Spike

We need a change in leadership at our local government level or we will continue to get the same results. Higher property taxes, crumbling infrastructure and less services. I can hear Jeff Heland's campaign slogan as he fights to keep his government job and benefits.

Ask not what your County can do for you, but what can you do for your County? And me. Heland For Supervisor.

County Tax Payer

This campaign slogan? 'Yakety yak, you need taxed.'

Spike

Spike,

"The pawn broker and owner of a cleaning supplies company won the nomination Tuesday. Since then, it has become widely know that he was accused of abusing his ex-wife and holding a knife to the throat of an ex-girlfriend.

The girlfriend herself had been charged with prostitution. He also admits using steroids in the past."

Our local single party hacks are entertaining at times. However, nepotism, cronyism, graft and plain old incompetence are just plain getting old. Give the Drunk ex-Mayor his due, he was entertaining.

Just look at the former Democrat candidate for Lt. Governor in Illinois. Threatening to slit the throat of your hooker girlfriend beats beating a drunk driving rap all to hell and back. We are so close, but no cigar.

If Gulfport regains its pre-flood glory do you think the entertainment value of our local single party government will improve?

Misty

Lookin' to the East will be insightful this election season. I predict it will be quite insightful to at least one supervisor's re-election bid.

Spike

Satan Steve Scheffler Sidekick and Co-Defendant Kim Lehman Takes New Position with Stem Cell Research Institute

Des Moines, IA–Kim Lehman, President of Iowa Right to Life, is leaving to take a new position with the John Paul II Stem Cell Research Institute in Iowa City.

Lehman is transitioning this week to John Paul II Stem Cell Research Institute (JP2SRI) and will be responsible in helping the non-profit fulfill its mission in advancing adult stem cell research while promoting medical ethics in regenerative medicine.'

Isn't this that nut job lady you keep talking about? Does this pay better than running a political action committee, or was her old employer getting too much heat over her actions?

GH

The plethora of laundry chutes continues to weave a tangled web. It just illustrates one of W.C. Fields theories; we know what you are, we only needed to determine the price.

Spike

Largest Community Organization Ever In Sector

"In December, 929,000 out-of-work Americans did their part to help the Obama administration, staying out of the official unemployment figures by not looking for a job."

Spike:

The Schockleys' cake wasn’t good enough for Brian Tapp but it doesn’t bother him to waste their tax dollars on his worthless black hole Southeastern Iowa Regional Planning pocket lining agenda.

Once a snake always a snake and you’d of thought Tapp was working for the city or the board of supervisors with the attitude he’s got.

Tapp is a nobody running his shady business off the taxpayer and the Schockleys should just consider the source and then forget about him. Isn’t it once a loser always a loser; so they say?

I still think Haiti’s the place for Tapp and his style of doing tax funded rip-offs.

Disgusted as Usual

"The number of federal workers earning six-figure salaries has exploded during the recession, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal salary data.

...The highest-paid federal employees are doing best of all on salary increases. Defense Department civilian employees earning $150,000 or more increased from 1,868 in December 2007 to 10,100 in June 2009, the most recent figure available.

When the recession started, the Transportation Department had only one person earning a salary of $170,000 or more. Eighteen months later, 1,690 employees had salaries above $170,000."

Spike,

"After about five minutes, the couple were told by a SEIRPC employee that the cake would not be accepted and Tapp had declined to meet with them."

You are right. If friends and family cannot lick taxpayer goodies from the bowl, what else should you expect?

If the whole truth is ever revealed, do you think Tapp and the rest of tribe would accept a cake? There could be a file inside.

Betty Crocker

“Iowa has held...the top spot among states for the largest Pay Gap between government workers and private-sector workers for over two decades.”

Spike:

All your viewers should take a look at this report from the Public Interest Institute at Iowa Wesleyan College. Our state employees are paid 146.61 percent of what the private sector in Iowa earns on average.

This means when a private sector employee earns $35,256 annually that a government employee will earn a 146.61 percent of the private sector person coming out at $51,688 annually.

What this means is Iowa is ranked #1 in the United States for pay gaps between its private employees and government employees. In other words Iowa government employees are grossly overpaid.

Iowa government is grossly overpaid for the quality of management we receive for our state. Iowa government salaries should be reduced by at least 30% which would bring the state into range of the taxpayer in the private sector. In other words the way it is now the private sector taxpayer is not getting any bang for its buck from state government.

Please read this report.

Totally Disgusted

Spike:

Disappointed In Our Officials should take a look at the attached table that will show how Iowa city county and state government are raping the Iowa private sector to line their pockets with over pay and benefits.

Iowa government employees are living the life of Riley while the private sector employee is robbed to pay for it. Government unions are destroying our way of life through their greed with the help of Democrats.

Now the brain dead democrats in Des Moines want to reinforce the unions by doing away with our right to work laws as payoff to the scum bag government unions for their support.

Why do Iowans continue to support the same people that are ruining their lives? Many Iowans gave up their lives in wars to prevent the take over of our government by thieves, liars and crooks namely Democrats and unions rubbing each others back to the detriment of the private citizen.

Wake up Iowa and look at what the Democrats and unions have done to our state by looking at the attached table for Iowa below.

Disgusted

Thanks for sending this. Never fail to realize that people like Jeff Heland, Tim Hoschek, Lost Keys Bill Ell, Dandy Jim Davidson, our ex-drunk mayor Mike Edwards, Springsted crooked bond salesman Bruce Slagle, Mini-Me Crook Doug Worden, Brian Tapp and the revolving door of tax and spend Democrats contributed their undivided efforts to this mess.

Spike

Kennedy's Burnt Bridge Finally Gone

"Republican Scott Brown took over the seat of the late Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy on Thursday, vowing to be an independent voice in a bitterly divided Senate.

"I can't promise I will be right in every vote I make. ... I will do the very best job I can," Brown told reporters.

Brown was sworn-in by Vice President Joe Biden at a Capitol Hill ceremony a week earlier than he originally planned, and just in time to plunge into a partisan fight over President Barack Obama's choice of a union attorney for a top labor job. "

The four-minute film, shot by optometrist Jack Moss, brings an entirely new perspective to the terrible event which killed a team of seven, including science teacher Christa McAuliffe, who had been chosen by NASA to become the first civilian in space.

Spike,

That guy Brian Tapp from regional planning sounds like a real idiot. He refuses to meet with two local business people in his lobby along with a Hawkeye reporter and photographer. And he refuses their cake.

Only a mindless nitwit would refuse free cake.

That's un-American and terribly rude.

GH

Keep in mind Tapp is the same nitwit that sucks up bags of taxpayer money and redistributes it to worthless family and church projects.

Why would he try to save any money when he is building his monument in Uncle Hans' backyard.

Spike

Spike

Just a question for our City management and the City Council. There was an article in this weeks Des Moines Register about the State union workers. They were told at their last contract that they could not have pay raises and free health insurance. Not both. The State could not afford it. They chose the free health insurance.

Why did our City council and City manager agree to 5 years of FREE health insurance and nice pay raises? For the next 5 years?

Our Burlington City management should never have done this. We can't afford it. It will increase taxes or cut services to our citizens.

Then they have the guts to blame the State for all of their troubles. Do they think this is fair to burden the citizens of Burlington so they can have more money and benefits? Government is too big and too expensive. It is killing the economy.

The public pension system will either break everybody trying to keep up or it will go broke at the rate it is headed. There will be massive layoffs in the future because the union contracts are too costly. Our community is not better for it. There are citizens sacrificing and suffering right now. It sure is not local government employees.

Thank you for this forum. There are a lot of citizens reading it and discussing the issues.

Disappointed in our Officials

If you think this is bad wait just until Heland uncovers his next 4-year spendaholic crime spree campaign promise to city employees to get their vote.

Spike

From the Ad Vertiser’s newest cub, Jermaine Pigee; not found online but found in iowa's Oldest (and thinnest) News in Print:

"When a doctor needs medication, my job will be to find the closest medication that works for each patient," she said. "Then I have to go through an interrupter and explain and hope the patient understands how to take the medication and hope that if there is medication that must be taken with food, the patient has food to take it with. That's an issue in itself."

Interrupter




Interpreter


U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Brandon Blackwell

HS2 Jonathan Edwards, MSST 91112, and ET1 Leroy Marcel, MSST Miami, provide translation (interpreter) and medical assistance to American citizens awaiting transport back to the U.S., Jan. 18, 2010.

Judicial Watch Announces List of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians" for 2009

1. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
2. Senator John Ensign (R-NV)
3. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)
4. Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner
5. Attorney General Eric Holder
6. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)/ Senator Roland Burris (D-IL)
7. President Barack Obama
8. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)
9. Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and the rest of the PMA Seven - Murtha’s son and Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN.), James P. Moran Jr. (D-VA), Norm Dicks (D-WA.), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), C.W. Bill Young (R-FL.)and Todd Tiahrt (R-KS.)
10. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY)

Spike

The Burlington Community School District rec'd a grant for $4,079,671.00 dollars. Out of that a $1,573,499.00 grant was used to provide special education for children with disability and support struggling reading students.

Do you think Oak St. got any of this money or are we going to start building another school?

I see the city paid Two Rivers Bank and General obligation &Interest for the aquatic note for their $1,738,037.78. I hope this was the final payment because we've lost enough principal and interest on this loan due to city leaders failure to understand business.

Mr. Worden wants to move to the depot, I would advise him to figure in the price of sound proofing, we don't want those pesky trains making any noise when they go by.

I think we need some independents running for city, state and federal governments.

Another disgusted taxpayer

Sound is out of sync -

Spike,

Another piece of no longer used railroad real estate. Another illegal secret government meeting over its fate. What did the "without merit" railroad shops lawsuit cost us?

Even if the City backs away moving to the depot, there are still some questions that must be answered. Who is pushing this proposal and why? Is this a smoke screen to justify the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission buying a facility far in excess of their needs? Do cronies stand to profit at public expense if the move goes through?

What was discussed at the Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission meeting that the public was barred from? Are the answers to these questions known only to those at that meeting?

Whatever happened to rule of law? Where is law enforcement? For that matter, whatever happened to a free press telling us more than the price of lettuce at Hy-Vee?

CP

Get the Manor developed and Cascade bridge done first

Spike

I think it was a wise move for the city council to rid this dumb idea to move City Hall to the Depot. Matt Murray was right! I have not heard any citizens say they thought this was a good idea, except Delaney at The Hawkeye. The Hawkeye was pushing this. They should report the news, and both sides of an issue and let their readers decide. They lobby for the projects that they support. The public and their readers then get one sided information. They would not admit to this, but it is the truth.

Delaney had an editorial a few weeks ago about families should cut up their credit cards and live within their means. It was actually a good editorial about financial management. When it comes to City projects that he wants done, no end to borrowing and no common sense to spending?

My suggestion is: If Delaney and The Hawkeye think it is such a good investment, good location, good return on their money, let them develop it. There is sound reasons why no private business has developed the Depot in 25 years.

Our City Council needs to listen to the public and not just special interest groups.

Get the Manor developed and Cascade bridge done first.

Burlington Resident

Spike:

Why in the hell would city hall think they’d be better off down in the flood plain? Who ever dreamed up such an idea needs to be thrown out of town after being tarred and feathered?

Where does Burlington come up with these lame brained people that have contaminated our public service jobs?

Why don’t Tapp and his den of dimwits head on down to Haiti where they would be welcomed with open arms and could live with people that have similar ideas for creating income.

All the local taxpayer funded entities are stealing the taxpayer blind with the exception of the Salvation Army, in my opinion. That Tapp character leaves a lot to be desired because anyone that hangs around with Slagle, Worden, Heland and other has-been public servants surely can’t be too gifted between the ears.

I’ve heard that SEIRP isn’t even paying the landfill in Des Moines County where they’ve been dumping concrete from Oakville in a special place so it can be redeemed at a later date. In other words, it would appear the landfill is just storing the concrete which will be retrieved at a later date for use by a “phantom” business or the county or the city. In the mean time, what happened to the money set aside to pay for the dumping fees? Dumped means dumped, not recycled.

Is there no one keeping tabs on what SEIRP does with its taxpayer funds? Just another example of no accountability or responsibility by taxpayer funded personnel here in Des Moines County and Burlington.

Where’s FEMA when corruption is running rampart throughout the county?

Disconsolate