The Way I See ItBy cj pollickParking Garage On Clearwater Beach - Once again the parking garage issue for Clearwater Beach has been pushed to the next city council meeting. (tonight) From the days when Rita Garvey was mayor of Clearwater, a new parking garage for Clearwater Beach has been discussed, debated and tabled. Perhaps this evening will be the time for a city council decision on this important parking matter. Best location for a beach parking garage? It's time for a decision. Britts or Hamden and Fifth? (Britts appears to be the best option at this time.) Build It, Repair It, and Pay For It - Tampa Bay Water approved spending about $125 million to repair its water reservoir (that only cost $145 million to construct). They say it is a design flaw and now blame the engineers. Blame? No, put the engineering firm on legal notice. Why punish taxpayers? Lock Your Car - So says the flashing sign at the west side of the Belleair Causeway, don't be a victim of vehicle burglary! State Increases Fees, Same For The School Board - Fees, taxes, what the heck is the difference? Our state legislators just increased fees on just about everything possible - licenses, permits, etc. Now comes our local school board who supports increasing property taxes to pay for added expenses they have not cut from their budget. Don't these people understand we are in a recession? Increases taxes and fees while unemployment grows? Ridiculous. Democrats Call It Fair Districts Florida, But There Is More - When you have Democrat faithfuls Bob Graham and Janet Reno running your Board Of Directors you could count on one thing: biased political agenda. That is who, in part, is behind a nice sounding group called Fair Districts Florida. Yes, this biased group intends to change the way voting districts are constructed in Florida. The goal: sway the districts in favor of their political ideology because districts have changed since they controlled voting districts. Who is working for them in obtaining petitions? Yep, ACORN. The same group that is under investigation in several states and where a board member resigned and claimed on national television that they have covered-up internal embezzlements of funds. Yes, the same ACORN that has a Louisiana address with many corporations using the same "side-street" address. Funds obviously flow freely at ACORN and the group is being used to obtain petitions for certain political organizations. When you see the names Bob Graham and Janet Reno behind the program, you know it has a liberal political agenda. Before you sign a petition for a more fair Florida, read the small print ... and ask if the people passing out the petitions if they are being paid by an ACORN organization. MSN Money Customer Hall Of Shame - If you are one of the largest retail companies operating in America, you probably have a customer satisfaction department. After all, in a deep recession you would probably want to keep as many current customers as happy as possible. According to a survey made in April, the following large retail companies made the MSN Money Hall Of Shame List: (1) AOL (2) Comcast (3) Sprint (4) Capital One (5) Time Warner (6) HSBC (7) QWEST (8) Abercrombie & Fitch (9) Bank of America (10) Citigroup. Wal-Mart, interestingly enough, received higher customer ratings than the year before. One-hundred-forty-five (145) large retail companies were a part of the customer survey. The bad news? Nine of the top ten "worst" companies, according to the survey, were repeat offenders. How Bad Is Chrysler? - Chrysler is losing about a $100 million a day (even while in Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.) It was reported that if Chrysler was liquidated, about 29 cents on the dollar might have been repaid to debt-holders. Instead, FIAT will become the new operating partner of Chrysler and the US government will become shareholders. Chrysler will continue to make cars, but under new management. Jobs will be lost, subcontractors will be cancelled, and many of the old Chrysler cars will become extinct (collector cars). The ultimate economic loss of a post-bankrupt Chrysler will be felt by many people and companies across America. How bad was/is Chrysler? Bad, and perhaps worse than bad. Not A Good Picture - It was reported that China holds over $2.7 trillion of US Treasury Bills and our Treasury Secretary was in China to inform those leaders that their investment in America was rock-solid. To which, Chinese leaders had a good chuckle. Asia is booming and China has clearly replaced the US as the source for global economic help. Yes, an amazing picture of how far America has fallen in the world of global finance. What has helped to cause the decline of American prosperity? Bad laws and bad management. What bank in China would allow a default rate on loans to exceed 10% of all loans? None. Yet, Bank of America default rate (on loans the bank does not expect to be repaid) recently rose to 12.50%, an enormous sum of money. AMEX reported a 10.4% credit card default rate, which was higher than the previous month, while most credit card companies are carrying at least a 10% default rate. This is a default rate. Is there any wonder why these institutions are in trouble and seeking federal taxpayer funds? We can't let them fail, says President Obama to the dwindling numbers of US taxpayers who back the US loans he is passing-out in record numbers. Obama Healthcare Begins To Unravel - President Obama credits himself as one gifted speaker. However, when recently speaking to the American Medical Association, Obama tried to smooth-talk physicians with his rhetoric about better healthcare while supporting the trial lawyers who do not support limits on medical malpractice lawsuits. "Let me make this clear," Obama stated with a smile, "I do not support limits on malpractice suits." Of course, what is also a part of Obamacare is a list of other concerns by medical practitioners, hospitals, insurers and consumers. For example, where would the money come from to fund another $1.5 trillion federal healthcare plan? Would older people be forced to pay higher taxes and higher premiums for Medicare? Who would decide what benefits are allowable or refundable by the government? Federal managed care? How would hospitals operate with financial cuts by the government medical reimbursement schedule? If any federal healthcare plan is tax exempt, unlike tax paying private insurers, how could private insurers compete in the marketplace with the government plan? Would all customers pay taxes on the healthcare premiums paid by employers or individuals? Would lawyers have unbridled rights to sue doctors for malpractice without limits on amounts or total legal fees? The list of questions regarding Obamacare are endless. Yet, this multi-faceted problem is being pushed through Congress at a record pace. Why? More federal socialism and more big government, thanks to our liberal Congress and President. What if $1.5 trillion per year is not enough money to fund Obamacare? More federal taxes and premium rate hikes. Then again, where would the money come from to provide Social Security benefits when it goes broke in several years? Tax young workers? When would these young workers say enough is enough and Social Security collapses... forever? As we all know, there is no free lunch in life and someone will end-up paying for all of these creative ideas. Luxury - On the soft bed of luxury most kingdoms have expired. - Edward Young |