Civil unrest in Egypt
The United States has supported the Egyptian Government for many years. We currently give them 1.3 billion dollars in direct military aid annually and additional aid in other forms. Realistically each year the US Government borrows about two billion dollars and gives it to the Egyptian Government. This money has to be paid back with interest by current and future US taxpayers.
As the readers of this blog know I oppose giving military aid to almost any country and I do not think our Government should borrow money and accumulate massive deficits so that our Government can give billions of dollars away in foreign aid in an attempt to make people like us. This policy has backfired on us repeatedly throughout the years.
The Egyptian Government is corrupt, oppressive, and ruled by a dictator. Our government supports Egypt because we think the the current Egyptian Government is likely better then some of the potential Governments that could emerge.
I am sick and tired of our Government sticking its nose into other countries business. We should immediately stop ALL foreign aid until the United States Debt is paid. Further we should withdraw our support from the Egyptian Government and let it fall. Hopefully something better will replace the current Government.
Mike
City Light Lease Money, Post two
I think there are only two acceptable ways to spend the “Light Lease” money. I think the most important thing is for the City to ensure it does not launch another large project that will likely fail along the same lines as the expansion of the Grand Wayne Center, The Public Safety Academy, or the Harrison Square Project.
I suggest the following ways to spend the money.
I think the best choice is to use the money to pay for the Combined Sewer Overflow Project. Currently there are a lot of days each year that the City of Fort Wayne discharges raw sewage into our rivers. The City of Fort Wayne has been forced by the Federal Government to fix the problem. In order to pay for this project the City of Fort Wayne will have to increase sewer rates significantly over the next several years. The CSO projects for the next couple of years are already paid for; however, once that money runs out sewer rates will go up for everyone on Fort Wayne Sewer. With that in mind I think the money should be conservatively invested and used to pay for CSO projects over the next several years to prevent our future sewer rates from skyrocketing. There are a few Fort Wayne residents who would not benefit (many in Aboite); however, this would benefit that vast majority of Fort Wayne residents and businesses.
By far I think the CSO project is the best choice; however, I think the next best choice would be to conservatively invest the money and then use that money to pay off high interest debt the City has already accumulated and to pay for future smaller projects up front and in full rather than bonding them and payng them over time. It is a little known fact that the City pays a lot of money in legal fees when it borrows money. This could be avoided by paying cash for future projects. A good example of this is the fact the the City had to borrow money to purchase the new recycling carts. It is absurd that the City borrowed money to buy these carts; it would be far better to pay for them with cash. The downside of paying off projects that have already been financed is the fact that the legal and banking fees to put the debt in place have already been paid.
I really think these are the best two options; however, I by far favor the CSO Project.
Mike Sylvester
Obamacare waivers
To date, nearly 733 employers have been granted “temporary” one year waivers that will apply to about 2.3 million of their employees so they do not have to comply with some of the requirements of Obamacare. Many of these employers are unions and government organizations.
If Obamacare is so great why is our Government granting so many waivers?
If Obamacare is so great why are so many unions and Government groups asking for waivers?
Mike
City Light Lease Money, Post one
The City of Fort Wayne has a combined total of about 75 million in existing dollars and future payments from the City Light Lease. The Mayor has formed a fifteen member Task Force with many of the usual suspects to help determine how the money will be spent. The Mayor has also requested citizen input.
I think these funds will be a major topic in the upcoming Republican Mayoral primary and will also be a major topic, if not the major topic, of the upcoming Mayoral election.
The City of Fort Wayne has launched three major “economic development” projects in the last few years. All three projects were intended to raise revenues for the City of Fort Wayne. All three have failed miserably. In order to make decisions about the future it is important to understand the past. That being said most of our political leaders keep “conveniently” forgetting the past.
This post will look at the last three failures.
The most recent failure is the Harrison Square Project. By ANY definition this project has failed from the standpoint of economic development. At great cost the City moved existing economic activity and jobs from one part of the City to another. The debt service payments are having to be drawn from a neighboring Tax Increment Financing District and there still is no contract to build the central piece of the project; instead there is a hole in the ground. Those who supported this failed project promised that new companies would move downtown, property values downtwon would rise, etc. None of these things happened.
The second failed project is the Public Safety Academy. At great expense the taxpayers built a state of the art facility that we were yet again promised would pay for itself. In fact, not only would it pay for itself; it would generate revenue. Heck this state of the art center was to draw customers from all over our country… As usual we were promised increasing property values, revenues from attendees, and a project that would not only pay for itself but turn a profit. The truth of the matter is The Public Safetly Academy has 100% failed and it almost 100% supported by tax dollars. The Public Safety Academy costs the taxpayers nearly half a million dollars a year. Another failure by ANY standard.
The third and final project is the expansion of the Grand Wayne Center. A great deal of money was spent to expand the Grand Wayne Center. We were promised that Fort Wayne would be able to draw a lot more events and draw larger events and that convention attendees would flood downtown Fort Wayne and rent hotels, eat out, buy gas, etc. The expansion is pretty and the facility is improved; however, convention traffic did not increase as promised. Most days the entire facility is empty except for employees who maintain their posts in silent hallways. Another failure.
Looking at the last three major City projects is important when deciding whether or not to embark on another new project.
I wonder if this will come up at the Task Force Meetings?
Mike Sylvester
Debt ceiling hypocrites…
The Federal Government is in terrible fiscal shape. The Federal debt will exceed the entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United States this year. The Federal budget has NOT been balanced since 1957 and there is no way it will be balanced for the foreseeable future. In fact, I doubt that I will ever see an honestly balanced Federal Budget in my lifetime with the idiots we keep sending to Washington DC.
These idiots are from both major political Parties.
Congress has to authorize the borrowing the Federal Government does (Outside of the borrowing of the Federal Reserve which can print and borrow money WITHOUT Congressional authority). Over the last several decades Congress has had to raise the “debt ceiling” many times. The “debt ceiling” has to be raised each time Federal borrowing approachesthe previously agreed upon limit.
Both Republicans and Democrats are absolute, unadulterated hypocrites on this issue. When one Party has control of the Government that Party almost unanimously supports raising the “debt ceiling” since they are the Party “in charge.” At the same time the minority Party almost unanimously votes AGAINST raising the “debt ceiling” and blames the Party in power for raising the Federal debt to unsustainable levels.
Members that have been in Congress for a long period of time will change their votes back and forth depending on if their Party is in power or not.
2006 is the most recent example. We had a Republican Congress and Republican President. So the Republicans en mass supported raising the debt ceiling and the Democrats en mass opposed raising the debt ceiling. Then in early 2007 and 2009 the Democrats swept into power. So of course the Democrats then “magically” supported raising the “debt ceiling” and the Republicans “magically” opposed raising the “debt ceiling.”
Things like this frustrate me, irritate me, and make me realize that my children will inherit a much weaker America than I inherited from my parents…
Mike
27 of the 50 states in the process of suing the Federal Government over Obamacare
It is amazing that more than half of the states want “Obamacare” to be declared unconstitutional. Many of these states are conservative states; however, some liberal states have joined the lawsuit as well.
Has there ever been a Congressional law that was passed that resulted in more than half of the states in the union suing the Federal Government to stop that law from going into effect?
Mike
The shooting of Congresswoman Giffords
Last weekend a lone gunman went on a shooting spree in Arizona and managed to kill six innocent people and wound fourteen more including Arizona Congresswoman Giffords. The lone gunman managed to expend all of the rounds from a 30 round clip plus the bullet in the chamber of the weapon.
From the media reports it appears the lone gunman was a disturbed individual who acted alone.
This shooting was tragic. It is always sad when innocent people are killed or wounded by senseless violence.
The reaction from part of the Democratic Party has been both shameful and disturbing.
Legislative Survey
Just a few days ago I received a constituent survey from State Representative Bob Morris (84th District). Here are the questions asked along with my answers including brief commentary.
Feel free to share your thoughts and answers to these questions.
1. Do you support a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between one man and one woman?
No. I would prefer that Indiana move in the opposite direction and propose legislative changes that allow for marriage equality. There are a few different ways of achieving this and I have my favorite, but I will not get into all of those details in this post. Read more
Mayoral Campaign Websites
Campaign sites say a lot about a candidate and his or her ability to run a professional campaign. A strong online presence is becoming mandatory for candidates at just about every level of government. Because of this I decided to check out the websites for some of the Fort Wayne Mayoral candidates.
First up was Tom Henry. His site is still what it was in 2007 minus most of the content, and quite honestly he probably won’t need to make any changes to it until closer to the general election. Not many people predict him to lose the Democratic primary if he wants to run again.
Next was Paula Hughes. Her site is clean-looking and professional. It also includes the social networking tools that modern candidates must use to reach voters. My main problem with the site is the difficulty I had finding real content about specific issues and her stances. It is important for a candidate to be likable, but she also needs some substance. I also think her campaign logo looks weirdly similar to Oprah Winfrey’s signature logo.
Finally there was Liz Brown. Her site was also clean-looking and professional. It had much more substance than the others, which was nice. Of the three, I consider this the best so far.
I would hope no one would vote for someone simply because he or she had the nicest website, but I do think it is a factor that separates the more serious, organized, and professional candidates from the pack. I encourage everyone to take a look at the different websites and share your thoughts.
Federal Government on health insurance
Want an insight on how giving the Feds the charge to process health insurance claims? Here are details on a local experience -
My bro-in-law’s daughter has a husband who has been on active duty with the Army National Guard. As such, they are covered by a health insurance policy with Health Net Federal Services and Tricare North Region Claims in Surfside Beach, SC handles any claims. In November, 2010 they sent in a claim on services for one of their daughters. On seven consecutive days starting in late November, a notice of non-coverage for this service was received - all seven addressed the same and each envelope containing the exact same computer-generated three-page copies. Each of these was franked with $.335 in US postage done with a Pitney Bowes postage meter. Then on the next day, 43 of these exact same envelopes - each with the same contents and each with the same $.335 in postage on it were received!
So, 50 envelopes with 3 computer printed pages in each and $16.75 in postage were spent on this one claim response! The company sending the envelopes, PGBA, LLC doing business as Tricare North Region Claims is probably on a “Cost Plus” contract with the Feds - so the more of our tax dollars they spend - the more they make in profits - WITH NO VERIFICATION by anyone. Multiply this by the millions to be covered by Obamacare and you see why this is NOT the way to go!
