Instant Classic From Fort Wayne News
The Harrison Square ferris wheel bit got me to burst into laughter. Comedic genius…
Keep an Eye on Renaissance Square
Some things never change. The city has been looking to consolidate their personnel, including police and fire, into one building for years now. For example here’s a post from Tracy Warner’s blog ( via Fort Wayne Observed) back in 2005:
The city’s goals became clearer at the meeting. Richard wants to get the city police out of the inadequate, aging building on Creighton Ave.; get the fire department out of the old garage near Lafayette Street; and get neighborhood code out of the its small Washington Boulevard office. He wants to get them all together, and is looking at the Renaissance Square building as the new home. Richard made it clear he’d like to see the county Sheriff’s Department there too, but the commissioners shut him down because the sheriff doesn’t want to be downtown and because the department needs new offices yesterday.
And what do we have now?
Six years after the idea was first proposed and four months after it supposedly died, the city is again considering a move out of the City-County Building
[...]
it appeared the two governments would continue to share the City-County Building indefinitely. But with the city’s $1.2 million-a-year lease scheduled to expire in 2010, officials are again considering moving into the Renaissance building at 202 E. Berry St. - a move first proposed by then-Mayor Graham in 2004.
In general this doesn’t sound too bad but you have to start to peel the onion back to see what might be going on.
AP points out corruption in the Democratic Party
As the readers of this blog know I dislike corrupt politicians. I dislike corrupt politicians and I do not care what political party they are from.
The Associated Press is an organization that certainly could not be considered conservative or Republican by any definition of those terms no matter how liberal that definition was.
You should read their recent article about corrupt Democrats.
I am sick and tired of corrupt public officials.
Mike Sylvester
FWCS Building Project Voted Least Critical of Fort Wayne Stimulus Projects
Mayor Henry submitted a list of projects to the US Conference of Mayors for consideration in the latest $800 Billion stimulus package. Part of his $573 Million submission was a $300 Million line item for the Fort Wayne Community Schools building project.
StimulusWatch.org has compiled the submissions from cities all over the country and allow people to vote and leave comments on individual projects. Voters decide whether or not the project is critical and the votes are tallied by reporting the difference between the critical and non-critical votes. Currently the FWCS building project has a -33 vote ratio which makes it the ‘least critical’ of all the projects the mayor submitted.
Right behind the FWCS project is the $8 Million Aboite Trails project with a -20 vote ratio. If you’re so inclined, check out the Fort Wayne list and vote…
Big Government Matt Bell’s Casino Hypocrisy
Rep. Matt Bell, R-Avilla, acknowledged that White’s School of the Arts did nothing illegal when it opened the three-days-a-week casino under an annual charity game-night license.
Current law allows fraternal, veteran, civic and charitable non-profits to run similar casinos under an annual charity game-night license.
But Bell’s amendment to House Bill 1286 would limit that license to fraternal and veterans groups and specify that the casino can be open only three calendar days a week.
Let’s see if I have this right. The state decides to allow charity gaming licenses for non-profit organizations. A local non-profit owner goes to a state-sponsored seminar, figures out what he needs to do to get the license, fills out the proper paperwork, gets the approval and then opens Parnell Poker Palace.
And what does he get for that? Representative Matt Bell wants to put him out of business. See Bell didn’t think anyone would actually jump through all the bureaucratic hoops the state put out there. And Bell doesn’t want to end all charity gaming licenses - of course not. He wants to exempt veteran and fraternal organizations.
I suppose an argument could be made for why veteran organizations would get special treatment (although I would disagree) but fraternal organizations? What is wrong with our state legislators? The state shouldn’t be in the business of handing out casino licenses - period. The very idea that bars can’t have Cherry Masters and Pull-Tabs but a few specific government-chosen businesses can is asinine.
But big government Republicans like Matt Bell disagree. They think the best solution is for part-time legislators to pick the winners and losers instead of letting that whole capitalism thing work itself out. Running a mom-and-pop poker room is somehow against their morals and values but if you spend millions of dollars and years of time lobbying the system to open a Taj-Mahal casino - well that’s the Indiana dream right?
Common Sense Thought of the Day
I heard this from some talking head on CNBC yesterday and thought I’d share. Makes perfect sense:
(paraphrase)The average home price is going to continue to fall until the average citizen with the average job can afford the average home.
Exactly. That’s why the government’s idea of propping up home prices or as they call it - “preventing foreclosures” - will be a massive failure. Housing prices reached unsustainable levels and they will be forced to level out. The government can continue their kicking and screaming if they wish but I would appreciate it if they would quit wasting my tax dollars in the process…
Condo Starts at All Time Low
It’s probably time to consider turning The Harrison into apartments. From the latest Census Housing Starts report via Calculated Risk:
Condo starts have collapsed to almost zero (8 thousand started in Q4 2008)
[...]
Condos built for sale tied the record low set in Q1 1991 (data started in 1975).
The Kelty/Harper/GOP Open Thread
I’m loathed to write anything about Matt Kelty these days. He’s a disgraced liar and convicted felon - that’s about all I can say about him. Why the guy would think he should be making phone calls or recruiting candidates to run the county GOP is beyond me. How about stepping away from the political arena that has nearly ruined you and just chill for a while?
But no, the Kelty gang, including Marvin Hoot and Glenna Jehl, are back at it again still trying, in vain, to oust Steve Shine as Republican chair. This time they are attempting to recruit city councilman Mitch Harper to run against Shine.
I think this entire circus is just silly and I doubt anyone in the GOP takes Hoot, Jehl or Kelty seriously - let alone the majority of precinct committeemen. But I’d like to hear what others think about this whole situation - I know some of you hijacked a previous thread to share your thoughts - but consider this one open for debate/discussion…
Auto Maker Fantasy Land
I’ve actually read both Chrysler and GM’s viability plans submitted to the Department of Treasury alongside their second round of bailout requests. First, Chrysler’s plan is lame. The document they released is about 4 pages long with next to nothing in detail. I guess they didn’t want to write the truth - they are bankrupt and have no hope of long term viability.
GM’s plan is much more detailed but the analysis is the same - they are bankrupt. Their US industry sales assumptions are ridiculous. They conveniently assume that the market bottoms out in the 1st Quarter of 2009 and gradually builds back up to bubble-economy numbers. And even under that rosy scenario they are still only breaking even by 2012 and paying off their loans by 2017.
I cannot imagine auto sales gaining the rest of this year - it makes no sense. Who is going to be buying them? Millions will lose their jobs and people will continue to hord cash - like everyone else GM seem to be banking on the magic stimulus bullet to save the day - it won’t happen.
They also assume they will maintain or slightly increase their market share - again, I find that highly unlikely. The talking point has been that people won’t buy cars from a company in bankruptcy:
Consumer confidence is essential to the Company’s future success. For most consumers, the purchase of a vehicle represents their second largest expenditure (after housing). Consumers view resale value and the assured availability of warranty coverage and long-term parts and service as critical inputs to their purchase decision. It is the judgment of the Company that a bankruptcy filing would substantially, if not completely, erode consumers’ confidence in GM’s ability to deliver on those requirements. The consumer, with a choice of a comparable product backed by a manufacturer operating outside bankruptcy, is substantially less likely to opt for the bankruptcy tainted product.
But they think consumers will buy them from a company that must continue to get massive government bailouts just to operate?
Eh, I could go on but you get the point. GM is dead. Only a government-provided Iron Lung will keep them alive…
Nuclear submarines damage each other…
Recently a British and a French submarine carrying nuclear weapons collided at sea.
They are saying that they accidentally hit each other in a freak accident.
Anyone that beleives that is a complete idiot.
I served on a nuclear submarine for four years. Nuclear submarines are always trying to sneak up on other submarines. It is a way to practice for real combat.
There is absolutely no chance that the submarines somehow randomly ran into each other…
Give me a break.
Mike Sylvester
