Redistribution

It has been a long standing claim by the Republican Party, especially nationally, that Democrats are nothing but a bunch of evil liberals that believe in taking a person's hard earned money and giving it to those who are too lazy to work. Basically it is the 'Redistribution of Wealth' argument that we have heard so loudly over the past couple of years. Many also call it subsidization or the act of the government subsidizing a particular group in an effort to assist that particular group. Taking money from one group and giving it to another is redistribution. The Federal government has been subsidizing ethanol productions which is why our gasoline and products made with corn have become so expensive. The State of Florida does this with its own tourist agency that helps to advertise for a tourism market that should be able to advertise itself. Osceola County did this just a month back when they decided to subsidize the fire fees of some groups but not make any attempt to lower fees for the average home owner. And finally in the redistribution list, we were surprised when a local City Commissioner claimed that he was behind another effort to redistribute local wealth.

City of Kissimmee Commissioner Art Otero is proudly standing behind his request that the Kissimmee Utility Authority find ways reduce the electric bills to small business owners. His request has already been put into action and will reduce the electric bills of approximately 6,000 small businesses that consume less than 1,500 kilowatt-hours per month. For those businesses that consume more than that, they will be hit with a fee increase of 2.9 percent per kilowatt-hour for the same service. Basically, Commissioner Otero who is a Republican, has championed the redistribution of wealth from some of our county's biggest employers to those who are able to keep their energy costs low. Oh, did we mention that these same larger scale employers also pay more in taxes and fees than the 6,000 small businesses added together. Seems fair doesn't it?

While the WayneWho staff understands the desire of Commissioner Otero to help the small business community, we would urge someone with even the most basic understanding of business economics to go over ideas like this before they are put into action. Finding ways to cripple our largest employers and paving a path to more local layoffs in the private markets is not sound economic policy. Hurting the businesses that pay the most in taxes, which is what every government is crying for, makes no sense at all. Creating another barrier to brining in larger businesses into our community is economically dangerous at best. Basically, Commissioner Otero and the brains at KUA have created one of the largest obstacles to economic development we have seen so far. A 'Small Business Subsidization Usage Fee' is just not smart for the future of the City of Kissimmee. We would hope that next time someone has what they think is a bright idea, they will think before they act.

American Honor

The WayneWho staff would like to salute Osceola County School Board member Julius Melendez who will spend most of next year overseas because he will be deployed by the U.S. Army National Guard to the Middle East. He will be serving an ever growing responsibility that America's service members have been asked to fulfill, and we would like to offer our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to not only Mr. Melendez, but to all of America's service members.

The WayneWho staff has noticed a strong push in local publications to clarify that Mr. Melendez will be able to continue to 'serve' his constituents and 'serve' in his role as a school board member. We have to wonder what kind of person or group would suggest otherwise. We have caught some of the cross traffic of those who are angling for their shot at School Board super-stardom and we can say we are stunned at the lack of support by a select few for a U.S. service member. We are glad to hear that Mr. Melendez plans on continuing to be part of the meetings using technology, and we would encourage his continued participation even though we do not feel this is a demand that is warranted. While the great men and women of our nation answer the call of duty in a foreign land, it is our job to make sure things stay straight back here at home. If the rest of the school board can not handle the job while Mr. Melendez answers the call of our nation, then we need work on replacing them, not the other way around. As we have stated, we would like to encourage Mr. Melendez's participation not only because we would feel honored to have it, but because we think that his perspective on many of the petty issues that are created by, or come before the School Board, will be of great value. Nothing brings clarity of how incredible it is to be a United States Citizen than being thrown into the war-torn areas of middle east.

While we do not fault any of the news coverage from our local media about how Mr. Melendez is going to continue to serve as a School Board Member during his deployment, we wish the tone of the stories would have been different. Call us old-school, but we feel the articles should have been focused on what our community is going to do to support Mr. Melendez and his family during his deployment. Instead of School Board members just being "willing to work with Melendez’s schedule, as long as he would be allowed by his superiors to participate in School Board meetings," and the members offering "hope that they (the United States Military) does everything they can to accommodate us (the Osceola County School Board)," we would have hoped that story would have been focused on the support the other School Board Members have for our service men and women and their families. Maybe the School Board should get behind an effort to send care packages to not only Mr. Melendez, but to all of Osceola County's service members serving in a combat theater. Maybe School Board Member Wheeler could use his weekly updates for more than stories of police officers breaking the rules based on what political candidate a speeder supports, or stories about how the 'updates' themselves have saved the school board from self-destruction, and it could be used to spread the word on what our local service members and their families might need. If nothing else maybe we could use this as a teaching moment to help our children understand the price of freedom and then have them organize a letter drive to make sure that all of our local servicemen and women abroad feel the warmth and support of home. The WayneWho staff feels that we can do better than being upset if we don't get enough teleconferencing time.

Let's not forget those that serve. We can do better.

(Today's Picture is of Iraq War Veteran Brian Fontaine who was severely wounded serving our country.)

To The Rescue

The WayneWho staff finds it amazing that the Federal Government has had to once again step in and fix a mess in Osceola County. While our commissioners like to talk tough about how worried they are of the 'Vanilla Scare' of our country being taken in a socialist direction by an administration that advocates the conservative value of personal responsibility, they once again have forced the Federal Government to step in an solve a problem that they could not make a decision on by themselves. First it was voting rights, then it was voting rights again, and now the Federal Government is having to step in and tell Osceola County to shut down a landfill or face fines. Maybe we could cut the budget by getting rid of the middleman commission and just set up a more efficient system of local order takers that let the Federal Government make all the decisions. There would be very little difference between this and what our leaders are doing right now except that it would finally give us the ability to lower taxes. It would also keep our county from looking like a bunch of know-nothings that can't figure out the concept of self-government.

We urge the County Commission to start using that experience that they promised they had during the election season. We can only hope that the newly instituted practice meetings will allow them to finally get Osceola County government under control and turn it in the direction the citizens have asked for. Let's make things right and not force outsiders to fix all of our problems. Take some responsibility. We can do it.

Resistance is Futile

Economic development party planners have released the hint that there is a new project in the works. Project 'Borg' is being being heralded as a major win for Kissimmee and surrounding Osceola County residents. Although only sketchy details were being released, it appears that the Kissimmee City Commission has approved plans for a 30 foot high 'cube' shaped fountain that has a hidden doorway that allows park visitors to enter. The 'cube' was reportedly designed by a hive drone who rumor has it was given the Borg name of 'JEFRË' upon assimilation into the collective. Reports from insiders have revealed that the intent of Project 'Borg' is to turn average citizens into government yes-men drones which would eliminate the need for local governments to produced effective results. The 'cube' promises to make even the most tax exhausted citizen a happy and chipper part of the team. The hive mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Of course this story could be a cover story that has been leaked to throw local bloggers off the track of the real story. We have also heard rumors from other sources that the 'Cube' called 'Rain' is actually a continuation of the round-a-bout homeless bathing station that came under fire over the past couple of years. The new design was commissioned to attract the dwelling challenged using rhythmical water patterns and the smell of chicken wings. At certain points the water fountain would sense the presence of the un-homed and slow its water flow to a trickle allowing for the perpetually out-of-doors to enter into the self cleaning shower facility. Once inside, the 'cube' would facilitate the scrubbing and cleaning of those who had stepped inside. Park visitors on the outside would never be aware that just a few feet from their gaze were people being showered like the scrub-down scene in the movie SilkWood.

This is probably just another false story.

Of course the editors at the Osceola News-Gazette have endorsed the building of 'Rain' and spending $750,000 because they believe it is not a waste of money. Their argument is that during the long and painfully economic recovery ahead, spending money on a project like this is justified because "Many cities and towns have their fountains and public places that are centerpieces of attention" and they believe that in time people will be saying "Meet me at the cube." That is logic that we can just not argue. We are not even sure where to begin. That funny part is that we were not even going to debate about the 'Cube' bathing system. We planned to have some fun with it, but as we get older we realize that our vision of classic art is very different from the younger generations. If water flowing over a block is a big deal to people who will spend money in the downtown, then we say build it. Just don't make up a bunch of lame arguments like building the 'cube' is going to create jobs or that building the 'cube' is somehow akin to 'The New Deal' from the Great Depression Era. These arguments are moronic at best. What the Lakefront Project and the 'Cube' represent are the non-existent backyards of those who live in high density areas. This is a chance for those in condos and apartments to have some green space of their own. The WayneWho staff doesn't think you need any more of a sales pitch than that. Besides, resistance if futile.

Boom Boom Pow

Some blowhard builders’ association representative from South Florida recently wrote an opinion column in the Sentinel in which he essentially said that half of the state’s unemployment could be relieved if builders were simply able to go back to building the amount of homes they were building a couple of years ago. A key part of his plan was that local governments should drop project approvals, development requirements, and impact fees to make this happen.
Of course, this “build it and they will come” mentality was a key component of where we are today. People couldn’t afford houses, but credit was cheap, so anyone with a pulse was approved for up to 100% of the inflated purchase price of a new home. And now, if you have cash in hand, you can join a bus tour or go to an auction in a nice hotel conference room and buy those slightly-used homes for nickels on the dollar.

This plan also fails to account for the holding costs between when a builder acquires land and breaks ground on the project vs. the time it takes for enough people to gain employment and funds in order to buy the completed home. The longer that holding period lasts, the more the builder or some intermediary is on the hook for taxes, maintenance, insurance, and marketing, and in the meantime their home becomes dated as consumer tastes change.
So at WayneWho, we were thinking about things that could be made today and kept in a warehouse for a few years, if needed, and still have value. In this manner, an employer could hire employees today to start cranking this stuff out, taking advantage of the available workforce, and reduced costs of plant and materials, without having to worry (as much) about what would happen if they couldn’t sell the finished product for a year or two.

One thought came to us. Ammunition. Bullets. Bang-bang devices.

As far as we know, ammunition is shelf-stable for years, if not decades. Gun calibers don’t change that often, and the popular calibers have been around for decades. There is steady, if not peaking, demand, not only from our military and the guys who have survival cabins in Montana, but from local law enforcement and those who hunt.

Building (stockpiling) the product ahead of time simply requires a manufacturing plant and a storage facility. No need to build out lots of infrastructure so that the new product can sprawl out in wishful future developments.

Since the product does have some explosive tendencies, some fire protection would be needed. If the plant has its own fire response team, maybe it could provide fire response for the surrounding community in exchange for some favorable property tax treatment or reduction in fire fees.

So, Remington, Federal, Sellier & Pellot, Hornady, Speer, Cor-Bon, Blazer, and Winchester (we put your names in there in case you have a web search looking for articles with your names), this little blog that has nothing to do with any of the local economic development departments in Osceola County invites you to stop by for a look if you are in the market for a new production facility.

Our Only Hope

The WayneWho staff has been amazed at the number of local officials who honestly believe that their elections into local governmental offices somehow equates them with the office of the President of the Unites States of America. While we have no problem with local leaders honestly debating policy issues between the local, state and federal levels of government, we have yet to hear anything that could be called honest or a debate. What we have heard are fringe party line ramblings that make no sense especially when it comes to what the needs of our local community actually are. It appears that our local leaders are working very hard to find ways to take money from our citizens and hand it out in the form of subsidies where ever they can. While doing this they blame local residents for not understanding how hard their jobs are and, at the same time, they shake their mighty fists at the President of the United States and shout claims of incompetence and orchestrated take over all at the same time. Which is it, incompetent or mastermind? As residents of this great community, we must say we are embarrassed at best.

In this past week's School Board Update, from Osceola County School Board Member for District One, Jay Wheeler launches into a tirade of personal attacks and claims that he is smarter than the President of the United States and that he has all the answers on dealing with complex foreign policy issues when it comes to Iran. Here is some classy rhetoric from Mr. Wheeler:

"Finally I have to get this off my chest. The misguided effort to bring Chicago the 2016 Olympics is embarrassing at best. The fact that the President went at a cost of 1.4M to the taxpayers doesn't bother me as much as the foolish strategy that had us finish in last place. Let's see we brought Oprah, did someone think it would be a donut eating contest? Who did Brazil bring? Pele, arguably the greatest soccer player of the past 100 years. Hmmm let's see Chicago wanted the Olympics, maybe bringing MICHAEL JORDAN would have been a good move to impress the IOC. After all he won 6 NBA titles in Chicago is known all over the world and oh yeah, he is an OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST-not a fat talk show host. What an incredibly misguided arrogant effort. Plus Iran is making a fool of us too right now. By having direct negotiations over Iran nuclear policy with the US Government it allows the current corrupt regime to use this as propaganda with it's own people to help legitimize itself, saying 'look President Obama's team is talking to us'. This has nothing to do with Democratic or Republican politics, it is about the value of being smart vs. being stupid. I am a much bigger fan of smart."

Nothing but class.

First we would just like to note that President Barack Obama, the Mayor of the City of Chicago, and all of the members of the team who worked so hard to bring the Olympics back to the U.S.A. should have called Osceola County School Board Member Jay Wheeler for his advice. His extensive experience in international relations and his contacts with the Olympic Committee that he has developed as a School Board Member could have helped our case. Of course none of us knew this before the decision was made because Mr. Wheeler only let us know of his knowledge after the bid was awarded to Rio. Next time we will know and we will make sure to beg Mr. Wheeler to help grease the wheels with his extensive contacts so we won't be left to wonder what might have been.

Second, Mr. Wheeler's advice on the using one of the most influential media personalities who answered the call of service when President Obama asked for her support in Copenhagen instead of one of basketball's best because he had a scheduling conflict is probably spot on. President Obama should have lobbied the IOC to change the dates of the final presentation so Michael Jordan would not have to adjust his underwear commercial shooting schedule. This would have been the best move considering all of the accomplishments which include five MVP awards, nine All-Defensive First Team honors, three All-Star Game MVP awards, ten scoring titles, six NBA Finals MVP awards, the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award, and a 1993 gambling controversy which exploded into confessions from Michael Jordan on his gambling issues. Mr. Wheeler has a point in attacking Ms. Winfrey's eating habits and the fact that he thinks she is fat should have disqualified her as being an ambassador for our country. If Mr. Wheeler thinks that fat people, or anyone who likes donuts are bad, then they probably are.

And finally we have to hope that President Obama will send Mrs. Clinton and some of the Pentagon's top brass down to Florida to consult with Mr. Wheeler on this whole Iran issue. It is obvious that Mr. Wheeler and Fox News Comedian Glenn Beck have been working out the details on this issue, so Washington needs to pay attention. Our Osceola County School Board has something to say and who would know better about what tactics work best in controlling the nuclear ambitions of a rogue state? Thank you Mr. Wheeler, you are our only hope. Now just transfer some of that worldly knowledge into actually trying to create a school system that can help students compete in the post construction boom economy. It is either that or our Mr. Wheeler should follow in the footsteps of his mentor Richard Simmons and become the country's Donut Czar. Either path sound good to us.

Uneducated Decisions

We were reading an article in the Osceola News-Gazette about the change in format to the county commission meetings, or (if we can borrow from another blog) their addition of practice meetings, when something odd struck us. The very first sentence of the article reads "Osceola County Commission meetings will switch to a new format beginning in October, after county officials decided the new schedule would allow for more educated policy-making decisions." This would seem to mean that the commissioners feel that they have been making uneducated policy-making decisions before this format change. The WayneWho staff would have to agree.

The new meeting schedule is to give commissioners a chance to ask county staff questions and request more details before making final decisions, which is what we thought the regular meetings were for. All the commissions before the current sitting commission seemed to be able to ask questions at the real meeting, but, from the 'junk drawer' look of the county, they were probably making uneducated policy decisions as well. We are not sure why the commissioners are afraid to ask staff questions at a regularly scheduled and televised meetings, but we are sure they have some sort of excuse. For now all we know is that the old format made it so the commissioners were not asking all the questions of staff that they should have been, which explains the whole budget fiasco and why so many lost their jobs.

If nothing else, we hope that the new practice meetings improve the quality of decisions our commission will make in the future. Heck, the WayneWho staff even discussed putting up practice articles the day before we were going to post an article so could make sure it looked good first. This would give our readers a chance to lobby on whether they liked an article or not. If our readers didn't like a post and we saw that it was not going to be popular, we could just not post the real article and everyone would be happy. We might just have to try it sometime.