Brownsville Tea Party Association

Archive for the ‘Debt’ Category

Not much comment on my last mention, so let’s try again. How is it that we have some 16 “Gamblin’ Halls” between Port Isabel and South Padre Island operating with abandon, awarding large cash prizes against state law and the enforcers of our laws fail to act? It starts on the local level where laws do not provide for background checks and publication of the names of ALL of the owners. The places of operation have no names so you have to hunt them down. Are they paying all required taxes based on some established method that is verifiable? What do they contribute to their city? Since it is a purely a cash business, who can determine that illegal funds are not being laundered through the gambling process? Come on city councils, county board and law enforcement agencies. Get on the ball!

How ironic and disingenuous can one be? The greatest spender in the history of our nation is now on Capital Hill railing on Republican leadership and demanding the House and Senate hammer out a budget deal that will include tax raising. Strange indeed, since it was The Great Prevaricator who hailed the stimulus a success in creating jobs only to discover the Feds spent nearly $280,000 for every job allegedly created!

Now Obama says “we’ve got a unique opportunity to do something big, to tackle our deficit in a way that forces government to live within its means.”

Grassfire Nation is among those who have declared that our nation’s true debt stands at a mind-boggling $120 trillion – dwarfing the popular $14.3 trillion number reported by the liberal media. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the federal government’s publicly held debt is set to explode to 101 percent of GDP in 10 years – more than the value of everything produced in the U.S. in a given year.

Any, and I repeat ANY, of our representatives who votes for any kind of bottom line tax increase, deserve our thorough tongue lashing and removal from office at the earliest opportunity. It is a question of saving America!

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We read last week the updated game hall ordinance for the city of La Feria. They now will charge a non-returnable application fee of $3,000 and a non-refundable license fee of $6,000 for administrative costs of investigation, inspection and licensing. Further, each gaming device earns the city an annual occupational tax of $15. Interesting.

The war goes on between the Republicans and Democrats in Congress. The Senate turned down the House-passed Cut-Cap-Balance bill only to now threaten with a widely antagonizing bill from the Gang of Six that professes to shrink spending while probably increasing taxes. The Senate bill is likely to be defeated, too, unless enough Republicans switch their votes to the Democratic hopes found in the Gang of Six proposal.

It is odd, but our Great Leader benefits no matter what happens. If the debt limit is not increased, he will blame the Republicans for any negative that happens. If the limit is increased, then he can continue the outrageous spending until the next limit is reached and we start the cycle all over again. If he cannot sign a debt limit bill without new taxes, then why is it that the House cannot sign a bill that has new taxes? The people most directly have elected their representatives in the House, according to the Constitution that clearly states that the House shall do the spending. The president is the last block against Congressional action. But Congress can still over-ride the president. Must all of our serious government action resort to this tactic by a weak president?

We must hope that our Democratic friends will soon see through the smoke and look beyond the mirrors. Certain congressional and administrative liberals and socialists seem bent on keeping the economy in the dumps, driving companies out of business, preventing job creation, shutting down energy production, keeping the dollar weak, running up even more debt and keeping as many of us as possible slopping from the government trough. Is that any way to live in a free society?

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I heard that we’ve reached our debt limit. Monday is the last day. Somehow, Tim Geitner has “floated” some money around to keep the nation solvent until August. So I guess that means we can continue to kick this can down the road for a few more months. And then what?

Raising the debt limit will infuriate the Tea Party, but not raising the debt limit will . . .

What, exactly? What will happen if the debt limit stays where it is? Will millions lose their jobs, be thrown out of their homes, or what?

Someone credible (i.e., non-partisan, non-ideological) needs to explain the consequences of raising vs. not raising the debt limit. And this needs to happen yesterday.

Obama bails out a failed auto manufacturer with BILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars that we don’t have, saddling our children and their children with massive debt, and for WHAT?  So union workers can get hammered before lunch?

This is what happens when ideology trumps common sense.  There is no such thing as a business that is “too big to fail.”  That is just nonsense.  Chrysler and GM should have gone into bankruptcy so they could reorganize and renegotiate their labor contracts, re-emerging leaner and more competitive in the global marketplace.

But that’s not the way Chairman Obama rolls.  He couldn’t allow a favored constituency like the UAW to lose their cushy jobs!  So, by bailing them out, Obama rewards failure.  Expect to see more and more of this in the near future.  If a union worker knows that he won’t be fired, no matter what he does or doesn’t do, then why the hell NOT get stoned before lunch?

The city wants: 

no more than 20% cash transfer from PUB; 
customer service charge raised from $3 to $5.53; 
increase in energy charge to $.04708; 
increase late monthly penalty charge to 7.5%; and 
PUB authority to increase rates without city approval every fiscal year!

Please be there and let your voice be heard. 
 
There is also a sports park public workshop on Tuesday, Sept. 21st, beginning at 5:30 pm. The regular city commission meeting will follow, beginning at 6:00 pm.
 
Please attend if you are able.

Eight citizens sued the city of Brownsville and members of the city commission earlier this week. They demand a declaratory judgment on whether or not our city charter supersedes the Texas Certificates of Obligation Act. They call themselves the Brownsville 8 in homage to the Friendswood 5

Part-time city attorney Mark Sossi, Esquire sent a letter to the Brownsville 8 after the filing of the suit. He threatened the city would countersue. Sossi further believed this state law trumped our home-rule city charter. For that, the Brownsville 8′s lawsuit was essentially frivolous.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Precedent was set when a state district judge ruled, in fact, that the city of Friendswood was incorrect in it’s interpretation. Their interpretation was also similar to Sossi’s argument because the Texas Attorney General consistently disregarded home-rule city charters in favor of the state law. The judge ruled in favor of the arguments of the Friendswood 5. Brownsville 8 on the whole uses a similar argument their brethren, the Friendswood 5.

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