Omaha's restaurant tax produced more revenue than expected. Does that mean the tax rate can be reduced?

The fact that this question had to be asked at all is a call to action.  This article is about Omaha, NE but it is an article that would be applicable to any number of cities in the US.  Some of the particulars in this article were adjusted slightly in the interest of privacy.

A little background on the above question is in order. Not long ago our Democratic mayor just fresh from his recall escape enacted a 2 ½ percent tax on restaurants and all prepared food. The reason given was to balance the budget and begin to address the city’s debt problem. To no one's real surprise (as this administration is not noted for their proficiency) the tax netted far more than they had expected. The above question was posted on Facebook by a local television station in response to that unexpected windfall.

Below is the second response to the above posting.

“Can some of the money go to pay for the court usage that our tennis players now have to pay… ?”

There were several responses that followed and the gist of them was to apply the money to the current debt. Not to be deterred 9 posts later…

“You don't understand the tennis situation. We tennis players have been using the courts for years, using our own money to upkeep and update the courts. Now this year the city came along and decided to charge us for using the ...”

With that second post there came a moment of clarity. In these dozen or so posts the crux of our entire debt crisis was defined in the most basic of terms. With no more than a dozen or so keystrokes the following items were found as listings in the Omaha Parks and Recreation Budget: Golf, Golf Concessions, Marinas, and yes, even Tennis. There was also a listing for Citywide Sports, which I imagine it is a catchall to cover such sports as baseball, softball and the like.

This is where the real budget problems originate, this is at the core of the budget issues at hand and it is why the general public is all but fed up with city and state governments. They are told that they are to sacrifice and valuable services need to be cut, yet our city budget reads like an island resort’s activity listing.

The city government has no place in these types of activities. In the instance above the person could not understand why they should bear the cost of their own child’s recreation. In the last couple of years all but a lonely few of our private golf courses have had to close as they could not compete with the below market value charges that the public golf courses offered.

In each of these activities if they are profitable they belong in the private sector and if they are not profitable it is immoral to ask the public as a whole to provide recreational services for a select few. It is the users of these activities that should pay for their cost of operation as with any other services in the private sector.

With a little creative planning 100’s of thousands of dollars could be saved by the city and more than a few jobs created by the private sector. Every park in Omaha should have a private sector sponsor picking up 50% of the tab for the park's upkeep, updating, and insurance. There are many companies that would love to have their name on a public park with special private access to park facilities. If a tennis or basketball court is desired it should be totally funded by a private sector entity. All other recreation items listed should be privatized as soon as possible. This is a solution that will not only save the city money but also allocate the costs fairly to only those who use the services.

The people of Omaha, and the country have to look at everything in a new light, gone are the days when the government can be all for all. The government needs to focus its efforts on those services that benefit the greatest number of its citizens. All other activities need to be regulated to the private sector. It is these types of solutions that need to be forwarded by the GOP. Old dogma will not address today’s issues. It is important to understand that while the debt crisis is the catalyst to this action, even without the debt crises these actions would be proper and in keeping with our Party’s platform.

It is not enough to say “no new taxes!” We are the party of business and growth, we need to believe it, we need to use it, and we need to only propose solutions that will empower the private sector. If we truly believe in what the GOP stands for, if we truly believe that the private sector is the only real answer, our solutions must reflect that belief.   The time for change is now, the time to lead is now!

In a Free Market System the Unions do not fit. That is why only 7% of the private sector is unionized. The public sector has 37% of its work force unionized because of the mob tactics they use to bludgeon state and local governments into submission.  Simply, they still scare the daylights out of state and local politicians.  Thankfully, as Wisconsin is currently illustrating, that is about to change.

The public sector is the last bastion of power for the unions.  The unions are getting desperate as they can no longer threaten the private sector as they would be laughed out of the room or the companies would simply move their businesses to another country.

The Free Market System lets supply and demand determine the value of a task performed. That value is determined by output. How much does the task completed add to the output of the organization?

Unions determine the salary by how much they can get with no correlation to the value of the task performed. In the private sector a business is free to assign workers to the tasks needed, in the union tasks are portioned off to different individuals raising the cost to the business and to the consumer.

The above is the primary issue with unions.  Another issue is fairness.  In the private sector the rest of us have to pay for our insurance and pensions benefits. Public servants are just that, they are not due the special privileges that the private sector is not able to offer. For some reason union people seem to think they can tell the employer what they are going to do and how much they are going to be paid for it. Try that in the private sector.

Public employees need to learn that We the public will determine what they are to be paid and We the public will determine what their jobs require just like any other business in the country. Public employees need to be on the same level as the rest of us as we are the ones that are paying their salaries. 

Lastly, if it is unionized it is broke and not performing adequately.  Is this a coincidence?  I think not! The evidence of the unions harm can be illustrated by the examination of the 3 major sectors that they are still relevant in.

These areas are education, manufacturing, and public service. It is no coincidence that all three of these areas are in catastrophic condition.

Our children cannot read yet we have the highest cost per student in the world. That is a direct result of the unions. Our city and state governments are bankrupt and the primary debtor is UNIONS. Our manufacturing is all going overseas, why? Because manufactures cannot afford to pay union wages and still remain price competitive. That is what has happened to our auto industry. Unions force companies out of the country as study after study shows.

That is why the Union cancer must be removed from our public sector. The private sector has already done this to a large extent and will continue to do so on their own.  If left to the Free Market System, the union will be purged automatically over time.  History has shown this to be true as illustrated by the fact that in the 50's almost 38% of the private sector was unionized and now less than 7% of the private sector is currently unionized.  It is further proof that unions are not viable in a Free Market System.

Vague concepts and catch phrases like the "rich get richer" or “corporate greed” while sounding nice do not stand up to the harsh realities of fact.  They cannot and should not be considered the basis of any valid justification for the unions continued existence.

The GOP has begun the "good" fight and standing up for the majority of Americans and American workers, that is why I am proud to be APoorRepublican.com

With regards to the Democratic lead "Open Seating" for the State of the Union Speech,  www.APoorRepublican.com cannot endorse such a plan. It is a backhanded way for the Dems to in front of a national audience, lessen the public visual of the large majority of Republicans. In the end they are trying to make it appear that both parties are equal.  Sometimes things are not what they first appear to be. Some of the issues that will be discussed in the coming year may come down to one vote, and the public perception of us both as individuals and as a party will be in play.

What Democratic Left is attempting is to do is take a totally unrelated tragedy and absent a single thread of evidence and trying to infer a call for "political harmony". Regardless of what our President may have tried to imply, facts are facts and he as nary a one to make the connection.

The Tucson Tragedy conveyed no such message of "Politically Harmony" either explicit or implicit. Period, stop, end of story!!!

This is another scheme by the Dems and there is no reason for this theater. We are the GOP, we are a party that stands for something, as a brand, as an ideal, we are winning the day, and we should this Tuesday stand (and sit) as one!!!

The Dems are trying to take away the power we have to make our cause known. It will be good for America to see the GOP “sit on their hands”  in mass when the president forwards a cause that is against our goals. This “Open Seating” needs to be dismissed immediately as all the Dems are trying to do is dilute the message of the GOP on Tuesday!

Like the horse and carriage or the use of leeches to treat the ill, the unions are a part of our past and have NO place in the modern American economy. Like the relics aforementioned they only tend to slow down progress and suck the life out of the economy as a whole.

While a valid argument could be made that they were never an appropriate tool, for the sake of expediency I will allow that they have had some positive effect on laws regarding workplace standards. What that being said that influence has long since been accounted for and currently the only laws they are affecting, are the limits to which they can shovel the hard earned money of their membership to as many Left-wing causes as possible. Even more disturbing is the fact that this is, often done with neither the knowledge or approval of their membership.

Their very existence is a violation of the simple laws of supply and demand. They seek to limit the number of members and seek to base salaries on arbitrary standards while they ignore the only fact that should determine salary: PRODUCTION!!!

As Europe is learning and the old Soviet bloc found out much to their dismay, any country that utilizes this type of Marxist economic theory is doomed to failure. As these countries have found, salary must be tied to production and that artificially supporting labor is unsupportable in the long-term. Even a casual glance at today’s international headlines readily attest to this fact.

America cannot "Save" its way out of this economic quagmire that it is in. America must "Grow" its way out of this crisis, unions are a stumbling block to the attainment of that goal and they will be removed. Their members following in a ‘sheep like adherence to a leadership that are oft greedy opportunists can no longer be left to influence our labor market or our politics. Unions and the ‘union’ concept have fallen into public disfavor as they are no longer seen as needed or supported by a majority of the Americans.

So in closing let me say with some joyful right-wing glee... Goodbye Norma Rae!

Warning to the GOP!

The Left is using this tragedy to forward two of their favorite lost causes: Gun Control and the "Fairness Doctrine. Their cry that this tagic incident in Arizona is a call for the lessening of political rhetoric is pure hog-wash and has no factual basis. Let's not chase the little white rabbit, the moment is over, it is time for the GOP to get back to work and there is much to be done, starting with ObamaCare!