What is on your mind? What would you like to know about current local issues? If you could ask your Mayor, City Councilmen, County Commissioners, or even a city or county employee a question —what would it be? Do you have questions about the pool? Or, perhaps you have a specific question about the status of the Vandaveer Ranch property?
We are starting a new section where you can ask a question, and we’ll help you get it answered.
Eventually, this might be in a specific place on the Citizen web site, but until then, we’ll keep it on the home page in article form. Please go ahead and use the comment box below. If the question is general and you do not know who to direct your question to, that’s no problem, we’ll direct it to the right place.
What’s on your mind?
Please fill me in on the details of what happened to the Unique Theatre…. yes, I realize its kind of a mess, but I would like to be able to inform a few people I know who may have some interest in getting involved.
I understand its currently on the market. Can you email me where to find out information about its sale?
thanks,
former and hopefully future resident,
James A. Brown
I’d like to know, given the impending inevitable and abject failure of the US economy, what the people of our valley (as a whole and individually) are doing to ensure not just their economic viability, but also to ensure that our rights and freedoms are preserved once the world’s central banks take over the planet (stay with me here) after stealing over a trillion dollars a week from us since October with the help of both the GW Bush administration and the false change of Barack Obama’s administration (not to mention the most worthless and untrustworthy Congress in history)… None of whom have any interest in our well-being, having been sponsored, bankrolled, and put in place by the very same failed businesses (international banks, or bookies, depending on your level of information awareness) that created this mess…
Also, I’m curious just how many of us actually realize just how total this economic collapse will be. The writing is not only on the wall, but on our foreheads at this point… I expect that once people realize the scope and scale of this swindle they will become more and more interested in the basics of life and the basics of survival, but what about preservation of their rights?
Does our Sheriff’s department have the same militaristic approach to crisis as the rest of the country’s so-called law enforcement seems to have? Will they be just as likely to point guns in our faces when our failing economy creates near-starvation and complete disillusionment? For example, how long will the sheep put up with “Your property taxes are going up because property values went up” (then) and (now) “Your property taxes are going up because… our revenues are down due to bad investments and bad planning on our part… oh, and by the way, your property values went down… and we shipped all the jobs to China while you were out”..?
And why on this good, green Earth is anyone even entertaining the idea of selling clean, usable, drinkable water from our valley to a multinational conglomerate who will truck it right past our thirsty bread lines, destined for the well-guarded pleasure domes of the elite who can afford to transport what used to be ours?
In summary, is any agency, group, or individual in this county planning for the total enslavement being ushered in and imposed on us at a breakneck pace by both the Republican and Democrat sides of the aisle? And if so, do those plans actively involve the citizen and respect his or her rights as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights? Or do the plans simply consist of FEMA camps and bread lines, both dehumanizing tools used by the control structure to break down the will of their subjects and discourage resistance? I believe this valley is 100% capable of sustaining itself if necessary with no help or intervention from any government agency, state or federal. Does anyone else belive this? Do any of you believe in your neighbors as much as I do?
These are just a few of my questions. Because I fear I know their answers already, I ask them in an almost tongue-in-cheek fashion, but they are serious questions, nonetheless.
Any clarification or questions, lemme know…
PS – I applaud your efforts here. In the future we will likely find that we disagree on quite a bit, but the fact will remain that independent thought, speech, journalism, and expression are among our few and only hopes to remain free and equal human beings in the face of ever-growing tyranny. On behalf of the free people of this valley, I thank you and wish you success in this endeavor. You have my support and encouragement.
Todd O’Brien
James – Salida Realty is listing the Unique. Check in with Leslie Walker or anyone at that office or at their website http://www.buysalida.com
James,
At what point should I pick the story up…….Seriously, Salcat Properties recently finished up the sale of the Unique from the city by paying off the small loan balance it had remaining. Prior to that, the building was considered a safety hazard to the public and needed some costly repairs to stabilize the building. That’s where Salcat stepped in. Currently Salcat is looking to sell the building. Perhaps there are partnership opportunities there? If you’d like to know more, please post a specific question.
Thanks
Scott Damman
Salida city council, ward 3
Thanks Scott.
Greetings and Blessings, Citizens.
Everyone is ignoring the post made by Todd O’Brien. That speaks much louder than anything. Sure, it’s hard stuff to think about. It’s not Christo, and it’s not schools. I’ve sat back because he is my brother, and it would be no surprise to have a family member yell “Go Todd!”
It has come to my attention that many of Salida’s Citizens have thoughts on this issue they have expressed in private, both positive and negative. The wonderful people at the Citizen put up an entire website, and we still murmur our opinions in private. Any one watching the news lately? Is it a coincidence that the THIRD LARGEST EMPLOYER in Salida had to restructure, omitting our town and its people entirely? This is a local issue.
Granted, “total enslavement” and people pointing guns don’t win much fanfare. But I thought Mr. O’Brien’s post focused more on that Salida is different. Our police, sheriffs, and local officials have always reflected the sense of a Grass-roots community. The trouble comes in that there are things that affect the world outsde of Salida, and as the closing of BBI demonstrated, will find their way into our valley. Assumptions get made that Mr. O’Brien dislikes the Police and Sheriff, but to me, it shows that he sees them as neighbors first and Officals second. I wish my last name was different so I could clap louder.
So, Salida Citizens. Are we Citizens of just Salida? Or are we here because Salida reflects all the things we like about our country and world? So far this forum has more closely resembled ‘The Salida Realtor’. Where my Citizens at?
So please. Tell us to shut up. Or tell us What’s On Your Mind. Or maybe if you wait long enough, them long winded O’Brien boys will just go away. But you’re better than that. There’s a reason all of us are here in this valley, and it isn’t real estate speculation. It’s what my brother first told me on the phone that convinced me to move here, “a genuine sense of community.”
Ryan O’Brien
Salida CITIZEN
I apologize for not responding to Todd’s post earlier, I’ve been a tad busy lately. I actually emailed him privately prior to posting on here.
I agree, and am glad to see others that question the status quo, and question both halves of the establishment party.
Rather than telling the O’Brien boys to go away, I think I’d rather meet you guys for a beer. I think we’d have a good time.
Uh oh. I’ve upset the group-think. As it turns out, my admittedly tongue-in-cheek questions (which produced quite a few private emails in support of my line of questioning, thank you) have been deemed unsuitable for this message board. Despite being specifically and directly invited to post “what’s on my mind” and a web-page that claims “Ask anything you’d like about local issues and we’ll try to get it answered for you!”, my comments have been met with the publishers of this website contacting my friends and family regarding my mental stability. Wow. No, seriously. Wow.
So much for independent journalism and a free expression of “what” is on one’s “mind”. Apparently if your question isn’t the right kind of wacky you can expect character attacks and gossip, not any sort of rational discourse, from the Salida Citizen. Bummer. If it’s not about schools or real estate, and happens to be a bit on the imaginative side, you will not only be ignored (in public, that is), but your sanity will come into question, not within the forum in which your inquiry was posted, mind you, but in the email boxes of your family and associates. I suppose my support and encouragement for the Salida Citizen (which were whole-heartedly offered in my previous post) are of no value to those who apparently would like to shape the dialogue to suit their own intentions, not to encourage discourse on a wide range of topics. Bummer.
Notice that not one attempt has been made to address the more main-stream questions I chose to ask, like “Why sell our water?” and “What are people here doing to ensure their economic viability and/or their rights?”…
Many of you who emailed me mentioned your “fear” of posting due to “delicate egos” and “small town politics”. I now understand your concerns, although I would still encourage you to post a response, perhaps anonymously. I guess the same problems that keep the Mountain Mail from any unbiased attempt at discussion (real, fanciful, or otherwise) are sadly intertwined in the workings of this venue as well. Well, fear not, citizen. I assure you, I am quite stable, mentally and otherwise, and Peace is of the utmost importance to me, despite the slander and gossip you may or may not have yet received regarding my ability to function in society. And for the record, the police departments and agencies within our valley have been pretty impressive in their respect for our rights in my experience and opinion. I simply have an active mind, imagination, and vocabulary, and a relentless study of economics, history, and government, and sometimes those things converge to create a wacky set of questions, too weird even for those who claim to be the weirdest. Questions that don’t necessarily or immediately advance the agenda of the publishers of this site, and therefore are met with behind-the-scenes insults and slanderous assumptions. Once again, bummer.
And finally, to those of you who thought it necessary to make disturbing assumptions regarding me and my mental faculties, I thank you for finally showing me your true colors and motivations. Your fear of and disdain for ideas that are not your own is very telling. In what might be an amazing coincidence, even the Mountain Mail featured a story yesterday about some of the economic challenges we are beginning to face here at home… It was a nice moment, beleiving we might have an alternative venue in which to engage in free-thinking and ask questions without reprisal, while it lasted. I guess that niche is still wide open. Or am I wrong? Can the Salida Citizen pull this out of the fire and save face? I suppose I’ll find out soon enough, possibly just by listening to the gossip around town.
To the rest of you, hang in there and believe in yourselves. If you do that, you’ll be fine no matter what names they call you or assumptions they make about you. And keep your senses of humor and conversation, most folks seem to have lost theirs because they can’t see past their own nonsense.
Happy New Year, and Peace and Freedom to you all.
PS – Thanks, Ryan and Cott. I was almost gonna post a real estate question just to get the “question answerers” interested again.
As a “local” (and I use that term loosely since I do not live in Salida currently, but I have called it home since I was 6), I feel like Todd should be Salida’s mayor.
Seriously, though, in a direct relation to my family, who still resides and will likely die in this beautiful oasis called Salida, I’d like to acknowledge and applaud the O’Briens’s commentary on the economic issues that are effecting everyone, no matter how “disconnected” some of us seem to be from the rest of the country, the cities, and “real life”.
My mother works for the third largest employer in Salida, and many know her as the local, kind, and public face of a monster company with a reputation for not treating employees and communities well at all. She helped convince this town that this company had good intentions, and pumped thousands of dollars of grant money into Salida for schools, art works, churches, and many other various 501c-3 organizations. This company eliminated her position, and, suffice to say, she has been relegated to being little more than a check stand clerk. She was and is devastated by the fallout, a product of the economy as a whole.
Not only has this effected her, but it has effected my whole family, and I would dare to venture out that it has had a negative impact on the town as a whole. What little positive energy a company like a Big Box Store can have in a small town has been seemingly swept away by this wretched economy, which in turn, has been a direct result of the people who somehow managed to get business degrees but still fail to follow the rules. We all pay for the negligence, and we all have the potential to make our dissatisfaction heard.
That being said, I again commend Todd and Ryan O’Brien for their raised voices in addressing this and many other issues. We should all be so bold.
Hey Todd,
A sincere thank you for trying to enlighten folks. The unfortunate reality…the majority
prefers the “security” of the darkness.
Short answer…Salt & Bullets.
…and before everyone makes yet ANOTHER set of assumptions, the bullets, of course, are for hunting. Ya know, hunting? One of the biggest industries in this valley? And one of the ways in which all of us can reduce our dependence on chain store groceries? And learn, once again, to live in harmony with our environment instead of burning fossil fuels to move meat and veggies an average of 1500 miles before it reaches your plate…
I’d like to start with a quote from the about section of this website (http://salidacitizen.com/about/): “We sincerely hope that by providing better access to information we can elevate the level of discourse beyond typical party politics to make Salida (and the Arkansas Valley) a better place to live.”
Sooo…where is the discourse? I ask again in my own words and with my own voice: What is being done to protect and preserve this community during the troubled times to come?
I guess you don’t believe that we are in the middle of a total economic collapse?? Here’s a little something for your reading pleasure. (The full article can be found at http://www.propagandamatrix.com/articles/november2008/111308_celente_predicts.htm) or watch the Fox News video if reading is too difficult a task. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn5t47s8CFs
Gerald Celente, the man who predicted the 1987 stock market crash and the fall of the Soviet Union is now forecasting revolution in America, food riots and tax rebellions – all within four years, while cautioning that putting food on the table will be a more pressing concern than buying Christmas gifts by 2012.
Celente says that by 2012 America will become an undeveloped nation, that there will be a revolution marked by food riots, squatter rebellions, tax revolts and job marches, and that holidays will be more about obtaining food, not gifts.
“America’s going to go through a transition the likes of which no one is prepared for,” said Celente, noting that people’s refusal to acknowledge that America was even in a recession highlights how big a problem denial is in being ready for the true scale of the crisis.
Are you listening? Are you reading the same news as I – the real news? Or eating giant spoonfuls of the much more palatable pablum routinely dished out by the media giants? I realize that stories of canine shoplifters and a guy who attributes his herpes infection to a mistletoe hookup (both were REAL stories on CNN.com) are amusing diversions but the truth of what’s transpiring is out there for all of us to see. We cannot sit idle and place our hopes in the hands the Federal government. Look where this has gotten us thus far! I call you to action Salida citizenry. Do the research, raise your voices in every available forum! Do not be afraid of being called crazy or extremist. We can beat this together on a local level. Who is with me? Let’s do something about this before it’s too late! Make no mistake, I don’t claim to have a solution but I do believe that together we can find one…so let’s get together. Let’s organize, let’s talk about our ideas.
Until then, see you at Burmac and the Walmart ammo counter.
I totally agree with Todd on this. We are slipping into a depression, and the greatest questions I would like answered are:
1. What is the emergency town plan for all of us surviving a depression? Can we eat the town deer?:)
2. Is it a good idea to raise lodging taxes, pool rates, and a new 1% sales tax in the greatest crisis since the great depression?
3. What sort of investments is the city making to come out of this depression in a more cash stable position?
4. Are there any specific emergency plans the city has to help business owners get through the next year?
5. Does the city understand how bad things are going to get, before they get better?
Now myself, I am a very positive person, but there is a certain writing on the wall that I think warrants the city to assume some emergency measures so this town does not have to go through it’s cycle of feast or famine, that has happened ever since it was built. I will be the first to admit that I must take responsibility, as I have not attended many council meetings, or came up with any specific plans of action myself. Well, my New years resolution is to then get involved and solve these questions!
And kudos to Russ on his Mothers story. We must find a way to charge large corporate chains for coming in to our town and destroying the very thing that made us all move here! We have a multi-billion dollar company in Wal-Mart, and they pay the same tax schedule as my business???
No way!
Don’t we have town attorney’s around for a reason? If our national government can come up with legal doctrine to torture innocent people, commit shadow wars, and give trillions of dollars to global banks, then I say that OUR town can find some way to get these corporations to shoulder a greater burden then they are now!
Shifting focus briefly, there is a great thing going on in another section of the Citizen. See the top story on the homepage, or go to http://www.bidder70.org. Tim DeChristopher is almost finished collecting his down payment on the land leases at Moab in which he outbid the Oil & Gas companies. I donated already, and since there are a few of us checking this section out regularly, I encourage you to help him gather the remaining funds. January 9th (tomorrow) is the deadline. He’s got only a little further to go. He was at $37,000 yesterday, and is at $41,000 this morning. Give whatever you can, eh?
Also, I’m proud of everyone that has posted here. Perhaps we can convince the Citizen to sponsor a more focused endeavor to address this issue. Not only would it continue to provide this vital, objective community service, but it would free this message board up for new ideas, and keep our hopefully-local-again mate J-Brown from having to escape from a Denver Food Riot.
Peace & Prosperity (but actual peace & actual prosperity.)
Ryan O’Brien
Salida CITIZEN
@Todd: You asked why we would want to sell our water (among almost a dozen other questions ;). I’m no expert, but I’ll give it a shot. The water in question is owned by Nestlé, so it’s not “our” water in any legal sense. Nestlé needs augmentation credits in order to move their water out of the basin, so they are endeavoring to lease these credits from an interested party, be it Salida, the county or other landowners.
Especially given the current economic climate, entities like the city and county have a responsibility to investigate new sources of revenue. You can read more about this issue in articles on this site written by Lee Hart and Chuck Rose.
Putting on my site admin hat for a moment, I’d like to make it clear to folks that the original intent of this thread was to have folks pose questions which lent themselves to a short, factual response. James’ question was a good example of what we were expecting. Questions of a more philosophical nature or those which necessarily involve lots of discussion aren’t wrong, or “wacky”, they’re just not questions that we can easily research and respond to (in our free time, by the way, as this is basically a volunteer project). This admittedly represents a lack of imagination on our part, since we did ask folks to post whatever they were thinking.
In the near future we expect to add conventional forums to the site, which will provide a better tool for longer discussions. We are, in fact, interested in promoting wide-ranging discussions which include diverse viewpoints. We do hope everyone remains tuned in.
Thanks, Trey. I appreciate you taking the time to offer some answers.
I did ask an awful lot of wacky questions, and for one reason or another it definitely got people involved and worked up… Having aquired a much better understanding of the purpose of this “what’s on your mind” page in the last few days (which perhaps should be explained in more detail before inviting goofballs like me to post), and being somewhat suprised at the level of response (which came in so many different forms) I would agree with the suggestion that this thread be moved elsewhere within the forum, and therefore I am investigating just what I need to do to continue this conversation in a much less knee-jerk fashion, with less emphasis on the “alarming” and more emphasis on the “pro-active”, “quantifiable”, and perhaps even “investigative”.
I have no desire to monopolize the flow of ideas on this page, because by doing so we are standing in the way of more questions on other topics, up to and including schools and real estate, which are, of course, legitimate questions, legitimate pieces of the puzzle we’re all attempting to solve in our own way, despite my earlier sarcasm.
So, to all of you who’s inner loud-mouth was coaxed out on this topic, thanks for your energy, curiosity, and apparent support (publicly and privately). Let us now prepare for a more coherent and civil discourse on the subject, elsewhere within this site. Had I any idea just how much my (weird if not crazy) inquiries would boil everyone blood so quickly, I might have done it sooner (and better), because what I found out is that there are quite a few of us who are concerned to varying degrees about the worst-case-scenario I’ve proposed above, and instead of being in “scream-it-from-the-rooftops” mode, we could have already gotten through this stage and have been talking, inquiring, and investigating the issue (if the issue exists at all) already…
So… As I mentioned above, I am investigating what I’ll have to do to continue this conversation elsewhere within this forum, in such a way that even the most mainstream vistor to the Citizen would not be frightened or alarmed, but might even be convinced that there is something to this issue. Once I know how to proceed, I’ll do my best to inform whomever may be interested how and where we will carry this conversation back into the realm of legitimate dialogue.
Thanks again to everyone, and I apologize for how quickly this rant monopolized the idea space. Look forward to a well informed and much more coherent discussion soon.
Peace and Freedom to you all,
Todd
Chaffee County CITIZEN
Dammit, can we eat the town deer in a depression or not? Should we brand them with an S? :)
Bryan,
I don’t know about you, but if I’m starving, I’m eating the town deer and I’m reasonably sure nobody will be stopping me. :)
Also, while I agree on the sentiments against the eye-sore of Walmart, since we pretend to live under the guise of equal protection under the law, I still think they should be taxed the same as the rest of us.
Getting back to real estate. If Vandaveer were to become a wheat farm it would produce the calorie equivalant of about 8,400 female deer annually. If it were to become a bunch of cookie cutter homes and a golf course it would produce nothing edible.
check the math
calories in cup of wheat flour 400
149 cups in a bushel
50 bushels per acre wheat farm
193 acres in Vandaveer
543.7 calories in one pound of deer
average female deer weight 125 pounds
Since I think we are supposed to ask questions here, my question would be – Will the city or county governments ever have a plan for major economic catastrophe? And, of course I have an answer – NO.
Todd previously stated his heartfelt concerns for all the citizens in our little region. He knows that there will be plenty of unprepared folks as things start to tank. And he has great questions pointed toward our government on all levels.
But government isn’t going to solve it. We must simply proceed to do what we know is right and low and behold we may actually drag government policies along behind us into a different, but I think better, future.
It’s interesting that folks around the country who argue against government interference in their lives and tax increases, are the same folks who – during troubled times – ask what the government is going to do to help them. If folks keep voting down tax increases for anything but the most basic services . . . and if special interest group after special interest group lobbies against various other government funding mechanisms . . . and if we don’t demand accountability in government spending to the point where government . . . well then it should be no surprise if there are no reserves and no emergency fiscal plans.
I believe the U.S. got to the truly great nation (albeit a bit roughed up place during the past 8 years) because we are predisposed through our cultural DNA to be a country filled with people who are hopeful, resilient, willing to pull together in tough times and pull themselves back up from whatever misfortunes befall them – self-inflicted, government-inflicted, natural disasters or whatever.
I believe America will come out of this mess a stronger and better nation. We need to start at home and the places we can have impact. “The City” is all of us. WE need to work together to get our City through this horrific economy. Start by investing in your neighbor and your community by buying locally. There will be plenty more work ahead but we gotta start somewhere.
There are way too many issues discussed above to address them all. I am currently out of the country however, I wanted to add a couple bits after Haven and Lee’s responses.
First, I asked the city council and the finance director to give us a 2009 budget that had a zero percent increase. I am pretty sure that it was very close to that. Please let me add, that the 1% sales tax for roads is by law only for roads and infrastructure. During a major economic downturn/depression, this might be the smartest thing that the people of Salida have ever voted in favor of. After decades of almost no funding, we obviously have a need. BTW, roads were the most common thing asked to fix by citizens to the council.
Second, the laws of Colorado DO NOT allow a municipality to accumulate reserves in ANY SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT. It would be considered collecting unnecessary tax revenue to the state legislature. Our reserves are close to max.
Third, This comment from above is thought out loud from all types in our town, “We must simply proceed to do what we know is right and low and behold we may actually drag government policies along behind us into a different, but I think better, future.”.
The members of council feel the same way. That’s why we got involved. Haven is an active member of the SBA. She too is involved. I’d love to see members of other organizations meet with us and encourage dialogue.
When we citizens sit on the sideline and randomly throw out comments and then disappear, such comments are ultimately ineffective. But when we are involved consistently, then positive change has potential. And better yet, you will also get all the facts, not half truths and incomplete ideas. Then and only then can you make a better and informed decision.
Are you involved?
Scott Damman
City council ward 3
Dear Salida Citizen,
I think this is a great idea. However, the more it entertains rather than informs the less valuable it will be. I will attempt to answer some of the questions stated by the earlier writers but it needs to be understood that the more realistic the question the more specific the answer can be.
1. Ballot initiative 2A increased sales tax by 1%. That money goes to roads and infrastructure. 2A ALSO REPEALED CITY PROPERTY TAX. The law enforcement and property tax question is moot in the city of Salida .
2. Salida did not entertain selling water to Nestle. The question was would the city lease water augmentation credits to Nestle. At this time Nestle has rejected the agreement proposed by Salida and the Upper Arkansas Water Conservancy District.
3. What is the city’s “Emergency Plan”. The way a city has to deal with financial downturns is to have enough in reserve to “make it” through hard times. In most states this is done my “floating” the property tax since it fluctuates less than sales tax revenue. Due to TABOR and Gallagher property tax is not a real option in Salida (with the passage of 2A it is no option at all!). Salida has significant reserves at this time, but much of the reserves need to be retained due to bonding obligations. Reserves occur when the taxation is slightly above the citizen needs of the community. Once we get behind, playing catch up can be costly. Remember, it is the citizens who truly determine what they will be taxed and what the money should be spent on. As a citizen, and Mayor, if I feel there is a need the city should fulfill, my first question is, “where will the money come from?”.
The City has been extremely frugal. We are in OK shape financially. Just like any business we are counting on our income (taxes, proceeds from enterprise funds and grant money) to see us through.
4. 2A was a ballot issue specifically aimed at the constant resident complaints regarding road conditions in Salida. The City has been able to budget about $300,000 annually to a road system that needs an estimated $2.2 million of work per year. A lot of the needed money comes from years of neglect due to underfunding road repair and maintenance. 2A will allow us to do a lot more work to improve roads. It will not fix the problem-but will reduce the problem. 2B also was a direct response to citizen expressed concerns regarding the condition of the pool. The City subsidizes the pool with about $200,000/year. It seems unreasonable to keep sinking that money into a deteriorating facility. With the DOLA grant and matching city funds we will also return hot water to the pool. The hope is it becomes a real asset to the citizens and a draw to tourists.
We have a choice in tough times: Quit spending money and let the place fall apart or take care of what we have in hopes to speed the financial recovery of our lovely city when the economic crisis recedes.
5. The city’s investments are the things we use every day. Safe water, responsible waste water treatment, viable roads, Police and Fire just to name a few. When a city is in trouble all those things go by the wayside. People don’t invest in a place that is run down.
6. It is by the City of Salida maintaining the above “investments” we specifically support the businesses of this town. If our town continues to deliver high quality services it will remain an attractive place to be.
I am convinced that the best way to draw investment is by having the best educational system in Colorado. It is obvious the voters of the state are not yet convinced of this. Hopefully, some day they will see the incredible value in education as the chief driver of economic development and innovation.
As a final note I would like to thank the Citizen for offering this forum. I will once again echo the request that questions, not rants, are offered. Questions can be answered. Rants may make us feel good and rile folks up, but rarely do they offer solutions. I would also request we deal with issues not personalities.
Thanks for the opportunity,
Chuck Rose
What can I say? It was 2am when that first post was transcribed from my brain to this page. I guess I’ll have to make a new personal rule: No more posting at 2am. Think it through. Sleep on it. Try not to say “total enslavement” too much.
Thanks to Lee Hart, Scott Damman, and Chuck Rose for your (seriously here) admirable ability to find questions within my overall less-than-focused “rant”. I appreciate your time and effort in attempting to answer them, and it’s obvious that you take even the most badly formulated questions seriously, which is impressive.
Just imagine what kind of answers we’ll get when we start asking intelligent and useful questions!
Also, trying to get to the bottom of what seemed like a personal attack against my character instead of a response to my outburst, I found that the Salida Citizen appears to have had no part in painting me as a dangerous nut-job (nut-job? Yes. danerous? No.), and I regret going on the defensive so quickly. The attacks came from outside the Citizen, and are therefor of no real importance after all since they pose no threat to my (or your) free speech.
I would hate to undermine the reader’s hopes for a free exchange of ideas here at the Citizen if indeed there is no reason to do so… So I’d like to state here that indeed, it seems there is no reason to do so. For what it’s worth, I’m now convinced that there actually IS a free flow of ideas herein, and would like to reiterate my support and encouragement for this endeavor. And I will be contributing my efforts, albeit in a much more useful capacity, very soon.
Thanks again to all of you, we’ll continue (with some fine-tuning) this discussion in the near future, but for now let’s move this thread aside to make way for the serious questions of others, that they may be answered with as much or more effort, seriousness, accuracy, and enthusiasm as the answers we’ve been given here thus far.
Word.
Lee,
I sincerely don’t see the same people who argue against government interference in lives and theft via taxation as looking to the government to help them. However, since we each pay an effective what, 55 or 60 percent total tax rate, I’m not sure I’d even blame those people for looking for some return on their massive investment.
I also agree on buying locally, but to me that also means lower federal taxes – I’ve found I have little input on where those get spent, but under the past few administrations, much of it appears to be spent in foreign countries fighting wars I don’t believe in.
Since I’m neither a democrat nor a republican, I can say it’s a lot more than just 8 years of wars and damage, and I can also point out that the incoming administration doesn’t really seem to be looking to do anything differently than the last one – spending trillions, backing off on getting us out of Iraq, he’s now saying he believes Iran is developing nuclear weapons…. jeez, what next?
Although I will happily do what I can to help my neighbors should the poop hit the proverbial fan around here, you can rest assured I will not come crawling to the government for a handout. In fact, I will be vastly more concerned that the government not be in my way. (can we opt out of taxes?)
Please note that my comments regarding government here are heavily weighted against the Federal government, as I whole-heartedly believe in localized government for efficiency and in keeping the best interests of the local population and tax payers in mind.
In fact, I would like to say I think it’s wonderful that the city of Salida changed a property tax to a sales tax. Sales taxes are generally consider “voluntary” whereas the idea of taxing something someone already bought every year is ludicrous. Property taxes make us all renters on our own property.
I think this needs to be a forum, we could perhaps avoid ranting nut-jobs like me. :)
It seems we have quite a few people interesting in political discourse on here, perhaps a get-together is in order. I can only guarantee that *I* won’t get offended, I can offer no such assurances to anyone in earshot of my invective. :D
Apologies in advance,
Cott