New site

I have created a new site:

josephwendt.webs.com

I will blog on this site from time to time, but josephwendt.webs.com will be the permanent site.

Universal Healthcare for Tampa

I want to make it a focal point of my platform to create near univeral healthcare coverage for everyone in the city of Tampa. I propose doing this in two ways:

First, we should voluntarily group all the small businesses together with the city government to form a large group that I call the Tampa Health Cooperative. This group would be large enough to negotiate a lower cost for healthcare coverage from say Humana or Aetna. This would have 2 benefits:

1) Small businesses would be able to provide healthcare to their employees at a lower cost with this Cooperative then if they could by themselves.
2) If the group is large enough, the City Government could save millions of dollars in healthcare costs to it's employees since it would not be responsible for all the cost.

Second, we should establish about five Free Clinics in low income neighborhoods that would provide basic care. This would allow those who do not have help those who are unemployed, homeless, or just don't have healthcare coverage to get some treatment for minor problems before they become bigger, and ultimately cost those who have health insurance an arm and a leg in fee increases. No, these clinics should not be mini-hospitals; rather they should only have about one doctor and four physicians assistants, and maybe a pharmacist. It should be like that because every problem does not need a Doctor; I am pretty sure a physicians assistant can diagnose a cold, or the flu, or a migraine. Let the Doctor handle real problems.

Now, before someone shouts "how are we going to pay for this," I am going to tell you how. I propose a 75 cent tax on soft drinks and on fast food to pay for this program. Now we all know that both soft drinks and fast food are unhealthy, but they are delicious (I am a fat man, and I can admit I enjoy McDonalds). So, my thinking is let an unhealthy habit pay for healthcare; it makes sense to me.

Joe for City Council

Today, I am mailing the paperwork to run for the District 1 City Council seat and the privilege to succeed Gwen Miller. I feel that we need a City Councilman who will work toward making not only our city better, but to make it into the best city in the world. I shall be campaigning on these 10 points:

1) I want minimal government bureaucracy. I will work to downsize City Government, by either merging departments or elimination. I think government's responsibilities should be limited to the protection of individual rights from the initiation of force/fraud and promote public safety.
2) I support will work to merge the Fire Rescue and Police Departments into a single department and eliminate any redundancies that exist.
3) I will work for the elimination of the Neighborhood & Community Relations office in city government, it is a waste on money and resources that can be better spent.
4) I support merging the Department of Growth Management & Development Services and Department of Code Enforcement and Business Tax into a single department, and eliminating all redundancies.
5) I support the creation of a red-light district, where brothels are legal, licensed, regulated, and taxed. If we can get cops to stop hunting down hookers and focus on real crimes, imagine how many crimes would be solved.
6) I support outsourcing of the Fire and Police Pension Fund to a private company such as Fidelity or Euro-Pacific Investments. Having a board of trustees to manage the fund is a waste of money when there are companies who can do the same job.
7) I support the creation a city subsidized Small Business Healthcare Cooperative, so small businesses can provide affordable healthcare to it's employees. I also want to create 5 Free Clinics in low income areas to give basic and decent healthcare to those who need it the most.
8) I want to cut the Mayor's salary by 50%, the City Council's by 25%, and City Employees by 5%.
9) I also want to require all city departments and agencies to be 90% green by 2015, including requiring all city vehicles to be either hybrid or clean diesel.
10) I support a full expansion of the TECO line to North Tampa, to give more Tampa residents to opportunity to use public transportation.

I feel it is not only my duty as a citizen of this great country, but as a Christian, to help and improve the great city of Tampa. God Bless Tampa, God Bless America, and God Bless the American people.

Official Announcement

I will withdraw from the State House 60 race. I do so primarily because of lack of funds and general interest. I will be throwing my hat into the Tampa City Council race, hoping to have the priviledge to succeed Gwen Miller. However, on another note, I wish to chastize my 2 Republican opponents. I have read their websites and that of Mr. Chris Cano, the Democrat in the race. I researched Mr. Cano and I have to say, I liked what he has said on his site. He is on the same wavelength on the issues as I am, and he appears to be of the same mindset. I wish him the best.

So, I announce both my candidacy for City Council and my endorsement of Chris Cano for State Rep. God Bless.