Will the Madness Ever Stop? Yesterday, while up in Frankfort, I found myself following a Toyota sub-compact that had a bumper sticker taped to the rear window saying "Vote Democrat in 08, Take back the White House". I was tempted to pull up beside him and ask how that decision was working out for him?  

I thought you might also find it interesting that our federal government has spent an estimated $20 million dollars on "Stimulus Project Road Signs" across the country.  It has been reported that many of these signs carry a hefty price tag from $3,000 to $10,000 per sign.  

The House has voted twice now over the past year to continue funding these signage projects. This is Congresses way of telling us how hard they are working to "Stimulate" the economy.  I guess if you are one of the millions that are out of work, then as a last resort you can steal one of these road signs and sell it for scrap metal so you can feed your family.

The madness continues with a report from Fox News last week that in Bell, California, three administrators whose huge salaries sparked outrage in this small blue-collar suburb of Los Angeles have agreed to resign, the City Council said Friday. Council members emerged from an hours-long closed session at midnight Friday and announced that they'd accepted the resignations of Chief Administrative Officer Robert Rizzo, Assistant City Manager Angela Spaccia and Police Chief Randy Adams.  

Rizzo was the highest paid at $787,637 a year -- nearly twice the pay of President Barack Obama -- for overseeing one of the poorest towns in Los Angeles County.

Spaccia makes $376,288 a year and Adams earns $457,000, 50 percent more than Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck. The three will not receive severance packages, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. Rizzo will step down at the end of August and Spaccia will leave at the end of September.

Adams will also leave at the end of August, after completing an evaluation of the police department, the Times said.  

Claudia Cowan reports "I'm happy that they resigned, but I'm disappointed at the pension that they're going to receive," said Ali Saleh, a member of the Bell Association to Stop the Abuse or BASTA. Rizzo would be entitled to a state pension of more than $650,000 a year for life, according to calculations made by the Times.

That would make Rizzo, 56, the highest-paid retiree in the state pension system. Adams could get more than $411,000 a year. Spaccia, 51, could be eligible for as much as $250,000 a year when she reaches 55, though the figure is less precise than for the other two officials, the Times said.

Saleh said the crowd applauded after the announcement but immediately yelled out questions about what would happen to the council members. Four of the five of them are paid close to $100,000 annually for part-time work. Today, as I write this column, it was reported that the Bell City Council voted to cut their salaries by 90%, but the citizens of this small California community are still outraged!

I'm sure most will agree that the Bell, California story is an excellent example as to just how crazy things are.  One of the most outrageous parts of the story is that some feel that these official's actions were justified because of their abilities to secure funding to pay their record setting salaries.

It is obvious that nobody cares that the grant money they were able to procure was coming from the tax payers of this great nation!  

Last year a Fox News Reporter asked a lady in Detroit why she was standing in a long line of people? She said she heard the government was giving away free money and she was in line to get some. The reporter asked her where the money came from and she replied that it was "Obama Money".

Well, it is "My Opinion" that we tell our elected officials whose money it really is and remind them on November 2nd who they really work for.  If you are not registered to vote, you have until October 4, 2010 to register here at the Clerks Office in Russell County.  This is one right that you do not want to surrender!

May God Bless…

Ron Phillips