{"id":1409,"date":"2011-10-12T16:52:43","date_gmt":"2011-10-12T20:52:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/chamber-opposes-hidden-taxes-while-proposing-taxation-without-representation.html"},"modified":"2011-10-12T16:52:43","modified_gmt":"2011-10-12T20:52:43","slug":"chamber-opposes-hidden-taxes-while-proposing-taxation-without-representation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/chamber-opposes-hidden-taxes-while-proposing-taxation-without-representation.html","title":{"rendered":"Chamber opposes hidden taxes while proposing taxation without representation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/a>\nChairman Tom Gooding of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce\nsaid that the Chamber was opposed to government adding hidden taxes,\nand Roy Taylor can be heard going “Amen!”.\nYet both of them back the Chamber and CUEE’s school “unification” referendum,\nwhich would\n\nraise taxes for everyone in Valdosta and Lowndes County<\/a>\nplus making conditions more difficult for business.\nNone of the school consolidation proponents seem to see the irony.\n

\nGooding’s talk about the Chamber’s Government Affairs Committee spelled\nout the Chamber’s theory of local government, which is all about helping\nbusiness, and apparently not about anything else.\nHe didn’t say a word about government providing public benefits for the\ncommon good.\nWhich is the tail and which is the dog?\n

\nAlso, Gooding promised at least three times\n(1<\/a>\n2<\/a>\n3<\/a>)\nthat\n\n\nthere would be discussion\nabout both<\/em> referendums on the ballot,\nyet nobody spoke about the Sunday alcohol sales referendum.\n

\nStill, as I pointed out\n\nto the VDT:<\/a>\n

\nI also noticed now that the pro-consolidation speaker got to speak for\n8 minutes while the candidates were only able to speak for 5 minutes.\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<\/a>\n

\nFor that matter, nobody showed up to speak against the school consolidation\nreferendum.\n

\nFor that matter, hardly anybody showed up at all.\nAs I told the VDT,\n

\nMy first impression was, where was everybody?\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<\/a>\nAnd that was my continuing impression.\nNone of the candidates showed up except the three Valdosta Mayoral\ncandidates and one Valdosta City Council At Large candidate.\nBut that’s just as well because David Rodock put it in the VDT,\n
\nA few dozen citizens came out\n<\/blockquote>\nTwo years ago was also an off year, but many more people showed up.\n

\nCould the Chamber be damaging its own popularity with its bogus\nschool consolidation referendum?\nMaybe people are getting the impression that Chamber events are all\ndog and pony shows to push school consolidation?\n

\nMore people have already signed up\nto march on the Chamber Friday<\/a>\nthan showed up at the Chamber’s event last night.\n

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