Local Political Laugh of the Day
From a local newspaper’s editorial:
City and county officials appear to have reached an acceptable agreement on how to pay for the maintenance and repair of all the county’s bridges.
[...]
The solution appears to be an increase in the wheel tax, a type of local excise tax on motor vehicles paid each year when getting or renewing license plates. County councils are responsible for establishing and increasing the tax, but major portions of the revenues go to municipalities within the county. The administration of Tom Henry has agreed to return most of the money it would receive from the wheel tax to county government for bridge costs while keeping about $725,000 a year for city streets.
[...]
Some council members have expressed skepticism about the plan, partly because it would expire in 2017. By then, though, the county should be recouping money from a special tax district along the future Maplecrest Road extension to pay all of its obligations.
AHAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHA. Please keep ‘em coming. I needed that headed into the weekend. If you believe that the Maplecrest Extension TIF will pay for itself then I have a bridge to sell you. And don’t worry, I’m sure it’s not in a state of disrepair…
Learn From History - Don’t Mess With Alcohol
Looks like the doubling of the alcohol tax is dead:
A top state senator said Thursday he would likely drop his proposal to double Indiana’s alcohol tax statewide to help fund the agency that runs the major Indianapolis sports stadiums.
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Kenley says he suggested the statewide alcohol tax increase last week thinking it might help the plan win votes.
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But the alcohol tax drew sharp criticism. “I thought it might be something that might help the bill,” Kenley said. “If it’s going to be a problem instead of a benefit, let’s don’t try that.”
No thanks to the Fort Wayne elected representatives it appears that the latest scheme to transfer wealth from us to a bankrupt Indianapolis is finished. The people (outside of Indianapolis) won this round but you can bet that the next battle is just around the corner.
Speaking of Indianapolis, I thought Mayor Ballard was supposed to be the fiscally responsible savior who would come in and put the city back in the black without raising taxes? And now he’s thinking about raising taxes again to continue Indianapolis’ fiscal demise. That’s not change we can believe in.
Re-election is always a bit tougher when you have to run on your record…
The Wayne Township Farce Continues
If you haven’t had the chance to attend a Wayne Township advisory board meeting then I would encourage you to do so. If nothing else it will show you how government shouldn’t function and probably make you feel better about the city and county council meetings. The Wayne Township meetings have become the Jerry Springer Show of local government.
At one meeting board attorney Mark GiaQuinta slandered an official that wrote an op-ed piece and who was not present. He then continued to make some of the most partisan and inappropriate statements I’ve ever heard at a public meeting for a governmental body.
The board president, Tony Henry, has no control over the meetings and in general seems rather clueless as to the operation of the township. Robert’s Rules are rarely followed and the contention spirals out of control until the meeting becomes a complete disservice to the citizens of Wayne Township.
Most of the time the contention revolves around board member Maria Parra’s effort to get answers to straightforward questions. Parra is typically met with disrespect and stonewalling. Here are a few comments taken directly from the minutes of the last meeting. But you should take a few seconds just to read the entire minutes to get a feel for how things operate in Wayne Township.
We’re Doomed
The FDIC is about to embark on a massive scam program to give away ~$1 Trillion in non-recourse loans for “investors” (i.e. friends of the Treasury) to buy some of the toxic assets weighing down banks’ balance sheets.
But there is simply no hope with people like this in charge:
Somehow, in the name of solving the financial crisis, the F.D.I.C. has seemingly been given a blank check, with virtually no oversight by Congress.
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The F.D.I.C. is insuring the program, called the Public-Private Investment Program, by using a special provision in its charter that allows it to take extraordinary steps when an “emergency determination by secretary of the Treasury” is made to mitigate “systemic risk.”
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So how much does the F.D.I.C. think it might lose?“We project no losses,” Sheila Bair, the chairwoman, told me in an interview. Zero? Really? “Our accountants have signed off on no net losses,” she said.
Wait, wait, I’ve heard this one before:
“It is hard for us, without being flippant, to even see a scenario within any kind of realm of reason that would see us losing one dollar in any of those transactions.” - Joseph J. Cassano of A.I.G. in 2007
So this must be a lot like what total despair feels like…
Justice - Allen County Style
A month after admitting to infecting the 1-year-old girl he was baby-sitting with gonorrhea, Bobby J. Flores now says he didn’t do it.
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As part of a plea agreement, Flores is facing up to two years’ imprisonment for the April 25 incident.
What kind of prosecutor would strike a plea bargain for this type of crime that would cause the perpetrator to likely only serve a single year in jail? Are they serious? Short of murder can you think of a more heinous crime than this? And if you can, what do you think the penalty should be? Hell why not just plea it down to a $50 fine and 15 minutes in timeout.
Just another example of how pathetic county government is. Prosecutor Karen Richards and her deputy Stacey Speith should be ashamed of themselves. I cannot imagine another county anywhere in the country that is more lax towards sexual predators than ours. If such a county does exist then I truly feel sorry for its residents…
Tax Happy Open Thread
Been tough to keep up with blogging the past couple weeks with my schedule so bear with me. In the meantime I thought I’d just open up a thread where you can feel free to rant and rave about whatever you want.
Just as a conversation starter I thought we could talk about the alcohol tax and the rumor that all our representatives are supporting it. Does anybody (even to play devil’s advocate) want to take a stab at supporting their position.
Or feel free to discuss Obama, Geithner, Bush, Nelson Peters and his soon-to-be Maplecrest Extension disaster, whatever…
A Quick Thought On Mexican Trafficking
From Congressman Mark Souder’s column in the News-Sentinel:
But checking cars at the border is a better strategy for gun control to Mexico than limiting the Second Amendment rights of U.S. citizens.
I agree with that statement in principle but if they can sneak millions of people into the country don’t you think they might be a little more sophisticated than to try and sneak guns out of the country through a traditional checkpoint? I’m just saying…
Wheel Tax and Bridges
In regard to the report in both Fort Wayne newspapers today, a question needs to be asked:
Can Mayor Henry make an administration-only decision in regard to the use of this extra tax coming to the city from the county, or does the City Common Council have to approve it?
Republican stupidity in Alaska
This post was edited on 4/5/09. I did not have the ability to strikeout items when I edited the post so I deleted the incorrect references to a primary election and to Begich being a Republican.
This story leads me to believe there are some really stupid Republicans in leadership positions in Alaska.
To make a long story short there was a general election in Alaska for the Senate seat that was held by Republican Ted Stevens for 40 years. Ted Stevens has been dogged by corruption charges for years, is a “king” of pork barrel projects, and is the kind of Republican that makes me want to puke.
Democrat Mark Begich defeated the incumbent Senator Stevens in a very close general election. Senator Stevens likely lost his seat because he had just been convicted of seven felonies.
What I’m Reading
I thought it might be interesting to share with readers what books I’m currently reading. When I’m finished I’ll write some commentary about the book and what I thought about it. If you’ve already read the book then feel free to chime in with your comments or offer up future suggestions I should add to my reading list.
Right now I’m reading “The Revolution” by Ron Paul. Yes, I know I probably should’ve read it sooner but there’s only so much time in the day. Anyone want to share their thoughts on this one?
