Federal Tax plan my idea

For our Government officials in Washington here is my plan to help with our current debt crisis following some of the ideas of the Simpson & Bowles Commission Debt Reduction Plan with one exception.

1. Completely restructure the Federal Income Tax Structure by removing every income tax subsidy, loophole, credit from the entire tax code.

2. Provide one deduction to the Individual Income Tax based on Federal Poverty Level Guidelines for every household based on family size (not structure) and tax balance of all income at a 20% flat tax rate, of which 5% of that will be contributed to a Public Health Care Plan each year.

3. For Corporate Income Tax give a 5-10% deduction for research and development provided that they have created jobs in the US and a flat tax of 25% on remaining balance of all profits both onshore & offshore.

These two measures will completely eradicate the tax expenditures from our treasury will reduce total government spending related to tax expenditure which consumes 8.6 of GDP on average, and for corporations like GE who didn't pay any income taxes in FY 2010 but received $150 billion in tax subsidies, they will now pay 25% on all remaining profits (less a deduction for R&D and US job creation).

If you look at median income of Personal Income the average American now earns approximately  $61,000 per year (based on 2011 census for 2009 levels) total 2009 Personal Income was equal to approximately $12 Trillion US Dollars offer a baseline deduction of $10,890 (based on current FPL for one individual) and an additional $3,820 for each additional family member to a maximum of $37,000.

I'm not either a micro or macro economics expert, but to me this would create a fairness in our tax structure, where everyone would receive a deduction equal to their family size rather than whether they are married or single.  While I realize there will be some who will not be paying any income taxes due to being at or below poverty level, they also will no longer receive any tax subsidies such as EIC, Child Care Credit, etc.

I'm still researching and will continue to update this information as I discover current income levels of all Americans for people like Steve Jobs who's annual salary is only $1 (one) but has a net worth of $735 billion in stock and assets he'd be paying 15% on all of his worth less the baseline deduction + family size.  Warren Buffet would do the same, Bill Gates, and so on.

The problem with the Fair Tax aka Federal Sales Tax is that it only deals with new consumption, not purchase of used products, and big business' and the wealthy could end up getting around this by purchasing used equipment rather than new.

Also we need to re-write our trade agreements with other countries so that global trade is truly fair.  China is getting away with murder of our American Worker's Standard of Living. Stay tuned for more as I discover more data to prove my hypothesis.

If anyone has anything to add or suggestions please feel free to comment!  Maybe we as Americans need to take the reins and fire all of our officials in the legislature and show them what to do!

GOP doesn't care for it's poor & elderly caters to wealthy

If you are disabled, low-income wage earner, low-income senior and you live in one of the GOP-controlled states (Florida for example) don't expect to get much help from Department of Children and Families.  Now that they've converted their application process to being internet based there isn't any human involvement from the start.

Example:
You are disabled, you pay $400 a month for a room, you get $778 in SSDI, take away from that $778 the Medicare Part B premium of $100.00 (they round up to next dollar amount) it costs you about $150 a month for your share of medical expenses (20% Medicare doesn't pay) and you go online to apply for SNAP, and Medicaid (to help cover the $150 of the 20%) What do you get?  $36.00 SNAP and a $576 share the cost Medicaid, but they do cover the $100 of your Part B cost so you'll receive your full SSDI payment.

What does this mean?  That you are supposed to be able to pay 400 for shelter and all of your Medicare 20% co-pay on your own.

So let's break it down.
778-400-150+36=264 so you have $264 per month to buy cleaning products, clothing, personal hygiene products, and any additional food you need, etc.

So what can you get for $36 in FS to live on? A gallon of milk costs about $4 (you might be able to get a gallon to last a week) so that's $16 a month of it.  A loaf of bread about $2 (you'll probably need 4 loaves for the month) so that's another $8 of it, leaving you with $12, you can get a jar of cheap peanut butter for about $3 and maybe a jar of jam or jelly for $3 leaving you with $6 for anything else you can find cheap enough, you could buy 6 $1 TV dinners with that or 6 $1 pot pies so you're supposed to live on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, 16 glasses of milk a week, and break it up with either a TV dinner or a pot pie. So 6 days out of 30 you can have a mini meal at dinner.

Now the current GOP wants to cut funding for the SNAP program, so will that $36 go down?  How can they in all reality expect these people live on what they receive? At least they could make it a little easier for those who do work, by helping with their health care needs. On average a visit to a Dr. in Florida costs $165.00 per visit, add to that the cost for any blood tests, x-rays, etc. and that $165.00 skyrockets to about $300.00 or more, if you need to see a specialist double the cost of that office visit, any special tests quadruple the overall out of pocket costs.  Where does the GOP expect someone who works for $10.00 an hour or less pay for these costs if they get sick? Because Florida is a Right to Work State, business' more often than not pay at the maximum $12.00 per hour, the Wal-Marts, Publix, Targets and other retail stores pay about $9.00 an hour and most only hire part-time workers to avoid providing health care benefits, and God forbid you get ill and need to use the insurance at Wal-Mart because you'll lose your job.  So tell me Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan how does your plan help these people?

A letter to my son

Since I'm no longer allowed to talk to my son I'm posting a letter to him here, perhaps if I'm lucky someone who knows him will see this and tell him to read this..

To My Son, Duncan Anderson Wyatt, this letter is to inform you that as of this date published any and all financial assistance given to you since you reached the age of 18 is considered paid in full.  You no longer will have any feeling of owing me anything, whatsoever.

My only request is that you explain to me what I did/done to make you hate me so much?  What did I fail to do for you as a mother?  Also, I pray that you will forgive me for not being the mother you felt I should have been, (as your wife has told me repeatedly before I was forcefully sent away). I didn't abandon you in January, I left for my own safety.

I want you to know that I will always love you no matter what happens.  I wish I knew what I did wrong as you grew up though, I worked to give you a good education, always defended you to others, did my best to protect you.

I am sorry for every angry outburst I have ever directed at you in the past, I will leave this earth knowing that I have asked you for forgiveness for every wrong you feel I have directed at you and that there is nothing left of any perceived responsibility toward me either monetary or emotional.

Whether I ever hear from you again, I will draw my last breath with my memories I have of you, as a young boy and as a proud father.  This will be my last communication with you, I will never bother you or your family again it is now your decision to continue to have a relationship with me or not.

If I don't hear from you, I know that the rift between us will not be mended and that I have lost you forever.  Just remember I love you and I always will.

Good-bye my son again find it in your heart to forgive me I didn't abandon you in January of this year. I am the one who has been abandoned.

I'll love you always,
Mom...

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth IS!

I originally wrote and published this in 2012.  I felt it needed to be brought back up.

I've been listening to C-Span on almost a daily basis, and I keep hearing the rhetoric over President Obama and his policies that are increasing our National Debt.  Well, to all of the GOP Candidates, Tea Party members, and anyone who is trying to put all of the blame on the President, it's time you PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS.  If each and every one of us were to commit to say $5.00 a week for 1 year to be used to assist in paying down the Public Debt, perhaps the debt would begin to lower.

Also, I do agree that we need to reform our current tax system it needs a complete overhaul, but I don't think that we need to harm those the most in need in order to accomplish this.  There is waste and abuse in spending in our current system across the entire country.  But I digress, time to get back to the real issues.

First of all, we still have not dug out of our current recession, the housing market is still slow, the job market also is slowly generating new jobs.  It's the least wealthy that are usually willing to give of themselves, than the wealthy.  While the wealthy are usually prominent philanthropists, most of their philanthropy is directed to other countries rather than directed to the needs here in our own.

So back to my theme for this article, if five dollars were set aside each and every week for one year by each and every Adult American, both those unemployed & employed, and compiled into a lump sum payment each year, we'd probably see a marked decrease in our overall debt in a short time.  To those who can afford much more than $5.00 a week they could contribute.  Look at all of these Super PACs raising money for political campaigns, if we took only the voting population and took that total of $260.00 a yr and multiplied it by only the voting population (which was 127.5 million in 2004) that would be equal to 331.5 billion dollars a yr to help pay down the Debt.  The one good thing about doing it this way would be that according to law, if we as Americans directed the Treasury as to where our extra payment went to by law, if we tell them this money is to be used to pay down the debt they have to apply this to the debt and not put it into the general fund, or apply it to any programs whatsoever.

So I challenge each and every one of us, to start setting aside just $5.00 a week, and at the end of the year send a Check to the US Treasury for $260.00 with the words "Pay Down The Debt" in the For line at the bottom, and see what happens.  If you can afford it, I'm curious, how many of us would be willing to help, so that those most in need, wouldn't end up getting hurt by what the GOP wants to do.

Since our Politicians can't seem to work together, it's up to us as caring and compassionate members of this country to step up and take the reins.  So if you are going to help, post a comment to the end of this and say I'll do it!  Let's flood the US treasury with 127.5 million (more or less) checks in the amount of $260.00 on December 31st 2012!

Pay Down the Debt Campaign begins now!

Super Klutz

Well, last night I was super klutz once again took the trash can down the driveway without incident, but as I turned around and began to walk back to the house, I tripped on the sidewalk, and fell face first and like a dummy tried to catch myself on air, breaking my right wrist, road rash to my forehead, left toe, right shoulder and right knee.

I knew better than to try & catch myself, but I just couldn't help myself.  Now I'll be off the computer for a few days because it's quite a struggle to try & type without complete use of both my thumbs, but I felt that I needed to at least let my friends know.

So see you all in a few weeks.  Have a great October!

A Tea Party Pundit

I was on twitter the other day as I was watching C-Span and how ridiculous those new freshman and their ideology is a bit skewed.  After listening to the O'Reilly Factor and his President Obama bashing, Hannity's bashing and Beck, Limbaugh and their "Just Say No" campaign against our current president, it prompted me to write a poem. I titled it "The Tea Party Creed" although now I think maybe I should have called it "The Tea Party Rant"

The falsehoods and lies that spew out of their mouths is filled with so much hate that it astonishes me.  How they can place all of the blame on Obama is beyond me.  And Michelle Bachman! now that's a piece of work, how she can stand there and lie with a straight face is so amusing that I wonder when Saturday Night Live is going to offer her a job.

Anyways, here's a link to my poem The Tea Party Creed  hope it gives you a good laugh.  They remind me of a bunch of kindergartners misbehaving it's time we told them to grow up and take their rose-colored glasses off, and see the "real world" around them and not that fantasy one they see now.

Watch Huckabee on Fox and almost gagged!

Representative Michelle Bachman is a real uncaring BITCH!  As I watched her interview with Gov. Huckabee, she stated she had a plan without increasing the debt ceiling, they don't have to go into default, just pay the interest on the debt, they have enough coming in to do that, and then set priorities for other payments.

So what would her priorities be?  Hmmm... let's see now, you can be sure she'd be sure that all of the congressional members got their salaries & paid for their health care benefits, she'd probably be ok with making payment to our soldiers, but probably Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, WIC, Unemployment & Food Stamps wouldn't go out.  But those tax subsidies most certainly would.  (She has to make sure her business gets it's fair share doesn't she?)

To all of you who are so angry about our current situation, you have only yourselves to blame, you allowed George Bush to be placed into the presidential seat without the popular vote and let our Supreme Court to decide that Florida couldn't count all of the ballots to verify.  We probably would have had Al Gore and he would have continued many of Clinton's policies like the balanced budget agreement, the paygo rule, and we probably wouldn't have gone into 2 wars, we might have been in Afghanistan but I'm sure we wouldn't have ventured into Iraq right now.

Also, we may have been out of Afghanistan by now, since we wouldn't have been trying to stretch our military too far.  So when you scream and holler about what's going on.

The GOP is on a vendetta against the elderly, the poor and the disadvantaged, they don't care about the average american whatsoever.  They've brainwashed you to believe that cutting taxes to corporations and the wealthiest, the rich are not "job creators" they don't need to create jobs anymore they've created their wealth and they can find cheaper labor overseas.

My current solution to the debt problem.  First get rid of each and every tax credit, tax subsidy and deduction.
Second set the tax rate at 20% flat, then offer all individual tax returns a deduction based on the Federal Poverty Level, in other words the FPL for their family size is deducted right off the top, then they pay taxes on the balance at 20%.  For corporations, they can receive a 5% research and development deduction and then they pay 20% on balance of all profits.

Take the cap off of Social Security entirely so everyone pays into it for their entire income and offer Medicare as a public option in lieu of a private insurance company for those who so choose.  Allow young families the opportunity to buy into Medicaid by paying a monthly premium.  Set it up similar to an HMO and start bartering for lower priced drugs through Medicare and Medicaid.

If you want to repeal the Health Care Reform Bill then find a solution that provides health care opportunities for all.  Get Tort Reform, we need fewer lawyers and more doctors, nurses.

Cut your own salaries, increase your share of the health care benefit by 25%, invest in our infrastructure, get our roads, bridges and power grids modernized.  Sell of some of your vacant buildings, now if any of you disagree with these ideas, explain to me why and which ones and what you would do instead.

How are you going to protect the children and families that rely on WIC, Medicaid, and the elderly and disabled who rely on their fixed incomes and Medicare to survive.

Are you going to let us have our Social Security Check on the 3rd of August?  Or are you going to default on the millions of Americans who's only means of survival is that monthly check and let them lose their home, their transportation and their ability to eat?

It looks that way to me.  I see a group of congressmen who just don't get it.  They think that if you stand your ground the other side will cave.  I guess go ahead do what you want to do hurt the poor, the elderly, and place more in the streets.  Then explain to the world how you can justify your political genocide of the poor, the elderly and the disadvantaged.  "We just fall through the cracks"  We're just not rich enough for you to care about any of us out here struggling to keep a roof over our heads, a meal on our table or the medication we need to survive.

Feed your wealthy fat cats and walk to the bank.  You'll see Saint Peter at the gates of heaven and I know God will remember what you've done.

Jackson County DHS drops the ball again

Once again Jackson Country DHS fails to contact it's recipients via mail, email or phone to notify them of change in caseworker.  This practice is just plain wrong, how can a DHS recipient provide information of changes in a timely fashion when they are not notified of a change.  Even calling their last know caseworker proves fruitless, their only recourse is to contact the main office number only to discover that they have been re assigned to a new caseworker.  This is appears to be a frequent occurrence with Jackson County DHS branch office.  Not only does DHS not offer a toll-free number for their recipients, but because for much of the country a call to the office is long distance, those people in need spend what few dollars they might have in an attempt to contact their last known case worker without compensation for those lost funds.  DHS could easily offer a toll-free number for those unable to afford the extra expense to have long distance service, or have a line dedicated for those outside the local exchange, such as Springport, parts of Albion (that are inside the Jackson Country line) and other small communities that don't offer a circle calling service to the city of Jackson, Michigan.

Director Ahmed please investigate this issue soon and try to rectify this situation ASAP, it's time we made it easier for those trying to get ahead, or just get help during emergencies easier to get in touch with their worker.  As well as, knowing who their worker is at all times.  If it weren't for people in need, they'd be out of a job as well as you'd be out of a job making the DHS program obsolete.  Although some of the GOP members probably would like that to occur.

I realize that there is currently a huge caseload all over Michigan due to job losses, unemployment and business closings, but that doesn't mean we have to create an environment of despair for those in their time of need worse than it already is.

GOP Mantra Change Social Security

The GOP continues to say that Social Security is a ponzi scheme!  That the money they're taking into Social Security now is being used to pay out to those who are retired.  They fail to say that our government has had their greedy little fingers in the pot and borrowed from the Social Security fund for years.

Steve Jobs official salary is $1.00 per year but his stock options and stock owned in Apple equals $735B. Does that mean his total investment in FICA and MC equals 0.19 cents a year? And what about what he pays into Individual Income Tax?  How much of his earnings on his $735B does he actually pay on?  How many of the wealthy do this?

Let's take a look at who's paying into the Social Security program.  Who pays the most and who pays the least.

If you're making $107K a year or less and your self-employed, you're paying both the employee side of SS and the Employer side of SS.  So you're % is currently 11% (because of a 2% decrease in the employee side of the deduction) which is deducted from 100% of your salary, after that your share reduces as your earnings level rises. for example:

If you're making $250K a year you're paying 11% into SS up to $107K, you pay 0% on the other $143K of your earnings. So 107 x .11=11,770 paid in total for each year, so total expenditure for those making $250K is 4.74% of their total earnings, compared to those making $107K or less each year.  This to me is a reverse progressive tax.  Why is it that they can't raise the cap or remove it entirely?  And to what extent do the wealthy actually pay into it?

No one pays into it from earnings on interest on savings, stocks, or from their private retirement accounts.  Any earnings on non-payroll is exempt from being taxed either SS or Medicare.  So how much do the very wealthy actually pay into this?  More than likely less than .01% of their total income.

If we look at Steve Jobs for example is less than .000000000000259 of 1% of his total earnings. Now tell me is that fair? That's his total expenditure into both SS and Medicare.  I know he's probably not using Medicare and has no need for Social Security, but it's the taxpayers who've bought his products that's made him his billions, why shouldn't he pay to help those same consumers who made him rich, continue to be able to consume his products in the future?

It's time we began to use common sense, rather than a political idealism to grow our economy.  I'm sorry, but if reducing taxes to big business, corporations, etc. worked why did jobs leave during the Bush II Admin, when taxes were reduced to the highest income levels?  And why, when taxes were higher during Clinton's last 4 year term was there job growth and a projected budget surplus of over $12B dollars?  It's time we brought back the Clinton's PayGo rule, the Balanced Budget Agreement and the Clinton tax structure, and we began to invest in our infrastructure, create a WPA program for the long-term unemployed, like they did during the Depression.  People could be repairing our roads, building out our broadband, repairing our older government buildings and so on and so forth.  Let's do what we did during the depression, and get people back to work, once people have more money to spend, the business' will then be able to bring more jobs back.

Been busy with my Poetry Blog

I've been very busy working to move my poetry from my "At Home In Springport" blog to another one dedicated to my poetry and story writings, lately so I haven't been quite as active on this blog as I should have been.  So sorry I haven't kept my readers updated like I should have been doing.

Anyways, here's an update for you.  It's official I've finally gotten all of my poetry officially moved to it's own location now.  You can view all of my poetry at "FamaSemperVivat's Poetry" I've also been busy learning new blogging skills and designing blogger templates for others.

Isn't the World Wide Web great?  I have found and developed friendships via the internet with people from all over the world, via social networking, Chim she's from Capetown South Africa, she's a young writer I met and she is a co-author for another blog I've developed "Poets-In-Training" she is an accounting assistant in Capetown and she also has had a poem of hers published! She's working on her very first novel and  I personally think it's awesome, I'm sure we'll see more of her words in print soon.

Many of my world wide web friends have been met through my love of writing and on one particular website devoted to writing and that is All Poetry.  Recently AP (All Poetry) went through a major redesign and we all have been struggling to come to terms with all of the changes.  Because of this I've ventured out to other writing networks and found a couple that I enjoy quite a bit Jabber Tale is one, and Writer's Cafe is another.

AP's sister site; Story Write is for those who like to write stories rather than poems, from short stories to full blown novels.   My sister Terri (some of you may remember her from school here) is writing there, but she doesn't do much right now.  She's just learning to navigate a computer and she's been into playing online games more than anything else, she has learned how to use Messenger and I get IMs all the time from her now, she's even learned how to send emoticons (learned all on her own) and I now get winks, nudges and emoticons from her almost every afternoon.

Living 1200 miles apart the internet has brought us closer together, she recently married the man she's lived with for almost 30 years.  More of a formality, than anything.  But I'm rambling, and getting off track here.

So for the time being. Do these things for me..
A. Visit my new poetry site: http://fsvpoetry.blogspot.com
B. Visit my facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/imalwaysintrouble
C: Follow me on twitter: http://www.twitter.com/suzie_qs
D. Follow my blogs: http://poets-in-training.blogspot.com ; http://pit-young-poets-corner.blogspot.com ; http://www.poets-in-training.com
E. Bookmark this blog!

Thanks and hope you're all having a great summer!

Moving my Poetry to it's own home!

For those of you who have enjoyed reading my poetry here, and on All Poetry I'm moving it all to it's own personal space.  You can find my poetry now under my All Poetry username of FamaSemperVivat's Poetry at http://FSVPoetry.blogspot.com

I'm moving it all because All Poetry is preparing to upgrade their service & some of the changes will be way too costly for me.  Since blogger is completely free, and I can include images in my poetry without additional charges, and I can format it the way I want.  Here is where I'll share my poetry from now on.  I may also allow my nephew and grand-daughter to share theirs on my poetry blog as well.  If they so choose.

Anyways. the poetry is being moved so just my local & government opinions, will be posted here and any non issues.  But nothing related to poetry or story writing will be shared here..

U.S. Congressmen are you listening to your constituents, really?

As I sit here listening to the rhetoric coming from c-span today, I am amazed how repetitive the GOP is.  The GOP congress is refusing to accept any compromises whatsoever, so Rep. Walberg, Ryan and others, allow me to point out a few facts to you..

FACT: Albion, Michigan had a Steel Mill close in 2002, unemployed 800 residents, Springport, Michigan steel factory closed in 2005, unemploying 100 workers, prior to this during the '80s, we lost 3 steel foundries, a Union Steel plant, Corning Glass factory, McGraw-Edison plant, we have empty buildings lining Main Street,
when I graduated from HS in '73, in Springport there was a Drug Store, a Grocery Store, several restaurants, a hardware store, laundromat, clothing store, ice cream store, a realtor, a lawyer, a bank, a farm equipment dealer, now the drug store, the grocery store, hardware, realtor, lawyer and clothing stores are gone.

FACT: We have a doctor but he's only here once a week, a physician's assistant sees patients the rest of the week, and get this, if you're uninsured, you have to pay $100. for an office visit up front.

FACT: Maximum unemployment benefit in Michigan is $380 per week, the average is that every two weeks, who in their right mind would be willing to sit at home for that rather than go out and work and bring home more?  Answer: No one!  Can Michiganders find jobs, yes, full-time? possibly, close to home? probably not. If you live in a rural community like Springport, you'll have to drive at least 25 miles one way. If you're lucky.

FACT: Waitress earn an average of 3.39-6.39 per hour, of which 2.39-5.10 of that is supposed to be tips. Now if you work in a bar or tavern & serve alcoholic beverages, you might make a bit more in tips as the patrons get a little freer with their tips.

FACT: Most low wage workers, still drive a gas guzzling vehicle and drive more than 10 miles one way to work and most are working part-time here in Michigan, and gasoline prices are rising faster than jobs.

FACT: Representative Ryan wants to defund LIHEAP, Planned Parenthood, abolish Social Security as we know it, privatize Medicare, and block grant Medicaid & Food Stamps. Dismantle WIC program. and reduce taxes on corporations to 25%, (they're currently at 35%), and take away EIC for the low-income wage earners.

So you tell me who's kidding who?  Will the billionaire, buy a house here in Springport? No.  Can the little guy buy a home here in Springport? No. Will Microsoft, or GE or Cititcorp, or Hershey's or Maytag or any big Corporation build a plant or place their business here in Springport? No.  To the Rep. Ryan's of the world we're just one of those communities who will fall through the cracks. It's a fact of life, some succeed some don't that's just business.

So we'll continue to see our little community become more and more unbusinesslike, even Dollar General won't come here, because we don't have a population of 4500 or more, one requirement for them to come into a community.  So our choice for shopping is sparse, we don't have a clothing store, a drug store, but hey we've got a couple of convenience stores and you can buy all the beer and booze you want, we've got a tavern and you can go out and get drunk, we've got a gas station and you can get hosed, or we can drive 10-15 miles N-S-E or W and shop in a bigger community.  S

If we want our community to grow we have to stand up and start bugging these business' if you all want a Dollar General here, let's get a petition started and let Dollar General know they could make money here, that we're worth the investment.

Curious how much spending power you have

Do you have a full-time or part-time job? Do you work two jobs? Do you car-pool? Or are you like so many of us, working a low wage part-time job, without a mass transit service available to us and we can't afford a new more fuel efficient car, so our 10-20 year old gas guzzler is our only option to get us to and from work.

If this is the case for you and your curious how much less you earn because of drive time and fuel costs to get to that job, then enter the data below: Once submitted you can click on a link to see how much less you're earning because of current fuel prices.

Michigan Republicans are gearing up for union busting

With it's current amendment introduced in House Bill 4306 forcing our public school systems to "contract out" all food, custodial and transportation services by June 30, 2012.  That in a nutshell means that here in Springport our community will no longer be in charge of our public school's service programs.  Instead these services will be managed by "Private Companies" question is what quality of service would we receive for these services from a private company?  Which private company would service us?  How many jobs would be lost?  What will happen to our buses? Our school cafeterias? How clean will the schools be?

Why is it that our State Representatives think that getting private companies to provide these services is better than our school providing these services, they've provided for as long as I can remember (at least since I was in school in the '60s).

Representative Shirkey and Senator Nofs are both for this bill!  While this policy may be ok for the bigger urban areas, this could be too costly for us here in Springport, our area is way too rural for any contracting out of these services.  Now when will these government officials truly get some common sense?  What happened to allowing our local governments to control how they manage their public school system should be left locally, not part of a rule or law set by the State.

Also, what happened to the "Lottery" funds that were supposed to be used to help fund our school systems?  Where is that money going?  Instead of punishing the service workers by forcing contract bidding of  their jobs, let's start getting those companies that are providing products to our schools to stop overcharging us!

Also, Rep. Shirkey and Senator Nofs, start looking at your own budget and see where there's waste in your own backyard, who isn't pulling his weight in your own office? How much paper are you buying to print nonsense to flaunt in your debates on the floor? Reign in spending in your own house before you go after the communities you are supposed to represent.

Jackson County is against Women's Rights

If you're sexually assaulted in Jackson County especially in Springport Township don't report it!  Women have no rights in Jackson County, around Christmas my niece was "groped" by a friends husband, she managed to free herself and get him out of her home. After the incident the first thing she did was call me crying about what happened, which is when I told her to call the police and report it, now I wish I had told her to just let it go, our illustrious police department made the decision that because he didn't successfully "rape" her that she falsely reported a felony.

She told them she felt he was trying to rape her, he laid his hands on her inappropriately, in my book, that's sexual assault, whether he managed to get beyond that is a mute point.  She did not falsely report anything, she told the truth, it was the police department & our court system here that decided she filed a false report, now my question is:  How in the HELL can you decide a report is filed falsely w/o interviewing both parties before a court of her peers.

What a crock!  A woman in Springport Township hasn't any rights whatsoever, a man can physically "grope" any woman he chooses to w/o fear of repercussions whatsoever.  But the woman will be arrested for falsely reporting a felony.  Way to go Springport and Jackson County.

From now on, I'll never ever call our local law enforcement for anything, I'd rather die than let one of our local officials intercede.  Women are just chattle here in Springport Michigan.

My Cissy's Home!

I'm so geeked my best friend and soul sister is finally home from NC I've been so lost without her and having our marathon chats over the phone, we just had a two hour chat fest, talk about feeling happy, elated, and every other word you could think of about feelings and emotions.  I have so missed our tete`-tets that I've been slightly depressed, and being one who's basically housebound, the internet and my phone are my two venues of connection with the outside world.

When someone who's been there for you through thick and thin is suddenly not available, you begin to feel lost and alone.  Well, I'm no longer lost and alone, I have that one friend who understands what I've been going through back in my life again.  Even though she wasn't truly gone, the distance was so great that for 3 months, I couldn't just pick up the phone and call her, I was forced to deal with every crisis in my life w/o a sounding board.

Her life experiences have alway grounded me, I have other friends and family that I connect with but our friendship is truly unique in many ways, I'm so glad that she's home and that we can now get caught up on our news.

Rep. Tim Walberg dodges the question

Recently I sent an email to Representative Tim Walberg asking him why he didn't offer a town hall meeting to his Springport constituents in Springport?  His response? He had one in Jackson and he had one coming up in Spring Arbor that I could attend.  But not one word as to whether he'd have one here in Springport in the future or at all, I guess Springport is just not big enough for him.

Doesn't he feel this his constituents here matter or that we're not as important?  Or is it because he's afraid that if he actually saw the conditions here we might change his mind as to what helps and what doesn't help?  He seems to think based on his list of youtube videos that cutting spending and giving more tax cuts to the wealthiest will help create jobs.

We can't even get a Dollar General to open its doors here, not only would it create a few jobs here in the community but it would also give us a place more affordable to shop at.  The C-Store & Trading Post is very costly to purchase food items from, plus the choices are slim to none, we're still forced to travel at least 10 miles to the nearest grocery store to purchase & unless you can afford to buy more than a week's worth of groceries at one visit the cost to travel to and from at todays fuel prices increases your overall costs to go.  While you may not look at it costing you between $3-5 in gasoline to get to and from the store if you only have $50 to spend overall, you'll only be able to buy $45 in groceries, $5 will be going into the gas tank to get you there and back.

And since we don't have anything closer to stretch our food dollars farther we're forced to give up at least $5 of our food money to get just a little more with the $45 we have left to spend.  But soon I'm sure it won't matter whether we shop at our 2 local convenience stores or shop at a big grocery store chain, it will cost the same either way.  So I guess we'll just be better off shopping locally at our 2 little quickie shops, but we don't have a clothing store, thrift store, etc. so we're still forced to travel for other necessities to daily living.

SAGA why haven't you looked to get a community free health clinic here?  Start a community thrift store? We may end up having to go back to the barter system of the 19th, early 20th century.  Before we fully became a monetary system.

Let's start a community thrift store, let people bring in old clothing, dishes, etc. we could set it up as a barter system, trade services or other items. Or start a volunteer service for mass transit, so those people who can't drive or afford to hire transportation, offer an alternative to them, if they can offer fresh produce during the growing season, trade produce for rides, or if they can do house cleaning, trade house cleaning for produce, etc.  These are just examples to help those less fortunate, and ways to improve the community overall.

GOP showed it's true colors today

Well, the new congressional leaders showed their true colors today.  Yes, they've all voted to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act in it's entirety but when offered an amendment to also commit to repealing their own health care coverage, that was voted against with a resounding NO! that reverberated throughout the chamber today.  Goes to show, while they're willing to harm the masses, the poorest of the poor, the least wealthy, they are not willing to walk in their shoes.

It's okay for the American taxpayer to pay for their health care coverage, but it's not okay for the American taxpayer to help those less fortunate to have a viable health care solution.   So America, we'll continue to provide our congressional members 75% of their health care premium, hopefully the Senate will defeat this repeal that has been propagated by this new congress.

They've shown that they don't care about the common people, they feel it's okay for them to continue to receive health benefits paid for by the American Taxpayers, but it's not okay for that same offering to be available to all Americans.

Thank you Representatives Boehner, Cohen and all of the new GOP members for your choice to repeal the protection to those least capable to afford it, and the repeal of the pre-existing clause, instead of a true repair of the existing program, they've said repeal first, then fix.  I want to ask you, why did you not protect those portions you said you were for?

Repeal then fix?  I think not,  more like get rid of it and forget it.

Are you ready for Thanksgiving?

Well, are you?  I'm not, between my grand-daughter's mother's I'm getting pulled into two directions, it sucks when you have an extended family and the two sides of it don't (or refuse to) get along.  I love all of them, I don't love one more than I do the other.  But if I pay attention to one, it's considered that I'm dissing the other, which I'm not.

How are we supposed to balance our lives when we're pulled up, down, right and left, and refusing to choose one side over the other.  Sometimes life is so unfair.

My son, now on the other hand, just ignores everyone, including me.  So I'm left stuck in the middle, trying to maintain the peace and harmony for all.  When will he man up and do what's right.  Probably after I'm dead and gone and it's too late.  That's when.

Ok, I'm done with my rant for the day.  On to more positive things. Have a great week everyone!

Is it true Springport H.S. will be accepting Albion H.S. Students?

I've been hearing some skuttle-butt that Albion High School is planning on closing on the 1st of November and their students will start being transported to 3 Jackson County School systems who have offered to accept them. Which includes Springport High School the other two schools I've been told are included in this process are Concord and Hanover-Horton.  My questions are why are Jackson County Schools accepting Students from a Calhoun County School, why aren't Calhoun County Schools accepting them, why is Albion closing it's High School in the first place?  What effect will it have on our own school system?  Springport is a school full of farm kids and small town values, while Albion is considered a "little Detroit" full of drugs, violence, and gangs.

Bringing those into a small town school could cause unexpected consequences, increased crime, violence and drug activity here in our school.  While I haven't received any response from our School, Village Council or our Township Board, neither a yes or a no response, it makes one wonder whether they are aware of the potential consequences and are waiting until it's too late to tell the community, or this is just a temporary move so that Albion can do some much needed upgrades to the H.S.

Personally, I think we should as residents of Springport, be told what is going on.  This should have been put to a vote by the community and not just accepted by our school board without consultation from the community.  I see trouble brewing, if this happens without input from the community.  Local law enforcement better be prepared for some violence,  Albion and Springport kids have never been able to get along.  We're asking for trouble.  If anyone knows the truth, please let us know instead of leaving us in the dark.