I think it would be more fun to be involved with it.

I think the politicians are even more revolting…

Andy Horning is absolutely right. Last year at the 4th of July protest at the Governor’s Mansion (we were better off then than now), he tried to tell the people that they got into this mess because they allow the politicians to break the law. The crowd literally boo’d him.
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We let people rant over the PA system for a few hours and their stories were heartbreaking. Yet, they failed to realize that ALL of our problems are because politicians run rogue of the law.
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The tax crisis is the symptom. Failure to obey the law is the disease. The disease must be attacked or the symptoms will continue to return.
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I understand it will be different this year and that the Libertarians will explain exactly what needs to be done.
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As for me, I have nearly no patience for whining homeowners this year. They got what they deserve because they stopped fighting.
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The People FAILED to do what it takes to fix this problem when they were spoon fed the solutions by the Libertarian activists.
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Either The People want their government fixed or not. If you do prepare yourself to invest time, hard work, money, to force your politicians to obey the law.
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“Freedom isn’t free. You have to pay the price, sacrifice, for your Liberty.”

Melissa – it goes deeper than the politicians “breaking” the law. They’ve “changed” the law in favor of corporations, leaving the tax burden on individual households instead. In reality, while the original intent of Article 10 has been violated, the law isn’t being broken.
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So… if you seek legal recourse by challenging the legality of the tax situation, you won’t find it in terms of a violation. Article 10 has been modified to allow tax exemption to owners of tangible “real” property (as opposed to only tangible and intangible “personal” property). The 2004 revision also eliminated the following limitation on tax exemption:
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***other than property being held for sale in the ordinary course of a trade or business, property being held, used or consumed in connection with the production of income***
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The question now is “Where does that leave the citizens of Indiana?” There are three readily identifiable recourses:
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1. Take the issue to the courts. The law hasn’t been broken, but by working together the community can overwhelmingly demonstrate that the law places a harmful and undue burden on Indiana households. A good case can also demonstrate that Indiana businesses operated successfully for 150 years under the original standard. An even better case would attempt to find evidence, prior to filing, that the law was changed in order to encourage foreign purchase of Indiana infrastructure, public works, and business entities – which I believe may be the root of the changes.
2. Commit to only electing officials who pledge to completely reverse these damaging changes to the Indiana Constitution.
3. Tar and feathers. When elected officials intentionally act against the best interest of their constituents in a coordinated manner, specifically for the financial gain of business interests (and possibly foreign interests), they are no longer representatives…They are usurpers…Start with the Governor who signed the bill into law, and work down from there.
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I’m in favor of acting upon all three recourses.
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(FYI – Once again, thank God for the blogs. This issue demonstrates why historical media outlets are downsizing as readership/viewers diminish. Blogs are shedding the truth that our media has been omitting – and the people are beginning to wake up.)

Shorebreak…AMEN to all you say.
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However, they have violated the Indiana Constitution Article 8.
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During the WTHR Forum at the State House earlier this year, 4 legislators defended the state’s position against a hundred or more taxpayers.
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Mike Rowe (the guy behind Black Sunday) asked the dreaded Article 8 question and was completely ignored. They talked about everything EXCEPT article 8. The media let them get away with it.
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No politician will address it…not even the governor.
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John Price included the Article 8 violation in his lawsuit. The judge asked what administrative remedies had been sought. Since no taxpayers had ever asked for the portion of the their taxes collected to pay for schools to be refunded, the judge threw it out.
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Price then wrote a document that homeowners can cut and paste, get notorized, and send to the treasurer and assessor to ask for a refund of approximately 50% of the property taxes you’ve paid since you have owned a home in Indiana.
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The document can be found at the HFFT blog.

Melyssa,
Keep me posted as to when and where we can raise some hell.
flipper

Off topic (but on the subject of government corruption), the Irish have rejected the EU Treaty. Thank the good Lord for sensible heads of people who prefer liberty over eventual economic enslavement. Watch for future turmoil in Ireland as those behind the EU Crown put their best foot forward in seeking to “encourage” the Irish to change their minds.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7452171.stm

As for Indiana, maybe it’s time to follow the Irish example and place the tax issue on an Indiana referendum. “Maintain current tax status, or return to pre-2004 Article 10 terms”. Somehow, I doubt that most Indianans will be informed enough to make a sound decision. The media would refuse to give a fair and honest exposition of the facts.

Flipper? You ready to defect from the R’s yet? If so, the Libertarians would love to have you.

Shorebreak? Do you know what the Libertarians and the Irish have in common?

A: Beer and smarts.

Just came in from the mail box with my TAX bill in my hand. i just laied it on the butchers cabinet
hell im afraid to open it.

I guess it’s good to be an Irish Libertarian then ;-)

This would be a fun way to spend part of my July 4. I may just be in.

The original intent of Article 10 of our Indiana Constitution was to target the “hidden wealth” of business/corporations.
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The original intent of Article 8 (1851 Constitution) was to fund the common schools that were addressed in the 1816 Constitution-but never funded. Specific methods of funding were debated by the Delegates, and RATIFIED by the People. The People did NOT ratify any taxation of their private homes for the support of the common schools. The People DID ratify the property taxation of corporation for the support of the common schools.

Melyssa,

Us Irish would have taken over this world many years ago if whiskey had not been invented.
flipper

Go here (http://wedeclare.wordpress.com/2008/04/12/horning-for-governor-platformthe-whole-thing/)
and read the comments in red.
It’s all there. The laws are broken every day. That’s really not equivocal. The people who wrote our constitutions didn’t debate the meaning of the word “is,” you know. Just read the law and see for yourself.
Especially in the context of our history, there’s really no excuse for misinterpreting what’s written in our constitutions.