To date, City of Cleveland Council members Brian Cummins & Michael Polensek are the only elected officials brave enough to speak out against the Sin Tax.
Sadly, every single one of the current County Council members & County Executive Ed FitzGerald showed they were woefully lacking in the spine department when it came to Issue 7 when they unanimously, with minimal if any discussion of alternative funding avenues, voted for it to be placed on the May 2014 ballot.
In the contested races for County Council and the Democrat primary for County Executive, there are only 2 candidates that have shown they are willing to speak out against the status quo and have declared their opposition to Issue 7, the Sin Tax.
Challenging incumbent County Councilwoman Sunny Simon in District 11 is John Currid. Besides wanting a plastic bag tax, Simon is a staunch supporter of - and had no issues with immediately asking the voters to pay for - the Sin Tax.
In contrast to Simon, her challenger John Currid is very clear in his stance against Issue 7 the Sin Tax. He does not believe that the voters should again be burdened with the Sin Tax.
From John Currid --
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 18, 2014
CONTACT:
John J. Currid(216) 502-0914campaign@bestcuyahoga.comWEBSITE:http://www.BESTCuyahoga.com
Innovative Thinking and Fresh Ideas Needed; the Sin Tax Is a Failed Funding Scheme.
South Euclid, OH – John J. Currid, Candidate for County Council, District 11 has come out against the renewal of the County Sin Tax and urges residents to reject the upcoming tax levy. Previous leaders for both the City of Cleveland and Cuyahoga County entered into agreements that were short sighted and placed a heavy burden on the residents of Cuyahoga County. The Sin Tax was established as a scheme to pay for the unfunded promises of Gateway and the Cleveland Browns Stadium.
“I am running for County Council because the time is long overdue for leadership that provides unique ideas and innovative solutions that makes Cuyahoga County more attractive to young families and competitive businesses throughout the county” says Currid.
If the Sin Tax is not renewed, the county and City of Cleveland are still responsible for the legal agreements made with each of the teams. With the announcement that United Airlines is pulling their Hub from Cleveland Hopkins Airport there is a distinctive opportunity to responsibly fund these obligations while making Cuyahoga County an inviting community for families to take root and competitive for businesses to prosper.
Rather then burdening the residents with this continued tax Currid suggests, “The time has come to close Burke Lakefront Airport and immediately implement a redevelopment plan for the lakefront. Burke Lakefront is an unnecessary and rarely used luxury that we can no longer afford.”
The benefits of a thriving lakefront support a BEST Cuyahoga; this is a responsible and achievable plan that makes Cuyahoga County more competitive and desirable for families and businesses to invest in the county while loosening the tax burden currently keeping the region down. To learn more about this and other plans that make up the BEST Cuyahoga (Business, Education, Safety, & Taxes) visit www.BESTCuyahoga.com.
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On the other side of the aisle, in the Democrat primary for County Executive, against the establishment supported front-runner Armond Budish, all but one of the candidates are Sin Tax supporters.
Democrat candidate Tim Russo has been the only County Executive candidate that has been vocal and actively working across the political aisle in trying to defeat the Sin Tax.
County Council incumbents & Ed FitzGerald should all be ashamed for continuing with the same status quo, especially since the voters in Cuyahoga County spoke out against the status quo by passing the County Reform. Candidates and elected officials brave enough to stand up for the people in this county should be applauded!
Keep Cleveland Strong!
Vote No on Issue 7
This issue is the absurdity of absurdities. Let me get this straight: the purpose of the Sin Tax is to gouge those who purchase alcohol and cigarettes not because anyone is trying to discourage consumption but rather so the County can use that money to pay for sports stadiums that do not produce anything but a fleeting moment witnessing the passing of a football, the dribbling of a basketball and the throwing of a baseball so that such a minute tidbit of diversion can be enjoyed by all. The stupidity of this proposition is enough to make your head spin even though the spin doctors advocating passage of this nonsense are already doing a pretty good job of hypnotizing the voters to actually consider supporting it. At least the Robber Barons of the previous centuries provided something tangible such as oil, steel, railroads etcetera. These team owners do not even provide one tangible thing that could ever be considered with the term “value added.” Almost everyone discusses this “enterprise” as though it is the same thing as industry {which it is not}. The price of admission is essentially a voluntary tax paid by those who can afford it to pay those who don’t need it. If this isn’t a transfer of wealth I don’t know what is.
ReplyDeleteThe real outrage here is the fact that taxes on alcohol and cigarettes will not be used to aid in the reduction of addiction {hence the reference to “sin”} but rather to stuff the pockets of all three teams who could easily afford to pay for the repairs themselves. The vote was rammed through the last time {under somewhat suspicious circumstances} and hear we go again. But this time...not so fast!!! We the voters of Cuyahoga County are going to fight the proponents on this one and we don't care if the teams up and go somewhere else {please see my views on entertainment below} because quite frankly there are simply more important things than sports and the unearned money that comes with it. Those in public office who are too stupid and lazy to find other ways to grow a major American city need to resign and leave their self-seeking political ambitions on the scrapheap of history. Don’t ever let it be said that this was time when the tide ran out on Cuyahoga County but rather was the time when the voters rose up to welcome the rising tide of change and rebuked this pathetic paradigm our previous elected leaders embraced. Let the battle be joined.
And now to the real underlying issue at hand:
One of the most disturbing facts about our capitalist nation is the misappropriation of funds directed to the salaries of entertainers. Everyone should agree that the value an athlete, movie star, talk-show host, team-owner, etcetera brings to the average citizen is very small. Granted, they do offer a minuscule of diversion from our daily trials and tribulations as did the jesters in the king's court during the middle ages. But to allow these entertainers to horde such great amounts of wealth at the expense of more benevolent societal programs is unacceptable. They do not provide a product or a service so why are they rewarded as such?
Our society is also subjected to the "profound wisdom" of these people because it equates wealth with influence. Perhaps a solution to this problem and a alternative to defeated school levies, crumbling infrastructures, as well as all the programs established to help feed, clothe and shelter those who cannot help themselves would be to tax this undeserved wealth. Entertainers could keep 1% of the gross earnings reaped from their endeavor and 99% could be deposited into the public coffers.
The old ideas of the redistribution of wealth have failed, and it is time to adapt to modern-day preferences. People put their money into entertainment above everything else; isn't it time to tap that wealth? Does anyone think this will reduce the quality of entertainment? It seems to me that when entertainers received less income, the quality was much higher.
I hate explaining myself, but here I go. I DO NOT SMOKE OR DRINK AT ALL. I hear a well rehearsed conversation on the Triv Show about this issue. All they could come up with was that allowing the sin tax to expire won't lover the price of cigarettes. I say they are completely missing the point. It's not about whether it will lower the price of alcohol & cigarettes. We have had enough of taxes that were supposed to be temporary, for something specific and presto they are now permanent, with no where near enough accountability as to where, with ANY DETAIL to speak of, as to who can get their grimy paws on it? If politicians really need the money for something else, they can take a similar route as those who brought us the sin tax. Bring a TEMPORARY TAX up for a vote and KEEP IT THAT WAY. We were promised it wouldn't be permanent anyway. Now the greedy pigs want ANOTHER TEMPORARY TAX MADE PERMANENT. All I have left to say is "Homey don't play that". PERIOD!
ReplyDeleteThis issue is the absurdity of absurdities. Let me get this straight: the purpose of the Sin Tax is to gouge those who purchase alcohol and cigarettes not because anyone is trying to discourage consumption but rather so the County can use that money to pay for sports stadiums that do not produce anything but a fleeting moment witnessing the passing of a football, the dribbling of a basketball and the throwing of a baseball so that such a minute tidbit of diversion can be enjoyed by all. The stupidity of this proposition is enough to make your head spin even though the spin doctors advocating passage of this nonsense are already doing a pretty good job of hypnotizing the voters to actually consider supporting it. At least the Robber Barons of the previous centuries provided something tangible such as oil, steel, railroads etcetera. These team owners do not even provide one tangible thing that could ever be considered with the term “value added.” Almost everyone discusses this “enterprise” as though it is the same thing as industry {which it is not}. The price of admission is essentially a voluntary tax paid by those who can afford it to pay those who don’t need it. If this isn’t a transfer of wealth I don’t know what is.
ReplyDeleteThe real outrage here is the fact that taxes on alcohol and cigarettes will not be used to aid in the reduction of addiction {hence the reference to “sin”} but rather to stuff the pockets of all three teams who could easily afford to pay for the repairs themselves. The vote was rammed through the last time {under somewhat suspicious circumstances} and hear we go again. But this time...not so fast!!! We the voters of Cuyahoga County are going to fight the proponents on this one and we don't care if the teams up and go somewhere else {please see my views on entertainment below} because quite frankly there are simply more important things than sports and the unearned money that comes with it. Those in public office who are too stupid and lazy to find other ways to grow a major American city need to resign and leave their self-seeking political ambitions on the scrapheap of history. Don’t ever let it be said that this was time when the tide ran out on Cuyahoga County but rather was the time when the voters rose up to welcome the rising tide of change and rebuked this pathetic paradigm our previous elected leaders embraced. Let the battle be joined.
And now to the real underlying issue at hand:
One of the most disturbing facts about our capitalist nation is the misappropriation of funds directed to the salaries of entertainers. Everyone should agree that the value an athlete, movie star, talk-show host, team-owner, etcetera brings to the average citizen is very small. Granted, they do offer a minuscule of diversion from our daily trials and tribulations as did the jesters in the king's court during the middle ages. But to allow these entertainers to horde such great amounts of wealth at the expense of more benevolent societal programs is unacceptable. They do not provide a product or a service so why are they rewarded as such?
Our society is also subjected to the "profound wisdom" of these people because it equates wealth with influence. Perhaps a solution to this problem and a alternative to defeated school levies, crumbling infrastructures, as well as all the programs established to help feed, clothe and shelter those who cannot help themselves would be to tax this undeserved wealth. Entertainers could keep 1% of the gross earnings reaped from their endeavor and 99% could be deposited into the public coffers.
The old ideas of the redistribution of wealth have failed, and it is time to adapt to modern-day preferences. People put their money into entertainment above everything else; isn't it time to tap that wealth? Does anyone think this will reduce the quality of entertainment? It seems to me that when entertainers received less income, the quality was much higher.