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Fishbonker

Fishbonker

Life Member
This is a link to a guest opinion in the DSM register. Please read the comments. The inaccuracies in the article are pointed out by people much better than I could.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=201010210322

Whether you support this amendment or not, and I hope you do, the guest opinion was written by the President of the Farm Bureau and as such if I were a member of Farm Bureau I believe I would be shopping for new insurance or at the very least calling for Mr. Lang’s, as well as the Board of Director’s resignation.

The ‘Bonker
 
The comments responding to Lang are worth the read. What's hard to figure is that FB was in on writing the amendment in the first place and said all along that they were officially neutral on it. From what I hear around the country, it would be a tough time to be a FB agent.
 
This 3/8 of a cent reserve fund currently has no funding. If we pass this, we will only be inviting ourselves to a brand new sales tax increase. This is a great idea, however if passed will only invite who ever is in power to increase the sales tax to start harvesting the 3/8 of a cent needed to build the trust fund. If this trust fund was going to be created with funds already taken out of my paycheck, I would have no problem. But, please no new taxes! I cant afford it! even if it is for conservation.
 
I am a Farm Bureau agent. The Farm Bureau Federation is completely seperate from Farm Bureau Financial Services. It's an Iowa based company, with headquarters in Iowa. Talk to your agent before you jump ship because of the political views of the Federation. If you cancel your insurance your agent will be the one that suffers, not the Federation. If you're a Farm Bureau member then you have a say on how the Federation takes their stance on issues in Iowa and you should voice your opinion like other members do. If your agent is anything like me then he truly cares about keeping your family safe and happy, and that's the reason you are a member. And because of this -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4YSnIEmDE4&feature=related
 
Thanks for the information Dominator. I didn’t realize there were differences in the insurance and federation. I do have a question though; are they not branches off the same tree? Is Mr. Lang not affiliated in any way with the financial branch? Is there one Board of Directors for the Farm Bureau? Are Farm Bureau Insurance Agents not affiliated with the Federation?

Unfortunately there is always guilt with association. I hope for you personally that you do not suffer any repercussions of the Federation's stance, but if you are all from the same tree then pressure applied to any branch will effect the entire tree.
 
Fishbonker said:
Thanks for the information Dominator. I didn’t realize there were differences in the insurance and federation. I do have a question though; are they not branches off the same tree? Is Mr. Lang not affiliated in any way with the financial branch? Is there one Board of Directors for the Farm Bureau? Are Farm Bureau Insurance Agents not affiliated with the Federation?

Unfortunately there is always guilt with association. I hope for you personally that you do not suffer any repercussions of the Federation's stance, but if you are all from the same tree then pressure applied to any branch will effect the entire tree.
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I'm interested in the details also.
 
wow, a lot of those comments on the editorial bash Mr. Lang's inaccuracies. It is good to see so many supporters voicing their opinion
 
TheGov said:
will only invite who ever is in power to increase the sales tax to start harvesting the 3/8 of a cent needed to build the trust fund
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The sales tax increase will happen with or without SF.... it is inevitable, so why not get a little piece of the pie?

Vote YES for SF on Nov. 2nd!!
 
THA4 said:
The sales tax increase will happen with or without SF.... it is inevitable, so why not get a little piece of the pie?

Vote YES for SF on Nov. 2nd!!
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I Agree Thomas. You know the tax increase is going to happen at some point anyway. I'm definately voting YES.
 
Yeah, like Democrats believe in the Constitution. We sure know Obama doesn't. But hopefully a Republican Governor will be elected next Tuesday. I will be voting yes, but he was right, most of the time the money goes for vote buying to the moocher class instead of what it is intended for.
 
River1 said:
I'm interested in the details also.
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Dominator, I dont mean to cause you any personal problems but..as a former FB customer, I'm also waiting for the details.
I dropped them several years ago due to their "Kill them all" stance on deer (turns out I saved some money in the process). I was already not a big fan of Mr. Lang, and this article didnt do much to improve on that.
 
Maybe this has been talked about already & I missed it, but I have a question on this:

If the state thinks that they need to raise sales tax to generate more money for certain projects, or whatever for that matter, and when they do raise it, part of this raise is already earmarked for the Legacy Ammendment, won't they in effect have to raise it more in order to net the same amount? A bit of a confusing sentence, but hopefully you know what I'm getting at.

I'm all for having something set in stone for funding for our natural resourses and can't say I'm against this bill, but it seems to me like they're going to have to raise the tax even more so they can get the same amount of money since part of it's already guaranteed to go toward the Legacy Ammendment.
 
A long time ago the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation started an insurance company. They did this because farmers in Iowa could not get life insurance because farming was considered too dangerous and other insurance companies would not take that risk. That insurance company eventually went public and is now FBL Financial Group - FFG (NYSE). The Iowa Farm Bureau is now the major shareholder of FBL. The two are separate but still linked. The major point is that if you have your insurance with FB you should have it because of your agent and our coverage. I have a ton of information on issues where FB was on the side of outdoorsman but it's too much to post here. I can email it to you if you want. Don't take a stance against FB just because of one issue.

I did, however, find this out when I emailed the Federation. The Federation had a huge amount of members voice concerns over this topic, which would explain why they were first neutral and now against.

Other specific concerns included:
• There’s no guarantee how the additional tax money will be distributed (despite SF 2310 this year); any future legislature can decide to change, amend or disregard the specific distribution formula.
• This proposed constitutional amendment could cause increased spending for things other than natural resources. Lawmakers can always cut the current funding for natural resources in the future, shift this money to other programs, or cut all of it, while collecting more tax revenue, despite the wishes or the proposal's supporters to also keep the current funding in place.
• We shouldn't spend money we haven't yet collected. This ballot issue obligates a future revenue stream, maybe years or even decades before it is collected.
• Higher priorities in a given year may exist. If a tax is increased, are parks and natural resource spending programs more important than education, public safety, or other programs in need of revenue in that particular year?
• Why should voters in 2010 decide the direction of a revenue stream that doesn't currently exist?




And here is my personal opinion - I am going to vote no. I am young, and I keep seeing the federal deficit grow and grow. This is just another bill to spend money we don't yet have. http://www.usdebtclock.org/
Stop spending money on your kids' "federal credit card". The money will have to be made up somehow - more and more taxes.
 
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Don't take a stance against FB just because of one issue.
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This one issue is a pretty big one. It would be a landmark in conservation efforts for this State. What's even more irritating is most of our water and habitat issues are results of farming practices. I've had my fill of FB, through all the lobbying they've done for non resident tags, now this. Good enough for me to cut all ties with them.
 
IowaDave said:
but it seems to me like they're going to have to raise the tax even more so they can get the same amount of money since part of it's already guaranteed to go toward the Legacy Ammendment.
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This is a fact. Put everything else aside, just the slimy way this has been spoon fed to the taxpayer is a big enough red flag for me to vote NO.
 
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