Greet Well the New Year

The earth has recently spun its way through the Winter solstice. The days have begun to lengthen, even if the change is barely perceptible. This is always a good time to reflect on the year just ending, perhaps to catch our breath for a few days before filling in next years to-do list, making resolutions, establishing goals and, maybe, putting just a few wishes on the board. This is also the time for remembering good friends, especially those with whom we haven't had as much contact as we would have liked.

We all realize that the New Year is not the blank slate we wish it were. Our troubles and challenges carry over as they are want to do. At the same time, there is nothing like a new point of view and a renewed burst of energy, a new resolve that can sometimes jolt loose a remedy where none had existed. And so, we wish you good health and good fortune for the New Year, set to begin in just a few days. And perhaps some clarity and a resurgence of determination to help you jump start a new, or dormant, ambition.

Stay well and make an extra effort to stay in touch. Believe it or not, Face book and Linked-In are good ways of contacting old friends.

And finally, a bit of tradition for those so inclined:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot
and days of auld lang syne?
And here's a hand, my trusty friend
And gie's a hand o' thine
We'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet
For auld lang syne

Listen,

Greater than all the Christmas presents ever presented is the gift of peace. Read and reflect on Luke's narrative below about a simple, long ago event that continues to spread its influence, even today, as its mighty presence has the power to outshine even the most trying of the day-to-day challenges we all face. Even if only for a brief respite, may you find that peace now.

In those days a decree went out from Caeser Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment when Quirnius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazarath to Judea to the city of David because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her first child, and she gave birth to her first born son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn.

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them "do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David, a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. and this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying a manger. And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

"Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace to those on
whom his favor rests."

Wicked Straight Talk on Property Taxes

As Plymouth's home town newspaper, the Old Colony Memorial usually does a good job of reporting on local government affairs. But in its December 5th front page ARTICLE concerning Plymouth's new property tax rate, many residents were scratching their heads trying to make sense out of the article.

While the headline accurately reports that the tax rate has been increased by $1.35 to $12.42, the sub-head statement that the Average tax bill will increase by $125 is impossible to verify with the information provided.

First of all, the $125 increase refers to the average residential tax bill. If we use the new average assessed value of $314,154 and apply the new tax rate of $12.42, we get the new average tax bill of $3,901.79. Trust me on this, I was a math major.

We know, from the body of the article, that this amount is $125.12 (not the $125 mentioned in the sub-head) higher than last year's average, or $3,776.67. Dividing last year's average by last years tax rate tells us that last year's average assessed value was $341,163.

Put another way, the tax rate has increased by 12.2% while the Average assessed value has declined by 7.92% resulting in a net increase of 3.31%. Once again, this applies only to residential property.

So, now we know what the tax rate is, but we must wait for the arrival of our tax bills to tell us the full story. Depending upon how your property's assessed value this year compares to last year, you could see a wide range of results. While it can be painful to watch the value of your home decline, it can be even more painful if your assessment is not adjusted accordingly and your tax bill shows a big increase.

It's hard enough to deal with tax issues when we are provided with the facts. This article clearly fell short. And while there is no reason to believe that the OCM has any reason to cloud the issue, they either were only given part of the story, or garbled the information they were given. Either way, the clarification provided by Emily Wilcox that can be found well down in the comments section of the on-line copy of the article, should have been published prominently in today's (hard copy)edition.

NO on Meals Tax Increase

As part of the reaction to the Plymouth Town Meeting's recent approval (by a three vote margin) of an increase in the local meals tax, a petition drive has succeeded in putting the question on the local ballot for re-consideration. As part of that effort, the "Vote No on the Meals Tax Increase Committee" has been formed to help communicate the issue's details to the voters:

We are pleased to announce that we have formed the Vote No on the Meals Tax Increase Committee.


We are seeking your support with the upcoming town election to repeal the meals tax increase. The vote will either be held on Saturday, December 19th in a special election (as approved by the selectmen) or on Tuesday, January 19th as part of the U.S. Senate special election. Rep. deMacedo has developed legislation which would allow the meals tax question to be placed on the ballot on January 19th, preventing the town from the need to hold a separate election in December. We will keep you posted on additional developments.

Please let us know if you are able to participate in this campaign in any way as we will need many volunteers to ensure our success.

We are also grateful for any contributions. Contributions may be sent to the committee address below. Individual and corporate contributions can be accepted in any amount. Please include your contact information with any contribution. Under state law, we are required to record the name of employer and occupation for all individual contributions of $200 or more.

Contact information:
Vote No on Meals Tax Increase Committee
P.O. Box 1193
Plymouth, MA 02362

Chairman: Chris Fava
508-269-1381 (cell)
kjfclf@comcast.net (e-mail)

Treasurer: John Malloy
774-454-4190 (cell)
Malloy_001_1@msn.com (e-mail)

Executive Director: Laurie Curtis
508-479-8034 (cell)
laurie@1620associates.com (e-mail)

If you know of anyone else who would like to be added to this list or if you would like to be removed, please reply to this e-mail.

For the back story on this tax, click HERE for an article in this morning's Globe.

Spread the word. It's not often that the voters get a chance to reject a tax. Let's take advantage of this opportunity

Plymouth In The Spotlight

Ordinarily, having one's home town featured on the front page of the Sunday Globe elicits civic pride among the townies. But when the story consists of a Spotlight Team report, all bets are off. Plymoutheans perusing this morning's edition, learned that the latest target of the spotlighters investigative zeal was none other than Plymouth Rock Studio, America's Home Town's favorite development project. Suffice it to say, the news, especially for those (and they are legion) who see the creation of a new movie studio on the fairways of Waverly Oaks, as town's primary future economic driver, is not encouraging. It appears that had anyone bothered to look beyond the glitzy front put up by David Kirpatrick and his posse of Hollywood poseurs, they would have found a financial house of cards kept alive only by questionable claims of industry experience and ephemeral financial backing. In case you missed it, click HERE to read the whole story


While the View has not been a strong supporter of the proposed studio, it has refrained from criticising the plan, primarily due to our lack of understanding of the studio's business model. But, we were led to believe, an experienced and well-financed team of Hollywooders were planning to create a movie studio in Plymouth that would provide jobs, tax revenues and career training to us locals. Most of the Town's political leaders swarmed to support the project, and why not. The benefits to the Town were not insignificant. But if a story sounds too good, maybe it is. Which brings up the need for a due-diligence investigation into the promoters' bona fides. Someone has to look behind the curtain.

What we now know, thanks to the Globe's Spotlight Team, is that there is a lot of sunshine in Kirkpatrick's resume and his mysterious sources of financial backing are linked to a number of shady investors with, apparently, more jail time than assets. Moreover, his personal record is fraught with a litany of law suits, unpaid bills and nasty disputes not to mention a career that has been in decline for the past eighteen years culminating in a personal bankruptcy that has had him hitting up his mother for pocket cash.

While clearly not the only local official with a seat on the studio bandwagon, the Globe came up with several quotes from Board of Selectmen Chair, Dick Quintal, who emerges from the story as the odds on favorite for designated goat. First off, he maintains that he sees his paving the way for the studio as his legacy. He then touts his business acumen:

“They’ve got a track record,’’ he said. “I can pretty much tell somebody the minute I meet them if they’re real.’’

Amazingly, Quintal was made aware of Kirkpatrick's bankruptcy and at least some of the lawsuits, to which Quintal replied:

“I didn’t pay no attention to that,’’ he said. “That’s none of my business.’’

Somehow we think that his legacy may not turn out to be as quite as positive as he had imagined.

Plymouth Tea Party ?

This just in.

Following the very narrow approval of the increase in the meals tax at the recent Plymouth Town Meeting, a small band of activists refused to stand by and watch another tax increase, especially in the face of a recession featuring, as we now know, 10%+ unemployment, be foisted on local taxpayers.

Working under a very tight time constraint, the required number of signatures have been gathered to ensure that the question be placed on the Spring Town ballot.

This not only speaks to the potential of a small, but determined, group of committed citizens, but also of the relative receptiveness of local government. We should be glad we didn't have to depend on Terry Murray and her Beacon Hill cronies to ignore the people's voice as they did with the petition to put the Gay Marriage issue on the ballot.

Stay tuned.

MassRoundUp.com

Thanks to EABO Clipper over at RMG for suggesting this new site that reports on Mass politics, ala Drudge.

Direct SITE Link

Last, But By No Means Least, A New Tax

As an example of the Commonwealth's effort to help the cities and towns deal with the property tax burden, a local option to the tax on restaurant meals has been instituted whereby the tax rate would increase from 6.25% to 7% on a local option basis, but the additional .75% would go to the municipality. This came up for a vote at the Plymouth Town Meeting last week and was passed by a three vote margin.

Supporters argued that the Town should take advantage of this option to help offset the dramatic decline in state aid. Hands were wrung as this was seen as a small bit of relief to the property tax burden. And while money is fungible, I suspect instead of keeping the lid on the growth of property taxes, the money raised will probably end up funding another parade, or perhaps buying a third big belly trash compactor. And,as one opposition speaker noted, perhaps paraphrasing Gertrude Stein, "a tax is a tax is a tax." Here we are in the middle of a recession-induced 10% unemployment rate and we are increasing taxes, again!

But the story doesn't end here. Tax opponents have hit the bricks with a a petition to send the decision to the voters for a second opinion. But time is short. Most of the local restaurants have the petitions, so drop by and add your signature. If you can't find one, drop me an email. The petitions have to be turned in within the next few days, so act now.

Sunday morning, we signed the petition at the Stop & Shop at Exit 6. Interestingly enough, there was also a second effort going on to petition the state to rollback the recent state sales tax on alcoholic beverages, which already carry an excise tax. In other words, a tax on a tax. Dueling petitions, right here in America's Home Town. I suspect that the local effort will stand a much better chance of achieving at least a small bit of tax relief.

The Morning After

Okay, it took me a few days, but here is the report from the Plymouth Town Meeting held last Monday Night at Plymouth North High School. After the colors were smartly presented by the police honor guard, and after the National Anthem was ably performed by the High School chorale, and after we all pledged allegiance to the U.S. Flag, America's Home Town took up the people's business, or at least that portion of the people's business as was properly included on the official Warrant.

Many of the articles dealt essentially with housekeeping matters and even some which involved significant sums of money were quickly passed without debate. A few of the Articles, however, precipitated spirited debate.

For a community being pressed financially by the weak economy and cut-backs in state aid, Article 7, involving a misplaced $190,000, brought the debaters to their feet. While it was stipulated by the chair that this money could not, under the law, be put back into the general fund, speaker after speaker insisted that the money could be better spent than the items included in the article. $10,000 each was allocated to the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving parades, respectively, apparently to pay for public safety (police details?) And while someone suggested that the Thanksgiving parade had its roots in a religious celebration, the use of the money was approved.

$45,000 was allocated to something called Plymouth 2020, the celebration of the Town's 400th anniversary tens years hence. It sounds like quite a party.

Why this article included $10,000 to pay for two trash containers sporting the unlikely name of "Big Belly Compacting Trash Receptacles", for use on the waterfront area, seemed highly incongruous, but passed handily. Go figure.

Articles 21 and 22 provided for the establishment of a Right To Farm Law and the establishment of an agricultural Committee. Throughout the extensive promotion of these proposals by the Right-To-Farm Steering Committee and the Open Space Committee, we were assured that the principal act was essentially a re-codification of existing state law into the local by-laws; as a result, no new laws were enacted. The Ag Committee would simply help existing Town Departments deal with agricultural and farming issues, thereby no new powers or responsibilities were created. And all of this would come at no cost to the Town! The only question remaining is then why do we need these two new by-laws in the first place? BTW, both passed unanimously. Stay tuned.

The final issue of the night, resolved just prior to 10:30 p.m., was the rejection of Article 24, aka the Sex Offender Residency Restrictions by-law. Originally intended to restrict Level 3 Sex Offenders from residing within a half mile of a school, park, playground or elderly housing facility, the proposal was amended to also restrict loitering by certain sex offenders in or around Town or state parks.
Moreover, an amendment was proposed and voted down to remove the residency restrictions from the act. This was a badly-written law which had been cobbled together in, frankly, an amateurish manner. The Town Meeting wisely voted against the proposal. This rejection should be in no way seen as support for sexual predators. The expectation is that the issue will be sent to an appointed committee where a carefully considered by-law will be drafted. Re-consideration of this highly-emotional issue is expected at a future Town Meeting.

Sex and The Town Meeting

Maybe the title of this post could be used by PR Studio should it decide to produce a Plymouth-based TV series similar to "Sex and the City". In the meantime, the title may have caught the attention of a few readers who might otherwise have passed on a posting about the upcoming Plymouth Town Meeting. Sorry folks, this isn't quite as exciting as you might have thought.

In a perfect world, or even a perfect town, we wouldn't have to worry about sexual predators, but in case you haven't noticed, we haven't quite achieved perfection. Currently ten registered Level 3 sex offenders reside in America's Home Town. Not to put too fine a point on it, the Level 3's are the worst of the worst, with a proclivity to re-offend. Not the kind of guys you want lurking about, especially near our schools.

The Plymouth Board of Selectmen, taking a page from several other Massachusetts Towns, have proposed a new By-law which is scheduled to come before the Annual Town Meeting, which starts October 26th. This proposal would prohibit registered Level 3 Sex Offenders from living within 2,500 feet, or half a mile, of a school, Day Care Center, Elderly Housing Complex or Park or Recreation facility located in the Town of Plymouth.

When, in due course, the proposal came before the Advisory and Finance Committee, testimony was received from, among others, Police Chief Michael Boteri and Retired Director of Operations of the Mass. Sex Offender registry, Robert Baker, where it was learned that the law might entail some unintended consequences and weak spots. For example, forcing Offenders out of housing might cause some of them to become homeless and therefore, harder for the police to monitor. Moreover, concern for where the offenders spend their days, might be more important than where they live. There was also some question as to whether the 2,500 foot restriction might be too wide an area and the suggestion that 1,500 feet might be more appropriate, especially given the fact that after all the 2,500 foot circles are drawn around the restricted facilities, precious little of the Town is left open. In the opinion of some, this result might be a good one as Offenders would find it extremely difficult to move into Town. What's more, if other Towns pass similar laws, any town without such a law might become a dumping ground. At the end of the day (or night, as it were) the Committee voted not to recommend the proposed by-law.

Subsequently, with the addition of non-loitering language, the Board of Selectmen voted to continue their support of the law. Other tweaks, such as the changing of the 2,500 foot radius to 1,500 feet, will have to come from the floor of the Town Meeting, where the final language of the by-law will be determined. And while the tenor of the debate might not be as spicy as the title suggests, it may just attract a few more viewers.

Town Meeting Time

Time to shinny down the political food chain in an attempt to reach the level of rational discussion that seems to be eluding the state, national, and, now we learn, the international wizards as well.

And be assured that we are not wallowing in sour grapes. If the Nobel Committee wants to give its Peace award to someone else, well that's their choice. I do think, however, that a personal note to those of us in the also-ran category would have been appropriate rather than us having to learn the results from the media. We include The View among the possible recipients, as this choice makes just about as much sense as does the guy they actually picked. And yes, this does imply a rather large number of possible recipients (how many people are there on earth at this point?). Of course that would mean a huge number of personal notes, but its not like they haven't had time to prepare given that they they made their first cut back around Inauguration Day.

So, for the moment, let's put aside the Afghan War, The Iraq war, The Iranian nuke threat and the Democrats on-going efforts at destroying the American Health Care system. Ditto for the state government's ongoing frenzy du jure, as we focus on the upcoming Plymouth Town Meeting.

It seems highly appropriate that America's Home Town, where is currently in the early stages of planning the Town's four hundredth anniversary in 2020, continues to utilize this definitive grass roots form of government where the town's people gather to directly resolve the issues of local governance. Due to the fact that our population is in the range of 55,000, we now must utilize a representative system where 126 representatives are elected to represent the Town's 14 precincts; otherwise, we would have to hold the meeting in Gillette Stadium, during Patriot away weeks. But this body is still much more representative of the town folk than the usual bevy of slick politicians that populate most legislatures (no offense, Vinny).

The Fall Annual Town Meeting will convene on Monday October 26, 2009. Of the 28 Articles, or proposals, on the warrant, 20 continue on track for consideration, the other eight having been withdrawn. Over the next several weeks, the View will provide ad hoc analysis of the proposals. In addition, the Moderator's Town Meeting Review will be held on Thursday, October 22 at 7:00 in the Town Hall. This event, which Will be carried on local cable TV, will include a full review of all of the Articles.

All Plymoutheans are encouraged to learn about the Town Meeting's agenda and make their feelings known to their Town Meeting Representatives. For a list of the Reps, click HERE.

The Joke's On US

Given the Democratic majority in the U.S. House of representatives, yesterday's 345 to 75 vote for cutting off all federal funding for ACORN was an eye-opener as a large majority finally recognized that it was time to throw this gang under the bus. EaBo Clipper, over at Red Mass Group, has an interesting POST which highlights the fact that eight of the ten members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation voted against measure. Talk about drinking the Kool Aid?, the ACORN eight must have a Kool Aid IV. But to those of us in the Massachusetts 10th, the significant news was our Congressman Bill Delahunt who voted to keep the federal money flowing to those wonderful rascals at ACORN!

Some might say that at least he showed up, unlike Barney Frank, that tower of Jello, who managed to be AWOL for the vote in spite of having been present for a vote only minutes before. As a small blessing, we should also be glad that Bill wasn't in Caracas with his bud, Hugo Chavez, who seems to be doing his best to join the Iran-lead push to creating another atomic weapon coalition.

Meanwhile, back at health care debate, many of us in the 10th are wondering if we somehow missed Bill's Town Meeting to collect input from the constituency regarding this mother of all social programs. Not to worry, no such meeting was held. So just jot your thoughts down in an email and send it off to:

William.Delahunt@mail.house.gov

Unless the email servers are still in meltdown, Bill will surely appreciate your input.

And don't worry if you missed the August 22nd demonstration at Delahunt's Hyannis office. CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO. Apparently, Bill missed it too.

So during this, our summer of discontent, we can jokingly ask: "where is our Congressman?" But the punchline is not quite as pleasant. He appears to be running unopposed for re-election. The better question is where are the voters of the 10th?

Taking It To The Streets, II

To say that coverage of last Saturday's march in Washington drew minimal coverage from the MSM could be the understatement of the year. Not for nothin' the best article we could find was from the UK's Daily Mail Click HERE to read about the huge turnout of private citizens concerned enough about the left's raid on the U.S. Treasury to spend countless hours riding buses from all over the country to our nation's capital to express their frustration and concern directly to the federal government.

The few articles we could find in the MSM reported "tens of thousands" of demonstrators, clearly an attempt to minimize the impact of this historical event. The Mail mentions as many as one million in attendance, but before we get drawn into a side bar argument on attendance numbers, click on Sharilee's POSTING on Worcester County Freedom Trail to see the evidence that time-lapse photography produces.

Reporting in National Review On Line, Mark Hemingway provides some interesting insights into the makeup of the marchers:

As for the composition of the crowd, well I personally spoke to people from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Idaho, Alaska, Delaware, Tennessee, Nevada, California, Montana, as well as Virginia and Maryland, natch. (And I'm probably forgetting a few.) What also bears noting is that a lot of people came by bus — and of the people that came to the march by bus, almost all came on privately chartered buses organized by someone they knew. I asked one guy, who came up from South Carolina with 160 people on three buses, who put his trip together. He laughed and said, "My neighbor." Can we drive a stake through the astroturf claim now?

Click HERE to read the rest of Mark's report and view the great photos.

Perhaps the lack of coverage may keep some uninformed, but you Can be sure that the members of Congress know about the march and now have even more reason to question whether they want to support the president's crusade to bankrupt the U.S. to finance his socialistic agenda.

Congressman Joe Wilson may have been impolite, but he sure wasn't wrong. Do the math.

Taking It To The Streets

The protests of the Sixties with vast crowds marching to call for the end of what they saw as an unjust Asian war, using tactics copied from the civil rights movement, brought a new dimension to American politics. And whether you agreed with the cause or not, you couldn't help but acknowledge the impact that these events had on the political establishment. Many, in those days, dismissed the protesters as rowdy hippies, but we were seeing what happens when elected officials fail to read a marked change in public sentiment. Frustration overcame the sending of polite letters to one's elected officials.

Which brings us to the September 12, 2009, March on Washington. This protest is being billed as an effort at defending liberty, and restoring our Constitution by reducing the size and scope of the federal government, especially with respect to the proposals for nationalizing health care. Put another way, In this march, the Tea Party Movement Goes to Capitol Hill.

This march represents a national focus on a movement that has grown up from the town hall meetings held across the country where many elected officials ran into a buzz saw of resistance to the Democratic plans for a socialistic national health care system. In an ironic reversal of roles from the Sixties, the liberal Democrats are labelling the their critics as a small band of right-wing nuts, a characterization that seeks to marginalize the growing breadth and strength of this movement.

An article by Ben Stein entitled, Why We Must March, provides an excellent analysis of the issues at stake, which extend well beyond the health care proposals.

In the last year or so those of us who cherish liberty have been pushed up against a wall. We have watched the federal government bail out the elites on Wall Street for their own bad decisions. We have seen a new president waste a trillion dollars on failed economic ideas and increase our debt to dangerous proportions.

We have heard the soaring rhetoric and watched the media fawn all over this new president who we are told is a new FDR. But we don’t want another FDR. We want our freedom, we want less government in our lives and we want to be left alone.

Which brings us to the present:

Now we come to the heat of August, and the protests and town hall meetings are keeping the pressure on the politicians. As one woman in Pennsylvania told a prominent senator, “You have awakened a sleeping giant.” This month the media and the left will continue to write us off, or malign us, but we will press on. And once the dust settles and the politicians return to Washington, they will think that it is all over. They only wish.

As the politicians return, we will follow them to Washington. We will come from every state, in big cities and small towns, to descend upon the capitol building with one voice. Our message will be a simple one: we demand our freedom. We reject the growth of the federal government and want our republic restored. This is not, and never will be, a socialist nation.

Read the entire ARTICLE. Better yet, send it to your elected officials. This is far from over.

Also, don't forget to sign the ON LINE PETITION

Grass Roots at Town Hall

They’re un-American,” says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “They’re spreading lies and distortions,” says senior White House adviser David Axelrod. They are “being funded and organized by out-of-district special-interest groups and insurance companies,” says the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

"They," as you probably guessed, are the concerned citizens who've shown up at town-hall meetings across the country to express their displeasure over what President Barack Obama and the Democrats are about to do to our health-care system. But who are they really? What motivates them? And why are they so angry?

So begins an excellent article by John Goodman, President of the National Center for Policy Analysis in the weekend edition of the Wall Street Journal which looks at the makeup of the rising tide (Tsunami?) of realization that proposed health care reform bill is a neutron bomb of change to health care as most of us know it.

Remember, according to a Fox News poll conducted last month, 84% of Americans rate the quality of their insurance as "excellent" or "good." When they voted for Mr. Obama for president, they thought "universal care" meant helping some unfortunate Americans obtain insurance they cannot otherwise afford. Not once did candidate Obama say he was going to make changes that affected them and their health care. In fact, he promised the opposite.

As Tonto once said to the Lone Ranger: "man speaks with forked Tongue"

The left is quick to characterize the outpouring of concern for the proposal as something sinister that is being orchestrated by Right Wing subversives. Look again at the picture above. Where are the uniform tee shirts and professionally-designed signs that characterize the "spontaneous" left wing protests? What the Democrats are slowly learning, is that they have kicked over a hornets nest of anger among the vast middle class of Americans who don't want their medical care messed with. And these folks are not being misled by partisan interest, they are horrified at the actual provisions of the legislation. Maybe the legislators are too busy to read the bills, but the voters aren't that dumb.

Want to do something? Click on the ON LINE PETITION and add your name to the 1.1 million of concerned citizens who have signed the Free Our Health Care Now petition. And don't take any one else's word for it, read the bill's language and don't let a bunch of socialist wannabees bulldoze the best health care system in the world into the abyss.

The Bust of a Rolling Stone

By now, everyone on the planet knows about the famous Harvard professor who got himself pinched by the Cambridge Cops for mouthing off while they were answering a report of suspicious activity. But the coverage of an eerily similar episode that took place a few days later in New Jersey seems to have garnered negligible coverage.

As described HERE by abc news, A mere forty years after Woodstock, where he did not perform, and fifteen years after Woodstock 94, where he did, Bob Dylan apparently needed a few hours of down time from his current tour stop at the Jersey Shore and took a walk around a nearby neighborhood. Seeking anonymity, he disguised himself as a mental hospital escapee as he tromped around in the rain checking out local real estate listings. The neighbors knew a weirdo when they saw one and called the cops. Just like Skip Gates, Dylan was asked for ID to prove he really was Bob Dylan. The cop, twenty-something Kristie Buble, recognized the name Bob Dylan, but didn't see how the soaking-wet reprobate in the back of her squad car could possibly be someone who was touring the country with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp, as he claimed. Nor was he recognized by any of the other cops who eventually came on the scene. Maybe if he had been wearing his harmonica?

Unlike the dust up in Cambridge, however, the situation was quickly de-fused when the cops brought Dylan back to the hotel where the tour was staying and someone finally produced an ID. Dylan, apparently, took it in stride with no hard feelings.

To some extent, that's the end of the story, but many are asking difficult questions. Is there a double standard that a national flap erupts when a black man is arrested breaking into a (ok, his own) house, but when a 68 year old white man (who is still a celebrity in the minds of many aging music fans) is arrested for merely dressing funny and walking around in broad daylight (and the rain), there is no reaction from the White House, or (with the exception of one abc news article) from the media. Why weren't Bob Dylan and the cop, invited to the White House for a beer? What does this say about America? How is it that we can read about the Dylan bust and smile, while the Gates fiasco brought the world to a standstill?


At least Bob Dylan's travails provide a small break from the never-ending health care debate and shouting match.

Common Sense? What a Concept.

As we watch the hurtling train wreck of Health Care "Reform" slam its way through Congress, The View is over-whelmed with a sense of helplessness. How do we stop this juggernaut before we all end up in socialized medicine hell? I could write to my Congressman, but he is high atop the liberal bandwagon, and our Senior Senator is Ted, "Public Health care is Us", Kennedy.

As we clutch for some thread of good news, we happened upon Peggy Noonan's article in the weekend edition of the WSJ. Essentially, Noonan takes a step back from the minutiae of the health care maze and focuses, instead. on a more practical analysis:

I think the plan is being slowed and may well be stopped not by ideology, or even by philosophy in a strict sense, but by simple American common sense. I suspect voters, the past few weeks, have been giving themselves an internal Q-and-A that goes something like this:

Will whatever health care bill is produced by Congress increase the deficit? “Of course.” Will it mean tax increases? “Of course.” Will it mean new fees or fines? “Probably.” Can I afford it right now? “No, I’m already getting clobbered.” Will it make the marketplace freer and better? “Probably not.” Is our health-care system in crisis? “Yeah, it has been for years.” Is it the most pressing crisis right now? “No, the economy is.” Will a health-care bill improve the economy? “I doubt it.”

Read the rest of the article, and give it some thought.

This morning on This Week, George Will described the President of being ubiquitous. We would agree, he is everywhere and into everything. He has taken his election victory and sees it as a carte blanche to involve himself anytime anywhere. At this point, even the Democrats are looking for relief. Witness his chiming in on the Gates flap in Cambridge this week. He may not know the facts, but "Skip" is a friend of his" which means the Cambridge PD must be stupid. One of his staffers might have read the POLICE REPORT before he jumped in. The proposed solution? Gather the participants at the White House for a "beer" Then they can all bump fists and have a photo op. For a guy who is anti-profiling Obama seems quick to generalize that a drink of beer would be appropriate for Sergeant Crowley, an Irish cop. That kind all like beer, right?

Maybe the new Surgeon General should prescribe some Ritalin to her new boss.

Good Ideas at Plymouth Town Hall

State Lieutenant Gov., Tim Murray, accompanied by members of Municipal Affairs Coordinating Cabinet (MACC), rolled into Plymouth last Friday for a discussion meeting at Plymouth Town Hall. Billed as a "listening tour", this meeting is part of a state-wide effort to develop ideas of ways for the state government to work more closely, and efficiently, with local governments.

There was at least one very familiar face among the panel members. Former Plymouth town manager, Mark Sylvia, now Director of the state Division of Green Communities, happily greeted many of his former co-workers. At one point, Sylvia shared a moment with Selectman, Dicky Quintal. We're not sure what they discussed, but we suspect it was not the $101,000 payout that Sylvia received on his way out the door last winter, as they both appeared to be smiling.

One of the more interesting presenters was Dolores Mitchell, Executive Director of the Group Insurance Commission. Essentially, the GIC helps municipalities save significant money by providing employee health insurance through the state process, rather than group policies negotiated by each individual group of employees. Due to the available economies of scale, Cities and Towns can save significant money by providing employee benefits through the GIC. But individual employee groups have been slow to accept the new approach. According to Mitchell, only 26 municipalities are presently taking advantage of this money-saving option, presumably unwilling to trade local control for significant savings to the taxpayers. perhaps if this trade off were re-cast, it might be better received. Mitchell mentioned that the Town of Swampscot saved enough money from the switch to the GIC that it was able to avoid twelve teacher layoffs. If some thought were given to splitting the savings, we might even achieve a win-win result.

Enduring Conservatism

Do Conservatives prefer the past to the present? Writing in today's GLOBE, staff writer, Drake Bennett attempts to paint American conservatism as being firmly ensconced in the political wilderness, bereft of "ideas" with which to counter the flood of new legislation from the democratic legislative majority. While it comes as no surprise that the democratic party is flexing its new-found muscle as it promotes its ultra-liberal agenda, the frantic pace at which massive bills are being rushed to a vote, often without allowing adequate time for thoughtful review, or even a cursory reading, evokes widening skepticism. What's the rush? If they believe in the value of their ideas, why not subject them to a thorough vetting and introduce them in a orderly coherent form?

Writing in the Introduction of "The Future of Conservatism", Charles W. Dunn lists ten Canons of conservatism, the first of which reads:

"Continuity stands out as the most widely accepted canon of conservative thought because conservatives place a high value on order in in society. Preferring organic change to revolution, conservatives oppose large-scale and abrupt alterations that disrupt and unsettle society. Their respect for the past reflects a desire to incorporate change within existing community institutions, standards and traditions, making continuity from generation to generation the most essential canon of conservative thought."

Thus, it may be argued that conservatives do not prefer the past but, more importantly, chose to build on the important lessons so learned. In addition, this tenet is evidence of the fact that the basic canons of conservative thought are as applicable today as they have been in the past.

The rush of "new" liberal ideas will appeal to many who are impatient with the traditions of society. The siren song of politicians, offering quick fixes to complex problems, can be irrisistible, especially to those with limited forsight. Eventually, however, reality reasserts itself and the utopian promises are revealed for the unworkable fiascos that they are. This re-balancing process is already beginning as the American people have started to realize the terribly pervasive financial burden of the so-called Cap and Trade proposal. Similarly, the reality of the stupendous costs, both financial and in terms of access, associated with the clamor for a national healthcare system, are beginning to emerge through the fog of liberal rhetoric. And this is just two of the multiple liberal proposals being rolled out in a manic fervor. As the reality continues to emerge, look for public opinion to shift back to a more prudent and conservative point of view.

Senator Franken ?!?!

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Not, "God Bless America"





But "God Help America."

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Here We Go Again

Congratulations to Congressman Barney Frank who has succeeded in finally cracking through the crippling miasma that had smothered the View's will to respond to the liberal mania that has gripped our national government since January 20th. What with the new administration rolling out one hair-brained scheme after another, aided and abetted by the liberal congress with the MSM providing cheerleader services, it's been hard to get out of bed, let alone begin to respond. But good old Barney, he of the Massachusetts 4th, has finally gone over the top, which these days, really takes some effort.

According to my limited recall ability, things began to get particularly dark and ominous when the financial crisis hit last fall, just before the election, when a number of major financial institutions began to teeter and, in some cases, fall, all due to the "sudden" realization that no one really knew what all these these mortgage-backed securities were worth. And since these securities were owned by virtually every bank, pension fund, mutual fund, hedge fund and endowment in the country, we had trouble with a capital T. The clamor of the rush to government bailouts and forced mergers nearly obscured the underlying cause of this failure, namely, the poor credit quality of many of the mortgagees. In an effort to promote home ownership to more Americans, i.e. those unable to satisfy the lending requirements, the government had pushed for a relaxation of those requirements. It had been good old Barney who had called for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to "roll the dice" in the name of affordable housing.

Which brings us around to the letter that Barney, along with Anthony Weiner (D-NY) wrote recently to the heads of Fannie and Freddie seeking to have them relax recently-tightened underwriting standards for condominium buyers. For more details, read the article HERE in the WSJ, but the following excerpt neatly sums it up:

Fannie and Freddie have already lost tens of billions of dollars betting on the mortgage market -- with that bill being handed to taxpayers. They face still more losses going forward, because in the wake of their nationalization last year their new "mission" has become to do whatever it takes to prop up the housing market. The last thing they need is lawmakers like Mr. Frank, who did so much to lay the groundwork for their collapse, telling them to play faster and looser with their lending standards.

Perhaps the reaction to Frank's audacity will spread to others and help us all shed the lethargy and helplessness that seems to be all too prevalent. It sure got our attention.

Amy MacKinnon to Speak at South Shore Writers Club

Amy MacKinnon, author of "TETHERED" will speak at a meeting of the South Shore Writers Club being held at The Abington Public Library on Saturday June 13th at 10:30 am. The talk is free and open to all. Refreshments will be served. For more information click on South Shore Writers Club, and/or Amy MacKinnon

A Tale of Two Governors

Last November, 54% of the good people of Minnesota voted for the Democratic candidate in the presidential election, thereby continuing their string of voting for D's in every presidential election since 1969, except for 1972. The point being that Minnesota is no mid western red state. And like many other states, it is faced with a huge budget shortfall. The Democratically-dominated legislature has followed a predictable and familiar-sounding solution. Propose increases in virtually every state tax. Cut spending? Not a chance, in fact many new programs are still being introduced, like $1.2 million in grants for film production (why didn't we think of that?)and $200,00 for a youth environmental educational program. To this point, there seems to be a lot of parallels to the Bay State's politicians who are now trying to convince us that we are lucky to only have a 25% increase in our sales tax instead of all those other proposed taxes. But, I digress.

Minnesota is fortunate to have a governor with not only a sense of fiscal responsibility, but also the backbone to stand up to his out-of-control legislature. Republican Tim Pawlenty, who we have met HERE before used every available measure to roll back the tide and achieve a rare fete:

Mr. Pawlenty is now free to strip $2.7 billion from state spending to balance the budget. Tax hikes are dead. He tells me this will be one of the first times in modern Minnesota history that the state will reduce the size of government in real terms, not just slow its rate of growth. "The correlation in recent history has been between job growth and states that have reasonable government cost structures," he says. These cuts, he says, will position Minnesota to take advantage of the recovery when it comes.

To fully appreciate this achievement, you may want to read Kim Strassel's story in today's WSJ

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, our governor, the one who promised tax relief, was, believe it or not, out of town while the legislature scrambled to increase taxes. As was reported in RED MASS GROUP:

Members of the Senate Republican Caucus could have used the Governor's help in leading the charge against the sales tax hike on Tuesday, but he was in Washington, D.C. As Senate Minority Leader Richard R. Tisei pointed out, Patrick has a tendency to skip town at crucial times, such as when he travelled to New York last year to negotiate a book deal even as his casino gaming proposal was going down in flames. With all the time he has been spending away from the State House, it's no wonder Patrick is becoming increasingly irrelevant, prompting Tisei to refer to him as the "incredible shrinking governor".

No one has ever accused our Guv of being an anti-tax conservative, but he could at least show up and do some of that leadership stuff that comes with being the head of the executive branch.

Grass Root Politics

Ordinarily, the election for town meeting representative here in America's Home Town is a fairly mundane event. In most of the fourteen precincts, we are lucky to have enough candidates to fill all of the open seats; not what you would call robust public interest. with this in mind, I decided to toss my hat in the Precinct 5 ring. If elected, I felt equal to the task and wanted, in a small way, to contribute something to the Town's efforts at self-government.

It was easily accomplished. Just gather a few signatures and submit the forms to the Town Clerk. I filed in late February, just before setting off to a two-month sabbatical in the sun. Returning home in early April, however, I found that the earth had undergone a subtle shift. Three incumbents, plus myself and three other newbies, all vying for three open seats. This thing had turned into a campaign.

I won't drag my readers through the tedium of analyzing voter lists, printing and distributing materials and the saga of the lawn signs. Suffice it to say, the effort grew to almost blot out the sun. Last Saturday, we stood at the polls in the rain, waving to the voters, driving through the gauntlet of waving signs. I have to admit it was exciting, but yet, exhausting at the same time.

We had worked hard at getting out the vote. Due to the small number of contested seats, a low turnout was predicted and that was exactly what resulted. Our precinct turned out better than most, but town-wide it was not our finest hour, with barely 14% of the voters showing up to vote. I was blessed with a solid core of supporters who went out of their way to be heard. This great wave of support made it all worthwhile.

Amid the many congratulatory messages I received was a notification for the first caucus meeting in two weeks. As I start to climb the learning curve on municipal budgets and finance, I will remember all those who "showed up" for me. Read the whole story in today's Old Colony Memorial

OOOPS

Iranian Justice, an Oxymoron

Roxana Saberi, 31, an Iranian-American free-lance journalist has been convicted of spying by the Iranian Revolutionary Court, and sentenced to eight years in prison. As reported in a WSJ ARTICLE, she is charged with passing "information" to American intelligence agents. But according to her lawyer, Abdul-Samad Khoramshahi and her parents, she is being railroaded by "inappropriately applied justice". Say it ain't so.

With one of our journalists in a foreign jail under suspicious circumstances, it didn't take long for the Obama team to come to her aid:

On Saturday, both the White House and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said they were deeply disappointed by the sentencing, and that the U.S. will continue to vigorously raise its concerns to the Iranian government

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"Deeply disappointed"? What's next? An official stamping of the feet?

Why is this reminding us of the Carter Years?

Facts Are Stubborn Things

No one likes a scold, but at the same time, facts are stubborn and we avoid them at our peril.

An Editorial in the April 15th edition of OLD COLONY MEMORIAL may have been annoying to read. We don't like to hear our faults catalogued for all to see. However, the editorial, published, coincidentally, on Tax Day, makes a compelling case for the poor job we Plymoutheans have done in participating in Town Government, specifically relative to the May 9th Town Election.

To wit:

The only town-wide race is for one seat on the Board of Selectmen.

Three candidates are running unopposed for School Committee

There is no race for the open seat on the powerful Planning Board

The incumbent on the Housing Authority is running unopposed.

There is no contest for the seat on the Redevelopment Authority

Barely half of the precincts have races for Town Meeting member seats. Four precincts do not have enough candidates to fill all the open seats.

And this, in a town with almost 60,000 residents

The editorial sums up the situation succinctly:

Democracy is inherently a participatory process. It requires citizens to get involved. It means they must, first, register to vote (which you still have a few days to do in time for the May 9 election). Next, they are responsible to educate themselves about the process, the issues and the candidates (we work day-in and day-out to help you with that). Then they have to actually cast ballots (imagine if a whopping 50 percent of the electorate actually cared enough to vote). And, of course, if they really give a darn what happens in town, they can extend their participation beyond election day and volunteer to serve the community in one of literally hundreds of positions. Perhaps, they’ll even run for elected office (there are at least 42 Town Meeting seats on the ballot every year).

We have been debating a new form of Town Government for at least the last ten years. Maybe we could just concentrate on getting the existing system to work better through increased participation.

The Second Coming

Ninety years ago, Mr. Yeats wrote this poem to express his concerns that the heavy-handed resolution of the Great War and the upheavals of the Russian Revolution were poised to rent the fabric of the civilized world for decades to come. History has shown that those concerns were well-founded. We now find ourselves asking whether those words will be as prophetic as they are appropriate to our current affairs of state.

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
the falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
the blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
the best lack all conviction, while the worst
are full of passionate intensity.


surely some revelation is at hand;
surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are the words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
a gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches toward Bethlehem to be born?

W.B. Yeats, 1919

CPA Surcharge to Continue Unchanged

The news from Plymouth's Memorial Hall yesterday was good, at least for those tax payers who really enjoy paying that 1.5% surcharge on their property taxes each year that enables the Town to participate in the Community Preservation Act (aka CPA) program. This is the program that allows the Town to use the proceeds from the surcharge to fund the purchase of open land, affordable housing and/or historic preservation. Yesterday, the Plymouth Town Meeting voted against two Articles put forth by Precinct 5's own Laurie Enos. The votes basically leave the program unchanged. The first article called for a roll-back of the percentage, while the second would eliminate it entirely. And the actual question was not whether these changes be made, but rather that the question(s) be put on the ballot so that the voters could decide. What happened to "let the people vote"?

Some folks think that this program is valuable in that it is matched with state funds that has, in the past, doubled its purchasing power. But with the fiscal crunch at the state level, the match is expected to drop to the 30% range this year. In addition, there is a sense that the CPA funds, and their use, exist totally outside the scope of the municipal budget. It's not clear whether a project initially acquired with CPA funds could result in future costs for the Town.

At yesterday's session, the Town Meeting also voted to use up to $1.4 million to purchase the 1820 Court House property. While the case can be made for preserving the dignity (see above photo) of this historic property, there are substantial questions regarding the costs of renovations as well as the possibility of environmental clean ups.

One solution is the possible availability of Federal funds to help defray the costs. First of all, this reliance on other levels of government to pay for local projects seems to ignore the severe fiscal problems being experienced by both the state and federal level. A second point worth considering is where do people think that these other levels of government get their cash. This process begs for some recognition that the taxpayers of Plymouth also pay state and federal taxes. Town fiscal programs that perceive such funds as "free money" are, at best, disingenuous.

Heading for Home

The Southern Command tent is being folded, the car loaded up like the Joad mobile with a full gas tank. Soon our only view of palm trees will be in the rear view mirror. The great migration is about to commence and we plan to be back at The Rock by Good Friday. Our time in the sun has been grand and productive, but great events await: Opening Day at Fenway, Town elections, the beginning of the golf season and the warmth of the summer sun on Plymouth Beach.

As that noted philosopher, Dorothy, is oft quoted, "there's no place like home." Right Toto?

The Town Hall Readers Series

Life here at the tail end of Florida, with its balmy weather and gentle breezes, has a way of lulling one into a semi stupor, especially if you don't turn on the television and put those broker statements in the drawer to read later. So when the Town Hall Series of Distinguished Speakers brought P.J. O'Rourke to town, many of us saw it as an opportunity to hear this conservative/libertarian /writer/journalist hand it to the Democrats and listen to a master satirist throw cold water on the persistence of Obamamania. O'Rourke, is a witty, nay funny and eminently quotable writer who knows how to stick a sharp pin in the left wing's hot air balloon. Putting him in front of an audience of right wing fat cat (the poor folk weren't buying tickets at these prices) retirees, many of whom also shell out extra to attend an elbow-rubbing drinks and dinner event after the talk, had slam-dunk written all over it. Think of the cocktail party chatter spawned from this get together, as in: "As I said to P.J. O'Rourke the other night,........"

The talk began with some red meat as O'Rourke asked if it were too soon to begin discussing the failed Obama presidency? This was followed by some analysis of why the Democrats were on the wrong track, but mostly he cited the fact that they are, well, Democrats. It was shortly after this that the talk began to take on the tightly knit syntax of one of O'Rourke's columns. Moreover, due to the two huge monitors flanking the dais, we were able to see clearly that our boy appeared to be reading his remarks. Hmmm. His rapid fire delivery was entertaining, but taking notes became a challenge.

In preparing this post, I found that my notes were a little sketchy and I needed some additional background to flesh the piece out. Imagine my surprise when I found O'Rourke's November 17, 2008 ARTICLE from the Weekly Standard and realized that a large chunk of his talk consisted of him reading this article, verbatim. Now don't get me wrong, I am a big fan of P.J. and the man can write entertaining prose, but on some level, especially given what I had shelled out for the ticket, I felt like I'd been had. I expected better.

At the start of the evening, Co-Producer of the event, Rick Borman, spoke at some length about the intense quality of the Speaker Series and how he feels that it is one of the best such series in the entire country, and certainly better than those poseurs up in Sarasota. Clearly, this was an effort to placate the first few rows of the audience who had shelled out $4,000 to be at the Benefactor-level. He then went on to near ecstasy about the fact that President George W. Bush and his brother Jeb, were already booked as speakers for the February 16, 2010 event. get those subscriptions in right away.

I wouldn't mind hearing George Bush speak and I know that Jeb was a popular governor here in the Sunshine State. But I wonder whether they will deliver well-crafted, incisive and informative talks, or will they read excerpts from their mother's dog book? who knows. In addition, the other three speakers for next year are not yet announced. Given that one of this year's speakers was Mia Farrow, that might be additional information one might want to have before firing off that subscription renewal. Oh well, nothing, I guess, is perfect, except, perhaps, the Naples weather in non-hurricane season. But as I was saying to P.J. O'Rourke the other night,.........

Conflicting Reports from Venezuela

When Bill Delahunt returned from his meeting with Venezuelan president, Hugo Chavez, in Caracas last Thursday, SEE STORY he indicated that he and Chavez had shared a "very positive and constructive conversation. To wit:

Delahunt, who has visited with Chavez previously, says he came away from the meeting at the presidential palace on Thursday night "feeling better about the possibilities between the United States and Venezuela."

Moreover,

The congressman won’t speculate about the possibility of an eventual Chavez-Obama meeting. But he says there is a desire on Obama’s part "to have a good relationship" and says he’s confident Chavez also wants good relations.

Based on this assessment, it came as a bit of a surprise, a few days later, when Chavez, speaking on his Sunday TV broadcast, called the U.S. president an "ignoramus". SEE STORY This comment was presumably an amplification of the comments he made in an Al Jazeera interview on Friday where he bemoaned Obama's lack of knowledge of Latin American affairs. He also cited similar remarks made by Brazilian president Luiz Inacio da Silva after a March 14th meeting with Obama in Washington. SEE STORY

For those of us here in the Massachusetts 10th Congressional District concerned about all the time and effort that our congressman spends courting this unbalanced despot, we had at least hoped that those efforts might have made at least a small contribution to toning down the Premiere's toxic, anti-American rhetoric. Given the discrepancy in the above reports, we are now wondering at Bill's diplomatic skills. And maybe, Bill should just spend more time tending the business of the Massachusetts 10th, and leave the international work to the Foggy Bottom crew.

CPA Reconsidered, Caracas Revisited and a Vinny Interview

CPA
The Community Preservation Act (CPA)currently provides a one and one half percent surcharge be added to each Plymouth property tax bill. This money, along with State matching funds, is used for open space purchases, historic renovation and affordable housing. When Plymouth adopted the program seven years ago, the State match was dollar for dollar. Last year, Plymouth taxpayers kicked in $1.4 million to the CPA fund and received $991 thousand in matching funds. Given the severe fiscal problems in the state budget, the matching rate is expected to drop to the 30% range this year.

Those same state fiscal problems are widely expected to fall heavily on municipal budgets, which means upward pressure on property taxes. While the CPA program may have looked like a worthwhile deal during sunnier economic times, it should now be reconsidered amid today's bleak fiscal climate. Precinct 5's Laurie Enos is asking the Town Meeting to send the question to the voters so that they may decide whether or not it should be continued. The View is encouraging the Town Meeting to pass this recommendation. Click HERE for an article about Laurie's presentation to the Selectmen.


ANOTHER CARACAS SOJOURN
The fiscal problems facing Massachusetts are serious, but they pale when compared with the economic problems facing the Federal Government. It is a wonder, then, when we read of our local Congressman, Bill Delahunt, somehow having found the time to travel back to Venezuela to visit his old pal, Hugo Chavez, as was reported TODAYThe banks may be teetering on the brink of disaster, the Auto Makers on the verge of going belly-up, while the new President and the Congress are borrowing money from generations of taxpayers yet unborn and shoveling it out the door. But fear not. Our Congressman is encouraged about the the possibilities of improved relations between the US and Venezuela.

A VINNY INTERVIEW
A hat tip to Red Mass Group for its exclusive interview with our own State Representative, Vinny DeMacedo. There is allegedly a Part II of this piece. I will provide the link when it surfaces. In the meantime, Click HERE to read Part I and appreciate that we have at least one sane fiscal voice in the House.

Tis' the Day

Since the Irish diaspora reached to Australia and beyond, it should be no surprise that it found its way to Southwest Florida, from which, the View wishes its readers that the grace of St. Patrick and the uplifting Irish spirit put a bounce in your step today, and for many days to come.

Our days here in the sun are drawing to a close and we will soon be following the Red Sox 18-wheeler up I-95 as it makes its way back to Fenway for Opening Day. Being away has been fun, but we are looking forward to getting back home

A More Pleasant View

For those readers who keep track of such things, you may have noticed that the frequency of our postings here have tapered off somewhat. Some of this is due to warm weather, enjoying time with our visitors and the various activities that all conspire to keep me away from the keyboard. Exhibit one is the nearby photo of sunset at Naples Beach. Judged by the crowd on hand, we are not the only ones who enjoy watching the sun dip into The Gulf of Mexico. Talk about one of life's simple pleasures? it doesn't get much better. A few minutes to forget about the economic disaster that is hurtling down the tracks.

I have to admit to being depressed by the combination of the relentless bad news, headed up by the stock market's continuing plunge, coupled with the endless TV coverage of the new President, and his cockeyed economics. Many of us knew he would revert to the left once elected, but I don't think that any of us expected this rush to socialism. In some ways, the most difficult part is the lack of a strong chorus of dissent from the right. Perhaps many feel that Obama should get his chance to try his ideas. But such a miscast sense of fairness ignores the destructiveness of many of his proposals. It seems as though Rush Limbaugh is the only public voice to accurately note the way these new programs could cause permanent damage. Given that potential, it makes little sense for anyone to wish them success.

But if the right has been silenced by this onslaught, I must also admit a difficulty in finding my voice. While we make the effort to reorganize our ideas and put forth cogent dissent, we look to those few who have managed to keep up the good fight. I invite you to read Iron Mike's latest BLOG. Thank goodness that we have a few good men and women that can still make our case.

An Old Joke

"All I ask for is a one-armed Economist," starts the old saw. "Then, at least he won't be able to say, 'on the other hand'" (rim shot, cymbal smash). Like so many tired jokes, however, it contains a kernel of veracity. The "dismal science" just doesn't have the specificity of the hard sciences, especially when it comes to forecasting. As a matter of fact, it's not too reliable when it comes to analyzing past economic performance. To wit: equally strong cases can be made, for an against, the effect of FDR's programs on the Great Depression. So when the new President cites the support of hundreds of economists for his stimulus package, it needs to be understood that there are just as many learned economists who can make the opposite case. In other words, it might work, but on the other hand......

Our country has prospered for centuries under a private sector system that rewards industry and hard work. Among the many benefits of this system is the where withal to care for those in society unable to provide for themselves. While it is difficult to accurately determine the optimum share of private wealth that should be taken in taxes to provide for society's unfortunates, but there clearly is a point where an increasing tax burden hinders private ambition. Why work for more income if the government is going to take most of it in taxes? Inversely, lowering the tax rate encourages production.

The new Administration, to make an understatement, has been busy. It has been cranking out major programs, any one of which could take years to plan and implement. Maybe the new Administration is just that much smarter and more efficient to crank these "solutions" out like loaves of bread. Or, maybe they are just winging it.

In addition to a massive bank bailout, it has passed a huge stimulus package that may or may not stimulate the economy, but sure will provide pork for the legislators. There is also a plan afoot to solve the housing crisis which may or may not be linked to the banking crisis and unsound lending policies. Then there is the auto industry which has been deemed too big to fail, especially if the UAW is to continue to collect over-the-top-salaries and benefits. Oh, and by he way, next week they are going to reorganize the American health Care System. Amid the euphoria of chanting "Yes, we can" can be heard a thin but clear wail of realism that asks, how are we going to pay for all this? The Administration is already admitting to $1.5 trillion, but I wouldn't take the under on this puppy.

So, here it comes. Once all these new spending plans are in place, there will be an epiphany in Washington that we will have accumulated massive deficits, which, of course, must be paid. Since the only way the government can acquire money is through taxes, major tax increases are guaranteed, so that the government can rake in more dough. Unfortunately, those higher taxes will be pushing the economy the other way, thus reducing tax revenues. This being the inverse side of supply-side economics, may not be popular, in some quarters, but the record can be ignored at our peril.

The stock market is down 2% today, on a course that will negate yesterday's dead cat bounce. In addition to providing an eerie forward economic indicator, the market is also marking down the private retirement accounts of those who have worked hard to provide for their future. I'm only guessing, but I suspect that this might be a bad time to approach these folks about chipping in big time to Obama's schemes to redistribute the wealth.

What a Difference a Week Makes.

Newt came to Naples the other night to speak at the 2009 Town Hall Distinguished Speakers Series, just a week after the President appeared in Ft, Myers to herald the salvation of mankind, aka the Stimulus Plan. As might be expected, the press coverage for the two events was markedly different, but the local Bugle (The Naples Daily News) did feature a front page article, where it labelled Newt as a "strong opponent of the government's stimulus package, as if this this constitutes an outlandish position. And this from a newspaper that most people around here see as a bit right of center.

Newt spoke for an hour, but the only comment on the Stimulus Plan that was covered was:

When it came to politics, Gingrich said he was “disappointed so far” with President Barack Obama. That disappointment, he said, stemmed from the most recent stimulus package, and the push to get it through both the House and the Senate without many people being able to read it.

Read the article HERE.

Recall the urgency, the bill had to be passed by Friday night or civilization ,as we know it, was in jeopardy. The bill was indeed passed, at which point the Obama's took off for a three day, week end media love fest in Chicago. The bill was finally signed in Denver yesterday at still another staged appearance that makes it seem that this presidency will be run in bite-size personal appearances, produced like diet cola commercial.

Where is the outrage? The biggest lump of liberal federal spending since LBJ, and no time for any analysis, let alone debate? Maybe the Democrats really do believe that the government is one big piggy bank. Have we lost our collective minds? The stock market sure thinks so.

But I am being too kind. For a more determined comment, I invite you to view Iron Mike's COMMENTS, appearing today in the blog sponsored by the Fall River Republicans. Say what you want, but the man tells it like it is.

Presidential in Ft. Myers

In describing Obama's style during the campaign, one wag stated that while he said very little, he did so with great eloquence. He seemed to have something for everyone, but precious little when it came to specifics. Many of us wondered, especially after he was elected, how he would adjust to the responsibilities of the presidency. Turns out, he adjusted very well in that he just kept on spewing the same platitudes that got him there in the first place.

Ft. Myers is right up I-75 from Naples and, until recently, was perhaps best known as the spring training home of the Red Sox. It's also the airport you fly into to get to Naples. But today, Obama came to town to promote the Great Stimulus Plan which, while he was in town, gasped its way through the U.S. Senate. Why Ft. Myers? Turns out, this small city in Southwest Florida, according to the New York Times, is "ground zero" of the country's economic recession. Eat you heart out, Detroit.

The locals began lining up for tickets on Sunday for the event taking place at the Harborside Event Center, which holds some 3,200 people. When asked why the event wasn't held at the nearby, and much larger, Germain Arena, local Democratic officials thought that the larger venue would detract from the intimacy of the "town-hall" format.

Right off the bat (Go Sox) one third of the tickets were snapped up by the White House staff and traveling press. According to Harborside management, the distribution of tickets was handled entirely by the White House. When tickets were distributed to the general public, most of whom had been waiting in line all night, it seems only an estimated 400 tickets were given out. A spokeswoman for the White House stated that her office does not comment on the number of available tickets. So there. A lot of folks who stood in line all night, were still standing outside when the event took place.

So what exactly was going on here? Rather than an open forum to discuss the local economy, we had a staged presentation for the president to pitch his Stimulus Plan. This is troubling, especially given the fact that the members of the press allowed to put questions to the President at Monday night's nationally-televised press conference had been pre-selected. Here we are dealing with the mother of all spending bills, and no one seems to be asking him the tough questions.

The bill is massive, both in its size, scope and, of course, its cost. Moreover, it has been written almost entirely by Democrats, and is likely to be passed into law with virtually no Republican support. The bill is loaded with liberal spending programs, which are stimulative only to the extent that one could argue, as Obama has, that any money spent by the government is by definition stimulative. You want tax cuts? we'll give you tax cuts, but only if you don't pay any taxes in the first place. Gotta redistribute that wealth.

We need to do something, says Obama, because we are in the deepest doo doo since the Great Depression. Jobs are disappearing at an accelerating rate, right Nancy? So don't even think of doing nothing, says the Pres. And we may not have it 100% right, but some of it is bound to work. Just how this porker is going to provide 4 million jobs? Details to follow.

Yesterday, Obama comforted a weeping homeless woman in Ft. Myers, The Senate passed its version of the stimulus bill and Secretary of the Treasury spent the day hinting at the plan for stabilizing the financial markets. The stock market reacted by losing 5% of its value in a single day. Someone needs to tell these guys that the campaign is over