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March 20, 2004

Spineless Lexington KY Council Raises Taxes AGAIN

by Jeff Mario Smith

Guerilla Reporter

In a 7-5 vote with one abstention, (Jacques Wiggington), and two members missing-in-action, (Bill Cegelka and Al Mitchell), our illustrious elected local city council did the unthinkable. Yep, you guessed it; they took the EASY ROAD and raised our taxes once again. These “watchdogs of our taxes” voted to increase our taxes on “risk insurance” premiums by an additional 2%. What is insurance if it isn’t “risk insurance” anyway?

Our local news rag, I affectionately call the Heraldo-Liberal, always the proud champion of “tax and spend” liberal policies and democrat candidates for office, cites an example in their rag of someone who pays $500.00 annually for “risk insurance” getting tagged for another $35.00 per year. Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Yeah sure, you show me someone only paying $500.00 per year in combined “risk insurances”, and I will show you someone who not only is underinsured, but who is living below the poverty level, in an apartment, in a bad part of town, and drives a 10 year old or older car. That is where I started out in life, but that isn’t where I am now. I don’t think so!

This is yet another scam article by our liberal press and another stab in the back by our city council who has no backbone to get out the red pen and strike out spending on items that can easily be taken out of the budget and replaced with paying our police and firefighters decent wages so they don’t take the training we pay for and move to another community.

LEFTington, KY, a town officially named Lexington, KY, but no longer deserving of carrying the name of the Revolutionary War embattled town of Lexington, MA, is one of the sixth highest taxed communities in the nation according to a writer with the Wall Street Journal, and I can tell you, I believe that is true. My own doctor said that as soon as his children are out of school, they are leaving this town and state because they can no longer afford the insurance premiums. They are looking westward. It must be doubly tough on doctors with how the ambulance chasing lawyers and insurance companies come after them.

I own a business and carry the necessary evil liability insurances. I own 6 vehicles and carry all the necessary evil insurances there also. I am responsible for the well being of four people and I carry all the necessary evil insurances there. I own property and carry all the required evil insurances there. The National Taxpayers Union rightly exposes that with all overt and covert taxes added up, we work 65% of the time for our government – socialism anyone? I am “insuranced” and “taxed to death” and I am sick of it. And now my illustrious council votes to raise my taxes on my multiple already financially crippling insurances. Thanks, for less than nothing.

Being in the top ten highest taxed communities in the nation, or even in the top twenty for Pete’s sake, and witnessing crumbling roads, city parks in poor condition, underpaid pubic safety personnel leaving in droves for greener pastures and taking the training I paid for with them, high crime rates in the downtown area, and increasing traffic snarls, it is obvious to even a monkey, that we are not getting all that we are paying for. Just where is our money going?

That is the question our illustrious council should be asking, just where is our money going anyway? One thing is obvious, and that is that we have no business paying for condemnation of a privately owned and well-operated utility, just because our council wants to have more money in the general fund to play with. That is what the condemnation is all about after all. There is no issue of water ownership, the Commonwealth of Kentucky owns the water, there is no issue of poor service, and there is no issue of an evil foreign country poisoning our water. It is just that they want to have more money to play with, more money to support pet projects that government has no business providing, and more money to dole out to contractor and builder pals. This is government greed at its best, EXPOSED.

We also have no business stepping on PRIVATE business owners and telling them that they cannot allow the taxpaying public to engage in a perfectly LEGAL activity using a perfectly LEGAL product inside their PRIVATE BUSINESSES! The smoking ban, what is it costing us in man-hours and other resources that we cannot afford? This is just a little group of well connected, [to the liberal Mayor]; whiners who want to have their way, now that their gal is in the executive office.

Nope, this is all a sham and the council does not want to roll up their shirtsleeves and do the right thing and that is to go over the budget, item by item, striking out all unnecessary spending. That would take courage you see, the courage to do the right thing and correct this obvious misuse of tax dollars called the LFUCG Budget. Of course, along with that courage, would come a lot of work, fighting the lies and misrepresentations in the liberal newspaper, upsetting some liberal social program advocates, and who wants to do that? No sense in having to sweat. Good gosh, we are in a fiscal crisis here folks, and telling the taxpayers that you want more money for a proven irresponsible government, is a huge insult.

Once this finally goes through, and a few people email the council their anger over this, the paper covers it up and makes champions of all those voting in favor of raising our taxes, and the inevitable rumble of public voices quiets, the tide will settle and the Council will again be looking for more ways to spend more money and find another place to raise taxes and fees. Nobody will be marching, turning over cars and setting fires. Maybe we should, as it seems to work!

The second reading of this latest theft from the public will be at noon on Monday. Hmm, let’s see, if we all take off work on Monday, don’t get paid for that day, and thus taxes don’t get collected for that day, what would this cost the LFUCG coffers? Nope, we have to work, don’t we? This is all predictable. It is how we got to where we are. Obviously, the names have changed, but the playbook is the same. Anyone know of a good plot of land outside Fayette County a guy could move a family of four to and raise a pole building to reopen his business? Sign me up.

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/heraldleader/8233860.htm

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