RiteOn Blog

LET'S START A TAX REVOLT!

We recommend that you read the informed observations made by Rick Fischer concerning Missouri Auditor Susan Montee's audit of the City of St Peters. Rick has completed Part 2 of his comments and you can read these at the following link:

http://rfischer-outsider.blogspot.com/
.... and be sure to scroll down the page to the article entitled "St Peters is a dirty city - Part 2"

In our opinion there are some serious concerns citizens should have about many things connected with the St Peters Audit.

To mention just one issue, Lakeside 370 (Now Premier?) is developing into one of those ill conceived, poorly planned, poorly executed, financially dangerous and environmentally harmful projects promoted by politicians with an over-eagerness to please their developer clients. (Those "clients" are obviously not the taxpaying citizens of St Peters) If some of the multitudes of problems connected with this project are not solved, it could turn into a gigantic financial fiasco. The audit states that failure to get a LOMR from FEMA could generate a loss in excess of 15 million dollars and there are other "problems" too.

In spite of this and several other important and unresolved issues, the city gets a "clean" rating. We recommend that readers read the Audit and review the comments on Wake Up Call Missouri to decide whether or not a "clean rating" was justified. It's really too bad the City decided not to televise the public meeting where the report was given but that goes along with their "mindset." The "excuse" as to why they didn't televise it seems contrived!

Regarding the media handling of the Audit press release, questions come to mind. Why did the media, particularly the Post Dispatch and the Suburban Journal rush to publish articles that showed the city "clean" when any reasonably bright first year journalism student would have had serious questions about it? Could they have been protecting their revenue stream? Serious publications recognize their obligations to the communities they serve and in their Audit reporting, questions arise about how these media organizations addressed those obligations.

Their reporting leaves one wondering whether they care if taxpayers will be seriously injured by policies conjured up by politicians who have a solemn obligation to protect the public interest. Questions can be legitimately raised (See wake up call Missouri, link above) about this Audit and the circumstances surrounding it. This was supposed to be a "Performance" Audit but the Auditor simply glossed over or ignored some very basic questions.

We are coming to the conclusion that nothing short of a good old citizen's tax revolt, like California's successful Proposition13, will sufficiently inhibit elected officials from throwing tax money at every project their "clients" suggest. If anyone is interested in pursuing such an initiative for St Charles County, let us know. ....... chuck@riteon.org

DO WE WANT THIS KIND OF HEALTH CARE SYSTEM?

Sent to RiteOn.org by Arizona Guest Editor, C.P.
*****************************

This is worth watching! ** 

http://www.freemarketcure.com/brainsurgery.php 

Watch this and if you still trust government controlled (rationed) health care, vote for Hillary/Obama and this is what you will get.

A short but poignant independent film on government sponsored health-care systems...

Everyone who plans to vote for our new President in 2008 NEEDS to see this. Regardless of the person for whom they would vote.

**(IF THE ,LINK DOES NOT WORK ON YOUR COMPUTER, IN ORDER TO VIEW THE CLIP, COPY AND PASTE IT INTO YOUR BROWSER ADDRESS BOX.)

MORE ON ST. PETERS AUDIT

Following up on the St Peters Audit, here are some excerpts from Rick Fischer, posted today on his blog site. Click here to go to the site:

http://rfischer-outsider.blogspot.com/2008/01/st-peters-is-dirty-city-part-1.html

Once again, we urge those who are interested in good government to go to Rick’s site and read his comments.
*******
(Excerpts...)

Appraisals not done:
The city is involved in a project known as Lakeside 370. As part of this project the city purchased 1552 acres of land, however, the city only obtained a formal independent appraisal on 249. 4 acres (or 16 % of the land purchased.) The audit states that "good business practices requires" an appraisal to ensure a reasonable price is paid. Montee failed to offer any evidence as to what was a reasonable price for the property.

Purchase from former Mayor Tom Brown's son-in-law:
As I reported yesterday, Montee noted that land was purchased from "a related party" which turned out to be Brown's son-in-law who received almost 3 times per acre what the other sellers received. The city did not obtain an appraisal to support the purchase price on this land. The Government Accounting Standards (GAS) under which Montee operates consider such a transaction "abuse."...

... I will finish the rest of my review in Part 2 in which I will point out other problems noted in the audit, violations of the law Montee failed to mention and misrepresentations by the city in an attempt to mislead its residents. When reviewing the audit one should also consider that former Mayor Tom Brown was not only guilty of "abuse" regarding the land sale but Montee completely failed to mention that Brown and the city were found to have unjustly interfered with a local business because the owner dared to speak out against Brown and the city. This could end up costing the residents over a million dollars. Couple this with the fact that Tom Brown's successor, Shawn Brown, is in federal prison for bribery and you get a picture that St. Peters is not a clean city but instead it is one of the dirtier cities in the region. Based upon the facts, I challenge anyone to claim St. Peters is a clean city. And I haven't even gotten to the rest of the audit yet.

Susan Montee's audit of St. Peters should be investigated

Excerpt...
"The St. Peters audit is in and if you listen to what Montee had to say, rather than what she wrote, you might think St. Peters is the standard by which other cities should be measured. If that is the case we should all throw in the towel. Of course, based on Montee's comments, St. Peters issued a press release which claims nothing wrong was found in the audit. To make matters worse the media picked up on this theme and reported Montee found St. Peters was clean..."

*********
The above is a paragraph from Rick Fischer's blog site where he comments on the St. Peters Audit. We urge you to click on the following link and read the full text of the commentary:

http://rfischer-outsider.blogspot.com/

ROMNEY DOES IT BEST

Why Mitt Romney Does It Best ...(Excerpts).
By Mark DeMoss
Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Ed Rollins was once Ronald Reagan's political director and now serves as Mike Huckabee's campaign chairman. Last weekend he told a reporter, "The breakup of what was the Reagan coalition – social conservatives, defense conservatives, and anti-tax conservatives – it doesn't mean a whole lot to people anymore." He declared, "it's gone."

Well, I can assure you he's wrong... I can tell you, we still care about uniting these various conservatives into a strong coalition...

...A year and a half ago, I concluded Governor Mitt Romney was the most qualified person to run for president from either party in my lifetime and decided to support and help him as a volunteer. Mitt Romney has had three undeniably successful careers, heading one of the most successful venture capital and investment management firms in the world, presiding over a profitable and safe Winter Olympic Games just months after the attacks of 9/11, and governing the state of Massachusetts and turning a nearly $3 billion deficit into a nearly $1 billion surplus without raising taxes.

While there have been presidential candidates who may have more business experience, few had ever governed anything. We have also had candidates with more government experience, but none of them has had any business experience. And no other candidate has presided over an Olympic Games, a role that required handling hundreds of millions of dollars, assembling some 23,000 volunteers and mobilizing one of the largest security operations.

As an evangelical Southern Baptist and a social conservative, I like the leadership Governor Romney provided our movement in defending traditional marriage between a man and a woman and in opposing embryonic stem cell research. I believe his values are consistent with mine in every way, whether or not his theology is.

In a heavily Democratic and liberal state, Governor Romney staked out unpopular positions against cloning (having vetoed a bill sent to him by his 85% Democratic legislature) and gay marriage. It was Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby who wrote, "Few mainstream politicians have stepped up to make a principled case in support of that timeless definition [of marriage], and so far, none has done so as cogently as Romney."

We concur! ... And it looks like the people of Michigan got the message!  (Ed.)
************************
To read the complete column from Townhall.com go to:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MarkDeMoss/2008/01/01/covering_the_conservative_bases_why_mitt_romney_does_it_best

COLLEGE CAREERS NOT NECESSARY

The following article from Eagle Forum was forwarded to RiteOn.org by Contributor JH of Galveston, TX)
************
College Not Necessary for Many New Careers
January 2, 2007
by Phyllis Schlafly

U.S. News & World Report, which has made a name for itself by ranking and announcing the Best Colleges every year, is now ranking and listing the Best Careers for young people. A comparison of the latest lists shows a shocking disconnect and makes for dispiriting holiday reading.

While the price of a college education has skyrocketed far faster than inflation, many careers for which colleges prepare their graduates are disappearing. U.S. News' Best Careers guide concludes that "college grads might want to consider blue-collar careers" because B.A. diploma holders "are having trouble finding jobs that require college-graduate skills."

Incredibly, U.S. News is telling college graduates to look for jobs that do not require a college diploma. Among the 31 best opportunities for 2008 are... (click the link to continue...)

FROM CANADA ...THE OBVIOUS!

Theo Caldwell,  National Post (Canada) Wednesday,
December 26, 2007

An obvious choice can  be unnerving. When the apparent perfection of one option or the  unspeakable awfulness of another makes a decision seem too  easy, it is human nature to become  suspicious.

This instinct intensifies as the stakes  of the given choice are raised. American voters know no  greater responsibility to their country and to the  world than to select their president wisely. While we do not  yet know who the Democrat and Republican nominees will be, any  combination of the leading candidates from either party will make for  the most obvious choice put to American voters in  a generation. To wit, none of the Democrats has any business  being president.

This pronouncement has less to do  with any apparent perfection among the Republican candidates than  with the intellectual and experiential paucity evinced  by the Democratic field. “Not ready for prime time,” goes  the vernacular, but this does not suffice to describe how bad things  are. Alongside Hillary Clinton, add Barack Obama’s kindergarten  essays to an already confused conversation about  Dennis Kucinich’s UFO sightings, dueling  celebrity endorsements and who can be quickest to retreat  from America’s global conflict and raise taxes on  the American people, and it becomes clear that these  are profoundly unserious individuals.

To be  sure, there has been a fair amount of rubbish and rhubarb on the  Republican side (Ron Paul, call your office), but even a cursory  review of the legislative and professional records of the  leading contenders from each party reveals a disparity  akin to adults competing with children.

For  the Republicans, Rudy Giuliani served as a two-term mayor of New York  City, turning a budget deficit into a surplus and taming what was  thought to be an ungovernable metropolis. Prior to that,  he held the third-highest rank in the Reagan  Justice Department, obtaining over 4,000 convictions.  Mitt Romney, before serving as governor of  Massachusetts, founded a venture capital firm that created  billions of dollars in shareholder value, and he then went  on to save the Salt Lake City Olympics. While much is made  of Mike Huckabee’s history as a Baptist minister, he was also a  governor for more than a decade and, while Arkansas is hardly a  “cradle of presidents,” it has launched at least one  previous chief executive to national office. John  McCain’s legislative and military career spans five  decades, with half that time having been spent in  the Congress. Even Fred Thompson, whose excess  of nonchalance has transformed his once-promising campaign  into nothing more than a theoretical poss ibility, has more  experience in the U.S. Senate than any of the leading Democratic  candidates.

With just over one term as a Senator to her  credit, Hillary Clinton boasts the most extensive record  of the potential Democratic nominees. In that time, Senator  Clinton cannot claim a single legislative accomplishment of note, and  she is best known lately for requesting $1-million from Congress for  a museum to commemorate Woodstock.

Barack  Obama is nearing the halfway point of his first term in the Senate,  having previously served as an Illinois state legislator and, as  Clinton has correctly pointed out, has done nothing but run  for president since he first arrived in Washington.  Between  calling for the invasion of Pakistan and fumbling a simple question  on driver’s licenses for illegal aliens, Obama has shown that he is  not the fellow to whom the nation ought to hike the  nuclear football.

John Edwards, meanwhile, embodies the  adage that the American people will elect anyone to Congress  -- once. From his $1,200 haircuts to his personal war on  poverty, proclaimed from the porch of his 28,000-square-foot home,  purchased with the proceeds of preposterous lawsuits exploiting  infant cerebral palsy, Edwards is living proof that history can  play out as tragedy and farce  simultaneously.
Forget for a moment all that you  believe about public policy. Discard your notions about taxes  and Iraq, free trade and crime, and consider solely  the experience of these two sets of candidates. Is there any  serious issue that you would prefer to entrust to a person with the  Democrats’ experience, rather than that of any of the  Republicans?

Now consider the state of debate in each  party.  While the Republicans compare tax proposals and  the best way to prosecute the War on Terror, Democrats are  divining the patterns and meaning of the glitter and dried macaroni  glued to the page of one of their leading candidate’s kindergarten  projects.

Does this decision not become unsettlingly  simple?

ROMNEY SHOULD BE THE REPUBLICAN CHOICE IN IOWA

With the Iowa Caucuses upon us, Governor Romney should be the Republican choice ...Whether he is or is not remains to be seen, but, at this point, he would be our choice.

Forgive us for not including Democrat candidates in today's commentary. We feel they are incapable, for reasons too numerous to mention, of providing the sort of leadership needed at this time in our country's history. Today, more than ever, we need genuine Reagan Conservatism and that is as far from the current set of Democrat candidates' views as we can imagine.

Realistically, in considering ANY political candidate outside of local elections, it's a fact that we do not REALLY KNOW them. This is no earthshaking observation and most people realize the truth of it. Perhaps this realization is a factor behind the low voter turnout, even in very important elections.

If one accepts this circumstance as a given, we must then decide, as individual voters, who has presented the best "image" and, difficult as it is, try to get past the sound bytes and slicked up images to see the REAL candidates. It's difficult! In the election process, the "image makers" exert undue influence. They play a powerful role, but anyone who has been involved in politics on almost any level, realizes that the "image makers" can still be fooled by the voters. Most politicians have a great fear that their highly paid professional advisers (image makers) are "getting it wrong."

Having observed what we have up to this point, there are serious questions surrounding every candidate. As we approach the watershed elections of 2008, these questions need to be addressed. Therefore, the choice is difficult among Republicans as to who is going to do what they say they are going to do. After all, that's what it's all about! Considering what we have seen and heard from Governor Romney thus far, we believe his background, resolve and experience will stand more for conservative values than will that of any of the others. Another factor, though not the most important one, is, considering the other contenders, we believe he has the best chance to win the White House in a race against any Democrat.

HILLARY TALE

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Wednesday, January 02, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Politics: Hillary Clinton's gaffes on Pakistan's elections expose one of the most persistent myths of the election sweepstakes: that the former first lady is "experienced" and ready to "hit the ground running" as president.
--------
Last week, with the Iowa caucuses just around the corner, Sen. Clinton remarked to CNN on the upcoming Pakistan elections in the aftermath of the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. "If President Musharraf wishes to stand for election," she said, "then he should abide by the same rules that every other candidate will have to follow."

In fact, the upcoming elections in the country are for the next parliament; Musharraf was re-elected president for another five-year term in October.

That might be forgiven as a momentary lapse, except that last Sunday, speaking to ABC, Hillary did it again — more explicitly — contending that Musharraf "could be the only person on the ballot."

Of course, neither CNN's Wolf Blitzer nor ABC's George Stephanopoulos jumped on this while interviewing her. Nor did anyone in the establishment media mention the gaffe in the following days.

It took Thomas Houlahan, former Army officer and director of the Military Assessment Program at the Center for Security and Science at James Madison University, writing in the Middle East Times, to point it out.

"Pakistan?" the columnist says he asked himself. "A nuclear power? A front-line ally in the war on terror? A country that's been in the news an awful lot in the past few months? 'C'mon,' I told myself. 'A candidate with all of those advisers has got to know at least the basics about Pakistan's political system.' "

But "no such luck," Houlahan concluded.

And that was not even the extent of Hillary's gaffe on ABC. "I think it will be very difficult to have a real election," she said. "You know, (opposition party leader) Nawaz Sharif has said he's not going to compete."

In fact, Sharif can't compete because he's been convicted of a felony.

Think about it: Hillary Clinton began her "experience" in the White House 15 years ago this month. She spent eight years there, supposedly deeply involved in her husband's presidency. Today she's exactly seven years a member of the Senate, where she sits on the Armed Services Committee. In her campaign for president, she has for many months now been surrounded by foreign policy experts.

Yet despite all the knowledge that all that "experience" should give, in the days after an important assassination in a highly sensitive region she shows herself to be profoundly muddled on the Islamic powder keg of Pakistan.

Is the whole image of Hillary Clinton as the sharpest, brainiest Democrat in the field really just a carefully crafted fairy tale?

HUCKABEE AND HILLARY...(and "ROSIE")

Sent to RiteOn.org by Contributors CBH and GC, of St Louis and St Charles, Missouri...
********************
This quote from Doug Giles column yesterday is too good to not pass around...

"The thought of having to choose between Huckabee and Hillary (or whomever the Left tosses up) come November 2008 is about as appealing to me as the option of watching Rosie O’Donnell river dance naked at 11:00 PM verses watching Rosie O’Donnell river dance naked at 11:15 PM.
........ Both options bite."