Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The Results Are In...

You know, it’s really too bad that only a measly 23% of us could even be bothered to get off our butts long enough Tuesday to cast a vote. But what are you gonna do? I guess you can’t force people to pay attention or for that matter to even care.
I would like to congratulate Bill Bunten as he gets ready to serve his second term as the mayor of our great city. I don’t agree with him on everything he supports, especially the sales tax increase. But here’s the way I see it. Mr. Bunten is an honest man and cares deeply about this community. He’s a stand up guy and doesn’t get involved in the gutter politics that so many politicians get caught up in today. And by looking at the huge margin of his victory, I think most people see it that way.
That being said, Mr. Bunten, you got the tax increase you’ve wanted all along. Now it’s going to be up to you to see that the money’s spent the way it was sold to us in the first place. A lot of people, including myself, trust that you’ll do the right thing. But just so you know, there’ll be a lot of people watching, you know, just to make sure.
It was very heartening to see the voters overwhelmingly reject racism. They sent a very clear message to Betty Horton that we don’t need her or her racist views. Maybe next time she throws one of her famous hissy fits and tells a colleague she disagrees with, that they “whited out” on an issue, she’ll have enough sense not to repeat it to Barbara Hollingsworth, a very respected reporter from the Capital-Journal. I doubt it though. So to Ms. Horton, all I can say is, good luck, good-bye, and good-riddance.
Alright, I want to talk a little bit about last week’s column. I’ve caught quite a bit of flak because of my opposition to the sales tax increase. People have asked me how I could possibly be against taking care of our city. I’m not. I’m also not against taking care of people who can’t take care of themselves. I’m against taking care of people who won’t take care of themselves. Big difference.
I look at my pay check every week and the first thing I notice is the fact that before I get a dime of it, the government gets their share. And their share amounts to about 23% of everything I make. And that’s just the beginning. Next we add in the sales tax added onto every single purchase we make. Let’s not forget about the property tax we must pay each year on our houses and automobiles, we just think we own them.
I guess if that were it, I wouldn’t be so mad. Take a look at your water bill, light bill, and phone bill. See all those “fees” added in. It’s just more taxes we’re forced to pay. How about the taxes we have to pay on our investments. How about the death tax. Yeah, that’s a good one.
Back in November, America voted for a change. Well, you’d better hang onto your butts, we’re going to see changes alright. Do you really believe the government is going to take care of every one of us from womb to tomb and do you really think it’s going to be free. Do you not see the massive tax increases that are coming with a 10 trillion deficit our country is facing?
How about the Cap and Trade scam the Obama administration is going to ram down our throats. What do you think that’s going to do to your light bill. We’ll be lucky if it only doubles it. What do you think it’s going to do the price of literally everything we buy. Same thing.
Anyway, I’ve had a few people tell me I should just quit complaining and do my part. Believe me, I do my part and then some. I think some of these people need to pull their heads out of the sand and pay attention to what’s going on around them.
Yeah I know, some of you disagree with me. Tell me so on the blog www.rm235.blogspot.com or e-mail me at www.kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net

5 comments:

  1. My favorite issue here is the Cap and Trade for pollution credits. The funniest thing about it is that it was birthed by Ken Lay and guys like him. They KNEW they could make pollution into a gold mine. That's what guys with money DO! Yeah, it'll make our energy bills higher, but it's still funny. Read up on a Supreme Court case EPA v. Massachusetts, et al. It will force Obama's EPA director to decide whether carbon dioxide is a pollutant! A politician will decide! I'm not kidding, Kevin. You want some funny reading, read that. The justices openly admit that the decision will have no regard for scientific merit-- only that The Clean Air Act requires that she decide once and for all whether carbon dioxide is a pollutant. Regardless what she decides, two facts remain: CO2 is necessary to sustain life, and you could be taxed for making it. TOO FUNNY!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, and, Anonymous, before you sound off, let me point out that big energy companies will make you pay their carbon tax. They will not take it out of their bonuses or stock dividends.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You're exactly right Fred. This whole thing is funny as hell. It's exactly the same as when Rob Bremby (former assistant manager of Lawrence) made the decision to halt the construction of the power plant in Holcomb.

    It didn't matter to him that Sunflower Energy had met all the requirements the State had put forth. He decided in all his infinite wisdom that because of CO2 emissions, he had to stop the project.

    It was funny as hell watching the meltdown that led up tp his decision. Opponents of the power plant told the horror story of the scortched earth and how western Kansas would become a vast wasteland if the plant were allowed to be built.

    Evidently Mr. Bremby doesn't go outside his house in Lawrence very often. If he would have just looked to the north of town, he would have noticed that Lawrence has it's very own coal fired powered plant. I'm not sure how many generations it's been there but life seems to be doing just fine in the surrounding area.

    Cap and Trade is nothing but another scam that will make millions for a select few and paupers out of the rest of us.

    How about it Anonymous? Or maybe someone else has something they'd like to add? I'm sure at least one of you internet experts have something to say about it...

    ReplyDelete
  4. I used to work at that coal-fired plant in Lawrence, cleaning all the coal ash out of the boilers.

    And yes, I thought many of the arguments against the coal-fired plant in Halcomb were ridiculous.

    And on just about every other point in here - good column, Kevin!

    Thomas Lessman

    ReplyDelete
  5. Cleaning ash out of the boilers. Now that had to be a fun job.

    As it stands today Thomas, I'm still scheduled to be home the first week in May and am very much looking forward to the 2009 Lessman's concert season. And my daughter is totally pumped as well.

    Fred, maybe this is something you'd be interested in? I can promise you won't be dissapointed. Well, unless it rains or something. It'll be still be a good time. The Lessman family is one of the most welcoming family I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.

    ReplyDelete

Solo Expedition...

 I haven't really talked about it much but every other weekend I usually head out by myself. It's usually the day I seek out new fis...