'Bout sums it up....

The voters will now have to settle for 2nd best on the GOP side as there is no way that anyone could want a 2nd term for the Fool who presently occupies the White House. The issue is that SLICK MITT is NOT the best person for the job either - He is what we will be stuck with as the election in 2012 will come down to choosing the "lesser of two crappy choices" not electing the best person for the job.

And that is NOT how we should choose a President.

TAXPAYERS SAY, "ENOUGH ALREADY- Stop feathering the nest of municipal workers at everyone else's expense

NO WHERE in this article from the Boston Globe does it mention that the town will ask town workers to pick up a larger share of their own benefits. Instead they will continue to cut positions and reduce services.....so the net-net of this is they preserve the high standard of living for the few at the expense of the majority.

It is galling that the people who work for our towns and cities don't grasp the simple principle that the taxpayer has had to shoulder increased costs for their benefits each year over the last 10-15 years.....now, when anyone in town government suggests that municipal and state workers should do the same, the Unions scream like the stuck pigs they are.....

Millis voters spoke loud and clear.....stop screwing around and put things in order. Stop "feathering the nest" of the few inside town government at the expense of others. Too bad the ones in charge of the decision making process are stone deaf to the taxpayer's directions and a HUGE part of the problem.


Without override, cutbacks expected
Voters rejected $1.1m tax increase
By James O’Brien
Globe Correspondent / May 8, 2011

Voters in Millis,MA rejected a $1.1 million tax increase last week, and town and school officials said the cuts to staff and services that they had hoped to avoid are all but assured.

The officials had proposed the Proposition 2 1/2 override measure to counter a projected $535,183 deficit in the budget for next fiscal year, based on requests from municipal and school administrators. The additional tax revenues would also have provided a five-year financial buffer against projected deficits and a prolonged economic slump, and create funding for capital projects, officials said.

Following the 965-908 vote against the measure in Monday’s town election, however, the budget presented to Town Meeting tomorrow night will call for a number of personnel and program cuts for the year starting July 1.

“All I can say to the people is that the voters have spoken, and we’ll go to Town Meeting with a balanced budget,’’ said David Baker, chairman of the School Committee. “There’s no fat, there’s no muscle; we’re talking only bone.’’

For the school system, which Baker said would absorb about 85 percent of the deficit, amounting to roughly $459,000, a balanced budget means the reduction of 2.9 full-time-equivalent positions, and the elimination of freshman sports at the high school.

Baker said seven teachers will have their hours reduced, and class sizes will increase. The elementary-level Spanish immersion program would increase from 24 to 28 students per class, he said, and the middle school’s television production, drama, and band classes will have about 30 pupils per session.

The schools will also be cutting back on professional training and curriculum instruction, reducing orders of materials and supplies, and taking money from maintenance and operations funding.

“There are not a lot of expenses from which we can cut,’’ said Baker. “Our fuel costs are going up, our heating cost is going up. We’re trying to do everything we can to save teaching positions.’’

On the municipal side, Town Administrator Charles Aspinwall said the 2012 fiscal year’s budget will drop by about $76,000.

Aspinwall said that administrative help would be cut, taking one part-time position from his office, one from the office of the town clerk, and one from the treasurer’s staff.

“This is on top of losing staff since probably 2002,’’ he said.

Staffing at Town Hall will be down to the bare minimum, Aspinwall said. “I used to have three people in my office, now there’s one. The town clerk’s office is down to one person, one full-time administrative assistant.’’

The outcome of that, he said, could be fewer office hours for town business.

Additionally, Aspinwall said, there would be changes in how the town maintains its assets.

“Next year, the DPW can’t pay the water bill,’’ he said, regarding the approximately $13,000 tab for watering the town’s fields. “We’re going to have to shift that responsibility to recreation, and have them charge more for their programs to cover the cost.’’

Officials said Millis has tried in recent years to avert the kind of budgetary decisions that led to the override request.

Baker said the recent contract for teachers had no raises in its first year, but now the second year raises are going to kick in.

Christopher Smith, chairman of the town Finance Committee, said Millis joined the Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission in 2008 to take advantage of lower rates in the state’s health insurance plan, and the town moved retirees to a Medicare supplement plan.

“These create a larger pool and spread out costs more evenly,’’ said Smith. “And Millis was one of the first towns in the Commonwealth to do both. If we hadn’t, our problem would be a lot worse right now.’’

In his nine years on the school board, Baker said, only 2004 to 2006 were what he would call good times, and those came largely because of a change in how the state formulated public school funding.

“And then the economy fell off the face of the earth,’’ he said, describing the reason why state aid has been reduced.

In his 20 years as town administrator, Aspinwall said, he’s seen Millis on the financial upswing, but called the recent years a cruel reversal.

“It’s a terrible thing to see things improve, to see schools improve, to see our bond rating improve, to see our infrastructure improve, and then to see it slowly chip back away,’’ Aspinwall said. “If you had told me the ’90s were the good old days, I never would have believed you, but . . . I guess they were.’’

© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company

You can buy almost anything on EBAY....Like time in the Federal Pen !!

Yes - You can buy ANYTHING (well almost anything) on EBAY...looks like this guy got himself a lengthy stay at CLUB FED for his troubles.....He is likely not a member of the local MENSA chapter.

Man arrested in sting operation after selling U.S. spy drone on eBay By Daily Mail Reporter 2nd April 2011

It is said you can buy and sell anything on eBay. But for one Philippine national who sold and mailed a U.S. military drone to undercover agents, the postage and packing could cost him up to 20 years in jail.

Henson Chua, 47, was caught by an undercover Homeland Security agent as he tried to sell the four lb 'Raven' for $13,000. He is now charged with violating the Arms Export Control Act and smuggling and faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted.

It is not known how Chua acquired the hand-launched plane, but according to official documents he allegedly bought it from the Philippine government.

The Raven is equipped with three cameras that U.S. troops use for battlefield surveillance and can be taken apart by troops and then reassembled for use.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, agents with the Homeland Security Department found out last May that Chua was offering a Raven for sale on eBay for $13,000. The listing had nine pictures of the plane that clearly showed an ID tag and bar code proving its authenticity.

Homeland Security agents then began to talk to Chua, who had been living in the U.S. since April 2010 on a non immigrant visa. Agents then called Chua on May 17, where he allegedly claimed to have bought the Raven from the Philippine government, who sold it as abandoned property. U.S. agents then allegedly warned Chua that exporting the plane out of the country was illegal. But in an email exchange, Chua then told them: 'Now, as far as the US permits. yes you're right that could be a bit of a problem for me if this isn't done right.'

'It's tricky because you have to be a registered broker with the state department in order to transfer US military items.

(The Raven and its parts are definitely military items.) Otherwise, you're breaking US law. The agents exchanged messages with Chua over several months, and he sent the Raven to them in separate packages in exchange for the money, officials said. It is claimed he imported an RQ-11B Raven Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, or UAV from the Philippines into the U.S. which is listed on the U.S. Munitions List as a defensive item, 'without having first obtained from the U.S. Department of State a license or written authorisation.' He then 'aided and abetted the attempted export' when he offered to sell it to the undercover U.S. agent outside the country. U.S. arms code prohibits people from buying and selling defence equipment without permission from the government, primarily to prevent people from selling U.S. - manufactured equipment to foreign governments.