Osceola ReVIEW - August 2008 - (Page 4) CEO Perspective By David B. Bennett REALTORS® POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (RPAC) IS YOUR RESOURCE – GET INVOLVED!! Dear Members, you may notice that this article was run in a previous issue, however, given that the 2008 RPAC Auction is approaching fast, I thought it would be prudent to share this with you once again: Are you concerned about the following issues? • Promoting home ownership across the economic spectrum • Expanding the availability of health insurance for small businesses • Keeping the federal government out of real estate regulation • Preserving the separation of banking and commerce • Improved congressional oversight of federal regulatory decisions • Fostering a vibrant commercial real estate sector If so, you should know RPAC aggressively pursues the election and re-election of candidates for local, state and federal offices who stand up and support real estate professionals on key issues like these, as well as a long list of other issues critical to our future! For example, your RPAC contribution played a vital role in helping pass “Amendment One” on January 29th. However, we must continue to fight to ensure there is additional Property Tax Relief & Reform in Florida, and that you and your clients have access to affordable and comprehensive Property Insurance coverage. Also of concern is a proposal being considered by the Taxation & Budget Reform Commission that could lead to a state sales tax being imposed on your commissions. Remember, “Money is the ammunition of a political army, and RPAC is your personal political defense fund”. As important as it is to be involved in your local community, it’s equally important that REALTORS® are involved at the state and federal levels of government as well. By participating in RPAC, you can let your voice be heard along with hundreds of thousands of your colleagues across the country. Whether you are a brand new member of a seasoned veteran, RPAC offers a variety of giving levels so every REALTOR® can become involved in the political process. RPAC Investor $99 Club Capitol Club Member Major Donor Programs Sterling “R” Crystal “R” Golden “R” 4 than 500,000 of your colleagues nationwide, who agree that RPAC is the best investment you can make to influence your profession’s long-term growth and the stability of the real estate industry. Visit RPAC online at www.realtor.org or call or stop by the Association to get more information or make your donation. Remember, RPAC is your best in investment in real estate!! ■ President’s Perspective. Continued from Page 3. ideological interests. PACs can give $5,000 to a candidate committee per election (primary, general, run-off or special). They can also give up to $15,000 annually to any national party committee, and $5,000 annually to any other PAC. PACs may receive up to $5,000 from any one individual. Why should I contribute to RPAC? RPAC is the muscle behind NAR. RPAC represents over 400,000 politically active REALTORS® that members of Congress want as their friends. Recent legislative and regulatory successes include: • The continued preservation of the mortgage interest deduction. • Tax relief benefiting the real estate industry. • Improving federal mortgage programs, allowing more families to join the ranks of homeownership. • Eliminating burdensome regulations inhibiting environmental quality and healthy real estate markets. How will my contribution be used? 100% of your contribution is used to elect pro-REALTOR® candidates: 70% remains in the state to be used in state and local elections. 30% of your contribution will be forwarded to National RPAC to fund key U.S. House and Senate races. Until your state PAC reaches its RPAC goal, 30% is sent to National RPAC to support federal candidates and is charged against your limits under 2 U.S.C. 441a; after the state PAC reaches its RPAC goal, it may elect to retain your entire contribution for use in supporting state and local candidates. RPAC is neither a Republican nor a Democratic organization. Your contribution to RPAC is a vote for a proREALTOR® Congress, regardless of political party. How did RPAC do in the last election? RPAC remained the nation's largest PAC in direct contributions to candidates with disbursements of over $4.3 million dollars to federal candidates and national political committees in the 2004 election cycle. RPAC also spent over $1,400,000 on our Opportunity Race program that mobilized REALTORS® to be active in 31 congressional campaigns. This represented huge growth over the 2002 cycle when RPAC contributed $3.6 million to candidates and spent $600,000 on Opportunity Races. Most impressive, RPAC resumed its Independent Expenditures program in 2002 after more than a decade hiatus. We spent over $1 million dollars on incumbent elections in 2002, and increased that to $2.6 million on Continued on Page 14. $25 $99 $250 $1,000 $2,500 $5,000 Getting involved is simple. Get involved by joining more Osceola ReVIEW August 2008 http://www.realtor.org
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