The Way I See ItBy cj pollickTropical Storm Fay - On Tuesday Tropical Storm Fay landed at Cape Romano, south of Naples, and headed northeast across the state. Fay landed with winds clocked at 60 mph, just under the 74 mph needed for a Class I hurricane. Fortunately, Cape Romano is not a highly developed area and, therefore, the high winds and rain did minimal damage. Had Fay made landfall at Naples, only about 30 miles north, the damage would have been much more significant. Yes, many people prepared for the worst -- and, that was a good thing. Vote Next Tuesday – There is no duty to vote next Tuesday, voting in America is one of our rights. However, and regardless of one’s political views, every eligible voter is encouraged to vote next week. Nevertheless, and due to Florida’s Judicial Gag Order, which prohibits judges from announcing their views on issues, not many voters will know how judicial candidates feel about important issues Best source for information about judges? Judicial Voter Guide. www.Flfamily.org. Be an informed voter and remember, every vote counts. Stein Mart Asks For Taxpayers To Cover Losses - In a most unusual letter sent to Clearwater Assistant City Manager Rod Irwin last week from Kirk V. Light, VP Real Estate for Stein Mart Corp., Stein Mart is asking for the City of Clearwater not to charge them any more lease payments at Harborview Center for the next two years (about $150,000) and further contribute $120,000 ($10,000 per month) to help offset losses Stein Mart is incurring by remaining in downtown Clearwater. Thus, and according to Stein Mart, they would like Clearwater (and its taxpayers) to assure Stein Mart that it would not lose money by remaining in downtown Clearwater. Is this amazing, or what? Hmmm, if the city agrees to this ridiculous proposal, maybe they will agree to offset financial losses to other Clearwater businesses that lost money while downtown Clearwater was under construction. No lease payments at Harborview Center? Where can other hard-working Clearwater business owners sign-up? Free rent plus cash, are they kidding? Perhaps this is the only way Stein Mart can say adios to Clearwater. Who Is Rich? - After listening to Senators John McCain and Barack Obama respond to a few questions presented by Rick Warren (pastor and author of the best selling book The Purpose Driven Life), one thing is clear: There are major differences of opinions by these two candidates. For example, when asked how to define who is rich, Sen. Obama said a family that earns about $250,000 is rich. Sen. McCain said a family that earns about $5 million is rich. By that definition, both candidates are rich (multi-millionaires each.) Perhaps what was not said was more important, each candidate would likely apply taxes according to how they would define rich. If your family income is $250,000 do you think you are rich? Regarding abortion, the answers were more clear: McCain believes life begins at conception, Obama believes in abortion. Both candidates were honest and forthright regarding their opinions on this issue. However, the next President might appoint at least two Supreme Court Justices. The issue of taxes brought more insight of differences of opinions: McCain believes it would be a huge mistake to increase taxes during a declining economy, Obama believes there must be immediate tax increases to raise federal funds. Offshore drilling? McCain supports offshore and onshore drilling to help remove our nation's dependence on foreign oil supplies. Obama does not fully support such oil drilling in light of environmental dangers. Finally, the two candidates have begun to "come clean" about their differences of opinions regarding important national issues that have been kept silent by a biased media. VP Choices - The national media is saying Sen. Obama will disclose his VP running-mate the end of this week. Likely candidates are Evan Bayh, Joe Biden and Tim Kaine. Joe Biden is the expected choice. Sen. McCain has not revealed his top choice as a running-mate. Likely candidates are Bobby Jindal, Mitt Romney and Joe Lieberman. How important are VP running-mates? Important. If a running-mate can help swing just one “toss-up” state in the election it would have been a wise choice. Best choice for Obama? The Way I See It, the best choice would be Hillary Clinton, Evan Bayh and Joe Biden, in that order. Best choice for McCain? Mitt Romney. The Dollar Is Coming Back? - One international investment guru stated that investors should be careful in dealing with international funds, in part, due to a declining U.S. dollar. When the U.S. dollar begins to regain strength, as he predicts, those international investors might consider other investment opportunities instead of foreign corporations. Oil prices are dropping, gold and metal prices are dropping, the U.S. dollar is gaining strength, the Euro and Pound are dropping ... all things the investment guru stated to follow when considering putting money in foreign investments. Of course, don't tell that news to Home Depot, Lowe's, Target, etc., they have all posted lower corporate earnings due to our nation's economy. In fact, and according to an article published in the Wall Street Journal titled America The Uncompetitive, "the new international tax rankings are out for 2008, and congratulations to Washington, D.C., are again in order... we rank as the second highest corporate tax rate in the world at 39.3 percent." Only Japan has higher taxes and we will pass them next year. “For the first time in history, our U.S. statutory tax rate is now 50 percent higher than the average of our international competitors.” How long can U.S. corporations compete with this huge tax disadvantage? Clearly this large tax burden causes U.S. corporations to put certain jobs offshore, thus, helping to eliminate jobs in America. Furthermore, high corporate taxes helps to push U.S. capital offshore, stated the Wall Street Journal article. How has House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) handled this important matter? She put Congress in recess (vacation) for the next five weeks. Now, that's government working for the people. Yet, and at the same time, our U.S. Congress has not passed-up a pay raise or increase in benefits. "In the past 18 months," stated Wall Street Journal, "nine of the 30 most developed nations and 20 countries worldwide-from Israel to Germany to Turkey-have cut their corporate tax rates." Why, then, would candidate Sen. Barack Obama say he would increase taxes? Sen. McCain said he "would cut corporate taxes to 25 percent, but even then the U.S. would have a tax rate 5 percent above the global average." Elvis Presley – King of Rock & Roll - died August 16, 1977. Many Elvis fans observed the 31st anniversary of his premature death. Globally, he sold over one billion records, more than any other artist. Elvis was truly the best entertainer of all time – the king Thousands of people regularly visit his home “Graceland” in Memphis every year. Elvis – King of Rock & Roll and still earning millions of dollars from the grave. Success – Henry Ford once said, “Successes come in cans, failures come in can’ts.” |