Action Alert: STOP THE SEWER RATE INCREASE

ACTION ALERT

Stop the Sewer Rate Increase

At the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (NEORSD) public hearing this past Wednesday night nearly 250-300 people showed up to voice their displeasure's over the proposed sewer rate increase. Other than Julius Ciaccia (NEORSD Executive Director), the only NEORSD Board Members present were Middleburg Hts Mayor Gary Starr & Ron Sulik. 

After hearing comments from citizens & Tea Party members from across the District, when asked if he would support the moratorium on the rate increase -- Mr. Sulik "was still undecided."  Whereas, Mayor Starr was a "star" in speaking out against this gross abuse of power by the NEORSD & the U.S. EPA and requested a 1yr moratorium on these increases that will cause an increase in your sewer bill to more than $50 a month by 2016 and eventually to more than $140 per month.

The increase to fund the $3 Billion Clean Lake Project is over, above & separate from the additional Storm Water Management Fees the NEORSD is also seeking to impose on behalf of the U.S. EPA & the Clean Water Act.

The NEORSD will vote on this rate increase at 12:30pm on December 2, 2010. In a NEORSD meeting held today, Mayor Starr made a motion to re-schedule the time of this meeting at 7:00pm so it would afford the public the availability to attend this meeting.  NOT ONE BOARD MEMBER WOULD SECOND THE MOTION! In fact, NEORSD Board President Darnell Brown found Mayor Starr's Motion -- out of order!

By not attending the public hearing & then by the refusing to even Second a Motion rescheduling the vote at a time where it can be witnessed by the very public they wish impose a tax on by federal edict, shows the board members of the NEORSD, a court-created regulatory & taxing agency created on behalf of the EPA for enforcement of the Clean Water Act (ORC 6119), could care a less about the further hardships their vote will cause on this already financially & economically distressed region.

Our first steps are getting the moratorium in place -- Please contact  the NEORSD Board members and voice your opinion on the increases and request the meeting be reset for 7pm and, the 1yr moratorium be put in place.  Please read entire post for complete list of people to contact.

NEORSD Board Members

Darnell Brown (President)
PH: (216)-664-3990
Email: mayorsactioncenter@city.cleveland.oh.us
Email ATT: Darnell Brown

Ron Sulik (Vice-President)
Email: chapmanj@neorsd.org ATT: Ron Sulik

Mayor Dean DePiero (Secretary)
PH: (440) 885-8001
Fax: 440-885-8012
Email: mayorsoffice@cityofparma-oh.gov

Sheila Kelly (Member)
PH: (216) 295-0100

Walter O'Malley (Member)
PH: (216)621-3090
FX: (216)696-0660
Email: local38@ibew38.org

Mayor Jack Bacci (Member)

PH: (216) 641-7020

FX: 216-641-8485
Email: j.bacci@cuyahogaheights.com

Mayor Gary Starr (Member)

Do not contact; Supports Moratorium

The EPA has recently granted a moratorium in FL, please contact the below EPA offices and request they do the same for here...

EPA Offices

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Lisa Jackson (Administrator)
PH: (202)564-4700

US Environmental Agency / Region 5

Susan Hedman (Region 5 Administrator)
PH: (312)886-3000
Email: hedman.susan@epa.gov

Ohio Environmental Protection Agency

Chris Korleski (Director)
PH: (614) 644-2782
FX: (614) 644-3184
Email: chris.korleski@epa.state.oh.us

Laura Powell (Asst. Director)
PH: (614) 644-2782
Fx: (614) 644-3184
Email: Laura.Powell@epa.state.oh.us

OH EPA N/E Ohio District

Bill Skowronski (District Chief)
PH: (330) 963-1130
FX: (330) 487-0769

Keith Riley (Asst. District Chief)
PH: (330) 963-1111
FX: (330)487-0769
Email: keith.riley@epa.state.oh.us

When you are done contacting the above NEORSD Board members & EPA offices, we urge you to also call the following people;

County Executive-Elect Ed Fitzgerald
PH: (216) 529-6600
Email: mayor@lakewoodoh.net

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson
PH: (216)664-3990
Email: mayorsactioncenter@city.cleveland.oh.us

Mayor & Council of your City

When contacting your Mayor & Council express your dismay they were not present at the NEORSD meeting last night representing your community.  Ask them if their absence meant they don't care about the increases or does their absence mean they support them?

Mayor Starr of Middleburg Hts has contacted all 63 communities in the NEORSD and has requested they sign on to a statement supporting the request for a moratorium on the rate increase.  To date the cities that have signed on in support are; Village of Macedonia, City of Lyndhurst, City of Broadview Hts.

Most likely your Mayor and/or Council member will tell you they have no authority over the NEORSD and there is nothing they can do.  They are to stand and fight against anything that negatively affects the residents & city they represent.  Should they not come out publicly against this draconian sewer rate increase -- you will remember this when it is time for their re-election.

County Councilman-Elect Dave Greenspan, Middleburg Hts Councilman-at-Large Ray Guttman & Middleburg Hts Ward 4 Councilman John Grech & former Congressman Ron Mottl were the ONLY other public officials in attendance. They have no authority over the NEORSD either - but they were there standing with the residents against this sewer rate increase. Congratulations to these elected officials for doing the right thing! 

And why weren't the elected officials of your city present?  Call and find out -- ask that they also support the moratorium. Email us back at clevelandteaparty@gmail.com and we will make their answers and responses public. Click here for more on some recent EPA actions.

Please continue checking back for more contact information or join our email list by signing up at www.clevelandteaparty.com for updates.

Tea Party Patriots "Freshmen Orientation" a Smashing Success!

Largest Meeting Of Local Tea Party Leaders Meet In DC With Freshmen Congressmen & Launch Exciting New Action Plan

Immediate Release

(West Palm Beach, FL) South Florida Tea Party Leaders and over 200 tea party leaders from 31 states met in Washington, DC with Freshmen Congressmen and develop an "action plan". This is the largest meeting of local tea party leaders ever.

Since July, a Tea Party Patriots, nationally the largest and original tea party group, has been working with its over 3,000 local tea party leaders coordinators to meet with incoming Congressmen for a "Tea Party Orientation."

In addition to the "Freshmen Orientation," local tea party leaders spent a day sharing best practices, brainstorming, and voting on items for their action plan. In a true bottom up grassroots organization format, all tea party leaders were given equal rights on voting.

"We heard from excellent speakers and found ourselves in the company of some of the cleverest people in the movement. It was a pleasure to spend the weekend with such a high caliber of tea party activists. The tea party movement is in very good hands." Andrew Ian Dodge, Tea Party Patriots Maine Coordinator.

"The information we've received here has been absolutely stunning, this gathering has surpassed my best expectations. It really shows that we are a permanent force to be reckoned with." Shelby Blakely, Director/Host - TPP Radio, National Leadership Council/WA State Coordinator - Tea Party Patriots

John Stahl of the Berks Tea Party.org in PA said, " A wonderful experience! We were able to let new Congress people know what we want them to do to restore America. We have our work cut out for us. They now know who we are and what we can do, Giving them our agenda, allows for a dialogue while at the same time, we get them on board with our basic principles."

"I am excited about the ideas that came out of the meeting," Everett Wilkinson, Florida State Coordinator and Chairman of South Florida Tea Party. "We met with several Freshmen and let them know that we will be there for them. I also feel very confident that the tea party is going to be here 4 years and 40 years from now!"

Press Contact:
Everett Wilkinson
Florida Tea Party
South Florida Tea Party
Everett@southfloridateaparty.org
561-880-5790

###

Earmark Myth & Reality

There has been much debate within the Tea Party movement about the Senate proposal to ban all earmarks. While this may not be our "hill" to die on, there is no doubt that we must make this stand against earmarks if we are to stop or change the culture in D.C.

Below is an op-ed from Senator Tom Coburn in support of the Senate earmark ban...

From National Review Online --

As Senate Republicans prepare to vote on an earmark moratorium, I would encourage my colleagues to consider four myths and four realities of the debate.

Myths of the earmark debate:

1. Eliminating earmarks does not actually save any money

This argument has serious logical inconsistencies. The fact is earmarks do spend real money. If they didn’t spend money, why defend them? Stopping an activity that spends money does result in less spending. It’s that simple. For instance, Congress spent $16.1 billion on pork in Fiscal Year 2010. If Congress does not do earmarks in 2011, we could save $16.1 billion. In no way is Congress locked into to shifting that $16.1 billion to other programs unless it wants to.

2. Earmarks represent a very tiny portion of the federal budget and eliminating them would do little to reduce the deficit

It’s true that earmarks themselves represent a tiny portion of the budget, but a small rudder can help steer a big ship, which is why I’ve long described earmarks as the gateway drug to spending addiction in Washington. No one can deny that earmarks like the Cornhusker Kickback have been used to push through extremely costly and onerous bills. Plus, senators know that as the number of earmarks has exploded so has overall spending. In the past decade, the size of government has doubled while Congress approved more than 90,000 earmarks.

Earmarks were rare until recently. In 1987, President Reagan vetoed a spending bill because it contained 121 earmarks. Eliminating earmarks will not balance the budget overnight, but it is an important step toward getting spending under control.

3. Earmarking is about whose discretion it is to make spending decisions. Do elected members of Congress decide how taxes are spent, or do unelected bureaucrats and Obama administration officials?

It’s true that this is a debate about discretion, but some in Congress are confused about discretion among whom. This is not a struggle between the executive branch and Congress but between the American people and Washington. Do the American people have the right to spend their own money and keep local decisions at the local level or does the federal government know best? Earmarks are a Washington-knows-best solution. An earmark ban would tell the American people that Congress gets it. After all, it’s their money, not ours.

An earmark moratorium would not result in Congress giving up one iota of its spending power. In any event, Republicans should be fighting over how to cut government spending, not how to divide it up.

4. The Constitution gives Congress the responsibility and authority to earmark

Nowhere does the Constitution give Congress the authority to do earmarks. The concept of earmarking appears nowhere in the enumerated powers or anywhere else in the Constitution. The so-called “constitutional” argument earmarks is from the same school of constitutional interpretation that led Elena Kagan to admit that Congress had the authority to tell the American people to eat their fruits and vegetables every day. That school, which says Congress can do whatever it wants, gave us an expansive Commerce Clause, Obamacare, and a widespread belief among members of Congress that the “power of the purse” is the power to pork.

Earmark defenders are fond of quoting Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution which says, “No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law.” They also refer to James Madison’s power of the purse commentary in Federalist 58. Madison said the “power of the purse may, in fact, be the most complete and effectual weapon with which any constitution can arm the immediate representatives of the people.”

Yet, earmark proponents ignore the rest of the Constitution and our founders’ clear intent to limit the power of Congress. If the founders wanted Congress to earmark funds to specific recipients, micromanage American society, and ride roughshod over state and local government they would have given Congress that authority in the enumerated powers. They clearly did not.

Our founders anticipated earmark-style power grabs from Congress and spoke against such excess for the ages. James Madison, the father of the Constitution said, “With respect to the two words ‘general welfare,’ I have always regarded them as qualified by the detail of powers connected with them. To take them in a literal and unlimited sense would be a metamorphosis of the Constitution into a character which there is a host of proofs was not contemplated by its creators.”

Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to James Madison, spoke directly against federally-funded local projects. “[I]t will be the source of eternal scramble among the members, who can get the most money wasted in their State; and they will always get the most who are the meanest.” Jefferson understood that earmarks and coercion would go hand in hand.

Also, if earmarks were a noble constitutional tradition, how did we thrive for 200 years without an earmark favor factory in Congress?

Finally, for those worried about ceding constitutional authority to the executive branch, I would respectfully remind them that the president has zero authority to spend money outside of the authority Congress gives him. The way to hold the executive branch accountable is to spend less and conduct more aggressive oversight. Earmarks are a convoluted way for Congress to try to regain authority they have already ceded to the executive branch through bad legislation. The fact is there is nothing an earmark can do that can’t be done more equitably and openly through a competitive grant process.

Beyond these myths, I would encourage members to consider the following realities.

1. Earmarks are a major distraction

Again, earmarks not only do nothing to hold the executive branch accountable — by out-porking the president — but take Congress’ focus away from the massive amount of waste and inefficiency within federal agencies. In typical years, the number of earmark requests outnumbers oversight hearings held by the Appropriations Committee by a factor of 1,000 to 1. Instead of processing tens of thousands of earmark requests the Senate should increase the number of oversight hearings from a few dozen to hundreds. The amount of time and attention that is devoted to the earmark chase is a scandal waiting to be exposed.

2. This debate is over among the American people and the House GOP

If any policy mandate can be derived from the election it is to spend less money. Eliminating earmarks is the first step on that path. The House GOP has accepted that mandate. The Senate GOP now has to decide whether to ignore not only the American people but their colleagues in the House. The last thing Senate Republicans should be doing is legislative gymnastics to get around the House GOP earmark ban.

3. Earmarking is bad policy

In recent years the conventional wisdom that earmarks create jobs has been turned on its head. The Obama administration’s stimulus bill itself, which is arguably a collection of earmarks approved by Congress, proves this point. Neither Obama’s stimulus nor Republican stimulus — GOP earmarks — is very effective at creating jobs.

Harvard University conducted an extensive study this year of how earmarks impact states. The researchers expected to find that earmarks drive economic growth but found the opposite.

“It was an enormous surprise, at least to us, to learn that the average firm in the chairman’s state did not benefit at all from the unanticipated increase in spending,” said Joshua Coval, one of the study’s authors. The study found that as earmarks increase capital investment and expenditures by private businesses decrease, by 15 percent specifically. In other words, federal pork crowds out private investment and slows job growth. Earmarks are an odd GOP infatuation with failed Keynesian economics that hurts local economies.

Earmarks also crowd out funding for higher-priority items. Transportation earmarks are a good example. Pork projects like the Bridge to Nowhere and bike paths divert funds from higher priority projects according to a 2007 Department of Transportation inspector general report. Thousands of bridges continue to be in disrepair across America in part because Congress has taken its eye off the ball and indulged in parochial spending.

4. Earmarking is bad politics

If the Senate GOP wants to send a signal that they don’t get it and are not listening they can reject an earmark moratorium. For Republicans, earmarks are the ultimate mixed message. We’ll never be trusted to be the party of less spending while we’re rationalizing more spending through earmarks. The long process of restoring fiscal sanity in Washington begins with saying no to pork.

— Sen. Tom Coburn represents the state of Oklahoma in the U.S. Senate.

Democrats come to agreement on House Leadership Roles

Although the GOP tornado on election day caused the House to fall on Nancy Pelosi, it appears the Wicked Witch of the West Wing has worked out a deal that will allow her to keep the leadership broom for the House Democrats...

From Politico --

House Democrats have reached a deal to keep both Reps. Steny Hoyer and James Clyburn in the leadership, with Hoyer (D-Md.) serving as minority whip and Clyburn (D-S.C) taking a new, as-yet-still-undefined number three position.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calf.) who is seeking the minority leader's job in the next Congress, reached an agreement with Clyburn on late Friday night, and Democratic leaders quickly announced the deal.

The agreement ends a race between Hoyer and Clyburn for minority whip while leaving Rep. John Larson (Conn.) as Democratic Caucus chairman, the number four leadership position. More...

In the stand off over states accepting Stimulus funds and in a full frontal assault on state rights, Clyburn, former Majority Whip for the Democrats, inserted a last minute measure empowering state legislative leaders to accept the special federal aid if a governor fails to act within 45 days of the measure’s enactment....

“Just before the House passed President Obama’s $819 billion economic-stimulus bill Wednesday evening, Clyburn inserted an amendment empowering state legislative leaders to accept the special federal aid if the governor fails to act within 45 days of the measure’s enactment…

“Clyburn made it clear his provision was aimed squarely at Sanford.”

Then in typical liberal race-baiting fashion, Clyburn also claimed the states refusing to take Stimulus Funds were racist...

House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., amplified earlier statements that the governors' hesitation in accepting stimulus money had insulted him because "these four states are in the heart of the black belt.''

Clyburn singled out Republican Govs. Mark Sanford of South Carolina, Rick Perry of Texas, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Haley Barbour of Mississippi.

So what does all this mean? It means, with the House Democrats electing more of the same type of 'leaders' that have led to the decline of the United States -- it shows they have not learned their lesson and we will have our work cut out for us over the next two years.

Boehner Joins States' Effort to overturn Obama Care

Presumptive new Speaker of the House, John Boehner (OH-8) has filed a brief in support of the lawsuits filed by 20 state attorney generals against Obama Care...

Congressman John Boehner (R-West Chester) filed a legal brief today backing the growing state legal revolt against the job-killing health care law, which Boehner -- a former small businessman -- and other Republicans have warned will continue to cost our economy jobs unless it is repealed and replaced.

Boehner’s brief supports a lawsuit filed by 20 state attorneys general and the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), the nation’s largest small business association.

“I’m proud to stand with these states and the NFIB on behalf of America’s workers in the revolt against this job-killing health care law,” Boehner said. “Of course, the easiest way to prevent this health care law from costing our economy more jobs is to heed the outcry for its repeal.  That’s why Republicans have made a pledge to America to repeal this job-killing health care law and replace it with reforms that bring down costs and protect American jobs.”

Boehner’s brief requests leave from the trial judge to file an amicus brief challenging the constitutionality of the ‘individual mandate’ at the heart of the job-killing health care law.  In August, primary voters in Missouri rejected the mandate by a nearly 2.5-to-1 margin. Two months prior to that, House Democrats voted to reject a GOP proposal to repeal the mandate.

Earlier this week, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) announced his intent to file a brief backing the states’ lawsuit.

Now that Mike DeWine will be State Attorney General for OH we fully expect him to fulfill his campaign promise of having OH join these lawsuits against Obama Care.  Lawsuits against Obama Care is how this over reaching government intrusion in our life will be stopped. 

Defunding sounds good, is great for sound bytes & headlines -- but will or may have minimal effect on stopping Obama Care.  Congress can vote to defund all they want, and they should, but this will not stop the implementation of Obama Care. Not funding any of the newly created departments can and will most likely be circumvented by forcing the burden of enforcing these mandates on the states -- much like Medicare & Medicaid, etc..., through regulation.  As we have witnessed in the past, the federal government 'farms out' these duties to the states.  Then when states fail to meet these mandates they are threatened with loss of federal dollars for highway, schools, etc...

So the burden of funding these mandates can be passed on to the already cash-strapped states.  Much like the federal government & the EPA is doing with bypassing legislation for Cap & Trade and in effect enacting it through regulation.

So along with State Attorney General elect Mike DeWine promise of initiating legal proceedings against Obama Care & now that OH has turned 'red' our newly elected State Legislature should proceed with supporting the PCCOH's efforts for a State Sovereignty Amendment to the OH Constitution or begin crafting legislation to this effect. 

Our three branches of government, Executive, Legislative & Judicial, have a built in checks and balance system. The check & balance on the federal government is the states -- this is what makes our state sovereignty rights so vitally important in this fight against not only Obama Care, but illegal immigration, any Cap & Trade legislation and, any attempts of over-reaching regulation by federal entities under directives or mandates from the Executive Office in violation of our State Constitution.

Cigarette Nazi's at it AGAIN!

The nanny-state nitwits have convinced the Goose-Stepping Secretary of Health & Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius, to force cigarette companies into printing color photos of tobacco related diseases and corpses of lung cancer victims on cigarette packs....

From Legacy for Health --

Legacy applauds HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and the

leadership at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its bold new effort announced today to dramatically reduce the number of American lives lost annually to tobacco-related disease. Still the number one preventable cause of death, tobacco continues to claim more than 400,000 lives each year in the United States.

Today’s announcement included a proposed rule, Required Warnings for Cigarette Packages and Advertisements, requiring more prominent warnings to better communicate the deadly effects of tobacco. As Secretary Sebelius shared with us today, anyone who picks up a pack of cigarettes will soon clearly understand the risk that comes with smoking. Placing prominent color photos and warning statements will hopefully help young smokers make more informed decisions about lighting up, and give current smokers a renewed commitment to quit their addiction for good.

The proposed graphic warnings would significantly cover the front of cigarette packs, replacing the current warnings on the narrow side of cigarette packs, and would be required as part of the new proposed rule. The proposed warnings include images of tobacco-related cancers and even the corpse of an individual who has passed away from lung cancer. More....

So you hate smoking and don't care that the governement Brown Shirts are stepping on someone's rights?  That's great fast-food Sparky -- because besides other things, the HHS Hamburgler's are already attacking  Happy Meals, salt intake, banning of trans fats, drinking of Coke/Pepsi, etc...

I wonder if this means they will put a picture of Nancy Pelosi's face on the door of all plastic surgeon offices? 

National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility & Reform releases Report

Co-Chairs of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility & Reform, former Sen. Alan Simpson and Bill Clintons ex Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles, released their bipartisan plan for reducing federal spending and deficits. Needless to say, many of the "feed at the federal trough" entitlement groups were less than thrilled spitless.

Below is a statement from Tax Payers for Common Sense President Ms. Ryan Alexander & some info supporting some of the proposals in the plan....

The co-chairs’ proposal makes clear that they are serious about leaving no budgetary stone unturned. While many sacred cows were put up for sacrifice, some remain. And just as no one likes to see their tax dollars wasted, no one likes to see their favorite program on the chopping block. Policymakers and interest groups across the spectrum are already leaping to attack almost every proposed reform. To overcome opposition the proposals cannot simply be aspirational instead of implementable and projected savings need to be real and realistic.

But political challenges should not deter the Commission and Congress as we move ahead. This is a great starting place for the commission’s work. These proposals challenge the Commission and Congress to make the kind of hard decisions it is going to need to make if there is any hope of putting the government’s finances on a more sustainable path. We cannot afford to squander this opportunity to rid the budget of ineffective and wasteful spending – from energy and agriculture subsidies to wasteful defense spending practices – and put the country in a better position to face the challenges ahead, whether from global economic shocks or threats from terrorism.

Taxpayers for Common Sense looks forward to working with the Commission to adopt a strong proposal that is adopted by Congress
Research by TCS on some of the Co-Chair’s Proposals

Defense:


We are less convinced savings from Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ proposed Pentagon reforms should be applied toward deficit reduction. Laudable as the reforms are, we’re unsure the methods he’s outlined will produce the savings he’s promised. Likewise with defense contracting reforms: Though we have long advocated for such steps, it’s difficult to measure just how much savings these reforms will produce and foolhardy to budget around it.

Energy:


Issues in the Report in General:Bridge the Partisan Budget Divide

Highway Trust Fund:Finding New Fixes for the Highway Trust Fund
Highway Trust Fund Fix Hurts Taxpayers

Abandoned Mines:More than 161,000 Abandoned Mines in the West

Market Access Project:Representatives Murphy and Garrett Introduce Bill to End the Wasteful Market Access Program

Congressional Pay Raise:Let’s Stop the Congressional Pay Raise

Army Corps of Engineers:Taxpayers Must Not Carry Water for Bad Projects: Comments on the Draft Principles and Standards for Water Resource Projects

Doc Fix:Intensive Care Budgets

Medicare Part D:Prescription Propaganda

Medicare and Social Security:Next President’s Challenge: Medicare and Social Security

Agriculture Disaster Aid:Taxpayers Plowed Under
Cultivating Cash As in today’s proposal, we have historically called for eliminating business tax expenditures, including the LIFO method of accounting and energy tax preferences for the oil and gas industry. We would go further to include loan guarantees to mature industries, like nuclear power, and eliminating other subsidies to energy companies. We applaud the Commission for taking on some sacred cows in its defense proposals. Budget-watchers agree Defense Department health care programs such as Tricare are in desperate need of reform despite political aversion to taking them on. We are also confident our military can absorb the suggested topline cuts in procurement and research & development without compromising our security.  

Taxpayers for Common Sense has also put out a list of Common Sense Reforms for the incoming 112th Congress that can read by clicking here.