Marco's Speech

 This speech is a must see!

Secretary of State Marco Rubio address the Munich Security Conference. His remarks are right on.

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Rubio remarks

Cause and Effect

 

“If you comply, you won’t die!” There is a simple solution to the “systemic racism” of our policing, as so dutifully trumpeted by the press and the race mongers that always swoop in to create additional divisiveness in our society. Police have the authority to stop and demand identification in any number of situations. Police have the authority to take away your freedom when they make an arrest. Police have the authority to escalate the force necessary to effect an arrest. Resist and police will escalate. Continue to resist or fight and the chances of injury or worse, increases exponentially, for both the citizen and police. The unfortunate death of George Floyd did not have to happen this way. If Floyd had cooperated fully with police the situation never would have spiraled out of control. Follow the lawful orders of the police, allow the handcuffs to be placed on without struggling and sit in the back of the squad car peacefully. Floyd chose to do none of these, causing the chain of events that ultimately ended his life. Had he complied, he would likely still be alive, unless the cocktail of drugs he ingested caused his heart to stop.

Far too many instances of black men dying at the hands of police began when that person failed to comply and chose to resist. The default position of many in the African American community is to be confrontational, flee or simply resist. If police have the authority to stop and question or to investigate a potential crime, why would any reasonable person choose to resist? This culture of distrust of the police escalated exponentially with our first Black President, Barack Obama. A black professor in Cambridge, MA, locked out of his house, lacking any identification, decided that he should attempt to break in. Neighbors reported that someone was breaking into a neighbor’s house and police responded. Police, as they should, detained Henry Louis Gates Jr. and after he became belligerent and combative, the police ultimately arrested him, creating a stir that reached all the way to the Oval Office. Lacking the ability or desire to diffuse the incident and without considering all pertinent facts, President Obama decided to inflame the situation using racial overtones, by accusing the officer of acting stupidly, inferring that the officer should have accepted that Professor Gates was acting lawfully. In actuality, the officer acted appropriately, but of course, adding to the intrigue of racial animus, the officer just happened to be white.

President Obama made other inflammatory statements regarding race. He accused his own grandmother of racial bias, stating the she would cross the street whenever a black man approached her when she was out walking, with the inference that she believed that all black men were up to no good. When George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin after Martin attacked him and knocked him to the ground, Obama opined that if he had a son, he would look like Trayvon. As the President of the United States, Barack Obama swore an oath to the best of his ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. His rhetoric actually inflamed racial tensions, especially when he declared, “Too many young men of color feel targeted by law enforcement, guilty of walking while black, or driving while black, judged by stereotypes that fuel fear and resentment and hopelessness.” After a white Ferguson Missouri police officer Darren Wilson, shot and killed Michael Brown, after Brown attempted to disarm him, President Obama unleashed the full force of the Justice Department, led by Attorney General Eric Holder and began Federal investigations into a number of police departments in order to overcome the “systemic racism” he falsely believed was so prevalent throughout law enforcement.

President Obama, in his efforts to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, has exasperated this generation of Black Americans, actually encouraging them to distrust, fear and fail to comply with lawful orders, by obstructing, resisting and fleeing by using accusatory rhetoric at those who protect and serve. If there is anyone in authority that shoulders the most blame for many, what should be, non-confrontational police interactions or simple arrests that end in tragedy, it is Barack Obama. The preamble to the Constitution states, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

President Obama controverted justice by falsely accusing those that unappreciatively protect and serve, with unfounded and provocative rhetoric, rejected domestic tranquility by using accusatory language that encouraged divisiveness, undermined the common defense by creating an environment of distrust and racial animosity, diminished the general welfare by pushing a false narrative that our nation is indelibly flawed and irredeemable and furthermore, endangered our future liberty by engaging in reckless foreign relations by engaging with our enemies and apologizing to other nations for his baseless belief that our nation has harmed other nations by our reckless behavior and deserves to be condemned for those actions.

“If you comply, you won’t die!” Such a simple and logical concept that is unfortunately disregarded by far too many who listened to a President that had the potential to be the “Great Uniter”, but instead became the “Divider in Chief”. In the immortal words of Obama’s long-time Pastor, Jeremiah Wright, the chickens have come home to roost on the door step of the Obama’s $11.75 million estate in Martha’s Vineyard. Laws for thee, but not for me! And now, with President Biden continuing to stoke the flames of racial animosity, what could possibly go wrong? After all, when it comes to the left, the ends really do justify the means.

Problematic

 President Ronald Reagan summed it all up in one statement, “Government is not the answer, government is the problem.’ In my former life as a police office, one technique I used to break tension was smiling and saying, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help!” This often elicited a chuckle and helped diffuse the situation, allowing everyone to relax and begin to resolve the conflict. After almost thirty years as a police officer and now finishing off my fifth term as County Supervisor, I have a pretty good handle on how government actually works, or better said, fails its’ citizens every day. Unlike a private business that sells a product to create revenue, governments create revenue by taxation and fees. Far too many of the services that governments provide are riddled with redundancies. Far too many governments use the excuse that their citizens expect local control in order to provide essential services. Far too many governments simply continue to conduct their business as they always have; They just need to raise taxes because the costs to provide those services continue to rise. These excuses make no sense whatsoever.

The “Kingdom Syndrome” permeates our government, particularly at the local level. Sharing services is a dirty word to many administrative bureaucrats that seem to think any reduction in their organization somehow lessens their authority. Those types of bureaucrats are the single greatest impediment to operating an efficient government and lowering property taxes. Governor Evers and far too many Wisconsin Counties are advocating for an end to levy caps. Ending the levy caps will enable all local and County governments to raise property taxes again. Remember what happened before levy caps and Jim Doyle was Governor? If one government has purchased costly equipment that is not used on a daily basis, why would a neighboring government need to purchase the same costly equipment if they also did not need it daily? Why couldn’t both municipalities come to an agreement to share that equipment, in some cases saving taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars. This technique could be used to eliminate other redundancies in our government as well, saving taxpayer dollars or allowing tax revenue to be diverted to road repair and reconstruction.

Another argument against sharing of services, cooperating with other municipalities and consolidating essential services is that those governments would lose local control. This argument is actually illogical. Governments actually succeed when they provide essential services efficiently and timely. Governments actually succeed when those services are also provided cost effectively. Governments also succeed when they are streamlined and effective, using their resources wisely to meet the moral obligations to provide for those in need. As an example, larger organizations have more resources necessary to fulfill those obligations such as public safety, roads and infrastructure and human services. Organizations that operate with efficiency and have employees that understand and respect those that they serve is paramount to managing a successful government organization.

When “Economy of Scale” principals are applied, cost advantages are obtained by purchasing at a lower per-unit cost because those purchases are in larger quantities. Additionally, when crises occur, more resources are available to assign to more effectively resolve the problem. It is actually far more efficient for municipalities to cooperate, consolidate and collaborate in order to create those efficiencies that better serve their citizens. The only product that government provides is to serve their citizens to the best of their ability.

“We’ve always done it this way”, “Why fix it if it ain’t broke.” This type of governing is the primary reason that property taxes seldom are reduced, unlike Washington County that has continued to reduce the property tax rate. Washington County will continue to be a leader in innovation and finding new ways to better serve our citizens and continue to reduce their tax burden. The County Board will be considering, and likely passing, resolutions to oppose the lifting of property tax levy caps and opposing the additional .5% sales tax initiative at their April meeting. Wisconsin residents remain among the highest taxed in the nation and any additional taxation is unnecessary and unfair. The intent of the property tax levy caps was to force local governments to innovate and find ways to be more efficient. Lifting those caps only serves to validate those governments who refused to enact changes necessary to better serve their citizens.