Precinct Chairs

I was reading the Fort Worth Star the other day in the opinions section and there was an article entitled Cuts. The article focused primarily on what you would be willing to give up on or see a reduction of in the way of entitlements to help with the nation’s deficit problem.

There were a couple of things that struck me here, the first being that there are still plenty of Americans who are willing to sacrifice not only for the good of the nation but for the future generations that will inherit what we have built after we are gone. The second but the most striking of these observations was the simple fact that most Americans in general have come to believe that Social Security and Medicare are full retirement programs that will take care of most if not all of their needs and planned their retirement based primarily on these two things.

Now I am not a young man nor am I the sharpest tool in the shed but this I do know. Every reference that I have ever heard to Social Security or Medicare is that they are supplemental not primary, yet I hear the constant cry and lament that my social security or my Medicare needs to be increased as I can no longer live on what I am getting.

Excuse me but the words that I referenced to earlier were Supplemental which means to put it simply if you did not plan for the retirement years to cover life after work I am sorry but that was a choice that was made by you and you alone. This does not mean that you should be thrown out on the street or denied medication. But what it does mean is that if you can not afford to live in your home and do the things that you once did due to having income then you will have to resign yourself to living in a nursing home, not a choice that I would willingly make for myself but that would not be a decision that I would get to make if I were to find myself in that position.

Now that I have stood on my soap box let me get to the point that I wish to make.

There was one individual in particular that has tried to contact his representatives to change the way his wheel chair is being handled. It would seem that Medicare is renting the wheel chair instead of paying for it out right and has spent enough to have bought a multiple of wheel chairs. To date the only response that he has gotten has been an automated response from Senator Cornyn’s office.  His final statement is that he feel’s that this is an untouchable subject.

Time and again I hear the words that there is nothing one can say that will be heard by our representatives, a view that even I myself shared. This is a reflection on us as members at the county level of the Republican Party. The position of the precinct chair is just exactly for the purpose of being the conduit of the voter’s voices locally and it has been our failing for not communicating that fact to the community at large. It has been only in the last couple of years that I even became aware of the precinct chair position let alone as to what their purpose is.  So what are we as members of the JCRP going to do to address this problem? I have my ideas so what’s yours.

Mayfest

Mayfest in Cleburne is this Saturday and I get to forfeit my Saturday morning breakfast in favor of a doughnut feast at the Republican Headquarters, my heart is thrilled. With that said I expect good things from the gathering of folks at the headquarters in regards to reaching out to the locals in hopes that they will take a greater interest in their city and how it is run. (A note here that the turn out of Cleburne residents to the candidate forum was 0.)

Many thanks to Sheriff Alford and his deputies for the kids rodeo a couple of weeks ago my grand daughter had a grand time of it, me and grandma had a good time as well.

Things are beginning to crank up for the July Jubilee, Roger Williams who is running for Senator Hutchinson seat has been asked to speak so if you want to hear from him this would be a good time.

There have been some additional updates to the home page of the JCRP website, you will notice a new column added to the right hand side that will be used for informational purpose’s in regards to finding out voter registration status and polling places information, with a little luck and goggle maps we hope to not only be able to tell you were to go vote but how to get there! I grumble much over that last issue as Robin can well tell you.

We will also be adding other pertinent information involved in voting matters there as well, with possible candidate information and their websites, a daunting task to be sure, any volunteers?

As a final note there is also a rumor going round about a turkey shoot some time near the fall, that’s just a rumor mind you.

The New Reality?

A credit rating is Standard & Poor's opinion on the general creditworthiness of an obligor, or the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to a particular debt security or other financial obligation. Over the years credit ratings have achieved wide investor acceptance as convenient tools for differentiating credit quality.
  
Instant View: S&P revises U.S. outlook to negative
 

S&P threatens to cut U.S. credit rating on deficit

What does all this mean to you?

Even though there are a large number of individuals who have tried to down play the importance of the U.S.'s credit rating as being much a due about nothing this is anything but the truth. The common theme being put forth today is raise taxes on the rich and on corporations.

As an example of what raising taxes means on these persons and entities let me give you a little example. The company I work for is about to automate a part of the facility. Why? because of tax increases by the government. What does this mean? About 200+ individuals are going to be put out of work Why do they do this? Because you don't want to pay higher prices for the product they produce. So it is either pay people considerably lower wages and benefits or replace them with automation. Add to this newer and more stringent EPA regulations, higher energy costs because of green energy desires and personal greed for that almighty government entitlement programs and presto you now have a world in which the only jobs your children have to look forward to is working at McDonald's or Walmart for the rest of their lives.

A nations economy is based on manufacturing, not on lawyers, bankers or some other white collar endeavor with a college education, these are support rolls only and when the money from manufacturing stops the need for these types of occupations stop with them. Don't believe me look at china and other countries of the world who have taken over that roll from the U.S.

Again lets take a look at the facility where I work, nothing not one thing that we use to operate that plant comes from the U.S. it is all made in other countries. Just 30 years ago that was not so. That means in realistic terms millions of good paying jobs that were once held by Americans are now gone because they were driven out of this country by government greed, the wanting of government hand outs and the environmentalist agenda.

 I make nearly as much as the average college educated individual with none of the debit incurred for that college education. Yes I am skilled labor with my education coming from on the job training, but what does that knowledge mean to places like Home Depot or some other retailer? Absolutely nothing so instead of making real money that benefits others due to my wealth caused by the production of a good that is sold by those retailers to others I could be making minimum wage in order to keep my head above water with no real ability to advance my self or my children, this is the fate that awaits our children and grandchildren.

So put your hands back into your pockets and stop demanding government hand outs, taking care of each other is what we used to do. If we don't do it now the IMF will do it for us later. Look at Greece they no longer have a say in their fiscal affairs and the IMF is about to tighten their rein over that country some more, that's what happens when you become a debtor nation and the U.S. is no exception and is much closer to that point than you think.

If you would like to find out more I have created the Understanding Government Debit located at the top of the page. 

Contributed by: Don Wilson 

Saturday Mornings and Candidate Forums

Robin and I would like to express our thanks to the folks that have joined us for our morning breakfasts we have enjoyed the company and topics or conversation. I did not know we had a gold prospector amongst us. The times and location of where we eat breakfast can be found on the jcrp website calendar.

The Cleburne candidate forum had a small turnout but was a good forum all the same and received a nice layout from the Cleburne Times Review. We hope to see more of you at the Burleson forum which is Monday the 25^th doors open at 6pm and is located at the Burleson Elks high school cafeteria.

 

Contributed by Don Wilson

Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Burgess

Branch of Service:  United States Army
Date of Death:   29 March, 2011

Unit:  2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment
Hometown:  Green Bay, Wis.

Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Burgess, 29, of Cleburne, Texas died March 29 at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire in Konar province.
Burgess was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.


 FREEDOM IS NOT FREE…NEVER FORGET! He Paid Your Fee!!
Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Burgess, 29, of Cleburne, Texas. Died March 29 at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire in Konar province. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.
Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Burgess, 29, of Cleburne, Texas, entered the Army in March 2003 and arrived at Fort Campbell in September 2009.
His awards and decorations include: Army Commendation Medal; Army Achievement Medal; Army Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Iraq Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; Overseas Service Ribbon and Combat Infantryman Badge.
Burgess is survived by his wife, Tiffany R. Burgess; daughter, Makya Burgess and son, Zander Burgess, all of Fort Campbell. He is also survived by his mother, Linda Pearce of Keene, Texas
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Where The Rubber Meets The Road

One of the first things President Obama did when he took office was to set a tariff on tires coming into the U.S. most of which are from China. This was to quote help our tire manufacturing industry. With the U.S.dealing with a depressed economy and people struggling to make ends meet I did not think this to be an overly smart thing to do. If you haven't bought any new tires lately you are in for a surprise to be sure.

Just before Obama took office I bought a set of tires for the front of my car and they cost me just about $100. This last week I bought a set for the front of my wife's car that were the same size costing me $195 adding to that the current cost of gasoline keeping a car on the road now is getting to be a real drag on a lot of peoples budgets. Kind of like grandma deciding whether to by her medicine or buying food, so she's buying dog food in order to pay for her medicine or so we are told. Now folks are forced to decide if they can afford tires or buy gas to get to work, if the tires had not been in such bad shape I would have probably put off buying them. One thing is for sure with the spiraling cost of tires I will in the future be weighing it in my mind as to whether or not I can get away with putting off replacing tires even if it makes me a little uncomfortable doing so.

Contributed by Don Wilson