Tax Cuts Kill Police Departments

    Down here in Tampa I am always joking that one of these days the police department is going to have to cut back on personnel because of the “tax cuts” brought on by all of those Republican politicians in the land. Of course, they call them budget cuts cause the American people can stomach that much better.

    Here in Tampa, we have our libraries closing on one Friday every month. We have had our city council get furlough days also.

   Back to the police. Hasn’t happened in Tampa yet, but here is a story that is fucked up. This is your tax dollars at work.

Associated Press

CLARKSTON, Mich. - A small town in Michigan has eliminated its police department as a way to save money.

The Oakland County sheriff's department began patrolling the village of Clarkston on Friday night.

Technorati Tags: Budget Cuts,Republicans,Police Departments,Michigan,News

Clarkston previously had a police chief, one full-time officer, eight part-time officers and some reservists. WDIV-TV and the Detroit Free Press report the community about 30 miles northwest of Detroit eliminated the positions as a part of budget cuts.

The Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce says about 1,000 people live in the community.

In California, the city of Maywood eliminated its police department earlier this year because of budget problems. Maywood is southeast of Los Angeles and has about 45,000 residents.

  

Dems Messing Up Chances In November…

…which is not anything surprising, is it? I think that those idiots up in Washington,D.C. have been shooting themselves in the foot from day one. President Obama has no control over his group and he has not attempted to reign his troops in, which is not good. The Democrats, I think, are going to eat the dust come November and they have no-one to blame but themselves.

    At stake nationally is the balance of power in Washington, the tone for the remainder of Obama's first term and his likely 2012 re-election bid. All 435 House seats as well as 37 Senate seats are on the ballot. The country also will elect 37 governors in races that will determine who oversees the once-a-decade redrawing of political districts.

    Republicans are hoping to capitalize on voters' economic disillusionment, frustration with Obama and tea party-generated enthusiasm.

   Democrats are relying on a financial advantage, a robust get-out-the-vote operation and, mostly, the ghost of George W. Bush to curb an expected Nov. 2 shellacking.   Source

Technorati Tags: Democrats,Barack Obama,2011,Elections,Republicans,George Bush

Are The Power Companies Ripping You Off?

   Of course they are, you and I both know that. My problem is not with what I am paying for the power usage, but with the other “ add-ons “ tacked to the bill.

    We here in Tampa are serviced by only one power company and that would be TECO (Tampa Electric). Guess that it is pretty nice to be a monopoly here in this area.

   In the bill which arrived in the mail today was one of those forgettable little pamphlets that outfits are always throwing in with the bill itself. Usually, I toss the thing into the trash,but I decided to take a look at it this time around. Surprise! $104.90  power bill. No big deal there right? I think that that is pretty cheap for this time of year. My attention was directed to the extra fees and such.

  Gross Receipts Tax: $1.78

  Franchise Fee: $3.52

Those are nothing to be concerned with, but, this one got me!

   Customer Charge: $10.50

   Just what is this charge? According to this little pamphlet:

      “ The monthly customer charge covers the cost of maintaining your electric meter and the wires that bring electrical service to your home or business. “

    It also covers their cost to send someone out to read my meter,and maintain my customer records.

    So, in a nutshell, I am paying them an extra $10.50 for services that should be coming out of my power bill itself. Are they now charging me extra for their costs of doing business?

   I’ll have more on this after I get a chance to speak with someone at the company.

 

 

Technorati Tags: Tampa,TECO,Customer Charge,Power Bill,Electric Bill,Franchise Fee

A Little Bit Of Polling

   Well now, to give you just a little bit of what the country thinks of President Obama, I went to one of my favorite polling sites, Rasmussen to check out their latest info.

    The latest polling index shows that only 29% of the countries voters Strongly Approve of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president. Those who Strongly  make up some 41%. Those are not good numbers by any means,

    While we are at it, you should know that 75% of those polled think that our Congress should cut their own pay until the budget gets balanced. Don’t hold your breath waiting for that one to happen.

Overall, 48% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the president's performance. Fifty-one percent (51%) disapprove.