Citizen Groups in Coral Gables?
November 16, 2010 Leave a comment
Where are they, who are they and why don’t they respond regularly to the problems of the community.
This reflects endemic voter indifference.
Commission and Mayor Feel Censured by the Boy Scouts
November 15, 2010 Leave a comment
If we take the following quotes at face value it seems that our city leader is too focused on the regular criticisms of Mr. Burr. Also, I wasn’t aware the city commission is so conscious of criticism, since they have largely ignored disapproving comments from citizens on the city’s financial crises (predicted by many), the problems with the now defunct, resigned and richly rewarded, incompetent city manager, Mr. David Brown (incompetence predicted by many), the continuing Biltmore debacle, the Country Club mess, the sagging Miracle Mile business sector (unresolved by the famous BID), the pretentious museum, the leaf blower crisis and now the Boy Scouts House lease crisis.
I think it is normal in the politics of our time to regularly attack commissioners and the mayor (who are in the proverbial kitchen, but, seemingly, can’t take the heat).
In short
The mayor, in turn, accused Burr of using the media to distort the real issue — the proper use of the Scout house — to attack the commission.
“We are not going to take anyone out of the Scout house,” Slesnick said.
He added: “I have no political vendetta against Robert Burr. He doesn’t like me. He wants me out as mayor.”
Both men have been at odds before. In 2007, Burr supported Slesnick’s mayoral opponents — activist Richard Namon and former Mayor George Corrigan. Slesnick won.
via Gables backs down from evicting Boy Scout troop – Coral Gables – MiamiHerald.com.
Better No Tax Cut for Anyone–Save $3.7 trillion in Debt
November 15, 2010 Leave a comment
The argument is simple enough. Do not reinstate the tax cuts for all taxpayers. The actual final spending impact is small, the middle class loses $888/family and the group with millions in income get $100’s of thousands/taxpayer. Better to save the debt and cut the deficit by $3.7 million in tax cuts.
The question is: Is it better to extend the tax cuts for everyone or for no one? The answer is to extend them for no one.
The Bush tax cuts have always overwhelmingly benefited the rich, not the middle class, and that is no less true today than when they were enacted. They were bad policy then and they are bad policy today. Extending the tax cuts would dramatically enrich the wealthy relative to everyone else. 65.5 percent of the total benefit would go to the top quintile by income, 26.8 percent to the top 1 percent, and 14.7 percent to the top 0.1 percent.*
Rubio is Not a Keynesian, After All
November 14, 2010 Leave a comment
This sounds to me like the Marco Rubio of Tallahassee ( and his famous 100 ideas!)–his fight for distant issues and achieved little actual progress in deficit and tax reduction.
From Marco Rubio,
“The past two years provided a frightening glimpse at what could become of our great nation if we continue down the current path: wasteful spending, a growing debt and a government reaching ever further into our lives, even into our health care decisions,” he said. “It is nothing short of a path to ruin …”
…“This means preventing a massive tax increase scheduled to hit every American taxpayer at the end of the year. It means repealing and replacing the disastrous health care bill. It means simplifying our tax code, and tackling a debt that is pushing us to the brink of our own Greece-like day of reckoning.”
Rubio’s warning – and threat to the White House – sounds almost apocalyptic, as if the election campaign continues. Which, in a way, it does.
via President Obama, Marco Rubio face off on tax cuts – CSMonitor.com.
Dear Mr. Rubio,
Most of the debt came from the Bush Administration, the TARP, the Obama stimulus package and the fall in the economy that cut tax revenue; it is almost impossible to make a difference by eliminating “wasteful spending” (all newly elected politicians want to end wasteful spending not affecting their state or district); government overreaching (do forget war spending, the TARP passed by President Bush and a stimulus package a lot of which was tax cuts) that saved the banks, GM, and about 2 to 3 million jobs; the government is already deeply embedded in our health care in medicare and medicaid; the tax decrease in January for the rich will cause a huge increase on our debt and deficit of at least $700 billion without creating jobs.
Yes, we need to deal with the debt caused by mismanagement of the financial system by prior governments, the current government and the need to grow jobs. Let’s see if you and the others in Washington are willing to cut social security, medicare, medicaid, but, above all raise taxes to pay the bill.
This will be interesting.
Coral Gables Watch 