The Way I See ItBy cj pollickPinellas County Government Must Cut Their Budget - Imagine the loss of country revenues when lower property tax rates and exemptions are instituted! Where might the Pinellas County commissioners cut spending in order to balance the $1 billion plus budget? Sheriff's Department? Fire Department? Parks & Recreation? Other sources? Charities? Cut staff? Pay cuts? Clearwater Coachman Park Event - On February 16th and 17th at Coachman Park there will be a San Gennaro Festa from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sununday. The festival will have plenty of Italian music, food concessions, bocce tournament and plenty of fun. If you are interested in attending, there is a $4 donation. San Gennaro Festa at Coachman Park, don't miss the fun. Bocce anyone? 30th Annual Daddy Daughter Date Night - The City of Largo will host the 30th annual Daddy Daughter Date Night at Southwest Recreation Complex in Largo, Saturday, February 16th. The event which is expected to last from 6 p.m. until 9:30 p.m., will have a fine dinner, dancing and plenty of fun. The price is $50 per couple, $20 additional for each child added. If anyone is interested in attending this fine affair, e-mail Brandon McIntosh at bmcintos@largo.com. Obama Leads Clinton And McCain Learns That He Needs Help - Sen. Barach Obama swept weekend Democrat primary elections and should be considered the Democrat front-runner as he and Sen. Hillary Clinton begin to confront the next big hurdle to win the Democrat party nomination: Super Delegates. It is becoming more evident to political pundits that appointed Democrat delegates may end-up nominating the presidential democrat candidate instead of duly elected Democrat delegates from states that held primary elections (discounting any possible Florida delegates.) This method of selecting a Democrat candidate is not welcomed by the Sen. Obama campaign since many of the so-called "Super Delegates" are appointed, and are observed by some pundits, as a part of old-fashioned internal party politics. Sen. Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, reportedly has more of the "Super Delegates" supporting her campaign and is campaigning to collect more of such party support. However, if Obama wins Virginia and the Washington D.C. primaries, he might have enough growing support to win the Democrat primary. If he loses, due to any internal votes from "Super Delegates," then that internal party issue might cause a divide in the Democrat party for the Clinton campaign to overcome in the general election. The Democrat primary is now concerned how the block of voters who have greatly endorsed Sen. Obama might react to any internal Democrat party dealings. On the other hand, Sen. John McCain has had trouble winning several state primaries over last weekend. Gov. Mike Huckabee won several state primaries over the weekend and is focused on winning the upcoming Virginia primary and perhaps Ohio. Sen. McCain still has a large lead in GOP delegate votes and should be able to win the GOP nomination. However, recent GOP primary wins by Gov. Huckabee reflect the weakness of Sen. McCain attracting conservative voters in the south and mid-west. Gov. Huckabee also won the Maine primary last weekend. How could Sen. McCain obtain conservative GOP votes if he does not select a conservative VP running-mate? Many GOP political pundits believe that Sen. McCain needs a conservative VP choice or he could not win southern and mid-western voter support. Could the VP choice be Gov. Huckabee? That VP selection probably runs afoul of what some moderate GOP folks believe. Last Thursday Both Sen. John McCain and former Gov. Mitt Romney addressed the audience at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). Romney's speech set the tone for what conservatism is really all about, while McCain's speech emphasized that Clinton or Obama would be worse than voting Republican. Sen. McCain versus Sen. Obama? Time will tell. Newt's Real Challenge - Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is often referred to as an "ideolog" (someone with good ideas or solutions.) His new book, Real Change: From the World That Fails to the World That Works, is on the N.Y., Times bestseller list and offers commonsense solutions to our toughest problems. Newt says more than 70 percent of Americans do not think our immigration laws are working. He believes we should use credit card companies to stop illegal immigration. "VISA and American Express track millions of purchases every day," says Newt, "why not enlist them to track illegals?" Looking for some commonsense solutions to some of our nations greatest problems? Read Newt's new book. Moving In Or Moving Out - According to United Van Lines,
The top five destination states are:
The top five departure states are:
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