TomTerriffic's blog

Ex:

If I correctly understand your proposal regarding a publicly-elected executive to oversee the expenditures of the publicly-elected BCC, the net effect would be this:

1. Elect a (new?) politician to oversee other (existing) politicians!

2. Create a new line-item in the county budget for a newly-elected position.

The above two effects are logically dependent on some obvious assumptions on your part, to-wit:

1. You must assume in advance that the newly elected politician-comptroller won't be beholden to the same sources of campaign contributions that the BCC depends on for winning races.

The respected Heritage Foundation has some interesting observations about recent welfare adjustments and the disturbing trends they portend.  You can find the full article - free - on their website.  Google The Heritage Foundation and you'll find it. 

"Despite the famed 1996 Welfare Reform Act and the more recent welfare adjustments in 2006, 60.8 million Americans remain dependent on the government for their daily housing, food, and health care. The number of taxpayers is shrinking—and the country may be rapidly approaching the point where more than one-third of Americans do not pay taxes for benefits they receive. In February 2009, the Democrat-controlled Congress and the new Obama Administration may have driven the final stake into the heart of any semblance of fiscal responsibility when they enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act — essentially overturning the fiscal foundation of welfare reform.Starting in 2016, Social Security will not collect enough in taxes to pay all of the promised benefits— which is a problem for all workers, but especially for the roughly half of the American workforce that has no other retirement program.

[Thou art] already dead. stabbed with a white wench's black eye, run through the ear with a love song, the very pin of [thy] heart cleft with the blind bow-boy's butt shaft. - Romeo and Juliet

Ex- and Travis

Ex - In your posting, you made at least two references to those who support abolition of the county constitution as "Tom's friends."

Given the significant financial backing that those interests gave to Christy Fitzgerald and Wendell Davis in my two races for the District 1 BCC seat, I'm not sure what you were thinking when you labeled them as my "friends."  But whatever your thought process, that's OK, because I don't think the average blogger would find credibility in labeling those interest groups - including 2 commissioners who are promoting the idea of getting rid of the charter - as being my "friends." 

As I have been predicting for over a year now on this blog, the special interests in this county who are not happy with citizens' initiaitives which have brought about term limits, single district elections, and equalizing BCC salaries with that of the elected school board would eventually make their moves to get rid of the charter.

I was waiting to see who the "Trojan Horse" for those interests would be.  Now we know his name: Kerekes.  This is the second time he has brought it up.  

On another subject:  why the Clay Clerk of the Court is not the holder of the county purse strings as is the case in other counties.

next Saturday night, 9:00 p.m., Fox channel.  You will see Fleming Island's very own Anne-Michael Huntley Smith in her first acting role on America's Most Wanted.  She's the granddaughter of Frank and Mary Eason of Fleming Island and the late Lewis Huntley and his wife Mary Huntley of Orange Park.  Anne-Michael is a graduate of Clay High and UNF.  She has been working as a model in Orlando while pursuing an acting career.  She's a really sweet young woman with solid values.

You may recall several months ago I wrote on this blog that when the new BCC commissioners took office, they began discussing scrapping the charter.  I said that it was because their campaign contributors wanted to scrap it because they were losing too many ballot initiatives to citizens (term limits, single-district elections, etc.).

I also wrote that I thought that the CRC would front for those interests when they met.

 Was it Mr. Kerekes who brought it up at a recent CRC meeting?

for my college government class:

"Write a comprehensive essay in which you compare and contrast the political philosophies of John Stuart Mill (libertarianism) and Edmund Burke (conservatism)."

Anybody out there in blogotown care to take the exam just for the fun of it?  (Warning: I don't grade on the "curve.")

Be glad that Obamacare appears to be failing!  I just got an e-mail from my niece who informed me that while living in Canada she injured her knee. Her doctor recommended that she have an MRI.  She contacted the nearest facility - a hospital - and they told her the next available appointment was at 11:00 p.m. - nine months in the future.  She flew back to the USA to have the MRI done.

Yesterday, Rasmussen Reports that:

1.  55% of the American people thought Alabama would win the BCS; and

2. 60% of the American people say next American president somewhat likely to be from GOP.

One might conclude that the American people are smarter than the Dems give them credit for being.............

Finally, last night after Bama won the National Championship for the 8th time, the followng event occurred in Afghanistan only 7 miles from the Pakistan border - at a remote Forward Operating Base in the middle of all the battles you have read about over the past week, there is a flag pole in front of the US Tactical Operations Center.  On the flag pole are the U.S. flag, the Afghan national flag - and in the middle waves the Alabama National Champions flag!