Tea Party Photos





Tea Party liveblog2

12:17- “you ought to be a little suspicious when a bankrupt government says they’re going to bankrupt a banking system”

12:20 - loud cheers for this keyes line: we have a democratic party that believes the government should do everything and a republican party that doesn’t believe in the constitution”
12:22 - keyes heavy on personal responsibility. Telling people to look in the mirror if they want to see who is to blame. He asks where have you all been

Sorry all, my phone died. Summary post with photos and my thoughts shortly…

Tea Party Liveblog

10:55 - I love the smell of protest in the morning

11:01 - no sign of federal spies or violent anarchists

11:05 - I’d say 700 people so far
11:10 - battery almost dead. I can’t hear much. They need a better mic
11:15 - lots of “who is john galt” signs. Probably over a 1000 people now in attendance
11:25 - “freedom is only a generation away from
extinction.”
11:30 - strong anti-incumbent feeling here. A vote them
out chant breaks out. Screams of socialism is not the answer as well
11:35 - “no more bailouts! No more government spending!”
12:15 - acoustics are still terrible. Keyes is about to speak

2nd Amendment Wins Again

Despite the rhetoric I never believed the Obama administration had any intention of renewing the Assault Weapons Ban. It was simply a political time bomb that serves absolutely no purpose. But this was welcome news indeed - maybe now you all can stop running up the price of semi-automatic rifles.

Confronting a Mexican drug war that is “sowing chaos in our communities,” President Obama signaled Thursday he will not seek renewal of a U.S. assault weapons ban but instead will step up enforcement of laws banning the transfer of such guns across the border.

Obama had pledged during his campaign to seek renewal of the ban but has bowed to the reality that such a move would be politically unpopular.

Tea Party Tomorrow

I have to wonder where all this outrage has been over the past few years but as a populist I believe more protests = more people involved = better government.

Key Note Speaker: ALAN KEYES (Confirmed)
Event Details and Time: April 18th 11:00am-1:00pm
Location: Court House Square
City/Town: Fort Wayne

We are helping to organize a “Tea Party” rally here in Ft. Wayne and would like to ask your help in getting the word out about this event. We are going to hold this event on April 18, 2009 downtown at the Court House Square along the sidewalks.

The “Tea Party” would give our citizens a chance to let their Voices be heard. There will be a few speakers,with Key Note Speaker being Alan Keyes. This is an organized peaceful protest, not a party issue, it’s an American issue. If you know of people that would have an interest in this type of event please get involved by telling your friends and getting involved. Please spread the word to everyone that you know about this event so that we can have a good turnout.

Our government is growing at an unparalleled rate. Many of our Inherent Rights, which were given to us by our Creator and are protected by our Constitution, are in jeopardy of being lost. The federal government is incurring a debt that will burden our children, grandchildren and generations to come.

Glenbrook Owner Officially Bankrupt

While it doesn’t mean the doors will be locked and everything shut down there are potential consequences to local government. Kevin Leininger had a great report on this today:

The owner of Glenbrook Square filed for bankruptcy early today - a long-expected move that could at least temporarily deny millions of dollars in tax revenues to local governments already short on cash.
[...]
While operating under Chapter 11, a company can suspend payment of taxes without penalty, and the county would file a claim with the bankruptcy court that could allow it to recover all or part of the taxes when the company emerges from bankruptcy.

But that could result in a temporary but “huge” loss of revenue for local governments, said County Treasurer Sue Orth. And even an end to bankruptcy doesn’t guarantee the county will be able to collect all it’s owed.
[...]
And Glenbrook’s property tax bill has been a source of litigation for years. General Growth bought the mall for $219 million in 2003, a year after the county assessed its taxable value at $114 million. But General Growth argued in court that the mall should be taxed at a value of about $62 million.

A major retailer in your city declaring bankruptcy is never good news. And I just can’t resist poking a little fun at our favorite county commissioner:

“I didn’t think this would happen. They tried so hard to avoid going into bankruptcy,” County Commissioner Linda Bloom said today. “This is going to be especially hard on Washington Township and the Fort Wayne Community Schools.”

She didn’t think this would happen -has she been paying attention? That was a rhetorical question…

More Self-Serving Tripe From Hardball Capital

I really can’t believe Jason Freier, CEO of Hardball Capital, has the gall to say some of the things he does:

Freier said the recent national economic problems have been the biggest factors in delaying the complementary projects expected to be built around Parkview Field. He also said he expects that to change, and for the building of other Harrison Square projects to end up only a couple of months behind.

A couple of months? WTF is he talking about? They are already months behind schedule and the groundbreaking is nowhere in sight. Does he think all of us lowly Fort Wayne citizens are a bunch of easily-duped meatheads?

And what does he expect to change exactly - the “national economic problems” he mentioned? If he thinks that then he’s simply too ignorant to take seriously. Here’s a rundown of current indicators Jason:

So yeah, things are just peachy all right and if we only click our heals together while saying “there’s no economic problems” then maybe we’ll all wake up and be rich forever. More nonsense from Freier:

“If (a delay) is the worst thing that happens to this project, seeing how the economy has affected everything else, you’ve got to put that in the win column,” he said.

So if the project is delayed for years costing taxpayers millions of dollars then that’s a win? For Hardball Capital I suppose. This guy is a charlatan - nothing more. He flies into our town promising riches for all if only we enrich him a little bit first. And then when the money is in his pocket it’s excuse after excuse. Sounds like one of those Nigerian bank e-mails we all get every other day. Only this time our representatives actually fell for it…

Glenbrook Owner Closing In on Bankruptcy

From Reuters via Calculated Risk:

NEW YORK, April 13 (Reuters) - A group of General Growth Properties Inc GGP.N bondholders have asked their trustee to sue the mall owner for payment on their past-due bonds, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website on Monday.

Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP sent a letter to General Growth saying it represents holders of 25 percent of its $395 million in bonds that were due last March 16 and weren’t paid. The bondholders are seeking to have their trustee, Bank of New York Mellon Corp (BK.N), sue General Growth for payment, in a step that could push the company closer to bankruptcy, The Wall Street Journal said.

Just seems to be a matter of when…

Local Government Quote of the Day

For your reading pleasure with no editorial comment:

Commissioner Nelson Peters said, and Brown agrees, that there is a need for the three full-time commissioners and that their current pay is justified because of the size of the county and the number of statutory duties required of them.

Hoocoodanode? The Harrison Square Edition

It’s almost comical to read the various comments from the Harrison Square backslappers and supporters in the media. Their latest talking point is that this generational economic collapse has killed delayed the inevitable success of Harrison Square:

Richard, a Democrat, said he is troubled by the recent economic collapse, but he still believes the deal was a good one at the time. Neither he nor anyone else, could have predicted the economy would fall so quickly, Richard said, adding his retirement account is proof of that.

Ah yes, hoocoodanode that this exercise in government largess could possibly backfire? There were plenty of economists saying such things but I’m sure Richard, Talarico, Pape, et al would’ve dismissed them as kooks and naysayers just like they did the 65% of us that opposed this project from the beginning. Many of the people that opposed the project did so because they had seen other government ventures fail and realized that this one had a better than average change to fail as well.

I’m sure the politicos, at one time or another, watched the show Who Wants to be a Millionaire. You might recall (and they should’ve too) that when you poll the audience the audience is usually right. It doesn’t mean that the citizenry is 100% right but it should at least give you a little pause and cause a moment of reflection when the vast majority oppose you. Not so with this group, they knew best and they wanted to ramrod this project home - damn the consequences.

But now, see, they want you to believe that it isn’t their fault - no, no. It’s that dang economy and hoocoodanode problems would arise? What they won’t tell you is that anyone with a shred of fiscal responsibility NEVER would’ve started the publicly funded portion until the private sector financing was in place. They shouldanode that one for sure; hell the contract required it.

Let us not forget, as I’ve pointed out time and again, that the condos weren’t selling well before the markets crashed. And there were many a people telling them those units wouldn’t sell here. But the hotel is another story altogether - and probably another post for another day. But suffice to say that the city’s bogus revenue projections didn’t make sense during the bubble days and they damn sure won’t hold up now. They won’t address that pesky little fact though - nah, better to bury your head in the sand and cheer on the Tin Caps. Backslaps for all!

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