Had we just devalued the dollar to about 70 percent of the current worth, and at the same time devalued all property, wages and prices by the same amount, we would be super competitive in the world, we could afford to produce and sell products worldwide instead of sending our jobs overseas, and people could afford to stay in their homes.
Reid, a young economics teacher at Plainfield High School, has taken the fight to Burton on taxes and the deficit. He maintains that the 14-termer has not worked for systemic change despite his conservative persona. Reid also offers thoughtful ideas for cutting spending, simplifying the tax code and reforming entitlements.I couldn't be more proud of Chard! Every Hamilton County voter will be able to vote for Chard, as the 5th District covers our county entirely.
Reid represents the best of Libertarian small-government ideals. He would be a refreshing departure from the incumbent's complacency and cavalier attitude toward ethics.
Both Democrat Brad Ellsworth and Republican Dan Coats were on the offensive during last night’s Senate debate in Indianapolis… while Libertarian Rebecca Sink-Burris remained more focused on questions and responses.Absolutely, I'm going to prefer the Libertarian candidate's answers 95 times out of 100, and Rebecca is a friend. But the glaring difference in demeanor gets me. I can understand the Democrats going negative. They're trailing in the polls by and large. I don't get the Republicans taking the bait. When you're in the lead, you dismiss the negativity and go on about what you're about. For all the money these guys spend on their campaigns, precious little goes towards training and solid advice.
I found it ironic and unfortunate to read Sunday's article on the Indiana Secretary of State race. Ironic that the article quoted one of the candidates about not forgetting those with a right to be heard. Unfortunate, in that the Libertarian candidate, Mike Wherry, wasn't even mentioned.I'm fond of this clip:
The Secretary of State race is crucial to the Libertarian Party, as its' candidate needs to secure a minimum 2% finish in this race in order for their party to remain on the ballot for the next four years.
But more to the point of the article, regarding whether or not paperwork irregularities make a candidate fit for office or not, it is incredibly ironic that Republican's errors are commented on, while the Democrat, who has also committed plenty of irregularities, was given a pass.
Both parties have slung a fair amount of mud at their traditional foes, and both parties are fairly convincing when they both make the case that the other is unfit to be Secretary of State.
Libertarian Mike Wherry stands heads and shoulders above this. He is a veteran US Naval officer, having served on the USS Indianapolis. He is on the ballot and is an eminently qualified candidate. He should have had equal consideration in the recent article on the basis of being a balloted candidate alone, but when you consider the relative merits of his paperwork, perhaps he should have been the feature.
Sincerely Yours-
-Mike Kole
Libertarian Candidate for Secretary of State in 2006
The Great Recession ended in June 2009, according to the body charged with dating when economic downturns begin and end.Yeah, that's a great comfort. I've been "working" in my chosen field the past year, but if I clear more than 15% of what I cleared in 2007, I'll be astonished. I'm employed, but I'm underemployed, and the current political climate wherein business owners lack confidence in the economic recover such that they are not expanding has greatly impacted me. I began looking forward to new budgets for 2011 in February of 2010.
But the news is little comfort to the millions of Americans still out of work, underwater on their mortgages or uncertain about the future.
Speaking to a town hall meeting in Washington, President Obama said the announcement about the end of the recession is further proof that steps taken early in his administration, including the economic stimulus package, were the right ones. But he cautioned it does not mean that the economy has recovered.
"Obviously, for the millions of people who are still out of work, people who have seen their home values decline, people who are struggling to pay the bills day to day, [the recession is] still very real for them," he said.
Thanks for the acknowledgment, Prez. Now, if you could send some kind of signal, anything at all, that businesses aren't an ox to be gored, maybe, just maybe, we'll start to see the kind of confidence enter the picture that you thought a "stimulus" package might engender. Alas.
It isn't a partisan outrage. If these were Socialist candidates, I'd feel the same way. I detest the judge's reasoning:A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Al Jaeger that was filed by three Libertarian candidates for the North Dakota Legislature who sought placement on the November ballot.
Richard Ames of Wahpeton, along with Grand Forks residents Thommy Passa and Anthony Stewart, argued that North Dakota’s ballot access requirements are unconstitutional because they require candidates to get a minimum number of primary election votes, even if they run unopposed.
In an order issued today, District Court Judge Ralph R. Erickson wrote that states can require candidates to demonstrate a certain degree of support in a primary election.
Primary elections serve as a mechanism to “winnow out and reject all but serious candidates,” and ballot requirements allow states to avoid voter confusion, overcrowded ballots and frivolous candidates, Erickson wrote.
He concluded that North Dakota’s ballot requirements for the general election are “non-discriminatory and serve a compelling state interest.”
That's bullcrap. What exactly does an 'overcrowded ballot' look like? And, what is a frivolous candidate? That's for the voters to decide!
We have to work hard to make sure Mike Wherry gets his votes here in Indiana so that the Libertarian Party can maintain its ballot access for four more years. It isn't safe to leave the matter in the hands of judges, as this example in North Dakota shows, and as we're aware affected the Libertarian Party in Ohio for several years.
(h/t: Patriot Paul)
IndyGo, another agency dependent on property taxes, also adopted a 2011 budget Monday, and it, too, will pursue a shortfall appeal as expected.And just as typical is the Republican response:If approved by the City-County Council, the appeals would bring in $1.8 million for the library and $1.5 million for IndyGo. But for most homeowners, the increase combined would be only a couple of bucks.
The one-time levy, which would not increase the actual tax rate, would increase taxes by $1.21 for a $100,000 property, said library Chief Financial Officer Becky Dixon. The IndyGo increase would be roughly $1 per $100,000.
Angel Rivera, a Republican who initially expressed opposition to the move, said because the increase was small, he "would give it a lot more consideration," though the council is still exploring other options.Republicans are against tax hikes, until they are for them.
"I don't like tax raises," Rivera said. "But if it's $2.50 per parcel, I think we'd have to seriously consider it."
Municipal corporations that receive less tax money than expected can file what's called a shortfall appeal with the Department of Local Government Finance. If approved, that will raise how much the corporations receive the next year, but it also will raise property taxes for those who are not paying the maximum under the tax cap.It's time to scale back our empire building. No, I'm not talking foreign policy in this case. I'm talking the empire of government. The money is not there. When the property tax reassessments happened a few years back, we were not in the midst of a down economy. Hit people now, with a 10% unemployment rate? For buses people don't ride?
For the past three years, Marilyn Bess has operated MS Philly Organic, a small, low-traffic blog that features occasional posts about green living, out of her Manayunk home. Between her blog and infrequent contributions to ehow.com, over the last few years she says she's made about $50. To Bess, her website is a hobby. To the city of Philadelphia, it's a potential moneymaker, and the city wants its cut.
In May, the city sent Bess a letter demanding that she pay $300, the price of a business privilege license.
This blog has never earned a penny. It is a hobby for me. If I were sent a bill, I would probably do one of three things- close the blog, ignore the bill, or build coalition with every other blogger or any stripe to go on the attack against the City on 1st Amendment grounds.
Yeah, the latter. Business licensing is plain wrong, and this case illustrates it as well as any. Who is protected by running out small-time blogs? Yeah, local governments.
(h/t: Josh Gillespie)
Though Republicans have a strong grip on county offices, Kole thinks he can take some votes from Levine on Nov. 2.The budget and number of county employees has always been too high. Now that the county cannot afford to keep a bloated payroll, it should be obvious to anyone that the time to cut deeply is now."I think I'm a little more aggressively fiscally conservative and I can step to the right on economic issues," Kole said.
Kole worries the county spends too much money and believes it could make deeper cuts, especially now that it's struggling to balance its budget.
Ready for use on literature and yard signs!
"Treasury made a series of decisions that may have substantially contributed to the accelerated shuttering of thousands of small businesses ... potentially adding tens of thousands of workers to the already lengthy unemployment rolls," said the report, released by the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), Neil Barofsky.
GM and Chrysler were both required to submit restructuring plans to the Treasury's Auto Team in February of 2009, but the plans were rejected because Treasury deemed that the car makers weren't moving to close dealerships at a rate fast enough to keep their businesses viable.
So the auto manufacturers accelerated the process, with the help of bankruptcy laws that let them cancel dealer contracts. Chrysler terminated 789 dealerships last summer and General Motors announced plans to wind down 1,454 dealerships by October of 2010.
Dealerships weren't axed to save money: The audit also found that dealerships weren't axed for the sake of saving money but for "far more amorphous reasons."
"Key members of [Treasury's] Auto Team stated ... that they did not consider cost savings to be a factor in determining the need for dealership closures," the report said.
