Rich Hoffman's Blog, page 436
August 15, 2013
Dan Varney and No Lakota Levy Defend Lakota Community: Extortion from the school superintendent
Recently Dan Varney, the treasurer for No Lakota – accused Lakota officials of trying to manipulate voters by enticing them with $2.8 million of possible restorations of some budget cuts. “It’s how they play the game and they are trying to instill some passion in the school parents” to drum up votes for the proposed property tax increase,” Varney said.
Bravo!
According to school officials if the levy is passed, bus service will be reinstated for grades 2-6, for students who live farther than one mile from school. This is simply an attempt by Lakota schools to purchase votes in the next election using tax payer money to do it. Currently, bus service is issued only to students in those grades if they live farther than two miles from school. This school year, the district supposedly identified some routing efficiencies to provide bus service to all K-1 students at no additional cost. (Isn’t that amazing, just in time for a school levy attempt?)
“We value the community’s feedback that we heard in our Community Conversations last year,” said Mantia. “We heard this would be a tremendous help to our families, and will also help us regain lost instructional time.” Superintendent Mantia noted that the change would provide busing to an additional 2,200 students, helping minimize traffic congestion on some of the district’s busiest roads.
Also,
Students in grade 4-6 will be offered one additional day of art, music or physical education. Currently students take classes in art, music or P.E. one time per week.
Student participation in after-school clubs and extracurricular activities will be encouraged by increasing opportunities and reducing fees from $550 to $400 at high school and from $350 to $300 at junior high.
Students in grade 9 would be offered a seven-period class schedule, instead of six periods per day.
Part of the funding was allocated for advanced technologies and modernized coursework to further individualize learning, a focus area of the district’s current strategic planning work.
The school board voted June 24 to place a levy on the November ballot for the community’s consideration, and announced at that time that a major component of the levy would be for technology, including a $13.5 million multi-year upgrade to the district’s instructional technology infrastructure. School building security will also be bolstered across the district. The decisions made by the board Monday evening finalize the plans for how the levy funds would be allocated.
Here are the source articles from above:
http://westchesterbuzz.com/2013/08/12/lakota-board-says-it-will-restore-some-cuts-if-levy-passes/
http://westchesterbuzz.com/2013/08/13/lakota-local-schools-release-details-of-levy-proposal/
Of course all these things that Lakota is “giving” to the community are contingent on the passage of a tax increase. The arrogance displayed by these public workers is astonishing; they will give back to the community what is already theirs “IF” they vote to pay more taxes on their properties—which is simply amazing. So in that context what Dan Varney said in the paper was dead on, if all too polite. Lakota schools think that the votes are suckers, and stupid. Lakota has no respect for the average tax payer in the Lakota district, as their behavior displayed grotesquely in evidence. The definition of Lakota’s actions is pure extortion. They stated that if tax payers gave Lakota more money, they would restore services that were only lost because the school board did not manage their costs under the leadership of Superintendent Mantia. If a levy is not approved by the voting public, then those items listed above will not be granted. It is a low down dirty trick that belongs on one of those television commercials advertising products for $19.99. It’s a scam disguised as education. Its corruption disguised as community benefit. It’s wrong, detrimental, and socially corrosive.
In such a time when bandits rule our school system using our children as shields against justice, thank God there are people like Dan Varney of No Lakota Levy out there fighting the good fight defending those same children with honesty from the looters wishing to exploit them for personal gain. Without people like Varney the extortion scams advocated by public education institutions like Lakota would have no representation in the press, leaving the sinister schools to dance upon community innocence with immunity from righteousness. No Lakota Levy is an organized resistance that is all that stands between open extortion by public schools and the out-right looting of the “rich,” so-called “wealthy” property owners who will lose millions if the Lakota levy of 2013 passes.
For idiots, diabolical nut cases, open progressives and Obama voters, they enjoy the Lakota levy position of attacking the rich and giving to the poor, the silly, childish levy supporters who purchase half million dollar homes, pay over $5000 per year in property taxes still desiring more, then turn around and ask the rest of the community to give their children a “free” education at Lakota which is run by the kind of people shown above who openly believe that extortion is an acceptable campaign strategy. I’m glad there are people like Dan Varney who can hold their tongue in the face of such a travesty, but he does, and is a good man for the job. Every homeowner should be thankful that there is a group like No Lakota Levy out there defending them from higher taxes by government looters like Lakota’s administrators and their band of education thieves. In that group there are people like Dan Varney who stand as pillars of stone against the winds of chaos in a battle for the heart and soul of Lakota–the residents who pay the taxes versus those who wish to steal them.
Rich Hoffman
Give yourself the gift of ADVENTURE. CLICK HERE!
August 14, 2013
Why A Whip Trick to Save Lakota Helps America: 20 cities facing bankruptcy
“This goes on where I live too. In the face of declining enrollment, they (public schools) still beg for more money. They know they’ve got teachers on the way out, and they’re probably planning to use this money to jack up the salaries of the departing teachers in their last few years because their pension is probably based on their last few years of salary. It’s got nothing to do with quality education. It’s got everything to do with cozy retirement. Watch for them to get re-hired after “retirement” too!”
I referenced in the video A Whip Trick To Save Lakota the course of Detroit, and how unmanaged costs in Cincinnati, especially in affluent districts like Lakota will eventually lead to the same fate where the once wealthiest city in America has become the poorest in a span of 40 short years. The unions destroyed Detroit, the private sector unions pushed businesses out of the city, especially in manufacturing taking those jobs with them—the public sector unions just continued to increase taxes to pay for their unmanaged wage increases. For instance, in Detroit the average teacher pay has been $71,000 per year. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE. The end result is that high taxes pushed away those who didn’t want to pay the extra money, or couldn’t pay any additional money, and the city essentially died.
I also mentioned the upcoming bankruptcy of Chicago. That city also has an average teacher salary of $71,000, which is what happens when nobody puts on the breaks and manages the salary ranges. The unions are not management, and they will not regulate themselves, as is evidence. School boards for years in virtually every community across the country have responded to union pressure by simply rubber stamping every pay increase that has come across their desks. CLICK HERE TO REVIEW. According to an analysis by the Manhattan Institute, several Chicago pension funds are in worse financial shape than the worker pensions in Detroit. One is only 25 percent funded. There are about a dozen major California cities having systemic problems paying their bills. Any and all of the cities listed below are likely to suffer the same fate as Detroit. CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SOURCE ARTICLE. The list is based on bond ratings and other data, of the top 20 cities to watch for financial troubles in the wake of Detroit. A large number of those unfunded pensions are public workers such as police, firefighters, and teachers who were promised too much by politicians who simply didn’t have the stomach to endure the constant threat of strikes and mob pressure invoked by public sector labor unions. The fault of these failures are on all the people who were involved in the process of not saying “NO” to years of tax increases by a greedy class of public employee who simply took too much money, far more than their jobs were actually worth.
1. Compton, Calif.
Compton has teetered on the brink of bankruptcy after it accrued a general-fund deficit of more than $40 million by borrowing from other funds, depleting what had been a $22 million reserve.
2. East Greenbush, N.Y.
A New York state audit concluded that years of fiscal mismanagement — including questionable employment contracts and illegal payments to town officials — left East Greenbush more than $2 million in debt.
3. Fresno, Calif.
Fresno had the ratings of its lease-revenue bonds downgraded to junk-level by Moody’s, which also downgraded its convention center and pension obligation bonds due to the city’s “exceedingly weak financial position.”
4. Gulf County, Fla.
Fitch Ratings warned that Gulf County’s predominately rural economy is “narrowly focused,” with income levels one-quarter below national averages and economic indicators for the county also comparing unfavorably to national averages.
5. Harrisburg, Pa.
Harrisburg is at least $345 million in debt, thanks largely to municipal bonds it guaranteed in order to finance upgrades to its problematic waste-to-energy trash incinerator.
6. Irvington, N.J.
Irvington has a violent crime rate six times higher than New Jersey’s average, with Moody’s citing “wealth indicators below state and national averages and tax-base and population declines due to increased tax appeals and foreclosures.”
7. Jefferson County, Ala.
Jefferson County, home to the city of Birmingham, has been dealing with the collapse of refinancing for a sewer bond. It filed for bankruptcy protection in 2011 over a $3.14 billion sewer bond debt.
8. Menasha, Wis.
Menasha defaulted on bonds in 2007 it had issued to fund a steam plant which has since closed and left the city permanently in the red and, as of 2011, had $16 million in general fund revenue, but had $43.4 million in outstanding debt.
9. Newburgh, N.Y.
Newburgh was cited by Moody’s for “tax base erosion and a weak socioeconomic profile,” with 26 percent of its population below the poverty line and its school district facing a $2 million budget gap.
10. Oakland, Calif.
Oakland is trying to get out of a Goldman Sachs-brokered interest rate swap that is costing it $4 million a year. According to a recent city audit, Oakland has lost $250 million from a 1997 pension obligation bond sale and subsequent investment strategy.
11. Philadelphia School District, Pa.
Philadelphia’s school district, the nation’s eighth-largest, faces a $304 million deficit in its $2.35 billion budget, and is seeking $133 million from labor-contract savings to prevent further cutbacks.
12. Pontiac, Mich.
Pontiac, where the emergency manager has restructured the city’s finances, was downgraded by Moody’s, reflecting the city’s history of fiscal distress and narrow liquidity.
13. Providence, R.I.
Providence, rumored to be filing for bankruptcy for more than a year, experienced consecutive deficits through fiscal 2012, has a high-debt burden and significant unfunded pension liabilities, as well as high unemployment and low-income levels.
14. Riverdale, Ill.
The credit rating for Riverdale is under review by Moody’s because the city has not released an audit of interim or unaudited data for the year that ended April 30, 2012.
15. Salem, N.J.
Salem is under close fiscal supervision after it issued bonds to finance the construction of the Finlaw State Office Building, which was delayed by construction issues, and its leasing revenues are not enough to cover the debt payments and the maintenance fees.
16. Strafford County, N.H.
Strafford County regularly borrows money to cover its short-term cash needs after it spent two-fifths of its budget on a nursing home, which lost $36 million from 2004 to 2009.
17. Taylor, Mich.
Taylor has a large deficit and is vulnerable due to significant declines in the tax base, limited financial flexibility, and above-average unfunded pension obligations.
18. Vadnais Heights, Minn.
The St. Paul suburb of Vadnais Heights had its debt rating downgraded to junk last fall by Moody’s after the city council voted to stop payments to a sports center financed by bonds.
19. Wenatchee, Wash.
Wenatchee defaulted on $42 million in debt associated with the Town Toyota Center, a multipurpose arena, and has ongoing financial issues due to the default.
20. Woonsocket, R.I.
Woonsocket faces near-term liquidity shortages necessitating an advance in state aid, a high-debt burden and unfunded pension liabilities, with Moody’s citing the city’s continuing difficulties in making spending cuts because of poor management and imprecise accounting.
All those places and many more who are right on their heels to failure, are suffering now because they did not do the hard work of saying NO to tax increases. It’s not easy saying no, and the most dominant reason that management gives in to the pressure of the public sector unions is that they don’t want to be called names by the mobs who are members, as silly as that sounds. Most people have an inherit desire to be liked, and it is too much for them to be ostracized by their peers. Much of the bankruptcy threats listed above simply exist because the people in charge of the money were afraid of being called names by the people who wanted the money. It all comes down to that.
It is important to understand that the budget problems with the teaching profession is not just centralized in Southern Ohio—but is in fact a nationwide epidemic. Even though I was never a fan of FDR as a president, he did warn that public sector employees should never be allowed to unionize. John F. Kennedy, even though many wish to believe he was such a great president made public sector unions legal with an Executive Order seemingly to appease the mob bosses who helped him win the close election against Nixon, and the whole system has went downhill from there in a steady progression of failure. The root cause of the default was when Kennedy signed Executive Order 10988. Cities have been on a decline since that action. Kennedy may have helped put the nation behind the space program, he may have endured a stalemate with Russia in Cuba, and gave some decent speeches, but he was a deeply flawed man who’s womanizing, mob connections, and unethical behavior opened the door to thuggish mobs to ruin America. He hoped that city councils, school boards, and state law makers would have the stomach to stand up to the new public sector unions–but he was dreadfully wrong.
The only things voters can do now are Vote No against tax increases and force the reductions of the public sector union members as a political power. Their inability to regulate themselves has forced this issue now, so they have only themselves to blame. A failure to say NO will not only destroy their lives, but also the communities everyone lives in. Their life as public workers will come to an end eventually anyway—sooner or later. If it is sooner than entire cities may not be laid to waste. But if it is later, as in the examples above, then it is too late to avoid the inevitable. Bankruptcy will follow, and many more people will suffer because they feared to say NO to the masses that are never happy, and can never be appeased leaping from crises to crises always looking for higher wages from extortion to fill the bottomless pit of their belief in the net worth of their unionized professions.
Rich Hoffman
Give yourself the gift of ADVENTURE. CLICK HERE!
August 13, 2013
Mending Fences with Other People’s Posts and Wire: Lakota’s supporters divide up the community
Upon the announcement of the 2013 Lakota levy both sides of the issue began voicing their opinions, and one fellow that represented how the typical YES voter for tax increases thinks left a series of comments favoring the levy which can be seen below. The guy named AJ Malott isn’t a bad guy, just a person who sees public education as an entitlement similar to Social Security and Medicaid, and he believes that the older residents in Lakota should be willing to pay for his children’s education because he is paying for their senior oriented retirements. He also makes a point to mention No Lakota Levy, which is a group I played a large part in formulating so explanations are in order. First, let’s see what AJ thinks.
And another thing, isn’t it interesting that the so-called leader of the NoLakota levy group owns a contracting company? Is he expecting an influx of work when no one wants to buy/build/remodel in the community? People only want to invest in their homes if they feel connected to their home and community, and plan on staying.
I thought we were smart by moving into the Lakota district 4 years ago BECAUSE of the support and quality of the schools. So, yes, lets put that in jeopardy so other millennials whom are starting their families do not want to move here. And, then those who want to move because they don’t want to pay the taxes can experience declining home values. Then, it can be a lose-lose situation for all.
With the exception that they claim that the older generation doesn’t want to pay for schools for the younger generation. Well, doesn’t this whole system we have designed center around everyone paying their collective share. When one group decides they want to opt out (the seniors), it puts undue pressures on the other groups. So, if they can do it, I’m not sure why our generation can’t do the same thing. You pay for schools and I will continue to pay into benefits I’m sure I’ll never see any of.
You know, I am finding it really difficult to continue to pay that Social Security and Medicare tax out of my paycheck. I look forward to the next generation of politicians that feel the same way, and look to make cuts to those “entitlement” programs. If you don’t want to support my child’s future, why should we support yours.
http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20130708/NEWS/307080057/Lakota-Without-levy-district-will-decline
In that article which the commenter referenced, Bob Hutsenpiller gave a statement representing No Lakota Levy’s position. He simply said any tax hike will be a tough sell to older residents in Liberty and West Chester Townships. This prompted AJ Malott to assume that he was in a position to offer critical review about Hutsenpiller. Bob went on to say “Lakota officials should continue its recent budget cutting while the seniors, retirees and residents of the district go through these rough economic times. Most of the seniors of the Lakota district are contemplating moving out of the district just to reduce their tax burden.” For saying that, Malott felt entitled to deliver a subtle attack in order to defend his child’s “right” to a free education. So before going into a dissemination of Malott’s comments which represent the average levy supporter in all public schools, I must put a book end into my involvement with No Lakota Levy prior to this upcoming campaign. To discuss that I have to refer back to a Middletown Journal article from the summer of 2011 where members of No Lakota Levy without my agreement attempted to make a deal with the Yes Vote group at Lakota. I was tipped off about the event by the reporter covering the story. The article can be seen below.
Members of the No Lakota group are in disagreement about whether they would support a levy if Lakota puts one on the ballot.
West Chester Twp. resident Mark Sennet spoke to the board of education Monday, saying the No Lakota group would support a “conservative” levy in 2012 if the board would bypass the election this November.
However, No Lakota member Rich Hoffman, who has typically spoken on behalf of the group, said no discussion had occurred at a meeting about supporting a levy, and he was holding fast to his stance on never supporting a levy.
Hoffman said there may be a split in the group, but he thinks the 50-and-older crowd will stand with him.
Sennet said Lakota officials have made “a valiant effort to try to work and control spending,” but people still need time to recover from the economic crisis. He said he and several developers would be on the board’s side if it waited for November 2012.
“We acknowledge that there were changes made,” he said. “The businesses had to make changes. The citizens had to make changes, and we were glad to see the union and teachers and board agreed to a pay freeze. But if the levy were to pass, then I guess that would be good for the community.”
Board member Ray Murray said he was pleased the business community is recognizing the district’s transparency and how it is listening to the community.
“There are going to be people who are not going to ever say yes to anything, and there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said. “We’ve got to generate more revenue. We can’t survive on a 2005 budget.”
Former For Lakota levy chairwoman Sandy Wheatley said the board and district representatives have been mending fences with those in opposition since the last election.
http://www.middletownjournal.com/news/news/local/no-lakota-group-split-on-next-levy-1/nNRfH/
Needles to say, the kind of “fence mending” Wheatley was talking about was an attempt by the levy supporters to split up our group. As she stated in her comments, there would always be people like me who would say NO to a tax increase, so the Lakota administration attempted to cut deals and split up our group so they wouldn’t have an opposition for the upcoming election in 2011, which of course didn’t work. Prior to forming No Lakota Levy Sennet contacted me about joining forces as in the previous levy I had been doing my own thing. He had been working from a group with a different name. When he asked me to join his group, we called it No Lakota Levy which went on to defeat the next two attempts. But before the second attempt under that name, Sennet had decided that the kitchen was too hot for him. The social pressure of not supporting a levy impacted him, which was what Wheatley was referring to. I witnessed some of the most open extortion I have ever seen through charity events, boycotts, and behind the scenes manipulation that was rancid with sinister intentions. By the second levy, many of the people in No Lakota Levy didn’t want to be seen at meetings with me because they were afraid that such associations would harm their businesses, even though No Lakota Levy was saving them tens of millions of dollars in taxes. In private meetings they liked my company, but they didn’t feel comfortable associating with me in public, for fear that the Levy Addicts would connect the dots and find out that they were members of No Lakota Levy. Bob Hutsenpiller was the exception.
Once Lakota hired Superintendent Mantia her mode of operation was to apply even more pressure on the business community “mending fences.” It didn’t work by the 2011 attempt in November so Mantia went to work with new strategies in the winter of 2012. After my events with Sennet at No Lakota Levy, I wasn’t sure I wanted to handcuff myself to playing such a front man while so many others stayed in hiding for fear of being associated with an anti-tax group. I played along for a while, but did not like the direction the rest of the group wanted to go. The emphasis on public image of No Lakota Levy was becoming much more important, and I didn’t like that, and I wanted out. I felt it would be better for No Lakota Levy if people like Hutsenpiller spoke on their own behalf, and we discussed it in meetings about future levy attempts by Lakota. But I was very good at my job, and so long as I was there, it allowed the people who were most effected by commercial real-estate taxes to use me as a shield, which was giving Lakota the illusion that their “fence mending” was working in their favor.
I meant it when I said that in the next election Lakota would have to deal with No Lakota Levy on one angle, and myself on the other. I don’t like to mend fences, because doing such a thing only benefits the people who build the fences to begin with, and those fences were built by Lakota politics. I don’t like deals, peer pressure and financial decisions made under coercion and I prefer to call a spade a spade. But I am glad to see Hutsenpiller speak reasonably representing his stance. The amount of money that Lakota is asking people like him to pay in additional taxes is bewildering. It is just a shame that others like him are so cold with their tongues. Without question, they will be NO Votes in the upcoming election, but they are careful what they say in public because they will have to see people like AJ Malott at social events frequently who have no idea how much money the tax increases cost a business, and can never hope to comprehend. Those phantom business owners don’t want the ramifications of being out of agreement with the “fence builders” like Lakota’s current superintendent, for fear that the lack of “cooperation” will have a dire cost against their livelihoods. Unlike their contemporaries in public education, the business owners cannot raise taxes to cover their costs. They have to actually nurture a customer base.
Every time there is a new Lakota levy there are new people like AJ Malott who come and go from the community. They move to Lakota for the nice green space, the shopping, and the schools, but they don’t know much about the character of the area. I grew up in Liberty Township and I know what kind of place it has always been. It was named after the American Revolution just as the City of Monroe to the North and Hamilton to the West were named after key members of the American rebellion. And most of the long term residents I know who have lived in the area most of their lives have that kind of blood deep in their veins no matter what their economic or social status proclaims now, Hutsenpiller is of that type. They are free spirits who resent “fence mending” as much as I do. They will do what they must for their businesses, but what they think in private is an entirely different matter. The people who support these school levies are typically young people who are newer parents, or people who came from progressive places like New England, or California so they don’t really understand the argument against school funding and public education in general.
For me, I want to argue against the entire premise of public education, not just the ridiculousness of the funding. I am encouraged to see other people rise to the occasion to make those points, which free me up to make the larger arguments. The Lakota Levy to me wouldn’t mean much in financial investment, it’s the essence of the implication that is the problem. I spend more on a typical dinner than the levy would cost my residence. But the real cost of the levy is against the business owner, people like Bob Hutsenpiller who cannot build enough buildings to possibly cover the tens of thousands of dollars his taxes will go up if the levy passes. Bob is not alone. There are dozens of people like him who will pay millions in additional taxes if the levy passes, and it is a shame they don’t do more to defend themselves, instead of getting stuck in the political trap set by people who want to “mend fences” when the entire cost of the materials for the fence come from the business owner.
Rich Hoffman
Give yourself the gift of ADVENTURE. CLICK HERE!
August 12, 2013
When The Safety Net Becomes A Hammock: America’s welfare crises
The Fox News documentary special The Great Food Stamp Binge, hosted by Bret Baier was so good that I am going to include the complete text of their blog posting concerning that wonderful episode within the contents of this document. If you missed it, fret not. I have it below which can be seen in its entirety with six parts. I suggest you watch it and share it with as many people as you can. Everyone in America needs to see this documentary. It is a work which explores the treacherous extent of the welfare state in our current economy. There was a catch phrase during the documentary when Bret Baier stated, “when does the safety net become a hammock,” which I thought was particularly good because the information as provided was extraordinary and deeply revealing. It paints a picture that points to an astonishing danger that is going to hit every American in the wake of the Obama presidency that will be very painful to overcome. The welfare state and attack of the FDA with all other government agencies that are openly advocating more dependents upon the parental hand of statism are hard at work to remove from American culture the notion of independence leaving in the wake a society of moochers and disconnected serfs. Watch, learn and share the following:
The tragedy of America’s great food stamp binge
Published August 08, 2013
FoxNews.com
Once upon a time this was called food stamps, but the modern world is all about branding and image, not accuracy or substance. Thus, a snappy new name was needed.
All this change is a direct result of the Obama administration’s surreptitious undermining of the law in the Stimulus Act in 2009 and the disingenuous gutting of President Clinton’s overwhelmingly successful Welfare Reform law. This was achieved by administrative fiat in 2010.
As I watched the rough cut with Fox Editor-at-Large Peter Boyer, I found myself at a loss for words.
I don’t know whether I was more saddened, or angered by the interview John Roberts did with an apparently healthy “surfer” who happily lives a life of leisure in Southern California subsidized by the taxpayer.
It was simply mindboggling to listen to this grown man explain the logic he uses to justify taking food aid — and thus free food — rather than working and paying for it himself.
This great government giveaway is being undertaken and I can’t help but believe those that truly need help are still going hungry.
As we continued to watch I began to see what was behind the SNAP program. It is about changing the mentality of the nation, of Americans.
Take this example, from “The Great Food Stamp Binge,” of what is nothing short of social engineering or reeducation. In North Carolina social workers actually got an award for breaking down the “Mountain Pride” that makes some from that state reluctant or unwilling to take handouts. They actively fought the tradition of tightening your belt and taking care of yourself when times get tough.
There is much more in this excellent program — it is a thought provoking, well told story and I urge you to watch it.
Certainly, there are many in this country, who need the help. The idea that Americans go to bed hungry or get sick due to malnutrition is one that should appall any morally sound man or woman. And that is what makes the SNAP initiative utterly foul.
After watching I realized why I was angered by those who take, but don’t need, and frustrated for those who are given, but don’t want. This great giveaway is being undertaken and I can’t help but believe that those that truly need help are still going hungry. Millions of tax dollars are going to people who aren’t our neediest, it is a disgrace.
Many of you have probably heard the Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” The SNAP program is one big fish giveaway that leaves people reliant rather than reliable. The government is on a mission to sign people up – one in seven in this country already receive food stamps — and the taxpayer is footing the bill for, what I believe, is a tragically misguided plan.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/08/08/tragedy-america-great-food-stamp-binge/#ixzz2bgjaIv5O
Rich Hoffman
Give yourself the gift of ADVENTURE. CLICK HERE!
August 11, 2013
The Department of Justice Attacks the Apple Company: The Anti-Trust scam is back!
The lawsuit against Apple by the Department of Justice is an astonishing maneuver made by an organization that is under criminal investigation itself. Yet even with all the scandals that it is currently being scrutinized for such as cover-ups, criminal deceit, and murder, the Department of Justice is engaged in an outright attack against the Apple Company for an e-book price-fixing anti-trust busting lawsuit. For a review on my thoughts about anti-trust cases created under the Sherman Act, please refer to the following link, where I break down the history and hypocrisy of these government cases revealing what is really behind them.
The federal government operates currently the largest monopoly on the face of the earth with their vast support of price-fixing through government labor unions. For examples of price-fixing that is much more destructive than anything Apple has done look no further than the local teacher at your government school, look at your friendly neighborhood IRS agent, or any bureaucrat working for the federal government in virtually any direct capacity. The government is not qualified to pass judgment against Apple for price-fixing. But in this case, as in most anti-trust cases, the intention is not to find justice for the “public” but to shake down the prosecuted for money through bribes, court settlements, or campaign donations to political parties. If the roots of this case were traced back to a cause, one of those three issues was the motivation. Because Apple did not grease the wheels of government “properly” they are now being prosecuted. It is that simple. For proof examine the statements below as reported by CNET regarding this anti-trust case, and read carefully the words used by Justice Department attorney Lawrence Buterman.
Apple shouldn’t “be rewarded” with the same sanctions as the e-book publishers that settled with the U.S. government, the Department of Justice argued ahead of a court hearing Friday. ”Apple has been found to have orchestrated and facilitated a…price-fixing conspiracy — amongst these very publisher defendants,” Justice Department attorney Lawrence Buterman wrote in a letter dated Thursday but made available for viewing Friday. “Apple should not be rewarded with the same terms received by those that chose to settle to avoid the risks of litigation.”
The Justice Department last week issued its proposals for ways “to halt Apple’s anticompetitive conduct, restore lost competition, and prevent a recurrence of the illegal activities.” The three big pieces of that proposal were that Apple would end its existing agreements with the five major publishers, let other e-book publishers’ link to their own bookstores in iOS apps, and staff an antitrust monitor to evaluate its business for five years. Apple fired back last week, calling the government’s proposals vague, overreaching, unwarranted, and even “draconian.”
In a filing Wednesday, the five major book publishers weighed in, arguing that one of those stipulations — ending the existing agreements — would completely eliminate a pricing model that’s become the industry standard. The publishers also said it would break agreements the Justice Department made with each of them when they settled.
Hachette, HarperCollins, Holtzbrinck (also known as Macmillan), Penguin, and Simon & Schuster filed an opposition to last week’s proposed remedies against Apple by the Justice Department, arguing that the plan would “effectively eliminate the use of the agency model” for e-book distribution for the next five years.
“…Under the guise of punishing Apple, they effectively punish the Settling Defendants by prohibiting agreements with Apple using an agency model,” the publishers wrote, adding that the move “directly conflicts” with the settlements the publishers reached with the Justice Department before the Apple case went to trial.
“Despite achieving their stated goal of returning price competition, Plaintiffs now seek to improperly impose additional, unwarranted restrictions on the Settling Defendants, thereby depriving each publisher of the benefit of its bargain with Plaintiffs,” it goes on to say.
The “agency” model is where publishers set e-book prices to retailers, while retailers get a commission. That’s as opposed to the “wholesale” model, where publishers set the list price and the retailers can sell it at whatever price they want. (Read CNET’s in-depth explainer here.)
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57597501-37/publishers-urge-doj-to-rethink-apple-e-book-remedies/
Basically what all that means is that the Department of Justice wants to shake down Apple because they did not settle out-of-court as the five major publishers did so to avoid a damaging public court case. The DOJ is using this excuse to inject its authority into the company for five years to monitor Apple business practices. The DOJ also intends to use this case “to halt Apple’s anticompetitive conduct, restore lost competition, and prevent a recurrence of the illegal activities.” Those are amazing statements by a government entity that is itself a functioning monopoly excessively guilty of anti-trust violations of their own. They are even more amazing statements considering all the other criminal investigations that the DOJ is currently under itself, but cannot be prosecuted for because there is no higher law enforcement authority than the Department of Justice—who works directly for the President of the United States. (This is why it’s important what kind of president Americans elect).
There is only one motivation by the Department of Justice in this. They do not care about the pricing of e-books on the open market. They only care about entrenching themselves into the publishing business any way they can so that content can be “influenced” in subtle ways. The message to the five major publishers couldn’t be clearer. They took the settlement like most companies would, to take the path of least resistance. It didn’t mean they were guilty, just that they took the option with the least immediate cost to them. The real crime is that the Department of Justice injected itself into the capitalist marketplace with socialist standards of regulation that do not belong in America. If not for Apple and those five major publishers, there wouldn’t be an e-book market. The DOJ is functioning from a socialist economic model whereas the publishers and Apple are operating from capitalism. Apple is not guilty of anything but operating as a capitalist enterprise. The DOJ is operating as a socialist enterprise. The difference between the two is one of philosophy, not function. The Department of Justice view of itself might be more appropriate in China, or in Europe where socialism and communism are practiced much to the restriction of ideas and financial enterprise, but they have no place in America and never had since the concoction of the Sherman Act so many years ago. The anti-trust busting that has been so publicly advocated by the government is simply the actions of a gang of thugs who want to shake down the profit makers of a capitalist economy under the guise of “equality.”
Every American should be outraged by the attack of the Department of Justice against the Apple Company. If it can happen to Apple, it can happen to everyone. Microsoft as a company never recovered after their anti-trust case in the 1990s. And now Apple, without the leadership of Steve Jobs to pull them back out of the mud after this incident with the DOJ will find themselves overly, and needlessly cautious toward anti-trust accusations that will directly hinder their marketing strategies, and innovation for many years to come. The cost of this lawsuit against Apple by the DOJ will resonate for the next century in America not in lost competition, but in lost innovation by a company that is among the best that America currently has to offer. The government, as usual, is standing in the way of prosperity, hindering capitalism, and openly seeking to undercut technological growth through a thuggish strategy of short-sighted shakedowns against a good company to appease a blind and stupid mob who democratically elected criminals, scumbags, and despots to enforce laws that they make up as they go to serve only themselves and an ever-expanding government.
Rich Hoffman
Give yourself the gift of ADVENTURE. CLICK HERE!
August 10, 2013
A Whip Trick To Save Lakota: The real reason behind the 2013 tax increase attempt
To state that Lakota, like most government schools these days, is operating as a deceptive enterprise built upon open manipulation of the taxpaying public and are dangerously malicious is not inaccurate. Lakota has said recently that without levy approval in the fall of 2013, the distinct “will” decline. Those are words from an Enquirer article featuring statements by Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia who told the school board, “We have balanced our budget but now we’re at a baseline and that is not a good place to be.” This prompted school board president Joan Powell to declare, “We are in danger of becoming a second-class district.” Lakota and its administrators are pushing a 5.5 mill levy for the upcoming November 2013 ballot which will raise the taxes per $100,000 in evaluation by $192 based on the premise that they have cut, and cut, and cut till they can’t cut any more, and if they cut any more, every citizen in the district will suffer. Well, the Lakota members of the administration who have said these things are guilty of deception, manipulation, and malicious action, because there is a very important factor that they did not reveal to the public in these levy talks which they did discuss in the same newspapers at the start of the 2013 year. However the issue is a bit complex prompting me to explain the situation with one of my bullwhip economic videos. Check it out. I explain to Lakota what they should already know themselves. I use a bullwhip to cut a soda can in half as a proper metaphor to what is in Lakota’s employment future.
The cost of the levy for the average property owner is quite excessive. The figures I used in the above video were off the top of my head, which I refined further below. Most homes in the Liberty Township/West Chester area are well over $200,000 each. The tax increases on homes per year at $200,000 with voter approval of a new Lakota levy will be $384 per year. At $300,000 a year, which is not at all uncommon, the taxes will be $576 more per year. And at $400,000 which is quite the standard in Wetherington, Beckett Ridge, and Four Bridges, the tax increase per year will be $768 per year. But that’s not all. Commercial property is taxed at the same rate as residential property. Buildings that are valued at $5 million will go up on that one building $10,000.00 in additional taxes. Buildings valued in this range are typically small strip malls housing several small stores and that cost will be passed down to the 5-7 tenants, who are all small business owners. Their costs per year will increase about $2,000.00 each, and that’s tough on people with small margins and continuing rising costs in other areas. In many cases, a tax increase like what Lakota is proposing could shut the doors on many small businesses operating at minimum margins.
The assumption by the government school of Lakota who does not have to do anything performance wise to obtain their profit margins except beg for tax increases, is that if residents can afford a home that is $300,000 to $400,000 in value then they can afford to pay a little more for a tax increase to “help the community’s children.” They also believe that a property owner with a strip mall or restaurant that is $1 to $5 million in value will happily absorb an extra $10,000 in yearly taxes because they are already “rich.” What’s a few thousand dollars to a “rich” person? As ridiculous as that sounds, it is precisely how the administrators of Lakota think, and those who jump on the bandwagon to support the levy. This is why I call them Lakota Levy Zombies, because they mindlessly pursue tax increases without considering what the impact of that increase will have on the people who pay it.
But worse than anything is the carefully concealed study performed by the McKibben Demographics group who co-conducted an enrollment study for Lakota late in 2012 at a cost of $20,000. The results of that study indicate that by the 2022-23 school year Lakota will have lost 2,300 students due to declining enrollment trends. What this means in terms of jobs at Lakota is that the staff will have to be cut by at least 85.1 teachers who would normally teach 27 children per class. By 2022 Lakota will have to reduce their work force to meet those new enrollment needs. Over the next 10 years Lakota will save $5.1 million in just teacher salary at an average wage of $60K per year. That does not consider all the six figure administrators that Lakota will not need to manage those 85.1 teachers. Lakota will have to close down school buildings and consolidate resources that could easily save between $10 million and $15 million dollars without cutting a single program to the community just because the enrollment numbers will be less. The projection numbers at Lakota were over 18,000 students during the 2010 school year but will decline to 14,950 by the year 2022.
In addition to those numbers Lakota’s treasurer Jenni Logan stated that Lakota has lost 672 students to other public, community, or private schools, which is a trend that is likely to continue. Lakota has over the last couple of years taken away busing because their tax increases did not pass. They have also cut electives for students, and they have raised sports fees. Parents have reacted by voting with their feet and simply leaving. Meanwhile Lakota administrators continue to brag about the “tens of millions” of dollars they have cut out of their operating budget attempting to sell those cuts as a “sacrifice” to the quality of their education service, but in all reality, the cuts have been on par with the reduction in enrollment. In just the last couple of years from 2010 to 2012 Lakota has seen a drop of around 1000 students. By 2015 the enrollment numbers will be around 15,913 and continuing down from there. If Lakota continues to complain, and sell themselves as ineffective, more people will vote with their feet and simply leave the community taking their children with them, exacerbating those numbers further. If that happens Lakota could see a yearly enrollment of 10,000 by the year 2020.
The cause of the decline in enrollment according to Mckibben is that the population in the Lakota district has aged. Over the next 10 years most homes will be those of empty nesters as the current average age of the Lakota resident is 40.7. McKibbean explained this trend to the Lakota school board at a January 28 2013 meeting by saying, “You have a very high graduation rate and very high post-secondary participation rate. Your kids graduate, go off to college and don’t come back.” However, McKibbean declined to finish that statement. He didn’t want to insult the people who paid $20K for his study after all. The reason kids don’t come back to the Lakota district after they graduate college is simple, they can’t afford to. A twenty something with an average college debt between 50K and 100K cannot afford to purchase a home in the affluent Lakota community where average homes range between $200K to $300K. I know this first-hand because I have children in this age group, and they have moved back to Lakota to buy a nice home of their own in that price range and they looked all over the Cincinnati area for the best opportunity. They are unusually successful as a professional couple. They were able to buy a home in the Lakota district. They are unlikely to use the Lakota school system to teach their children, however they are tax payers in the community. But most young people their age are so saddled with debt; they can never hope to make enough money to purchase a home in that price range. This means families with children who might want to use the Lakota school system will not be able to afford to move into the community because property values are so high. Only successful adults with grown children will be able to continue living in the Lakota district. That is what is driving the Lakota enrollment decline.
Yet, even knowing this information, Lakota’s administration is ignoring it choosing instead to pick and choose their facts. They want to give their teachers who average in salary over $63K per year a raise when the collective bargaining agreement with the union is up in 2014. They are not planning for any reductions in force, or even working their salary structure to meet the community budget established through the election process. Instead, they are relying on fear tactics to win over voters which is dishonest, and negligent. Fear tactics like saying “Excellent with Distinction” (at Lakota) is in jeopardy without new tax money. We are in danger of becoming a second-class district.”
Without context the situation is complicated at Lakota, which is why I explained it with a bullwhip economics video. Most people take these professional government workers at their word which is a mistake. People are too busy in their lives to compare the notes of what was said in the media by Lakota eight months ago and what they say now after they examine Lakota’s need for more tax money not due to economic conditions of the Lakota community, but the administration’s own desire to cave under the union demands for a collective bargaining agreement in 2014. To say anything other than the truth is misleading and after all that we’ve been through at Lakota the administrators still think the taxpaying residents are too stupid to see through their sham. The facts of the matter is not that Lakota needs a tax increase, but rather they need a major employee reduction of nearly 100 teachers and administrators over the next 10 years. They should be able to achieve such a reduction with tax decreases over the next decade instead of the other way around, but they will never utter such a truth—because that’s not what they are about. As government workers they want to do one thing, and one thing only, to grow jobs through government off the backs of tax payers never putting their eyes upon reality in a hope that the formula will never collapse on itself. But the formula is in serious jeopardy, not just at Lakota, but every school district in the country that is filled with an aging population that isn’t having as many children as they once did, and the children they do have aren’t making enough money to support the tax demands of the growing government. The recipe for disaster is upon us, and is just now beginning to be seen in the embattled land of Lakota, in Liberty Township/West Chester, Ohio.
Click Below to see the source articles of this content:
The Cincinnati Enquirer, July 2013
Here is the situation nationally, but featuring Columbus, Ohio from the New York Times, July 2012
Rich Hoffman
Give yourself the gift of ADVENTURE. CLICK HERE!
August 9, 2013
The Best Talk Show Host in America: Doc Thompson ignites the flames of liberty with ‘The Blaze’!
What is the strongest beacon for freedom in the world today? Is it Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, John Stossel, or any other modern commenter, publisher, or financier? I would say not. Is it the multitude of freedom oriented websites like FreedomWorks, or American Thinker? I would say not. Rather, I would say that it’s a new force to the entertainment world. Several years ago the former Fox News star Glenn Beck started his own news organization called The Blaze—which is changing the way the news is delivered. As an online publication that rivals traditional magazines like Time, Life, and People it also specializes in providing the latest scoop on news stories in the way that made the Drudge Report so important to the art of breaking news stories. But it’s not even The Blaze that I’m speaking about—not as a website based news source. In January of 2013 Glenn Beck created The Blaze Radio Network which is an all internet radio station that broadcasts online outside of FCC regulation. Normally these kinds of operations are fly-by-night and built with pure heart, but little money. Well, not anymore. Glenn Beck has invested a considerable amount of his personal fortune into the new Blaze Radio Network and brought in top talent like Doc Thompson and his partner Skip to provide 24 hour a day seven days a week news and entertainment radio that is unparalleled anywhere.
I was very disheartened to learn that my friend Doc Thompson was leaving Cincinnati. I have been a talk radio fan all my life. I used to lie in bed as a kid and listen to radio broadcasts from 700 WLW and WMOH till the pre-dawn hours while the rest of the world slept, literally and figuratively. During my working years, I would listen to talk radio through long hours of 2nd and 3rd shift hard labor. As I grew older and had started participating in talk radio actively I enjoyed being more than just a listener, especially on Doc Thompson’s Cincinnati show. I respect the art of being a talk show host. But Doc was a bit too freedom oriented for the sports talk stations of Cincinnati, and was too big of a name to put on a station that didn’t have a voice equaling his own booming enunciations. So it didn’t take long before Doc moved on to the Detroit market leaving a void in Cincinnati, and the freedom movement that was so strong here.
There are other voices, but on FCC controlled radio stations, they are somewhat handcuffed by their station managers, and the advertisers who essentially control the content. Doc has been a breath of fresh air wherever he has worked, but the stations he worked for never allowed him to utilize his full potential of talent consisting of humor, deep political analysis, and a tremendous range of topics that he can discuss. But more than anything, Doc is the opposite of the kind of radio host that Howard Stern has been—he has deep convictions and tries to be a good person. He wants to do good with his microphone, and that has hindered him during his long career………..until now. Glenn Beck hired Doc Thompson in January to start off his new Blaze Radio Network with the 6 AM to 9 AM morning show just ahead of Glenn Beck’s national show and the gloves have come off. For the benefit of my readers here I have placed two of Doc’s recent shows on the following video clips so that they can be listened to on demand in their entirety. I would suggest playing them and filling your day with their contents. There is a lot of comedy, loads of great information, and some deep sincerity from Doc and Skip which is typical of them in what I consider to be one of the best radio show in the history of talk radio that was only made possible because of Glenn Beck’s innovative, and bold investment in the enterprise.
The reason I consider The Blaze Radio Network to be the purest beacon available for the freedom movement is because it is free, and it is not under the regulation of the government in any way. This allows the programming on the Blaze Radio to be unusually unconcerned with regulators who can threaten to pull their license if at least a balanced approach to statist concepts isn’t adhered to. Every television, and radio station in America is typically concerned about these federal regulations, and it does water down the content, even on programs like Rush Limbaugh’s.
Doc and Skip are for the first times in their life completely free as talk show hosts, and they are making excellent use of that liberty. Before any organization can hope to be a beacon of freedom to the listeners they service, they must in fact be free themselves. Because of the commitment of Glenn Beck into The Blaze Radio Network, it is the most “free thinking” broadcasting anywhere in the world. It functions the way that The Constitution intended with the 1st Amendment of the Bill of Rights, to use free speech not in a destructive way to boost ratings with sex, and deviant discussion, but with high quality content from people who care deeply about the topics they discuss. And for the first time, radio hosts who work for The Blaze have a boss in Glenn Beck who is just as committed to liberty as they are.
I know Doc Thompson personally. I have been to dinner with him where he and Skip would not stop doing research for their radio show even at 1 AM in the morning. Doc never turns off his engine. He never completely shuts down. Radio work and the matters of current events are his number one passion. He is constantly analyzing material for his shows, and he ruthlessly looks for fresh content. Doc is one of the hardest working people I know, and in entertainment/news, this is certainly the case.
Doc has been fighting for a chance to do what he is currently doing for more than 20 years of radio in cities all over the United States. In one of his darkest days of recent past, he never let up off the gas. I remember vividly when his wife Yuna Lee left her television job in Richmond, Virginia so she could finally marry Thompson after several years of a long distance relationship. Finally they were going to be together, living not only in the same house, but in the same city. Yuna boldly left her job to take a job at Channel 2 in Dayton where she works to this day. But the very moment the two were married, Doc lost his job in Cincinnati. He was always a bit too passionate, too “wholesome,” and too “Tea Party” for the Cincinnati stations, which left him jobless again looking for a home. Even in those moments when he was most tempted to change his style to fit the producers of radio shows, he didn’t. He held tight for a syndication deal because he knew he was that good and he needed someone to believe in him with financial backing.
Glenn Beck was that guy, and the benefit to freedom is that finally Doc Thompson has NOTHING in his way to be a serious pain in the ass to statists, progressives, communists, union thugs, race baiters, education empires, and every parasitic entity hanging from the halls of government. For the first time in his professional life Doc Thompson is free to provide the kind of radio that hasn’t been conceived since the very early days of radio broadcasting before the FCC put its claws into the lives of every radio listener. Doc takes full advantage of this freedom, as evidence in the over 5 hours of broadcasting played above. I hope you took full advantage of those clips to let Doc’s voice bring the sounds of freedom to your ears. The Blaze Radio Network it has nearly replaced all my old news sources. I play it all the time, at home, in the garage, in my back yard, in my car, on my iPod—especially during flights, on vacation, in the middle of the mountains, and in the deepest valleys while camping. Because The Blaze is broadcast across the internet, and podcasting is always available on Soundcloud, every show Doc and Skip do can be listened to on demand. By loading his segments onto my iPod I can attend business engagements pausing his information, then resuming when my time frees up. When riding my motorcycle, I can broadcast Doc into my helmet through my iPod, which is a completely new technology. Years ago the only way to listen to a radio on a motorcycle was to have a bulky device attached to the handle bars. Now I can hear Doc anywhere at anytime of day and the information is free. CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO FIND DOC’S BROADCASTS ON SOUNDCLOUD:
http://soundcloud.com/docthompson
For traditional radio talk show listeners, The Blaze Radio Network has a full staff that broadcasts out of New York the news at the top and bottom of every hour just like most other AM stations. They are doing much better work than Fox News is, and certainly leaps and bounds above CNN, MSNBC, or any other news source. The Blaze guys are on top of just about everything 24 hours a day 7 days a week. They are always there.
For these reasons listed above Doc Thompson on The Blaze Radio Network is the best and most authentic example of a voice for the freedom movement that there is in the world. Doc works harder, plays harder, and has the tools in his tool box given to him by Glenn Beck to be a monstrous success, which he and Skip are well on their way to becoming. What they are doing is the wave of the future, and the most effective form of new media there is. I trust The Blaze in ways that I have never trusted any other news source. Their news is good even when they don’t agree with what the other side has to say. Such as in this example:
The Blaze is a game changer in the news business, and Doc Thompson working for the Blaze Radio Network is a game changer in the world of radio. The radio business will never be the same again, now that Doc Thompson is loose and able to communicate the truth where it lives most brilliantly, at The Blaze operated by Glenn Beck and managed by hundreds of wonderful people who deeply care about the state of America and it’s role to the rest of the world who look with longing eyes toward the freedoms that only we have. I would recommend dear reader that you tune in to this wonderful tool for freedom and support it with your attention which will be mutually beneficial for many years to come.
Rich Hoffman
Give yourself the gift of ADVENTURE. CLICK HERE!
August 8, 2013
The Worst Kind of Welfare Recipient: Congressman, Senators, Presidents, and all those in between
We often think of welfare recipients as the inner city single mom who has had children recklessly in order to receive more government benefits. Or the retired crack addicts who spent their youth and money on drugs only to become born again in the eyes of God but penniless, toothless, unemployable adults. Or the reckless young people who have been taught that they should apply for welfare at every turn by their public schools serving as sign up centers for government assistance promoting reckless behavior so that recruiting for welfare programs is higher. There is another class of welfare recipient that very few talk about which costs more money than all those demographic stereotypes combined. That class would be the political class, of which people like Barack Obama and Speaker John Boehner are a part. In fact the most expensive public housing project in the country by square foot is The White House where the recipients who live and work there are all welfare recipients living off the public dime. For a breakdown of this political class of welfare takers listen to Darryl Parks from 700 WLW where he brought his usual stats to an epic broadcast which will forever live in infamy. Listen carefully!
After listening to Darryl is there any hope that any politician from the local trustee, to a federal senator or congressman will ever do anything to cut off the welfare from which they are empowered to give so much money to themselves? Does anybody think that John Boehner will reform federal spending which would take money out of the pockets of the House he resides over–of course not; otherwise they would not have picked him as their leader. Boehner was not picked by members of the GOP in the House because of his high ethical standards, his moral authority; his understanding of law—but rather for his ability to keep the members of the federal government firmly entrenched on welfare. Under no other operation could any worker anywhere hope to make as much money as people like John Boehner have made in the federal government.
As Darryl Parks stated, the reason politicians like Boehner have been in government for so long and is considered a leader of his party is because he has the ability to raise money. I personally know some of the people who give a lot of money to Boehner– I’m only picking on him because he is my congressman—so I have firsthand knowledge of the guy. I know Boehner is a nice fellow who my in-laws spotted in their early days at the Beckett Ridge Country Club where my wife and I were married. They knew him through his family as being an up and coming star in politics. Paul Ryan as a young whipper-snapper at Miami University down the road from John’s home actually put out yard signs for Boehner’s first congressional run in areas like Trenton, Lakota, Fairfield and his college campus. The speeches politicians give to get elected are all the same, but the result never changes either. In spite of all the campaign promises what the members who lobby themselves into the political class are really after is easy money where all they have to do is sign up for the vast number of welfare programs offered by the federal government disguised as salary.
I have been to fundraisers where the plates are $500 a plate so the welfare recipients can make appearances to the public. Knowing of John and his family most of my life as next door neighbors so-to-speak it shocked me recently to see some friends who were worth millions of dollars willingly pass out invites to one of these John Boehner fundraisers. These very financially wealthy friends looked toward the event as though they were school girls who had back stage passes to the latest boy band concert. Boehner had been made up to be a celebrity because he was the third most powerful person in the entire world—according to the media, and that designated celebrity status.
But when I look at John I only see a welfare recipient. He’s a guy who makes his living making rules, and that is a very parasitic existence. That certainly doesn’t make him a celebrity in my book. But worse, he does virtually nothing to earn the vast sums of money he takes as a congressman. Sure he does a lot of “wheeling and dealing” in Washington, but how much of it is for the good of the country? Not much. Most of Boehner’s wheeling and dealing is done for the good of his party, so that he can use the celebrity created by the media to generate money from my friends who are willing to pay $50 to $500 dollars a plate to raise money for his “war chest,” so he can win more elections and gain more welfare wealth.
Does any of this make John a bad guy? No. It just makes him a parasitic welfare recipient that our modern statist system of government uses to create celebrity status so more people turn to government for their riches, instead of private enterprise. To stay in power politicians like John need to convince people of real power—those who are wealthy, that their campaign donations are worthy of his celebrity status—an image created by the media for the benefit of all welfare recipients, from the crack whore of the inner city to the residents of The White House. Once John raises his money and stays in power, he then makes his money by appeasing the mob in congress who often gives themselves raises, while enriching themselves with insider trading and lobbyist bribes. John claims to have a clean record with lobbyists, but he wouldn’t be House Leader unless he turned his head the other way so others could abuse the system.
Yet the only way that the debt ceiling can stop climbing its way back from the $17 trillion dollar mark is for congress, and the senate to spend less money, and to do that, they have to stop taking so much themselves. At some point in time they have to stop viewing federal office as a treasure chest full of pirates looting and pillaging as though there were no tomorrow. The result of that behavior is what we have seen in modern Detroit. California is next, followed by the entire nation of America. Politicians robbed Detroit blind just as they are now against every taxpaying district where most of the money collected goes to inflated government pensions, and wages that are not representative of the skill level purchased. For most of these workers that in the federal government pay near six figures in salary, their actual work is only worth bare minimum wage in the private sector. There is a reason that Washington D.C. has the highest per capita worth anywhere in the country. It’s not because they make wonderful cars, or airplanes, or even computers. All they make in Washington are deals from one welfare recipient to another swapping money stolen from the American tax payer for the benefit of themselves.
To some degree or another anyone who is employed off tax money is a welfare recipient, including those who work at NASA. If the federal government is involved, the employees are welfare recipients. Not all of them are diabolical menaces to morality, and some actually contribute to the betterment of science. NASA has done many great things for America and the world, so in some cases, the money can be worth it. In most situations however, as in the present day political landscape, politicians were never intended to become so wealthy as social servants under elected office—and they were never intended to make life-time careers out of the election process. So long as the desire for easy money in politics exists, con artists, lawyers, social parasites, and comb over, insecure womanizers will desire to occupy those halls of power that are built off the sweat of the American tax payer—where looting off of goodness is so common that the violations are as frequent as the raindrops of a summer storm in a monsoon soaked region of the world prying for daylight.
Rich Hoffman
Give yourself the gift of ADVENTURE. CLICK HERE!
August 7, 2013
What is the “Establishment” and how to Fight it: B.F Skinner’s $283,000 federally funded book ‘Beyond Freedom and Dignity’
Recently I stated that I was in open rebellion against the “establishment” and felt that a real definition was required so that the objective can be known. We need to know what the establishment is exactly? When the “establishment” is identified as a villain what is it that we are considering? Who brings it forth, and why? Where does the semblance of impoverished drabness which always follows the establishment come from–the tired routines, the stagnant monotony of the so-called “cultured activities” from the movie screen, to literature, to the allegedly intellectual publications? Anyone is still free to say, write and publish anything that they please in America, yet men and women keep silent as their culture perishes around them from an entrenched, epidemic of institutionalized mediocrity. Why? That is what we need to understand before we can rebel against anything. I encourage you dear reader highly to watch every one of these videos. If you love yourself you’ll do it. If you love your children, YOU’LL DO IT!
In 1971 the National Institute of Mental Health granted Dr. B.F Skinner $283,000 to write a book called Beyond Freedom and Dignity. The book argues that entrenched belief in free will and the moral autonomy of the individual (which Skinner referred to as “dignity”) hinders the prospect of using scientific methods to modify behavior for the purpose of building a happier and better-organized society.
Beyond Freedom and Dignity may be summarized as an attempt to promote Skinner’s philosophy of science, the technology of human behavior. His conception of determinism, and what Skinner calls ‘cultural engineering’.
Burrhus Frederic “B. F.” Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher.[2][3][4][5] He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his retirement in 1974.[6]
Skinner invented the operant conditioning chamber, also known as the Skinner Box.[7] He was a firm believer of the idea that human free will was actually an illusion and any human action was the result of the consequences of that same action. If the consequences were bad, there was a high chance that the action would not be repeated; however if the consequences were good, the actions that lead to it would be reinforced.[8] He called this the principle of reinforcement.[9]
He innovated his own philosophy of science called radical behaviorism,[10] and founded his own school of experimental research psychology—the experimental analysis of behavior. His analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal Behavior, as well as his philosophical manifesto Walden Two, both of which have recently seen enormous increases in interest experimentally and in applied settings.[11] Contemporary academia considers Skinner a pioneer of modern behaviorism along with John B. Watson and Ivan Pavlov.
Skinner discovered and advanced the rate of response as a dependent variable in psychological research. He invented the cumulative recorder to measure rate of responding as part of his highly influential work on schedules of reinforcement.[12][13] In a June 2002 survey, Skinner was listed as the most influential psychologist of the 20th century.[14] He was a prolific author who published 21 books and 180 articles.[15][16]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._F._Skinner
The direct result of Skinner’s work was that it began to be accepted in public schools the tendency of some students to be “hyper active” in relation to other students and that this behavior should be identified and turned down so that the collective whole could function better as an institution. Skinner of course justifies this by his term ‘cultural engineering.’ Not many people read Skinner’s book at first except the “academic elite” who would then postulate politicians at charity events, fund-raisers, and other social occasions on the merit of the esteemed Harvard professor and his studies into social behavior, and how they could then be corrected in young people starting in public schools.
Eventually after a decade or two of such postulating the criteria for ADHD began to take root in public consciousness as “established practice.” After all the studies came out of Harvard! Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD, similar to hyperkinetic disorder in the ICD) is a psychiatric disorder[1] or neurobehavioral disorder[2] characterized by significant problems either of inattention and/or hyperactivity and impulsiveness. These symptoms must emerge before twelve years of age for a diagnosis to be made.[3] There are three subtypes of the disorder: predominantly inattentive (ADHD-PI or ADHD-I), predominantly hyperactive-impulsive (ADHD-HI or ADHD-H), or the two combined (ADHD-C), which shows all three difficulties. Often people refer to ADHD-PI as “attention deficit disorder” (ADD), however, the latter has not been officially accepted since the 1994 revision of the DSM. ADHD affects school-aged children and results in restlessness, acting impulsively, and a lack of focus that may impair school performance.
Inattention, hyperactivity (restlessness in adults), disruptive behavior, and impulsivity are common in ADHD.[19][20] Academic and social skills difficulties are also frequent.[19] The symptoms can be difficult to define because it is hard to draw a line at where normal levels of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity end and clinically significant levels requiring intervention begin.[10]:p.26 To be diagnosed as ADHD, symptoms must be observed in two different settings for six months or more and to a degree that is greater than other children of the same age.[21]
The symptom categories yield three potential classifications of ADHD—predominantly inattentive type, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type, or combined type if criteria for both subtypes are met:[10]:p.4
An individual with predominantly inattentive-type may have symptoms including:[22]
Be easily distracted, miss details, forget things, and frequently switch from one activity to another
Have difficulty maintaining focus on one task
Become bored with a task after only a few minutes, unless doing something enjoyable
Have difficulty focusing attention on organizing and completing a task or learning something new
Have trouble completing or turning in homework assignments, often losing things (e.g., pencils, toys, assignments) needed to complete tasks or activities
Not seem to listen when spoken to
Daydream, become easily confused, and move slowly
Have difficulty processing information as quickly and accurately as others
Struggle to follow instructions.
An individual with predominantly hyperactive-impulsive type may have symptoms including:[22]
Fidget and squirm in their seats
Talk nonstop
Dash around, touching or playing with anything and everything in sight
Have trouble sitting still during dinner, school, and story time
Be constantly in motion
Have difficulty doing quiet tasks or activities
An individual with predominantly impulsivity type may have symptoms including:[22]
Be very impatient
Blurt out inappropriate comments, show their emotions without restraint, and act without regard for consequences
Blurts out comments better left unsaid (not always innapropriate)
Have difficulty waiting for things they want or waiting their turns in games
Often interrupt conversations or others’ activities.
According to the “establishment” some children, adolescents, and adults with ADHD have an increased risk of experiencing difficulties with social skills, such as social interaction and forming and maintaining friendships due to impairments in processing verbal and nonverbal language. About half of children and adolescents with ADHD experience rejection by their peers compared to 10–15 percent of non-ADHD children and adolescents. Training in social skills, behavioral modification and medication may have some limited beneficial effects. The most important factor in reducing emergence of later psychopathology, such as major depression, criminality, school failure, and substance use disorders is formation of friendships with people who are not involved in delinquent activities.[23] At least, according to the “establishment.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention_deficit_hyperactivity_disorder
In other words the threats to the established order that the government paid “B. F.” Skinner to write about in his book Beyond Freedom and Dignity is children who have “compliance” issues as listed above in the diagnosis for ADHD. Psychiatric professors with grants of their own using Skinner’s work as their foundation proceeded to frame their work to fit their grant criteria, which was to nudge their testing results into the direction of Skinner’s work, which is proven to have the ability to obtain federal grants for their intuitions of learning.
Very indirectly, the statist federal government has shaped and created “established” thought about the roles that government schools should have in superseding parental authority into making children into subservient within the schools of which the education institutions have a monopoly. In just a few short decades using the grant system and federal funds to gain power over local authority, the federal government has shaped the thoughts and minds of an entire American population into believing that their hyperactive, imaginative child fidgeting in their chair day-dreaming too much is actually sick, and needs to have their minds turned off so that the entire school can function better under rules of statism established by college professors eating out of the palm of the federal government with $283,000 checks to write books for the academic class to slowly, surely, become the new generational authority from which everything else will follow. This is the process that creates “the establishment.”
Now imagine the same process occurring for gun rights issues, feminist concerns, gay rights, racism tensions, economic equality, hunger prevention, political discourse, fashion trends, musical tastes, food consumption, scientific development, even cancer research. I have told the story here on these pages about the cancer cure invented by a doctor in Texas who just survived a long struggle with the FDA attempting to shut him down. CLICK HERE TO REVIEW. The cure for cancer is already known, yet the government does not want it to exist, because they value statism over science based on the grants they have issued to drive the pharmaceutical lobby in Washington. The establishment does not want a cure for cancer because their science is built upon dependency, not a cure. I have also said upon these pages that there is a Skycar just like what was seen in films like Blade Runner and Back to the Future II. The inventor with his discussions with me is perplexed as to why the United States is not beating a path to his door. He thought he’d be viewed as the next Henry Ford. The answer is that the establishment is built around highway transportation; dependent oriented street cars, trains, and busing. More independence for the average American is not the goal of the federal government who have paid out billions of dollars in grants for solar energy research, electric cars, and more urban development moving citizens out of the suburbs and back into tax controlled communities attempting to reverse the effects of cities like Detroit where people have voted with their feet. CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW.
“The establishment” is a product of a mixed economy. It is the result of a government that gives the illusion of freedom by dangling the carrot of government dependence in front of colleges, welfare recipients, and even weak-willed government workers who want the extraordinary pay only found in the public sector. That establishment is shaped by government money issued out in the spirit of research, but with the real intention to shape public opinion through an education system they control through monopoly status, government funding, and federal grants. Through these mechanisms they can shape society and create “the establishment” to their liking with an emphasis on statism. When it is wondered why the next generation isn’t rising up to challenge any of these statist claims the reason was already addressed by Skinner’s Beyond Freedom and Dignity. The direct impact of that book is that the children who would ordinarily rise up to question these methods of established thinking now have their minds placed in shackles with Retalin, so that the poor little things will stop fidgeting in their seats in school long enough for their math teacher to get their phone number and get them into their lair to have sex with them while smoking marijuana—another mind numbing chemical. This is not an inflated statement. CLICK HERE TO SEE HOW TRUE THIS IS. The establishment sought to protect itself from the next generation by providing grants to college professors who would write books on the merits of intoxication, social compliance, and peer review so that the ladies on The View, Opera, Ellen and all the other programs designed to represent the establishment will buy into the scam without question. Within a few years, people find themselves nodding their heads to ideas they have no idea how they got there and wondering what happened to their country as they found themselves mere pawns in the whole design. Only when the adults go out for a drink later and find themselves drunk and unconcerned about anything do they get a hint of what the establishment has given them—a blank life full of false promises straight from the pages of T.S. Eliot’s The Wasteland. Only then do they miss the unlimited potential that was afforded to them from the American Constitution. The statist government appearing as the good guy in the whole affair shaped the entire story to the detriment of human souls by hiding their actions behind a shield of compassion. They became the banker for ideas that advocate their design while rejecting those that do not—such as cures for cancer, flying cars and alternative forms of powerful energy like Thorium. CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW. The establishment is not about advancing society, it is about creating a political class who rule over civilization with the temperament of the academic. And with those criteria, they will never stop till every human being is addicted to Retalin and mind numb into blind compliance without knowing why. The establishment is not controlled by one person, but by one philosophy that many people believe in. That philosophy is one of social statism, and is how so many people from so many backgrounds can all adhere to the concept molded subtly by the federal government with grant money issued for a desperate desire to continue its collective growth.
That is what I mean by rebellion and what the target is. It’s not people, political parties, or even buildings in Washington. It’s the philosophy that supports them all with beliefs that are detrimental to the cause of liberty and desire for every living life to function from free will.
Rich Hoffman
Give yourself the gift of ADVENTURE. CLICK HERE!
August 6, 2013
Matt Clark Calls Detroit: The cause of socially brain dead parasites
My friend Matt Clark of WAAM radio in Ann Arbor, Michigan had an interesting radio show this past Sunday afternoon. Matt randomly called people who live in the Detroit area and asked them what they knew about the recent bankruptcy of their once prosperous city. Expectantly few knew anything about the matter even though they live at ground zero of one of the most epically failed instances of Keynesian economics seen currently in the world. Detroit is unique as an example because its failure is unequivocally driven by liberal politics inspired by philosophers like Immanuel Kant, Karl Marx, and the economics of socialist England under the subterfuge of the Fabian Socialists where Keynesian economics was born. CLICK HERE TO LEARN ABOUT KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS. Detroit’s collapse is the fault of failed social and economic philosophy and even as the evidence is crumbling down around them, the people of Detroit are disconnected and uninterested. The fire of thought has long since been put out of their ability to have opinions. Have a listen:
It is impossible to have any kind of republic which is the governing principle of The United States if the people who make up that republic are not intellectually engaged. There is no way to elect representatives to the republic if such disinterested manner is placed on elections. The fault of this social awareness of course falls on the education system which has failed to ignite in the minds of the youth any interest in such things, even though a passive interest in the affairs of the American Republic is more important than learning mathematics, English, or even general history. Instead, schools have allowed their teacher unions to lobby law makers into watering down the education curriculums into radicalism against American tradition to fulfill progressive strategies—the same kind of strategies that have destroyed Detroit in the present day. The public education system chose radicalism focused on social issues over republic representation of quality as a teaching method. The result is a society of lost minds who do not know what to do with the facts of our day. A vast majority of the American public is disconnected—and happy to proclaim it, because their public school institutions have taught them that such a social position was good.
I remember what it was like in public school and I hated every moment of it. In my entire 13 years of attending I can’t remember a single day that I enjoyed. At an early age I had the deep suspicion that the teachers wanted nothing to do with any truth. They were intent to reshape minds into a direction guided by some invisible hand that went by the name of “legislators.” The reason I didn’t enjoy school was because I liked my mind, and didn’t want it shaped by anybody but me. I remember feeling this way even in kindergarten. Naturally teachers didn’t know what to do with me because I wasn’t following the “formula.” So I was in trouble all the time and being much more stubborn than they were, I held out like an inmate in a prison for 13 years always looking for that graduation day where I’d be free of them once and for all.
I could tell many stories about my public school days, but the short of it was that I was always in trouble, my parents were constantly called with attempts to shove me in some direction which I continuously resisted. I was constantly grounded as a student at home because of my rebelliousness at school making the experience a miserable one for my young mind. And all along, I had a very keen understanding of what I was resisting. I was resisting the tendency to be a social buffoon. As I moved into high school the pressure escalated and I pushed back even harder and a lot of people were hurt. Once I was able to drive and have a job of my own, the groundings at home, the constant peer pressure at school to be a mind numb debacle for the human race began to subside a bit because that long desired goal of being free of the public school system was near. To let “them” know they had not beaten my mind into submission I routinely wore a sport coat to school with a tie to let the statist know that they had failed utterly in their breaking of me—and I relished the audacity. The constant detentions, the threats, the many, many trips to the principal’s office, the calls to my parents, the attempt to pit other kids in the school against me had all failed spectacularly and I enjoyed seeing the looks of disappointment on their faces.
Back then I had a USA Today newspaper delivered to my first period class which I carried around with me and read throughout the day. The newspaper was a window to the outside world. It was like a light through the window of a prison cell that was way too small for me, and I enjoyed reading about disruptions in the Middle East while the students around me were passing around love notes to each other declaring how drunk they wanted to get at the next Friday night football game. I had a few friends, and they thought like me for the most part—people brought together by common values. In some cases those friends were intellectually smarter than the rest of the administrative staff with genius level intellects, and in some ways other friends were physically superior to even the best athletes, and were heavily recruited to play sports for the school which were declined out of sheer rebelliousness. At the Friday night football games my friends and I would sell those same stupid kids cases of beer out of a car trunk saving them the disgrace of trying to buy beer from a convenient store only to be turned away by a clerk who carded them. I enjoyed this because it allowed me to punch back at society from two fronts, I was thumbing my nose at the laws politicians made for underage drinking, and I was violating the stupid policy of letting the school believe football games were anything but an excuse for the kids to get drunk. This would go on right in front of the school administration and the police both of whom had no idea what to do about the practice. I had learned at an early age the hypocrisy of statism and knew that there was nothing they could do to me. They had already punished me in every way possible for over a decade, and as a young high school kid I was making as much money as most of the kid’s parents between all my jobs. Earning money was my freedom from the statism of public education, and the first minute I could do it, I did. I mowed lawns, worked as a bus boy at an upscale restaurant for tips, and started dating girls who were in their mid-twenties when I was 15 and 16 who would then buy the beer I could sell to the high school kids. Around the time I was doing all this the Tom Cruise film Risky Business came out and when I went to see it, I realized that I was living that life, except more violently.
My motives were to use capitalism to escape statism, and as a kid who grew up in the 80s under President Ronald Reagan, that was at least possible. As I look around at kids today, having raised two of my own and meeting many of their friends, I don’t think they even have those same opportunities. Instead of reading a USA Today, kids at least have the internet on their phones to escape from the statist environment, but instead of reading about current events, they keep their minds on entertainment related topics. For me I was able to beat my captors by being smarter than they were. And when that didn’t work, I was more willing to resort to physical confrontation than they were. It was no secret then and it’s no secret now. I still live by those same rules—because they work. As I look at the public education system now, I am sure there are kids trapped there like I was, but even lack a president to admire. Most of them have been put on Retalin or some other drug to numb their active minds, as public schools have found that the way to beat students like me was to get them on mind numbing drugs so early that nobody knows what kind of genius they could become. They call this these days ADHD. I openly campaigned for Ronald Reagan in the 7th grade when the other students were busy contemplating which bands were good over others, but since him, there hasn’t been a president that young people could even get excited about.
For me the fight against statism has always been present. I fought it then as a captor stuck within the system. Upon my graduation traveling back from UD arena in Dayton I passed the future superintendent of Lakota schools on I-75 south, a man who tried to pin me down with every trick known to the book of school administrators. I slowed down to match his speed and look him in the face. My friend sitting in the passenger’s seat toasted him with a beer. Between him and me we were living the movie version of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The future superintendent had tried to catch me time and time again for doing something wrong and often I would do things just to prove to him that I couldn’t be caught. On that day now that I was free of them, I slowed my car down behind his speed and dropped back about 200 yards. Then I gunned the engine to my Pontiac Firebird and flew past him on the highway at 110 MPH. I drove by him so closely that my passenger’s side mirror almost hit the mirror on his car. I maneuvered so closely to him because I wanted the air from my car to rattle his at that high-speed. Many reading this will wonder why I was so aggressive about this maneuver, and those that came before, and many that came after. Because I hated him, I hated the school, I hated the administrators, and I hated the system they all represented. For many, hate is a strong word, but for me, hate is the correct term. I hated him, and I wanted him to know it.
I hated that system then and I hate it now because it produces the kind of people who can watch a city like Detroit die of progressive philosophy without feeling an urge to defend the city from the parasites. There is no fire in the minds of the people Matt called on the air, because that fire was put out by their public schools, and that is why I hate them. I like to see fire behind the eyes of human beings. I like to see energy, passion, and imagination, and too often those elements are destroyed in children before they get out of their first year of kindergarten. Some manage to retain some of those traits and not be destroyed completely, but virtually all lose massive amounts of their future potential in those first two years of public school. I didn’t know in the early days why I fought, but just knew that I should. I am proud now that I have a grandchild to say that I have never yielded to statism, and I never will. But it always makes me sad to see so many lights out in the minds of mankind. And Detroit, as Matt proved, is bankrupt and morally lost not just because they ran out of other people’s money to give away, but because the light is out in the minds of the residents—a light that was put out during their years in public education.
Rich Hoffman
Give yourself the gift of ADVENTURE. CLICK HERE!
