Fiscal Rangers

Congress members to propose revamping excess Endangered Species Act regulations

Congress members plan to propose several bills to reduce excess restrictions on development caused by the Endangered Species Act. We also include a link to a Heritage Foundation report showing many ESA "progress" reports in inaccurate. Read more →

EPA announces new over reaching Land Grab rules to reduce property rights even more!!!

The EPA has issued a new land grab rule that reduces property rights even more. Read this to find out how. Read more →

Federal Government Issues New Ethanol Standards for Fuel & other rules

Tavares, FL June 2, 105 WE are against ANY ethanol in gasoline, but we are still stuck with 10% due to corn industry lobbying that benefits form methanol production. Ethanol DOE damage older car engines as well as outboard motors, lawnmowers, etc. I have to get ethanol free fuel at Harris oil in Mt. Dora to prevent damage to my boat's outboard engine. BOO Iowa! So, read the details here about all the new standards - at least they are not requiring E15, or 15% Ethanol because car manufacturers told the feds they would not honor warranties on existing vehicles in they were forced to run on 15% ethanol. Read more →

Great article on global warming and differences between "Conservationists" & "Environmentalists"

Dated Jan. 27, 2015 - from Canada Free Press. This is from the Canadian Free Press, and is an excellent overview of the stupidity of liberal environmentalists and claims about global warming vs true conservationists. The author, Daniel Greenfield, describes how New York Central Park was designed and constructed to replace a swamp in New York City by two Republicans, and then explains what it would be if environmentalists of today had their way. I recommend it. Excerpts, but doesn't include the Central Park segment: "Global Warming is an ideological weapon by the environmentalists against human civilization. It is part of a broader anti-civilization agenda by the left, which values the natural world only because it sees it as a “primitive” antidote to the complexities of civilization. That romanticism is the borrowed hostility of the nomad to the farmer (and it is very telling to look at Europe and see its intellectuals championing the virtues of Bedouin nomads over London and Paris) taken up by bored intellectuals, arguing against the complexity of civilization and for the noble barbarism of the savage. Where the conservationist values the natural world because of its beneficial impact on the human spirit through cultivation and... Read more →

Lake County's Trout Lake Center asks City of Eustis for huge Land Grab discount

Tavares, FL June 22, 2014 You can read about it HERE in this Daily Commercial article. These ducks are from my backyard, not Trout Lake. I posted my comment to the proposed giveaway of taxpayer assets: It has not appeared yet, but here is an overview of my comments: Trout Lake is a great nature preserve and fun to visit for lectures and nature displays. http://www.troutlakenature.org/ However, they are asking the City of Eustis to sell them nearby land for $400,000, about 35% of market value, which is $1.4-million after the Property Tax appraiser update values. And that is just their TAX appraisal, and not the result of a true, independent property value appraisal. If the City of Eustis agreed to the lowball offer, they would essentially be giving away City of Eustis assets to subsidize this non-profit operation. That is a land grab and not acceptable for taxpayers. They also have not discussed if they even have funding for developing the land for human access and funds for maintenance, staffing, etc. And, as a non-profit, they are proposing offering cabins and other commercial activities that would compete with TAX paying businesses. One final possibility is to have a City... Read more →

Should a Peat Harvesting Project North of Lake Eustis be Approved or Killed by Environmentalists??

Tavares, FL June 20, 2014 - Updated Monday, June 23, 2014 - contains opinion and added documents. The short link to this page is: http://tinyurl.com/o5wr84e A Peat Harvesting project known as the Goose Prairie Peat Harvesting Project (300 out of 600 acres north of Lake Eustis by HWY 44) is in process of getting approval from the Lake County Board and is scheduled to be discussed at the Tuesday, June 24, 2014 Lake County Board meeting. It is listed on the agenda under tab 23 for Planning & Zoning issues. Unfortunately, you have to download the entire 1176 page "Packet" file to find the 300 pages on the Goose Prairie proposal. Half those pages are pro and con emails and letters to Board members. I think liberals have hijacked this issue to use it as a fund raiser for environmental issues. The Opponents are led by the former head of the Lake County Democrats, Nancy Hurlburt. They have used half truths and diversion tactics to frighten nearby residents when County staff appear to have addressed all resident concerns. I have attended a community hearing and a presentation at the Lake County Water Authority, and I believe this proposal to harvest... Read more →

Property Rights Reduced by Lake County, FL Centrally Planned Land Development

Lake County, Florida's Board of Commissioners is considering a New Urbanism "South Lake Sector Plan" development where government planners will damage property rights and decide which land owners get increased value for development rights versus losing property owners who will be locked into Agricultural or Environmentalist demanded Conservation areas of much lower value for the future. Read more →

Florida Septic Tank Bill SB-1576 Update - A Badly written bill approved by first committee

Tavares, FL March 21, 2014 Tallahassee Update - Springs Protection Bill SB-1576 Update regarding septic tanks Scroll down to see a report from Dan Peterson of the Coaliton for Property Rights on what happened yesterday to Florida Senate Bill SB-1576 that requires septic tanks be connected to sewer systems when near Category 1 Springs like Alexander Springs. You can see my earlier article on this here: http://tinyurl.com/nja88bd I am told the “science” used is junk science, and the first Committee, run by Senator Dean who filed the bill, approved it. So now it moves to the Agriculture Committee. So, contact Dan Peterson at info@proprights.com if you want updates on the bill. Also, I tried to READ the bill, and it is horrendously written and hard to understand. Senator Dean and others must have gone to the Nancy Pelosi school of writing Obamacare bills, because it seems intentionally to be poorly written so no one will know what is in it. I used to audit contracts and grants up to $600-million in size and most were written clearly, but why does the public and legislature accept such writing atrocities. When Ronald Reagan was President, I remember two of his cabinet members... Read more →

Florida Septic Tank Owners Under Liberal Con Artist Assault Again - You must ACT to keep yours

Environmentalists are trying to assault septic tank owners with more junk science. They have filed a questionable Florida Senate Bill SB 1576 which needs to be stopped in its tracks. Once again, they don't provide facts to justify an assault on property rights or septic tanks. All their arguments are emotional. Read more →

How Environmentalists Abuse Private Property Rights and Get Funding via Backroom Legal Settlements

Tavares, FL - Dec. 28, 2013 Environmentalists have been abusing private property rights for years by enacting laws like the Endangered Species Act (ESA) that requires the Federal Government to enforce ludicrous regulations to "protect endangered species". Then they use a method called "sue and settle" to SUE the Federal Government because the restrictive laws are not being implemented in various locations. That is how they force the Feds to settle in backroom deals to get more funding for their causes. It also is why you hear periodically where a Federal government agency, like the Fish & Wildlife Service, slams the door on some poor property owner so he can't use the land or sell it due to the existence of some endangered lizard. Liberals use the ESA just to halt development This article is a very clear description from a US Senator of this abusive practice. Read it and understand what could happen to you if you own land that the environmentalists don't want developed. Always remember that liberals and environmentalists are behind this fund raising scam. Most of the articles below explain that many lawsuits are filed so environmentalist attorneys win, but little is done by them or... Read more →

Don't Ignore the dangers of GMO food anymore - watch this video to understand why

Have you been ignoring the GMO Issue (Genetically Modified Organisms)? Monsanto and other large, global corporations have locked up the patent on certain agriculture crop seeds after genetically modifying them. They then developed court decisions to say that even if their patented seed drifted in the air to a neighboring farmer's crop, then they, not the farmer, owned that crop. You need to watch this documentary, which isn't so much about the biological dangers (which are separate issues), but how Monsanto is restricting farmer's rights to plant NON-GMO or organic crops, thus reducing the foods you can choose from. Watch this video with your family to understand when someone says Monsanto is EVIL. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omtYlsG1P5U#t=18 Read more →

Officials Attend 4 hour Lake County FL Eco-Tourism Summit on North Lake Apopka

Mount Dora, FL (Lake County) - Feb. 8th, 2013 Yesterday, the Lake County Board of Commissioners Chair Leslie Campione hosted a 4 hour "Regional Summit on Land Issues Impacting the North Shore of Lake Apopka". The main reason was to disclose plans for developing the North Shore of Lake Apopka (partially in Lake county plus Orange County) into an "eco-tourism" attraction, AND to discuss issues affecting those plans caused by a planned expansion of a nearby "Orlando North Airport", located on Long & Scott property. The Lake County and Orange County governments have been discussing these issues for months due to the proposed airport expansion which would cross County borders and affect local bird populations due to "bird strike" situations. Below is the two part agenda. View this photo - Agenda cover View this photo - Agenda with speaker names and topics Here is the press release: http://www.lakecountyfl.gov/media/news_releases/news_release.aspx?id=2047 You can see our three part VIDEO of the event at our Youtube "FiscalRangersFlorida" . The first video is here: http://youtu.be/9snmO6VVFv0 (Note: Part 2 & 3 are in process of downloading - probably not active until tomorrow - Sunday). See Orlando Sentinel article by Steve Hudak here: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/os-lake-apopka-north-shore-summit-20130208,0,5073878.story See the Daily Commercial... Read more →

EPA Delays Excessive Regulations Until AFTER Election Day so Obama Doesn't Look Bad

Tavares, FL - Oct. 24, 2012 The Federal EPA is delaying onerous new, costly water & other regulations until the END of November, AFTER elections, so voters don't find out. Water and sewer bills could increase by $700 per year, according the the analysis below. Here is another reason why we can't afford Obama or his EPA. From Andy Dubois, President of the North Lake Tea Party (FL) and the Tri-County Association - a group fighting excess environmental restrictions like the recent septic tank inspection regulations. Vance J. =========================================================================== Subject: Editorial - The Sludge Report - “The Domino Effect” - EPA rules have been postponed until after the election Vance, important FiscalRanger posting - Why has the Obama-EPA postponed implementing crushing rules until after the November 6th election? Andy Dubois http://www.thesludgereport.org/reports/sludgereport-10-22-2012.html http://www.tricountyassociation.org/ Report for 10-22-2012 By Andrea Samson President, Tri-County Association – Health Environment Legislation Policies (H.E.L.P.) The Domino Effect We are all about to get blindsided! It’s not rocket science. It’s simple cause and effect. The EPA has postponed until after the election implementing rules that will literally crush us….not an overstatement. Economically devastating is the only way to describe the impact of those rules on families, local and... Read more →

Online Petition Started for Florida Property Rights & Anti-Agenda 21 Bill & We Analyze It

Tavares, FL (Lake County) - Oct. 3, 2012 (This article was first distributed to the FiscalRangers.com email list). A proposed Florida legislative bill draft is being circulated by a group fighting government property rights transgressions in Florida, and they have started an online petition to be submitted to Senator Don Gaetz. It is similar to one passed by the Alabama legislators recently which is already being enforced. Here is a June 20 article on the bill by Florida Senate President-designate Don Gaetz (“ to strongly reject United Nations Agenda 21…”) http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/don-gaetz-expect-anti-un-agenda-21-2013 Agenda 21, initiated by the UN and implemented by the American Planner’s Association, is most known for rolling out extreme restrictions on private property, which reduces uses, values and freedoms protected by the US Constitution and Bill of Rights. A simple example is implementation of land use restrictions in many counties so that the owner could not develop property for business, residential or other uses due to environmental objectives. The result to many is a “taking” of property values without “just compensation”. My FiscalRangers.com blog has published a white paper on Agenda 21 dangers at www.tinyurl.com/HaltAgenda21 . Go there if you want more background, watch various videos or read... Read more →

Invasion of Leesburg FL by Smart Meters Meeting & Our Video

Tavares, FL - Wed., July 22, 2012 Updated Jul 23 to add link to video of 8/22 presentation to citizens on Smart Meters. Update comments based on the 8/22 meeting are below in italics like this sentence. Smart Meters are invading Leesburg, but the City and apparently the Daily Commercial don't want you to know they are "Smart Meters". According to today's Daily Commercial article at the link below, a city representative will "offer tips" on using the "new meters" at 7pm at the Magnolia room at Lake Sumter Community College. The "new meters" are really "Smart Meters" which have been castigated all over the internet for safety and privacy invasion reasons. http://www.dailycommercial.com/News/LakeCounty/082212beatpeak UPDATE: Here is our video of the Aug. 23 Presentation to Leesburg residents by City Manager Jay Evans about the Smart Meters - 1 hr 28 min. Evans answered most issues described below. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL6UlrwLjBg There was no discussion in the article on how much the conversion to Smart Meters will cost the city, Federal taxpayers or the Leesburg utility customers. (However, on the video, the City Manager explained they got a $10-million Federal grant, and have generated savings to pay for the other $10-million of the cost,... Read more →

Lake County Republicans Approve Resolution for County to Eliminate Onerous Septic Tank Regulations

Tavares, FL - July 25, 2012 Last night, the Lake County FL Republican Executive Committee (REC) voted unanimously to approve a resolution to be presented to the Lake County Board of County Commissioners recommending they eliminate a regulation requiring frequent Septic Tank inspections in Lake County. There was a law that required all Florida Septic Tank owners to have expensive inspections every five years and other restrictions, and it was reduced in coverage by the Florida government to only apply to counties that had "First Magnitude Springs" and Lake County has one single spring called Alexandria Springs in north County. However, County governments are now allowed to OPT out of that regulation if they want, so this REC resolution is asking the Lake County Board to do so. Thanks go to REC member Andy Dubois for doing the research and presenting the resolution. No one in the REC was AGAINST the resolution, and no one spoke against it since the benefits were obvious. Former Lake County Commissioner Catherine Hanson described the history of the regulations and how excessive they originally were. (Note - The resolution was not a surprise - it was emailed to all members 2-3 weeks before the... Read more →

Florida Tea Party Network Members Try, but Fails to get Adam Putnam to Fight $8-billion Energy Bill

Tavares, FL - June 12, 2012 Florida Tea Party Network representatives met with Florida Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam to understand why he supported HB-7117, an energy bill that will cost Florida taxpayers over $8-billion to subsidize "alternative" energy sources like wind and solar. it became law on April 14, 2012 without a requested veto from Gov. Scott. Thus your energy costs will go up more in the future to subsidize more costly wind & solar energy that is not reliable. The bill shifts energy surtaxes to selected recipients of residential and commercial property owners who make retrofits desired by GOVERNMENT (not market based). This is a typical Federal objectives "green" bill that uses tax funds to subsidize gvoernment desired "sustainable development" goals. The bill should be killed. Read BOTH of the Tea Party Network reports below and remember that when you are asked to vote for Adam Putnam in the future. Here is a link to Putnam's Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services webpage: http://www.myflorida.com/agency/1/ Here is a link to the Florida Senate Info page on HB-7117 http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2012/7117 Here is the link to two reports from the Tea Party Network representatives, or read the entire text below. http://theteapartynetwork.org/2012/06/meeting-with-commissioner-putnam-on-energy-bill-hb-7117/ =========================================================================== Report... Read more →

This is Bilderberg 2012 Week - We Tell you about a Secretive International Group Affecting Freedom

Tavares, FL - Tuesday, May 29, 2012 - (Updated June 3rd with video links) Since this is a holiday week, neither the Lake County School Board or Lake County Board met last week, and the County Board is not meeting on Tuesday. So, I decided to cover the secretive Bilderberg meeting in Virginia, with an article each day on our Facebook page ( FiscalRangers ) through the weekend on this secretive "One World Government" group behind many international decisions affecting our banks, freedom, support for sustainable development, etc. The annual Bilderberg secret meeting will be held this weekend, May 31 to June 3 in Chantilly, Virginia. Yes, normally you probably want to watch FoxNews or Glen Beck this weekend, but I suggest you also watch some of the online coverage on Bilderberg, which is one hub besides the United Nations in the One World Government plan. Your local "mainstream media" outlets rarely challenge or cover Bilderberg, although many of their media leaders attend the actual meetings. This will be educational, since many independent online videographers are attending the meeting this weekend and will be live streaming what they find. After the "What is Bilderberg" section, I provide a link to... Read more →

Agenda 21 Update: Florida Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida to be Abolished

Tavares, FL - August 9, 2011 - Recently we wrote about the dangers of the UN Agenda 21 socialistic philosophy being rolled out into local government, with land planning restrictions that reduced property rights, with "planning" methods to push people away from CHOICE in where they lived to government decided central people pods (or "Employment Centers" in Green Speak). I don't really know what is the right answer to "growth" but stealth marketing of extreme Agenda 21 objectives needs to be monitored. I mentioned the existence of a Florida State Commission called the "Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida", and some of its objectives which reek of Agenda 21 objectives. But, a recent Florida law will apparenty abolish the 15 member Commission and they defunded it for year 2010-2011. Today I was reading an analysis of a new law passed by the current conservatives in the State legislature, HB 7201. The Lake County Board will get a presentation NEXT Tuesday on this bill and how it affects the County Comp Plan. Effect of the Bill This bill repeals s. 163.3247, F.S., and abolishes the Century Commission on June 30, 2013. You can go HERE to read three analysis of the... Read more →

UN's Agenda 21 is Taking over Florida Public Lands in Lake County & Other Actions

Updated July 28 to add section at bottom on Agenda 21 foreign aid projects on DEVEX website. Tavares, FL - July 25, 2011 - The UN has an initiative called Agenda 21 which is really aimed at reducing property rights and increasing socialism around the world. Agenda 21 has affected Florida as well as Lake County. Keep on reading... But first, if you don't know much about Agenda 21, WATCH this 9-minute "Agenda 21 Video for Dummies" explaining it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzEEgtOFFlM&feature=youtu.be This article link below clearly explains one part, which is the encouragement of "wildlife" corridors which then prohibit access by humans. The article says now that 28% of Florida land is now taken up by such programs, and all of it funded with taxpayer money because no one challenged the concept. Recently, last year, two environmentalists on the Lake County Board (now no longer on the Board) pushed through modifications to the Lake County "comp plan" which laid out land usage plans, so that property rights were taken aways from owners by tactics such as limiting the size of roads in their area, which then controls traffic, which then reduces the value of land that could have been used for... Read more →

Corn Ethanol in Gasoline - not all it is "cracked up" to be & harmful to environment

The ethanol industry received huge subsidies from taxpayers for producing ethanol that is mixed in automotive gasoline. Former Governor Charlie Crist decreed that WE in central Florida had to have gasoline with ethanol, which is less fuel efficient, runs hotter engines, and damages many small two cycle engines (lawnmowers, etc.). As a car buff, and antique boat buff, I will never forgive Crist for that. Ethanol fuel will not run well in my 1974 Mercruiser outboard engine, so I have to travel about 10 miles to get fuel that does not have ethanol and bring it back in five gallon cans for my boat. We have written about it's harmful effects before, but here is more: vj From Roger Segelken : Ethanol Fuel from Corn Faulted as ‘Unsustainable Subsidized Food Burning’ David Pimental, a leading Cornell University agricultural expert, has calculated that powering the average U.S. automobile for one year on ethanol (blended with gasoline) derived from corn would require 11 acres of farmland, the same space needed to grow a year's supply of food for seven people. Adding up the energy costs of corn production and its conversion into ethanol, 131,000 BTUs are needed to make one gallon of... Read more →

Lake County Commissioners Could Learn About Sustainability from this Example

Maybe the Lake County Commissioners can learn some leadership skills by studying lighthouse keepers and reviewing these examples of "sustainability", then implementing "sustainability" in local Lake County government programs. Sustainability is a liberal buzzword used by the State Dept and other government and even local liberal groups to describe the process of ensuring that a desired outcome "sustains" itself and continues without much assistance. The cartoon shows an extreme liberal's idea of sustainable personal transportation. Don't use much materials for wheels, eliminate any gas powered system, without considering the extra human effort and time to get anywhere. Humans come last. One definition is that "sustainable societies are ones that meet the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." Harvesting wood is sustainable if you plant more trees than you cut so the forest is always being replenished for future generations. Sustainable fishing is to ensure the fishing stock is not depleted, and fishing is limited so that desired outcomes (fish populations) are replenished back to pre-human fishing levels. Sustainable housing is that which is designed to be repairable and reduces uses of energy, etc. to limit need for increased resource... Read more →

A FiscalRangers.com Perspective on the BP Oil Spill

Point 1: Never forget all oil drilling is to meet the oil demands of US and other country consumers and our demand pushes them to take risks to fill our demand for oil. Point 2: Never forget that "BP" is a BRITISH firm, not American, and they have a terrible drilling safety record, compared to other oil firms. I will discuss that later. Point 3: Never forget that BP and other firms were drilling in risky, high depth locations because US Democrats, liberals and environmentalists refused to let them drill in safer, lower depth locations near shorelines like is done near Santa Barbara & Long Beach, California, and they have also reduced oil firm ability to drill onshore, which is even safer. There have been hardly any ONSHORE drilling catastrophes, so it is much safer. Background: In the 1980's, I lived in Southern California and worked as one of 10 Internal Audit group Directors at ARCO (Atlantic Richfield), a very well managed oil company with a headquarters in Los Angeles, plus operations near New Orleans and the Alaskan Pipeline. I traveled to an offshore oil rig near New Orleans, Coal operations in Denver, the Alaska pipeline in Alaska ( including... Read more →

Bali & Al Gore's Global Warming "Facts" Disputed by 400 Scientists

This blog is mostly about fiscal prudence by government agencies, but mis-representing facts is also an issue that needs attention. I don't like politicians or organizations that mis-represent facts to push an agenda. Recently, there was a huge conference on global warming in Bali. And everyone has heard about Al Gore's saying Doomsday is coming and the world's icecaps will melt... But, here is the other side - a Senate minority report that was just issued listing 400 scientists who disagree with those statements. And, the writer makes the point that Al Gore is now associated, and will make lots of money from the environment issue. He recently joined a major venture capital firm establishing investments in "green" companies, and Al said he wouldn't accept a salary. But, as disclosed in other articles, he did NOT turn down a share of all the profits that the partners in the venture firm, including himself, will make. vj ============================================== from Investor's Business Daily - posted at: http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/IBD-0001-21855031.htm Global Con-sensus December 21, 2007: 08:05 PM EST Dec. 24, 2007 (Investor's Business Daily delivered by Newstex) -- Climate Change: A Senate minority report lists 400 reputable scientists who think the only melting ice we... Read more →