Author Archives: Editor

T-Day Coming Soon (that is tax return deadline)

The dreaded tax day soon approaches. Do you have your records in order? Have you received your W-2s, 1099s, and other related reports your smiling IRS agent will looking for when you are audited?

Have you received a 1040 booklet and forms or your 2009 tax preparation software? Of course, you may still be waiting on an appointment date from your accountant.

April 15th cometh soon. The day of gloom and IRS doom. For some it might even be a day portending a bright glimmer of anticipation for a large refund. Whatever the case, the taxman cometh soon.

America is particularly blesses to have a paternal sugar daddy on Capitol Hill who promises at least a small refund of our collective taxes that were forced from our paychecks at the point of the big guns of Congress’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Think of the IRS as comparable to the Secret Service i.e., CIA, FBI, etc.

There are some unfortunate saps who Mr. Sugar Daddy doesn’t like. They include those who earn more than $250,000. If you are among that group, Mr. Sugar Daddy intends to keep all of your taxes money that your lawyers and accountants can’t find loopholes in which to hide it. (Hint: His associates in the Big Parlor on the Hill included.)

That reminds me: How can Mr. Sugar Daddy and his officious associates pontificate from the very place where Thomas Jefferson attended service every week in honor of God, truth, morality, and justice while dishonoring our nation’s Provident God, deceiving the public with every other unread bill, legislating immorality, and robbing the poor and not-so-poor.

Anyway, you are fortunate if you live in Xenia. Even though 60+ percent of local taxes go to education (which some say is less than adequate), the tax rate is relatively lower than most neighboring communities. At least that is what some elected official say. After May, that status may change. Nevertheless, Xenia is still known as a community with a low tax rate and low housing costs. Those are among the reasons Xenia was known place to get a start in life.

You are also fortunate to live in Xenia because the city offers tax preparation and paying information and tools to assist citizens pay the right amount on time. I can assure you, the city is dedicated to helping you to contribute to the city tax funded services. If paying on time is not possible, the City offers an extension.

You can find the City’s helpful information and tools at City of Xenia Income Tax Division webpage.

I almost forgot. As the City’s webpage reminds us, your Xenia Community School income tax filings and payments are made directly to the State of Ohio, not locally. The reason behind it is two-fold: (1) In a semi-socialist state, dollars flow to the central government and is disbursed in accordance with state dictates, which sheds some light on what slice of the equality pie education serves the semi-socialist state. (2) Dollars flow to power, and public education serves to indoctrinate the people according to the dictates of the State; in this case egalitarian socialism or statism as some call it. That also is why separation of religion and state (or church and state as it is also called) is so important a dogma.

The Ohio School Income Tax webpage is http://tax.ohio.gov and the Federal income tax forms, instructions, and payment methods are at http://www.irs.gov.

Manufacturer Consumption Down in 2009

By Daniel Downs

It appears no one is being a good consumer nowadays. Not only are retail and service consumers holding on to their nickels and dimes, but so are industrial consumers.

The latest report by the American Association of Manufacturing Technology (AAMT) revealed consumption of industrial technology goodies was down 60 percent in 2009.

The shining bright in the midst of the black lagoon of recessionary consumption was the Midwest region–Ohio included. During the month of December, the Midwest was the only region posting real dollar increase in spending. Good ole’ consumption of metal cutting technologies was up 19.4 percent while consumption of metal fabricating technologies was down 4.8 percent. Total real dollar manufacturing technology consumption was 14.1 percent, according to the number crunchers at AAMT.

I can just smell the hot cutting oil burning. Ahhhhh!

Unfortunately, the rich aroma of oily production was only smoking up the Midwest during December. This fortuitous event may have been the combined result of both the automaker bailout by Congress and Obama’s stimulus, an effort to make his own light shine upon the hill. According to the AAMT, however, the total year-to-year consumption was down by 65.4 percent, which was more than any other region in the USA.

So where do place the blame for the depressing downturn of industrial consumption? Was it solely caused by bureaucrats on Capitol Hill? Greedy bankers? The lovers of money printing at the Federal Reserve? Or just a bad case of gas caused consuming to much manufacturing technology? Maybe it was a combination of the aforementioned causes?

House Speaker Budish Reverses Decision About Teen Recognition

Facing mounting criticism over his ill-considered decision to prohibit
pro-life Shelby County teen Elisabeth Trisler from receiving a routine legislative honor, House Speaker Armond Budish (D-Beechwood) today did an about face. Trisler was scheduled to receive a resolution from her state representative, John Adams (R-Sidney), honoring her accomplishment as the National Right to Life Oratory Contest winner. However, Budish blocked the award presentation. He argued that honoring the teen was too controversial. Budish supports abortion.

In a news release Monday, Ohio Right to Life first brought attention to the issue. Executive Director Mike Gonidakis asked Budish to reconsider his decision. He was joined by several pro-life members of the General Assembly led by Rep. Adams.

“Speaker Budish recently called me to convey his change of heart and I thanked him on behalf of the pro-life community,” said Gonidakis. “Blocking speech because you don’t like what someone is saying or what they stand for goes against the very fabric of who we are as Americans. And, while the speaker got there the hard way,
at least he got there.”

Source: Ohio Right To Life, February 10, 2010

Ohio House Speaker Dishonors Teen: Unending Leftist Bigotry

In an unprecedented act of partisanship, House Speaker Armond Budish (D-Beechwood) denied Shelby County teen Elisabeth Trisler a legislative honor routinely presented to others. Budish is refusing to allow Trisler on the House floor to accept a legislative resolution. The resolution, authored by Rep. John Adams (R-Sidney), honors her accomplishment as the National Right to Life Oratory Contest winner. Such honorary resolutions are routinely presented at the start of Ohio House legislative sessions to constituents, including those who win athletic championships or academic contests.

“Surely Speaker Budish can put aside his partisanship for 10 minutes to honor the accomplishments of talented and optimistic teenage girl,” said Ohio Right to Life Executive Director Mike Gonidakis. “Perhaps his real message to Ohio’s teens is that excelling in public speaking isn’t worth being honored if their views are different than his.”
Trisler won the National Right to Life Oratory Contest held at the NRLC Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina in June, 2009. During the second half of 2009, Rep. Adams’s office worked to schedule the presentation of Trisler’s proclamation on the House floor, as is typical of such awards. The presentation was scheduled for Wednesday, February 3, 2010.

However, on January 29th, the House Clerk informed Rep. Adams’s office the presentation was canceled because the Speaker “had a problem with the subject matter.” The Clerk advised the representative’s staff to take the matter up with the Speaker. Speaker Budish supports abortion.

“The Ohio House chamber is a monument to the importance of oratory and persuasion on the great issues facing our state,” added Gonidakis. “Silencing someone because you disagree is a terrible lesson to teach teens. The Speaker should reconsider his unfortunately petty decision.”

“The Ohio House of Representatives is known as the ‘people’s house’,” said State Representative John Adams. “It is an outrage that Speaker Budish has decided to politicize and deny the presentation of a proclamation honoring national pro-life award on the House floor that was previously approved by the Speaker,” Adams said.

Source: Ohio Right to Life, February 8, 2010

City of Xenia Financial Report : Commentary

City management are to be commended for achieving excellence in financial reporting. This honorable distinction was awarded both by Ohio’s State Auditor Mary Taylor and by the Government Finance Officers Association of America (GFOAAC). Taylor’s enlightening award was called “Making Your Tax Dollar Count,” which suggests city officials are good stewards of taxpayer money. Finance Director Mark Bazelak said his office received his association’s highest form of recognition: “The Certificate of Achievement.”

It should not be overlooked that the impressive professional kudos came from those to whom our public officials report. Unfortunately, a citizen or taxpayer award was not among the kudos for their financial reporting.

If you are citizen of Xenia reading this, you also may have read the latest financial report posted on the City’s website. If you are not versed in accounting or finance, you probably had difficulty making sense of the data. Nevertheless, the report is available to Internet public of Xenia.

My question is this: Does not Xenia taxpayers deserve better?

City of Xenia Recognized by Auditor of State for Excellent Financial Accountability

At the Xenia City Council meeting on January 28, 2010, Auditor of State Mary Taylor’s office presented City of Xenia officials with the “Making Your Tax Dollars Count” award for their fiscal year 2008 audit. Fewer than five percent of all Ohio government agencies are eligible for this award.

“I commend the City of Xenia for its commitment to fiscal accountability. Congratulations on your hard work and for being trustworthy stewards of taxpayer dollars,” said Taylor.

Certain criteria must be met to receive the “Making Your Tax Dollars Count” award. Standards include:

  • The entity must submit a Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR);
  • There must be no findings or issues present in the audit report; and
  • There must be no other financial concerns involving the entity.

Finance Director Mark Bazelak also announced at the meeting that the City has received its 26th consecutive Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for its 2008 CAFR, which is awarded by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the United States and Canada. The Certificate of Achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management.

The Mayor and City Council praised the Finance Director for the achievement. Mr. Bazelak stated this is truly a Citywide effort. He acknowledged the other Appointed Officials, Division and Department heads and staff, and most especially, the Finance Department staff.

Finance Director Mark Bazelak said this morning, “This award demonstrates the City’s commitment to ensuring the safety of taxpayer dollars and implementing financial policies and procedures to operate the City more effectively and efficiently. This is especially important given the current economic outlook of the City and the need to ask the community for additional revenue.” City Council will vote on February 11, 2010, on whether to place a .5% income taxincrease on the ballot on May 4, 2010.

If you would like to review the 2008 CAFR, a copy is available on the City’s website at www.ci.xenia.oh.us. Go to the City Government tab and select City Administration / Finance Department.

Xenia Muncipal Court Amnesty For Those With Unpaid Fines, Arrest Warrants…

The Xenia Municipal Court says to pay your past fines now or face the possibility of stricter enforcement later. This announcement was made at a press conference held by Judge Michael K. Murry, Clerk of Court Pete Creamer, and Chief Probation Officer, Bobby Robbins.

On the 1st of February 2010, Judge Murry issued a Court Entry declaring an Amnesty program that continues through April 30, 2010.

During amnesty program period, anyone who has an outstanding warrant from the period of January 1, 1994 to December 31, 2008, for failing to pay fines, non-compliance with Court orders, probation violations, etc… may report to the Clerk of Court’s office without fear of arrest. If you have an active warrant and it’s a minor misdemeanor, it must be older than one year, any misdemeanor older than five years old with the exception of any version of Driving Under the Influence, Driving Under Suspension, Assault, or Domestic Violence; those offenses must be older than seven years, and any misdemeanor non-support warrant must be older than 10 years. The violator must pay the outstanding balance on all cases that will include court costs, fines, probation fees, parking tickets, restitution and license forfeiture fees.

As an additional incentive, during the amnesty period the $100.00 court costs for issuing the warrant will be waived. Once this has been accomplished, the warrant will be recalled and your case(s) will be closed within Xenia Municipal Court with no further action required. Any traffic, criminal, parking, probation, or civil case may be resolved in this manner.

This is the third consecutive year that Xenia Municipal Court has held an amnesty program. With this program in place, offenders must understand that by paying their fines, parking tickets, court costs, and restitution, they have the opportunity to have completion of their unfinished court business without further penalty. This will also lift warrant blocks on the offender’s license. The Court also believes this will alleviate over-crowded jails and enable officers to invest that time on more serious criminal matters. These warrants range from outstanding parking tickets to assault on the misdemeanor level. Although we realize that some people are afraid to face their responsibilities or don’t want to come to court for the fear of being arrested, there is a very real possibility of more severe punishment if the amnesty program is ignored and the warrants are not dealt with.

At the present, there are approximately 1200 individuals who have outstanding warrants issued for their arrest. There are also a large number of unpaid parking tickets that should be paid at City Hall’s Utility Billing that have the potential of becoming warrants.

To accommodate persons wishing to take advantage of this unique opportunity, the Xenia Municipal Clerk of Court’s office, 101 N. Detroit St., Xenia, Ohio is open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and Thursday and Friday from 7:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Most Americans Approve of Tebow’s Pro-Life Ad During Super Bowl

Most American say they approve of the decision by CBS to air Focus On The Family pro-life ad featuring Florida Gator star quarterback Tim Tebow, according to a recent Marist Poll.

In the nationwide survey of 1,072, 60 percent of Americans said they approved of the decision by CBS. Thirty percent they disapproved.

It was not a big surprise to see fewer than 60 percent of those who identified themselves as Democrats, liberals, moderates, residents in the West and Northeast, making over $50,000 a year, and over 50 years old approving of a pro-life ad during the Super Bowl. Likewise, it would have been mind boggling had over 60 percent those who self-identified themselves as Republican, conservative, residents in the Midwest and South, making under $50,000, and under 50 year old not approved.

Interestingly, education and gender were among the factors differentiating those who are for or against the pro-life ad. The greatest point of difference was age. Of those 18-29 year of age, 77 percent were in favor of Tim Tebow’s escape from abortion pro-life plug. That was 14 percent higher than the 30-44 age group, 19 percent greater than the 45-59ers, and a 26 percent
chasm between the over 60 sexual revolutionary socialist generation and the 18-29 millennial generation.

The rest of the story

RE: “Greene County snubs advocate of its interests,” Dayton Daily News, Friday, January 29, 2010. Greene County Commissioners Marilyn Reid and Alan Anderson were correct in significantly reducing taxpayer contributions to the Dayton Development Coalition (DDC), except their rationale for doing so didn’t reveal the whole story. True enough, the budget is tight, but even in good times our elected officials shouldn’t be throwing money over the fence to special interests without competition for that work, without value added and without oversight. That’s precisely what happened in 2005-2006 with the Base Realignment And Closure (BRAC) Initiative Agreement between Greene County and the DDC. The simple truth is the only jobs protected by this effort were high priced consultants, lobbyists and career politicians who received kickbacks to their political campaigns. Here are the facts to support that assertion.

In 2005 and 2006, the last 21 months of the $1.9 million BRAC Initiative Agreement, the Dayton Development Coalition also received a $2.34 million Third Frontier grant through Development Research Corporation, a non-profit company fronting for the DDC. In 2005-2006 the DDC paid over $500,000 to their President and CEO, over $300,000 to a Washington lobbying firm currently under investigation by the FBI, $190,000 to Qbase which is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, and over $200,000 to two other consultants, not to mention at least $50,000 on domestic and foreign travel.* Although this is just the tip of the iceberg, it’s hard to disagree that it reveals a broad pattern of self-dealing, waste and abuse, if not blatant corruption by the Dayton Development Coalition and their inner circle.

Ms. Reid and Mr. Anderson finally understand that Greene County and Ohio taxpayer dollars had minimum impact if any at all on saving or creating jobs at Wright Patterson. But what they did impact was the financial well-being of the special interests that recycled that money back to the politicians who in the end took credit for job creation they had nothing to do with. This is an insult to Greene County taxpayers, not to mention Wright Patt professionals that day in and day out provide the real value added to our warfighters who put everything on the line to protect our freedom and liberty.

*Source: BRAC Initiative Agreement, Internal Revenue Service, Federal Election Commission records and other documents obtained in a public records disclosure lawsuit against Greene County Commissioners (Case #: 2009CV0305).

Abstinence-Only Education Linked to Decreased Promiscuity : Study

Theory-based, abstinence-only intervention has been linked a lower rate of sexual involvement among African American preteens, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a publication of the American Medical Association.

John B. Jemmott III, Ph.D, of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled trial to evaluate one intervention – an eight-hour abstinence-only program targeting reduced sexual intercourse.

The study found that the probability of ever having sexual intercourse was approximately 15 percentage points lower among teens in the abstinence-only program than those in condom-promoting courses or those undergoing no sex education.

The study randomly assigned 662 African-American students (average age 12.2) to participate in one of four programs: abstinence-only intervention; safer-sex–only intervention targeting increased condom use; comprehensive interventions targeting both sexual intercourse and condom use; or a control intervention focusing on health issues unrelated to sexual behavior.

The researchers found that the probability of ever having sexual intercourse by the 24-month follow-up was 33.5 percent in the abstinence-only program and 48.5 percent in the control group attending health promotion courses. Rates in the safer sex and comprehensive programs did not differ significantly from the control group.

In addition, fewer students in the abstinence-only group (20.6 percent) vs. those in the control group (29 percent) reported having sex in the previous three months during the follow-up period. The abstinence-only intervention did not appear to affect rates of condom use. The eight-hour and 12-hour comprehensive programs appeared to be associated with reduced reports of having multiple partners when compared with the control group.

The authors of the study, which was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, concluded that theory-based abstinence-only interventions “can be part of [the] mix” of methods to reduce sexually-transmitted infections among teens.

Pro-life leaders hailed the study as reflecting a common sense approach to sex education initiatives.

“We have known for years that teaching abstinence changes lives,” Leslee Unruh, founder of the National Abstinence Clearinghouse, told LifeSiteNews.com (LSN). “Abstinence education treats the whole being, teaching youth to respect themselves, set goals, avoid risky behavior to have a healthy future.”

Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America remarked: “Once again, science validate a moral truth – that promoting chastity leads to healthier lifestyles.”

Wright told LSN that, “the only people that will be disappointed by this good news – that encouraging abstinence results in kids abstaining from sex – are the people who profit from kids being sexually active.

“Too many adults make a living from, or seek validation for their own bad behavior by pushing kids to be sexually active,” she added.

Commenting on the study, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council called it unfortunate that “this Congress and administration has zeroed out abstinence education in favor of sex-ed programs that advocate high-risk sexual behavior when it is children and young teens who suffer the consequences.”

Following President Obama’s budget recommendations last year, Congress voted to gut $99 billion in federal abstinence education funding, and increased funds for contraceptive-based education initiatives.

“The government does not promote drug use or underage drinking, and it should not promote high-risk sexual behavior either,” said Perkins in a statement Monday. “The evidence shows clearly that sexual abstinence is the healthiest behavior for youth.”

Source: LifeSiteNews February 2, 2010