More Tax Protest

A spineless committee of the City-County Council, in the face of mounting public opposition to the increasingly heavy tax burden in Marion County, assumed the sit-on-your-hands position and froze there, not taking a vote on Mayor Peterson's ill-advised tax hike for public safety. From the Indy Star:

"Now you stand up and ask for an income tax increase," said Jack Borgerding, who said the taxes on his Downtown home rose from $2,200 to $15,000. "Enough is enough."

In delaying a vote that would send a recommendation to the full council, Vice President Joanne Sanders said she wanted to see whether any of a half-dozen tax-relief proposals takes hold this week.

"This isn't happening in a vacuum," Sanders said. "There are other options being thrown out daily, and the situation is changing every day."

At stake is a plan to increase the county option income to pay for Mayor Bart Peterson's $90 million plan to improve public safety.

Here's an idea: CUT SPENDING ELSEWHERE! There is plenty of money to be found, simply in scaling back departments that are less important than public safety... which is to say, all of them.

And there are a lot of them. Take a look at all of the departments the City-County government funds, per the City's website:

Mayor
Arts
Diversity
Mayor's Advisory Council on Disabilities
Membership
Committees
Celebration of Diversity Award
Commission on Latino Affairs
En Espanol
Education
Charter Schools
Board
For Parents
For Schools
Accountability Reports
Putting Education First
Mayor's Youth Council
About
Excellence in Education Award
Character Achievement Award
Families
Housing
Jobs
Neighborhoods
Transportation

Council
Councillors
Biographies of Councillors
Meetings
Council
Committees
Minutes
Committees
Proposals

City
Administration
Human Resources
Employment
Benefits
EEO Statement
Equal Opportunity
MBE/WBE Program
Program Information
Certification
Forms & Resources
Vendor List
Administrative Services
Bond Bank
About Us
Board of Directors
Outstanding Debt
SRF Loan
Warrants
Notes
Official Statements
Rating Agencies
Controller
Purchasing
Bids & Quotes
Vendor Information
City Finances
City Budget
Monthly Financial Reports
Licensing/Barrett Law
Barrett Law
Taxi Service
Special Events Permits
Walk-Run Route Information
City Legal
City Prosecutors
Litigation
Counseling
Labor/Employment
Collections/Admin. Services
Paying Parking Tickets
IndyParks
Parks
Sports Complexes
Amenities
Winter Recreation
Programs
Arts
Administration
Public Information
Rangers
Forestry
Planning
Parks Board
Golf
Greenways
Metropolitan Development
Neighborhoods & Housing
Questions & Help
Code Enforcement & Inspections
Community Development Goals & Strategies
Neighborhood-Based Economic Development
Historic Preservation
Grants & Assistance
Resources
Initiatives
Businesses
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New, Relocating & Expanding Businesses
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Initiatives
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Builders & Developers
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Permits
Inspections
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Pre-Development Requirements
Resources
Planning & Zoning
Question & Help
Boards & Commissions
Zoning & Land Use Petitions
Zoning & Petition Processes
Comprehensive (Land Use) Planning
Neighborhood
Transportation
Demographics & Statistics
GIS & Mapping
Documents & Plans
Resources
Resources
Documents
Maps
Applications & Forms
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Online Tools
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Animal Care & Control
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Training
News
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The Road Home
Project Information
Sidewalk Repairs
Snow Removal
Street Closings
Street Repairs
Traffic Signs & Signals
Residential Services
Abandoned Vehicles
Beautification
Dead Animals
Drainage
Illegal Dumping
Recycling
Services for Persons with Disabilities
Sewer Construction
Sewer Services
Trash Pickup
Protecting the Environment
Air Quality
Indianapolis Clean Stream Team
Land Quality
Wastewater Management
Water Quality
Business with DPW
Planned Public Bids
Specifications & Manuals
Waterworks
Governance
Board of Waterworks
Service Advisory Board
Resolutions
Capital Projects
Legal Documents
Management Agreement
Asset Purchase Agreement
Inter Governmental Agreement

County
Assessors
Auditor
Homeowner Services
Online Deduction Forms
Additional Deductions
Tax Rates
County Budget
Financial Reports
Cooperative Extension Service
Clerk
Court Records & Filings
Filings
Juvenile
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Residential Component
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Advisory Board
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IT Governance
Services
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Reducing Juvenile Crime
Child Support
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FCC Filings
Franchise Board
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Franchise Agreements

The best tax relief to the people is the slashing of a budget. Or three. Or 30. Think Marion County has enough government yet?

Anyone who says they can't find anything to cut isn't trying. As you review the list, ask yourself, "Is this a proper function of government?"

There are so many that aren't, but let's go with the truly obvious: golf and cable TV. Lose these immediately. Sell the golf course land today. A pretty penny will be reaped. Get out of the business of micromanaging cable tv. Let any operator do business in the County. The people will have more choices and lower prives through competition, and an entire bureaucracy will be gone.

That's a lot of savings, right off the top. Might even be able to put enough police on the ground to prevent the south side garage fires, or at least enough firefighters to put them out.

The City-County Council needs to find the spine necessary to cut spending. The Mayor needs to find the spine necessary to tax back his request for higher taxes and replace it with a call to eliminate unnecessary government so that the proper government- public safety- can be fully funded.

Another Day, Another Anti-Tax Event

This time, it's not a protest. There is a Meet-up Group for the Fair Tax plan. It convenes monthly to discuss everything from the fine points of the plan, replies for tough questions from skeptics, to public outreach planning. Here are the details and linkage:

What: The Indianapolis Fair Tax July Meetup
When: Tuesday, July 17 at 7:00PM
Where: Borders Book & Music / 8675 River Crossing Blvd / Indianapolis IN 46240 / 317-574-1775

RSVP at: http://fairtax.meetup.com/5/calendar/5910697/t/nr1_nr

You Tube Video - 'Black Sunday'

Friend and Libertarian candidate Tim Maguire was at the 'Black Sunday' rally, and his comments were recorded. Here's the You Tube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm-gYdRu2KM

(As a total aside and refrain, I'll stomp my feet about New Blogger here. I want to EMBED the video, which New Blogger does not let me do. I can go to 'edit html' all I like, but it simply doesn't not embed the way it used to. The way it used to work was the user clicked an icon, and it embedded. Then they went to 'New Blogger' and erased the tool. Real smart. When you are on You Tube, you can embed directly via Stumbleupon, Reddit, Digg, Furl, and del.icio.us, but NOT Blogger.)

Sunday's Property Tax Protest Creates "Petersonvilles"

I was not able to attend the 'Black Sunday' downtown property tax protest, but I was enthused to see the press coverage:

Indy Star: front page article.
Fox-59 TV: Lead story this morning, top of the hour. No direct linkage yet, but many clips about property tax issues currently.
RTV-6: AWESOME photo slideshow.
WISH TV-8: Article focused on affects on rental properties.

Most of these articles have video to accompany. Great imagery! The history buff in me was delighted to see the modern Hooverville, with the cardboard boxes and shopping carts as homes. Let's call them "Petersonvilles", shall we?

Today's event: Hoosiers for Fair Taxation, which held the first rally on the 4th of July at the governor's mansion, will demonstrate at 5:30 p.m. at the City-County Building in Downtown Indianapolis. Topic? No surprise: excessive local taxation and Mayor Peterson's proposed large county income tax increase at the public hearing at City Hall.

Add your shanty to the Petersonville!

The Decline of Marion County, and The Want of a Gun

I was just listening to "Abdul in the Morning" on 1430-am WXNT in Indianapolis, when a female caller and apparently a personal friend of host Abdul, related her tale of being mugged in Indianapolis the other day.

According to the caller, it happened downtown, at 3:30 in the afternoon- broad daylight. A man on a bicycle cornered her and demanded her purse. She was using her cell phone, and she told the man that she was going to call 9-1-1.

The man laughed at her and told her, 'go ahead. Call 9-1-1.'

She related how frustrated and defeated she felt by this reaction. She expected the man to be worried. She said that she figured he knew he would be long gone before any police officer arrived.

Then she said, "it's not like I had a gun or some mace".

This incident as described by the caller illustrates that police protection is a great thing when you have several minutes to spare. When you don't, self-reliance is your only option, and a gun or a can of mace is a very handy tool.

Indeed, your threat of using a gun by simply showing it is more powerful than following through on a call to 9-1-1.

Upcoming Anti-Tax Events

Here we are at post #1,000 at Kole Hard Facts, and it's a lazy thing on my part, but important info to pass along. It's a link to a post on Hoosiers For Fair Taxation's blog, outlining several events happening in the very near future, all designed to get the attention of our sleeping elected officials, and to jolt them into action.

Here's the link.

Ron Paul Has More Money Than John McCain?

I read a Washington Times article that says just that. Well! There is some justice in this world! Check out some of this passages about Ron Paul's campaign, from the Times article:

The campaign has outgrown its second headquarters, a 348-square-foot office.

Mr. Paul has more campaign cash available than former Republican front-runner Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Federal Election Commission records show, and the antiwar conservative has become an Internet sensation.

Paul is the one Republican I could happily vote for. McCain is the one Republican I would eagerly vote against. Reading this was just very uplifting, and these days, I find so few political articles that are anything but infuriating. Paul was the 1988 Libertarian Party candidate for President.

Here's a link to Ron Paul's campaign website.

New Linkage

I have added linkage at the right to the Hoosiers For Fair Taxation blog, in the "My Fellow Hoosier Libertarians" column. They may not think of themselves as partisan Libertarians, but they certainly are working to advance liberty, which is what really matters to me.

Their efforts are extremely timely in light of the current property tax fiasco. They have activities happening within a few days. Check it out!

Fishers-Geist Annexation News

Apparently, there is going to be a special Fishers Town Council meeting, tomorrow, Thursday July 12, at 8:00pm, on the issue of Fishers' attempt to forcibly annex Geist neighborhoods in Fall Creek Township. First thoughts:

Typical short notice on the special meeting. It seems Indiana municipalities are very fond of short and limited notice for special meetings. Is it that the Councils don't want attendance?

I am a Fishers resident who has been against the annexation from the beginning. Mainly, I don't care to have my Town's government growing. It will, as more area to manage means more employees and bureaucrats to govern. Also, I don't want the Town floating bonds against the increased assessed value that the annexations would create. Lastly, I thing it is wrong morally to forcibly annex non-municipal residents who chose non-municipal living into municipalities. If they voluntarily choose it- fine. Otherwise, leave 'em alone.

Here's text of an email I received from a Geist resident who is an opponent of the annexations:

I wanted to let all of you know that Fishers will be holding a special town council meeting Thursday, July 12 at 8:00 p.m.at the Fishers Town Hall. They will be voting on whether to pull the 4 ordinances regarding the annexations in Geist. If Fishers pulls the 4 ordinances, they will then proceed to meet with individual neighborhoods to try to get them to agree to be annexed "voluntarily".

My belief is that Fishers Town Council members will try to tell people that due to the Carmel case, their goal to annex Geist is all but a done deal. To be clear, Southwest Clay lost to Carmel because of the deal that NOAX (the anti-annexation group) cut with Carmel. The State Supreme Court held that the agreement was binding because enough residents signed it that the remonstration effort could not reach its 65% threshold; therefore, Southwest Clay could not fight the forced annexation any longer. We should not make the same mistake. Fishers is trying a "divide and conquer" strategy. They are hoping to get enough people to get on board with them that The Geist residents can no longer reach the 65% threshold it needs to remonstrate. The FTC thought that we wouldn't be able to meet that 65% mark because of some sewer waivers that were in place. These waivers prohibit people from remonstrating. Even with the sewer waivers (assuming they hold up in court- which is very questionable), more than enough Geist residents are opposed to annexation that the 65% remonstration number can be met. Fishers was not counting on such strong opposition to annexation.

Fishers is hoping that if they offer enough tax abatements to Geist residents that people will give up and sign on with them. Keep in mind that there is a limit to how much tax abatements they can offer, and when that time is up, Geist will begin paying the Fishers municipal tax rate. With the recent increase in property taxes, another taxing entity is not something most of us need or want.

This is not a Fishers vs. Geist battle. It never has been. It is about not wanting a 22%+ increase in taxes to receive services we are already getting -and paying for. While it may appear to be great news that Fishers is pulling these 4 ordinances- it is only a temporary measure. They are waiting to see if they can get enough Geist residents to come over to their side. If they cannot, they will try forced annexation
again.

Please consider doing the following 3 things:
1. Attend the Fishers meeting Thursday night and make your opinions known to the media that will be there.
2. Be very aware that Fishers is pulling a divide and conquer strategy. Please don't let them succeed!!!
3. Pass this message on to other neighbors in the affected Geist area

I am hopeful that I can attend and speak on the record on this issue.The new wrinkle to me is the idea that Fishers would grant tax abatements to the newly annexed Geist areas.

I am very much opposed to any tax abatements if an annexation occurs. That would mean that the existing Fishers residents would be subsidizing services to the Geist residents for the duration of the abatements, which is wrong.

This is the most senseless twist yet. The Town Council has long made the spurious argument that the Geist residents aren't paying their fair share, thus the impetus to annex. Well, if that's the case, stick to your guns! If they get tax abatements, they won't be paying their fair share!!!

This twist really reinforces to me the idea that the annexation is really about adding assessed value so that more bonds can be floated. That means more taxes over 30 years.

It's all bad government.

Property Tax Ruckus

When I'm in Indiana these days, I am frequently conducting title searches for AT&T. My starting point can sometimes be the Township Assessor's offices, when I need detailed property information to start before I go pulling deeds and plats at the County Recorder's Office.

So, what a hoot to research at the following Marion County township offices: Washington, Lawrence, and Warren.

The lines were longest and angriest in Washington Township. Understand that there is rarely any kind of wait for me to get to a public computer for research. At the Washington Assessor's this morning, there were two lines with four property owners each. Every waiting room chair was filled. Every cubicle had a deputy reviewing a property with the owner present. All- and I do mean all- were seeking to file a form disputing the new assessed value.

I overheard one man, at wits end, explaining the absurdity of his re-assessment. He bought his property in 2005 at $180,000. It was re-assessed at $240,000. For 2005. He was beside himself, explaining that his purchase represents market price. He was the market for that house in 2005! Shouldn't his purchase price carry the day? Made sense to me. I had great sympathy for him. I thought he was going to burst a vein in his temple.

This scenario was similar at Lawrence and Warren Townships, just not quite as angry.

It pains me that it requires this kind of pain for taxpayers to finally stir. It bothers me more that the nature of the complaints is merely the new assessments. The assessments aren't the root problem. The spending by municipal and county governments is out of control.

The Governor is now in on the grandstanding, hinting at a possible special session to address the problem of property taxes. Yes, there is some good the Statehouse could do- like eliminate property taxes altogether. They won't do that, though. They'll come up with some new shell game that allows the local governments to spend to their hearts' content while providing the facade of tax relief. From the Indy Star report:

"As governor, I will take every step I have authority to take to help Hoosier homeowners," Daniels said in a statement issued by his office Monday night.

Nice rhetoric. Empty rhetoric.

The calls to the Statehouse and the Governor are misplaced. Call the City-County Council in Marion County. Call Mayor Peterson's office. These are the people in charge of the budgets.

Bottom line: if Indianapolis and other local governments weren't spending so much, there wouldn't have been a push to update the assessments. Re-assessing was seen as a way to gain tax revenues without being perceived as raising taxes. It certainly is raising taxes. Really, especially in the case of those on fixed incomes, it isn't merely taxing, it's confiscatory.

Anyhow, I'm sort of glad the people are somewhat awakened to the absurdity of our tax burden. I'm dismayed that what the awakening suggests is that it's okay to tax us at an incredibly high level, but we draw the line when we stand to lose the house. Yikes.

Tax Freedom Day is a concept I have promoted on this blog and on my radio shows in the past. What is Tax Freedom Day? It is the day that we are through working to pay for government. After that day, you are earning for yourself and your family.

This year, in Indiana, you stopped working for the government on April 23. After that you were earning for yourself. State map.

That's nuts. And yet, we accept it. We only draw the line when threatened with losing our homes. Here's a telling quote from the Tax Foundation:

"Americans will work longer to pay for government (120 days) than they will for food, clothing and housing combined (105 days)," said Hodge. "Since 1986 taxes have cost more than these basic necessities. In fact, Americans will work longer to afford federal taxes alone (79 days) than they will to afford housing (62 days)."

My understanding is that the Boston Tea Party was staged over a 1% tax. Oh, to have that kind of vigilance today!

Go to the various tax protests happening Sunday and Monday. From the Star:

• Sunday: "Black Sunday" asks supporters to wear black to show unity and bring signs to Monument Circle from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Several groups seeking tax reform are organizing the event.
• Monday: Hoosiers for Fair Taxation, which gathered at the governor's residence July 4, will rally at 5:30 p.m. at the City-County Building Downtown.

Light Rail Blahs

This light rail irritant just won't go away. It seems that despite any analysis of real-life non-usage of passenger rail in the vast majority of American locales, the evidence of the conditions required to make commuters choose to ride the rails, the costs associated therein in tax dollars, the injustice of having non-riders subsidize the riders- this boondoggle plods blindly forward here in Indiana. Irritating Indy Star story.

Pressed for time, I'll address just one issue so frequently evoked by supporters when challenged on the taxes or the justice. The comeback is, "well, the interstate highways are subsidized".

Fair enough, but must that mean that we should also subsidize light rail? Saying yes is like saying that if you have an affliction that blinds your right eye, the solution is to blind the left, just to keep them on par.

Rather, let's end the subsidies to the highways. If you ride them, you should pay for them. Nothing more just than a user fee. Those who do not use the interstate need not pay for it. Likewise, those who won't ride the rails, which is to say some 95% or more of us, shouldn't have to flip a dime out of pocket into the suck hole.

The toll highways are the answer. I'm not talking about the Mitch Daniels lease idiocy. I'm talking about keeping the highways in the hands they are in, but assigning a cost to pass. It's easy enough if you get an I-Pass transponder- No need to stop at a toll booth, just drive on through and your account is charged.

Kind of like the water bill. You use so many cubic yards, you pay so much. Better than that, though, there is no base charge. Pass the booth, pass the toll. I hear no complaints about the water bill. Why should transportation be a shell game of hidden taxes and hush-hush subsidies?

To see some other current dialogue on light rail, where my name was evoked, check out Masson's Blog. I've chimed in a couple of times to make a point, all worth reading, if I don't say so myself.

Hoosier, or Illini?

It's hard to tell what state I live in these days, as I've been spending more time in Illinois lately than at home in Indiana. The absence is evident in the posts... or lack thereof. I've been on contracts in Danville, Decatur, Dundee- really, any place in Illinois that begins with a 'D'. It's good work, all for AT&T. I've worked 121 sites in the past 60 days or so.

Anyhow, I sadly missed out on Andy Horning's latest political activity, as I even spent the 4th of July working on the road. I am greatly encouraged that at long last Hoosiers are starting to feel a real anger about the state of taxation here. It's a shame it takes real agony to spur real action. But, if the public is at long last awakening, I take stock in it.

It's funny, when I moved from Ohio just 5 years ago, I was thrilled with Indiana, because compared to Ohio, this is a tax haven. Problem is, it's less and less true all the time. It's amazing to me how the situation has deteriorated in these five years, especially in the area of property taxes. Marion County has been astonishingly irresponsible in its' tax policies. It's as though Bart Peterson has a burning desire to drive all people of means out of Marion County.

Anyhow, here is some linkage to Hoosiers for Fair Taxation: Blog. It just launched recently, and has some interesting posts alrady, including one about a hardware store offering a new kind of 'for sale by owner' sign.

Indianapolis Fair Tax Meetup: Link.

Excellent YouTube video clips:

Part 1 of 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv7BTWHolRc
Part 2 of 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N_neK0XTuU
Part 3 of 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81vDJjNXTl8

(I'd like to say at this point that New Blogger sucks. One used to be able to post up videos hosted on YouTube directly, so that the reader could simply click. I guess it's because Blogger is affiliated with Google, and Google competes with YouTube, that this function is no longer available. Yep- New Blogger sucks.)

Illinois Workfest

The posts have been few of late, mainly because I have been working 2-3 days/week in Illinois, in Danville and Decatur, on contract for AT&T. You know those service cabinets? I make scale drawings of the area so the engineers can figure out where to put another one.

Tough site. Extra room? This is a cross-connect box. A new VRAD cabinet is to be placed near the cross-box. They work together and allow for broadband and video services to be offered. I locate these in their surrounds and make 1" = 20' scale drawings. Curse me, as you will now see these cabinets all over your neighborhood where they were invisible to you before.

These have been interesting places for me to work, as there is much industrial landscape, and much of it still functioning. Translation: Plenty of trains to watch while I eat my lunch in the car.

Decatur, IL. Norfolk Southern and CSX trains work this area. Great industrial view, including the obsolete coal tower! A fellow train geek stands by the diamond with film rolling. I used the flash so that I could get a reflection off the signal tower marker. Is that some geek action, or what?

This work will be ongoing for the next 4-6 weeks, so if the quantity is light, I'll do my best to provide quality.

I enjoyed the recent linkage in "Just For The Record" for my last post. Thanks, Andrew! There's even a search label for my name. I'm flattered!

Indiana Gas Tax Suspension?

No. Absoultely not. Sound funny coming from a Libertarian? Read on.

Gas taxes are a user fee. If you are using gasoline, you are most likely using the roads. Sure, some of this gasoline is used for lawn mowers and other non-road uses, but that just goes to show you how one-size-fits-all solutions invariably are imperfect.

Here's the main thing about gasoline: The commodity belongs to the people who produce it, until it is sold to the people who agree to buy it at a particular price. Frankly, I don’t believe the producers of gasoline have nearly as much to explain for the variable nature of day-to-day prices as consumers do for their ability to wail and moan without doing a single thing to alter their consumption.

In economics, the phenomenon is called “price elasticity”. In the case of gasoline, the price is highly elastic: it is being shown that consumers are willing to buy the product without regard to price.

It was eye-opening for me to sit in an economics class seven years ago and watch the professor give an impromptu demonstration of price elasticity. The class was mainly comprised of working professionals pursuing an MBA. At the time, gas was about $1.40/gal. He had everyone stand up. He said, “gasoline is now $2/gallon. Sit down if you stop buying”. Nobody sat down. “$3/gallon”. A small handful of people sat down. He increased at $1 increments, and at $6/gallon, almost half the room was still standing. I was also still standing.

In that light, it is entirely possible that gasoline is actually underpriced, and has been for years. The market is bearing these prices, all while being decried as ‘outrageous’. Actions speak louder than words. Truth be told, if gas goes to $8/gallon, I'll still be buying and driving

Also interestingly in this class, there was a group that did their price elasticity project on bus riders. The fare was $1/ride with transfer. They found by surveying actual riders that their average rider surveyed would continue to ride the bus up to about $4/ride.

The conclusions we reached were that people made choices that caused them to be dependent upon transportation. Mainly, they choose to live far from their workplaces.

I have no sympathy for the person who choose to buy an SUV when gas was at $1.80/gal on the assumption the price would never rise, or who argues that because they made that choice, the oil producer and retailer owe them an ever-flat price. Likewise for the person who works downtown and lives in the city. You helped create sprawl? Suffer your commute and its costs!

We are such a society that wants to have its cake and eat it too.

So, to the point- no, the governor shouldn’t suspend the gas tax. The taxes pay for the roads. Saying one is in favor of suspending the gas tax is saying they favor the roads crumbling while promoting their use of them. Short-sighted foolishness.

Doug Masson explains his opposition to suspending the gas tax saying, "that would amount to the State subsidizing oil company profits". I disagree. Suspending the tax would subsidize the choices that make higher prices uncomfortable, such as driving an SUV if you can only marginally afford to do so; or, such as living 40 miles from work.

Price has a function. Higher prices will make people more interested in alternative fuels, smaller vehicles, living closer to work, and walking more.

Don't bemoan the oil companies for selling to willing buyers at any profit margin. Would you bemoan your customers choosing to do business with you at your price? Or, your employer to hire you at your wage?

Get a grip, folks.

The Government-Business Partnership, Illustrated

Thanks to Andy Conover for this "joke". I've taken the liberty of altering it to make it more germaine to Indiana.

Three contractors are bidding to fix a broken fence at an INDOT site. One is from Terre Haute, another from Rushville, and the third from Carmel.

They go with a government official to examine the fence.

The contractor from Terre Haute takes out a tape measure and does some measuring, then works some figures with a pencil. 'Well,' he says, 'I figure the job will run about $900: $400 for materials, $400 for my crew, and $100 Profit for me.'

The Rushville contractor also does some measuring and figuring, then says, 'I can do this job for $700: $300 for materials, $300 for my crew, and $100 profit for me.'

The Carmel contractor doesn't measure or figure, but leans over to the official and whispers, '$2,700.' The government official, incredulous, says, 'You didn't even measure like the other guys! How did you come up with such a high figure?'

The Carmel contractor whispers back, '$1,000 for me, $1,000 for you, and we hire the guy from Rushville to fix the fence.''

Done!' replies the government official.

I "Voted". So What?

I walked in to Fishers Town Hall, went to the table for Delaware Precinct 3, observed the poll workers playing, and showed my ID. I signed the book and walked out.

Voting, in 30 seconds or less.

I guess I'm just stubborn. Most others seem to get the futility of this kind of "voting", but that whole notion of civic duty just nags at me. I mean, can you really run for Secretary of State, the chief elections official in Indiana, one year and then not vote in the very next election? I thought not.

But the vast majority of those who get the pointlessness of yesterday's exercise ruled the day. Turnout seems to have averaged around 10%.

In Hamilton County, there should not be a primary election at all. The three parties should stage their own county conventions at their expense. In most counties, the Ds & Rs already stage slating conventions. Why then the farce of a primary? To throw crumbs to the voters to make them think they've done something that sets them apart from the Iraqis or the Cubans?

Farce. Sham. Waste. Dollars, get into the shredder!

The candidate backed by the Republican Party in the one contested primary won handily. That business should be handled away from taxpayer dollars. Republicans should insist on that, if they in fact believe in cutting out the waste of taxpayer dollars.

I Don't Care About Today's Primary

Why should I? Only one of the seven Fishers Town Council seats is challenged... but I would have to take a Republican primary ballot in order to cast a vote. There is only one Democrat running for any of the seven seats, so provided he casts a vote, he wins his primary.

I don't care to take either a Republican or Democratic primary ballot. Why? Besides disagreeing with the kind of policy both of these parties write into law, I have also read and understood Indiana's election laws, which state in IC 3-10-1-2:

Political parties required to hold primary election
Sec. 2. Each political party whose nominee received at least ten percent (10%) of the votes cast in the state for secretary of state at the last election shall hold a primary election under this chapter to select nominees to be voted for at the general election.

I am not interested in voting for the candidates of either of the two parties that qualify. None other will appear on any ballot. So, by law, I am disenfranchised. Beyond that, I believe that if the elections law interprets so plainly the primary election to be political party business, then it should be paid for by the political parties, not the taxpayers. Even had I won 10.01% in my run for Secretary of State, and had thereby obligated my party to participate in the primary election, I would have objected to the requirement on the same grounds.

Also consider IC 3-5-1-2:

(3) Primary election, which is conducted for the purpose of choosing by ballot the
following:
(A) The candidates who will be the nominees of a political party for elected offices in a general or municipal election.
(B) The precinct committeemen of a political party.
(C) The delegates to a political party's state convention.
(4) School district election, in which the electorate of a school district chooses by ballot members of the school board.
(5) Special election, which is conducted for a special purpose as provided by law.

Except that there aren't any school board seats up for grabs here, there isn't a special election of any kind, and my party has been excluded, by IC 3-6-2-1:

Political parties entitled to precinct committee members
Sec. 1. Each political party whose nominee received at least ten percent (10%) of the votes cast in the state for secretary of state at the last election may have precinct committeemen elected at the same time as a primary election in accordance with IC 3-10-1-4.5 if provided by the rules of the political party.

So, what's the point? Fortunately, turnout for this non-event will be so sparse that I won't have to wait in any sort of line. Turnout in Hamilton County in 2003 (the same cycle) was 20%.

I'll go, ask for an independent ballot, which will confuse everyone in the building. Then, after they don't know what to do because there would be nothing to hand to me, I'll have them enter me as voted without having cast a ballot of any kind.

Tell me how this differs from, say, Cuba, in the pointlessness of the 'event'.

Indiana- Home Of Crony Capitalism

I absolutely hate it when a critic makes the mistake of seeing a government created monopoly business situation that creates problems, and assailing it broadly as a failure of capitalism.

I expect such criticism to begin to mount in the wake of the Indiana prison riot in New Castle. From the Indy Star report:

State officials will temporarily halt the transfer of Arizona prisoners to the New Castle Correctional Facility after a riot Tuesday that prompted calls for an end to housing another state's inmates in Indiana.

Department of Correction officials said nine people -- two prison employees and seven inmates -- suffered minor injuries in separate disturbances involving Arizona and Indiana prisoners during a two-hour period Tuesday afternoon at the facility 50 miles east of Indianapolis.

The other day, it was the "In God We Trust" license plates. Today it's this 'imported inmates' deal. What do both have in common? True conservatives should be opposed to both.

True conservatives should be opposed to special interest group-driven license plates on the basis that government has no business being a clearing house for private organizations, or for promoting mottos or images. Instead, Republicans seek balance- some plates they can call their own.

True conservatives should be opposed to selling off excess prison capacity on the basis that government should only have marginal excess prison capacity to begin with, and that state government has a limited proper role in protecting its' citizens from dangerous criminals. Instead, Republicans seek to turn the state into a business, making a profit on the excess prison capacity that should not be, taking in prisoners that are not the proper responsibility of the state of Indiana.

Indeed, Indiana government turned its responsibility on its' head. While by housing Indiana prisoners it is supposed to be protecting the law-abiding citizenry, it imported Arizona prisoners and thereby threatened the safety of the law-abiding Indiana citizenry.

This is without even considering the social implications of bringing two distinct prison populations together. Also from the Star:

"The idea of bringing in people from another state who bring along their gangs, allegiances and different alliances immediately was a mixture that was bound to bring trouble," said House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend.

This is something that should have been anticipated by the State. It's obvious. Was it even considered? It isn't just culture clashes between populations that should have been considered, but also between procedures. Another quote:

Commissioner J. David Donahue said the Arizona prisoners may have been upset
because Indiana prisons have different rules, including a ban on smoking and
limits on personal items inmates can have in their cells.

What causes riots? When a prisoner has so little, they hang on to the few things they have. If they had cigarettes in Arizona and lost them in coming to Indiana, anyone with a shred of common sense had to know the inmates would be unhappy. All these differences should have been scouted in advance. It appears they were not.

So, capitalism is likely to take the hits, when it doesn't deserve it. Let's be clear on terms:

Capitalism is business that exists in the private sector, and outside of monopoly settings. This privatization deal is not capitalism. There is no competition in Indiana for private operation of prisons. This prison is the only one that is privately managed. That's crony capitalism. I detest crony capitalism.

Privatization is allowing a private operator to manage a function previously managed by government. This prison is no longer managed by government, being managed by a private corporation, GEO Group.

The importation of prisoners into this prison was not the brainchild of GEO Group, however. This was a Daniels Administration initiative. GEO had to deal with the situation.

Both Daniels and GEO have failed here, but I hold Daniels as most accountable. The importation never should have happened, as outlined above. If it hadn't, the riots most likely wouldn't have happened.

Today's Republicans will accept anything the people wearing the Elephant Brand promote. Expanding the state government's role in prison management? What principled conservative could possibly be in favor? Ah. There's just an absense of principled Republicans.

So, Republicans. Don't wince to sternly when capitalism gets beaten up because of this. You helped make it so.

License Plate Suit Being Pressed

No surprise here, but in conjunction with the ICLU, an Indiana man has filed suit regarding the state's "In God We Trust" plates. From an Indy Star report:

The lawsuit filed in Marion Superior Court in Indianapolis claims motorists who request the "In God We Trust" plates receive preferential treatment because they do not have to pay a $15 administrative fee that the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles collects. The administrative fees are added to other fees whose proceeds promote the causes of the other specialty plates.

The plaintiff bringing the case, Mark Studler, said he pays an additional $40 for one of the popular environmental plates depicting an eagle above the word "Environment." Of the total fee, $25 goes to a state trust to purchase land set aside for conservation or recreational purposes and the remaining $15 is for the administration fee.

The 2006 law establishing the "In God We Trust" plate waives the
administrative fee.

I don't like the premise of license plates to begin with, let alone vanity plates. But I stringently object to the state, via the BMV, collecting money for any extraneous purpose. It doesn't matter to me whether the cause is the environment, one of the state universities, or Riley; or if the plate is just a motto or the image of a team like the Pacers or the Colts. The state shouldn't be a clearing house for a cause. It's bad enough that we have license plates at all. Must the state make a cottage industry of it?

It will be amusing listening to the so-called conservatives wailing about this suit as frivolous, mainly because it bothers them in the perception as an assault on God. Real conservatives would have opposed using the state as a tool for creating special interest imagery and the whole premise of special interest vanity plates. No, today's conservatism merely calls for "balance". The environmentalists have a license plate? Well, then we should have one with the word 'God' on it, too!

This is just as where conservatives used to oppose all welfare, they are now unified in providing balance, in the form of corporate welfare. &c.

Fishers - Rankings and Elections

Money Magazine issues an annual ranking of its top 100 places to live in America. My hometown of Fishers is ranked again, but slipped from its 2005 ranking of #24 to its 2006 ranking of #33. Link to rankings.

I'd love to see why the fall-back. Things don't look any worse for the wear here. Did we float enough bonds to make it so? Did the growing property tax bite cause the slide? I started looking for a more recent ranking and figured we must have fallen a touch since the Town Council isn't bragging it up anymore on the Town's website. Which all leads me to...

Many Fishers neighbors, and a few Geist residents, asked me to run for Town Council this year, on the heels of my recent campaign. I will not run. If nominated, I will not accept...

Why? It's just impossible for a challenger to win. Get a load of this, from the Town's website:

All councilors are considered "at large" which means all Fishers residents vote on all councilors, not just the councilor representing their particular district. The town council elects a council president and vice-president each year.

In other words, a challenger can win 100% of the votes in the district they would represent, but still lose in a landslide. Instead of having to campaign to 1/7th of the 60,000+ residents (there are seven districts), the challenger must campaign to all 60,000+. There just isn't enough time to go door-to-door in the whole Town. The kind of money needed to effectively reach everyone is about a quarter-million, in my estimation. The Councilors know this. There is no incentive for them to change it.

The at-large election of councilors is legal, by the way. Indiana Code even permits its towns to vote to make it so. (IC 36-5-2-5.b.2) Very thoughtful of state legislators to encourage unaccountable councils who can work to ensure their perpetual office. Very lousy for representative government. After all, why should a councilor listen to someone in his district when it really is the people outside the district electing him?

This set-up especially favors the dominant political party. Chances are, the average voter does not know any of the seven councilors. But if they do, they probably only know theirs. And yet, they will vote on all seven, and in all likelihood, will vote Republican, because the Republican Party is dominant in Fishers.

So, I won't run. It's too much to overcome. Plus, I have this crazy desire to remain married!

Barack Obama Lost Me, Big Time

I just received a direct mail piece from the Obama '08 campaign. That's a pretty remarkable thing for me to consider, since I was just the Libertarian candidate for ballot access in November. That's as partisan a race as one could hope to find. Anyone who had thought about sending a solitication letter to me should have had Brain One sufficient to figure that out. What does receiving this mailing say to me?

The Obama campaign is mismanaged. They don't know who they send solicitation letters to.

-or-

The Obama campaign is so over-funded that they don't care what you believe in- you're getting a solicitation letter.

Neither one is too flattering. Don't we have that kind of POTUS already?

Being a partisan Libertarian, there was very little chance I would support Obama anyhow... unless he comes out of his primary the winner, and against McCain. Then I would have the think long and hard about where my vote goes. But his campaign put the nails in the coffin for me with this letter. The solicitation letter and even the literature seemed like it was designed to make me feel insignificant. It's just impossible for me to respect a candidate can allow this kind of thing to leave the Post Office.

Cost of Mass Transit, Real Life Example

But, Mike- Mass Transit isn't supposed to make a profit. Egad. Is it supposed to be a money pit, then? Check this out, from a Richmond Pal-Item article:

"The trolley is a luxury," said Shailla Gupta. "People who use Job Connection have no alternative."

Bus Manager Larry King said the service, which is funded by tax money, cost about $30 to $40 a ride to operate with only about 10,000 riders a year.

"It is very inefficient to operate," King said. He said the bus system could save about $185,000 yearly by eliminating Job Connection.

$30-$40 a ride? A cab fare would be far less. Here comes some interesting math:

Using the numbers provided, $185,000 / $30 = 6,167 rides (rounded up, and giving benefit of the doubt to the lowest cost figure provided).

If a person works 5 days/week, and works 50 weeks/year, going to and from work, that means 5 x 50 x 2 = 500 rides/person per year.

6,167 rides / 500 rides per person = 13 people riding (rounded up).

$185,000 / 13 riders = $14,230.77 per rider

Are you kidding me? This is very clearly a transfer of wealth from the region to a very, very few, and an obscenity. Real life examples like this are why I deeply oppose mass transit. It's an oxymoron in this case. There is nothing "mass" about it.

Now, I've obviously only used the numbers provided. I'd love to see a fuller report on the numbers for this line. What's telling to me is that the bus manager is calling this service "inefficient". That tells you it is over-the-top inefficient. I had IndyGo president Gil Holmes by my side in a recent interview and he didn't flinch when I read his balance sheet numbers with 80% + of operating revenue coming from taxes. In this case, I'm guessing it's about 95%.

"Thanks" to Rex Bell for forwarding this article to me. I think he wants my blood pressure through the roof.

SJR-7 is DEAD!

Well, if this isn't like a refreshing drink of cool water on a humid August afternoon, I don't know what is. From WTHR's initial report:

A key House committee has failed to advance a proposed constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage Tuesday - a move some lawmakers said would kill the proposal for this year.

The House Rules Committee voted 5-5 on a resolution supporting the amendment. Since there was no majority, the measure failed to pass.

I thought for sure this would pass the Committee and then test the resolve of the House Democrats as a whole. It's nice to be wrong!

I'm delighted with the result. It tears me up to think of a class of people being told that they are unwelcome in our state. That's what SJR-7 would have done. One's sexual orientation hurts nobody. It doesn't pick your pocket. It doesn't wound your body. It doesn't change what you hold dear. Good riddance, SJR-7!

Government has no business regulating marriage. It would have been even nicer to hear any elected official say so, especially from a so-called "limited government conservative Republican". This whole exercise proves that there aren't any smaller government Republicans in Indiana.

I hope this leads to more Democrats becoming emboldened enough to stand up for people living life their way in more areas of life. They might just find their soul along the way.

Radley Balko on Campaign Finance Reform

Balko says: understandable motives, wrong solution. He's got it right. I learned firsthand that I could out-work my competitors by a mile and still not make a dent in the numbers without about a half million to spend.

Good quotes:

I tend to agree with many of the editorial boards and campaign reformers troubled by the escalation in the money we spend on federal elections. Unfortunately, campaign finance reformers (and lobbying reformers) seem to be troubled for all the wrong reasons.

The problem with increasing amounts of money spent on lobbying and politics isn't that Americans are spending more and more money to buy some influence in Washington; the problem is that we're giving Washington more and more influence to sell.

Nice as it may be to think otherwise, individuals, advocacy groups and corporations that give to political campaigns don't do so out of patriotism or civic pride. They donate because they hope to get something in return. It's not a gift, it's an investment.

Amen! Let's give Washington (and Indianapolis, etc.) less to sell. Also,

Here's a failsafe prediction for Election 2008: The people who complain the loudest about corruption among the politically powerful will be the same people who want to give more power to politicians.

Link to full article.

Interesting Quote

In these times, it can be bewildering to be a libertarian who believes that our government's foreign policy regardless of the party of the administration, too often takes us on hapless military interventions. Some Republicans are still clinging to Iraq. Some Democrats are pointing us to Darfur. So, the words of Joseph Sobran are of interest to me:

If you want government to intervene domestically, you're a liberal. If you want government to intervene overseas, you're a conservative. If you want government to intervene everywhere, you're a moderate. If you don't want government to intervene anywhere, you're an extremist. – Joseph Sobran (1995)

It's not quite on the mark. Democrats have been very happy to see US interventions overseas. Darfur is the latest place they would like to see us go (and how is that different from Iraq?), but Bosnia was under the Clinton Administration, as was Mogadishu. Meanwhile, Republicans created the largest entitlement program ever with the Medicare prescription drug package.

I think most Americans have become 'Sobran Moderates'. Unfortunately.

Here's a link to a treasure trove of libertarian quotes.

Mindless March Into a Pit

The Indy Star had another maddening article on mass transit, and how the region is inching ever closer to taking this outrageously miserable plan and putting it into effect.

Here are a few points to ponder, especially if you are a proponent of light rail.

* Is it just to take money from those who do not ride and give it to those who do?
* Is it just for the people of Mars Hill, Plainfield, Shelbyville, and Zionsville to pay for trains for a small number of people in Fishers?
* Is it just for the people of Fishers to pay for mass transit in San Francisco, Seattle, or Dallas?
* Would you like to see the sales tax go up? Or, the state income tax? Gasoline tax?

I ask these questions, because taxes are how mass transit systems are funded, from construction to operations. None pay for themselves. None.

So, it was interesting to read some of the quotes in the Star article:

Christine Altman, president of the Regional Transportation Authority and a Hamilton County commissioner, said the goal should be to develop a system that pays for itself.

"Money is still the number one problem," Altman said. "We're at a standstill. We can plan the best system, but if we can't implement it, we're not going anywhere."

The plan can be implemented, but only with a whole lot of tax dollars. If Altman doesn't know that mass transit doesn't pay for itself, she hasn't read any balance sheets of any system. IndyGo's balance sheets make plain that around 80% of the operating money comes from myriad tax sources. Observe this image from IndyGo's 2002 Annual Report:


Passenger fares, 16%. Federal 'Assistance' means taxes. 'Municipalities' means taxes. 82% of this pie is tax dollars. The pie charts look like this every year, in every report. Why should a light rail system perform any differently than the bus system? In order for the bus to break even, fares would have to go to about $7-8/ride.

The MPO's Financial Analysis lists a variety of tax sources it will depend on for a light rail system. MPO studies page link. IndyGo 2002 report. 2003. 2004. 2005.

(Indy Mayor Bart) Peterson, a Democrat, said he supports light rail. It's a system in which more stops could be built for less, and it would require less up-front cash, which the city lacks. The regional authority he wants to control the project would consist of a bipartisan group of local leaders.

"I want to see us move forward with a rail-based rapid transit system, but I'm not sure yet if it's feasible," Peterson said. "We now have a structure in place to make it happen: the Regional Transportation Authority."

Again, it depends on what 'feasible' means to the Mayor. If 'feasible' means sucking $1 billion in tax dollars out of the people, then the thing is feasible. If you want to not chase out even more people of means from this region, then the project is not feasible. Perhaps, if the Mayor is getting his dictionary out, he should look up 'boondoggle'.

Undaunted by common sense or an ability to read a balance sheet, this nightmare appears poised to move forward.

A council of regional officials expects to decide on a specific route -- and transit system -- after 30 days of public hearings that could begin in October, said Amy Inman, project manager for a study of local rapid transit that is due in late summer.

I guess I'll have to start preparing my statements now. *sigh*

Yes, I Rode Mass Transit

New York City is one place where mass transit can work for the average person as a rider. Two main reasons: It’s a complete liability to have a car; you can walk to your destination after you get off the bus or train.

I bought a 7-day unlimited pass for $24. I could ride any train or bus, any time.

Why is it a liability to have a car? Many reasons. It’s very difficult to find parking, and once you do, it’s expensive. There are lots in Manhattan that charge $100/24 hours to park. Even out in Queens, Steve rents out two parking spaces at $150/month. The insurance is outrageous. Your car is going to get beat up.

I rode the Q33 bus from LaGuardia Airport to Roosevelt Station in Jackson Heights, where Steve lives. We weren’t even off the airport grounds when the bus slammed into an airport employee shuttle! The bus lost its mirror. It was great theatre. The bus and shuttle pulled up alongside one another at the next light. Both drivers opened their windows and doors and began shouting and swearing at each other.

Riding the trains never loses its novelty for me. I’m a train nut, so it fascinates me to stand in the station, to crowd on to a train, to look at the ads, and to look out the window at the scenery. Not much to see in the tunnels.

New Yorkers are numb to the experience. When a New Yorker wants to get somewhere quickly and he has a few bucks, he doesn’t take the train. He hails a cab.

Steve in the cab after the Guggenheim. We weren’t in a big hurry, really. We just had a better option, and took it.

Cabs are expensive, fast, and exclusive. They go from A to B without any walking. Trains are cheap, slow, crowded, and generally leave you having to walk to your destination. Despite their expense, there are more cabs operating in NYC than in any other American city.

Some people in Central Indiana are clamoring for the trains. I’m not one of them. At a billion dollars for a single line from Fishers to Indy, we’re still about $10 billion from a system.

New York has 10 million people.
Indy has about 1 million.

New York is densely packed.
Indy is sprawled.

New York is a walking city.
Indy is nothing of the kind. The suburbs are sprawled even more.

You can’t park in NYC unless willing to pay a lot and to risk damage to your car.
You can park at a meter in downtown Indy at almost any time. I do it at least once a week. I use nickels and dimes.

It’s a shame that the NYC system isn’t private. I bet it could be profitable there, if it weren't a government operation. But there is absolutely no way mass transit will be profitable in Central Indiana. It will only be a tax dollar suckhole here. Breaking even would be a fond, wistful dream. IndyGo president Gil Holmes agreed with my reading of the balance sheet and my statement that it is a tremendous financial loser. This is why I asserted to him that mass transit is merely a transfer of wealth from those who do not ride to those who do, and on that basis unjust.

I think it's telling that cabs are seldom used in Indy. The average Hoosier uses a car because it is cheaper and every bit as fast, saying nothing of the sense of independence gained from driving.

At any rate, the trains were fun for me in NYC. Here are some assorted rail pics.

I love the tile in the subway platforms.

One of many images of Grand Central Station.

More Grand Central.

The Future of Banking

Tired of bored, disinterested bank tellers? New York is providing the answer.

You see, the banking industry doesn’t like to have to pay bored, disinterested tellers, so most banks look like this.

A Row of 10 ATMs. Steve is leaving his bank in Jackson Heights, in Queens. There is one teller, but the bank would really prefer you didn’t bother her unless you have a real problem or a complex banking issue to discuss. Push the buttons, make your deposit or withdrawl, and scram.


New Yorkers seem to like it. I’m not so sure it would fly here in the Midwest just yet, except in downtown banks. I did like how fast the line moved. The place was packed with customers, and Steve waited less than a minute.

More New York

Before taking the train to the Guggenheim, we stopped in a Mexican restaurant in Queens. I wasn’t terribly excited about it since I can get Mexican food in abundance in Indiana. Steve promised a cultural experience. Well! I’m always up for a cultural experience!

We had just ordered sodas (not pop) when a little Oriental woman stood at our table. “DVD? DVD?” She was selling newly minted pirate DVDs. We waved her off.

I asked Steve how common this is. Before he could answer, a second little Oriental woman was standing at our table. “DVD? DVD?” She must have walked right past the competition as she came in. We waved her off, too. I marveled.

Steve told me this is extremely common in Queens. You can get an almost unlimited supply of knock-off goods. I’ll post more on this later.

I asked why the restaurant owners tolerate solicitors. Steve posits they are seen as harmless. I offered that if it happened in Indiana, the owners would toss them out on their ears. He agreed that few other places in the US would tolerate it.

It’s interesting to me that in New York, one of the media centers of the world, pirate DVD media is so readily available. Is the lack of enforcement due to a fear of upsetting the largely immigrant hawkers of this gear? Is it a matter of police priorities, like nailing the murderers and rapists? I could find no answer.

Time For Art!

Since I always seem to skip a visit to a museum or gallery despite the sheer numbers of them in NYC, this time I prioritized a trip to the Guggenheim.

I was in luck- we were able to see a major exhibit on Spanish painting, just days before the close. (It closes today.)

The recognizable building is undergoing a significant restoration and is surrounded by scaffolding. This canvas ad was found below the scaffolds.


I’m always amazed at the sizable crowds. Whenever I visited the Cleveland Museum of Art, I found myself sometimes feeling alone with the art. Not here. It was very crowded. You had to stand in line to check your coat.

The display occupied the entire building. While there was a great deal of Picasso’s paintings, there was a fantastic range of artists and scope of time covered. I really enjoyed how the curators placed traditional realistic works alongside cubist or impressionist paintings covering the same subject, side-by-side. It helped me appreciate what the modern artists were doing. Of course, having Steve there to explain helped even more. He has a degree in art history.

He recognized how overwhelmed you can be in seeing so much. I was experiencing a major sensory overload just as he suggested that we should start moving through a little faster, stopping only for more amazing stuff. I was getting to where I was ready to simply leave. Glad he intervened.

People seemed most drawn to Picasso’s work. My favorite was Juan Gris. I found that I really enjoyed the sharpness of his cubist paintings. I was taken by the geometry of them, and especially enjoyed his collages incorporating newsprint.

Having recently read up on the Spanish Civil War and noting the time period in which so many Spanish modern artists were really producing, I couldn’t help but think about how Picasso, Gris, Dali, etc., would have been received by Franco and those forces fighting to restore their vision of Spanish tradition. I failed to observe any narratives on this subject.

The Guggenheim’s interior. You can take pictures of the architecture, thank goodness. Naturally and unfortunately, you cannot photograph the art.

Grumble... New Blogger

Another thing that's been eating me up about blogging is Blogger. Yeah, it's a free service, you get what you pay for, and all that. But it worked fine before. Now?

Since changing over, I routinely lose posts. I just put a lot of effort into a post on my trip to the Guggenheim in New York City. The silly form makes me enter letters in a "word verification". I find that if you write directly to the page as I do, and you take some time, Blogger just won't recognize the letters. When that happened in the past, it simply gave you a new set of letters. You entered them, and the post appeared. Now, you get an error message. When you go back, your form is completely blank. All gone. Zapped into the aethers.

I don't have extra 30-minute blocks. So, sod New Blogger.

NYC Calling!

I'm off the New York this morning, for a weekend visit to my best friend, Steve Wainstead. We're going to eat our way through town. Steve's neighborhood in Queens (Jackson Heights) is an ideal starting place, for the sheer volume of interesting ethnic restaurants. We'll eat at Ecuadoran and Afghani mom & pop joints and get Dim Sum at the least. We won't be going to Brooklyn for pizza here.

I'm finally going to go to the Guggenheim. I don't know why I've never gone in my 20+ trips. We'll rectify that shortly! If the weather holds up, we'll bike the shoreline along northern Queens.

I will ride the MTA trains. Mass transit actually works in NYC because of the density of the city, the walking nature of the city, and the liability that having a car is, in terms of difficulty in finding parking and the high cost. I still wish it were privately funded.

Alas. It's going to be big fun!

Mass Transit, Again

I really like that Abdul Hakim-Shabazz always picks me to be "The Opposition" for his on-air debates on mass transit. He had me on his "Abdul in the Morning" show again today, on 1430-am.

I was loaded for bear, waiting for Marc Fisher to use the 'we can't build our way out of congestion' line- while promoting building light rail. Alas, he must have read my last blog entry on the subject, reacting to hearing Marc represent the Indiana Chamber back in February.

Part of the ammunition included the IndyGo balance sheets from 2005 and other years. I made the case that the lion's share- unwards of 80%- of IndyGo's funding comes from tax dollars. IndyGo President Gil Holmes was in the studio with me, and he did not try to evade the numbers I cited. He affirmed that this was fact.

My opening statement included a philosophical position, that I am opposed to the funding of mass transit with tax dollars; that it represents a massive transfer of wealth from the vast majority of Americans who do not ride to the slim minority who do; that this transfer of wealth is unjust; and that if mass transit is to exist, it should be operated privately, or not at all.

Interestingly, Mr. Holmes reacted to my first statement by saying that he did not want to get into a philosophical or political discussion.

That was interesting, because supporting a massive transfer of wealth is both. It was also interesting because he made an almost endless series of political and philosophical statements.

He claimed all of the secondary benefits proponents like to, such as the environmental benefits, quality of life, and convenience, and justified in the cost. That's as political as it gets, to suggest that something is worthy of extracting tax dollars from non-participants and the basis of intangibles that he was not prepared to support with numbers or other supporting data, in the way my use of his balance sheet supported me contentions.

He said, "workers should not have to pay $2.60 a gallon for gas". Well, if that's not a political or philosophical statement, please wake me up with a cattle prod and let me know what is.

This was a tough show, though, in that despite being an hour long, I was able to get in exactly four comments, each one minute or less. I was not at any time able to rebut any statement by Mr. Holmes or by Marc Fisher, who was on the phone line, because there simply wasn't time to do so within the format of the show. Any one else notice the abundance of commercials and promo spots?

Events two days in a row. It was almost like being a candidate again!

Current Activity

I spoke at a press conference this morning with a coalition of opponents to SJR-7, Indiana's proposed constitutional amendment that would affect same-sex marriage.

I was pleased that the Libertarian Party of Indiana got involved with the opposition to this. Like so much of today's legislation, I believe it seeks to oppress a minority because it seems oppressable.

At the core, I believe that government has no business regulating marriage. As a straight, married man, I resented it deeply when I was compelled to purchase a marriage license from the state. I had a church willing to do what I consider church business- a marriage.

So why, as a straight married man, did I speak with the opposition? Because I do not believe that you have to be a part of the oppressed group to be moved to defend them. I would have been a resistance fighter against the Nazis on behalf of the Jews, had I been in Europe, even though I am not Jewish. I defended smoking in private establishments even though I have never been a smoker.

I stand with the opposition because I believe in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Here is an early report, from the Star:

A Democrat, Republican and Libertarian joined together on the south steps of the Statehouse this morning to denounce a proposed constitutional amendment
to ban same-sex marriages.

Indianapolis City-County council members JoAnne Sanders, a Democrat, and Scott Keller, a Republican, both called for the Indiana House to reject the amendment, as did Libertarian Mike Kole.

"I am inherently appalled by this amendment, which is an effort to write discrimination into our constitution," Sanders said.

Keller called for fellow Republicans to listen to the "voice of history" and realize that backing an amendment against same-sex marriage ultimately will be judged as wrong just as previous laws banning interracial marriages were.

Kole, who ran for secretary of state in 2006, said legislators should leave the business of marriage up to churches, adding that the amendment "rejects liberty."

Here is the full text of my prepared remarks:

Libertarians stand today in opposition to SJR-7. We stand with the opposition for many reasons, but I will focus this morning on a key, traditional, American viewpoint.

Americans have the right to live their lives their way.

This was the view of the Founding Fathers, and in particular, Thomas Jefferson, when he wrote in the Declaration of Independence that among our unalienable rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Libertarians honor this long-held, traditional belief as sacred. We ask those who state their support for SJR-7 on traditional grounds to consider just what traditions they are willing to trample in the name of conservative values.

The association of the pursuit of happiness and marriage is not new when regarding bonds seen as controversial to some. Chief Justice Earl Warren declared, in the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, which dealt with mixed-race marriages, “The freedom to marry has long been recognized as one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men.”

SJR-7 is an affront to the pursuit of happiness.

SJR-7 continues an ugly history of governmental involvement in the regulation of marriage. As I alluded to, the history of government meddling in the business of marriage begins with another discrimination, on the basis of race.

All states have repealed statutes banning mixed-race marriages. Undaunted by the enlightened end of that bigotry, Indiana and other states bring forth legislation that rejects the philosophical underpinnings to our traditions, and rejects liberty.

Rather than adopting SJR-7, the House should do the right thing and reject it. The House should soon enough begin to get government out of the business of marriage, leaving that to the churches.

As we know, many denominations will marry same-sex couples. Many others will not. Everyone goes home happy. There’s that pursuit of happiness again. Leave
everyone free to choose.

Government has a legitimate role to play when marriages fail. Government is correctly the referee, ensuring that obligations are upheld.

That’s the extent of government’s legitimate role.

SJR-7 is just another example of the eagerness of too many of our legislature and our citizens to use government as an instrument of oppression against minorities they believe are fair game to oppression.

Libertarians urge our leaders in the House to resist the temptation to abandon the cherished belief in the right to the pursuit of happiness.

Libertarians urge the House members to reject SJR-7.

I hope the House does just that today. I'll be watching the news reports on TV this evening and following online.

Big Thanks to Bil Browning for inviting me to stand for the Libertarians at the press conference!

Hard Facts, Indeed

As I approach my fourth year of blogging, I find that I'm beginning to tire of it.

It was a great release when I was new to Central Indiana and didn't have many friends, or political or professional contacts. That's not an issue any more.

I recently took a look at the stats for my blog and discovered that my traffic is down. Way down. A steady decline since my campaign ended.

I also find that the nature of my work is such that I keep my trap shut on some things that I see as an insider, because although I have strong feelings about things, I would jeopardize my business relationships. Things I have said 2-3 years ago are lurking and probably could hurt my business if they are to be discovered. Do I self-censor and delete? It's the smart thing to do, for sure.

So, at the end of the day, if I'm not excited by it, and readers aren't there, I can hardly see a point. Am I wrong? I'm sure other bloggers have felt this. Tell me about it.