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Rensselaer County Taxpayers Association

November 1997                                                                                                                                                     Volume 2, Number 6

Unlike our schools and some public institutions, we can give thanks to God for all the blessings he has bestowed upon us.

This is where freedom starts. Ominously, we see a gray curtain beginning to envelope us in the snare of alien socialism. Folks, we must not let this happen. Our precious children, our culture, and our sacred honor must be upheld.

The socialist agenda for government control over our lives must be opposed. We must not break faith with the founders of this great nation for a mess of potage.

For non-believers, it is just as important to you to have the option to decide for yourself what path to follow, uninhibited by government dictatorship.

The imposition of confiscatory taxes is not the road to freedom. It is the path to economic slavery.

"To have our politicians take a firm stand against higher taxes is akin to having Davis Etkin preach against the evils of gambling."

Great news from - CNN (The Clinton News Network)

Emulating East Greenbush council woman Ginny O’Brien, "I propose" it’s time for a change in the stewardship of East Greenbush town government. Voters should recall the utter disregard for the use of tax money when the party in power, en masse, went on a four-day visit to New York City to attend a meeting "of the towns."

Then, there is the recent expenditures of $2,000 (not taxpayers’ money?) park revenues generated from a tax supported facility. This was followed by an announcement from O’Brien that voters are given a 14-day period to express their views. AFTER THE FACT. That action is atypical in a "democratic" society. Rightfully, you ask first for comments, then you spend. Now just before a town election, Supervisor Van Voris proposes a tax decrease. A little late after the horse is out of the barn.

A local school board was informed by it’s business manager that an unexpected increase in the district’s state aid resulted in an excess of X-thousands of dollars.

One member of the board, a conservative thinker, immediately said that this was great news. He said that it would reduce the next year’s tax rate. The other members of the board were aghast. "Reduce taxes?" the chairman asked. "No, no", he said, "We will use it to pay for things that we have been unable to put into our budgets. This is found money." The other members of the board all agreed. It was inconceivable to them that this money should be given back to the people. Take it from the people, yes, but give it back to them? Such a radical idea must be immediately eradicated.

Someone said that this shows the arrogance of liberals. It transcends arrogance. It is a set of mind. The people only exist to support the government. The government is all good, all knowing, and totally dedicated to their welfare. It will decide what is best, how much it will cost, who will be paid to do it, and when and where it will be done.

What education each person must have, where they will work, how much they will earn, where they will live, with whom they will live, when they may marry, whom they shall marry, how many children they may have and what sex they will be, among other things.

We had this for 70 years in Russia, over 50 years in China and other communist countries and they have murdered over 25 million people in order to enforce these outrages. Yet people in the United States still think that this is the way for government to go.

Have you wondered why Algore and the Prez are making such a fuss about so-called global warming?

The United Nations has recently come up with a so-called global climate plan in which the United States will be blamed for the global warming, which no one has proven, and we will be made to pay the rest of the world for our success.

The United States would be put on a drastic energy diet and be required to reduce energy use by more than 20%.

Why did we say it is "so-called" global? Because 132 of the 166 countries involved are exempt from the treaty. Countries such as India, China and Mexico are exempt. The plan could require nations to be compensated for their damage which their economies have suffered by our successes.

In other words, the United Nations plans to tear the United States down to the level of the undeveloped countries, rather than work to raising them up to our level. The United States will sign this treaty if you don’t object.

The NEA is a cancer on public education. Could NEA president Bob Chase get any more outrageous? He opens his latest opinion piece (FOR TROUBLED SCHOOLS, VOUCHERS ARE CANCER) by claiming American Conservatives "sound like Marxists". His is a shameless attempt to persuade the politically ignorant to oppose school choice by using misinformation and scare tactics. There is nothing Marxist about freedom of choice. Our centralized public school system, however, with funding controlled by organized labor, is fundamentally Marxist.

While the ex-communist countries of the former Soviet Union have abandoned that system in favor of school choice, our public schools, under the iron grip of organized labor, can rightfully claim to be strongest bastions of socialist dogma in the free world.

The creep of socialism into our liberal society has been occurring incrementally over many decades to the point where the formerly complimentary term ‘Liberal’ is now synonymous with ‘Socialist’. To be liberal used to mean you supported free market capitalism and strong individualism free of government intervention. Today, that definition more closely fits conservatism.

Some tax relief is now in sight but there are problems. New York State has passed legislation to effect change. During the next 5 years, $91 billion in proposed tax cuts are due.

For the first time a provision has been made to allow penalty free withdrawals of up to $10,000 from IRA accounts and 401(k) plans to use for the down payment and closing charges on the purchase of a home. These tax measures can be of significance to many, but a far greater number of people will still be overburdened with very high local and school taxes, which is the larger and more immediate problem for the average citizen.

The correct thing to do is to remove real estate taxes and finance public schools through income taxes plus a tuition and revenue from public gambling and other state revenues.

The Supreme Court of Vermont has ruled that it is unconstitutional to fund public education with property taxes and they have directed the state legislature to come up with an alternate means of funding education.

A public referendum could and would settle this matter once and for all.

Can You Compute?

Soon, voters in the East Greenbush school district will be offered the opportunity to vote on another bond proposition, this time it’s $7.2 million for computers. Before engaging in a debate over the merits of spending such a sum, it should be noted that voters for spending propositions are handicapped by a glitch in our voting system.

Specifically, our options are only ‘yes’ or ‘no’. A more democratic method would include options such as a variety of dollar amounts or scope of the project and method of payment or repayment. An ‘all or nothing’ plan being placed before the voters may not be the best plan. In this case, people inclined to vote ‘yes’ for technology may find themselves against a key aspect of the proposition and end up voting ‘no’.

Like many other school districts around the country, ours will now begin a massive campaign to convince voters that their children will be ‘handicapped’ if they are not computer literate before leaving high school. In fact, it has already begun. As reported in the October 2^nd edition of The Rensselaer Beacon, ‘Board member Linda Jones said it was important to move ahead now. "Every time we wait for another class to begin at the high school we handicap another graduating class," Jones said, pointing out that college-bound students are expected to have a large amount of computer experience that Columbia is not yet providing to every student.’

It’s hard to believe that one of Money Magazine‘s top 100 schools in the country has been turning out ‘handicapped’ students all this time, but we applaud any board member who has the courage to admit it.

From the same newspaper we also have this: ‘Board members Jim Baldwin and Michelle LeClair, while stressing that they did not oppose the scope’ (God forbid) ‘of the proposal, did question its implementation at Columbia High School. "Some of the classrooms I was in, there is no way your [sic] going to get five computers in them and still have a functioning classroom," Baldwin said in highlighting his and LeClair’s concerns. "I have real concerns about putting this out there with some of the questions that are going to be looming out there about Columbia High School," he added.’

A question - where did the $7.2 million figure come from and who is the "advisor"?

Recently a well dressed man was accosted and the perpetrator demanded, "Give me all your money." The startled pedestrian replied, "Why, this is an outrage. I am your Congressman." The perpetrator then replied, "Ok, then give me all my money."

New businesses appearing along routes 9 & 20. Good luck to all. Let’s patronize our local people.East
Greenbush Resident

Sixteen per cent of your electric bill goes for taxes. A rip off and a disgrace.
East Nassau Resident

East Greenbush Town Park - a casual observation in mid-July and August. Three workers? - public attendance zero.
Elliott Road Resident

Our election sign ordinance doesn’t appear to work very well, does it?
Columbia Turnpike Resident

East Greenbush town officials have not adequately explained the problem of illegal dumping. Why not?
East Greenbush Resident

"Democracy for sale" is a term to cause all people to cry "shame." President Clinton is now going to franchise coffee klatches.
Averill Park Resident

Why isn’t the public work put out for bid to prevent fraud? Is an investigation due here?
East Greenbush Resident

Senior citizens have experience which builds a database of knowledge. President Clinton’s proposal to fix the IRS only translates into more employees and higher taxes. Seniors know the liberal-conservative politicians track record.
East Greenbush Resident

Why go to Vermont to see fall colors? All that’s necessary is just to look around you.
East Greenbush Resident

The Contract With America is turning out to be a contract with Clinton.
East Greenbush Resident

President Clinton and Hillary and company should have felt safe and secure passing Chappaquidick Island in a 52’ luxury yacht with Teddy Kennedy at the helm.
Rensselaer Resident

All public elections are important. People in socialist countries will tell you that the one thing beyond abiding faith to have, is freedom to vote and have a say in public affairs. A New York State Constitutional Convention will be held next year if the voters say ‘Yes’ this November. This is important.

Another item to consider is the proposed $2.4 billion (that’s $2,400,000,000) New York State school bond. It is alleged that a large percentage of this money will go to New York City. Is this throwing good money after bad? Are not our tax bills high enough?

Governor’s Island in New York Harbor may well serve as a SUNY campus if handled properly. If the politically correct get their hands on it and make it a haven for United Nations Lounge Lizards and foreign socialists, the taxpayers will be stuck once again. We should not allow this to happen.

The Administration in Washington now thinks that by spending more billions of taxpayers’ money on television ads they are going to stop drug addiction. Stopping tornadoes would be just as easy a task. The Administration never mentions that half of the welfare money goes for illegal drugs and alcohol abuse. It also goes for the food stamp black market.

Coming Attractions

• November 4^th general elections are coming up.
• Next meeting, Tuesday, November 11^th, Town Hall, East Greenbush, 7 pm.
• SRCTA Awards Dinner, December 4^th, Evergreen Country Club, 6:30 pm.