U City School's Prop U: Where has all the money gone?

For U City residents, there will be a proposition on April's ballot which, if passed, will allow the district to borrow 19 million for improvements and repairs. Prop U will provide funds for "facility upgrades and needed repairs." However, why should citizens allow a school district that let it's buildings deteriorate borrow millions of dollars? Further, University City citizens have had to increase their property tax payments to the District 7% every year since 1996. During this time inflation has only increased 2½% annually and enrollment has declined. The district should make an accounting of increased payments before being allowed to put taxpayers on the hook for another 19 million dollars.

University City Election Results

April 3rd, 2012

COUNCIL MEMBER UNIVERSITY CITY WARD 1
(Vote for ) 1
(WITH 7 OF 7 COUNTED)
CAROL WOFSEY . . . . . . . . . 786 - 44.31%
TERRY CROW . . . . . . . . . . 985 - 55.52%
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 3 - .17%

COUNCIL MEMBER UNIVERSITY CITY WARD 2
(Vote for ) 1
(WITH 6 OF 6 COUNTED)
JAN ADAMS . . . . . . . . . . 551 - 44.01%
PAULETTE CARR . . . . . . . . . 697 - 55.67%
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 4 - .32%

COUNCIL MEMBER UNIVERSITY CITY WARD 3
(Vote for ) 1
(WITH 6 OF 6 COUNTED)
ARTHUR SHARPE, JR. . . . . . . . 447 - 97.17%
WRITE-IN. . . . . . . . . . . 13 - 2.83%

Post Caucus Thoughts

If you go to a caucus with intention of "making a difference" you are too late. This is what those "establishment" people understand and why they are upset. Our elections are sponsored by parties and to make a difference through the political process you have to work though your party. Are you a member of a local political club? Do get involved in your community? Do you go to city or school board meetings? Do you find candidates and support them for these positions. Do you make phone calls for your candidates? Hold coffees for them? Go door to door? Do you run for public office? If your local political party is inactive, what are you doing to change it? Do you go to your local Lincoln Days to meet candidates? Do you go to your state Lincoln Days to meet candidates? These "establishment" people are actually elected to their positions. They work for months to put the caucuses together and put together delegate slates and can only work with people they know. When, you show up at a caucus to make a difference, it is too late.

Univeristy City Candidate Debates

University City will be electing candidates for city council in April. A series of recent debates have been held showcasing candidates for Wards 1 & 2 in University City. Candidates for Ward 1 are Carol Wofsey and incumbent Terry Crow, Candidates for Ward 2 are Jan Adams and Paulette Carr. Major discussion is about the future of University City. Mostly the candidates agree that attracting new business was the order of the day. However, Wofsey thought there should be an emphasis on accounting and systems. Interestingly, candidates Crow, Wofsey and Adams have strong business backgrounds and are very well educated. However, they are all very liberal and by that nature will not be very business friendly. Crow has been on the council for a number of years and has little to show for any real business development in the city. While there are some projects on the books, general leadership an the council has declined. A shining star on the panel was Paulette Carr who had specifics on development and for several years has worked to expose problems with city management.

Cost to operate a Chevy Volt

Eric Bolling (Fox Business Channel's "Follow the Money") test drove the Chevy Volt at the invitation of General Motors.

For four days in a row, the fully charged battery lasted only 25 miles before the Volt switched to the reserve gasoline engine.

Eric calculated the car got 30 mpg including the 25 miles it ran on the battery. So, the range including the 9 gallon gas tank and the 16 kwh battery is approximately 270 miles. It will take you 4 1/2 hours to drive 270 miles at 60 mph. Then add 10 hours to charge the battery and you have a total trip time of 14.5 hours. In a typical road trip your average speed (including charging time) would be 20 mph.

According to General Motors, the Volt battery hold 16 kwh of electricity. It takes a full 10 hours to charge a drained battery.

The cost for the electricity to charge the Volt is never mentioned so I looked up what I pay for electricity.

I pay approximately (it varies with amount used and the seasons) $1.16 per kwh.

16 kwh x $1.16 per kwh = $18.56 to charge the battery.

$18.56 per charge divided by 25 miles = $0.74 per mile to operate the Volt using the battery.

Compare this to a similar size car with a gasoline engine only that gets 32 mpg.

$3.19 per gallon divided by 32 mpg = $0.10 per mile.

The gasoline powered car cost about $15,000 while the Volt costs $46,000.........

So Government wants us to pay 3 times as much, for a car that costs more that 7 times as much to run, and takes 3 times longer to drive across country.....and, as an incentive to buy this lemon, Obama's proposed budget offers a $10,000.00 tax rebate to volt purchasers...... REALLY ?

Stop Shredding America

How Missouri Republican Caucuses will work

With Missouri Republicans returning to the caucus system, there are a lot of questions about how they will work. STLToday has published a FAQ provided my the Missouri GOP:
Q: Who can go to a caucus?
A: Any registered voter in a county who says he or she is a Republican.
Q: Where are caucuses held?
A: One caucus will be held in each of Missouri’s 114 counties and the city of St. Louis at 10 a.m. on March 17.
Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/ae22d26a-7a4d-58c1-86b4-5b2eb4a1fde4.html#ixzz1b40imVlb
Here is more information:

• The County Caucuses will take place on March 17, 2012. At these caucuses, which are open to any Republican who is registered to vote in that county, attendees will select delegates and alternates to the Congressional District conventions and State Convention. No delegates to the national convention are selected at this time. The number of delegates and alternates per county is determined by the Missouri Republican Party.
• The Congressional District Conventions will take place on April 21, 2012. At each of these 8 conventions, delegates chosen at the county level will select 3 delegates and alternates to the National Convention and 1 presidential elector. The delegates and alternates will be required to declare allegiance to a candidate prior to the voting, and they will be bound to that candidate on the first ballot—unless they are released prior to the convention.
• The State Convention will take place on June 2, 2012. At the convention, delegates chosen at the county level will vote on 25 at-large delegates and alternates to the National Convention and 2 at-large presidential electors. The delegates and alternates will be required to declare allegiance to a candidate prior to the voting, and they will be bound to that candidate on the first ballot—unless they are released prior to the convention.
• In total, Missouri will have 52 delegates and 49 alternates to the Republican National Convention—24 selected at the congressional district caucuses, 25 selected at the state convention, and 1 each for the state Party chairman, national committeeman and national committeewoman. (The final 3 have no alternates.)

Does This Explain the Downgrade?

By Lee A. PresserPosted on August 8, 2011 at 1:21pm

Did last week’s Congressional debt deal, signed into law on Tuesday, Aug. 2, by President Obama, cause the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's to downgrade America’s AAA rating?
The new law requires a reduction of $1 Trillion in discretionary spending over 10 years and requires the creation of a committee to propose another $1.8 Trillion in spending cuts during that same ten years ($1 Trillion = $1000 Billion).
$1 Trillion divided into 10 years is $100 Billion/year.
$1.8 Trillion divided into 10 years is $180 Billion/year.
Therefore, the deal requires a $280 Billion per year reduction in spending.
Sounds like a lot of money until we look at the following.
This month, the United States government will spend $100 to $150 Billion more than its income. The same thing happened the month before and the month before that and the month before that. Next month, the United States government will spend $100 to $150 Billion more than its income. The same thing will happen the month after that and the month after that and the month after that.
This has been happening every month for quite some time and will continue to happen with no end in sight.
The shortage is 1,200 to 1,800 Billion dollars every year ($1.2 to $1.8 Trillion). (That is what is referred to as the deficit.) Subtract the $280 Billion per year Congress has decided not to spend and we discover our government will still be overspending its income by 920 to 1,520 Billion dollars each year for the next ten years.
Those who think America can tax its way out of this problem should be asked, "Where in the private sector do they expect to find $77 to $127 Billion PER MONTH in additional taxes? (Bill Gates owns a total of $56 Billion and Warren Buffet owns $50 Billion. After taking all of it away from them, where does the Treasury get the money for the next month’s deficit?)
Now you begin to understand why the credit rating agency Standard & Poor's is having trouble recommending American bonds as an exceptionally good loan risk. Exceptionally good loan risk is the meaning of the AAA rating.
To cover the $1200 to $1800 Billion per year shortage ($1.2 to $1.8 Trillion), Timothy Geithner, the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, regularly issues bonds with you, me, and every other American as a co-signer on the note. To be fair, it should be stated that Secretary Geithner is just another in a long, long line of Treasury Secretaries to be part of that process.
Those of you who have taken a loan for a mortgage, a car, or used your credit card know that loan companies require you to pay interest on the outstanding balance. Interest gets paid first and then if there is any money left it is applied to the principal. The United States government is no exception.
U.S. Treasury debt now exceeds $14,300 Billion ($14.3 trillion). (That is what is referred to as the debt.) Since Oct. 1, 2010, the beginning of Fiscal Year 2011, the U.S. Treasury has paid its creditors $412.5 Billion in interest on that $14.3 Trillion debt. At that rate, by September 30, 2011 (the end of FY 2011) the U.S. Treasury may have paid out $495 Billion of your money in interest to its creditors.
Since Fiscal Year 1988, through the end of July 2011, our government has paid to its creditors $8,179,178,425,358.39 ($8.179 Trillion) in interest.
The larger the debt, the larger the interest cost, the less money we have left to spend on other things.
Before the recent debt law, it was expected that U.S. Treasury debt was going to increase by $10 Trillion over the next ten years to $24.3 Trillion. The new law reduces that increase to $7.2 Trillion over ten years to a total of $21.5 Trillion ($21,500 Billion).
If interest rates remain the same (which is unlikely) annual interest costs on the new total debt will be $744 Billion per year. That is money paid to creditors before the first soldier is paid, before the first bureaucrat is paid, before anything is paid from the tax money you paid IRS.
Does this explain the thought process behind Standard & Poor's decision regarding the AA+ rating on U.S. Bonds?
There is an election next year. America’s future is in your hands.

Lee A. Presser
636-288-3323
leepresser@charter.net

Wind Turbine Explodes

Feds Continue to Abuse Health Care System, Bring Back Social Experimentation of the 30's

The purpose of insurance is to indemnify the insured (you) against an unexpected loss. You cannot set your home or business on fire in an effort to collect the cash. You cannot run your car into a quarry so the insurance will buy you a new one. You have to be dead before your family can collect life insurance. However, health insurance, rather than paying for unexpected loss, is a Christmas Tree of goodies that pays off on a regular basis.

Go to the doctors office for a checkup, insurance pays; have a drug addiction, insurance pays; planning a family and have a child, insurance pays! No unexpected loss necessary. Politicians found that they can buy votes by providing insurance payments to special constituents. In some cases you do not even need insurance. Show up at an emergency room without insurance, hospital pays.

What people do not realize is that this is what drives insurance costs through the roof. If people complain, politicians point a finger at "greedy" insurance companies. Then as reward for their abuse towards insurance companies, politicians take control of the whole industry and pile on further regulations. Now the insurance companies will be required to pay for contraceptives for women (what, not men?). Everyone's insurance premiums will climb again. Now, rather than going to the corner drugstore to buy what you need, you send your money to an insurance or government bureaucracy, they take what they need and then overpay for products they think are best for you.

More worrying than the abuse of our insurance system for liberal's personal gain (vote buying at the expense of the middle and upper class), is the reemergence of eugenics by the progressives. By reducing the chance of pregnancy by the lower class, the fewer lower class people there will be. Progressives tried this in the 30's and are now trying it again.

Spending Reduction Negotiations Between Republicans and Democrats

Can you name which of these two characters is the Republican and which is the Democrat?

Credit Rating services try to insert themselves in budget battle

According to the Los Angeles Times "Moody's and Standard & Poors warned this week that they might soon cut the government's top-rung debt rating because of the political battle over the debt ceiling and spending cuts. " The headline here is not that our credit rating may be cut, everyone is well aware of the issue. The headline is that the credit rating agencies are, through the press, trying insert themselves into the issue. Why?

If we do not increase the debt limit, neither Moody's or Standard and Poors know if we will default on payments. Someone may not get paid or unneeded and redundant agencies may have to shut down. The politicians may even come to some sort of agreement and raise the limit. By inserting themselves, these organizations are trying to increase their power over the government, businesses and individuals.

The economic well being of our country is in the productivity of its workers and businesses. If government tends to the business of business the economy will grow and it will not make any difference what Moody's or S&P have to say. The money will flow in.

Keynes vs. Hayek

The fight of the century.The political debate of today is an old one. It should be a good one but Keynes has been proved wrong repeatedly. It is a shame we continue to have this debate:

Should the debt ceiling be raised?

An interesting poll from the St. Louis Business Journal

GO! St. Louis Marathon

Marathoners run though Clayton & University City.

Hillsdale, MO Police use force to keep L.K. Wood campaign workers out of their town

Volunteers for L.K. "Chip" Wood placed campaign signs outside of the St. Louis County polling place in Hillsdale, MO, the night before the County's election for Assessor. When the workers returned the next day, they found the signs had been removed. The signs were replaced and removed again. When the campaign worker returned a third time, a man in the area said: "you can't put that sign there!" The worker asked why not and the man after some hesitation said "your candidate won't win in this area." Since the incident involved theft of the signs, the Wood's volunteer took a picture of the area including a man who may have taken the signs. Very shortly after this incident, police confronted the campaign worker and demanded he leave the area. One of the officers explained that if the volunteer returned, things would not turn out as well.

Chip Wood on St. Louis County Property Assessment

County officials rig property values

Our irresponsible St. Louis County officials have been inflating the value of our homes. Even when property values finally crashed, county officials kept increasing values in order to fund irresponsible spending. This money has gone to the county, municipalities, school districts, fire districts to fund padded payrolls, excessive pensions and other vote buying schemes. Even as the taxpayers are driven into bankruptcy taxes continue to crank up.

In an effort to stem the tide of easy money to the County, citizens passed a referendum changing the way the property assessor is appointed to office. Instead of being an employee of the county the assessor is now elected by the citizens, taking political pressure off of the Assessors Office.

The County needs an Assessor who can provide citizens with a accurate assessment of their homes. L.K. "Chip" Wood can provide the experience and needed to make this happen. For more information go to: http://www.chipwoodforassessor.com/index1.html


Source for chart data:
The Housing Value source (Average Price per square feet)
TrendVisionTM
Published Feb. 2011
Location : ST LOUIS COUNTY

The Assessed Values source (Assessed Property Values in Billions)
St. Louis County, Missouri
2011 ADOPTED BUDGET
Fiscal Year Ending December 31, 2011

The Carnahans get a windfall and we get the bill!

Robin Carnahan and Russ Carnahan help their brother pull in over $100,000,000 of our money!

C. L. Bryant's: Runaway Slave

Fasten your seat belts and watch: