Bob Griggs, community activist and one angry infidel in Gwinnett County, Georgia

An Alternative to Bank of America Debit Card Fees: ING Direct

Posted September 30th, 2011

Bank of America has announced that it will begin charging $5 per month for every month in which BoA customers use their debit card for any transaction other than at an ATM. Other banks are soon expected to follow suit. The decision to charge was precipitated by a new federal law capping the fee that card issuers can charge retailers for processing transactions:

A provision from last summer’s financial regulation bill promoted by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) capped the fees that banks can charge retailers when customers pay with debit cards. The new rule goes into effect on Saturday.

Until the voters can address, in 2012, the economic disaster which has been the Obama administration and Democrat majority rule, we will have to find our own way to lower the cost of living, and banking, in particular.

Evermore Turns Over a New Leaf… That It Found In the Compost Heap

Posted August 16th, 2011

Evermore CID in the toilet When most of the board resigned and former Gwinnett Commission Chairman Wayne Hill was tapped to serve as interim director, many hoped that the Evermore CID had turned a corner. It would have been reasonable for one to conclude that, perhaps, the embattled Hwy. 78 community improvement district could finally rise above the muck and the mire in which it had been pustulating almost since its inception.

The CID board is apparently set to disappoint the hopeful and confirm its place as the retarded (or, for the PC crowd, “integrity-deficient”) red-headed stepchild of the Gwinnett CIDs.

Woodall`s Alternative to Term Limits Holds Promise

Posted August 8th, 2011

AJC “Political Insider” blogger Jim Galloway comments on U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall’s proposal to require campaign contributions to be spent in the election cycle in which they were given or, I assume because Galloway’s article doesn’t say, returned to the contributor.

Which brings us to an original piece of legislation proposed last week by U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall, R-Lawrenceville. His idea: Allow campaign funds to be spent only in the election in which they are raised — eliminating those massive treasuries built by incumbents, whether Republican or Democrat.

The bill would also require wealthy, self-funding candidates to quickly inform their opponents when they spend more than $100,000 on their own campaigns.

Gwinnett Commissioners to Set 2011 Millage Rate Tonight

Posted August 8th, 2011

Tonight (Monday, August 8), the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners will set the 2011 property tax rate in a specially-called meeting at 6:00 pm. The Commissioners have advertised their intent to adopt the same rate as in the last two years, 13.25 mills. (For an explanation of the millage rate, go here.)

In March, I warned you of the Commission’s plan to raise the tax rate for general operations by almost one-quarter of a mill, yet maintain the same rate as last year. They proposed to “re-align” an expiring bond (debt) millage and add it to the Maintenance & Operations (M&O) rate. I called the proposal what it was– a back-door tax increase.