Ding, Dong the dictator is dead. Saddam's death is sad for his family, but a wonderful day for justice. This man starved 500,000 children by stealing money set aside for their food and medicine to build an extra dozen palaces. Don't mention the 350-500,000 or so found in mass graves. This man was evil walking. Now he is commended to a just God.

The Vatican, Amnesty International and others, who want to push their anti-Biblical agenda against the death penalty, should be ashamed that they seem to have spent more time mourning the righteous execution of Saddam than comforting his many victims. I love the Catholic Church, but on this I depart and stand with Holy Scripture and common decency.

The Bible is explicit that the only justice for a man like this is the death penalty from Gen. 8 to Romans 13. The land is cries out for justice and the innocent blood is a curse against us until it is atoned for by shedding the blood of the guilty. May be now Iraq can move from the curse of division and move toward a land of freedom.

This is only one step. Iraq is a land which needs rebuilding, security, and reconciliation. I pray they get it. Our soldiers and marines have done yoeman's work. 80% of the country is relatively secure. They are however undermanned. They can't clear and hold the trouble areas. Now the capital is starting to descend into disorder. It is time to send more troops for 6 months to secure the Baghdad. We need to start training the Iraqis with better equipment and then start leaving. Our job was to give them a new start.
We have done that. Now let's start rebuilding so we can have another independent ally in the region.

We should learn the lessons of the Philippines after the Spanish American War.

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

Today I reflect on the birth, life, and life changing power of the Lord Jesus. He is my Lord and my Friend. I am grateful for the love he shows me everyday.

I have studied the accounts in Mathew and Luke of His Birth this month. I am intrigued by the prophecy angle. God did not try to sneak up on us. http://www.HopeforIsrael.net has 324 distinct prophecies relating to his 1st coming. I have read all of them. It strikes me that God was trying to give an address to us so we would recognize Him. It started in Genesis and goes through Malachi. God did not want us to be deceived by imposters or miss the most important special delivery in history.

I call it an address because like an address. God was pinpointing the arrival of our Lord in the sea of humanity. If I say go find a person who will help you and he is somewhere in the world. You will not have a clue who I am talking about. If I say his name is President George W. Bush son of George H. W. Bush, he lives at 1600 Penn. Ave. in Washington D. C. and his chief of staff is Josh Bolton and his phone # is (202) 456-1414 ext. xxx, you would have something to work with. It would no longer be a mystery.

Well, our Lord was identified by name, place of birth, family lineage, time frame in history, special circumstances (virgin birth), mission, forerunner prophet, and hundreds of other clues given hundreds or even thousands before He was born. The odds of one person meeting these were identified as 1 to the 10 by 53 or some astronomical number. It was not a coincidence or an accident.

God is a god of purpose and planning. He was not surprised by the fall of man, and had a plan for redemption. This Christmas God is not surprised by anything in your life and already has a plan of victory. Christmas was a new beginning for humanity. Seek Him in with a new commitment and tonight can be a new beginning in your life.

The murder of cousin Alfred

This Thursday I heard of the discovery of the body of my recently missing cousin Alfred Clark. He was killed by an alleged drug dealer and dumped in the trash. His body was so mutilated that he had to be identified by fingerprints according to my sources. You could not even tell he was a teen. For more details see the news article on Delaware on line. http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061215/NEWS/612150318/1006/NEWS

Alfred was a quiet kid. He was bright, kind, but a follower. For some reason he saw himself as weak because of his asthma. He sought to compensate for that by being around people he thought were strong. Sometimes those were the right people; sometimes those were the wrong people. He had so much to give, but now that treasure has been wasted. My heart is broken. I can barely type through my tears. The last time we spoke was over a year ago. I couldn't get him to see the light. He was a good student and a basically thoughtful person. He had potential many only dreamed of having. Now we see only the shadow of death. I am disgusted by the human verman pulling our kids into the criminal drug culture. When will we get these creeps out of our community? Mow I don't know that he was personally involved with any sort of drugs, but these are not people to spend time with. It only means trouble.

I was told during the city council campaigns that my stand against crime was stereotyping the neighborhood. I was told that if you don't bother the drug dealers they won't bother you. Well, I am bothered. His nine month pregnant twin sister is so bothered she had to be sedated. His family is bothered. The neighbors are bothered. The recent feeling of some progress in the community has been shaken badly. Quite frankly, I am more than bothered, I am angry.

This blight from hell is ripping apart our families, destroying the human potential, and dragging down our community. It has to stop.

The assualt on Marriage continues in our courts. N.J. legislators just caved to extremist N. J. Supreme Court and granted virtual marriage to gays and lesbians. At least the institution of holy matrimony is still undefiled by "social progressive" attempts to adapt it for the times in N. J. Mass. is still the only state on the outside. Maryland will be the next battlefield. Why all the fuss?

I would say an institution that has given strength to the civilization of humanity since primitive times must have something going for it. Marriage predated government, church, business, science, schools, and journalism. It seems to have predated even agriculture. Similar forms of marriage is found in both the most advanded and in the most isolated and remote cultures in the world. It is the basis for strong families raising successful children. It is the man and the women uniting to bring life, civilization, and continuity to humanity.

It was not created by government, it was hardwired by our Creator. It is not up for a vote. It is not subject to judicial review. It is a holy covenant not a social contract. It is not about making people feel good about themselves. It is about continuing humanity in a civilized, loving fashion.

The family is where character is formed. It is where values are forged. It is where our human dignity is discovered.

I believe we need to get back to the old pathways, which have made humanity great, and not risk maybe 100,000 years of progress which has enabled us to learn the greatness embedded in each of us.

I would say we need to worry less about people’s feelings and more about their needs. The founders of this great republic understood that we make policy for the good of posterity. Modern day liberals think we make policy for the next election. It is time we realize public policy is too important to based on whims and fads. It is time we started basing it upon the long term good of society.

The recent bond rating warning is a wake call and we can’t afford to hit the snooze button. Wall Street is saying to Dover, get your house in order or pay a price. Unfortunately, Wall Street rightly sees the mismanagement of the electric fund as a sign of potential risk. This is why they are considering changing the city to a greater risk for investors who buy our debt. How do you miss hundreds of thousands of dollars in miscalculated rates more than one month? Why are we dealing with a structural deficit next year in electric fund that we never noticed? How are we off almost 10% of the funds budget? If we do not act decisively, we will be paying higher interest (read taxes, fees, or cuts in services) for years to come. The professionals are telling us we have lost our way, not just me.

I wonder will this affect the merit raises. In the private sector, miscalculations of this magnitude would not be tolerated. We deserve to see a plan of action now that is based on financial responsibility. One such plan was presented earlier this year, the tax and electric rate payer relief plan (TERP). Our solution was:
Form a capital sunset committee to take a year to review every project which has been pending for more than one year.
2. an independent performance audit of city programs and finances.
3. reject massive new projects such as the $13.4 million city hall expansion.
4 fiscal restraint by (1) Cut spending $3M, (2) No new projects, without offsetting spending, (3) Give the people back their $4.8M from the Rate Stabilization Fund to offset the electric increases, (4) Cut carry forward $5.2M, apply to rate stabilization and tax relief, (5) Return $2 M to the people by rescinding last year’s increases in fees, taxes, and rates, (6) Cut customer service charge and return $600,000 to the people, and (7) Use excess contingencies and reserves to balance any budget proposal to Council this year.
Obviously, there would be revisions to the plan because much of the money was spent in a record 130 million dollar budget.

Whenever, there is a tough financial choice, it is the habit of tax and spenders to say we need to cut services, layoff workers for Christmas, or raise taxes and fees. We then have to swallow massive increases. Well, no. We need to stop most new spending. Yes, we will have to raise electric rates, but will it be 3 or 4 million or 7 or 8 million dollars? Should we just say Merry Christmas and set out a stocking for city hall containing your checkbook?

We were told earlier this year that if we raise fees and keep the tax increase, we could spend millions on new projects. We were told that local analysis of city finances were wrong and political scare tactics. Wall Street is showing us who were playing politics with the number. The critics were not harsh enough. We are not funding our long term liabilities properly which makes the picture even worse.

Our city has a tradition of being extraordinarily well run. Our bond rating over the years has recognized it. We have strong multiple sources of income and a relatively low debt ratio. Our management has been top notch and our council responsible. Let's get back to that tradition before it’s too late.

David Anderson

In case you haven’t made it to Newszap forums lately
Posted: 2 December 2006 Saturday 01:23 am
Edit
Quote
Reply

Did you notice the bond rating warning? Wall Street is saying to Dover, get your house in order or pay a price. Unfortunately, Wall Street rightly sees the mismanagement of the electric fund as a sign of potential risk. If we do not act decisively, we will be paying higher interest (read taxes, fees, or cuts in services) for years to come. The professionals are telling us we have lost our way, not just me.

I wonder, will this affect the merit raises?

Our city has a tradition of being extraordinarily well run. Our bond rating over the years has recognized it. We have strong multiple sources of income and a relatively low debt ratio. Our management has been top notch and our council responsible. Let's get back to that tradition before its too late.
Last edited on 2 December 2006 Saturday 01:29 am by davidlanderson




Posted: 7 December 2006 Thursday 04:57 pm
Quote
Reply

David, you're comments are an asset to the public, at least anybody that's interested. It's unfortunate that more people aren't reacting to the mismanagement by the City Council, the City Manager and the Utility commission. It's too easy for them to cover their blunders by "merely" raising taxes, fees and electric rates. A downgrade in the City's credit rating would mean higher rates just to pay the additional interest on future bonds. That's in addition to the $7M that was underestimated. And yes, that would be cause for termination in any well run corporation. Unfortunately, this is starting to smell like another kind of corporation - Enron.

Their merit raises should be returned to the public. In the business world, merit raises are earned by improved performance. I guess this City's rulers have a different set of rules.

Renewing The GOP Majority

The Party had a rough year, but the undercurrent was not based upon a fundamental sea change in public opinion. We can reconnect with the public to form that “non-left majority” in Delaware elections.

We have a vigorous opponent in the other party and we must have an even more vigorous plan. We have fallen into a distinct disadvantage. Here are my suggestions to turn the situation to our advantage. Naturally, we do not abandon the 72 hour program, the expansion of the youth clubs (TAR’s and CR’s) and our media strategy. This is in addition to what we are already doing.

In Kent County and in the Ramone race, we fell victim to unanswered attacks. I propose establishing a volunteer core of a GOP Truth squad in each region as well as a county press spokesperson. This truth squad would call talk shows and write letters to the community and dominate papers, highlighting issues and correcting inaccuracies. It should be broad enough to allow multiple letters on an important topic. Truth squad people should have ready access to information from elected officials or candidates such as a number to campaign managers or an official or staffer. The community papers are as widely read in total as the News Journal.

Know the voters. In Rep. Nancy Wagner’s first race, some of us were able to identify 500 values democrats and were able to switch a couple of hundred. This turned out to be her margin of victory. We need to identify, through canvass and phone polling, independent voters and soft democrats by their own hot issue. Mailings and autodialers could be targeted by an issue (their issue) that will drive a person over to our candidates.
I recommend investing the 25k to do the phone part professionally.

We need to build the team.

Fundraising Art Auction—or other regionally appropriate fundraiser to get new people involved.

Family Fun Day/block parties with games, moon bounces, local bands, etc. It should also have Republican booths to sign up people to the meetings and our elected officials mixing with the crowd.

GOP youth day run by CR’s and TAR’s with support from the region. Local bands, food, and entertainment with active recruitment.

Structural change: We need to change our candidate search committees to be more representative with one person from each district in a region and two at large. It would ideally have ideological, gender, and ethnic diversity. We need local endorsements to go first through the district committees. Then the regional committee should vote on the recommendations. Some people would still complain, but the process would be open and transparent. It would more likely reflect the person’s talents as a candidate.

This part is beyond just the Party committee’s ability to achieve. We need a unified party platform-- our version of the contract. It would give us the ability to hammer an agenda for the next two years and change the discussion. We need people to be able to see voting republican makes a difference.

Here are my recommendations.
10 Point to renew the American Dream in Delaware

Protect Our Families
*A Delaware Jessica’s Law is needed to put child sexual predators away and stop the current revolving door of repeat offenders
*Increase grants to shelters that house victims of Domestic violence and set up a state police task force to monitor and enforce Protection From Abuse orders, and strengthen penalties for those who commit or threaten violence while under those orders.
*utilize grants from the federal marriage initiative.

Prosperity
*Tax reform establish a flat tax with a state earned income credit 1/4 of the federal.
*Eliminate gross receipt tax on goods manufactured but not retailed in Delaware.
*Revitalize our cities with enterprise zones and a real affordable housing strategy.
*Two year tax break for alternative energy facilities.

Return to Government of the People
A version of initiative and referendum at all levels of government.
A version of the open government initiative