Gaston Rehab Associates, Inc.

Senator David Hoyle: Good For Gaston County and Good for NC

I can only imagine what NC State Senator David Hoyle thought when he opened his mailbox last week. It appears that the NC Republican party had paid for an advertisement highlighting the fact that land that Senator Hoyle and his business partners had purchased was extremely close to the new proposed Garden Parkway. They called it a "stinky deal" and one that Senator Hoyle obviously new about for the fact that he bought the land and then voted to give money to a road that would go near the land.

The Facts:

1) The Garden Parkway has been on the books for the last 20 years. If you bought any land in the Southern part of Gaston County in the last 20 years it probably stands that there is a good chance that the Parkway will go near it.

2) The route for the Garden Parkway is not set in stone. In fact, if the folks in the Eastern part of NC have their way, Senator Hoyle will be out of office come January and the money earmarked for the project will go to the coast for some road that connects no-where to even further away from somewhere.

3) Senator Hoyle has been great to Gaston County. Apparently this has irked some folks along the way and his enemies will grab at anything to try to prevent his re-election.

4) The Garden Parkway is needed. The I-85 corridor is already at capacity and would take $1 billion dollars to add one lane to each side of the road. This would still only increase the existing capacity by about 12% and would do nothing to relieve congestion in the years to come. (The Gaston Regional Chamber October Newsletter)

5) Senator Hoyle has been a long time supporter of the Gaston Community Health Care Commission, The Gaston Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Gaston Economic Development and Gaston County in general. Who doesn't want to make a living and make some money along the way? The salary we pay the men and women in the Senate and House is more a stipend than a salary. The long hours away, the fact that they still have to work doing something else and the fact that they don't ever get enough credit for dealing with the "politics" of the political scene is enough to drive someone crazy.

Don't be fooled by the slander and don't be fooled by the rhetoric either. I'm not saying I agree with Senator Hoyle on everything, but I do know that Gaston County is much better having Senator Hoyle in Raleigh and having him as a representative for the area. When you vote this November, vote based on the facts, not the stories people will tell.

Sales Tax Defeated in Gaston County

Well unfortunately the majority of citizens in Gaston County did not see past the tip of the pen when voting for or against the proposed 1/4 cent sales tax on yesterdays ballot. While only 70% of the citizens are property owners, 100% of the citizens pay sales tax. It looks like all of the property owners that voted against the sales tax feel that the other 30% of the populace doesn't need to shoulder the load for the $175 million in school bonds. I sure hope those same people don't complain about this when their property tax goes up! 

Quarter Cent Sales Tax Gaston County

In a post I put on here earlier in the month, I asked the citizens of Gaston County to make an informed decision about the quarter cent sales tax that is proposed on the May 6th Ballot. We realize that this years election will have a higher than normal turn out because of the battle for the White House on the Democrat's side. For more information about this proposed tax, which will go toward paying down the school bonds which we already said "yes" to, please follow the provided link.

Proposed Sales Tax Increase Gaston County, NC

The Gaston County Commissioners are planning on adding to the Primary Voting Ballot in May a vote for whether or not a 0.25% increase in sales tax should be allowed.

Now let's look at this for a minute. At first glance, one would say, "heck no I don't want a tax increase." And with that the vote would sway to the "no's" and wouldn't have a chance of passing by a majority. But what is the proposed sales tax increase going for? And that is why this is so important.

Last year Gaston County voter's allowed the county to bond $175 million for schools. This has already occurred. No more ability to vote on that one again. The majority spoke and we asked for these bonds. Well this money has to be paid at some point and by someone or by some group. That "some group" is the people of Gaston County.

We now have the responsibility to pay down this debt secured to build the new schools that are so desperately needed. The proposed sales tax makes sense because with the sales tax, everyone pays including people visiting Gaston County along I-85, people taking part in underground commerce (think the flea market, drug dealers, and any other people that make money doing elicit activities and then spend money in the community), and all citizens of Gaston County.

The alternative is an increase in property taxes. When property taxes go up, they unfortunately only effect roughly 70% of the residents of Gaston County including large and small businesses alike. It would take much longer to pay back the debt if we only relied on the property owners to pay down the balance.

While no one likes an increase in taxes, we also don't like overpopulated and unsafe schools. We also want to be fair to all so that as a community we all take a responsibility to make things better. When the vote comes up for the increase in the sales tax, the most responsible vote is "yes."

Bills in Congress

Today I had the pleasure of being at the Gaston Chamber for a meet and greet with Congressman Patrick McHenry (10th District-NC). I admire his stance on the 2nd Ammendment, traditional marriage, small business, and healthcare reform. I was most impressed by his easy going nature and his humble personality.

I personally had an agenda to place in front of Congressman McHenry and was glad I had the opportunity to without having to travel to Washington. There are two specific bills in Congress right now that need attention and have a direct effect on physical therapy services. HR 748 the Medicare Access to Rehabilitation Services Act would repeal the arbitrary Medicare Cap on physical therapy services for Medicare beneficiaries. HR 1552 would Ammend Title XVIII of Social Security to authorize physical therapy to evaluate and treat medicare beneficiaries without requirement for physician referral.

These two bills would go a long way to place the ability to perform physical therapy services back in the hands of physical therapists. I urge everyone to write to their Congressmen and women in support of these two bills. Go to the following link to write to your Congress person today.  http://www.house.gov/writerep/