Fiscal Rangers

Consumer Tip - Watch out for Comcast & other Cable Promotions

Tavares, FL Feb. 18th, 2015 Consumer tip: Comcast/Xfinity Cable internet or TV users - don't EVER get sucked in to a "promotion" for a new service where it is improved at the same price you pay. Then in 12-15 months, it goes up +30%. Magically, they won't let you step back to the prior level you had at the old price. This happened to me with Comcast cable and price went up from $25 to $40 for just an internet connection (no TV). Then today, a Comcast guy calls up with another promotion "for faster bandwidth" at the same price of $40, but admitted it was a promotion. Guess what, price goes up after 12 months. And, he couldn't say if I could then stay with the old level. Even though many customers are happy with current bandwidth, this may be an attempt to lock in customers to higher rates since the Obama administration may enforce "net neutrality" which means everyone, regardless of bandwidth use, gets to use all the bandwidth they want at the same price. So moving people up to higher cost bandwidth tiers is a marketing program to get fatter fees now, and not have to fight... Read more →

APUSH Update: Oklahoma House approved bill to DEFUND AP US History and have State Ed Dept create separate US History course to replace it

Tavares, FL (Lake County, FL) Feb. 18, 2015 Yup, that APUSH (Advanced Placement US History) issue is still out there. The College Board, who creates, distributes and tests high school students on AP US History revised the 2015 curriculum to be "unpatriotic and negative" about the US, and conservatives have objected. So, unlike Florida, the Oklahoma House has listened to parents and acted on the issue with a new bill "that keeps the state from funding AP U.S. History unless the College Board changes the curriculum. The bill also orders the state Department of Education to establish a U.S. History program that would replace the AP course." Additionally, the Republican National Committee published a resolution condemning the new APUSH changes HERE. I wonder if more parents and School Board members in Lake County will start to act on this, since the SAME College Board produced AP US History http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/oklahoma-ban-ap-us-history Vance Read more →

LIP funding for FL hospitals may drop according to all these articles. Who knows the effect in Lake County?

Tavares, FL Feb. 12, 2015 Here are several articles from outside Lake County that were all posted this week explaining the loss of "LIP" funding to Florida hospitals. Thus the issue is how will this affect the local Lake County hospitals and uses of funds from the North Lake County Hospital District (NLCHD). The status of LIP funding is important since NLCHD funds are used as matches to get LIP funds in a multiplier effect. We are talking about several million dollars. The NLCHD Board should review and monitor this - I am sure that Waterman and Leesburg hospitals are doing so. Vance Source: FAC - Florida Association of Counties Tampa Bay Times State, feds negotiate over looming $1.3 billion health care budget shortfall The state continued negotiations with the federal government on Wednesday in an effort to preserve funding for hospitals that treat large numbers of poor and uninsured patients. Florida had previously relied on a pot of money known as the Low Income Pool, or LIP. But the $2.2 billion program is scheduled to expire later this year, under an agreement between the state and federal government. On Tuesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, or CMS,... Read more →

"America in Decline" speech by Frank de Varona - Obama is a Marxist, Muslim, etc

Feb. 10, 2015 Lake County, FL This post courtesy of Jer Broadhurst includes notes and link to a speaker video of Frank de Varona on "America in Decline" vj Recap of "America in Decline" Presentation and LInk to video by Jer Broadhurst ======================================================== Frank de Varona presented “America in Decline” on Friday, January 23, 2015. He was sponsored by the Royal Highlands Republican Club. A YouTube video of that presentation is on the Royal Highlands Republican Club YouTube Channel at: http://youtu.be/Mz-dAsIZi5k The Highlights of Frank’s Presentation: 1. President Barack Hussein Obama is a Marxist 2. President Barack Hussein Obama is a Muslim 3. Obama Administration Switched Sides on War on Terror Details of the above highlights are at:: http://goo.gl/lRfAvk You may not believe that the above topics are true. If so, that is because the mainstream media never vetted President Obama and they have been protecting him since he was elected. How much do you really know about Obama? The details in the above document are facts that cannot be disputed. "Obama Administration Switched Sides on War on Terror" is documented in the "Citizens Commission on Benghazi" document, which indicates that the Obama administration provided weapons to jihadist militias affiliated... Read more →

Florida loses taxfunds in some "Economic Development" schemes, including "Enterprise Zones"

Tavares, FL Feb. 6, 2014 Florida state investments in some economic incentives result in ROI of less than ONE or a LOSS. A new report shows how, and that "Enterprise Zones" are one of the "investments" that LOSE money at the State level. Read the last page in this 14 page report to see the ROI for several FL state "investments", and that "Enterprise Zones" LOSE taxpayer funds. http://static-lobbytools.s3.amazonaws.com/press/76982_return_on_investment_in_florida_practice.pdf vj Read more →

Islam Indoctrination in K-12 school books & assignments is growing as an issue

Feb. 5, 2015 FYI – a movement is growing to hold school administrations responsible for providing Islam based assignments to students in violation of Church vs State regulations. Many K-12 books have been rewritten to provide Islam information without balanced details on Christianity or Judaism, or citing all the well known negative practices of Islam. It is commonly known that Saudi Arabia paid book publishers to modify books to provide one sided views of Islam. Note: The picture is from a different incident where Islam focused statements were used in an ENGLISH assignment. Example of Muslim Indoctrination in US Schools: A NY parent, and founder of the Facebook Group "Choose to Refuse Common Core" found her son was being given homework assignments that appeared to be proslytyzing for Islam. She and her son are Jewish and asked why this could be done when there is supposed to be separate of Church & State. The school said he had to do the assignment. So she contacted an attorney, who sent this letter to the School Administrators (in NY): More details on this issue can be found in the postings at the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CHOOSETOREFUSECOMMONCORE ======================================= From Rachel Cohen‎ CHOOSE TO REFUSE... Read more →

The whole truth about Common Core math standards and why they will be an un-mitigated disaster.

Tavares, FL FEb. 5, 2015 A well known K-12 math education standards designer, Dr. James Milgrim, provided clear background on why Common Core math standards will result in students never being able to recover vs non Common Core students after four years under Common Core. Milgrim was the ONLY math curriculum designer on the official Common Core validation committee, and he refused to sign off, so his name was removed from the list of participants. In this audio interview from Jan. 4, 2015, Milgrim explains a clear overview of how Common Core math standards were developed. The interview focuses on new Texas TEKS math standards, but they are very close to Common Core standards and apparently from the same development source, the Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin. (The audio was on the Alice Linahan Soundcloud.com channel HERE). You can listen to the 25 minute audio recording, or read our overview below. - Milgrim was the only math expert on the validation committee for Common Core. After seeing the final standards, he refused to sign off on them, and was removed from the Committee member list. - He helped design California math standards implemented in 1997 that... Read more →

Louisiana City Proves Economic Development can be a Sinkhole for $16-million in taxpayer funds

Tavares, FL Feb. 4, 2015 My golden rule is the less you allow government to have, the less they can waste. The City of Vidalia, Louisiana, has "flushed" $16-million of local, state & federal taxpayer funds into a fiscal fiasco plan to build a deepwater port, even though one already exists across the Mississippi river in Natchez. So, not much is happening in the Vidalia port for when they open later this year. They didn't involve private firms in funding the project, so there is no commitment to use it. "Despite assurances of great payoffs, Heather Malone, executive director of the Concordia Parish Economic Development District, said no private interests have taken advantage of the situation and invested in the port’s infrastructure. Port Director Wyly Gilfoil said no one ever discussed the possibility of private interests involving themselves with the port’s construction" At this point, Vidalia officials have no info that any commercial interests will even use the port when it is just as easy to drive across the bridge and use the long existing port at Natchez. Observation: They seem to have made two mistakes: - Committing $16+million in tax funds to the project without any long term committments... Read more →

FiscalFiasco: Michigan wastes $12-million on commuter railcar leases and doesn't use them

Feb. 3, 2015 Tavares, FL Another fine government fiscal fiasco in Michigan wasting over $12-million in taxpayer funds. It seems that the State of Michigan leased a bunch of OLD railcars for a local commuter rail project, but it isn't ready, so the cars sit idle while piling up over $1-million per year in lease payments. Only government (in Michigan) could be that stupid and wasteful of taxpayer funds. It seems that Michigan requires 10% of a Transportation fund be spent on commuter rail, so they blew it on the commuter railcar leases when the railroad line was not usable. "The Michigan Department of Transportation started leasing the cars in 2010 for two commuter rail passenger services proposed between Detroit and Ann Arbor, and Howell and Ann Arbor. But nearly five years later, none of the cars has logged a single commuter passenger mile. There still is no funding and no operator for either proposed commuter service, required environmental studies are not complete, and in the case of the Detroit-Ann Arbor service, even the tracks won't be ready for another two years." "The roughly $11.4 million spent as of Dec. 31 was mostly paid from Michigan's $300-million Comprehensive Transportation Fund,... Read more →

Why aren't Florida Consitutional Officers Required to be Transparent about their Budgets?

Feb. 3, 2015 Tavares, FL - Lake County Why aren't Florida Constitutional officers required to be transparent about their budgets and have public budget hearings like the County, School Districts, cities and Hospital District? Florida requires little oversight on elected Constitutional Officers like Tax Collector, Property Appraiser, Sheriff, Elections Superintendent - I have periodically asked that Constitutional Officers be required to have public hearings over their budget details and to post a DETAILED proposed and then approved budget each year. Instead, they have no requirements to do so. As an example, the Lake County Tax Collector has a 2014-2015 budget of $5.5-million, but his website only shows this very vague, one page proposed budget dated Sept., 2014. Why aren't Constitutional officers required to have public hearings, budget workshops, and post DETAILED budgets on their websites like the County and schools do? What is going for software vs facilities vs utilities vs wages vs benefits? We don't know and are never allowed to provide public input. Ask your constitutional officer AND your Florida legislator why they don't do that. http://www.laketax.com/forms/2014-2015_budget.pdf and, the Tax Collector has only ONE page in the 484 page Lake County Budget book HERE (scroll to page 384).... Read more →

Local Government FiscalFiasco: Billings, MT waste management employees steal $12,000 from recycling fund

Feb. 3, 2015 Tavares, FL Local Government Lessons Learned: This is an example where a Billings, MT government failed to implement sound cash management policies and employees took $12,000 and they can't prove who did it due to bad cash control procedures. The city of Billings, Montana has released some documents detailing disciplinary actions against Solid Waste employees who misused public money at the landfill. (from billingsgazette.com - dated Jan 28, 2015) A Billings, MT landfill supervisor resigned last summer after at least $12,000 of city money went missing, and another employee was suspended for four weeks. John Arellano, the landfill supervisor, resigned in a handwritten letter dated June 16, 2014. Barb Butler, who was suspended without pay for four weeks, signed an agreement acknowledging her misconduct. Documents detailing discipline of two of the city’s Solid Waste employees last year over alleged misuse of public money at the city landfill were released Tuesday by the city after District Court Judge Michael G. Moses ruled that Billings city officials must provide some of the records to The Billings Gazette. The first batch of documents contained Arellano's hand-written letter of resignation and a "Last Chance Agreement" signed July 15, 2014, by Butler,... Read more →