &
equipment. $240.9 millions
from rentals & other
residencies not occupied by
their owners. $50 million
from utilities, railroads, &
others with “operating
property.” $47.4 million
from agriculture. $10.6
million from timber. & $3.4
million from mining.
I
find it interesting that
corporations, agriculture,
timber, utilities, and all
the other subsidized
industry pay less in taxes
while enjoying profits in
the millions & billions as
CEO salaries too often
reflect. Contribute to
campaigns, get tax cuts &
incentives along with
subsidies, then pay as
little per hour wage as
possible to the individuals
who absorb the tax cuts &
incentives, individuals pay
the wages of the
representatives who award
these corporations tax cuts
and incentives.
Insider trading would be
the conflict of interest I
believe as damaging as any
when it comes to our
representatives. How do our
representatives invest and
do the companies they invest
in contribute to campaigns
or through the Washington
lobby. America needs to do a
very in depth investigation
into our representatives,
where they invest along with
how each one votes on bills
and laws & how these
companies they invest in
profit from those votes.
Would Congress investigate
and would they find
anything? HELL NO!! What are
the American people going to
do about it? NOTHING???!!!
“There’s nothing you can
dooooo.” I can almost hear
the laughter coming from the
White House, Congress, U.S.
Senate, & every industry in
the nation making a fortune
while we, {taxpayers} lose
our ass paying for it all.
Do terrorist have an ally in
this democracy? Our
President started a war
while no doubt heavily
invested in oil, making a
fortune along with Cheney &
corporate buddies at the
expense of Americans dying
in Iraq and paying for it
all here in America.
Tax incentives, local and
federal government are all
about tax incentives to
bring manufacturing to where
ever. While this may seem
normal or business as usual
simply because it’s done
everyday it appears a little
corrupt to this taxpayer.
Who contributes to campaigns
and who gives gifts such as
vacations to our
representatives?
Corporations! When our
representatives, local or
federal give tax incentives
so that businesses locate in
the U.S. or a certain city
what are the real benefits
and who pays? Who absorbs
the taxes when incentives
are given to a corporation
for coming to town? These
companies and our mis-representatives
spout out about job creation
but what are the
consequences?
Idaho Statesman: 8-7-05 Drug
researchers leak secrets to
Wall Street firms. Some
firms gave key clients data
and stock advice.
This article makes it clear
we have a problem. Trade
secrets, just doctors and
Wall Street? Sorry, it runs
a little deeper. If doctors
and financial groups are
making $$$ in the market you
better believe you
representatives aren’t
giving tax cuts and
incentives just so you can
have a job! Read on, the
idea about drug research and
your tax dollar idea should
make the average taxpayer
think. Your tax $$$ gets the
ball rolling and then the
research is handed over to
drug companies like
Bristol-Meyers.
Idaho Statesman: 7-29-05,
Bristol-Meyers profits up;
AstraAeneca CEO retires.
Bristol-Meyers Squibb Co.’s
profit soared 91 percent in
the second quarter helped by
a one-time tax benefit,
while sales growth helped
push up earnings at rival
drugmakers AstraZeneca PLC
by 50% & GlaxoSmithKline PLC
by 7%. Bristol-Meyers said
it’s earnings rose to $1
billion, or 50 cents a
share, in the April-June
period from $527 million, or
27 cents a share, a year
earlier.
91%, give me a break! Who
made money on this scam?
Tell me it wasn’t any of my
representatives. This is too
easy to track, too easy to
investigate. If I weren’t
working 55 to 60 a week
driving truck for the dairy
industry which is subsidized
up the wazzoo with tax $$$
while I write of waste and
what looks like scam after
scam in waste, kickbacks,
transportation, &
warehousing with pictures of
dairy products sitting next
to garbage on 100 degree
days & in contaminated
trailers I would do an
investigation myself!
Idaho Statesman, 8-16-05
Price of wholesale drugs
rises twice as fast as
inflation. Pharmaceutical
industry says AARP uses
‘fuzzy math.’
Recently the CEO of Micron,
Steve Appleton in Boise,
ID., made the pitch to local
government for tax
incentives or Micron may
locate in Europe or Asia.
American taxpayers are
fighting terrorism all over
the world yet these
companies would suggest they
move out of country if they
don’t get tax incentives to
stay. The same Americans who
pay the taxes these
un-American companies evade
are fighting terrorist,
dying to make America and
the rest of the world a
safer place. Why would any
American support a
corporation that would
locate out of country for
profit if they don’t get tax
incentives which that same
American taxpayer absorbs
while fighting terrorism?
Every
penny every taxpayer in this
nation spends goes to job
creation just the same as
Appleton’s claim. I buy gas,
it creates jobs in that
industry which has reported
profits by Exxon up to 44%.
State workers with the dept.
of roads have jobs due to
the same spending and it
flows throughout the nation
in other related fields. I
buy bread, milk, food of any
kind and it crates jobs
throughout the agricultural
industry which as a taxpayer
my tax dollar supports
through subsidies. Do I need
to go on?
Do you suppose terrorist see
the irony or unpatriotic
profiteering by these U.S
companies? Do terrorist love
the allies they have in U.S.
corporations who bleed the
American taxpayer while
sending U.S. to war? Do
terrorist love the allies
they have in our mis-representatives?
This is a double edged blade
for American taxpayers, we
can’t win. We work for
companies who buy our
representation and if they
can’t make enough money they
leave the country which in
turn hurts America again by
taking jobs and money with
them. We buy the products
these companies produce
which translates into profit
for these companies.
Outsourcing promoted by our
mis-representatives. We
support the nation through
taxes we pay, including
taxes these companies don’t
pay, do the work, buy the
products, pay our mis-representatives,
and in all reality
prostitute ourselves out to
the same people and
corporations who are ripping
us off. We send our
loved ones to fight and die
so these companies can exist
and make billions of
dollars.
Idaho Statesman, 3-30-05,
Micron earnings up,
employees to get bonuses.
Recently Micron went begging
the Idaho legislature for
tax breaks, incentives or
they may not build a new
facility in Boise, ID.
Steve Appleton, CEO of
Micron in Boise made the
pitch shortly before 3-3-05
when this article came out
knowing Micron was
predicting a 14 cent per
share increase which
actually turned out to be 17
cents a share, or $118
million according to this
article.
Now you have to ask yourself
WHO has shares? Does the
governor? State Legislators?
Employees? Steve
Appleton???!!! Other Micron
Officials??? Read on.
Just
after legislature passes the
bill Micron announces a
bonus to employees, $12
million worldwide! Micron’s
11,000 Treasure Valley
employees could get bonuses
averaging more than $600
which could help the
Treasure Valley economy?
Idaho chief economist Mike
Ferguson predicted some of
that bonus money would find
it’s way into the retail
sector of the local economy.
I wonder how much MORE the
other half a million people
living in the Treasure
Valley will have to pay in
property taxes to offset
Micron’s buy out of our
representatives who WE
PAY-THEY PAY OFF???
I
could go on forever but
would anyone catch on.
Insider trading by our
representatives in return
for tax incentives and tax
breaks, taxes We the People
absorb while going to war
based on lies. War in which
our own president and vice
president promoted based on
lies and then gave no bid
contracts to corporations
they either once worked for
or are invested in. Tax
incentives and tax breaks to
corporations that contribute
to the campaigns, {both
parties}to ensure their man
wins the election. Where
does your president and vice
president invest their
money? Wouldn’t be in
companies who not only
contributed to campaigns,
sent your representatives on
vacation through the
Washington lobby, or gave
information as to how stock
would do should tax breaks
or incentives came to be
would it? Maybe America
needs a full blown
investigation.
I once read that Alan
Greenspan doesn’t invest in
the market to avoid the
conflict of interest it
would pose. His wife invests
in the market but not the
chairman of the Federal
Reserve. How is it that our
representatives, including
the president and vice
president are allowed to
invest and if they do invest
why aren’t We the People
demanding full disclosure?
If our representatives are
making money in the market
after giving tax breaks and
incentives to companies
they’re invested in while
taxpayers who aren’t
invested in these companies
absorb the taxes evaded
through this insider trading
We need to have that
investigation!!!
Micron isn’t the only
company benefiting from the
tax incentives, all told the
tax incentives to
billionaires adds up and We
the people absorb those
taxes! Chris Thompson of
Nampa, ID. has the right
idea as he wrote in an
editorial.
Micron, go to Korea!
Thompson points out that
these large businesses are
resource hogs-water, sewer,
power, landfill, and
millions of vehicle miles
over inadequate local road
systems. Citizens get
shorted on capacity and
later we have to develop
more capacity to serve our
private needs.
Corporate America has a much
larger responsibility than
it’s own bottom line, no
matter what they say. If
they can’t make it on merit,
then they failed. That goes
for Micron, Simplot, and the
government all sacking the
American consumer hard for
profits/taxes. The limited
local resources have been
inadequate for everyone for
years, with no
infrastructure improvements
and reservoirs empty every
year. This is playing too
close to the line from our
leadership.
How
large are Boise and Southern
Idaho going to have to be
before these vitally
important needs are
addressed? If Mr. Appleton
has his way, it’ll be a lot
longer.
It’s good to see someone who
cares a little bit about the
community in which he lives
and knows the politicians
and un-American corporations
don’t give a damn about
U.S.!!! I only hope Chris
finds this book and gets on
Nextrev. in support of ideas
I know he would agree with.
As far as I’m concerned all
the corporations who don’t
like America and can’t make
it without begging and
placing the tax burden on
the same people who go to
the wars based on lies by
the same representatives who
give tax incentives while
investing in those
corporations. They can all
go to Korea, Iraq,
Afghanistan, China or hell
for that matter because they
would send America to hell
along with the American
people through their
greed!!! Go then Micron,
you'll be replaced & we’ll
elect real Americans who
will tax you to death should
you want to import your
product back into America!
End all retirement for past
and present government
representatives. They aren't
willing to save Social
Security and the
only way they will is if We
The People put them in a
positions of saving their
own retirement as it will be
Social Security!
Repay all the $ borrowed
from Social Security with
the 50% of taxes saved from
ideas.
1. About $1.4 trillion was
counted in the trust fund
and OWED to Social Security
by the government in 2003.
2. Social Security's
projected shortfall over the
next 75 years is $3.5
trillion.
3. The Social Security
Office neglected to state in
this letter just how much
gov. owed Social Security at
this time or just how gov.
plans to pay back the money
it owes!!! Is the money gov.
owes included in the $7
trillion deficit and if so
why NOT??? Does the U.S. gov.
use the same creative
bookkeeping Enron did and
are the American people
being misled as were the
employees of Enron who lost
their savings?
my 2 ideas
Posted ByBilly on June
03, 2004 at 01:21:24:
1) Nothing will change in
this country till we
terminate our relationship
with the zionists. Confront
the Christian Right with the
Karaite Jews who hold to the
Tanach (the God inspired OT)
who emphatically reject
zionism and consider the
nation state of Israel to be
illegal. The zionists use
the Talmud (traditons of
man). I don't think the
rapture crowd knows this (Taalmud
v Ot) and it should make a
difference to them.
2) Get everybody to agree
to not show up to vote!
The Impending Crash
Posted By Glen on June 03,
2004 at 01:19:55:
While our government and the
ultra rich manipulate the
stock market, the working
man (or woman - must remain
PC) is about to see another
Enron-style crash in his
hard-earned 401K. The baby
boomers are retiring and the
transfer of wealth is taking
place. Our future, if the
present course remains true,
is bleak. Mounting national
and personal debt are
financing a paper mirage
that grows thinner each day.
The great depression that
began soon after the stock
market crash of 1929 will be
paled by the economic
nightmare that lingers over
the near horizon. The
government has used the
interest rate reductions,
war and other economic
stimulus to push the problem
into the future and thus
force a future
administration to deal with
the mess. We are all to
blame for allowing our
elected officials to patch
up problems now without
regard for the future
consequences. At some point
we are going to have to face
the crisis. And at some
point we are going to have
to change our ideology and
doctrines to make decisions
not just for today but for
tomorrow.
Problems to work on
immediately
Posted By Mimi on June 03,
2004 at 01:16:29:
Problem one: The corrupt
voting machines. Who cares
how the people vote as long
as
they get to count them.
Problem two: Why did
NORAD fail on 9/11 and why
was the head of NORAD
promoted
instead of court-martialed?
87 billion dollars
Posted By Jose Romero on
June 03, 2004 at 01:13:43:
It just really pisses me off
to see that our government
can come up with 87 billion
dollars for a shit hole
country. When there are
millions of people in this
country with out health
insurance, jobs, a decent
education and a million of
other problems which are
stacked up in a pile and
forgotten. Now its starting
to stink and people are
noticing. Don't be afraid to
speak your mind! I WILL NOT
BE QUIET ANYMORE!
Re: 87 billion dollars
Posted By Peter on June
03, 2004 at 01:14:54:
In Reply to:
87 billion dollars
posted byJose Romero on June
03, 2004 at 01:13:43:
: It just really pisses
me off to see that our
government can come up with
87 billion dollars for a
shit hole country. When
there are millions of people
in this country with out
health insurance, jobs, a
decent education and a
million of other problems
which are stacked up in a
pile and forgotten. Now its
starting to stink and people
are noticing. Don't be afraid
to speak your mind!!! I WILL
NOT BE QUIET ANYMORE!!!
you're right
Posted Bysky on June 03,
2004 at 01:12:58:
You're right. No one speaks
out because they are scared.
It's sad. I wonder where the
true men are, like in
centuries past who would
rise up and do something
when situations get out of
control like this. Like our
forefathers and the Boston
Tea Party. They risked life
and limb. But now our men
are too busy watching
football and other sports
and sitting in front of the
TV, totally brain dead after
spending long hours slaving
in the corporate system I
guess. I hope some of them
come out of the TV induced
coma soon or all will be
lost.
Posted by 5775 on 8-17-05
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM: $20
TAX ON EVERY $1
CONTRIBUTED!!!
Tax
campaign contributions and
all gifts from corporate
un-America and the rich who
buy our representation
through the Washington lobby
$20 for every $1 contributed
or gifts such as vacations.
This may not stop the sell
out of America but we may as
well set a price on our
representation. Who do those
politicians work for?
Idaho Statesman, 11-18-04:
Counties want to limit aid
to illegal immigrants.
This article makes it
obvious that our
representatives are failing
and have been failing far
too long when it comes to
our nations borders. There
are too many miles of border
to patrol, that’s the line
our representatives use to
cover their loyalty to
campaign contributors. The
Idaho Association of
Counties is working on a
bill for next year’s
legislative session that
would allow county
governments to reject
applications for indigent
medical care or
reimbursement when they are
made by undocumented
immigrants.
How stupid is this? How many
years have the American
taxpayers been footing the
bill for illegal
immigration. Wasn’t the WTC
attack bad enough along with
the promotion of illegal
immigration by our mis-representatives
to create cheap labor for
campaign contributors? Now
the fact that we’ve NEVER
had any legislation
preventing benefits and
services for illegal
immigrants adds to the 9/11
failures by our
representatives. If our
representatives were so
irresponsible to let our
borders open I would have
thought they would have had
some laws against allowing
our taxes to take care of
every illegal immigrant who
needs health care while
bleeding the taxpayers to
death. Health ins. cost and
prescription drug cost out
of control, 45.8 millions
Americans without health
insurance. How many of our
representatives take $$$ in
campaign contributions from
drug companies? What kind of
person accepts $$$, a
fantastic salary from their
employers and makes a
fortune doing the worst
possible job by promoting
illegal immigration,
outsourcing, allowing 9/11
by doing nothing when the
warning are brought forward
years earlier, and then goes
to war blowing Iraq to hell
based on lies???
The
bottom line here is that our
mis-representatives are
failing, have been failing
for years and not only have
NO ideas as to how to stop
illegal immigration or cover
cost created by it but are
profiting by it! These so
called representatives have
created this immigration
problem along with the
un-American corporations who
contributed to their
campaigns and sent them on
nice vacations because they
didn’t want to pay a living
wage, promoted illegal
immigration to the point it
has become a burden on the
American taxpayer whose jobs
were stripped in favor of
those illegal immigrants !!!
It’s way past time for those
who are responsible to foot
the bill!
Joseph W. Felts has opinion
about NAFTA and other free
trade agreements as written
in editorials upcoming but
what good are they. What
good does it do to have that
opinion, write an editorial,
call your representative
when your representation can
& has been bought?
If
anyone reading this doesn’t
have the intelligence to get
online and support this
idea, send email to the
White House & your
representatives referring
too this site then I suggest
you send information
allowing a direct deposit
from your payroll to these
mis-representatives as it
would save a lot of hassle.
They sure would appreciate
it if you just send your
money, quit whining, bend
over, & take it like a man!
Terrorist would also enjoy
the support in financing
their cause!
It’s finally happening, too
late but they’re trying.
Minutemen,
www.minutemanproject.com
will try to plug holes in
U.S. border! It’s almost
unbelievable that after all
the years of job loss and
tax $$$ lost that these
people would finally get
together and try to stop
illegal immigration. I hate
to break it to them but they
are wrong! Not wrong in what
they’re doing or trying to
do but wrong in the way they
are going about stopping
illegal immigration. Just
think for a second as to why
we have illegal immigration
and who brought it on. The
rich, corporate un-America
and our mis-representatives!
If the Minutemen want to do
something about illegal
immigration go to the source
of the problem. Going to the
border won’t stop it. The
profit from illegal
immigration will drive the
flow just like illegal
drugs. How long has America
had a war on drugs? Stop it
in Arizona and it will move
to New Mexico, stop it in
New Mexico and it will move
to California. These 500,
1,000, or however many
people, minutemen, would be
time & money ahead to get on
Nextrev., support this idea
and or go to Washington and
start something. Protest and
bring others from all across
the nation on board. Turn
that 500 into 5,000,
5,000,000, and make the rich
who created this problem &
our mis-representatives who
sold out the American
taxpayers pay in other ways.
Cut their pay and
retirement! Make those
responsible pay for a
solution and restore good
paying jobs to Americans!!!
I
respect their ideas and plan
but they can’t win. They’ll
waste time & money and never
get the results they want
while corporate un-America
will continue to promote
illegal immigration because
it saves them a fortune and
our representatives won’t
help because it isn’t in
their best interest either.
What’s best for We the
People isn’t what’s best for
the power elite and the
power elite have a damn site
more influence in Washington
than We the People!
Idaho Statesman, 7-11-05,
Vasquez’s latest tactic
could set trend. If using
RICO Act helps stem illegal
immigration, others could
try it. Sue local businesses
that hire illegal
immigrants, using a federal
law that was created to
fight the Mafia.
RICO-{Racketerring
Influenced & Corrupt
Organizations Act.}
This taxpayer finds it damn
strange that not one of our
representatives in the White
House, Congress, the U.S.
Senate, state legislators,
or the INS has come up with
this idea. I guess if I were
taking campaign
contributions and gifts from
the corporations who hire
illegal immigrants I would
be a little reluctant to
suggest suing my
contributors. If I
were also being paid a fine
salary along with health
care and that fine
retirement as mentioned
earlier I might also be a
little reluctant to bring
this up also as it would
spoil the other very
lucrative part of the
equation I have going for
myself. Corporations who I
invest in through the stock
market & who I’ve made a
fortune in the stock market
on wouldn’t be very
appreciative and I would be
losing $$$. Who cares about
those taxpayers, idiots!
Well guess what, I think the
gig is finally up! If the
American people have the
stones! People dumb enough
to say something stupid
like, “there’s nothing you
can do” or “it’s worked for
over two hundred years”
won't get it done. We the
People will continue to lose
our ass & the world now
knows, it’s all out in the
open. Republicans &
Democrats along with their
corporate buddies can
explain it to U.S.! Lie if
you want, lie to the
taxpayers, lie to
yourselves, lie to the
world, lie to your wives,
but don’t lie to me! I Know
what is going on & I’m not
about to fall for any lies
as the book is written & I’m
standing on my experience as
an American taxpayer who has
paid for this crap for the
past 30 plus years. I
watched my parents struggle
through life raising seven
kids and I’ve watched this
entire country struggle.
Vietnam killing 58,000
Americans, then struggle
through one scandal after
another while the American
people still say, “there’s
nothing you can doooooo!”
Bullcrap! I’m doing it and
in the Nextrev. book,
America: Taking on the
Corporation & The Best
Representation Money Can Buy.
In the epilogue of America:
Empire, I’ll print the
first few pages of the next
book, you’ll find it
entertaining and interesting
as I stand up to the
corporation I work for! I
won’t be working for this
company long as corporations
can’t have someone willing
to stand up to their abusive
bullshit. Power trip,
control freaks who brown
nose their way up the
corporate ladder abuse the
American taxpayer,{employees}
through our employment while
our representatives stand by
and allow it. I won’t
tolerate this kind of
disrespect and through these
books and Nextrev., with the
help of the American people
we’ll set this country back
on track!
|
The WasteBasket: A
Weekly Bulletin on
Government Waste
|
Vol. VII
No. 5
February
1st,
2002
|
|
IT IS
TIME FOR
CAMPAIGN
FINANCE
REFORM
Anyone
serious
about
cutting
wasteful
spending
and
subsidies
should
support
reforming
our
campaign
finance
laws.
This is
a
leading
way to
reduce
the
influence
that
wealthy
special
interests
have
over
Washington.
The
heart of
this
reform
is
limiting
the
impact
of "soft
money"
on
elections.
Not
directed
to one
specific
candidate,
each
year
millions
of
dollars
are
donated
by
corporations,
unions
and
wealthy
individuals
to the
national
and
state
party
organizations
and on
independent
issues
advertising
campaigns.
The
current
soft
money
system
benefits
only the
special
interests
and
punishes
both
middle-income
and
lower-income
Americans.
Soft
money is
at the
core of
the
corporate
welfare
giveaways
that
cost
taxpayers
billions
of
dollars.
The
pernicious
influence
of big
money
permits
special
interests
to
advance
their
agendas
in
Congress
and at
the
White
House --
too
often at
the
expense
of
ordinary
taxpayers.
Over the
past
several
decades,
the use
of soft
money
contributions
has
snowballed
out of
control.
Special
interests
often
spread
money
around
to all
sides so
that
they can
guarantee
their
voice in
the
legislative
process
regardless
of who
wins the
election
or which
party
holds a
majority
in
Congress.
A quick
look at
the soft
money
contributions
during
the
1999-2000
election
cycle
reveals
that 980
organizations
gave
$100,000
or more
to the
Democratic
and
Republican
parties.
Countless
special
interests
hedged
their
bets by
contributing
equally
to both
parties.
For
example,
Enron,
whose
political
influence
has come
under
serious
scrutiny
of late,
gave
$532,565
to the
Democrats
and
$1,138,990
to the
Republicans.
Northwest
Airlines,
who has
recently
knocked
on
Congress'
door
asking
for a
bailout
contributed
just
short of
$1
million
dollars,
splitting
it
evenly
between
the
Democrats
and
Republicans.
These
contributions
buy
special
interests
a
disproportionate
amount
of
influence
over the
lawmaking
process.
At the
very
least, a
$100,000
check
does an
excellent
job at
opening
the door
to a
one-on-one
meeting
with a
powerful
lawmaker
during
which
special
interests
can
advocate
irresponsible
spending.
Each
year,
industries
benefit
from
billions
of
dollars
in
handouts
from the
federal
government.
The
energy
sector
contributed
nearly
$65
million
in
individual,
PAC and
soft
money
donations
to
federal
candidates
and
parties
in
1999-2000.
Coincidentally,
energy
legislation
passed
in the
House in
2001
included
$62
billion
in
subsidies
to these
same
corporations
that
financed
the
campaigns
of the
lawmakers
who
wrote
the
subsidies
into
law.
During
the 2000
election
cycle,
agribusiness
made
over $20
million
in soft
money
investments,
and
stood to
receive
more
than
$170
billion
over 10
years
from the
Farm
Bill
passed
by the
House
last
year.
That's a
better
investment
return
than an
Enron
executive
selling
off
their
options.
Last
year the
Senate
passed a
landmark
campaign
finance
reform
bill,
which is
a
positive
step
toward
limiting
soft
money
contributions.
On
January
24, the
final
four
signatures
were
added to
a
discharge
petition
to force
House
leadership
to stop
blocking
campaign
finance
reform
legislation
from
coming
to a
vote on
the
floor.
This
step
brought
our
country
closer
than
ever to
real
campaign
finance
reform.
Reforming
our
campaign
finance
system
to stop
wealthy
corporations
and
individuals
from
having a
disproportionate
amount
of
influence
is long
overdue.
Passing
a strong
campaign
finance
reform
bill
that
limits
soft
money
contributions
is a
step in
the
right
direction.
|
|
www.whitehouseforsale.org
Look at this site and do the
numbers. Who you gonna call?
Ghostbusters? Why? The
president of the United
States of America can do
more for anyone willing to
contribute than any old
ghostbuster! This & the
following information is off
the White House for sale
site, you decide if it’s
fact and if so would a $20
tax on every $1 contributed
do anything to ease the
burden on the American
taxpayer who is absorbing
every penny evaded by the
people and corporations
including foreign interest
who buy our representation
through contributions.
The
next pages include a partial
list of Super Rangers,
contributors, & other
information about breaks
given to special interest.
Give me a break, I pay 40%
and more of gross income but
as a U.S. citizen I have to
watch my government sell me
out to anyone with the $$$
to buy my employees who I
pay very well! The next few
pages add to the situation.
If www.whitehouseforsale.org
is a legitimate site and the
numbers are fact We the
People need to get on line
and support them & a $20 tax on
every $1 contributed!!! Look
at the partial list of
bundlers??? Bundlers my ass,
liars, cheats, and thieves!
That includes Bush and
Kerry!
Contributing to both parties
as I have pointed out
before, in an election to
ensure their horse wins! If
that fact doesn’t tell the
American taxpayer something
I guess nothing will. Why
would anyone contribute
$2,300,000 to Kerry and
$6,100,000 to Bush as
Elected Officials/Civil
Servants did? Does the fact
that elected officials and
civil servants, our
employees if I’m not
mistaken contribute to
presidential candidates tell
the taxpayer anything?
It
makes this taxpayer wonder
if my tax dollar is being
contributed by my elected
officials & civil servants
to my elected officials,
including the president to
ensure higher wages, health
care, & retirement for those
employees while they piss
away all the same pay &
benefits, Social Security,
Medicare, outsource jobs,
jobs lost to illegal
immigration, and so on for
their employers-US?!
It appears obvious that our
politicians, all the way to
through the White House are
giving away everything We
the People are dumb enough
to let them! We do nothing
while being taken, worse, we
send young Americans to die
while the power elite
profit!
Bush Rewards Rangers and
Pioneers with Recess
Appointments
Throughout his first term
in the White House,
President Bush has
consistently rewarded his
biggest financial supporters
with special favors, insider
access and prized federal
appointments at home and
abroad. Last Friday,
President Bush quietly
appointed major fundraisers
as ambassadors to the
Bahamas and Estonia as well
as to two positions on the
board of directors of the
Inter-American Foundation.
The four Rangers and
Pioneers were among 20
“recess appointments”
announced by the president
on July 30. By making these
appointments while Congress
is not in session, Bush
bypasses the Senate
confirmation process. All
the appointees will serve
until the end of 2005.
According to analysis by
Public Citizen, nearly one
of every five of Bush’s
elite fundraisers in the
2004 or 2000 elections has
received a presidential
appointment. At least 173
Rangers and Pioneers (or
their spouses) received
appointments ranging from
jobs in the executive branch
to positions on federal
advisory boards to spots on
the Bush-Cheney transition
team. This tally includes
four cabinet secretaries and
29 ambassadors.
Bush Appointees Gut Air
Quality Rule and Give
Congress
False Information about
the Consequences
The Bush administration
has gone to great lengths,
even so far as giving false
information to Congress, to
gut a clean air regulation
opposed by electric
utilities – an industry that
funneled $4.8 million into
Bush’s 2000 campaign,
according to Public
Citizen’s new report
EPA’s Smoke Screen: How
Deception of Congress,
Campaign Contributions and
Political Connections Gutted
a Key Clean Air Rule.
Documents and discussions
with former U.S.
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) officials
reveal that Bush appointees
made untrue statements to
two Senate committees when
asked if a weakened New
Source Review (NSR) rule was
expected to jeopardize
lawsuits against electric
utilities accused of
modifying coal-fired plants
in violation of NSR.
Contrary to what senators
were told, EPA staffers had
concluded that the new rule
would undercut enforcement
cases that had the potential
to reduce air pollution from
U.S. electric utilities by
50 percent annually.
As early as May 1999, the
electric utility industry’s
trade association had urged
members to make bundled
donations to the Bush
fundraising machine. That
arm-twisting bore fruit in
August 2003, when the EPA
issued a new NSR rule that
could shield electric
utilities from billions of
dollars in fines and
compliance costs at their
coal-fired plants.
Bush Profits from the
Medicare Drug War
In the final push for
Medicare prescription drug
legislation, the
pharmaceutical industry,
HMOs and related interests
spent more money and hired
more lobbyists in 2003 than
ever before, according to
The Medicare Drug War, a
new report by Public
Citizen. The pharmaceutical
and managed care
industries spent a combined
$141 million last year.
Drugmakers and HMOs hired
952 individual lobbyists in
2003 – nearly half of whom
had "revolving door"
connections to Congress, the
White House or the executive
branch.
Drug industry and HMO
executives and lobbyists
also rank among President
Bush’s elite fundraisers.
Twenty-one executives and
lobbyists achieved "Ranger"
or "Pioneer" status. These
Rangers and Pioneers have
collected at least $3.4
million for Bush so far. In
addition, two of John
Kerry’s biggest backers were
lobbyists on the drug
industry payroll in 2003.
Corporate Cronies
The Bush administration,
on behalf of some of its
biggest financial backers,
has worked to delay and
debilitate a reform measure
that would hold CEOs and
corporate boards more
accountable to their
shareholders.
On October 14, 2003,
after a series of corporate
scandals, the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC)
formally introduced the
so-called shareholder access
rule, a modest reform
measure that would make it
easier for concerned
investors to place their own
nominees on a company’s
board of directors. More
than a year later, the rule
still hasn’t been approved
by the SEC.
Fifty-three senior
executives from corporations
opposed to the rule
qualified as “Rangers,”
“Pioneers” or “Super
Rangers” – the honorary
titles given to big-money
bundlers who have collected
at least $200,000 or
$100,000, respectively, for
the Bush campaigns or
$300,000 for the Republican
National Committee (RNC).
These rainmakers personally
rounded up at least $8.3
million – probably much more
– for Bush campaign efforts
in 2000 and 2004.
If these people, CEOs,
corporations, & politicians
We elect and pay very well
to sell U.S. out through
corporate influence worked
half as hard at making the
economy work for We the
People, save Social
Security, Medicaid, make
health care affordable, keep
prescription drug cost down,
and so on We the People
would have more money to
spend on the economy
resulting in profits for
these dead beat companies.
Un-American corporations who
have all but eliminated the
American work ethic for
easier $$$ through the
corruption of our political
system. These companies
would see all the profits
they need if they quit
cheating the taxpayers who
pay the elected
representatives who We pay
very well! Corporations and
elected officials who take
an oath to this country yet
America is in a war based on
lies so these companies can
make billions more, not only
off the America taxpayer but
the very countries they
claim to be saving from
themselves. The world is not
as stupid as the American
people, they can see the
truth as they are not so
close and they can see the
manipulation the American
people are lulled into
through the very democratic
form of government we would
shove down the throats of
others.
I’ve written quite a bit
about trucking milk and
other products from one
state with the same products
back and for between each
other. Does it occur to
anyone in this country,
while the U.S. is the
largest consumer of oil,
{while at war in what many
believe is all about oil}
that we have allowed the
transportation industry to
all but eliminate the rail
system in favor of trucking?
A rail system which could
haul millions of tons
of product from one end of
the country to the other and
back while eliminating
thousands of trucks form a
highway system overloaded
with unnecessary hauling if
managed in an organized,
efficiently run system
rather than profit for
corporate un-American sell
out of the American people
by our employees,
{representatives.}
The government of this
nation is controlled by
corporate un-America to the
point we are at war half way
across the world while these
corporations who buy our
elected officials, {White
House all the way down to
local government} can profit
and do so at the expense of
the American people who are
literally dying in Iraq,
patriotically???
Abolish The Federal Reserve
Posted ByDenise M.
DiPasquale on June 04, 2004
at 13:55:33:
Abolish the Federal
Reserve which has a
strangledhold on Americans
and American wealth.
The Federal Reserve is
NOT a government agency but
a private entity owned by a
few very wealthy families
and their practice of
fractional reserve banking
has put a choke hold on
ordinary Americans.
Usuary interest rates keep
them fat and rich and
ordinary Americans in
poverty. We don't need the
Federal Reserve - we don't
need usuary interest rates.
I Say It's Time for Folks To
RISE UP in the name of
Righteousness!
Posted ByRC on June 04,
2004 at 13:54:56:
I know that not everyone
believes in God. I don't
have a problem with that. We
each have that right in this
country, to believe in
whatever faith we choose, or
to choose not to believe in
anything at all.
But as a Christian, as
someone who believes in &
follows Jesus Christ, I get
more & more pissed off every
day at the so-called
Religious Right, so I'm
calling them out here & now.
Conservative Christians,
who have dominated nearly
all public discussion of
faith & God in this nation
for the last 2 decades,
whose representatives occupy
our Congress & Senate, whose
pundits can always manage to
get their faces on t.v. to
complain about QUEER EYE FOR
THE STRAIGHT GUY or other
equally meaningless aspects
of America’s leisure viewing
habits, who are forever
pointing their judgmental
fingers at anyone whose
behavior they regard as
'sinful' or 'ungodly' --
none of these so-called
Christian leaders have said
A SINGLE WORD about the
wickedness in high places
that is rapidly leading to
the economic collapse of
this country. The Pat
Robertsons haven't said boo
against the greedy bastards
at Enron who nearly
bankrupted CA by
manipulating electricity
prices last year. The Tony
Perkins/FRC crew hasn't
spoken a word about the
demons running WorldCom, who
put thousands of people out
of jobs & destroyed their
pension funds (ditto for
Enron on those counts as
well). If these robber-baron
corporations ever actually
get fined, the politicians
in Washington will simply
pass laws that allow them to
write off their fines as
business expenses. The rich
White men who did this
should be in prison, but to
date, they are still free
even though they are de
facto criminals; “Even a
child is known by his deeds,
by whether what he does is
pure & right” (Proverbs
20-11). Yet no one in the
Christian community has
stood up to denounce them.
None of these so-called
Christian cronies of Bush’s
has called him out for what
is about the be the largest
single transfer of wealth
from the poor to the rich in
U.S. history, once Congress
hands him $87 billion of OUR
MONEY -- YOUR MONEY!! --
which Bush will then to pass
on to Bechtel, Kellog, Brown
& Root & Dick Cheney’s old
employer Haliburton to
‘rebuild iraq.’. (BTW,
according to the
Congressional Research
Service, Haliburton has
already overcharged the U.S.
guvamint $250 million for
gas purchased from foreign
countries for distribution
in Iraq. Yeah, that’s the
way them Texas good ol’ boys
do thangs. You can read more
about it here:
http://www.commoncause.org/action/action.cfm?artid=85&topicid=17
) ALL of these companies
were MAJOR COMPAIGN
CONTRIBUTORS s who paid
Bush’s way into the
Whitehouse & paid his
cronie’s way into the House
& Senate, so they could make
sure that $87 billion gets
approved.
WAKE UP, AMERICA!! 9-11
WAS NO ACCIDENT -- it was
the power elite's opening
salvo in their final war
against the American people
& poor people all over this
planet! 9-11 was Bush's
justification for all the
steps he & our so-called
leaders have taken to hijack
our constitutional rights,
then rob us blind, all under
the guise of "National
Security/the war on
terrorism/rebuilding
Iraq/making the world safe
for decocracy”.
And the
corporate-controlled media
merely served as Bush's
message-bearers, banging the
drum in lockstep rather than
questioning the status quo &
reporting on what was
happening behind the scenes.
Rather than serving as the
Watchdog of Government that
the press was created to be.
It’s all of a piece, you
see. Every time you turn on
the news, another huge
corporation announces plans
to lay off thousands of
workers, so it can ship
those jobs overseas, while
unemployed American’s are
facing financial ruin. And
these companies are NOT in
financial difficulty – THEY
HAVE BEEN ENORMOUSLY
PROFITABLE FOR THE PAST
SEVERAL YEARS! Sheer greed
is the only justification
for their actions. And our
Congress, rather than fining
corporations for every job
they send abroad, allows
them to import foreign
workers under H-2A visas so
they can take the jobs that
should be going to
Americans!
Do you think all this
things come to be by
accident? It’s all of a
piece. Call it NWO, call it
the Illuminati, call it the
Power Elite – it’s all the
same scheme. And it’s about
to roll over all of us like
a big-ass Humvee.
God warns against such
avariciousness repeatedly in
the scriptures:
“He who impresses the poor
to increase his riches & he
who gives to the rich, will
surely come to poverty.”
(Proverbs 22:16)
And God admonishes
Christians to be at the
ready to fight against such
evil: “For we do not wrestle
against flesh and blood, but
against principalities,
against powers, against the
rulers of the darkness of
this age, against spiritual
hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places. Therefore
take up the whole armor of
God, that you may be able to
withstand in the evil day,
and having done all, to
stand.” (Ephasians 6:12-13)
Yet these so-called
Christian leaders don’t seem
to have a word to say about
the “rulers of the
darkness’. And it pisses me
off, big time. I say it's
time for folks to RISE UP IN
THE NAME OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Actually, Bill Moyers
interviewed someone the
other night who says it much
more eloquently than I ever
could. You can read that
interview here:
http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_hough.html
Posted ByJoe Sixpack on
June 04, 2004 at 13:57:11:
1. IF 90% OF ORDINARY
TAX-PAYERS REFUSE TO PAY IN
2003, WE WILL HAVE A
BLOODLESS REVOLUTION-THE
GOV. WILL BE FORCED TO
LISTEN.
2. IF 90% OF THE
POPULATION IS ORGANIZED IN
EVERY STATE WE CAN END THE
POWER OF THE LOBBY IN
WASHINGTON. HOW? BY
CAMPAIGNING AGAINST SENATORS
REPRESENTATIVES IN EVERY
STATE THAT REFUSES TO
REPRESENT THE VOTERS
INTEREST.
Posted by 5775: 9-18-05
END AUTOMATIC PAY RAISES FOR
OUR REPRESENTATIVES!!!
www.cagw.org
Posted by
5775:9-18-05
SAVE SOCIAL SECURITY
In 1983 Social
Security tax was increased
to ensure solvency, every
penny of the $1.5 trillion
raised through that tax has
been BORRWED & spent by our
representatives. Social
Security is suppose to be a
trust fund yet there is not
one cent in an account
accruing interest. This
idea would benefit everyone
who posts an idea or follow
up on an idea as any money
saved by any idea accepted
would contribute to Social
Security. This fund is
suppose to be some sort of
bonds, treasury bonds, but
what are they worth? What is
the dollar worth when it’s
value is dropping around the
world? The world is losing
faith in the U.S. dollar and
our economy!
Maybe if enough people
signed on to file a class
action law suit against our
government employees, past
Presidents, Congress, U.S.
Senate who have been in
office from the time Social
Security funds were first
tapped into, including the
$1.5 trillion from the 1983
tax increase we could save
Social Security. End all
retirement due to those who
failed and they could
collect Social Security
instead of the retirement
funds they get, the
retirement portfolio Dubya
compares with his
privatization scam!

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05
PUT A CAP ON CREDIT CARD
INTEREST RATES! 6% with 1%
going into an account to
help reduce health insurance
& prescription drug costs.
The amount of interest paid
on many credit cards is 18
to 22%! Why??? Who owns
these credit card companies,
banks, insurance companies,
& other un-American black
holes responsible for most
of the bankruptcy in
America? Who are the major
investors in these
companies? Are your
representatives investors?
Reading the newspapers it’s
obvious the American people
are overextended, bankruptcy
is the reward for hard work
and paying your taxes in
America!!!
Credit card
companies sent out 6 billion
solicitations through the
mail in 2005, 27 to each
adult in the US. The average
American has eight cards &
the average household in
many states has a $10,000
credit card debt. The US
Post Office is funded by US,
taxpayers, not Visa, Master
Card, or Capitol One. Postal
rates are on the rise with
more junk mail everyday.
Capping
credit card interest rates
would benefit the taxpayer
in more ways than one. Most
working Americans don't get
paid holidays postal workers
get & I'm sure if researched
there would be other
advantages to capping credit
card interest rates,
bankruptcy for example.
Campaign
contributions are a direct
benefit to terrorist & our
mis-representatives an ally!
Posted by
5775: 9-18-05
PAID HOLIDAYS: EVERYBODY OR
NOBODY!
Why do we the people as
employers pay employees
several holidays we the
people as employees don’t
get? Across this nation
there are millions of people
working for city, county,
states, & Federal government
who enjoy holidays the of
U.S. don't get yet our tax $
pays for these holidays.
With billions of $ going to
a war based on lies with no
exit strategy, & failure by
the same administration in
shortsighted leadership as
with hurricane Katrina we
need to make some
adjustments!
The 2005 inauguration
is a perfect example of
government waste and
government employees being
paid when not working. I
read somewhere that the
inauguration will cost the
taxpayers $66 million
dollars. Does that include
everything? Why would we
inaugurate a president when
he is re-elected? As if Bush
was elected the first time!
Look at all the money we
would save in eggs not being
thrown at the President
should we forego this
elaborate waste of time and
money while America is going
bankrupt!
Posted by
5775: 9-18-05
END FEPP PROGRAMS AS WELL AS
OTHER GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS
STARTED YEARS AGO AND NEVER
ENDED.
The FEPP program I
worked at while employed by
the Nebraska Forest Service
through the University of
Nebraska is a perfect
example. This federal excess
property program started in
the early sixties had
outlived its original
purpose years ago but was
and still is kept running at
taxpayer expense. This
program is kept running to
siphon tax $$$ by using a
budget which could be
eliminated but like so many
budgets spent to get the
same amount appropriated the
next year!
This program was one of
the reasons that made me
decide to start
www.nextrevolution.net
While employees were ripping
off the taxpayers and
hundreds of thousands of tax
dollars were lost, stolen,
sold, while employees sat on
their asses or worked on
personal vehicles the
representatives of Nebraska
including State Senators,
U.S. Congressmen, U.S.
Senators, USDA, University
of Nebraska, Nebraska State
Auditor, Nebraska Governor,
and the list goes did
everything in their power to
keep the taxpayers of
Nebraska from finding out
the truth! It made the lead
story on channel six news
only to have a follow-up
which helped cover up the
whole mess!!!
The boss was stealing gas,
driving his personal vehicle
forty miles one way to work
on Monday, leaving his
vehicle sit all week while
driving a state vehicle,
burning taxpayer fuel and
then driving his personal
vehicle home on Friday with
a full tank of taxpayer
provided gas. Employees sat
on their butts for 3 to 4
hours a day watching TV
while being paid along with
benefits. Employees working
on personal vehicles while
at work being paid by the
taxpayers. Employees, at
home drawing pay as if at
work. Banking sick pay which
theyreceived 25% of at
retirement. Stealing and
selling federal excess
property. Using state
equipment, semi & ten
thousand pound forklift to
move personal property from
one family farm location to
another for relatives over
fifty miles from the FEPP
shop. State employees being
paid by the taxpayers to
move property with state
equipment for the
supervisor’s relatives! If
an accident would have
happened and someone would
have been killed or injured
the state,
taxpayers
would have been sued!!!
Two complete 6x6
trucks, federal property
disappeared and had to be
written off. Employees of
similar programs in Iowa and
Kansas were prosecuted and
sent to prison for similar
offenses in their programs
according to my boss who was
doing the very same thing.
Posted
by 5775: 9-18-05
PASS LAW TO TRACK U.S.
CORPORATIONS EXISTING &
EXPANDING
IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES! Tax
them accordingly to offset
the taxes they evade along
with the $20 per $1 tax on
campaign contributions and
gifts through the Washington
lobby!
If these corporations don't
appreciate what Americans do
in fighting for the freedom
we enjoy in America, leave!
Posted by 5775: 9-18-05
SEND ADDITIONAL $400 PER
CHILD TAX CREDIT TO
EDUCATION!
With property taxes ever on
the rise send the $ parents
enjoy in the addition per
child tax credits to
education. I work with a guy
who is single, no kids who
pays thousands more in taxes
than married couples and
more yet than married
couples with children. Why
does a single person pay
more while using less in tax
supported programs such as
public education.
I also work with a guy who
has nine kids, this guy pays
far less taxes than the
single guy yet his nine kids
use tax supported programs
to the tune of thousands of
$ every year.
Posted by 5775: 9-18-05
DEMAND A FAIR PRICE FOR
TAXPAYER FUNDED RESEARCH
FROM DRUG COMPANIES,
DISCLOSE STOCKHOLDERS, WHICH
COMPANIES, AND HOW MUCH
THESE COMPANIES CONTRIBUTED
TO WHOM IN THE FORM OF
CAMPAIGNS AND THROUGH THE
WASHINGTON LOBBY!
The American people need to
get online and support sites
like Taxpayer for Common
Sense. They are fighting to
eliminate government waste
and need your support. Bring
these sites into public
education to make people
realize how they can
generate $ for education.
The WasteBasket: A Weekly
Bulletin on Government Waste
SEARCH ARCHIVE BY ISSUE
:
BUDGET
|
Vol. VIII No. 24 June 12, 2003
NIH PHARMS
OUT PROFITS
Taxpayers invest
tens of billions
of dollars in
drug research
through the
National
Institutes of
Health (NIH)
each year. It's
generally a wise
investment
because NIH
researchers can
undertake the
cutting edge and
risky research
that drug
companies don't
have the guts to
do on their own
dime. When NIH
makes
discoveries, it
hands over its
research to the
private sector
to develop and
market the drug,
but
unfortunately
gets little more
than peanuts in
return.
When researchers
from the
National
Institutes of
Health developed
the
cancer-fighting
drug paclitaxel,
they were doing
more great work
to save lives.
However,
scientific
success turned
into fiscal
failure when
pharmaceutical
giant
Bristol-Myers
Squibb was
allowed to
charge
exorbitant
prices for the
product it would
market under the
name Taxol,
while paying
just a pittance
back in
royalties for
the
taxpayer-funded
research.
The story of
Taxol, as told
in a recent
General
Accounting
Office report,
is achingly
familiar to
observers of
NIH.
Researchers,
heroes really,
begin testing
plant species
for anticancer
activity as
early as the
1950s. They
notice that
extract from the
bark of the yew
tree works
against tumors,
and other
scientists
eventually
isolate the
paclitaxel and
figure out how
it prevents cell
divisions. NIH
conducts the
clinical trials
and proves that
paclitaxel has
potential. But
since NIH cannot
legally produce
or market drugs,
it enters into a
transfer
agreement with
Bristol-Myers
Squibb in 1991,
after 30 years
of research.
Under the deal,
the corporation
takes all of
NIH's research,
finishes the
clinical trials,
markets the
drug, and prices
it autonomously.
NIH ignores its
own rules that
require the
company to show
evidence the
drug would be
reasonably
priced. For
their troubles,
NIH and the
taxpayers get a
measly 0.5
percent of sales
as royalties,
even though
NIH's rules
allow royalties
of 5 to 8
percent.
Then Taxol takes
off, becoming
the
highest-selling
cancer drug in
history and
earning $9
billion for
Bristol-Myers
Squibb off of
its $1 billion
investment in
development.
People afflicted
with breast,
ovarian, and
certain lung
cancers as well
as AIDS-related
Kaposi's sarcoma
benefit from the
new treatment…
if they can
afford it. In
2001,
Bristol-Myers
Squibb charges
between $1,000
and $2,000 per
dose for Taxol!
America's
taxpayers lose
twice, because
NIH receives
only $35 million
in royalties for
its $484 million
investment in
research, and
Medicare pays
$687 million for
Taxol from just
1994 to 1999.
Even though
taxpayer money
funded Taxol's
discovery and
much of the
research that
would make it
marketable,
Bristol-Myers
Squibb charges
Medicare roughly
$500 more per
dose than it
charges private
doctors.
NIH claims that
it was not in a
good position to
negotiate with
Bristol-Myers
Squibb because
paclitaxel could
not be patented,
was not
guaranteed to
work at the time
of the
agreement, and
was very
specific in the
way it targeted
cancer.
Nevertheless,
Bristol-Myers
Squibb could and
did receive a
five-year
monopoly on the
drug-which it
extended for
more than three
years through a
series of
lawsuits against
generic
manufacturers,
for which it was
ultimately sued
by 29 U.S.
states. As
evidenced by its
subsequent
enormous
success, there
was clearly a
market for Taxol.
The negotiations
failed largely
because NIH is
overwhelmingly
concerned with
esoteric
research to the
detriment of
concern for the
bottom line.
This is the
process of
technology
transfer, where
federal
taxpayers
subsidize drug
research for
multi-billion
dollar
pharmaceutical
companies, and
get minimal
financial
returns. NIH has
the dual
mandates of
conducting
research to
develop
necessary
medicines by
undertaking the
expensive and
wide-ranging
research the
private sector
won't touch and
to get the drugs
on the market at
a reasonable
price. In the
case of Taxol,
it failed at the
latter. It also
has an
obligation to
the taxpayers to
recoup some of
its expenditures
in royalties.
There is no
reason why NIH
should not
profit from its
research on an
incredibly
profitable drug.
That money could
be reinvested in
more NIH
projects to
develop
groundbreaking
new drugs and
would save the
taxpayers
valuable money
in these lean
budget years.
To date, NIH has
only recouped
seven percent of
its initial
investment,
while
Bristol-Myers
Squibb and its
investors have
enjoyed a 900
percent return.
NIH also failed
to ensure that
the drug would
be priced fairly
and that all
federal programs
would receive a
discount.
Clearly, NIH
didn't push as
hard as it
should have in
negotiations and
the result is
its investors,
the taxpayers,
are stuck paying
more than they
should for a
drug they
developed.
For more
information,
contact Keith
Ashdown at
(202)-546-8500
ext. 110 or
keith@taxpayer.net
|
Posted by 5775: 9-18-05
LEGALIZE MARIJUANA & TAX
IT!!!
While alcohol is promoted
throughout the U.S. it is
reported that drunk drivers
kill someone every 32
minutes. How many people
were statistically listed as
killed by pot last year? Our
tax $ pays police to patrol,
arrest, jail, a court
system, and supervise
convicted drunk drivers by
the thousands costing
billions of dollars.
Tobacco has caused countless
people to die & or have
health costing U.S.
billions of $ while
individuals are awarded
millions in settlements in
some cases. Second hand
smoke a major issue in
America yet another legal
killer.
We also see our police,
courts, & society spend
billions as nonviolent
crimes involving pot cost
U.S. billions with no way to
recoup any of that $.
Medical Marijuana is an
argument in itself.
Posted by 5775: 9-18-05
DON’T TAX OVERTIME!
Tax people for the
hours they work at their
hourly wage, $8 an hour for
40, 50, 60, or however many
hours they work and let
people keep the half time
paid in overtime. This would
allow people to keep and
spend more of their own $$$
which in turn would bump the
economy.
At $8 an hour, time & one
half would be $12 an hour,
tax people only on the $8 an
hour allowing them to keep
the other $4 an hour after 8
or 40 hours. Minimum wage is
below poverty level and
holds America down.
Government holds minimum
wage down using the excuse
small companies couldn’t
make it if minimum wage is
any higher. This is a bold
lie promoted by rich,
corporate un-American
companies who are moving out
of country for cheap, slave
labor or promoting illegal
immigration. Our mis-representatives
have been promoting illegal
immigration for years in
return for campaign
contributions which has
brought poverty & crime to
America while these
companies pay their CEO’s
millions of $$$. Once again
I wonder how much our mis-representative
make from stocks they’re
invested in by holding down
minimum wage, giving tax
breaks, and promoting
illegal immigration so
corporations and the rich
can make more $$$.
The economy would get a
boost from people spending $
they work over time to earn,
ease the burden on people
earning lower wages by
allowing them to keep more
of what they earn. If we
need to make up for it tax
the corporations and CEO's
who have been evading taxes
for years, taxes these same
hourly wage
earners-taxpayers have
absorbed!
Posted by
5775: 9-18-05
ELIMINATE THE 10%, WHEN
PEOPLE HAVE TO CASH OUT OF
RETIRMENT FUNDS BECAUSE
THEY’RE LAIDOFF OR UNDER
OTHER HARDSHIP SITUATIONS!
Allow people who are
laid off or have family
emergencies to draw on their
401k or other retirement
funds without paying the 10%
penalty. Many layoffs are
due to NAFTA or outsourcing,
{U.S. companies moving out
of country for cheap labor.}
Don’t allow this for
voluntary or seasonal
layoffs.
President Bush and the
rest of our so called
representatives do more for
people of other nations then
for the American taxpayer
whose tax dollar is the aid
our representatives give
away. It was recently
reported Social Security
will be available to illegal
immigrants along with
amnesty while the American
people who pay into Social
Security may never see a
dime. Billions are spent on
foreign aid while 37,000,000
Americans live in poverty &
45.8 million Americans have
no health insurance.
While employed we’re a
valuable asset, as a
taxpayer government makes
money off of U.S. but are
forgotten, or worse when our
job is lost due to
government selling us out.
Paying 40% of gross income
is no different than paying
protection or your pimp.
Americans are prostituting
them selves out to our mis-representatives,
corporate un-America, the
power elite!!!
Posted by
5775: 9-18-05
END TIPPING AND RAISE
MINIMUM WAGE TO A LIVING
WAGE!
People who work in food
& many other service areas depend on tips while
wages may be as low as $2.25
an hour. Many tips go
unclaimed and who can blame
these people as in slow
times the tips aren’t there
and their check isn’t
enough. Promoting tax
evasion is foolish as it is
also promoting poverty. The
average American doesn’t
understand the process and
doesn’t have any way to fix
the problem, until now.
www.nextrevolution.net!
I wouldn’t really expect
some poor bastard making
$20,000-$40,000 a year to
care. It’s called survival.
What choice do the American
people have? I’m only trying
to make a point by bashing
these poor fools who are
manipulated into poverty
while supplying the best for
their elected sellouts and
allowing corporate
un-America to bleed you out
through lies! The American
taxpayer is conned into
becoming a liar. Corporate
un-America and politics are the
model. Other wise honest
Americans are forced to
cheat on their taxes in
order to survive because
they are absorbing corporate
un-America's tax evasion
through the representatives
of people those same
taxpayer provide a fine
salary, health care, &
retirement while those same
taxpayers lose more of the
same every day!
This ideas
suggest eliminating tipping
and setting a wage according
to what people in service
worked claimed in the
previous years as income. If
someone was cheating on
taxes, not claiming all
their tips their wage would
be less than they actually
made the previous year. However
many 401k retirement plans
these people can contribute
to are based on $2 or $3 an
hour wages, tips not
included. In many cases
there is no 401k & Social
Security is the retirement
plan.
What I
suggest along with this
ideas is to continue to
allow tipping should a
patron feel the service was
deserving. NO taxes on those
tips! Realize many people
wouldn't tip but any tips
would no longer be tax
evasion and people in
service work would be making
a consistent wage, no weeks
or months without a descent
check. Employers would also
have to guarantee a 35 to 40
hour week. No free ride to
employers by taking
advantage of loyal
employees.
Posted by
5775: 9-18-05
Tax income from private
parties which make millions
& promote illicit sex.

Does anyone
think the money that passes
from these private parties
is taxed? If so just how do
they report the income?
Tips? An hourly wage?
Services rendered? Does
anyone reading this have any
idea what goes on at these
parties? It ain’t a church
social and there are big
bucks, {pardon the pun}
involved! There
isn’t a fraction of the
money in strip clubs and
private parties spent and
earned in Idaho, Nebraska,
or most states as compared
to Nevada. Nevada, if I’m
not mistaken doesn’t have
state income tax due to
gambling yet states like
Nebraska and Idaho are
tapping into the Native
America casinos for money.
Nevada was one of the top
ten states in bankruptcy per
household, 1 in every 42.9
house holds files
bankruptcy! Gambling but No
state income tax, bankruptcy
and tipping up the wazzoo!
As if We haven’t stolen
enough from the Native
American people we have to
tax them when they come up
with new way to make money,
{gambling} but do we tax the
billions of $$$ lost through
good times in Nevada? Don’t
get me wrong, I like bars,
beer, strippers, and good
times as much as the next
guy but I’m tired of paying
the taxes everyone else
evades. I’m like most
Americans, I don’t mind
paying my taxes but not four
times my share so others
don’t have to or can profit
XXX 10!

You have to give these
people credit, they’re
making a living the best way
they know how and making a
fine living at that. I have
nothing against these people
& they’re no different than
anyone else who evades
taxes, our government forces
them into it. Our government
makes otherwise honest
Americans crooks by
overtaxing the average
working class into
bankruptcy while giving tax
breaks to corporate
un-America in return for
campaign contributions and
gifts through the Washington
lobby in return for inside
information in the stock
market. Look at the
construction business,
billions lost through
illegal immigration as
contractors cut corners,
hire illegal immigrants no differently
than meatpacking plants and
the entire agricultural
industry. The $190 billion
farm bill verses government
susidized training programs
in the fast food industry
while the turnover rate
negates any training. TAX
dollars given in return for
campaign contributions!
It’s all over
the place and the average
American taxpayers, honest
Americans doing the right
thing pay the taxes evaded
by corporate un-America,
strippers, construction
workers, back yard
mechanics, body shop workers
who also scam insurance
companies, service workers
who don’t claim tips, and
the list never ends. It’s
all to blame on our mis-representatives
who are living like royalty
on our time while pissing
away our Social Security,
Medicare, Medicaid, health
insurance, prescription
drugs, wages, jobs, well
hell, AMERICA! That’s right,
our mis-representatives are
pissing away the entire
nation and We the People are
letting them do it. We’re so
apathetic that we cheat on
taxes rather than stand
together and put government
in their place, working for
U.S.!!!

Posted by 5775: 9-18-05
TAX BOOZE AT A HIGHER RATE
&TEST PATRONS BEFORE THEY
ARE SOLD ALCOHOL!
For some reason
government has jumped all
over tobacco but booze is
OK, Wrong! We had our war
against alcohol and lost the
first time but it doesn’t
have to work that way this
time. Tax it like
cigarettes! People are
driving drunk all the time,
killing and injuring
hundreds of thousands of
people every year. Some
people compare cars to guns,
and some people make the
argument that more people
are killed by cars than have
died in Iraq. Ted Kennedy
ring a bell? Good arguments
to raise taxes on alcohol.
Lobbyist from alcohol
companies throw a fortune at
our representatives, in
return innocent Americans
die everyday! There’s your
representatives again making
$$$ on the death of
taxpayers.
Some states
have control of alcohol
dispensaries, Idaho for
example was reported to have
increased sales by over $7
million a year through state
run dispensaries. Conflict
of interest? How is it the
state along with city and
county pay police to
patrol, arrest, and pays the
courts to prosecute drunk
drivers and then jails
convicted drunk drivers? Who
is paying for all this while
the state claims to be
making $ to offset taxes
from the sale of booze? Like
religion in politics the
state has no business
selling booze while
taxpayers pay to arrest and
penalize people who drink
the booze sold by the state.
Idaho
Statesman, 2-22-06 Oregon
approves liquor discounts.
Liquor Stores can offer
discounts to customers who
buy more by the bottle,
state legislators have
decided.
Does this
headline say anything to the
mother of a child killed by
a drunk driver? Was the tax
relief created through state
regulated dispensaries worth
the sacrifice? Ignorance
doesn't discriminate.
Allowing our representatives
to create cash cows at the
expense of taxpayers in the
belief they are getting tax
relief is a joke. Poor
management by our
representatives is the only
reason we need more $ to run
city, county, state, &
federal agencies.
Government is failing and
compounding their failures
with foolish liquor
discounts which promote
drunk driving while the
taxpayer pays for police,
jails, courts, & more.
DEATH!
How much $ is
contributed to our
representative's campaigns
by the alcohol industry? Why
is tobacco targeted while
booze is promoted? Colleges,
universities are a breeding
ground for alcohol abuse
while second hand smoke is
labeled the killer!
Jim Clark of
Boise, ID. recently wrote an
editorial, Idaho Statesman,
12-13-05.
Raise alcohol
taxes. Jim explains the last
time there was any change to
Idaho Tax code to impose a
higher tax on beer was in
1961. The rate is 1.4 cents
per 12 ounce can.
The time a
change on the tax of wine
was 1971. This tax varies
with alcohol content. Jim
also explains why there has
been no tax code changes. In
his opinion our lawmakers
are in the pocket of
brewers/wineries.
According to
Jim Idahoans consume 27.1
million gallons of beer &
over 5.3 million gallons of
wine annually. Jim suggest
raising taxes by 5 to 10
cents per can of beer and 30
to 50 cents per bottle of
wine to be directed to be
directed toward education.
While Jim
suggest this would help with
education funding & teacher
salaries he doesn't take it
as far as I would. I imagine
a two hundred word limit in
the Statesman's editorials
has a little to do with
that. Jim also suggest
calling our representatives
and demand an increase on
alcohol tax as with
cigarettes.
Something
Jim doesn't get into is
property taxes. Idaho as
most states has the problem
Jim points to in lack of
funding for education. Idaho
like most states has another
problem and that is out of
control personal property
taxes while the breweries
/wineries/ & all business
which contribute to
campaigns evade taxes we as
personal property owners
absorb. This is why the
American taxpayer & our
economy are losing. Our
representatives who we pay a
fine wage, retirement, &
health care we as their
employees are losing more of
everyday are giving US away
to the highest bidder.
If booze
is taxed at higher rate &
that cost is not passed
along to the consumer
taxpayers will benefit! The
people and corporations
making money need to pay their
taxes just as we the people
pay our taxes. Booze is way
over priced, cut the cost to
the consumer and make the
amount cut from the cost the
tax paid. Distribute it to
city, county, and state to
ease taxes paid by the
people, many who don't
drink. Education would be a
good place to send this tax
as it would ease property
taxes which have gotten way
out of hand.
Eliminating Waste Within
Schools
Posted By Nebraska
Taxpayers on June 04, 2004
at 13:58:28:
The following suggestions
were sent by Nebraska
Taxpayers for Freedom, {www.netaxpayer.org}.
In the e-mail
Doug Kagan wrote they wanted
no reward and to use their
suggestions as I see fit.
I'm posting this idea
to benefit the taxpayers of
Nebraska should any or all
the suggestions be
acceptable
by the people of Nebraska
and any other state in their
efforts to cut cost in
education.
If accepted the 5% savings
from cutting cost in
education would go to the
taxpayers of Nebraska.
I leave distribution of
those savings to the
taxpayers of Nebraska
through taxpayers
suggestions
with www.netaxpayer.org and
not Ne. Legislature, Gov.,
or any other elected
representatives.
People have to realize these
ideas don't make policy,
people have to Post ideas,
follow up on ideas,
send e-mail to their
representatives in order to
show support of ideas and
force their representatives
to
do the job they were elected
to do.
Nextrev. can't work unless
the taxpayers of this nation
realize their responsibility
doesn't
end at the voting booth. Our
representatives in reality
represent the people and
corporations who pay
for campaigns and gifts
given through lobbyist. These
people realize the people of
America are of
the mindset that there is
nothing an individual can do
about the way Government
operates.
Nextrev. was created to
prove otherwise, only the
people can make it happen!
NTF Worksheet. OPS43.doc.
10-03.
NEBRASKA TAXPAYERS FOR
FREEDOM WORKSHEET:
SUGGESTIONS FOR “PRIME CUTS”
TO THE BUDGETS OF NEBRASKA
PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
.
1. end elementary school
guidance counselor and
student personnel assistant
staffing. Historically,
teaching staff served as
counselors. OPS response:
will consider this policy
question.
2. eliminate career
counselors in all schools.
3. end the school
psychologist program. OPS
response: needed for special
ed classes. Rule 51 from
Dept. of Education mandates
this program.
4. have school districts
share personnel, like
superintendents or art
teachers.
5. have 2 schools share 1
principal.
6. trim the number of
assistant principals. OPS
response: will consider it.
7. eliminate the job
category of dean of
students. OPS response: will
consider it.
8. eliminate K-12 curriculum
specialists and allow
teacher teams to deliberate
and decide on teaching
materials.
9. reduce the number of
teacher aides.
10. find volunteers to
replace paid teacher aides.
11. use paraprofessionals
instead of teachers in
cafeteria duty.
12. consolidate secretarial
staff into fewer secretarial
pools.
13. institute an annual
performance assessment audit
system of business
operations and
administrative functions to
pinpoint insufficient
accounting, waste, and
excess spending. Examine the
cost, efficiency,
productivity, service
levels, output, and business
practices of all
non-educational support
functions. Look for overly
high costs because of overly
generous labor contracts
with benefits, excess use of
supplies, underused assets,
and poor management. Each
dept. should have
performance measures
reported and evaluated
monthly to see if
performance is improving.
Hold accountable managers of
programs or departments that
do not show improvement. An
independent accounting firm
could gauge how efficiently
OPS budgets its funds.
14. perform budgeting and
accounting in conformity
with accounting principles
general accepted in the U.S.
in addition to reporting
requirements prescribed by
the NE Commissioner of
Education.
15. examine budget trends to
identify areas where
expenditures have increased
at higher than average
rates. Determine reason(s)
for the increase and figure
out how to reverse the
trend.
16. end the Student
Assignment Plan, resulting
in decreased teacher and
support staffing levels. OPS
response: the entire school
board supports the
assignment plan.
17. delay expansion of the
elementary magnet school
system. OPS response: will
consider it.
18. curtail or end voluntary
reassignment and magnet
school busing to save on
fuel and other
transportation costs. OPS
response: see item #9.
19. end the practice of
busing kids all over the
district and use the savings
to supply academy schools
with books, supplies, and
teachers. OPS response: will
consider it.
20. offer free
transportation to only
students who live further
than 4 miles from school,
the state mandate, instead
of offering free
transportation to students
who live over 1.5 miles from
their home attendance area.
This suggestion would cut
OPS and contracted services
transportation costs.
Contracted transportation
rose over $300,000 for FY
2002-2003. OPS response:
will consider it.
21. taxpayers see 1,2, or 3
kids on a bus. Examine the
efficiency of bus routing.
22. require bus drivers to
do pre- and post-route
inspections and report small
repair and maintenance needs
in advance.1
23. sign longer term
contracts for fuel, like the
City of Omaha. OPS response:
it buys fuel at lowest
price, but only so much is
available and only so much
storage capacity available.
OPS buys natural gas at
field price.
24. lobby to end the state
mandate that prevents school
districts from expelling
students in specific
circumstances.
25. bargain tougher on
collective bargaining
contracts to gain more
authority to hire and fire
teachers and staff.
26. limit extended-year
teacher contracts.
27. bargain tougher on
employee contracts and make
employees pay for a greater
percentage of their health
care premiums (most
government employees pay at
least 30%) and other
benefits. Health and dental
care is free to all
full-time OPS employees.
After 4 years of service,
they pay only 40% of family
coverage.2 Benefits FY
2002-2003 totaled 18.78% of
the general fund budget
(p.41) and rose 9.49% in
2003. OPS response: it is a
state problem, because
Commission on Industrial
Relations sides with teacher
unions at impasse or when an
accusation that the district
is not bargaining in good
faith.
28. increase the deductibles
on low-risk insurance
policies.
29. compare insurance
coverage with the fixed
asset and controlled asset
inventories and set coverage
based on actual need.
30. cap school district
contributions to employee
health benefits.
31. investigate savings in
managed health care
insurance initiatives. OPS
response: will consider it.
32. institute performance
and merit pay programs for
teachers and staff to cut
the inflationary rise in
salaries and benefits. OPS
response: a CIR problem,
because it ruled against
Crete School District doing
it.
33. provide incentive for
high teacher attendance to
discourage absenteeism,
e.g., bonuses, item on
performance appraisal.
34. pay substitute teachers
less money; OPS payments are
as high as those in
California.
35. join a workers
compensation coop with other
districts to cut costs by
reducing premiums.
36. lobby to terminate the
Rule of 85, which allows
teachers to retire sooner
and take their pensions plus
salaries and benefits from
new jobs in the same field.
37. end or trim travel for
staff enrichment programs.
Such workshops, conferences,
and meetings cost $547,309
projected for FY 2002-2003,
a 15% increase. OPS
response: will consider it;
has curtailed travel, but
staff will not keep current
and need professional
development. May send fewer
people. Federal mandates
involved: No child left
behind.
38. pay staff development
providers to come to the
district to offer training,
cheaper than paying
employees to travel.
39. reduce teacher training
days.
40. end or cut travel for
board members to out of
state meetings.
41. insist upon receipts for
all reimbursements given
staff and teachers.
42. compare administrator
travel allocation with
actual mileage.
43. offer superintendents
new or revised contracts in
accordance with state
education regulations, e.g.,
no more than a 3 yr.
contract. OPS board gave
Supt. Mackiel a 5 yr.
contract.
44. eliminate the KIOS Radio
station. OPS response: will
consider it.
45. eliminate drivers
education courses.
46. eliminate school-to-work
programs.
47. expel violent and other
students evidencing extreme
discipline problems and save
on instructional costs.
48. use a portion of the $40
million (it varies) in cash
reserves, an amount more
than sufficient for
emergency funding. OPS
response: budgets this money
for use until April (12 ½ %
of general fund). This
solution would be temporary;
OPS could lower the
percentage. Dept. of Ed rule
prohibits spending cash
reserves from year to year.
49. lobby to end Dept. of Ed
rule prohibiting spending
cash reserves from year to
year.
50. invest reserve cash in
higher-yield investments.
51. use restricted
categorical funds to meet
general fund requirements.
52. return to phonics and
other basic instruction,
cheaper and significantly
better than whole language
methods. Fewer students
would have to enter special
education classes. OPS
response: provide
documentation.
53. accept private
advertising in printed
materials. OPS response:
already done in individual
schools.
54. accept private
advertising in buildings and
on vehicles. OPS response:
kids should not be
billboards.
55. allow private companies
to sponsor school sports
teams.
56. contract with private
companies for payroll
processing services, if a
vendor could accomplish this
function cheaper.
57. outsource printing and
other office work to private
companies. OPS response:
doing some now, but
outsourcing is more
expensive.
58. accept used computers
from companies that are
updating computer systems.
OPS paid $3,000 apiece for
new laptops, $1,350 per
desktop computer. OPS
response: already doing it
in some instances.
59. pay a stipend to people
at each school to do
computer troubleshooting
before sending techies to
make repairs. Have staff who
attend computer training
train other teachers, saving
training costs.
60. assign district web site
development and maintenance
to students, saving
personnel costs.
61. consult private business
volunteers, like retired
business people, to advise
on budget efficiencies that
control costs and
expenditures. OPS response:
send OPS their resumes.
62. issue special cards to
senior citizens in the
district, entitling them to
free entrance to all
sporting and other events,
then buttonhole them to
volunteer.
63. standardize purchases of
office machines, like
photocopiers, and thus keep
a smaller supply of parts
and train staff to repair
only 1 kind of machine.3
64. lease instead of
purchasing office equipment.
65. examine all records
management procedures to
eliminate paper storage.
Storage space is expensive.
66. share document managing
equipment with other school
districts.
67. distribute lists of
special equipment needs to
the PTA and community groups
and businesses at beginning
of each school year, asking
for pledges of these items.
68. join other school
districts to order
textbooks, computers, and
other higher-priced
educational materials in
large volume at discounted
prices. OPS response:
already doing it, as in
joint email system
purchases. Metro Omaha Ed
Consortium.
69. textbooks represent a
major investment for a
district, so Internet
ordering would allow for
buying and delivering texts
quicker while slashing
shipping costs.
70. establish a computerized
inventory system to identify
the location of each
textbook, using fewer
employee hours.
71. joint purchasing with
adjacent school districts
for fuel and transportation
equipment like tires.
72. join food-purchasing
coops with neighboring
districts to guarantee food
purchases at lowest cost.
73. participate in state
surplus property program to
buy needed items at low
cost.
74. establish a central
warehouse for school
districts as a depository
for equipment and supplies.
OPS response: doing it with
Ralston School District;
other districts fear
annexation.
75. form inter-district
agreements to purchase legal
services, liability
insurance, property
insurance, trash removal
service, and supplies and
materials, as these costs
have skyrocketed.
76. close examining use of
custodial supplies will show
major differences in
quantities used by schools
of similar size, meaning
some schools are better at
utilizing supplies than
others. Manage better.
77. design a direct delivery
process with vendors that
reduces administrative time
used to purchase supplies
and cut delivery time to 1
day. As employees will
understand that they can get
quick deliveries, districts
will not have to buy
supplies far in advance and
maintain huge inventories.
In a typical district, ½ of
supplies are directly used
and ½ sit on shelves. A
managed inventory and supply
system could reduce the
amount of inventory by
thousands, releasing monies
for other uses.
78. urge your lobbyist to
lobby state senators to end
unfunded state mandates and
lobby the State Dept. of
Education to end mandated
regulations, e.g., budget,
curriculum, staff training,
and transportation
requirements. OPS response:
good idea.
79. use lottery grant money
for basic curriculum needs
instead of for school
museums, etc. OPS response:
must change law, because
grant money cannot fund
basic curriculum. Governor
ended current grants.
80. budget monies to pay for
classes that OPS must
legally teach, excluding
some or all classes outside
this scope and unnecessary
services like positive peer
culture programs. OPS
response: Dept. of Ed Rule
10 mandates some of these
classes.
81. end unnecessary classes
in sewing and crafts with
accompanying teacher
salaries and use this
savings for core curriculum
textbooks, supplies, and
salaries.
82. end pre-school programs
not mandated by state or
federal law. OPS response:
uses Title I federal grant
monies.
83. end early childhood
non-special education.
84. end all-day
kindergarten.
85. end the summer music
program and summer sports
activities. OPS response:
these classes self-paid. The
state legislature mandates
remedial summer classes.
86. eliminate classes with
low student registration or
hold such classes only in
alternate years.
87. increase class sizes to
shrink the number of
teachers and staff required.
OPS had a 15-1
student/teacher ratio in
2001.4 Dr. Eric Hanuschek
has authored several
treatises showing that
increasing class sizes does
not hinder learning. Now,
there is 1 staffer for each
7.6 students in OPS.5 OPS
response: will consider it;
bring studies to board.
88. discover ways to attract
home-schooled children to
public school.
89. cut or end advertising
costs that boast of OPS
excellence. OPS response:
show board an example of
booklet.
90. end the OPS outreach
marketing program that
mobilizes support for public
education. OPS response: not
familiar with it.
91. end the employee
assistance program. OPS
response: it is a state
mandate.
92. end membership in
national school board
associations. OPS response:
will consider it.
93. sell for recycling old
desks, chairs, equipment,
and playground materials.
OPS response: it does this
through auctioning process.
94. conduct annual
inventories to reduce loss
of school property.
Investigate missing assets
and prosecute those who
steal school property.
95. require employees to
sign accountability forms
for equipment assigned them
and hold them responsible
for missing items.
96. send home parent
newsletters via email or
post them on the school
Internet web site, with
paper copies mailed only
upon request. Same with
breakfast and lunch menus.
97. make sure only eligible
children participate in
federal school breakfast and
lunch programs. The USDA
estimates that $1 billion in
free lunches annually feed
children ineligible because
of family income exceeding
federal guidelines.6
98. conduct energy audits in
every building and implement
a comprehensive energy
conservation plan.. Turn off
display lights in vending
machines. Buy energy
efficient lighting and
fixtures.
99. seek donated land from
developers during the
planning process for
selection and purchase of
sites for schools and
facilities.
100. clean classrooms every
3 days instead of every day.
101. pay only fair market
rates for renting properties
and space.
102.lobby for and allow
implementation of charter
schools, which are cheaper
to operate with lower per
pupil cost.7
103.consolidate school
districts in which
per-student spending is
higher than the state
average, saving millions
annually.
104. prioritize your budget
cutting, cutting student
programs last.
Research and documentation
for this worksheet done by
Doug Kagan and Lee Mimms.
This material copyrighted
and notarized by Nebraska
Taxpayers for Freedom, with
express prior permission
granted for its use by
Taxwatchers, Inc., Citizens
for Local Control, Dawes
County Taxpayers, and other
groups in the Tax Freedom
Network. 10-03 C
Consolidate
government.
Posted
by 5775, 1-31-06
We don't need
representatives in every
city, county, state, & on a
federal level. Not that I'm
promoting Nebraska's
unicameral, a single house
state governing body but why
do most states require a two
party, two house,
government?
More times than not this
creates delays& wasted time
and $. A two party system is
foolish in itself as it
doesn't support democracy.
With air travel,computers,
the internet, and more the
world is smaller than it was
50 years ago. Utilizethe
technology and eliminate
unnecessary cost.
Far to many government
agencies overlap.
Representatives in every
city, county, state, & on a
federal level are not
necessary and create
corruption. Too many of the
same problems carry over and
don't need to be hashed out
time after time in every
city, county, state, & on a
federal level.
The dairy industry is a
good example in that
every state has been
influenced by agri-buiness,
corporate farmers, & so on
through lobbyist. Over the
years small family farms
have been pushed aside due
to this influence costing
taxpayers billions of $. The
dairy industry has moved
across the nation polluting
air and water forcing small
dairies out of business
while reaping the spoils of
tax $ in subsidies. After
forcing the 20 to 50 cow ma
and pop dairies under the
large dairies which enjoyed
our tax $ is now suggest our
representatives eliminate
subsidies which would force
the 100 to 500 cow dairies
under.
Far too often milk is
being trucked from one state
to another off loaded and
reloaded only to be trucked
back to the state it came
from. Competitors pass each
other on the road when dairy
products could be traded,
bought and sold rather than
trucked. This would save $,
gas, diesel, & possibly
lives in Iraq & on the
highways of this nation.
America being the largest
usurer of petroleum, with a
war in Iraq in which
Americans are making the
ultimate sacrifice, billions
in tax $ wasted and stolen,
we need leadership in
eliminating this sort of
waste.
With an oil man in the
White House we need to look
at this conflict of interest
in future elections. This
gets back to full
disclosure!
Certify
and register anyone in web
design & other computer
repair.
Posted by 5775,
1-31-06
Far too many people claim
to be computer techs with
knowledge of web design and
other services. I personally
have had to deal with this
scam. Incompetent and
crooked fools claiming
knowledge they don't have
should be eliminated from
the equation.
Idaho recently required
contractors to register with
the state to protect
individuals from fly by
night and crooked
operations. The computer &
electronic world is ever
changing and requires more
oversight to prevent scams
no different than the
construction or any other
business. Everyone likes a
better deal but many times
the better deal turns into a
raw deal.
This would require
competent people to register
with the state and pass
certification to protect and
clean up the internet world.
We cannot control many areas
due to world wide access but
we should be able to ensure
an honest & competent
service here in America.
End Payday
& Title Loans!
Posted by
5775 on 2-23-06
Another example of our
representatives taking $
from organizations which
profit to the tune of
millions if not billions at
the expense of the taxpayer
who pay the same
representatives. How is it
America has millions, 37
million Americans living in
poverty & 45 million without
health care yet campaign
contributors from these loan
shark style organizations
which contribute to our
representatives campaigns
are allowed to prey on the
poor? Not just the poor but
middle class Americans who
are losing more everyday.
How the hell are we suppose
to pay for & patriotically
fight a ridiculous war waged
by a fool, a war based on
lies when the same middle
class & poor targeted by
these organizations & pay
mis-representatives are
ripped off & absorbing all
the taxes evaded by
corporate un-America!
Idaho Statesman, 2-19-06,
Oregon initiative aims to
limit payday loan rates.
Backers say a new state law
is needed to protect people
from lenders who charge more
than 500% interest. A bill
in 2005 approved by the
Democrat controlled Senate
died in the REPUBLICAN-
controlled house. FEEL
REPRESENTED AS A MIDDLE
CLASS TAXPAYER OR ARE YOU
STARTING TO CATCH ON?
Come on America, wake
up!
End Tax
Cuts & Incentives for
Businesses &
Developers! Posted by 5775
on 3-3-06
Let businesses locate
according to the best site
suitable to their business.
Not according to tax cuts &
incentives which we as
individuals absorb. Let
developers pay for
infrastructure before a
subdivision is in
place. Building roads,
electrical grids, sewers, &
other public necessities
after the money is made is
just
another cost absorbed by
taxpayers. Building
infrastructure after
developments are in place
takes more time
& $ while an
inconvenience to homeowners
who pay higher taxes to
support the city, county,
state, &
federal government
while developers who buy our
representation make out like
a bandit.
Increased
property taxes are a direct
result of tax cuts &
incentives for developers. A good
example is tax
exemptions
such as in Idaho in which
property taxes are on the
rise while Idaho Governor Dirk
Kempthorne
enjoys a tax of
approximately $6 a year on
14 acres near a resort he helped promote. Rather
than eliminate
the tax the
honorable Gov. Kempthorne
wanted to phase it out over
the next five years. Is that
the
representation you're
paying for?
Let developers spend
millions to make millions.
Don't force
taxpayers/homeowners to
spend millions so
developers can make
billions! Once again
campaign contributions buy
our representation in sweet
deals
even our representatives
take advantage of. How many
average taxpayer/homeowners
knew of &
therefore took advantage
of tax exemptions on farm
lands set up for developers?
How many taxpayer/
homeowners could afford
to buy these lands when the
property taxes on their
present home is continuing
to
rise because they have to
absorb tax cuts & incentives
developers & businesses
receive in exchange for
campaign contributions?