Trick or Treat? Clarke County sales tax vote Nov. 3
October 31, 2009 7 Comments
Trick or Treat time for the landowners in Clarke County will continue past Halloween. On Nov. 3 there will be voting on a special ballot to decide whether or not the city of Murray and rural Clarke County will pass a 1 percent sales tax to help pay for their share of the costs to build a lake. A lake that will mean grabbing up land which belongs to some of their long time family farmers.
In following some of the letters in the Osceola Sentinel -Tribune I find a few heartwarming “treats” which I will share here.
“One Clarke County resident said that she will note for the tax …’I’m going to vote no because I can’t live with the thought that I could possibly be taking someone’s land…So I will pay the (higher) property taxes. I can’t vote for it, I can’t.”
Some residents feel the issue of the lake “is not Murray’s problem. It never should’ve been a county issue. It should’ve stayed an Osceola issue, but you crammed it down our throat…. I think we need to stand up and say no.”
My fellow Iowans -there are some “treats” but alas, many tricks with this land grab issue, as well.
A letter writer to the paper wrote
“Do we sacrifice value and benefit for all citizens of Clarke County because of those disgruntled land owners even though we empathize with them? I think not.”
Tricks and threats are the theme of several letters. I urge you to read them all, though the term “disgruntled” should give you a clue as to the theme of the letters. To some people the desire to keep a family home or family farm is meanly called “disgruntled”. I find the term disgusting!
I will continue to watch and care about the developments of the land grab from American farmers and others. Also of interest will be the opinions about eminent domain from the candidates running for the opportunity and privilege of being elected as our next Governor.
The vote on Nov. 3 will be a signal if American taxpayers and citizens can withstand scare tactics in order to stand up for private property rights.
Seeing the potential of private land being gobbled up is very scary. And worse, it is Un-American.
Trick or Treat? Iowans need to be watching. The next land grab could be in your neighbor’s home, or worse yet, your home.

Guest Commentary: The Politics of Soda Pop Part Two
October 27, 2009 by Al Bregar 3 Comments
The Politics of Soda Pop, Part Two
By Tom Shaw
Independent Candidate for Iowa House District 8
“However (political parties) may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.”
(George Washington, Farewell Address, Sept. 17, 1796)
I recently wrote an article in which I described the Republican Party’s abandonment of its core social values contained in its party platform in order to attract moderate voters. In short, I likened it to the disastrous results when Coca-Cola changed its recipe to “New Coke” in order to attract Pepsi drinkers. But the “politics of soda pop” don’t stop there.
Years ago I watched an interview with an executive from RC Cola on a television news magazine. He described the power and leverage that was held by both Pepsi and Coke in the soft drink market. His assertion was that although the two soda giants were in fierce competition with each other, they colluded together to make sure that no other soft drink company could successfully expand its market share. A clear example of this was provided when he told about his company not being able to purchase vending machines in order to sell its product. According to him, when RC Cola would order vending machines from a manufacturer, Pepsi and Coke would buy up the machines at a higher price in order to keep them from being used by RC Cola.
George Washington was clearly, and justifiably, concerned about the inevitable corruption which would prevail if political parties misused their power. His ominous prediction has clearly come to pass in recent years. Both major parties, Democratic and Republican, have gained such a stranglehold of power, for the sole sake of power, that they will collude together to make sure no other voice is heard. They, like Pepsi and Coke, do not want any outside competition and therefore will link hands together in order to stifle any challengers to their dominion. The two parties have become very adept at conditioning voters that they are the only game in town. Want proof? Just tell someone that you are going to vote for a candidate that is not a “D” or an “R”. You will be labeled as a nut and be told that you are just wasting your vote, for everyone knows we have a “two-party system.”
But the electorate is waking up and openly defying the parties. The ranks of independent voters are swelling and the parties are experiencing a mass exodus. “We the People” are starting to demand not only more choices in candidates, but candidates that truly represent their values. Our election system was never meant to result in “I voted for the lesser of two evils”, but rather that voters should have a range of options so that they can say “I voted for good today”.
As an RC Cola candidate, I know the challenges that I face in overcoming the party system. The parties have mutually designed the “straight ticket” voting process to purposely inhibit candidates like myself. The “straight ticket” argument is also used as leverage to force or coerce candidates to run on a Democratic or Republican ticket. I say it is time for the voters to shed their party shackles and vote based on their principles. And I end this with a reminder from Samuel Adams, “Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote …. that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.”
Filed under Guest Commentary, Politics Tagged with Democrats, George Washington, Political Parties, Republicans, Samuel Adams, Tom Shaw, Two Party System