Showing posts with label Budget. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Budget. Show all posts

May 5, 2015

Increased Crime Statistics In Cambridge, MA. What does it mean?




[This comment was censored by the editors of the Cambridge Chronicle. Protecting fragile police officials?] 

Are we getting near budget deliberation time? Low crime statistics when it is salary negotiation season. High crime statistics during budget discussion season? Or is this another effort to reduce freedom with more surveillance and reducing Fourth Amendment protections? 

http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20150505/NEWS/150508237

Cambridge police: Serious crime spikes in first quarter of year
By Sara Feijo
sfeijo (at) wickedlocal.com
Posted May. 5, 2015 at 12:33 PM
Updated at 12:34 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

May 1, 2015

Cambridge Teachers Union Increases Dues Paying Members, For More Campaign Contributions





[This comment was censored by the editors of the Cambridge Chronicle. Criticism of teachers unions not permitted?] 

Will the increase in "social and emotional learning,” include dating, safe sex, homosexual sex, hate, depression, love and anger? Are these new positions mandated to pay union dues? How much of taxpayers funds for the 29 full time positions will go directly to union political action campaigns?


http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20150430/NEWS/150439529

Proposed Cambridge school budget up 4.6 percent; district to add 29 fulltime positions
By Sara Feijo
sfeijo (at) wickedlocal.com
Posted Apr. 30, 2015 at 4:25 PM
CAMBRIDGE Chronicle

May 13, 2013

Misguided School Policymakers




Marc McGovern, School Committee Member


Richard Harding, School Committee Member

Why a person casts a vote has to do with their motive. How does Marc McGovern and Richard Harding know the motives of the councilors who voted against their wishes? It appears that these two whining elected officials have had their way for too long without any opposition. Perhaps they should retire to the dreaded private sector where they will not have their actions questioned.

Never has there been any discussion of the role of the teachers unions in making policy and misappropriation of taxpayer funds. The two alarmists admit that what the City Council lawfully did may "potentially damage contract negotiations." Contract negotiations created the crisis in public education in this country. The stranglehold that teachers unions have on public schools has disastrous effects on the dumbing down of two generations of public school students. The unions allow indoctrination in the name of education. Students cannot read, write or do basic math. But they know about diversity, hating America, and multiculturalism. They are taught by psychologists who are seldom more than control freaks dictating their thoughts on political correctness. Psychologists curb protected speech and behavior because the psychologists do not like or do not understand what American children say and do. It is shameful that the school committee members cry wolf when they are upset, but remain obedient to their union masters. What is the rational reason for having psychologists in the public schools? Have schools become clinics for evaluation, treatment and behavior conditioning? The two misguided school officials are clueless about how wrongheaded their policies are, but they question the City Council? How very amusing.

[From letter]
Let us be very clear, the political maneuvering that was carried out at this meeting will do absolutely nothing to help address these concerns. The councilors have done nothing to help bring us together as city leaders. What they did do, is drive a wedge between the school community and the city community. What they did do was potentially damage contract negotiations. What they did do was show that making a political statement was more important than insulting, disrespecting and undermining several months of work by parents, teachers, principals and school administrators. If that is not bad enough, they did it all without any communication, warning or chance for the superintendent or School Committee to be prepared. This was a complete and utter blindside to all who worked so hard.
[. . .]
They voted down adding additional school psychologists, inclusion specialists, athletic trainers, and additional staffing for our new upper schools. They voted down adding an additional Special Start classroom and funding the Wrap Around Zone at the Fletcher Maynard Academy modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x1039441380/COLUMN-Councilors-budget-actions-were-more-damaging-than-helpful#axzz2TE8IYCUE

COLUMN: Councilors’ budget actions were more damaging than helpful
By Marc McGovern and Richard Harding/GUEST COMMENTARY
Cambridge Chronicle
Posted May 13, 2013 @ 12:06 PM

April 17, 2013

Obama Reduced Domestic Bombing Prevention Budget by 45 Percent




http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2310110/Obama-administration-SLASHED-budget-domestic-bombing-prevention-45-cent-says-Homeland-Security-Assistant-Secretary.html?ICO=most_read_module

Obama administration has SLASHED budget for domestic bombing prevention by 45 per cent, says former Homeland Security Assistant Secretary
$20 million budget under Bush became $11 million under Obama
Both administrations neglected domestic bombing prevention, devoting a tiny fraction of the $1 billion earmarked for IED prevention overseas
Obama issued a lengthy 'National Policy for Countering Improvised Explosive Devices' in February but a spokesman won't say if it failed
By DAVID MARTOSKO
Daily Mail (UK)
PUBLISHED: 17:02 EST, 16 April 2013 | UPDATED: 18:02 EST, 16 April 2013

September 16, 2012

Yonkers NY, A City Of Lessons

[From article]
Yonkers’ budget is an astounding $1 billion a year, for a city of barely 200,000. And 80%-85% of that budget is taken up by salaries and benefits.
In large measure, the roots of Yonkers’ predicament lie in its knack for signing strikingly generous union contracts.
Under the terms of their current contract, which Mayor Mike Spano describes as “the most generous contract of any fire department in America,” the starting salary of a Yonkers’ firefighter is $71,000 — $20,000 higher than that of a New York City firefighter.
[. . .]
The average salary for a Yonkers public-school teacher is more than $100,000. Under the terms of their most recent contract, which expired in June 2011, any teacher with a master’s degree and 15 years of experience earns a salary of $113,674.
[. . .]
in 2006, sold the library building to balance the school district’s budget.
[. . .]
Yonkers had been placed under a court order to build public housing in certain white middle-class neighborhoods. When the city council voted to defy this order, Judge Leonard Sand retaliated with a fine that began at $100 and doubled every day, a rate that threatened literally to bankrupt the city within weeks. As Lisa Belkin’s book “Show Me a Hero” dramatically recounts, the control board took over city government until the city council relented and voted to allow the housing.
[. . .]
Teachers, firefighters and police officers spent decades getting lucrative promises out of cities across the nation. Now that the bills are coming due, will the unions kill the golden geese?

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/nation_gone_yonkers_I6mmkJCdYobztjMedDKhUL/0

A nation gone Yonkers
With a $1 billion budget and out-of-control union costs, the city is hurtling toward bankruptcy. The scary part? Towns across America face the exact same disaster
By STEPHEN EIDE
New York Post
Last Updated: 11:12 PM, September 15, 2012
Posted: 11:07 PM, September 15, 2012

April 24, 2012

City Council Drafts Budget?

The headline is misleading. To suggest that the City Council is even capable of drafting a budget is laughable. They seldom read the entire budget. Not only voters are clueless about details of how government works but also elected officials who are paid to know, seldom do. Recall that not one US elected official read the boondoggle health care bill before it was passed and signed into law. The Spending Other People's Money Society has no cares for where it comes from, only where it goes to. As Shakespeare said (King Lear), "Ripeness is all." 

http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2012/4/24/city-council-budget-2013/

Cambridge City Council Drafts Budget
By MAYA JONAS-SILVER,
Harvard CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
April 24, 2012

February 20, 2012

Government Deception On Costs

Local governments also participate in the same kind of deceptions with journalist complicity. Cambridge MA voted to build a new library. The cost was set at $31 million. It was finally built at a cost of $91 million. And so it goes.

http://townhall.com/columnists/johnstossel/2012/02/15/creators_oped

Never Trust Government Numbers
John Stossel
TownHall.com
February 15, 2012

July 19, 2011

Texas Hold 'Em Bluff Against Nothing

[From article]
"The first principle of poker is not to give any indication that you're bluffing. Presi dent Obama violated it at one of the increasingly farcical White House meetings on the debt ceiling. He reportedly left the confab with a warning to Republicans: "Don't call my bluff."
[. . .]
The paralysis in the House means Obama can beat nothing with nothing. His nothing is made up of phantom spending cuts that he's never compelled to reveal but that he takes credit for proposing in negotiations. Free of any obligation to put them on paper, let alone get them scored by the Congressional Budget Office, he can pose as the most regal of fiscal hawks.
[. . .]
The House Republican nothing is much more literal. Republican leaders don't know their next move. To extend the poker analogy, they are all-in with no hand to play."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/calling_bam_bluff_J4zhwxJbpoFkFWUhUZYKJL

Calling Bam's bluff
GOP is bumbling debt fight
Rich Lowry
New York Post
Last Updated: 3:09 AM, July 16, 2011
Posted: 9:39 PM, July 15, 2011

March 30, 2011

Don't Blame Unions? Huh?

http://www.wickedlocal.com/cambridge/news/x855934625/Toner-Dont-blame-unions-for-budget-woes#axzz1HsniSj3X

Don't blame unions for budget woes
By Paul Toner
Wicked Local Cambridge
March 29, 2011

February 21, 2011

WI Gov Re-elected With Strong Opposition

[From article]
"Walker became the chief executive of heavily Democratic Milwaukee County in a revolt over a pension scandal in 2002, a sort of proto-Tea Party. For eight years, he proposed budgets with no increase in taxes. His county board overrode him, editorialists condemned him, unions ran billboards blaming him for messy parks and late buses. He won re-election twice."

Unions lose image war
Battle of Madison shows they’re no longer sympathetic
By PATRICK McILHERAN
New York Post
Last Updated: 10:23 AM, February 20, 2011
Posted: 10:21 PM, February 19, 2011

July 28, 2010

Orzag's Budget Fantasies Exposed

[From article]
"In the federal budget process, the baseline scenario is typically based on current law. But the Obama administration has argued that it should be able to work from “current policy.” That way, they can stuff all sorts of expensive future changes into the baseline.
[. . .]
Those policies were all explicitly created to be temporary. But by quietly assuming they’ll continue on, the administration avoids accounting for $216 billion.
[. . .]
Since 2007, Democrats in Congress have violated PAYGO requirements to the tune of nearly $1 trillion.'
[. . .]
Under Orszag’s watch, budget gimmicks became a way of life for the Obama White House. Both he and Obama may want to pretend their budget numbers tell the truth, but at this point, it’s tough to see their constant fiscal fakery as anything other than a long exercise in make believe."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/legacy_of_budget_trickery_8ct6pTyZoTHgKNhwerJdCM

A legacy of budget trickery

Peter Orszag's sleight of hand

Last Updated: 5:08 AM, July 25, 2010

Posted: 12:31 AM, July 25, 2010

February 7, 2010

Obama Cooking the Books

"The ploy here is simple. They are keeping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac off the government’s balance sheet and out of the federal budget, along with their $1.6 trillion of corporate debt and $4.7 trillion of mortgage obligations. 
[. . .]
this was supposed to be the administration that, in his words, would put an end to “the era of irresponsibility in Washington.” Instead, he has provided us a new beginning.

[. . .]
Excluding Fannie and Freddie, the national debt held by the public is about $7.9 trillion. With them, it exceeds last year’s $13.2 trillion gross domestic product.
[. . .]
The government lacks moral standing to prosecute crimes such as accounting fraud when its own books lack integrity."

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=a.G6KFfaDdSc

Obama’s $6.3 Trillion Scam Is America’s Shame: Jonathan Weil
Commentary by Jonathan Weil
Feb. 4, 2010
(Bloomberg)

December 18, 2009

Bank Failures Expected to Continue

FDIC Expects More Bank Failures in 2010


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=arQEV.zQ0wMY&pos=5

FDIC Boosts 2010 Budget, Staff as Bank Failures Rise
By Alison Vekshin
Bloomberg.com
December 15, 2009

August 13, 2009

545 vs 300,000,000.


Charlie Reese

545 vs 300,000,000.

EVERY CITIZEN NEEDS TO READ THIS AND THINK ABOUT WHAT THIS JOURNALIST
HAS SCRIPTED IN THIS MESSAGE. READ IT AND THEN REALLY THINK ABOUT
OUR CURRENT POLITICAL DEBACLE.

Charley Reese has been a journalist for 49 years.

545 PEOPLE
By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and
then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and
high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on
appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine
how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.
What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits. The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House? Nancy Pelosi. She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow House members, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to.

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million can not replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts -- of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the
federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red.

If the Army & Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power. Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation," or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses.

Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it.......... Is up to you.

This might be funny if it weren't so darned true.
Be sure to read all the way to the end:

Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table
At which he's fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.

Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts
Anyway!
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.
Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won't be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he's laid.

Put these words
Upon his tomb,
Taxes drove me
to my doom...'

When he's gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge T ax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Sales Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Ser vice FeeTax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge=2 0Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY? Not one of these taxes existed 100 years
ago, and our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had
absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world,
and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What in the hell happened? Can you spell 'politicians?' And I still have to 'press 1' for English!?