One element missing

Commentary
Anna Liisa Covell


If fairy tales usually begin with "once upon a time,"  where are the gnomes, fairies and elves? 


Congress struck a deal last night to extend the payroll tax cuts and long-term unemployment benefits through 2012.  But there's one element missing - the truth.


The payroll tax cuts are being robbed from personal Social Security accounts to cover up the tax increase imposed on payroll in 2010 by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.  It was a smooth, slick transition to deceive people into believing Democrats actually believe in tax reduction.


The current "payroll tax cuts" is a buzz phrase to make people think the federal government is lowering their tax rate.  Nothing could be farther than the truth.  These "cuts" are targeted at an individual's Social Security account.  The federal government hasn't cut anything except the benefits going into individual Social Security accounts.  


Federal withholding taxes actually increased under the Pelosi-Reid agreement but no one blinked an eye.  Withholding rate increases weren't imposed until months later when no one was paying attention.  


With the economy in the ditch, no employees are complaining where the current "payroll tax cuts" are coming from because they have to put food on the table, feed their children and pay light bills.  The group of people who should be concerned with these generous "congressional cuts" are the ones reaching retirement age.  The two percent reduction is coming directly out of  their retirement accounts.


Federal-farce number two concerns the long-term unemployment benefits.  Congress doles these extensions out like their are giving Trick or Treat candy at Halloween.  Congress endears themselves to the unemployed on the backs of every business in America.  Business pays into the state and federal system for unemployment funds. Now business is being put on it's knees with another extension that will prolong the malaise - the malaise created by government, prolonged by government and perpetrated by government.


Florida's unemployment fund went broke in July 2009.  Florida Department of Revenue just sent out bills to every business in the state to pay the interest on the loans from the federal government to prop up the state's unemployment fund.  Congressional members have really given a new meaning the phrase corporate welfare which bankrupted  Florida's Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund.


We're existing on borrowed money from business  to prop-up the generous benefits our illustrious congressional leaders for extended unemployment benefits.


Maybe this is a fairy tale ... a fairy tale of big, bad wolves knocking on your door.  When you answer, the voice on the other side says, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."

Nugent sends Reid a letter

REP NUGENT:  “It’s time for the Senate to show Americans where they stand.”

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Yesterday, Rep. Rich Nugent (FL-05) led more than thirty of his colleagues in sending the letter below to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urging him to reconsider his decision not to pass a 2013 budget resolution this year.

Upon sending the letter to Reid and receiving the President’s own budget request, Rep. Nugent issued the following statement:

“A few weeks ago, we just passed the milestone of 1,000 days without a Senate budget. And now, barely six weeks into 2012, Harry Reid is already saying he’s going to throw in the towel again this year.

“On January 24th, over 400 of my colleagues voted in favor of a resolution I introduced expressing the national importance of passing a budget resolution. I think it is a real testament to the bipartisan frustration that the House feels over the complete and total inaction in the Senate.

“The President has submitted his budget request and the House will put forward its budget plan later next month. If the Senate refuses to tell us what they will support by putting out their own budget, it’s nearly impossible to get anything accomplished.  We’re headed for the fourth straight year without a blueprint from the Senate. Beyond that, there are twenty--eight job related bills that have passed the House, some with over 400 votes in support, that haven't even been brought up for debate in the Senate.  The Senate can't continue ducking like this forever.  It's time for the Senate to show Americans where they stand."

Sen. Harry Reid

Majority leader

United States Senate

528 Hart Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Leader Reid,

We are barely past the 1,000 day mark without a Senate budget and little more than four weeks into the new year, and already you are making it clear that you do not intend to bring a budget to the floor of the United States Senate for Fiscal Year 2013.

Despite an overwhelming, bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives underscoring the national importance of passing a budget, the Senate apparently isn’t even going to try.

Leader Reid, it is hard to know where to begin trying to explain the Senate’s inaction to the people we represent. The nation is facing unprecedented levels of debt, the Congressional Budget Office is projecting trillion-dollar per year deficits for the balance of the decade, and the United States Congress has presented no bicameral proposal to the American people about how we intend to deal with it. That is wholly unacceptable.

In the real world, families must live within a budget, small businesses and farms must operate within a budget, and state and local governments must live within a budget. The only institution in this country that we are aware of that doesn’t feel the need to operate under a budget is the United States Senate.

We urge you, in the strongest terms possible, to reconsider your decision not to bring a budget resolution to the Senate floor. Mr. Leader, the American people are saying, “We can’t wait.”

Sincerely,

Richard B. Nugent

A vote is sacred

Editorial
Anna Liisa Covell

Today is election day - the day citizens finally get to voice their own opinion at the polls.

No more polling data for Floridians. This is where the rubber meets the road.  Who do you want as your Republican nominee for November elections?

For months, media has jammed unwanted opinions in our faces - opinions about their choice for the best Republican candidate for president. No wonder no one trusts honest journalists.  They are a rare breed in today's world of media glitz.

Don't let any polling data fool you into changing your vote...a vote is sacred to the America way of life.

Just remember in the words of Franklin D. Roosevelt, "An election cannot give a country a firm sense of direction if it has two or more national parties which merely have different names, but are as alike in their principals and aims as two peas in the same pod."

Keep this in mind when you vote next week

Brooksville, Fla. - Local county chairman gives food for thought as we approach election day.

Blaise Ingoglia, local chairman of Hernando County Republican Executive Committee makes sound points on economy as the Florida Presidential Preference Primary approaches next week.

Ingoglia states the best investment in our country is to be poor.  He contends low income citizens receive benefits equaling 10 dollars for every one dollar paid in taxes.  

Statistics indicate 144 million people, or 47 percent of the population, pay little or no taxes in our country under President Barrack Obama's administration. The number of low income people has increased 28 percent since President Ronald Reagan was in office. 

Nugent announces new USO Center

REP NUGENT:  “The USO Tampa project speaks volumes about the level of 

commitment in Florida to our troops and their families.”

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Following the announcement of final approval for a USO Center at Tampa International Airport, Rep. Rich Nugent (FL-05) released the following statement:

“Congratulations are in order for the team behind the USO Center project at Tampa International Airport.  As the staff at USO Headquarters put it, ‘Many have applied, but this is the first Chartered USO Center approved in the nation in over 20 years.’

“The USO Tampa Bay Board of Directors deserves a lot of credit for putting together a workable plan for the new center and seeing it through.  Hundreds of thousands of military personnel and their families will be served by this new center and as a father of three soldiers, I know how much means to our troops.

“Make no mistake about it, this is an all-volunteer, all-donation based project and their success so far speaks volumes about the level of commitment in Florida to our troops and their families. 

“It means a lot to our troops that this group of volunteers set out to try and get a new center approved, but to have the care and dedication needed to actually pull it off, that means the world.”  

Purple heart ceremony

Announcement

Seventh Annual Purple Heart Ceremony 

The combat wounded Patriots of Aaron A. Weaver Chapter 776 Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) cordially invite all veterans and the public to attend the Seventh Annual Purple Heart Ceremony at the Florida National Guard Armory, Crystal River, 11 a.m., Saturday, February 18. 

The ceremony will commemorate the proud legacy of the Purple Heart and pay tribute to Florida’s fallen heroes of the Global War on Terror and America’s wounded warriors.  The ceremony will also feature the MOPH Department of Florida Afghanistan/Iraq War Memorial Portrait Mural. The mural honors over 300 Floridians who have fallen during the Afghanistan/Iraq campaigns and is the first memorial to bear both the engraved names and color portraits of those who fell.  Vocalists Paul and Jackie Stevio will provide patriotic music. 

For more information, visit the Chapter 776 web site at www.citruspurpleheart.org

No chain of command exists for leadership change

Brooksville, Fla. - The local civil rights organization is working under the assumption they have no chain of command to replace their outgoing president.

The president of NAACP/Chapter 5092 was met with disheartening news from their national office as he geared up to run for Hernando County Commission, district 5. The national office of  NAACP called to say they wanted his resignation due to a prior precedent set within their organization.  When the local president officially becomes qualified as a candidate he will have to step down.

Executive directors for the civil rights organization will decide the method of replacement for the outgoing president in a closed-door meeting later this month. A majority vote by their general membership is necessary to approve the executive directors' decision.

According to Suzanne Touchton, secretary for NAACP/Chapter 5092, the group is working on the assumption they have no vice presidents to assume the leadership position with the pending resignation of their president, Paul Douglas.  "Under normal circumstances we would have three vice presidents at our local chapter for replacement through succession," Touchton said.

Paul Douglas indicated he misspoke when he prematurely announced he would resign his position as president of local chapter of the NAACP in December.  "I just couldn't walk away from the organization after our only vice president, Ron Swanson told me he wouldn't take the position as president," Douglas said.

Paul Boston, community activist, made his intentions clear at their December meeting.  He announced he wanted to run for president of the organization when Douglas officially turns in his resignation. It is Boston's understanding an election would need to take place within 30 days to replace the outgoing president.  

"It is just something I remember," Boston said.  "But you might ask the secretary in charge of elections."

According the Touchton, their bylaws don't have provisions for officer replacement without a proper chain of command in place.  She said the bylaws only cover how bi-annual elections are conducted which is why the executive director will set up procedures at their closed-door meeting later this month.

Douglas intends to nominate Andrew Williams as a vice president for continuity within their organization.   Williams is the husband of Annie Williams, supervisor of elections.  He is also a past-president of the local NAACP.

"I want proper authority in place," Douglas said, before he turns in his resignation to the organization.