An Opinion By Jan Bergemann 
President, Cyber Citizens For Justice, Inc. 

Published October 27, 2010 

It's plainly disgusting that this country allows political groups and parties to spread outright lies. Instead of offering reasons to be for or against something, they make up lies and misleading statements and call them "FACTS."  And every time their so-called "FACTS" are proven totally false, they just make up new lies. The propaganda machine of "Citizens for Lower Taxes and a Stronger Economy,” led by a guy just fresh from college named Ryan Houck, would even make the infamous propaganda machine of Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels blush with envy.

While Goebbels was known for his rhetoric and his ability to twist facts and to make the "twists" sound true, Houck's propaganda machine relies on FLAT OUT LIES. The so-called business people [ i.e. FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS and CHAMBER OF COMMERCE], who finance this venture, should be ashamed that they are willing to finance such a campaign based on lies and deceit! And it adds insult to injury that parts of the money used to finance this campaign is paid from stimulus money, money these "business people" received -- at the expense of us citizens -- the taxpayers!

This ad is a classic example for the lies that are being spread by this well-financed group. There is absolutely nothing in Amendment 4 -- not even in the fine print -- that mentions anything about "Fewer Jobs and Higher Taxes." These slogans are used by exactly the same special interest groups that actually created Florida's misery in the first place. Florida's crashed real estate market was caused by GROWTH MISMANAGEMENT and OVERBUILDING. Homes were built in weird places -- after comprehensive land use plans were amended by commissioners falling over each other to get in the good graces of developers and landowners, meaning filled campaign coffers and in some cases doggie bags filled with cash.

Remember, Florida has estimated 370,000 empty homes and condominiums, not even counting all the homes and condos owned by banks and mortgage companies after foreclosure. Empty means homes nobody lives in -- nobody -- not even renters! Empty homes were not caused by Wall Street -- or any of the other stupid excuses Ryan Houck invents on a nearly daily basis. Empty homes and condos were caused by greedy developers and homebuilders, who created an inventory without demand. They built homes and condos without having buyers, without having folks to move into these homes. That is called OVERBUILDING -- and the only ones that have to take the blame are greedy developers and homebuilders. This was the cause that totally killed our property values and robbed many of us of our life savings. 

And the fact that many homes are "underwater"? Prices drop into nowhere, because there are too many places for sale -- and NO BUYERS and NOT EVEN RENTERS in many cases. Florida's population is decreasing quickly, creating more empty homes and condos.

DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO BUILD MORE?   

Greedy developers and corrupt politicians have let us down. Just look at the mess they created in Florida. It is HIGH TIME for "We The People" to take charge of our own fate. 

One first step in the right direction:

HOMETOWN DEMOCRACY

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