At public meetings, he rants and raves at anyone with a different opinion. But lately, he’s been doing handstands and high-fiving his cronies in celebration.

Now that the County Income Tax Council has raised the County Option Income Tax, or COIT, get ready for a big sucking sound from your paycheck starting Dec. 1 if you live or work in Madison County.

Meanwhile, let’s meet the happiest mayor in the country, Anderson Mayor Kris Ockomon, and see how he really feels about job security for his administration — and higher taxes for you.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKf1m4UUpzo

Today, Congressman Mike Pence released a video statement urging Americans to “Let Your Voice Be Heard” in speaking out against the Pelosi health care plan — an amalgam of three different House plans — that the Speaker of the House unveiled last week.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CT7xfoSiH5Q

The chart to the right, courtesy of CBS News, shows where we are on the crooked, winding path down the road to a socialist nanny state. And if you thought your elected officials were looking out for you, think again. Health care reform will swallow one-sixth of the U.S. economy and likely result in higher taxes for 46 million middle-class Americans.

Have a look yourself at the 1,990-page piece of legislation.

Also, we have posted a link to Contact My Congressman with all the info you need to tell your Senators and Congressman that government-run health care is a bad deal for America. Our children and grandchildren simply can’t afford it.

Links

• Transcript of Mike Pence’s Video Statement
• CBS News: Health Care Progress Report: November 2
• Pelosi House Bill, Oct. 29, 2009. 1,990 pp. (PDF)

Higher taxes are all but certain for Madison County as the Alexandria City Council voted to approve COIT at its Oct. 19 meeting. The measure would primarily benefit Anderson city employees, but with Madison County taxpayers picking up the bulk of the tab.

Now with 49.5% of the County Income Tax Council’s “allocated votes,” the County Option Income Tax needs only the approval of the Madison County Council or of the Elwood City Council, which both vote next week.

Upcoming Votes

• Madison County Council, Mon., Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.
• Elwood City Council, Tues., Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.

The local firefighters union has a lot of skin in the game, selling scare tactics to the community. Union reps are floating the idea that without the tax, lost jobs will thrust the community into immediate danger with longer response times and fewer hands to save lives and put out fires. It sounds feasible, but fails to address the fact that as staffing increases, individual firefighter effectiveness declines, an economic concept known as diminishing returns.

Further, as their salaries increase beyond what the market will bear, performance drops as men feel less inclined to run into a burning building. Over-compensated employees are simply “paid too much” to face that kind of peril. The same concept applies to law enforcement, where overpaid officers feel less likely to chase an armed gunman.

On the other hand, too few public servants paid too little, ironically, yields the same result as overstaffing and paying too much. Therefore, if public safety is the key issue, then we must find the optimal level of both staffing and compensation that taxpayers can support.

Links

• Alexandria Council OKs Tax Increase
• Alexandria City Council Home Page

Garnering little attention is a meeting of the County Council on Thursday to discuss its own budget shortfall. The County Council will meet Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. in Council Chambers at the Madison County Government Center, Room 110.

An Oct. 6 story in the Herald Bulletin revealed Democrat councilmen reluctant to touch that “third rail” of politics: job cuts — a task they would rather leave for Republicans.

Council President Bill Savage (D-Dist. 1) sees shorter work hours as a solution, and Councilman John Bostic (D-Dist. 3) is calling for a shorter work week in what amounts to a 20 percent pay cut for all. In fact, Bostic would rather hurt taxpayers with higher taxes than to “hurt personnel.” He added, “Somewhere down the line, that tax has got to come.”

Despite meeting four times in a week, County Councilman Buddy Patterson (D-Dist.2) said the Democrat-led council has yet to find a solution that trims 10 percent of the budget. Accustomed to year after year of increasing budgets, Patterson claims most county departments are unable to find savings. For Democrat councilmen, cutting back is an absurd notion.

“We’re really going to try and prevent layoffs,” Patterson said. But at the expense of taxpayers? Why are higher taxes acceptable — and reducing the workforce is not? It boils down to reasons of political expediency.

Gentlemen, government is not in the business of saving or creating jobs. That’s a task best left to local entrepreneurs, who by the way, can only thrive in this dire economic climate with lower taxes. Unfortunately, as long as Democratic councilmen continue pandering to the people who elected, the local economy will suffer as a result.

These dodgy wimps will do anything to latch onto power and forever avoid carrying the albatross of job cuts. What heroes they could be if they only had the courage to do their jobs and represent us taxpayers! Is this too much to ask?

Links

• County Wrestles with $3.8 Million in Budget Cuts
• Madison County Council Home Page

On Thursday, an impassioned group of citizens will face Anderson City Council to express outrage towards the proposed new tax for Anderson and Madison County. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

Whether you call it COIT or LOIT, it all adds up to a new tax that will make our county a less attractive place to live. It’s another case of inept city leaders, drunk on taxpayer money, who don’t know when to say when.

This week, the City Council released an amended agenda for the Oct. 8 meeting that will include an executive order for implementation of a “voluntary furlough,” that is, the City Council’s strategy to dodge the politically squeamish task of cutting jobs.

Basic human nature dictates that a city employee will no more choose to take a layoff than take a hole in the head. Likewise, to think such a compromise would appease taxpayers is foolish.

Links

• LOIT Alert flyer – Please distribute to friends and co-workers
• City Council’s Amended Agenda for Oct. 8
• Anderson City Council Home Page
• Rebuild Anderson Web Site

The city of Anderson is in shambles with a projected $8.2 million budget shortfall in 2010, and government leaders are getting nervous. They are ready to pull the trigger on a new tax with a funny name: LOIT, or Local Option Income Tax.

A bipartisan organization called Rebuild Anderson, recently released figures on what LOIT means for you and for other residents of Anderson and Madison County.

The city of Anderson is hosting an information session at City Hall, 120 East 8th Street, on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. Now is the time to let your officials know that tax hikes and new taxes are unacceptable, especially at a time when all of us are belt-tightening. Let your voice be heard before it’s too late!

Download the LOIT Alert Flyer at right and distribute to your family and friends.

The mayor of Anderson, Kris Ockomon, said last week there is “not really a way” to lay off workers. Why is furloughing city workers out of the question?

This author knows two city employees, by name, who dawdle behind their computers every day playing solitaire, forwarding joke/humor emails to friends, and checking their Facebook pages. Why are we paying for this?

Just this week, local radio personality Leland Franklin (WHBU-1240 AM), described seeing a city employee napping in a city truck while parked at Shadyside Park. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and it’s time for underutilized employees to find other employers who will appreciate and better utilize their skills.

The Herald Bulletin reported that the city can save $1 million for every 25 employees who get the pink slip. Let’s get creative and think of ways to downsize staff and upsize service.

If the Anderson City Council was so quick to defund economic development consultant Greg Winkler in 2007, then we need to start trimming the fat in other areas.

Legislators had apparently considered naming their new tax the “Standard Healthy Income Tax,” but instead opted for the term, LOIT, that best describes the liberal tendency to “loiter” (wander aimlessly) around unpopular, burdensome issues like tax hikes and increasing the size of local government. Nonetheless, it’s another instance of government helping itself to more of your hard-earned money.

Links

• Rebuild Anderson
• Anderson officials brainstorm budget fixes
• State Deadline Dates for Communities to Adopt LOIT