Not sure how or why things happened the way they did tonight, and we still have to be vigilant to make sure they don't sneak this crap through when no one shows up for the meeting but...
Citizens showed up at the Nixa City Council meeting with concerns about a couple of ordinances up for a vote tonight and the mayor and council listened and tabled both pending more research.
The ordinances were Bill #2012-88 Adopting the Missouri Clean Energy District “Property Assessed Clean Energy Act (PACE)" and Bill #2012-89 Adopting The Nixa Green Community Program. Both smacked of Agenda 21 when we read the titles and then when we reviewed the language, it was even worse.
Whether or not Sam Clifton and company actually do the research and understand (or care) where the concerns were remains to be seen, but at least they listened. They didn't hear the public comments and then pass the ordinances anyway.
Don't worry, guys, we'll be paying attention.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
Vote your conscience
I'm not sure what brought this on today, but sometimes I apologize to people for Barack Obama winning the presidency because I did not vote for John McCain. But I've been hearing a lot about the conservative vote being split and then the Democrat winning. So I decided to do a little research today.
And guess what? It's not my fault Barack Obama won. Three states, Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina were super close but even if all three had broke for McCain, Obama still would have had 339 electoral votes to McCain's 199.
Ten states had two or greater per cent of ballots cast for third party candidates. John McCain still won eight of those states and in the other two, if all the third party votes had been cast for McCain instead, Barack Obama would have still won. Never mind that there were multiple left wing and right wing candidates from a variety of political parties and the right wing candidates got less than 2000 votes more than the left wing candidates. Just under 200,000 people cast third party votes (and 6251 in Nevada voted "none of the above") in an election where over 131 million votes were cast. Obama got just under 10 million more votes than McCain.
So if it's not my fault Obama won, whose fault is it anyway? I'm going to place the blame squarely on the Republican party. After all, they nominated a moderate instead of a conservative.
Anymore, in my opinion, there's not enough difference between the two parties to say that there is a choice. Seems like the Republicans are the same as the Democrats except they are against abortion.
One more myth to clear up...Ross Perot is the reason Bill Clinton was elected. On the surface, you could say that except...Ross Perot wasn't exactly conservative. Sure he was anti-NAFTA (anyone still remember what that is?) but he was pro-choice, pro-gay rights, anti 4th amendment, pro-Department of Education, and pro-Federal Reserve. He was for bigger government and higher taxes. He did want to cut spending and balance the budget, that's conservative. He wanted to test our children more and increase the length of the school year. He even wanted to take "at-risk" kids out of the home at birth to be raised by the state.
Maybe the reason people voted for Perot is that we Americans have a bit of a stubborn streak. Maybe Perot got his message out in such a way that it resonated with people but they didn't dig in to see his substance. Maybe it was a big ol middle finger to the Establishment.
Maybe Bush and Clinton were, deep down, a lot alike and it finally felt like there was a choice.
On November 6, you have a choice. People will tell you a third party candidate "can't win." But if you cast your vote for someone you actually believe in and not just against someone you dislike, you can't lose.
And guess what? It's not my fault Barack Obama won. Three states, Indiana, Missouri and North Carolina were super close but even if all three had broke for McCain, Obama still would have had 339 electoral votes to McCain's 199.
Ten states had two or greater per cent of ballots cast for third party candidates. John McCain still won eight of those states and in the other two, if all the third party votes had been cast for McCain instead, Barack Obama would have still won. Never mind that there were multiple left wing and right wing candidates from a variety of political parties and the right wing candidates got less than 2000 votes more than the left wing candidates. Just under 200,000 people cast third party votes (and 6251 in Nevada voted "none of the above") in an election where over 131 million votes were cast. Obama got just under 10 million more votes than McCain.
So if it's not my fault Obama won, whose fault is it anyway? I'm going to place the blame squarely on the Republican party. After all, they nominated a moderate instead of a conservative.
Anymore, in my opinion, there's not enough difference between the two parties to say that there is a choice. Seems like the Republicans are the same as the Democrats except they are against abortion.
One more myth to clear up...Ross Perot is the reason Bill Clinton was elected. On the surface, you could say that except...Ross Perot wasn't exactly conservative. Sure he was anti-NAFTA (anyone still remember what that is?) but he was pro-choice, pro-gay rights, anti 4th amendment, pro-Department of Education, and pro-Federal Reserve. He was for bigger government and higher taxes. He did want to cut spending and balance the budget, that's conservative. He wanted to test our children more and increase the length of the school year. He even wanted to take "at-risk" kids out of the home at birth to be raised by the state.
Maybe the reason people voted for Perot is that we Americans have a bit of a stubborn streak. Maybe Perot got his message out in such a way that it resonated with people but they didn't dig in to see his substance. Maybe it was a big ol middle finger to the Establishment.
Maybe Bush and Clinton were, deep down, a lot alike and it finally felt like there was a choice.
On November 6, you have a choice. People will tell you a third party candidate "can't win." But if you cast your vote for someone you actually believe in and not just against someone you dislike, you can't lose.
Monday, August 6, 2012
Election!
I am so over politics it's not even funny. I'm tired of the hate, mudslinging and casting of aspersions. Don't get me wrong...I care, very deeply, about the fate of Christian County, Missouri, and the United States of America. Tomorrow I will certainly go vote and you may even see me at West Finley precinct (Ozark South Elementary) campaigning. But I am just sick of all of it.
Sick of Republicans being called Libertarians because they don't agree with the status quo.
Sick of decent people having their names dragged through the mud because they are different than the status quo.
But mostly sick of the people who ignore the above and continue to give power to the same old network of "good ol' boys."
If you don't like how things are going, you can either ignore it, complain about it or try to do something about it. For the past year or so, I've been trying to fix the problem. I don't know how successful I've been but at least I'm trying.
So tomorrow, if you choose to go to the polls, do some research on the candidates. Don't vote for someone because they have a nice smile or good hair or you knew his dad back in the day or her sister goes to your church. If you haven't had a opportunity to meet the candidates, Google them. Look at their website and Facebook page. See what's in the news about them. If they already hold an office, look at their voting record. See if they have any endorsements. And take everything with a grain of salt. Because the news may only reflect the negative and the candidate's website will probably only highlight the positive. Even voting records can be tricky to decipher...did Candidate X vote for Bill A because he truly believes in it or because he made a deal? Do you think they should even make deals on the county commission, city council, House or Senate? And then make an informed decision.
Below, I'm going to list people I'm either voting for or people I would like to vote for but can't because I don't live in the right area. If I don't endorse anyone it's because I either haven't made up my mind or the person I support is not contested in the primary. I hope there's a great turnout tomorrow!!
U.S. Senate: either Todd Akin or John Brunner (I still haven't made up my mind)
7th Congressional District: Mike Moon
Governor: Bill Randles
Secretary of State: Shane Schoeller
State Rep District 140: Matthew Block
Christian County:
Eastern Commissioner: Robert Palmer
Sheriff: Joey Kyle
Coroner: Brad Cole
Christian County Republican Central Committee (voting location):
East Benton (Bruner Community Center): Robert and Bonnie Palmer
Riverside (James River Assembly and Ozark Upper Elementary): Melissa Wagner
East Finley (First Baptist Church, Ozark): Ronnie White
North Linn (Victory Baptist Church, Ozark): Doyle and Mary Yoder
McCracken (Ozark East Elementary): Bob and Kathryn Estep
Oldfield (Oldfield Church of Christ): Mike Wasson
Northview (High Pointe Elementary and Century Elementary, Nixa): John and Judy Dollarhite
Union Chapel (Nixa Jr. High and Inman Intermediate, Nixa): Thomas and Conetta Taylor
West Finley (Ozark South Elementary): Konni Hall (yes, I am endorsing myself)
I have met and talked with each of the above people personally and among the potential committeemen and women, I consider each of them to be friends and would vouch for any of them. Well, except for that Konni Hall chick. She's kinda out there...
See you at the polls!!
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