Cuyahoga County Councilwoman Sunny Simon say's "Who Cares how County Spending will Impact Residents' Lives"

When pushing for her proposed country-wide 5 cents per bag plastic bag tax in 2012, County Councilwoman Sunny Simon is on the record as stating she "wants to see how far she can go to impact residents' lives." 

But as you see below when it comes to accountability, transparency or being a good steward of your tax dollars - with almost an air of indifference, Simon pretty much says, "she doesn't care how far county agencies spending of tax dollars will impact residents' lives."

From District 11 Cuyahoga County Council Candidate John Currid--  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

CONTACT:  

John J. Currid (216) 502-0914

campaign@bestcuyahoga.com

WEBSITE:

http://www.BESTCuyahoga.com

South Euclid, July 21, 2014 - Cuyahoga County Council nominee John J. Currid praised the Cuyahoga County Council for taking a bipartisan step last week to control county spending by passing Cuyahoga County Ordinance 2014-0013.

The ordinance utilizes a common-sense approach to budget oversight by requiring County agencies to provide a detailed request for additional appropriation, itemize their service and program budgets, establish formal budget milestones and timelines, and document proposed staffing levels for all new programs and services for all internally requested taxpayer funds.

Prior to the passage of this Ordinance the County Executive and other County departments could spend taxpayers’ funds without Council’s oversight. This law was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support although it was not was not passed unanimously. According to Currid: “Councilwomen Sunny Simon once again showed indifference to protecting the taxpayers of Cuyahoga County. She was the only member of Council to vote against Ordinance 2014-0013. Ms. Simon’s initial comments on the ordinance were unsuitably brief: ‘I am going to be voting ‘no’ on this piece of legislation.’ She did not articulate any reason for being against such clearly-needed legislation that was ultimately supported by every other member of Council.”

Under questioning, Ms. Simon later suggested the ordinance was unnecessary, saying she and her colleagues already had the power and oversight to request this information without the need of additional legislation. However, Councilman Dave Greenspan, one of the co-sponsors of the ordinance, provided examples of approximately $30 million in spending by the Executive in which Council’s request for additional information were ignored by the Executive. This money was spent by the administration without the oversight of Council, and under Ms. Simon’s watch.

Currid concluded: “It is clear that Ms. Simon does not have the taxpayer’s best interests in mind. This ordinance requires that Cuyahoga County offices utilize basic accounting and budgetary tools, instruments that are learned in 101-level accounting classes. One must ask what Ms. Simon’s motivation would have been to vote against this ordinance, especially when all ten of her colleagues voted in favor.”

Video of Council’s debate can be viewed here.

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Why can't Ohio get rid of Common Core?

Art credit: fotosearch.com

A little over a month ago, Oklahoma got rid of Common Core. But legislation to get rid of Common Core in Ohio continues to languish in the statehouse. Why? Here’s a clue from July 16 in the Columbus Dispatch about Gov. Kasich, from a paragraph buried toward the end of the article:

Kasich spoke [on July 15] to more than 200 members of the Ashland Area, Bucyrus Area, Clear Fork Valley, Galion-Crestline and Richland Area chambers of commerce at Deer Ridge Golf Club south of Mansfield.

. . .

The governor also defended the Common Core, saying while the plan sets overall goals for educational achievement, local school boards must approve the curriculum to achieve those objectives. Common Core is a set of common standards for math and English/language arts.

Goals and common standards? Here is a stinging analysis of the “common standards” from Bruce Deitrick Price at American Thinker:

“Drop a precision part so it would deform a tiny bit and malfunction down the line.”  That’s practically an epitaph for the destructive results achieved by our elite educators throughout the 20^th century.

Great cunning was displayed in educational sabotage.  Typically, there is an optimal sequence in learning something, no matter if it's tennis, driving a car, typing, speaking French, or American history.  Disrupt that ideal sequence, teach things in a confusing way, and you will have poor results.

Consider reading.  The ideal sequence is that the child memorizes the alphabet, learns the sounds represented by each letter, and then learns to blend those sounds.  At that point, the child is reading.  This extraordinary skill was once routinely mastered in the first grade.  That was before saboteurs got to work.

The essence of their technique was to hide the alphabet and the sounds.  The child was kept busy doing the worst possible thing: memorizing words as diagrams.  This is a slow task, and hopeless.  English has several hundred thousand words, and many are remarkably similar: life, light, flight, lite, lifer, lit, fife, fifth, fight, fright.  Also, consider Dolch lists for the fifth or sixth grade.  The student is still illiterate at the age of 11 or 12.  Clearly, that was the plan. 

In arithmetic, the sabotage technique was equally obvious.  Again, the Education Establishment used relentless praise of a lie – in this case, that children would learn math more quickly if, at the elementary level, they studied a mix of easy and advanced concepts.  This makes as much sense as taking novice skiers up on the black-diamond slopes...which would make perfect sense if you were trying to kill kids.

New Math came along in the 1960s, and children were expected to learn matrices, statistics, Boolean algebra, set theory, base-8.  Stuff that was once taught in college now had to be taught in the second grade.  Only a saboteur would say so.  Twenty years later, Reform Math used similar gimmicks.  Children today are still bedeviled by weird and unnecessary complexities, now often ridiculed as Common Core Math.

In the teaching of general knowledge, our saboteurs were particularly ingenious.  They created what military people call interlocking fire.  Nothing survives.

Multiculturalism says don’t bother learning anything about your own culture.  Relevance says don’t bother learning anything about faraway cultures.  Self-esteem says don’t teach anything that some children won't be able to handle.  No Memorization says don’t ask a child to remember anything.  In case any little wisp of knowledge might still get through, Constructivism says that teachers should not teach.  In a sick way, all of this is genius.  From K to 12, schools have an array of reasons why they need not bother teaching.

Read the rest here.

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Jenny Beth Martin of Tea Party Patriots: No Border Bailouts!

We want to thank Conservative HQ for putting up the below post!  As noted below, the MSM failed to cover any of the speech Jenny Beth gave at the Western Conservative Summit.

But then again, why would the MSM want the public to know the truth about what is going on at the border.  Especially if it goes against the end goal of their liberal agenda - which is amnesty for illegals and open borders.

From Conservative HQ --

Our friend Jenny Beth Martin, President and Co-Founder of Tea Party Patriots, gave a great speech at the Western Conservative Summit about the invasion of our southern border. We didn’t see any coverage of Jenny Beth’s remarks in the establishment media, so we bring them to you in their entirety.

The speech covers her recent experiences along the Texas/Mexico border, and underscores our need for protecting our borders and to oppose attempts at a “border bailout”. Here's the text of her speech:

I bring news from the Rio Grande Valley, the breach point for the largest invasion of American territory since the British occupied and burned our capital city in the War of 1812.

Just yesterday morning, I awoke in McAllen, Texas, having spent the better part of the past week seeing for myself – and for you – exactly what is happening along our southern border.

I spent that time talking to local sheriffs and residents, hearing directly from those on the front lines and learning first hand about the problems on the border.

We hear the calls from people on the left – and even some in the Republican Party – saying we must launch what they call a humanitarian effort.

They tell us we must care for the unaccompanied minors coming into our country.

They tell us we MUST not, no, we CANNOT send these young people back home.

They tell us we must borrow even more money from China to house and clothe and feed and inoculate and treat these strangers who broke into our home.

Well.

I am a woman … and a mother … and a Christian … and, I am proud to say, I am an American.

I have listened to these arguments, and I have checked them against my heart, and my head, and my experience, and my values.

And to these arguments, I need but one word to respond – NO.

Disagree? Go to the border and speak with the American citizens with whom I spoke.

Learn about the crime.

Local residents will tell you they have seen a flood of illegal immigrants pouring into their cities over the last two years.

They’ll tell you how crime against persons and property has spiked.

Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez in Del Rio told us of residents along the river who have had their homes robbed – everything from TVs and washing machines to copper wiring – stolen from their homes, put on rafts, and floated across the river into Mexico.

I saw photos of a home where a mother and her children had to crawl and hide under their beds for safety when a gang of illegal immigrants started shooting outside their home.

These are American citizens who have called this part of the country “home” for decades … and many, for generations.

They do not want to cede their land and give up their property – AND THEY SHOULD NOT BE FORCED TO.

We saw a 2.8 mile stretch of fence in Del Rio, Texas.

Two. Point. Eight. Miles.

To put that in context, the border between Texas and Mexico is twelve hundred miles long.

Unless you’re a member of the editorial board of The New York Times, you should have no trouble seeing the problem.

Local residents mock the fence because they realize how easy it is to go around the fence and still get into the country. We saw the beginning of this stretch of fence and could see footpaths worn in the soil where people have literally walked around the fence about 20 feet to the east of where it begins. If it were not so serious, it would be fodder for Jon Stewart.

Then there are the Coyotes – evil people who smuggle human beings across the border for profit.

The coyotes get their money up front. Consequently, in the words of bureaucrats everywhere, they are disincentivized to care whether the people they’re smuggling make it into America alive.

Retired Sheriff Sigi Gonzales, who started the Border Sheriff’s Coalition, told us there are times when coyotes, when cornered by the authorities while approaching the border, will abandon the car …

With people hidden in the trunk …

Which might not be so bad, except that sometimes they do it while driving ACROSS the Rio Grande, and then they just sit and watch as the car sinks in the river and the coyotes escape the Border Patrol.

The evil along the border doesn’t stop there.

Sheriffs confirm that the drug cartels are running the show on the southern side of the border – and all too often on the US side as well.

The drug cartels are sophisticated and cunning. Yet it is not rocket science for them to climb on top of buildings in Mexico and use a binoculars to see when and where the Border Patrol are, then send their network in through an area that is not being covered. Sheriffs confirm that as soon as one area beefs up security and patrols, the illegal immigration catch rate increases in that area … while, not surprisingly, it decreases in OTHER areas along the border.

People don’t realize how this administration has tempted people to enter the United States illegally, subjecting them to this evil in the process.

President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program – another one of his executive dictates that flouts the written laws of this nation – is sending a signal to people across Central and South America that if they just get into our country, they are going to be able to stay. Images of plane rides, flat screen TV’s, soccer balls, and teddy bears convey that children will be well cared for and showered with material gifts.

But the media are blocked from the detention centers where children are sick from disease and dehydration - where young children cry themselves to sleep, wanting their parents.

The reports ignore how dangerous the trek through Central America to the United States can be.

The articles for some reason don’t mention that the overwhelming majority of these so-called “children” are actually mid-teen boys – 16, 17, 18 years old, just the perfect age for the gangs. The young people are at the mercy of drug cartels and brutal desert heat. They risk injury and death if they are not pulled into the drug cartels to be used for other purposes.

Friends … what we are seeing is neither moral nor compassionate.

It is neither moral nor compassionate to encourage parents to send their children off to embark on a life-or-death trek with an uncertain outcome.

It is neither moral nor compassionate to put children at risk of bodily injury, disease, and death – or, possibly even worse, life as a gang slave.

It is neither moral nor compassionate to put our own hard working American families who live on the border at such risk.

It is neither moral nor compassionate to force the American public to borrow another three point seven billion dollars from China to pay for a border bailout.

Unfortunately, those in Washington are responding to the border crisis the way they always do: Grow the bureaucracy, concentrate more power in DC, commission studies rather than taking action, and throw more of our hard earned tax dollars at the problem.

Just like the bank bailouts were used by politicians to cover up problems of their own creation and pay off special interests, this three-point-seven billion-dollar border bailout rewards the president’s allies, builds the centralized bureaucracy, and concentrates more power in the hands of the government. This border bailout is so bad we’d be opposed it even if it were free.

We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and we oppose it. No … border … bailout.

Show of hands –how many have flown in the last year?

At the beginning of every airline flight, we are reminded that should the cabin lose pressure and the oxygen masks deploy, we need to put them on ourselves first before we reach over to help others.

Why? Because if we don’t take care of ourselves first, we’re no damn good to anybody.

Let’s call it … “The Delta Rule.”

[Sotto voce: Hey, Tea Party Patriots is headquartered just outside Atlanta. I fly Delta Airlines. A lot.]

I suggest that to be truly compassionate, to be truly moral, we apply The Delta Rule on the border …

First, take care of our own … THEN take care of others.

Instead of a border bailout, simply respect the rule of law. Secure the border.

Millions of immigrants come to America – legally – to pursue the American Dream. We admire them for playing by the rules, respecting American law, and contributing to our country and our communities.

We are for legal immigration – and against illegal immigration. There is already a legal path to citizenship for those wishing to come to the United States. Our government should not reward those who choose to get off that path, cut the line, and break the law – to do so would be immoral, in fact, as it would unfairly punish those who chose to follow the law and play by the rules.

By simply respecting the rule of law and securing the border, we will send a message to the rest of the world that we welcome immigrants who come here legally … and reject those who do not.

One of the things that makes America exceptional is the notion that we are a nation of laws, rather than a nation of men.

But we will only be a nation of laws as long as we ABIDE by the laws.

So today I am on a mission – to recruit YOU for a mission … to rally in opposition to this proposed border bailout.

It is IMMORAL for the President to decide on his own, in clear violation of U.S. law, that he will not send back illegal immigrants, no matter WHAT their age. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program must end immediately.

It is IMMORAL for the President to seek to borrow more billions of dollars to pay for his border bailout.

And it is IMMORAL for the Congress to consider giving him what he seeks.

Call your Congressman. Write your Senators.

Give them one simple message – “Vote NO on the border bailout.”

And if you feel so inclined, you can add a more personal note, to give them an extra little bit of incentive – tell them, “Vote NO on the border bailout – or I’LL be voting NO on YOU in November.”

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

Federal appeals court panel deals major blow to the ACA (Obamacare): UPDATED

Art credit: insureblog.blogspot.com

UPDATED: From The Hill:

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that ObamaCare subsidies issued through the federal exchanges are legal, contradicting a separate ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court on the same day.

Fourth Circuit Judge Roger Gregory argued that because the statutory language of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is ambiguous, courts should defer to the interpretation of the Internal Revenue Service and allow the subsides to stand. 

"Applying deference to the IRS's determination … we uphold the rule as a permissible exercise of the agency's discretion," Gregory wrote.

The decision came just hours after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals came to the opposite conclusion in its ruling. . . .

From Cleveland.com:

Taxpayer subsidies of the Affordable Care Act in many states, including Ohio, could be in jeopardy because of a federal appeals court decision this morning.

The case, Halbig v. Sebelius, did not specifically involve Ohio, although the legal scholarship of a particular Ohioan, Case Western Reserve University law professor Jonathan Adler, provided the basis for the argument against providing the subsidies.

In a nutshell, the U.S Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that when Congress wrote the Affordable Care Act, or ACA, it specifically said that federal taxpayer subsidies should help offset the costs for people buying health coverage in new, state-based marketplaces.

But a number of states, including Ohio, declined to set up their own marketplaces, or “exchanges,” in the ACA’s parlance. Instead, they piggybacked on the federal exchange, although each state offered policies specific to insurers and medical providers in the state.

The problem with this, as Adler first found while doing academic research, is that Congress specifically called for subsidies in state exchanges. While the federal exchange offered a fallback in states that would not set up their own, state-specific exchanges – many in states with Republican governors – that did not automatically transfer the right to give subsidies in federal-exchange states. Adler wrote this first in a scholarly paper after reviewing the law, and his analysis soon made the rounds in conservative and libertarian circles and became championed as a legal theory for challenging the ACA.

More than 80 percent of policy buyers on ACA exchanges have relied on subsidies. Three dozen states are using the federal exchange. So in those states, a court agreeing with Adler and other conservative legal authorities could shoot a substantial hole in the underpinnings of the ACA – namely, insurance coverage made affordable through federal subsidies.

In a 2-1 ruling today in Washington, D.C., a federal appeals court did just that. The court ruled that language in the ACA “unambiguously restricts” the taxpayer subsidies to exchanges “established by the state.”

President Barack Obama’s administration argued that Congress intended for subsidies to be offered in every state, and that the ACA established complete equivalence.

But the appeals court said that the wording in the ACA “plainly distinguishes exchanges established by states from those established by the federal government.”

The ruling was 2-1, and parties in the case may ask the full court for an opinion. Some analysts believe the full court may be more friendly to the Obama administration. If not, the Obama administration could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, although that would come with risk.

----------------------

More from The Washington Post is here.

And Jonathan Adler's report in the WaPo is here. 

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Ohio Tea Party Groups say "Well Being of Ohio Citizens Should Come First"

For Immediate Release

Contact:  Marianne Gasiecki
State Co-Coordinator (OH) - Tea Party Patriots
(419) 961-4439

July 17, 2014

American Citizens First Ohio Tea Party Groups say "Well Being of Ohio Citizens Should Come First"

Ohio - July 17, 2014 - Democrat and Republican Governors around the country are refusing to accept the social and financial burden created by this administration's open border philosophy. 

This is why, as Ohio State Coordinators for Tea Party Patriots, we gladly join in support of the over 30 Tea Party and Liberty groups from Ohio, in calling for Governor Kasich to stand strong and resist any attempts by the federal government to relocate the current influx of illegal immigrants, thereby creating a border crisis in Ohio. (Letter attached as PDF)

"Our education and healthcare systems, in all states, are already overburdened, and now taxpayers are being told they are to support the healthcare, education, care and feeding of illegal aliens, because our government refuses to put a stop to the migration, "stated Marianne Gasiecki, Founder of the Mansfield Tea Party and State Co-coordinator for Tea Party Patriots-Ohio. "Now they want to force their failure on the states. Perhaps President Obama should take a lesson from Prime Minister Netanyahu, and put the people of his own country before others."

"The constant claiming of the Democrats and President Obama that they support the middle class, the working poor, etc... rings hollow," said Ralph King, Founder of the Cleveland Tea Party Patriots and fellow State Co-coordinator. "With the Democrats and President Obama's refusal to take action by returning these illegal immigrants to their home countries, it is the same less fortunate American citizens they claim to support, that they will be hurting the most." 

"The failure of this Administration to do their job should not constitute an emergency on our part," continued King. "It is incumbent upon Governor Kasich to put the fiscal well being and social concerns of Ohio citizens first."

We call on all Ohio residents, who are against the relocation of illegal immigrants crossing our border into Ohio, to sign the citizens petition to Governor Kasich at http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/say-no-to-federal-relocation-of-illegal-immigrants. 

Tea Party Patriots stands for every American, and is home to millions who have come together to pursue the American Dream and to keep that Dream alive for their children and grandchildren.

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Updates on Protests in Ohio against amnesty, illegal immigration, and the border surge

Photo credit: mysanantonio.com and Breitbart Texas

From the Mansfield Tea Party, following up on Ohio Tea Party and conservative patriots' opposition to the border surge:

We are witnessing a well planned and systematic invasion of our country, and must be vocal and visible in our opposition.

This week, over 30 Ohio tea party and liberty groups signed a letter to Governor Kasich, insisting he remain strong against proposals to dump illegals in the state of Ohio click here to read the letter. Information regarding this letter was also sent to state and national media outlets.

Additionally, as State Co-coordinators for Tea Party Patriots in Ohio, Ralph King and I issued a press release stating our support of the above mentioned letter (click here to read our statement).  This press release was also sent to state and national media outlets.

In working with other Tea Party Patriot State Coordinators, it is our intent that these letters and press releases will be used across the country in clearly stating American citizens' opposition to the influx and dumping of illegal aliens.

What You Can Do

Sign the Petition to Governor Kasich

Ohio residents are encouraged to join us and sign our petition to Governor Kasich telling him to stand strong and resist federal relocation of illegal aliens to Ohio here.  

Following is some of the language used in the petition:

"This petition concerns the illegal immigration crisis happening on our southern border, in which a massive influx of immigrants is seeking unauthorized entry to the United States. In addition to our outrage over the deliberate role the federal government is taking in this effort that violates our immigration laws, there are serious concerns regarding the government's attempts to relocate illegal aliens in states across the U.S., including Ohio..."

Please feel free to forward this information to others who are in opposition of illegal immigration and amnesty for people who continue to break our laws.

Be Visible in Your Opposition

From our friends at Ohio Citizens for Sensible Immigration:

Americans to protest in Chardon and Cleveland

to coincide with

National Day Of Protesting

Against Immigration Reform,

Amnesty, and Border Surge

Chardon, OH

At the intersection of 

Cherry Avenue & Center Street (RT.44)

Friday, July 18th 11:00am-1:00pm

 Google map here 

Cleveland / Garfield Hts., OH

At the I-480 & Turney Road Overpass (on the Overpass)

Saturday, July 19, 11:00am - 4:00pm

Google map here

Americans want our immigration laws enforced and our borders secured!  Amnesty is unacceptable.  Please join us this Friday with appropriate signs and/or flags!

For more protests taking place in Ohio, go here.

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National Day of Protest Against Amnesty and the Border Surge

Announcement from one of our members and Ohio Citizens for Sensible Immigration:

 Americans to protest 

in Chardon and Garfield Hts.

to coincide with A

National Day Of Protesting

Against Immigration Reform,

Amnesty, and Border Surge

Chardon, Ohio

At the intersection of 

Cherry Avenue & Center Street (Route 44)

Friday, July 18th 11:00am - 1:00pm

 Google map here 

Cleveland / Garfield Hts., OH

At the I-480 & Turney Road Overpass (on the Overpass)

Saturday, July 19, 11:00am - 4:00pm

Google map here

Americans want our immigration laws enforced and our borders secured!  Amnesty is unacceptable.  Please join us this Friday or Saturday with appropriate signs and/or flags!

For more protests taking place in Ohio, go here.

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