RFP Staff

♦  Within the next ten days an information sharing network will be formed on Facebook focused on selling your home or property in Salisbury with the least amount of loss and moving to higher ground in Rowan, Cabarrus, or other areas where livability, safety, decent public schools, and the local government doesn’t tell incredible whoppers about the grand success of its failed utility or badly abuse the city’s water and sewer funds.

Perhaps you like many others quietly get it and are exhausted from living with a day-to-day siege mentality because the local government has an aversion to what’s real. You are on edge from your community’s chronic break-ins, car thefts, street robberies, and beatings. You don’t want your kids to sucked into the local hard drug epidemic or get caught in a crossfire.  Maybe your neighborhood is lacking its rightful city services?  The value of your home has plummeted.   Your taxes, “fees”, and utility bills are climbing with nothing to show for it.  You are fed up.  You don’t need what life in the Bury has become.  You neighbors are quietly disappearing and empty houses with for sale signs are sprouting like colonies of toadstools.  You are ready for the inevitable–you need to find new digs elsewhere as quickly as possible with the least amount of loss.  You want better.

Thus the “Salisbury Higher Ground Network” where people get together and share valuable information and strategies for leaving what the Bury has become and moving to higher ground elsewhere.  Discover the fastest way to unload your home and properties at the least amount of loss.  Find out what realtors have an actual track record in moving homes and properties quickly or how you can sell your property independently through various failsafe strategies.  Get scouting reports on the better places to live.  The Salisbury Higher Ground Network will be well-monitored so your internet safety and anonymity will be assured.

Within the next 10 days the Salisbury Higher Ground Network should be up and running.

Updated: Outrun the Salisbury, N.C. Housing Stampede–Sell your House Fast!:

http://rowanfreepress.com/2014/11/12/updated-outrun-the-salisbury-n-c-housing-stampede-sell-your-house-fast/

VoterID.NC.Gov

♦ Everything You Need to Know about N.C. Voter ID for 2016:

http://voterid.nc.gov/

Positivity Unchained

♦ Doctor, Welcome to Salisbury. Please Be Gentle When You Break It to Them:

RFP Staff

♦ The Concord Police Department is requesting anyone with information about the November 5th murder in Concord of alleged Salisbury drug dealer Juan Javier Gonzalez, 22, of East Council Street to call 704-920-5000 or the Cabarrus County Crime Stoppers at 704-93-CRIME. Gonzalez was found unresponsive in a yard at 610 Palmer Avenue SW in Concord where he expired from multiple gunshot wounds.

The Concord Police has not named any suspects or motives for the homicide which remains under investigation.

Days before Gonzalez was gunned down on November 5th, he was arrested on November the 2nd at 122 East 29th Street in Kannapolis in the early morning hours and charged with possession with intent to manufacture/sell/deliver a control substance schedule IV (felony).

RFP Staff

♦ Precious Shana Leche Breeden, 22, AKA “La Quisha Baby” AKA  “Shannon”, aspiring actress and felon, living at 819 2nd Street in Spencer, was arrested Thursday for allegedly stealing an undisclosed amount of money from her employer McDonalds on 704 East East Innes while working the drive-thru.  Apparently her former employers at the golden arches at East Innes don’t do much in the way of background checks because Breeden owns an extensive criminal history including numerous trips to the Rowan County Detention Center.

Breeden was charged Thursday with larceny by servants and other employees and released on a promise to return for court.

Precious Shana Leche Breeden’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=1425336&searchLastName=Breeden&searchFirstName=precious&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

http://rowanfreepress.com/2015/02/05/day-shift-manager-erin-lynn-upright-36-allegedly-embezzled-5596-from-mcdonalds-on-e-innes-in-salisbury-n-c/

RFP Staff

♦ With the recent increase in street robberies, muggings, break-ins, and carthefts in Salisbury’s Chestnut Hill and Fulton Heights neighborhoods since mid-summer, it was reported Thursday that a woman, living on the 700 block of South Church Street was assaulted and robbed by three young Black males as she walked along the 600 block of South Church.  The woman saw a dark slate blue Mazda or Honda drive by her and then stop a little ways up South Church.  She became alarmed when she heard their footfalls coming up quickly behind her.  The blood pounded in her ears when she felt a hard object shoved against her back. Slammed into a fence, she felt her purse ripped from her shoulder.  “Give it up–or I’ll blow your mother &%$%#@  head off!”

She decided not to resist.

The two men hurried back to their car, rejoined the driver, and sped off.

The three young Black males were short and medium to light complected.

If you know about this robbery call the Salisbury Police at 704-638-5333 or call Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

RFP Staff

♦ Jalonn Jacques Adkins, 18, of West Henderson Street in Salisbury was arrested last Friday for the October 16th knifepoint robbery and beating of Josue Esau Nunez, 22, in Salisbury. In the robbery Nunez was badly beaten and sustained facial injuries. Also arrested in the case on Friday was Tomanche Mysheme Jackson, 18, of Salisbury in what was described as a brutal “wolfpack” style attack. Approximately $500 dollars was stolen from Nunez who was left bloodied and senseless at the scene by the four attackers, some carrying knives, who left the scene in car. The attack, similar to others occurring in Salisbury, took place near Cherry and Clay Streets in the vicinity the Salisbury National Cemetery.

Adkins was charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon (felony) and assault inflicting serious injury (felony). Under a secured $25,000 bond, Adkins is in the Rowan County Detention Center.

Jackson was also charged with robbery with a dangerous weapon (felony) and assault inflicting serious injury (felony). Jackson is under a $50,000 bond and remains in the Rowan County Detention Center.

Jalonn Adkins Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=1428335&searchLastName=adkins&searchFirstName=jalon&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

Tomanche Mysheme Jackson’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=1456472&searchLastName=Jackson&searchFirstName=Tomanche&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

Jalonn Jaques Adkins:

Tomanche Mysheme Jackson:

The Victim Josue Esau Nunez:

**This article will be updated as soon as new information arrives.**

RFP Staff

♦ Chris “Dr. Machete” Lewis, Downtown Salisbury’s Biggest Attraction, was arrested Sunday and placed back in Rowan County Detention Center on 2 charges of violating probation. Lewis is currently under a $20,000 secured bond.

The October 21st RFP article on Chris “DR. Machete” Lewis’s spellbinding Downtown machete dance routine:

“Apparently attempting to top his spellbinding Tuesday morning dance routine while allegedly juggling a pair of machetes on the “Square” in Downtown Salisbury, Chris “Dr. Machete” Lewis added an axe and a sword to his one-man show and made a guest appearance at South Craige and West Marsh Streets in the West End. Fearful neighbors immediately summoned the police.

Apparently Lewis’s first warning earlier in the morning didn’t sink in. This time he was cited for carrying a concealed weapon for having a sword allegedly tucked in his trousers. While its doubtful this or any other citation would have much impact on Lewis or his rapid assent to stardom, perhaps the Salisbury Police, under Chief Rory Collins, might be better served arresting Dr. Machete and slapping him with the more fitting charge: “going armed to the terror of the public” before someone is actually harmed.

Rory you can turn the corner on Salisbury’s tidal wave of crime here!

Where and when will “Dr. Machete’s” next appearance be? Downtown Salisbury awaits.

Yesterday’s RFP article on Chris “Dr. Machete” Lewis:

http://rowanfreepress.com/2015/10/20/chris-dr-machete-lewis-terrorizes-downtown-salisbury-n-c-by-allegedly-dancing-wildly-with-machetes-busted-on-the-square/

THE THREE FACES OF DR. MACHETE:

RFP Staff

♦ Will Chief Otay and His “Yadkin River Indians” Rescue the Empire Hotel from the BULLDOZER APOCALYPSE in Salisbury, N.C.? Find out Tuesday what hundreds of excited developers allegedly swarming into Salisbury could never do. Learn all about Empire Casino Magic in the South Main Badlands!

RFP Staff

♦ Recently added to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office Most Wanted List, Joshua Lee Meece, 28, of Forest Winds Drive in Spencer and his brother John Cristopher Meece, 23, of Salisbury are being sought for two alleged Salisbury area burglaries taking place on Friday evening. Their alleged accomplice in Friday’s burglaries Miranda Gail Waggoner, 22, was arrested Monday on Poole Road in East Rowan and charged with breaking and entering-building (felony). Under a secured $5,000 bond, Waggoner is in the Rowan County Detention Center.

Deputies responded to a break-in at a Garrick Road home around 11:45 p.m. Friday. An 82 year-old woman was at home at the time of the break-in and hid in her bathroom when she heard someone breaking in. Fearful of what was happening in her home, she later discovered when she ventured outside the bathroom that her TV was missing.

A second break-in occured on Garrick Road and the two break-ins were linked. The Meece Brothers and Waggoner were now viewed as suspects.

Both Meece Brothers would be charged with breaking and entering-building (felony). Joshua Meese would be additionally charged with first degree burglary (felony).

Joshua Lee Meece’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=1061306&searchLastName=meece&searchFirstName=joshua&searchMiddleName=l&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

John Christopher Meece’s Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=1123101&searchLastName=Meece&searchFirstName=John&searchMiddleName=c&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

The updated Rowan County Sheriff’s Office MOST WANTED LIST:

http://rowanfreepress.com/2015/11/04/updated-rowan-county-n-c-sheriffs-office-most-wanted-list-2/

If you have any information about the Meece Brothers please call Lt. Chad Moose at 704-216-8687 or Detective Rodney Mahaley at 704-216-8711.

Joshua Lee Meece:

John Christopher Meece:

Miranda Gail Waggoner:

RFP Staff

♦ Michael Wayne Brooker, Jr., 28, a felon with outstanding warrants living at 318 Cedar Street in Salisbury, was cruising the streets of Salisbury just after midnight Sunday morning when the police pulled him over in the 300 block of MLK, Jr. for not displaying a license tag. It was all downhill for Brooker from the moment he allegedly told officers he recently purchased the car and was displaying a temporary paper tag in the rear window. The police noted a bottle of an liquor on the floorboard and after a records check it came up that Brooker’s driver’s license was suspended and that he was wanted for two outstanding felony warrants. A closer inspection of the car revealed 3 grams of heroin and 2 TVs. Over $650 was found on Brooker’s person. Out came the handcuffs.

After being handcuffed and the police began patting him down, Brooker abruptly felt inspired to bolt. Brooker sprinted several blocks through backyards and across lawns before he came to a patch of weeds weeds and crashed through a small wooden fence. The police in pursuit tazed Brooker who continued to resist until he was overwhelmed.

Booker was charged with resist/delay/obstruct a public officer (misdemeanor), probation violation (misdemeanor), possession of control substance schedule I (felony), failure to appear/comply (misdemeanor).

Michael Wayne Brooker, Jr. Previous Record:

http://webapps6.doc.state.nc.us/opi/viewoffender.do?method=view&offenderID=0835879&searchLastName=Brooker&searchFirstName=Michael&searchMiddleName=w&listurl=pagelistoffendersearchresults&listpage=1

CEDMagazine.Com/Andrew Winistorfer

♦ AT&T GIGAPOWER Expands to Nine Markets Including Salisbury, N.C.:

http://www.cedmagazine.com/news/2015/11/t-gigapower-expands-nine-markets

Public Announcement

♦ The Rowan SCV will present a program on the notorious Civil War Union prison in Elmira, N.Y. “The Elmira Prison”.  The program will be presented by Tom Fagart of the Jonas Cook Camp.  Since the Rowan Public Library will be closed Wednesday for Veteran’s Day, there will be a shift in venue.  This Wednesday November 11th at 6:30 p.m. the program will be held at Gay’s Chapel Methodist Church at 5545 Woodleaf Road in Salisbury, N.C.  The program is free and open to the public.

To find Gay’s Chapel Methodist Church turn on Woodleaf Road off of Jake Alexander Blvd. go 3.6 miles, and the church is on the left.

For more information call Steve Poteat at 704-633-7229. Email: RowanSCV@Carolina.rr.com

Steve Mensing, Editor

♦ Since Fibrant began its soft rollout in 2010 and blew all of its certificates of participation ($33 million dollars worth) by June 2011 before going into the water and sewer funds for $7.6 million dollars, I understood that Fibrant’s doomsday trump would sound sometime down the road.  Fibrant, as expected, was never able to keep up with AT&T U-verse and Time Warner Cable who would lowball them in price, provide better service, offer higher-speeds when profits indicated a need, and out market them. Plus they don’t go into their customer’s emails to spy. Fibrant jumped into a crowded field of deep pocketed incumbents who can foot the bill for the latest in high-tech advances and do everything a lot more inexpensively by volume equipment buying.

I knew Gigapower would be arriving in Salisbury several weeks ago.  I heard from the Charlotte grapevine that AT&T U-verse planned rolling out in a number of Charlotte regional cities including Salisbury. Clearly AT&T U-verse was doing a large fiber optic build out in several sections of Salisbury where clusters of businesses and institutions are located.

On Monday AT&T U-verse GigaPower launched in Salisbury.  Naturally they lowballed Salisbury in price.  Any savvy consumer would gladly fork over $70 bucks a month for GigaPower’s 1 gig than Fibrant’s $105 for its gig.  Subscribing to Fibrant also means you are making hidden payments through your water and sewer utility bill and through your taxes which subsidize Fibrant to the tune of $1 Million a year. Added to this mess, Fibrant, despite it ludicrous claims that it turned the corner and was making a profit, was 12.6 million negative in the 2014 audit. The city is laying on its side and breathing hard prior to its nauseating death rattle.

At the lower end of extremely high-speeds, TWC Maxx recent upgrades in speed are far cheaper than what Fibrant tries to pimp.

As for service, Fibrant is well known for not answering phones when their internet crashes and for their spotty service (We’ll be right out after we finish fixing the traffic lights at Fulton and Lincolnton–somebody shot em’ out last night).  AT&T U-Verse internet finished 2nd only to Verizon Fios internet in the J.D.Power customer service satisfaction study for the Southern region:

Salisbury has plenty of internet speed with GigaPower and TWC MAXX. Trouble is a whole lot of folks are selling their homes due to Shotzbury’s runaway violent and property crime and the city’s substandard public schools. With all the taxes, high utility bills, bogus storm water fees, and nothing much to show for it, people are looking elsewhere to live.

By the way if GigaPower decides to go to 10 GigaPower its no sweat for them. But at this time there’s absolutely no call for it.

RFP Staff

♦ The State of North Carolina gave the Rowan-Salisbury School System (RSSS) low-performing district status for the 2014-2015 school year, according to NC Department of Instruction (NCDPI) accountability records. Only 15 out of 244 districts in the state received this status. 55.9 percent (19 out of 34) of schools within RSSS have are low-performing by the NCDPI standards. All of the middle schools in the Rowan-Salisbury School System are considered to be low-performing. All RSSS schools within the city of Salisbury, NC are low-performing except the Rowan County Early College, which serves the entire district. The district’s alternative high school, Henderson, did not make expected growth, but its data was not included in the district’s report card. Henderson is located in Salisbury.

Click on the image below to see a larger, more complete copy of the chart, or click here:

If you cannot click on the image or link above, you may need to copy and paste the following URL into your browser: https://app.box.com/s/vyjpqymypm3im232fjmp5k1a488uzv7s

The source for this RFP report card data sheet for RSSS is the NC Department of Public Instruction. You can see the original spreadsheet files at NCDPI, here: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/accountability/reporting/

RFP Staff

♦ Several parents contacted the RFP Tuesday to report that a Salisbury High School Student was held up at gunpoint in front of the Fulton Street Laundromat on the 800 block near Lincolnton Road. The student was on his way to school in the morning about 8:30 a.m. when confronted with a pistol and relieved of an undisclosed amount of money and a smart phone. The student was not injured, but was shaken by the incident. The parents complain that such incidents are not uncommon in that high-crime area around the school and that a police presence is lacking.

The robber was described as a swarthy-skinned male about 5 ft. 8 inches to 6 foot tall with short hair. He wore a camo shirt and camo pants.

View of South Fulton Near Laundromat:

Monday over in Salisbury’s West End it was reported that several shots struck a house on the 200 block Vanderford Street near West Horah in an area around the Vanderford “Spite Hole”. Mercifully the house was unoccupied at the time and no one was struck. Neighbors complain of a lack of police presence in that high crime area.

Also Monday it was reported that multiple gunshots struck a home on the 600 block of East Horah. No one was injured.

The Salisbury Police are investigating.

If you know anything about these incidents call Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

Steve Mensing, Editor

♦ Many of us can’t imagine what Veterans, especially combat Veterans endured or the sacrifices they’ve made.  Here’s an invitation to take the time to reflect on being a combat veteran.  These mediations are based on the personal stories veterans of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan shared with me over the years. Some I heard as a young boy growing up in Philadelphia, others doing counseling at detox center in the Veteran’s Hospital in West Philadelphia back in the 80’s, and some of these stories were related to me by neighbors and friends.

What if you were to occupy the skins and emotions of the Veteran’s below and looked out at the world through their eyes?

• You’re 18 and you are leaving home for the first time to travel on a bus to Paris Island, South Carolina to become a Marine.  You just met the drill sergeant and he appears to have a peculiar distaste for your presence. You try not to take it personally.  The chiggers and the sand fleas take a special interest in you too.  You miss your girl back in Pennsylvania and within the month you get a Dear John letter saying it would be okay to start seeing other people.  You read the letter to your buddies and they provide you with sage advice like: “There’s always another bus coming.” Only a couple of weeks ago this girl was your fiancé. The bus thing isn’t working, but it was well-intentioned.  Your buddies stand by you and you stand by them.

• The wind is cold and howling across the Yalu River separating China and North Korea.  You and your buddies have a forward machinegun nest.  You’re catching some needed shuteye, when Ralph from Michigan shakes you awake.  “Look at all of em’,” says Ralph.  “There must be thousands.”

A hundred thousand Chinese soldiers are massed along the banks of the Yalu forming a human wave as far as the eye can see. All wearing the same green uniforms. They are this menacing dark cloud over there. They move along the banks and now they are headed in your direction. Thousands of Chinese regular army. It’s dawning on you and your buddies that none you are likely to ever see home again or the next hour. Ben’s praying and Ralph is anxiously readying his machinegun for what’s coming. Then the human wave changes direction along the Yalu. Your gradually notice your underwear is sopping wet.  5 minutes ago you would never have thought to pray out loud. You won’t forget what you saw for as long as you live. You’ll wake up for years to come in the early morning hours and be drenched in cold sweat with a vivid memory of that human wave moving slowly along the banks of the Yalu. Some mornings that memory feels like right now.

• You’ll never forget those Japanese torpedo bombers flying in low from the Northwest during the Battle of the Coral Sea or the terrific concussion when the first bomb struck and your aircraft carrier shuddered. Or the thick plumes of oily smoke that burned your eyes and nostrils. The sense of being weightless. You don’t recall anything more until you woke up in a crowded lifeboat. Your throat is incredibly dry and you notice the swell of the lifeboat as it rose and fell in a steady rhythm. Your life changed in the Coral Sea. You have no feeling from the waist down. A year from now you would have learned how to go from being depressed to gradually accepting you would have many opportunities for a fruitful life without the use of your limbs.

Be thankful for all the many sacrifices Veteran men and women made to preserve what we have here.

Rabbi Will McCubbins, China Grove

♦  If you have to travel into Salisbury at all, pack.  The criminals in Shotzbury have their run of the city.  It doesn’t matter whether its daylight hours or night time you could easily become a target.  Always remain alert and aware of your surroundings.  Get a concealed carry permit and a good handgun with knockdown power.  During the Holiday season Shotzbury becomes even more dangerous because the criminal element knows you are carrying a lot of cash.  They look for women leaving banks and ATMs.  Or a woman alone in a bank parking lot is easy prey.  Carjacking is real big in Shotzbury.

I’m sorry to see things got so bad down in Shotzbury.  Believe it or not, it used to be a good place to live maybe a decade ago.

If you are still living there, think of joining a real town watch and not one of these phony town watches that hides what is actually going on from the public.  The fake ones promote going to SNAG Meetings, joining the Salisbury Citizens Academy and other conduits of Salisbury city hall’s disinformation and cover-up of the heavy criminal activity going on down there.  Watch out for the leadership of the Town Watch groups if they have a real estate owner.  They don’t want any word getting out about runaway crime when it will devalue their properties.  They could care less about your safety.

If you are forced to go to Shotzbury, go armed.  The police are a total non-factor down there.

RFP Staff

♦ A hapless visitor to Shotzbury got a gun stuck in his face after eating at the Pizza Hut at 1030 East Innes Street in Salisbury Tuesday sometime after 9 p.m.

On his way back to his room at the Comfort Suites, the 23 year-old male victim heard footfalls coming up behind him.  When he turned, he saw a pistol staring him in the eyes.  “Don’t try a F****** thing.  Put everything on the ground.”  The victim started to walk away until he felt the pistol jammed against his head.  “Get on your knees bitch!”

The victim complied.  He felt his pockets being hastily rifled while the gun pressed hard against his head.  His wallet, cash, credit cards, and cell phone were snatched up by the gunman who soon headed off at a trot.

The robber was described as Black male between 20 to 25 years-old.  He wore denim jeans, a black hoodie, a gray winter vest, a black baseball hat, and black leather athletic shoes.

If you have any information about the suspect or the robbery contact Salisbury-Rowan Crime Stoppers at 1-866-639-5245.

Dr. Ada M. Fisher, Salisbury, N.C.

♦ The political debates are totally dishonest in regard to Social Security. Ponzi scheme or not, the problem is the funds were moved from a private account to the General Treasury during the Lyndon B. Johnson Administration thereby allowing them to be tapped without transparency for everything including the War in Vietnam to educational program funding or pork barrel mysteries. As such, IOUs were reportedly given the treasury for citizen retirement supplemental monies while spend hungry congressmen never intended repayment of this debt.

First social security should be maintained in that elusive “Lock Box” discussed by Al Gore with no access by the Treasury to its bounty except future payment of recipeints. As such annually 5% of the monies due the fund should be required as repayment from the US Treasury over the next twenty years minimally until the debt is repaid with interest. Current recipients should be paid from the US Treasury until the fund is fully restored in a separate account. Doing this is the only way for the public to get their money as well as truly appreciate the national debt which could then likely top a staggering 50 trillion dollars.

Second, social security is the one benefit that is doubly taxed. The money owed is based on the tax value of personal income. Then it is taxed again at withdrawal. All taxes should be removed from Social Security after the initial investment. It is not the poor who pay disproportionately, but Social Security investors. What we are doing, if continued, is like repeatedly robbing the bank in allowing the government to take out money which is yours whenever and for whatever it wants.

Third, many people are getting benefits for which no buy-in occurred, e.g. family members can receive benefits if under aged children or widows yet no extra monies were put in by the enrollees for them. Social Security after 2020 should require for new investors that only those who put into the system can withdraw from it. Supplemental monies are required to cover those other than the investor.

Fourth, the Totalization Agreement with Mexico allows social security funds collected from illegal aliens (which is over one billion dollars per year) to be given to that government. These monies should be placed in the Social Security Trust Fund for appropriate use which might include compensation to states with illegal populations exceeding 10%.

Fifth, progressively raising the retirement age to 67 as advocated by Paul Ryan’s previous “Pathway to Prosperity” and other politicians on both sides of the aisle is certain to rob the poor and give to those of modest means and the rich. Appreciating that the average age of death for black males is around 70 though their life expectancy is only 75.9 years of age, increasing the time one is required to work and delaying compensation as age advances is almost certain to see too many die before they can appreciate any savings from their money. This is not fair.

Lastly, the system of investment and withdrawal for retirement could be boosted by measures which are fairer. George W. Bush proposed letting people pay an additional amount into Social Security for their savings, e.g. 10%. This should also be made tax free like a Roth Account. If recipients die before monies invested are paid out then these should have a right of inheritance. Such shouldn’t be done if the government can also take that money or scams folks into a 701(k) securities which are to be matched by government money (which it doesn’t have) or a 770 life insurance indemnity which will decrease the payout to families in death. Pension reform is also desperately needed to insure that they are funded to the 80% level. Those who invest for retirement should not be penalized in having their social security withheld for it is their money taken with no such requirement assumed.

The Office of Management and Budget has dire projections on entitlements noting that by 2027. half of all federal revenue will go to paying down interest on the national debt (not touching the principle) and the other half will be allocated to entitlements. All debates should focus on where cuts should be made and why, how to right government programs such that self-sustainability rules with accountability and the need for government grants to show within 3 years they can operate autonomously. All this while protecting the nation’s security. Can we get real please?