Opinion

Here are some grades for news happenings and the newsmakers behind them in our ongoing feature: "Making the Grade."

Obama's focus on the rich is sending all of us to the poor house

Grade: F

Courtesy photo / President Obama

Oh, come on. Does Prsident Obama have a paper bag over his head? America is headed toward financial disaster and Mr. O. thinks we should raise taxes on the “rich” and cut spending by some miniscule amount. This isn’t a solution; it’s a prescription for disaster. Congress needs to pass Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) plan to reduce our debt by trillions and put us on the path to a balanced budget. Our taxes are more than adequate to run the government once it is right-sized. It’s Congress that has “deficit attention disorder.”

Sally Gillies of Ormond Beach, accomplished author and staunch conservative, has left the Observer newspaper and joins our stable of community bloggers with her political blog, "Always Right," exclusively on VolusiaNews.net and NSBNews.net.

VolusiaNews.net and NSBNews.net provide Volusia County with 24 / 7 Internet newspaper coverage for a 21st-century world. 

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Scott released a statement Tuesday on pending legislation dealing with pharmaceutical drugs.

"I applaud Speaker Cannon, Representative Schenck and the Judiciary and Health and Human Services Committees for putting forward legislation that combats prescription drug abuse and criminal pill mills. I am also grateful to the House Appropriations Committee for unanimously passing this bill.

VolusiaNews.net and NSBNews.net provide Volusia County with 24 / 7 Internet newspaper coverage for a 21st-century world. 

Editor's note: The following was sent to NSBNews.net by the office of U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, D-Florida.

WASHINGTON D.C. -- Let me bring you up to date on the government shutdown here in Washington. Thankfully, we've just seen common sense begin to triumph over right-wing extremism.

VolusiaNews.net and NSBNews.net provide Volusia County with 24 / 7 Internet newspaper coverage for a 21st-century world. 

File photos / Palmer Wilson (shown far left) and Marilee Walters have informed NSBNews.net they will no longer submit blog entries in protest to the premiere of Mayor Adam Barringer's new blog.

NEW SMYRNA BEACH -- Two community bloggers with NSBNews.net have demanded their blogs be taken down in protest to Mayor Adam Barringer's inclusion as a blogger.

NSBNews.Net provides Volusia County with 24 / 7 Internet newspaper coverage for a 21st-century world. This website can also be accessed through VolusiaNews.Net

Courtesy photo (far left) and NSBNews.Net file photo / Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of the Gulf Coast Claims Facility testified Feb. 18 before the Florida House's Economic Affairs Committee chaired by State Rep, Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, on the glut of claims that have yet been addressed for businesses on the gulf coast impacted by the BP oil spill.

TALLAHASSEE -- As far as State Rep. Dorothy Hukill is concerned, actions speak louder than words. With that said, she's willing to give Kenneth Feinberg the benefit of the doubt.

NSBNews.Net provides Volusia County with 24 / 7 Internet newspaper coverage for a 21st-century world. This website can also be accessed through VolusiaNews.Net

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Scott's press office announced he and Florida First Lady Ann Scott will attend today's scheduled 4:50 p.m. STS-133 Shuttle Launch at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

They will watch the launch from NASA's Office Support Building.

NSBNews.Net provides Volusia County with 24 / 7 Internet newspaper coverage for a 21st-century world. This website can also be accessed through VolusiaNews.Net

Courtesy photo / Gov. Rick Scott has kept his wortd during the campaign to sell off the two state planes asa cost savings for Floridians.

TALLAHASSEE -- In fulfillment of another campaign promise, Governor Rick Scott on Friday directed the Department of Management Services to accept two bids that were revealed earlier this week for the sale of two state-owned airplanes that will net the state of Florida more than $560,000 in savings this fiscal year.

I try not to be a difficult person and sometimes I succeed. A lot of times I don’t. Getting older does have one advantage: You can speak your mind more often without worrying what the consequences are going to be. Maybe angering your boss, your wife’s family, that kind of thing. There have been dealings in Volusia County in the business and arts communities over the years that I have just shut my mouth about and kept my opinions to myself because as a businessman, I did not want to piss anyone off.