[UPDATE] Found a better video.
]]>The Braves won tonight. That makes two in a row. Despite the Braves struggles this year, I actually enjoy watching the younger players from the minors getting a chance to play.
]]>Most American voters (60%) [believe] the Supreme Court should make decisions based on what is written in the constitution, while 30% say rulings should be guided on the judge’s sense of fairness and justice.What does that mean? Just play by the rules and amend the Constitution as instructed in Article V Instead of making up things like precedent, judicial deference and the rational basis test ]]>
My wife hates Sarah Palin. Why? Because she is tired of hearing about her. Last night she said, "She is going to get McCain elected." She added, "Whoever picked her probably got a huge raise."
Just thought I'd share that.
]]>Henry County police will close Lake Dow Road in McDonough at its intersection with Ga. 81 to accommodate traffic generated by a three-day rodeo.God knows that Racetrack won't be an alternative. ]]>Capt. Jason Bolton said the intersection will be closed 5 p.m.-11 p.m. Sept. 11-13 while a rodeo is held at Heritage Park. Bolton said drivers heading to the event from the south side of Lake Dow Road can use Rosser Road to detour to Ga. 81.
We need someone stupid enough to understand that the president of the United States can't solve many problems without taking away freedom and therefore shouldn't try. The only reason John McCain scares me a little less is because I think he's a little less likely to win. They both promise a government that will watch over us, and I don't like that.And neither Obama or McCain are going to offer less government and let you live your life as you see fit. ]]>I don't want anyone as president who promises to take care of me. I may be stupid, but I want a chance to try to be a grown-up and take care of my family. Freedom means the freedom to be stupid, and that's what I want. I don't want anyone to feel my pain or tell me to ask what we can do for our country, or give us all money and take care of us.
Gene Healy at the Cato Institute explains that the Founding Fathers wanted the president "to faithfully execute the laws, defend the country from attack and check Congress with the veto power whenever it exceeded its constitutional bounds."
That sounds like plenty to me. You gotta be smarter than me to do all that, but you don't have to be as smart as Obama, and you sure don't have to be a great leader.
[...]
I think Ron Paul and Bob Barr mean it when they say they want much smaller government. But the government is already big enough, powerful enough and bipartisan enough (and "bi" means exactly two and no more) that Ron and/or Bob won't even be in the debates. People won't even hear someone suggesting that our president should do less and individual citizens should do more for themselves.The choice shouldn't be which lesser of two evils should have the enormous power of our modern presidents. The question should be, who would do less as president? Who would leave us alone?
What is even funnier is that this ad by State Rep. Rob Teilhet (D) will run during the show:
At the board of commissioners meeting held September 3rd at 5:30pm the board voted to follow the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights and rollback the millage rate on our property taxes. This is an historic event and specific praise is due to commissioners Reid Bowman who made the motion, Randy Stamey who made the second, and Johnny Basler who also voted in favor. Commissioners Warren Holder and chairman-elect BJ Mathis voted to oppose.
Go online (county website) to watch the TV-14 video of the meeting.
The final public hearing was held at 5:00pm, with Tax Commissioner Andy Pipkin as presenter. In the beginning we heard explanations about the millage rate as set by the county versus the re-assessments set by the board of assessors. Holder commented that even with a rollback millage rate, taxation could go up for some people and down for others. Pipkin agreed saying the rollback rate was an average across the county, and that individual assessments would dictate the actual tax amount.
Commissioner Reid Bowman asked about the impact with a rollback. Pipkin stated the proposed rate for unincorporated areas is 11.20. With a rollback it would be 10.965, the same as last year. Bowman said that a rollback, even if it is a minute amount, is the right thing to do. He said, “Sooner or later we've got to look at what we can do to reduce taxes .”
Commissioner Stamey asked the dollar amount of impact. Although Pipkin said he did not have those figures, Bowman said the information was available in materials presented to the board. The impact would be about $5.5 million to the tax digest.
Mathis asked whether all positions in the police department had been filled and expressed concerns about public safety if the rollback rate were adopted. County manager Rob Magnaghi gave information about public safety division and said public safety would not be adversely affected.
Commissioner Holder expressed concern about declining state funding for the board of education and about state grants to the county. He said that in the end the local governing authority (board of commissioners) must raise the needed funds.
Commissioner Johnny Basler said, “For us to go up even one dollar, I have a problem with it.” He added, "We must walk by a mirror and look at ourselves ." Homes carry the burden for Henry taxes because commercial development has not kept pace with housing. But he asked, “What can small businesses do to stay in business? What incentive does anyone have to come here to do business?”
Chairman-elect Mathis said the tax issue is extremely confusing , even for board members. She asked for the communications department to prepare educational materials and possibly use TV-14 to explain the taxation process to citizens.
Holder made the motion to adopt the recommended higher millage rate of 11.2 mils, and it was seconded by Mathis. It failed with Bowman, Stamey and Basler voting to oppose.
Bowman made a motion to adopt the rollback millage rate (10.969 for unincorporated areas; 8.38 for McDonough; 10.706 for Stockbridge; 9.869 for Hampton; 9.558 for Locust Grove). Stamey seconded the motion. Basler voted to approve. It passed with only Holder and Mathis in opposition.
Personal Note: I watched the video of both meetings, listening to citizens who addressed the board, and all comments by board members. The strongest points were made about the economy, falling true values of properties, and impact to citizens and their quality of life. The concept of "need" for additional revenue, as shared by commissioner Holder and chairman-elect Mathis, does not equate to the realities of continually increasing taxes. The concept of "need" was not addressed in terms of reducing spending. Instead I was reminded of the expansion of departments like Life Management under Mathis's agenda. Perhaps Mathis is confused, but the rest of us want smaller government! Thanks to a majority of board members, the citizens won this battle.
]]>Gov. Sarah Palin had a huge audience as 37,244,000 people watched her speech. For those of you who are wondering, that is significantly more than the number of viewers that watch her counterpart, Sen. Joe Biden, speak last week (24,029,000). However, it is less than the 38,379,000 that watched Obama give his acceptance speech.
You can read the text of her speech here.
By the way, McCain is officially the nominee. He took 2,343 delegates to Ron Paul's 15.
Notable speeches during the GOP convention:
- George W. Bush
- Fred Thompson
- Joe Lieberman
- Mitt Romney
- Rudy Giuliani
- Sarah Palin
[8:39pm] Fact checking Sarah Palin: "Palin may have said 'Thanks, but no thanks' on the Bridge to Nowhere, though not until Congress had pretty much killed it already. But that was a sharp turnaround from the position she took during her gubernatorial campaign, and the town where she was mayor received lots of earmarks during her tenure."
[8:44pm] It gets better. McCain had previously criticized earmarks requested by Palin while she was mayor of Wasilla, Alaska.
[8:48pm] Palin has requested more than $300 million in earmarks in 2008 and 2009.
]]>I may live-blog Palin's speech tonight. Don't know if I'll have time.
[7:58pm] Peggy Noonan on Sarah Palin: "I think they went for this — excuse me — political bullshit about narratives."
[8:04pm] Noonan defends her comments: "I just got mugged by the nature of modern media, and I wish it weren't my fault, but it is."
[8:13pm] Here are some excerpts from Palin's speech.
[8:28pm] Rasmussen: Clinton beats Palin, 52% to 41% in a hypothetical poll. Palin wins among men, 49% to 45%.
]]>Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN), Laura Bush and President Bush (via satellite) will address the convention tonight.
Today is also Ron Paul's Rally for the Republic, which is being covered extensively over at United Liberty. Dr. Paul's event is making convention organizers and GOP leadership uneasy. Word got out today that McCain's people are working to get support from Dr. Paul, as well as the names of his delegates.
]]>There are bloggers on the ground in New Orleans. Check out Gustav Bloggers. I believe the guy responsible for this blog is the same guy that ran Interdictor during a Hurricane Katrina. I read that blog several times a day during Katrina.
Keep the folks affected in your thoughts.
[12:45pm] I just saw this picture over at Drudge. It's amazing:
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You can read more about Hurricane Gustav here.
Nagin is on television right now discussing the hurricane. He said they are setting up a continuity of government in Baton Rouge and is urging people to get out of the city. He also says that looting will not be tolerated and says that anyone caught looting "will go directly to Angola," making it sound like due process will be completely ignored.
Speaking of completely ignoring due process, the storm is playing havoc with the Republican National Convention. The convention is due to be held next week in Minneapolis. One Democratic Congressman finds that to be very funny, so does Michael Moore.
Keep the folks on the Gulf in your thoughts and prayers.
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