DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Presidential Election Campaigns 2016 part 4

Looks like another story that republicans will get ridiculed for acting like it's a big deal...

Something that I feel is kind of unfair for republicans: the larger states are almost all blue. Think about it this way:

California
Texas
Florida
New York
Illinois
Pennsylvania
Ohio
Georgia
North Carolina
Michigan
New Jersey
Virginia
Washington
Arizona
Massachusetts

When you look at this list, what is a hardcore red state? Texas, Georgia, Arizona, and North Carolina. Heck, even North Carolina is being labeled a swing state. You're talking about 3 out of the top 5 states in population that are hardcore blue states. It doesn't help that Florida can vote either way. Then you look at states like Pennsylvania and Ohio that can go either way, but Pennsylvania has gone blue last few elections. Virginia will probably go blue.

If Hillary wins, what is the republican strategy going forward? Hillary is going to legalize immigrants and give them voting rights. If she picks her judge, kiss voter ID goodbye. Which will make Florida essentially another hardcore blue state. I mean really, how do you beat that?

I understand wanting the total population to make decisions, however, I'm not a fan of people in a select few states deciding this entire thing.

The smartest thing the GOP could do at this point is ratify Garland on the Supreme Court. At least he's a moderate judge. The alternative is that Hillary will cram a hard core liberal down their throats.

As the demographics in Texas continue to change it too will most likely one day turn blue (or, at the least purple and become a swing state). When that happens....bye bye to the Republican Party as we currently know it.

As he was nominated by Obama...If Hillary wins I bet she keeps Garland. Sanders, however, would have changed the nominee.

When the foundation of your platform is to give people healthcare, give people college educations, give unskilled workers a 65% raise, give retirees more money, give free childcare, and increase food stamps... and making somebody else pay for all of it. How can you argue with that?

I tend to disagree. Several GOP members approved of Garland before he was nominated for the SP by Obama. Once Obama named him, their tune changed. I believe Obama purposefully nominated Garland to make the GOP look bad by not taking a vote on him. And for anyone looking at the facts before and after his nomination, it does make them look bad. However, I do believe he picked a moderate on purpose for these reasons.

I believe Hillary will make them pay for these actions. Let's face it, both parties try to smack each other upside the head with political gamesmanship. I don't see this being any different.

After all, it is the GOP who is saying the next president should get to name the next SC Justice. Although at the time I don't believe they had any idea they would be saddled with the likes of Trump.

Yeah, it would be a shame to see a strong middle class in America again.

?? That's your reply to what DC posted? Really?

Here's what he said:


Wow. All that should be provided, for free, and that would help the middle class?

Yes, most of it would.

You yourself complain about the rising cost of healthcare for your family. Food Stamps have actually been cut while the cost of food has been skyrocketing. Childcare to has gone through the roof.

In case you missed it, the best our economy has ever been is when people had money to spend. When they could buy homes, new cars, new appliances.

With a shrinking middle class and people being unable to climb out of poverty, we all lose. Until we have more people being educated withoit a huge burden of debt, we'll never go anywhere.

Let me tell you something. I live in Tennessee. EVERY child who graduates high school with average grades and completes a certain amount of community service, gets two free years of college. We have a Republican Gov. and a Rep. Legislature. It's how government is supposed to work.

For you see, our state government knows that if you wish to continue to bring business into your state, you need an educated work force. It's an investment for the future of your economy.

It's a FACT that if minimum wage had kept with its spending level since we were kids, they would make more than 15 dollars an hour.

So you're either for raising the quality of life for everyone in our great nation, or continuing to let people lapse further and further into poverty with little hope climbing out of it.

And I don't understand how you call it for free? All it really is, is a different way of dispersing tax money. Maybe a few less loopholes for billionaires and a little more spread amongst the people? Or do you call those loop holes free stuff too?

Yea, what has been keeping the middle class down is that there is not enough free stuff.

Those are just swell things.

Free isn't free, Pit. Making someone else pay for your free stuff isn't going to do jack to help the middle class.

SOMEONE pays for it. While it may not be YOU, someone does. And the billionaires don't.

So, all your "free" stuff is paid by.........the same class you profess it helps.

The poor don't pay. The rich don't pay.


Just as our public school offers a "free" education, someone pays for it. Your state offers a "free" 2 year college tuition? Your taxes pay for it.

The more you offer for "free", the more it costs taxpayers.


Our state - or, at least our county, knows exactly what attracts business: Tax breaks. Not "free" stuff. Tax breaks.

Within the next 2 years just my town alone is expected to add 250 quality paying jobs. Why? The workforce is here, tax cuts on the business are/will be in place (not including school tax) etc.

What does that do? It takes the "free" of the table, and it puts people to work. And they pay taxes as well. Thus grows the economy.


Free isn't ever free. Taxes are always a deterrent.

Look no further than tobacco taxes. We constantly hear about "if we tax tobacco more, people will use less." Relate that to industry: If we tax industry more, we'll............uh, see less industry.

Weird, isn't it?

Arch, you don't need to disclose personal information like this, but what county are you in?

I actually live in Henry County, but the area I'm talking about is Fulton County. Guess the town.

So you don't believe that what the GOP is doing here in Tennessee by giving high school graduates two years of free college helps bring jobs to our state? You don't believe a higher education level of your citizens helps attract jobs? Obviously the Republican governor and legislature here disagree with you. You don't see the difference here between "free stuff" and "investment"?

Sure, tax breaks for small business are great incentives. But to keep handing out "free stuff" to big business while calling that a harmful thing when it comes to the poor and lower middle class in disingenuous. It's simply saying which group deserves the free stuff more.

And I'm speaking of federal loopholes that allow huge corporations to pay little to no federal taxes. It happens all the time and I never hear you railing against their "free stuff".

So I'm not talking about the same thing you're talking about.

Lol

I like you Archbold

I don't get it.

Sorry bud.

Not every job - not every middle class job, requires college. 2 years, 4 years?

Education is great, don't get me wrong. But educating those that don't give a rip about it is a waste of time.

Hell, just look how many people take their "free" k-12 education and do nothing with it.

Tax breaks are good for ALL businesses. What's the problem? It's weird how lowering taxes leads to jobs. It leads to workers having more money to spend. Which leads to the economy growing.

These "big" businesses you speak of. Help me out. Which laws are they breaking?


Hey, in yesterdays Toledo Blade their was an op ed piece about praising Carty Finkbeiner for doing what was necessary to keep the Jeep plant in Toledo. (Carty was the mayor at the time Jeep was looking at closing up shop in Toledo).

Damn, if that didn't work out well for the city. Take Jeep away, and you take away how many other businesses. You lose good payed workers, that pay taxes. Yup, that should be the way to go. ?????

If you're worried about federal tax loopholes, you best look at who creates the loop holes. Congress. And you best not vote for hillary OR Trump - because (especially hillary) they are some of the biggest users of tax loop holes. Notice I didn't say "abusers". (other than hillary using her position as S.O.S. to get donations to her fund)

I'm confused, do tax breaks lead to more jobs or more money for owners? Correct me if I'm wrong Arch, but you don't hire people to be nice.

You hire if the market demands it. You don't hire people because you think it might generate more revenue, you do hire people if you're damn certain it will generate more revenue.

I don't know.

What I do know is a company called Con Agra is expanding their business here in town. Another 150 jobs. And the company gets a limited time cut on taxes. (as long as they meet the extra 150 jobs)

Another company is expanding by a minimum of 100 jobs. They got a tax break as well, as long as they meet the 100 jobs requirement.

A few years ago (5? 8?) A company bought a manufacturing facility here. Brought in right around 100 jobs. Why did they start a plant here? Tax breaks.


All of these lead/led to more jobs. Not less. The first example I listed, Con Agra, was willing to completely shut the factory down.

Each of those employees contributes in taxes. Hey, for a town of 4500 or so, that's a lot of jobs.

In turn, those employees aren't relying on gov't. assistance. That's a double win, right?

The only business hurt by decreasing taxes is the gov't. AND, a business that has no goal of increasing its product output.


Jeep. Toledo.

Do the math. Without jeep in toledo, the city is screwed.

And yet, all the tax breaks in the world hasn't stopped the thousands of jobs from being shipped overseas by other companies.

If your tax breaks were as good as you claim, then by your own logic, we should be seeing a mass migration of companies setting up shop in Toledo.

But surprise surprise, we aren't.

We got corporations who pay zero-or close to zero- in taxes, yet still sending their jobs overseas.

So just using your own logic, obviously zero is too high. We gotta start giving these companies money.

At some point, you have to open your eyes and realize that these companies aren't doing it for any other reason than greed.

Be happy for your couple hundred jobs. But if that's suppose to make us ignore the tens of thousands of jobs lost to third world nations, you aren't doing a good job trying to convince anybody.

You're right. Lets raise taxes. That'll teach the job creators, right? Cause trust me bud, the gov't. doesn't create jobs. They create people that need the gov't.


Yes, my small town is very happy giving up some corporate tax income in return for seeing an extra 250 people plus employed.

Oh, that tax break? It's only temporary, and dependent on said business creating said number of jobs.

And I should clarify right now: The tax breaks I'm talking about in this specific case are state and local taxes. Not federal taxes. I apologize if that wasn't clear.


But interestingly enough, we now have many more tax payers working and making a living, right here, in n.w. Ohio.

People have moved in. Cause of jobs. People drive from other jobs to come here - because of jobs.

Imagine if the federal gov't. cut taxes - all the jobs that might (yes, I said might) re appear. Maybe not.

Also, that's not taking into the tech world where they are setting up in a higher taxes area like Cali.

Taxes are up, cost of living is high, yet look how many companies are out there posted.

So this the part where I wonder why post only one side of the success and not the other?

I mean I'm sitting here looking at articles and such on social media, and watching the regulars in the comment section complain in one thread about how taxes needs to be lower, yet they complain about the state of their roads not being fixed....ya know something taxes pay for.

Yes, somebody has to pay for it, but the fact that you and DC views it as free stuff instead of an investment in our own citizens makes me question if you even care about our aoxiety as a whole.

I look at how some high taxed areas in other countries do it, and I'm like damn that's nice.

Just a moderate increase could have that going.

And how on earth can you think what Pit's state is doing is somehow a bad thing? You made a comment saying that you can't educate somebody who doesn't want to be educated.

I agree, which is why your comments are even more confusing. Because the people getting the free two year college still has to WORK for it, and they still have to sign up to go to college. Which means they WANT to be there.

Your reasoning compared to the reality isn't adding up to me.

Actually, I AM happy for the couple hundred of jobs. In a town/village of 4500 people.


I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything really, other than lowering taxes IF a business increases jobs, is a good thing.

Running a business in this country is tough enough. A production business, that is.

You are correct. Your reality isn't adding up. Take that as a dig if you want, I don't care. When you get into the business world, you might change your mind. Maybe you won't. Maybe you'll be one of the many that expects, but doesn't realize.

You're stating the obvious but not making any point. Everyone knows the government doesn't create jobs.

However, they do help influence who creates jobs and where. Please stop stating one sided arguments, you're doing a great disservice.

Again, if you're gonna cherry pick examples of tax breaks working at the state and local level, then I'll raise you your one city of Toledo by two states in Kansas and Louisiana.

Please, let the board know how great they are doing slashing taxes like a used car blowout sale. I'll wait.

Nobody is trying to teach job creators anything. However, letting them do whatever the hell they want is also a horrible idea. But apparently a lesson you haven't learned yet.

If you want to strictly enforce a company must hire X amount of people to recieve X amount on a tax break, I can support that idea. However, good luck getting that idea to every single major Fortune 500 company owner. You're still strong arming them by telling them how many people they can hire even if they don't need that many employees.

Yeah, you're right. I don't have a clue. Just 13 years self employed. And 3 years as a "boss"/owner of a business.

Where do you work? If you don't mind putting that out for us to see.

What makes you think I'm not in the business world now?

Your comments are now making very little sense. I challenged your post with thoughtful post, and now all you have for me is "many that expects, but doesn't realize"?

Sup with you and 40 with these fortune cookie post?

I don't get this post at all. Why you so hurt that I'm challenging your comments?

Most tax breaks work that way. As in "yes, we'll cut your taxes for X amount of years, provided you actually do increase your jobs by said amount. If not, your taxes are retroactive."

And I'm not talking fortune 500 companies. Small businesses employ, as a whole, many more than fortune 500 companies. And those small businesses are located here.

One thing that always gets me is when the federal gov't. (or those running for a ......presidency) say "well, cutting this and that is great, but those are unfunded tax breaks."

Like, the gov't. is entitled to our money.

A freaking tax break is just that: A tax break. You don't call it an unfunded tax break.

I guess I'm just stupid.

I make a living despite the gov't., not because of the gov't.

You're smart Arch, but pessimistic.

What do those companies do when given a tax break, but have wages go up?


Also, as a counter argument. Grove City (my home) is strongly conservative. Richard "Ike" Stage is as conservative as it gets. He gives tax breaks. However, that hasn't stopped businesses from going bankrupt and leaving. It's so bad that he's having to completely remodel the downtown area in hopes that people will want to actually live here.

Some cities just can't support businesses because people don't want to live there or have anything to do with them. Hell, as another desperate attempt to keep younger people here, they started offering scholarship agreements. The agreement is that if people lived in GC for a year, they'd recieve $1000 off of tuition. The problem is that millennials don't want to be here. I'm not sure what it's like in your city, but if it's just older generations it will dry up fast as they reach retirement age.

Giving tax breaks could work, but not if the city itself is boring.

I think tax breaks help, but small business owners compete against too much and I think it's only going to get worse. Automation and big Buisness expansion is going to crush smaller buisness. The romantic days of a mom and pop shop lasting 40 years is coming to an end. It's not because of tax breaks either.

It's an investment in TN.. what happens when every state has it? It's not longer of value to TN. It goes back to businesses deciding between setting up shop in TN or in NC based on all of the same factors they have always used.. and is it enough to get other countries to move business here? Is it enough to encourage American business to stay here? Are our businesses leaving for other countries because the people there are more educated? I don't think so.

And it's being funded by the lottery right? The bulk of those tickets are purchased by the poor and lower middle class.. so the poor in your state are paying to send other kids to school.

if they are diverting lottery funds to this, where is it coming from? What did they cut? K-12 public education?

What will end up happening is a 2 year associates degree will become the new HS diploma.. you won't be able to get an entry level job without one. Those who "only" have a HS diploma will be viewed as even less worthy of employment or decent pay.

The one thing I saw said this will cost $12 million for 15,000 students this year at about $1050 a year (or something like that). But according to Chattanooga State Community College, a full credit load is about $1800/semester plus other fees.. or closer to $4000 a year.. How does that add up?

Actually DC, an associates degree is the new high school education now in the job market. That's already been established for some time.

Tennessee Promise: Offering free community college to all students

New scholarships are part of a statewide effort to increase the share of college grads and meet a shortage of skilled workers, says Executive Director Mike Krause.

Tennessee currently ranks 43rd in the nation in the share of residents who’ve completed college – 32 percent of Tennesseeans hold at least a two-year degree.

The dearth of graduates means a future shortage of educated workers to fill the high-skilled jobs the state is producing. Tennessee officials say that at least 55 percent of the jobs in the state will require a post-secondary credential by 2025.

To bridge this gap, Governor Bill Haslam announced in February 2014 the nation’s first-ever effort to provide free community college to all state residents, regardless of merit or need. The new “Tennessee Promise” scholarships are part of the state’s recently-launched “Drive to 55” initiative, which aims to increase the share of Tennesseans who are college graduates to 55 percent. Reaching this goal by 2025 will require 494,000 additional degrees, officials say.

The Tennessee Promise scholarships will be funded by $110 million from the state’s lottery reserves, along with a $47 million endowment created by the state General Assembly. Students are expected to receive an average scholarship of $971, in addition to existing aid from the state’s Hope Scholarship program. Students will also be required to maintain a 2.0 GPA and give 8 hours of community service per semester.

We spoke to Mike Krause, the Executive Director of Tennessee Promise. This interview has been edited for length.

R3.0: How did Tennessee Promise come about?

Krause: Gov. Haslam traveled the state about two years ago on a listening tour and asked business and industry what they needed to build their workforce.

What the governor heard was that industry vacancies were not being filled because there were not enough qualified workers – and that’s something you never want to hear. The other thing is that economic development is starting to be less about providing incentives and more about having a qualified workforce.

R3.0: What are the jobs that are going to need post-secondary education?

Krause: We sat down with the economic research center at the University of Tennessee and had them forecast what jobs are going to be open, and then linked it to data showing which people are graduating from college in which majors.

It is an incredibly powerful study because it shows us not just which jobs are going to be open, but which jobs are going to have a deficit of college graduates. Among the top 10 jobs [where there will be shortages], four or five of them are in science and technology, engineering or math. Many of the jobs are also in IT and information systems, which are pretty much the foundation now for every business endeavor.

R3.0: How is the Tennessee Promise scholarship different from the state’s currently offered Hope Scholarship?

Krause: The Hope scholarship is a merit scholarship and is awarded based on a student’s academic qualifications. The Promise Scholarship is awarded regardless of a student’s academic qualifications.

It is also being paid for with a net cost to the state of zero. Gov. Haslam is utilizing the lottery reserve that has built up over the years and is putting that into an irrevocable trust that now provides interest earnings. Those interest earnings fund the scholarship. It’s an incredibly innovative and fiscally conservative way to approach this issue.

R3.0: How many scholarships can you fund with just the interest income from the reserve?

Krause: We are not funding a student’s full cost of higher education – it’s a last-dollar scholarship. The way this works is that a student would enroll in one of our institutions, and they would receive aid from Tennessee Promise after all other financial aid – such as Pell [Grants] and the [Tennessee] Hope scholarship. We fill in that last dollar gap. That results in a much lower expense to the state, and it leverages the student’s entire financial aid package.

Because we’re taking that approach, the Governor can make a really powerful statement that community college is free when you graduate from high school. For students who may not have considered higher education and were telling themselves, “Well, I just can’t afford college,” we can tell them, “You can afford college, and we’re going to help you.”

R3.0: Is there a particular type of student that you’re targeting with this program?

Krause: Tennessee Promise is built for students who aren’t entering higher education at all. We are in no way seeking to shuffle students to a two-year college who may have been thinking they would attend a four-year college. This program is about capturing students who were previously leaving the education system after high school.

R3.0: Do you know who these students are, geographically or demographically?

Krause: We can tell you where the college-going rate in which counties is really low and which are very high, and that helps us to determine what our focus areas are. But there’s actually a pretty even distribution of students across the state who aren’t entering higher education. A lot of it has to do with whether or not your parents went to higher education. First-generation college students are an essential focus for Tennessee Promise.

R3.0: Tennessee Promise has several other features that make it unique, including a mentorship component and a community service requirement. What is the purpose of these additional features?

Krause: When we’re bringing in a diverse group of students into higher education who might otherwise not have enrolled, we also have to think about their success, and that has to do with more than financial aid.

We’re offering a wraparound set of supports in Tennessee Promise, and the first of these is mentorship. We’re asking communities to offer volunteer mentors. This is a proven model that several groups across the state implement already – for example, a group called Tennessee Achieves has been doing this in Knoxville for years.

The importance of the mentors cannot be overstated. To bring a first-generation student into higher education, you have to have help navigating the system.

We also require students who are participating in Tennessee Promise to give back to the community. The research shows that students who serve in their communities are more engaged and more successful, and it’s a great lesson to teach them – that while we’re engaged in assisting you in your higher education goals, we’re also asking you to give back.

The last thing we’re doing is requiring students to attend community college full time. This is an incredibly important policy decision. When students attend community college full-time, they without question succeed at a higher rate than a student who attended part-time. So if you’re a Tennessee Promise student, we’re going to ask that you attend full time, and the financial aid will allow you to do that.

R3.0: But the Tennessee Promise scholarship only covers tuition and fees, not books or the cost of attendance. Is it realistic for students to meet the requirement that they attend full time?

Krause: It really goes to show how affordable our community colleges are in Tennessee. If you’re a student who has a zero family contribution and thus are receiving the full Pell [Grant] award, your Pell award will exceed the cost of a community college significantly. And the Pell award normally allows for the payment of books, etc. Our students who are in the most needy financial category would still receive other aid to assist with these other expenses.

R3.0: What’s been the response so far from Tennessee parents and students?

Krause: Absolutely overwhelming. Parents and students view this as a game change and a culture change. The most interesting and compelling reaction has been from the business community. Our business and employer leaders are fully on board with the Drive to 55 initiative, and their reaction has been exciting. They recognize it’s higher education for a very specific reason – to improve our workforce.

Just as an example I spoke last week to a group of about 300 people out in east Tennessee. Every hand in the room went up when I asked who knew about the Tennessee Promise, and then everyone started applauding.

R3.0: What will the biggest challenges in successfully implementing this program?

Krause: First and foremost is awareness. We cannot take for granted that students have heard about Tennessee Promise, so we are going to be heavily engaged in building relationships with guidance counselors who are a key part of this and ensuring that the seniors who are going to be our first Tennessee Promise group this fall are aware of that option.

The second challenge will be continuing to build linkages between higher education and the workforce. That’s what this is about – providing better economic opportunities and making sure that when our students enter higher education, they can transition seamlessly into the workplace.

R3.0: Are you aiming for a 100 percent college going rate?

Krause: We want every student to go without question. When you can tell a student that community college is free and the state is going to be there with you to cover these costs, you can really carry a new message to a group of students who had been maybe ruling themselves out of a college education.

But this is not just about financial aid. It’s about creating a success infrastructure for our students.

http://republic3-0.com/tennessee-promise-free-community-college-for-all-students/

If you want to attract good jobs to your state, you must have an educated work force. Many manufacturing jobs no longer provide good pay and benefits. This helps the state attract jobs that pay well to the citizens of the state. It's a win/win.

Arch, I understand from your posts that you fully support paying bribery to corporations to attract jobs. I think the entire thing borders on illegal bribery.

But hey, communities are willing to cut the throats of other communities to pay ransom to corporations to compete for jobs. The jobs go to the highest bidder while corporations laugh all the way to the bank. At the very same time infrastructure and education in our nation is in decline.

Only in America!

Then you don't understand.

First, I don't support "paying bribery". It appears you are coming from a standpoint of "gov't. owns your money, and you should be happy with what gov't. allows you to keep."

I come from a standpoint of "it's my money, not yours."

By me not paying you as much, you aren't "bribing" me. You aren't "paying" me.

Tax abatements (and that's what we're talking about here) absolutely CAN lend themselves to one city/state taking or getting jobs from a different city or state. I admit that.

Tax abatements, however, ALSO lead to new construction, more jobs, etc. Those people that build the buildings? They have jobs. The new jobs - guess what, they get filled with new workers. Each of those workers pays taxes. Taxes to the city, the state, and the federal gov't.

I look at taxes as an evil. A necessary evil, but an evil.


The tax abatements I'm speaking of are local, and school abatements don't happen. I'm sure the state gets involved in other abatements?





"Paying" a ransom? No. Jobs go to the highest bidder? (NO ONE is PAYING the business)

On the other hand, when jobs go out of town/state/country, who loses the most? The workers, the town, the state, and the country.

Also, as a prime example: Look up "Jeep", and mayor Carty Finkbeiner. And Toledo.

I'll give you a brief synopsis: A fair number of years ago, the Jeep production facility in Toledo was scheduled to be shut down. Now, I can't list exactly how many employees they had. Maybe clem or jfan can.

The facilities were old, very outdated.


Long story short, the city (and I think the state) came up with a plan - or, as you call it, a bribe to keep Jeep in Toledo.

Jeep ended up building a huge brand new facility. If you ever are in Toledo, drive up I 75. You can see it.

Or, better yet, just read, and keep in mind the behind the scenes stuff that went on (tax abatements) that helped to keep Jeep in Toledo. (over 5000 jobs. And just imagine construction costs.......)

http://media.fcanorthamerica.com/newsrelease.do?id=339&mid=

And read this: http://www.13abc.com/content/news/FCA-an...-386848481.html

Tell me how the city of Toledo was bribed.

actually i just think you have a double standard.

from your own link:

The City of Toledo already invested $5 million to prepare land for expansion of FCA or its suppliers. The City said it will provide funds up to $825,000 for roadways near the plant. Hicks-Hudson said "we look forward to working with FCA on this new project." Ohio Governor John Kasich said in a statement that "I am particularly thrilled to hear that Fiant Chrysler...is going to add about 700 new jobs there." Wrangler and Toledo have become close to synonymous in recent years."


______

so that means in order for this deal to go down, just about 6 million dollars had to come from tax payers to make this happen.

this is why i say you seem to have a double standard.

you're perfectly cool with the city spending tax payer money on this. thats fine, because it's an investment.

yet somehow, you think using tax payer money to fund community college- ya know, ALSO an investment- is somehow wrong?

again, you're beliefs and the reality doesn't line up. it's cool to use tax payer money as long as it's something YOU agree with.

thanks for making that perfectly clear.