How Mike Sylvester plans on voting next week
I have decided how I am going to vote next week.
President: Bobb Barr/Wayne Root, Libertarian. This race was simple, I cannot vote for McCain and I definitely cannot vote for Obama. With the addition of Palin I almost decided to vote for McCain.
Governor: MItch Daniels/Becky Skillman, Republican. This race was tough for me because I almost voted Libertarian; however, I voted for Mitch Daniels because he has guts and is willing to change things.
Attorney General: Greg Zoeller, Republican. This one was easy.
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tony Bennett, Republican. This one was easy.
3rd Congressional District: William Larsen. This one was easy as well. I cannot vote for Souder for reasons often posted on this blog. I cannot vote for Montagano because he has no experience, is afraid to take stands on the issue, and moved here just to run for Congress. I can vote for William Larsen because he is a small government type and a social conservative. William Larsen would be a Republican today if the Republican Party still stood for smaller Government.
County Treasurer: Sue Orth, Republican. I am impressed with Maria Parra’s willingness to stand up the the Wayne Township Board; however, I feel Sue Orth is more qualified.
County Council. Susan Hoot, Democrat. Paul Moss, Republican. This was the toughest race for me; in fact, I still have not decided if I will vote for a 3rd person or not. County Council has five candidates all of which have some strengths. Susan Hoot is a no-brainer for me. I have been impressed with Paul Moss in the past; however his recent desire to put public money into our zoo turned me off as has his stance on the Canyon Cliffs Development. That being said; I still think he stands for smaller Government in general.
There are a lot of other uncontested races and I do not see a reason to list them.
I became a Republican this year and certainly am voting for a majority of Republicans in contested races. In contested raced I am voting for:
- Two Libertarians
- One Democrat
- Five Republicans
Mike Sylvester
My political predictions from Nov 2006
After the Democrats took control of Congress in November of 2006 I made 22 predictions. Many people chimed in and posted their predictions as well including our own Jeff Pruitt. These prediction involved Democratic campaign promises, items conservative talk radio “claimed” that the Democrats would embrace if they took the majority, and other items I was interested in.
You can read my predictions here. You can read Jeff Pruitt’s response to my predictions here.
Without a doubt; the Democrats completely failed to follow that majority of their campaign promises; however, the media and voters are not holding them accountable for this!
Several of these promises have been passed in the House; however, the Senate has failed to pass them. I think it is fair to say that House Democrats WOULD (And did pass i many cases) have passed many of these items if not for the senate. The Republicans have done some filibustering in the senate; however, the senate Democrats have COMPLETELY failed to accomplish anything.
Below are my predictions and how accurate Jeff Pruitt and I were:
Question for Obama supporters
Senator Obama has ran a lot of local television ads advertising that “John McCain has voted in favor of tax breaks to companies that ship jobs overseas to China.”
Does anyone know how Senator Obama proposes to fix this problem or is it just empty rhetoric?
Mike Sylvester
What is Mr. Montagano thinking?
As anyone reading this blog knows I will not be voting for Mark Souder in the upcoming 3rd Congressional race. I will be voting for Libertarian BIll Larsen.
That being said, the Democratic candidate, Mike Montagano, does not seem to have a strong grasp of politics. Please read this piece in a local newspaper.
Please realize that this bill as passed will increase the National Debt; possibly by as much as 850 billion dollars. It likely will increase the debt by at least a couple of hundred billion dollars. The bill also gives the Secretary of the Treasury unprecendented powers and authority to spend 700 billion dollars of tax payer money. This is a very big deal.
Mark Souder voted the wrong way on this bill. He voted in favor of socialism.
Mr. Montagano has backed away from the bill and does not want to second guess Mark Souder.
Why not?
Mark Souder voted wrong on this bill and should lose his seat in Congress.
Mike Sylvester
A couple of bad ideas from Barack Obama in the last couple of days
Barack Obama has made a lot of policy proposals in the last few days.
I want to focus on two that make no sense to me; both of which I feel are terrible ideas.
What are the Democrats doing in DC?
I am sure most of you remember how the Democratic Party ran on a National platform of fiscal responsibility in 2006. They promised to restore fiscal discipline in Washington DC and reign in the out of control spending in Washington DC. The Democrats have been in control of Congress for the last two years…
Well, they lied.
Major News in Indiana’s 3rd District Congressional Race
Fort Wayne Observed has a post up that deserves your attention!
Per Fort Wayne Observed the DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) has purchased $487,000 of television advertising to support Democratic candidate Michael Montagano.
You may also be interested in reading a post from our own Jeff Pruitt about his feelings that the DCCC would be supporting Michael Montagano financially.
It will be interesting to see how the Republican Party responds.
I think Republican Mark Souder will be re-elected; however, I think it will be by a very small margin.
Mike Sylvester
Michelle Obama To The Grand Wayne Center
Plans have changed slightly for tomorrow’s Michelle Obama visit. She will still be speaking at 1pm but it will now be at the Grand Wayne Center.
The McCain Collapse
Obviously a lot can still happen between now and election day but if the election were today then I doubt anyone would disagree that McCain would lose and probably lose big. There are numerous pundits in the traditional media giving their take on what’s happened to the McCain campaign but I think they’ve been missing the most important point.
First, McCain’s polling meltdown has occurred simultaneously with the ramping up of the financial crisis so obviously we have to figure out why voters have decided to shy away from McCain on economic issues. There are lots people talking about the “failed policies of the Bush administration” but I doubt most voters could enumerate any of those policies.
Clearly President Bush has been a drag on the McCain ticket and the Republican party in general. And some voters, whether right or wrong, have decided that Bush=McCain and this financial mess we’re in just pushed them over the edge. That’s the conventional wisdom but I think it’s a little more nuanced - I think Bush, McCain and the Republican leadership have lost all credibility in the eyes of the public although maybe not for the reasons being bantered about.
Obama’s newest tax ideas
Mr. Obama is at it again. He is proposing another set of proposals that are intended to benefit certain Americans.
Please read this article in the Wall Street Journal.
As most of you know I do not like the fact that an ever growing number of Americans are subsidized through the Federal income tax laws. These Americans receive more from the Federal Government in the form of income tax “refunds” then they pay into the Federal Government in income taxes. In my opinion this is just another form of welfare.
