Monday Open Thread

14 thoughts on “Monday Open Thread”

1. .
   
   Not all hasty judgments lead to recantations.  Some lead to outlandish defenses.
   
   .

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   1. … to what do hasty puddings lead?

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2. of this calendar from the Clare Luce Booth “Policy” Institute.

   This years features Christian Martyr Carrie PreJean fully clothed.

   I know some of you guys are into this sort of scat play so, have at it.  

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   1. I didn’t see Marilyn Musgrave in the line up.  What gives?  Have they forgotten her already?

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      1. Musgrave on a calendar?

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3. as long as they don’t address the problem.

   The fees are charged to developments that, through traffic studies, are found to be adding traffic to area roads. The amount each development pays is based on the overall increase of traffic deemed to be created by the project.

   “There is no question that development should pay its own way,” said Commissioner Craig Meis. “Do I think you need a transportation impact fee to pay for that growth? No.”

   Meis went on to say that the transportation impact fee was just a way to get around the Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights, a state constitutional amendment, intended to control government growth, that keeps municipalities from raising taxes without voter approval.

   “It is a cost shift (from taxes to fees),” Meis said. “We used to exist without (transportation impact) fees.”
   

   Craig-If development should pay it’s way, and you mean this sincerely rather than merely flapping your gums (such as claiming that you have more chemicals under your sink than exist on a frack job), please explain how this would occur with neither fees nor taxes?

   -An inquiring constituent

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   1. Actually, some people believe that when a community grows, the natural rise in property and sales taxes alone will be enough to pay the costs of growth.  It’s a theory that’s probably comforting for anti-tax folks, but does it work?  Probably not, especially in a low-tax state like Colorado.

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      1. low tax, high fee.  

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      2. Call the Douglas county assessor.
         
         Request the total value of all assessed property in 1980 and the corresponding mill levy.
         
         Request the 2000 total value of all assessed property and the corresponding mill levy.

         Then call the County Supervisors  and ask them if development pays it’s way through the increase in value alone.

         I use DougCO just because the growth has been so dramatic.
         
         Bt it is the same math for virtually every county in Colorado.
         

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4. “More wacktavism and affirmation of a well considered opinion.”  

   -MC

   My advice to Pelosi and Reid, present and promote solutions to national problems, divest their corporate collusion, ignore Republican obstructionism, even if it means changing the rules of the filibuster and severely punish, by any means necessary, Democrats that don’t play well with other members of their party.  This is a battle between the people and the political parties/corporatocracy.   The only way this battle can be won by the people?  Continued exposure of elected officials and their complicity in the defilement of democracy, which is treasonous by definition, regardless of party affiliation.  
   
   Many party officials disapprove of self examination or critical observations regarding ethics, leadership or devotion to the principles of democracy (free and equal representation of people).  Primaries are heretical and grassroots activism is discouraged.  Within limits, never ask for permission because authority is invariably hard wired to say no with the intention of compounding frustration and to discourage activism.  

   Public financing of federal and state elections is a step in the right direction, but even if it were instituted, we would still have a problem with lobbyists writing laws.  Lawmakers encourage this practice, either because they are understaffed, lazy or extorting money.  We already know they read the summary and not the fine print.  Bills violate the most important rule of all, Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS) and they are purposely kept indecipherable for a reason, to conceal cronyism and pork.  You think members of Congress work hard for the money?  

   “By the time the gavel comes down on the 109th Congress on Friday, members will have “worked” a total of 103 days. That’s seven days fewer than the infamous “Do-Nothing Congress” of 1948.”  (Last figures I can find)

   Rank and file congressional pay is three and half times the median income of the United States.  Three times the median income of an electronics engineer, four times the median income of K-12 teachers, almost eight times the median income of a preschool teacher and last but not least, $56,000 more than median the  income of a GP Doctor.

   That would leave the 109th Congress 262 days to travel, campaign, extort money, etc., rather than writing laws, answering emails, letters and faxes and generally doing the work of the people.  What’s good for the people is good for America.

   “U.S. Congressional salaries and benefits have been the source of taxpayer unhappiness and myths over the years. Here are some facts for your consideration.

   Rank-and-File Members:
   
   The current salary (2009) for rank-and-file members of the House and Senate is $174,000 per year

   Congress: Leadership Members’ Salary (2009)
   
   Leaders of the House and Senate are paid a higher salary than rank-and-file members.

   Senate Leadership
   
   Majority Party Leader – $193,400
   
   Minority Party Leader – $193,400

   House Leadership
   
   Speaker of the House – $223,500
   
   Majority Leader – $193,400
   
   Minority Leader – $193,400

   Add to all of this, up to 80% of their pay when they retire.  $139,200

    

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5. Here he is in his own words listing his accomplishments to date

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6. http://www.latimes.com/news/na…

   In a nod of cooperation to the Obama administration, Russia recently agreed to allow cargo planes carrying U.S. troops and weapons to pass through the country en route to Afghanistan. But at the same time, it’s lobbying noisily for tougher crackdowns on the cultivation of opium poppies, which are used in the production of heroin. Early this month, President Dmitry Medvedev called rampant heroin addiction “a threat to the country’s national security.”

   Russia has called on the United Nations to link the foreign troop presence in Afghanistan to an obligation to destroy poppy plantations.

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   1. This is exactly why the Russians got their asses handed to them by the afghani resistance awhile back. Well, this and Charlie Wilson and the Stinger missile.

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