Follow the Money (not the leader!)

FINALLY...after seven years, there is talk in the township about cutting spending. Actually, it is more like a whisper. Given that the Township Building Department will be more than a HALF-MILLION DOLLARS short of revenue projections for 2007, we are told by township officials that it is a good time to CUT.

Instead of taking the lead on this issue and doing what is right for taxpayers, the Board of Trustees is having to pull $kip Maccarone in this direction. Why? Big spending politicians like $kip Maccarone never like to cut. We applaud the rest of the Township Board for being prudent in trying to do something to save money. Treasurer Paul Viar has, without a doubt, been one of the most vocal Trustees on spending. He asks questions and demands answers about where OUR money is going. Thank you Mr. Viar.

Now back to $kip. You would think that if $kip wanted to be taken seriously about spending, he would do something serious about spending. However, here again $kip seems more willing to talk the talk than "walk the walk." Those who watch the Board meetings have seen $kip talk and talk and talk and talk about the problems facing the township. Declining state revenue sharing (certainly a major issue) is one of those things $kip talks about all the time. He warns about the dire consequences of these cuts to public safety and township services. Does $kip heed his own dire warnings? Of course not! Never has...and likely never will.

Put up or shut up $kip! When the Board meets to discuss budget restructuring what does $kip do? He graciously decides to reduce expenses in his office by $1,000. That is all $kip can come up with in a multi-million dollar township budget? Since that's all $kip can put up, taxpayers wish he would just shut up!

By comparison, the Treasurer's office will restructure and save us more than $32,000. The Treasurer will eliminate one position. This is a first step toward restoring fiscal sanity in the township. Again, thank you Mr. Viar.

Now, let's get back to $kip. The total savings from the Township Board's restructuring is estimated around $78,000 -- or so the newspapers tell us. Could be more - could be less! But $kip's $1,161 savings from his office is a mere pittance of the total savings to township taxpayers.

$kip tells the newspapers (he loves to talk to reporters!) that the township faces the layoff of two employees because of the budget situation. Then, in the very same article, says that the "laid off" workers can apply for other open positions in the township! Sounds more like a "shift and shaft" policy (shift employees around to shaft taxpayers) than a real policy to reduce costs.

"No one will lose their jobs due to this (restructuring)," Maccarone said. "There will be some changes and some people will be moved around, but no one lost their jobs because of the changes."

Now you know why some people say that government jobs are the most secure jobs around. There is always a pot of money (mind you it is OUR money) to pay the bill. Too bad that men and women living and working in the "real world" (outside government) don't have the same comfort level knowing that they will not lose jobs because of corporate changes.

$kip says these layoffs are the first he can remember since becoming supervisor. Our Township Clerk Terri Kowal says these are the first layoffs she can remember in her 18 years of service to Shelby Township. "We've done everything else we can do," $kip told the press. Oh really? Sorry, but we seriously doubt that!

Success in government hinges on the level of trust politicians have with the people. When you tell them one thing, and do another, that trust is gone. When you make false claims to support your inaccurate statement, that trust is gone. When you spend and spend and spend, at a time when everyone else is cutting, that trust is gone. When you belittle the people who put you in public office, that trust is gone (forever).

To end this post on a humorous note, a reader of this blog sent us an e-mail with an interesting poem. We are reprinting it below in the hope that $kip will read it and note the error of his ways. Hope you enjoy it!

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THE TRUTH ABOUT USER FEES
(The "Hidden Tax")

There once was a king who sat rather alone, on his gilded and cushioned tax-and-spend throne.

His bankers and builders were fairly content, but as far as the government's petty cash went...

The ledger book stuff didn't look all that good, 'cause the king and his cronies spent more than they should.

The king pondered and worried and paced up and down with a king-size and regal empirical frown.

It suddenly hit him, the answer was clear: he needed to hire a slick financier.

There were hucksters and lawyers and swindlers and thieves who had fiddles and diddles and tricks up their sleeves. But the king soon grew weary and sent them away, except for one lonely servant who managed to stay.

"Martini the Counter is my name your Grand Majesty,
and I have an adjustment for your treasury.
A user fee which is invented to please,
and the name of this tax is 'A penny a sneeze.'

"This fee is quite simple and causes no pain
a little exaction on everyone's nose-
a penny-a-sneeze for as long as it goes."
The king smiled and smirked and giggled and gasped,
"A wonderful windfall, solutions at last!"
A week or two later, the sneeze laws were passed.

The king kept on spending, and in very short time'
it was one sneeze a nickel, or three for a dime.
He hired accountants to keep all the books,
and a secret police force to chase after the crooks,
who might hide in their closet in the dark of night
to wheeze or sneeze well out of sight.

Martini in charge now of sneeze revenue,
soon hired the best seven hundred and two
Gesundheit inspectors with beady black eyes,
who denied fees are taxes - "just lies."

The king made a speech when the great moment came.
"Our nation is troubled, our heads bowed in shame.
The kitty is empty, the scepter in pawn,
both Visa and Mastercard are overdrawn.
But there is still hope with the relative ease,
of a small patriotic and taxable sneeze.
So let us all sneeze now. The first one is free.
The others cost money. Let's go: one, two, three...
AH-CHOO!"

The King then got arrogant, he moved much too fast,
these new user fees were too little to last.
So he added hiccups as taxable sin,
then limping, then dandruff, then scratching your chin;
but nothing worked out; so the kitty stayed dry,
and even politicians didn't know why.

The country is poor now, the cities eyesores,
the places of merriment all closed their doors.
The menfolk walk barefoot, their gaze stupified,
the women are trembling, their kids hollow-eyed.
No laughter is heard, and no soft lulliby,
except on occasion a clandestine sigh...
The birds in the trees stopped the songs in their tracks
for fear that there might be a bird-singing tax.

The king has been banished, his minions sent packing.
But his legacy of spending still leaves us lacking,
the money we need to keep our government strong.
You see, the king's taxing and spending was outrageously wrong.

What happened? How come the King lost his touch?
The truth is that a penny a sneeze ... was a penny too much!

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So remember this poem the next time $kip Maccarone talks about the need to raise "fees." Since becoming Supervisor, $kip has raised fees and assessements on residents, businesses and landowners. Now, with the township's Building Department being $500,000 in the red this year, watch out for even higher fees down the road! How else will $kip raise the money to build and operate his $50 million township "campus?"

President Ronald Reagan, one of the greatest presidents of our time, once told us that "A f-e-e is a t-a-x." He went on to point out how liberals always look for ways to justify higher spending by raising fees, called by some political observers as the "HIDDEN TAX."

Anyway you collect them, fees are just a slick method of imposing higher TAXES on ordinary citizens.

Remember, if you want to join this campaign to Stop Skip Maccarone in 2008, send us an e-mail at stopskip08@aol.com.