Call to Action: Cut, Cap, Balance Vote Tomorrow
Hello Friends and Fellow Patriots,
Tomorrow, Tuesday, July 19th, the US House of Representatives will be voting on the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011. Even though President Obama has vowed to veto this bill, it will make a statement to our country that our representatives are ready to take a stand for:
- Substantial cuts in spending
- Enforceable spending caps
- Congressional passage of a Balanced Budge Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that includes a spending limitation an a super-majority vote to raise taxes before the debit ceiling can be raised.
Please contact your Representative today to ask for him to co-sponsor and vote Yes on the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011.
Here are some facts that you can use to support this stance:
- The debt held by the public has more than doubled in just the past five years. Interest paid on the national debt is expected to more than triple over the next ten years.
- Many economists believe the US faces a Greek-style debt crisis within the next five years if we do not get our fiscal house in order very soon.
- The federal government has hit the $14.292 trillion debt limit set in February 2010. Raising the debt ceiling without significant spending cuts is simply a tax increase on future generations.
- Moody’s Investors Services has said the AAA rating of US government bonds is in jeopardy unless Congress passes “a budget that includes long-term deficit reduction.”
- Standard & Poor’s has said it will downgrade US debt if the US doesn’t 1) cut spending substantially and 2) REFORM the way it budgets, to control future spending.
- The Cut Cap and Balance Act (CCB) would meet the tests set forth by Moody’s and S&P, so we never again face this kind of debt problem. In short, “CCB=AAA.”
- The Cut, Cap, and Balance Act is a long-term deficit reduction package that will ensure we get back on the path of fiscal sanity and are not downgraded from our AAA bond rating.
For your convenience, here are the US Congressmen from Palm Beach County and their contact information. To email them directly, just click on the link after their name.
Tom Rooney (R-16)
https://forms.house.gov/rooney/webforms/issue_subscribe.html
Washington Office Tel: (202) 225-5792 Fax: (202) 225-3132
Stuart Office (772) 288-4668 Fax: (772) 288-4631
Ted Deutch (D-19)
https://teddeutch.house.gov/Forms/WriteYourRep/default.aspx
Washington Office Tel: (202) 225-3001 Fax: (202) 225-5974
Boca Raton Office Tel: (561) 988-6302 or (561) 732-4000
Allen West (R-22)
https://forms.house.gov/west/webforms/contact-form.shtml
Washington Office Tel: (202) 225-3026 Fax: (202) 225-8398
West Palm Beach Office Tel: (561) 655-1943 Fax: (561) 655-8018
Alcee Hastings (D-23)
https://forms.house.gov/alceehastings/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm
Washington Office Tel: (202) 225-131 Fax: (202) 225-1171
Delray Beach City Hall Tel: (561) 243-7042 Fax: (561) 243-7327
Thank you for taking this action TODAY!
My Father’s Democrats
My father was a staunch democrat. In his day he believed the democrat party was for the working man. He believed in the unions. He believed in protecting the little guy. In his day maybe he was right. I know his values were right. I know he practiced those values in his everyday life. I know he looked for an opportunity to do his “Good Deed” for the day. It could be as simple as helping someone to fix a flat tire to bringing vegetables he grew to a neighbor.
He was a man that was proud of America. He was proud of his party. Today I know he would not only be upset with the whole process, he would be disgusted with the democrats. If he was able to see and read bill S679, Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011, he would be smart enough to realize this is a path to dictatorship. This bill has passed the senate. He would know both parties that sponsored this bill are NOT constitutionally minded patriots.
I hope everyone goes to govtrack and reads this bill and knows who voted yea and who voted nay.
Please note Marco Rubio voted nay. Thank God we have some freshmen in office who want to protect the American way.
To my Dad RIP, I love you.
Palm Beach Gardens City Council Mtg 7/19 – a Call to Action
Palm Beach Gardens residents should be aware of several items on the Agenda (and one that no longer is):
Ordinance 11, 2011 – not on Agenda:
Second reading of Ordinance 11, 2011 was removed from the agenda. This was the ordinance that made the change, among other things, to the election run-off process – essentially eliminating run-off except in the case of a tie. Purportedly this would save between $10000 and $40000 or so per run-off. Changes to the charter require a referendum – and so too would this change. According to Max Lohman, City Attorney – this change will be considered for the upcoming charter review, changes to which will require citizen votes. Had it been on the agenda – it would have passed and parts of it would have not have been valid without referendum. What would that have cost the city?
Ordinance 13, 2011, Increasing the Local Communications Service Tax Rate – First Reading:
This 2012 budget related item would increase the Local Communications Service Tax from its current rate of 1.5% to the maximum allowed by state statutes to 5.22% effective January 1, 2012, “on all sales of communications services within the City. These services include telephone (including cellular), cable TV, and internet fees, both residential and commercial.” This is technically a 248% increase! But it will probably be described as ‘pennies a day’!
The effects of the proposed change on two sample residents with annual communication charges of $2,400 and $3,600 are illustrated in the table below:
| Average Annual Bill | Increase in Rate | Annual Increase | Monthly Increase |
| $2400 | 3.72% | $90 | $7.50 |
| $3600 | 3.72% | $135 | $11.25 |
The adoption of the 5.22% Local Communications Services Tax is an integral component of the fiscal year 2012 budget plan, and, if approved, will allow the City to maintain the same operating ad valorem tax rate of 5.7404 mills.
This TAX is expected to bring in $1.8 million in the next budget cycle and $2.4 million thereafter. Note that if your phone, cellular, internet and cable charges go up – so too will the city’s revenue be enhanced.
While I have not reviewed the proposed 2012 budget in detail, “The total budget for all funds of $108,580,228 is $3,140,160, or 3% more than the current year’s total of $105,440,068.”
Ordinance 14, 2011 -Amending Chapter 1, General Provisions, Section 1-2, Definitions of the City Code of Ordinances to Add Five (5) Definitions to be Compatible with the New Inspector General (IG) Ordinance. – First Reading
“The drafting committee failed to include certain crucial definitions within the IG ordinance. The City Attorney has advised that without defining the following terms it will be impossible to properly evaluate any potential findings of an Inspector General investigation. Accordingly, the City Attorney has drafted Ordinance 14,201 1 in order to adopt definitions for “abuse”, “fraud”, “misconduct”, “mismanagement”, and “waste” into the City’s Code of Ordinances. Clear and unambiguous definitions are an absolute necessity in order to preserve an objective standard for evaluating any potential wrongdoing. These definitions are being recommended to each of the other 38 municipalities in the county.”
Having attended each of the drafting committee meetings – these so called ‘crucial’ definitions were intentionally left out and the subject of several months of intense debate. I consulted with the Inspector General, Sheryl Steckler about the attempt by municipalities to insert these definitions into their city codes. She replied that it has no impact or relevance on her activities as Inspector General.
Why are we adding irrelevant definitions to our ordinance and what is it costing the taxpayer in staff time and effort if it is for nothing?
Resolution 33, 2011 Adopting a Proposed Maximum Millage Rate for Fiscal Year 2011/2012 and Setting the Date, Time, and Place for the First Budget Hearing.
I read this resolution first and was going to praise the City Council on holding the millage rate flat at 5.7404, 2.719% below the roll-back rate of 5.9008 mills. NOT. They should be holding the millage flat, cut spending and NOT implement the increase in the Communications TAX.
I have not studied the 2012 budget in detail yet – however:
“Please note the following significant items related to the use of reserves:
• The planned use of $1.1 million is less than total General Fund capital expenditures of $1.2 million, and adheres to the City’s policy of using reserves for one-time expenditures.
• The planned use of $1.1 million is predicated on the increase in the Local Communications Services Tax from 1.5% to 5.22%. This will generate approximately $1.9 million next fiscal year. Without this alternative revenue, or an equivalent tax increase, the reduction in reserves would be approximately $3 million.”
We are in bad economic times – this is the time for using reserves and NOT increasing a tax (the Communications tax) that will never go down. Hold the millage flat, do NOT approve Ordinance 13,2011 and cut spending further to minimize the hits to reserves!
Additional materials can be found:
Complete 7/19 Agenda with backup documents
Cover Letter to 2012 Proposed Budget
The Taxpayer Lost, 4-3
In Washington DC, an ideological battle of the century is taking place between the forces of wealth redistribution ($2 Trillion in new taxes?) and conventional economics (you don’t raise taxes with 9.2% unemployment). There is little likelihood of compromise, because each is influenced by a mindset that cannot accept the others worldview.
So too in Palm Beach County there is a deep divide between those who see no problem in raising tax rates “a little bit more”, and those that think we have crossed a line with 25% increases over the last two years. On Monday, the County Commission voted 4-3 to set the maximum millage for 2012 to 4.8751, a 2.6% increase. The actual tax rate will be set in September at this rate or lower, but they could have acted now to prevent a hike.
On one side are those that are beneficiaries of other people’s money – the myriad of residents who benefit from county programs financed by property taxes, and their champions on the county commission. Raising tax rates comes natural to them.
These would include Burt Aaronson, whose constituents in district 5 “like their services”, and are always willing to “pay a little more” in taxes to keep them coming. How much tax does a $60K condo owner pay anyway? Commissioner Aaronson wanted to restore some cuts to the financially assisted agencies (FAA) that he thought were $60,000. When it was pointed out that the amount was really $600,000, it did not seem to make any difference. Easy come, easy go.
Another champion is Jess (“don’t talk about millage!”) Santamaria. Commissioner Santamaria is very worried about the county employees being ravaged by inflation that is almost 3%. On top of that, they are being asked to contribute 3% to their pensions. “That’s like paying 6% more for everything!”. Does the commissioner think that only employees of the county are affected by inflation and pay for their retirement? Someone should mention to the Commissioner that FRS reform would not be reversed by raising the millage, nor would a rollback rate give county employees a raise.
Another is Priscilla Taylor. Commissioner Taylor has more real-world experience than most of them, having run a business and been in the legislature and on the Port Commission. Normally she brings a refreshing analysis to an issue, but in this month’s discussion on tax rates, she seemingly phoned it in – acting as if raising the rates to rollback (“pennies a day”) is an obvious choice since the cuts “do not amount to anything anyway”. After all, 50% of the respondents to her “online poll” think raising tax rates is just fine with them.
Then there are the three commissioners who voted to keep the maximum millage at 4.75 and not raise our tax rates.
Steven Abrams is usually the wise voice of reason on the board, and the closest thing we have to a fiscal conservative. He voted against the tax hikes of the last two years, and has the ability to see beyond the hoards of petitioners with their outstretched hands and consider the effect on the local economy. Commissioner Abrams can usually be relied upon to do the right thing.
Paulette Burdick is a participant in her first budget season as a commissioner and has been operating in a very responsible way. She has taken the Sheriff to task over the excesses in his budget and faced down his CFO George Forman on the point that the Sheriff must do his fair share. She has gone farther than the other commissioners in raising that issue. Although members of different parties, she and Commissioner Abrams seem to agree that now is not the time to raise tax rates.
Karen Marcus, not usually seen as a tax cutter (she voted for the increases of the last two years), this time voted against the rate hike. Representing the only district that leans right (41% Republican), she may be picking up on some of the uptick in tea party interest in local issues among the north county residents. As Chairman this year, it was her direction to staff to bring in a flat millage budget in the first place.
Which brings us to the “swing vote”, Shelley Vana.
Commissioner Vana likes to have it both ways. She wants to find “efficiencies” and think outside of the box on budget choices. She doesn’t want to see a lot of cuts (in the past she has said she totally opposes layoffs or any discussion of outsourcing), but she wishes we could find a way to spend less. Then she voted for the higher rollback tax rate, suggesting that it was “just a starting point” until we can find some additional savings before the September hearings. How perfectly reasonable and wise! We will try! We will study! Maybe we can do it!
This is what is known in some circles as “thinking with your heart”. This is the behavior of a politician, not a leader. A leader who really believed that a 3% rate hike was avoidable, would set the bar at 4.75 and set out to make it come true by forcing some of those “efficiencies” she is always talking about. Instead we get dithering and pretty words.
It should be noted that Shelley Vana is the only commissioner who is currently up for re-election in 2012*. Do the voters in district 3 know what their commissioner is doing?
There are now about 8 weeks before the next budget meeting on September 13. Get involved – let your commissioner know how you feel about another tax rate increase, and plan to attend that meeting. Those who benefit from the county programs will be there in numbers. Show the commissioners there is another view in the community.
(*Note: There will also be elections in districts 1 and 5, but the incumbents are currently precluded from running by the term limits law. Since there is a likelihood that this law, passed by 70% of the voters will be challenged in court, Karen Marcus and/or Burt Aaronson could be running also.)
Term Limits
S. J. Res 11
Constitutional Amendment – Limits Members of the House of Representatives to three terms and Members of the Senate to two terms.
Marco Rubio of Florida co-sponsored this bill. We all talk about it. We all want it. We all believe career politicians create more problems because of it.
People are flawed and power corrupts. The longer people stay in their elected positions the more flawed and corrupt they become. History has proved this time and time again. Our country proves it to us on a daily basis.
Please keep this in mind and act now to stop this on a local level.
Defend Palm Beach County Term Limits. Stop Burt Aaronson and Karen Marcus now. www.pbcterlimits.blogspot.com
