E. Paul Stanley.Com

You have heard me say before that when government has to reduce spending, they do so in the way that is most inconvenient to the public.  The normal way to take care of budget shortfalls in government is to raise taxes.  Almost all the Republicans have agreed not to do that now.  In our area, I would like to thank Sen. Lee Hawkins and Reps. James Mills and Carl Rogers for signing the no-tax pledge.  http://www.atr.org/userfiles/State%20Taxpayer%20Protection%20Pledge%20List(9).pdf  It is good to see Real Republicans in action!  The only way to limit government, is to limit government income–the more government has, the more it wants.

Look at the budget “solutions” we hear about daily.  Closing schools, police precincts, and fire houses.  Closing dumps early.  Furloughs for cops and prosecutors.  Seriously?  These are examples of politicians trying to scare youand me into agreeing to increases in taxes.  They say that there is no other way.  Seriously?  How about not paying your buddy $78,000 to chat with you informally about stuff?  How about turning in the keys to the county vehicles for all but emergency personnel.  What about making the school “officials” get out there and teach a class or substitute once in awhile.  Stop travel to exotic locations for “training” classes.  Cut from the top first.  But government can’t do that because the “top” officials don’t deal with the public, and won’t get any sympathy.

In our private lives, when times get tough we all know what we do.  We cancel vacations, don’t go out to eat, keep the old car, get rid of luxury items (e.g. cable TV, magazine subscriptions), shop smarter and look for sales.  We take one trip to do everything instead of doing several.  We eat Ramen.  The kids play in the yard.

Government does none of those things.  They reclassify everything that is a “luxury” as a necessity.  They get the name brands because they already have the bid.  They spend $1 to save $.50.  They drive all over all day long on company time, in a company car, with company gas–to eat lunch.

Time for all that to come to an end.  If there is a furlough for workers, then the managers should get double time off.  AND NO FURLOUGHS FOR SALARIED EMPLOYESS UNLESS THEIR PAY IS “DOCKED.”  Otherwise it is just a paid day off.  As to elected officials, I can just say that I were one, I would be present for duty every day even if I had to sit in the parking lot in my own car for 8 hours.  Turn in the keys to all the government cars today.  Walk.  Get rid of consultants and use your qualified employees (or get rid of unqualified employees).  Make the cuts from the top.  Make it inconvenient and uncomfortable for those on the top and let the workers provide the necessary health, safety, welfare, and education services we the Citizens have already paid for.  And don’t come to us with your hand out–our pockets are empty.

When you don’t have any money, do you go on vacation?  When your home is in foreclosure, do you go buy some new jewelery?  So why in the midst of the worst recession since the 1930’s Great Depression is Hall County Government putting a library or a park on every street corner?  (Don’t give me any crap about this money has to be spent because it is in the budget blah, blah, blah.)  They furlough prosecutors, cops, and firemen to save a dollar, but God forbid that we don’t a spend bundle to put a library miles from the nearest town and (that is going to require employees and maintenance forever and ever Amen).  Tightening your belt means STOP SPENDING MONEY and making hard choices about priorities.  Cops versus library?  Simple answer.  Public safety comes first.  It is a basic function of government.  Library?  Wait until better times.  The Commissioner from that district was opposed to it.  The lone Democrat on the Board supported it.  See a pattern?  Hello?  Is this thing on….

According to my good friend Craig Lutz, (http://vote4lutz.com/blog.htm) the Commission urged passage of SPLOST IV in part to purchase property to put a library in Clermont.  SPLOST VI narrowly passed.  Now the Commission is going to leave the property fallow in Clermont and put the library in the boondocks.  So has the Commission opened up themselves to another lawsuit over a broken promise?  No matter the promise, now is not the time to build a new anything except on an emergency basis.

Next time vote NO for any SPLOST or any other tax.  The only way to limit government is to limit government income.  The more they have, the more they want.

Americans don’t like being told what to do.  Period.  Dimocrats want to tell others what to do because they think they know better than the poor proletariat what is good for “the people.”  RINOs want to tell others what to do because they forget they are supposed to be Republicans and they still think like Dimocrats (see above).  The Obamanation wants to tell everyone what to do because he thinks he is God (or if he prefers, Allah) and is omniscient.   Health care “reform” is just another way to tell Americans what to do with their personal medical care.  Now Independent and Democratic voters have had their say.  The voters have handed Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat to a Republican.  Ted Kennedy?!  The Dimocrat of Dimocrats?!  The king of health care.  It looks like the most Dimocratic state in the nation just said NO to being told what to do.  I guess now Ted is turning in his grave (and maybe Mary Jo Kopechne can finally rest.)  And Hillary is laughing….

The question of the day is whether the Dimocrats will listen or not.  The next question is whether the RINOs will pull their heads out of the Washington hog trough and start acting like Real Republicans.  The most important question then is whether the few Real Republicans will become a part of the surge and lead a Washington takeover or whether they will recede into obscurity, be replaced, or both.  You don’t have to be a prophet to see that the future holds problems for those that do not listen and learn.