Open Forum
I’m dealing with weather today so this morning’s post is more of an open forum. Here are some topics for discussion.
- Have local governments failed to make a case against property tax caps?
- Will ethics legislation create real reform or bigger loopholes?
- Will tax caps pass and by what margin?
- How much government reform will really happen this session?
- What issue should lawmakers address this session, but aren’t?
Play nice.
January 7th, 2010 at 5:49 am
Crickets on caerl & Tim and their latest troubles.
Why are you the only blof that continually fails to report on this important political news?
SRSLY.
January 7th, 2010 at 6:00 am
Could you repeat that? Preferably in a coherent manner? Thanks.
January 7th, 2010 at 7:14 am
I'm guessing it's Carl Brizzi and Tim Johns that he's referencing. I fail to see how that's important political news given that the foxes are back in the henhouse (legislative session); political gossip, yes, but not news with far-reaching impacts. I'll take a swing:
1. No; especially in this belt-tightening year where many folks have had to cut or at least reduce expenditures for things they previously thought they needed. Most of them look at government and surmise (rightly or wrongly) that it needs to cut expenditures also and not have a blank check from their (the people's) pockets.
2. Bigger loopholes; notice what the legislature is avoiding that we all know is necessary? Full disclosure for themselves. Even lowly state employees like BMV clerks or snow plow drivers (technically members of the Executive branch) are required to get an ethics waiver from the agency's chief legal concept in order to accept trinkets (keychains, lettered pens, etc.) or have a coffee/soft drink paid while out, yet the legislators are allowed to accept expensive dinners, tickets to events, and even campaign contributions. They won't give that up without a fight.
3. Yes, but B. Patrick Bauer will fight it until the bitter end or try for some of his usual horsetrading shenanigans.
4. Not much.
5. Campaign finance
January 7th, 2010 at 7:48 am
Abdul, I think the Hamburgler ate some of the Mayor's comments above. Or it could be “text-speak,” with which I'm relatively unfamiliar…it's gibberish most of the time. Maybe you could ask the deputy mayor to interpret? He speaks fluent Gibberish.
.
I want, but won't get, ethics reform form our Gang of 150. They are mostly looking out for their own futures, or LAL (Life After Legislature). Where else can a former township trustee with few demonstrative biz skills pull down six figures lobbying?
It's a strange environment, that.
I'm with JW on campaign finance. State law governs all non-federal elections in Indiana, so….if any laws change it affects mayoral campaigns and others, too.
We have some of the loosest laws in America. I haven't figured out how to limit contributions (total and from whom) without violating First Amendment rights. But there has to be a way.
I mean, really, Tim Durham gave $45,000 to the Lawrence Township assessor, who later became Lawrence Mayor? What the hell was Durham ever thinking he'd get for that money, except nothing good for taxpayers? And why would the candidate accept it? Let alone his contributions to his friend the prosecutor.
Whorish behavior abounds. There are examples on the D side, too…it all has to stop.
Minimally, we should adopt the federal campaign spending and donation laws. That would at least forbid corporate checks at any time, and limit personal contributions (I think the limit is $3000 per election cycle now…someone please correct if that's untrue…I've only maxxed-out to one federal candidate in my life, and it was $2000 then–16 years ago).
If Indiana campaign law mirrored federal law, it would likely escape First Amendment court challenges, and slow down the graft.
Waddaya think?
January 7th, 2010 at 8:10 am
Sorry, had a donut in my mouf earlier. Mayor McCheese likes me some custard filled chocolate covered donuts from Kroger.
Why are you the only blogger completely avoiding the very important and newsworthy and continually escallating drama surrounding your buddies Carl “Izzy, Iz-he” Brizzi and Tim “Ding Dong” Durham?
Makes one draw some conclusions as to your motives here. Advance Indiana, T-Bones Indianapolis Times and all the other bloggy bloggers are picking up on this. Why are you avoiding it? Just askin.
January 7th, 2010 at 8:17 am
I'm not avoiding anything. I'm also not a conspiracy theorist. I cover politics and when something major happens, I'll talk about it. Tim Durham being sued by investors is not politics. Now if Brizzi were sued, that would be something else, or if he were accused of wrongdoing. Neither has happened. And don't forget, if you don't like what you're reading here or what you're not reading here, you can go somewhere else. My feelings won't be hurt.
January 7th, 2010 at 8:33 am
Oh jeeze. Well, I'll check in next week casue I am pretty sure you will have something to write about on Brizzi by then.
OKBYE.
January 7th, 2010 at 8:35 am
I suggest one should think in football terms. Consider the play called “mis direction”. It takes some time to develop but when it works it works very well indeed. If you sit in elected office you become familiar with, “Don't tax you, don't tax me, tax that other guy behind the tree”. What is the budget of IPS. What is the budget of Indianapolis. While both are violative of the maxim, “Get a dollar's worth of value for every tax dollar expended” both waste many times the dollars of “governments” being attacked by legislators. Football has another term, “the goat” derived from the Judas Goat? Same principle, divert the attention of the herd to some singular and take it out on the singular until the herd pays attention to something else. Every reform must begin with a form in mind. Pay attention to the form in mind and you won't be misled.
January 7th, 2010 at 8:49 am
Whats up with the HUGE property tax increase in Franklin Township to cover the debt and allow the merger with IFD? How can they do this with property tax caps in place? It is going from $0.27 per $100.00 to $0.67 per hundred.
January 7th, 2010 at 9:46 am
Hint ot the wise: when WashTwp “gave up” their fire service, they still, raised millions they didn't need.
What are they doing with the money?
Sitting on it, so the trustee, a slacker, can dole it out for political chits for his future campaign needs. Citizens who proptested were publicly mocked. The total amount: They probably raised anywhere from 1.75-4 mil they didn't need. Seriously.
You don't need to raise money that your budget doesn't require. The Dept. of Local Govt. Finance was notified, and did nothing. Not a damned thing.
January 7th, 2010 at 9:48 am
1. Yes! But they have also failed to make a case FOR them. Other than: “We’ve relied on them for so long.”
2. Ethics reform, for them, is like reforming a burglar with a scholarship to locksmithing school.
3. The craps passed last August. We’re just watching the “Really Bad Theatre of the Air.”
4. That’s like asking how much of today’s snow will be left on the Fourth of July.
5. Either a mass exodus or, a re-enactment of Jonestown.
January 7th, 2010 at 10:00 am
http://www.profam.org/pub/fia/fia.2005.6.htm#Th...
Tis a link for serious people only and in response to question #5. At some point serious people will begin to think about how to take un needed costs out of society. E.G. the person who came up with “right turn on red lights” took billions of dollars of wasteful cost out of the societies that adopted his insight. Unknown hero.
January 7th, 2010 at 10:11 am
http://www.profam.org/pub/fia/fia.2005.6.htm#Th... Sorry for the previous link as this is the short read promised. The other includes this but is probably more than a short read. My view about going after dead beat dads (all praise to Jesse Jackson sort of sound bite analysis) is that it is just another band aid on what we used to call sucking chest wounds.
January 7th, 2010 at 11:20 am
1) Correct- local gov't has failed to “make a case” against property tax caps. Does it matter? Not much. The legislature appears poised to do enough on property taxes to protect their re-election chances. It comes down to protecting their tail or the bretheren back in the townships. Three guesses and two don't count.
2) Ethics reform is a start and I think justified, vs the unaffordable, unconstitutional, unblessed by the masses nat'l health “reform”. Before current momentum, we had the bipartisan spectacle of opposition by the late Senator Reigsecker (sp?) and Senator Simpson, that never let this out of committee. It wouldn't now if it wasn't election year and the papers caring for some reason.
3) If caps pass, I hope market reality assessments are somehow mandated. I concur we lessen the disparity of dependancy on property taxes, but that means living with less by sifting efficiencies from bureaucracies, or getting replacement revenue from local taxes/fees/referendums. It will be UG-LY. There Will Be Blood
4) This session's gov't reform: Tax caps (because clock running out) & first stab at “ethics reform”. Not much else- short session, no moola.
5) Caps on biological parenting reunifications and Illegal Hiring: Only ahead of redistricting because like “universal” health care or full-day kindergarten, we have loads of compassion and ideas, but no longer the revenue to successfully implement them. Young kids can't be routinely “repaired” like cars in a body shop. Despite the priorization of non-citizens before seniors in the health “reform”, citizens should come first in accessing our limited infrastructure (this side of true emergency care).
January 7th, 2010 at 3:46 pm
The only assessment that counts is a sale, the transactional reality of interested parties; not public pensioners, padding their less than added value by counterfeit percents.
The state of Indiana is taxing unrealized gains (1, 2 & 3%), a commission schedule they call “property taxes.” That's “good” policy?
January 7th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
1) How about they quit jerking around and allow full-fledged casino gambling in the state? (And I don't mean on water.)
2) Why don't they work on passing legislation to strengthen and solidify the rights of Indiana citizens to carry firearms? Then, Indiana can have a showdown with the feds when Barry and the gang try to violate even more of our constitutional rights by disarming us.
January 7th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
How bout they work on a proper funding source for public transportation, its ridiculous how bad the bus service in this city is, Charlotte's bus and train system is so nice, Indy needs to get with the program, its been proven study after study, that a solid public transportations system drives the local economy….thats what I want to see on the State and Local agend…
January 7th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
It's bureau-fattened, anachronistic, nostalgic advocacy, & not any credible study that claims “a solid public transportations system drives the local economy.” That's complete bull shift.
Reality, sequence, priority; people in private enterprise, drive the economy- period. The public sector is funded by the private sector. Transit authorities are sometimes marketed with the half-pregnant logic of “public / private partnerships,” the punch line to several jokes within the FREE MARKET.
Where is it exactly, that citizens are unable to travel; on Indy's existing, private enterprise subsidized, mass transit system (Metro)?
January 7th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
The Tim Durham mess doesn't involve politics? I'm pretty sure every reporter in town would disagree with that. You don't have to believe in “conspiracies” to report what is a huge political story.
January 7th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
There are a lot of places, and the frequency is terrible because Indy has so few buses. The Rockville road corridor between lynhurst and Raceway is full of business and resturants and jobs, but only those with cars can get there. In Charlotte, for example the bus system is the back bone to their light rail line, buses service the downtown district en masse, allowing commuters to park their cars and get downtown just as quick. Most cities with a decent sized transit system are able to bring in large employers because there is a real way for people who may want to work but dont have the means otherwise to get there. IndyGo, formerly Metro is not a private enterprise, it's a municipal corporation just like the airport, wishard, and the library. No public transportation systems in america go “unsubsidized”. IndyGo is the 100th biggest transportation system in North America for the 13th largest city that should be an embarassment. Your reaction is typical here, you've probably lived here your whole life (not that thats bad, I love this city) but until you have seen how really well done systems work you can't appreciate it.
January 7th, 2010 at 7:00 pm
Check this fact sheet out Dave…
http://www.publictransportation.org/takesusther...
January 7th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
Fact sheet? Here's another link: http://www.santaclaus.net
January 7th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Seen mass transit 'round de globe, including Charlotte, It's anachronistic group think, not new thinking…
January 7th, 2010 at 7:35 pm
I will give you FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS if you put my picture on some Fire Extinguishers. Gobble gobble.
January 7th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Sorry to have bothered you I thought we were having a discussion….
January 7th, 2010 at 10:32 pm
1) How about they quit jerking around and allow full-fledged casino gambling in the state? (And I don't mean on water.)
2) Why don't they work on passing legislation to strengthen and solidify the rights of Indiana citizens to carry firearms? Then, Indiana can have a showdown with the feds when Barry and the gang try to violate even more of our constitutional rights by disarming us.
January 7th, 2010 at 11:24 pm
How bout they work on a proper funding source for public transportation, its ridiculous how bad the bus service in this city is, Charlotte's bus and train system is so nice, Indy needs to get with the program, its been proven study after study, that a solid public transportations system drives the local economy….thats what I want to see on the State and Local agend…
January 8th, 2010 at 12:27 am
It's bureau-fattened, anachronistic, nostalgic advocacy, & not any credible study that claims “a solid public transportations system drives the local economy.” That's complete bull shift.
Reality, sequence, priority; people in private enterprise, drive the economy- period. The public sector is funded by the private sector. Transit authorities are sometimes marketed with the half-pregnant logic of “public / private partnerships,” the punch line to several jokes within the FREE MARKET.
Where is it exactly, that citizens are unable to travel; on Indy's existing, private enterprise subsidized, mass transit system (Metro)?
January 8th, 2010 at 12:32 am
The Tim Durham mess doesn't involve politics? I'm pretty sure every reporter in town would disagree with that. You don't have to believe in “conspiracies” to report what is a huge political story.
January 8th, 2010 at 12:56 am
There are a lot of places, and the frequency is terrible because Indy has so few buses. The Rockville road corridor between lynhurst and Raceway is full of business and resturants and jobs, but only those with cars can get there. In Charlotte, for example the bus system is the back bone to their light rail line, buses service the downtown district en masse, allowing commuters to park their cars and get downtown just as quick. Most cities with a decent sized transit system are able to bring in large employers because there is a real way for people who may want to work but dont have the means otherwise to get there. IndyGo, formerly Metro is not a private enterprise, it's a municipal corporation just like the airport, wishard, and the library. No public transportation systems in america go “unsubsidized”. IndyGo is the 100th biggest transportation system in North America for the 13th largest city that should be an embarassment. Your reaction is typical here, you've probably lived here your whole life (not that thats bad, I love this city) but until you have seen how really well done systems work you can't appreciate it.
January 8th, 2010 at 1:00 am
Check this fact sheet out Dave…
http://www.publictransportation.org/takesusther...
January 8th, 2010 at 1:16 am
Fact sheet? Here's another link: http://www.santaclaus.net
January 8th, 2010 at 1:19 am
Seen mass transit 'round de globe, including Charlotte, It's anachronistic group think, not new thinking…
January 8th, 2010 at 1:35 am
I will give you FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS if you put my picture on some Fire Extinguishers. Gobble gobble.
January 8th, 2010 at 3:50 am
Sorry to have bothered you I thought we were having a discussion….
January 8th, 2010 at 11:11 am
Rico, we have one of the best written Constitutional guarantees in the nation. However, we have let groups of lawyers in a robe (LiaR) and politicians to amend our Constitution by fiat.
There is NOTHING in our Constitution that permits the General ASSembly to regulate 'arms' AT ALL.
“The people shall have a right to bear arms, for the defense of themselves and the State.” — Art 1 Sec 32
Now, contrast the above language with the Illinois Constitution on their Right to Keep & Bear Arms:
“Subject only to the police power, the right of the individual citizen to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” — Art 1 Sec 22
Hmmm…”Subject only to the police power…” We have NOTHING like this in our Constitution.
Thus, without legally amending our Constitution via Article 16, government has effectively altered our Section 32 to be like the Illinois Section 22 — government regulation (police power) allowed.
January 8th, 2010 at 11:25 am
You want fries with that?
January 8th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
http://indianapolistimesblog.blogspot.com/2010/...
Even PETA is pizzled over this deal. LOLzzzz.
January 8th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
No bother, fair enough, you're right, that was a flip response. Look, where charity is noble, there's nothing virtuous about subsidy; an arbitrary euphemism for theft. We need to dehypnotize ourselves from the false belief that subsidies are somehow more “justifiable” than the natural operations of the free market. Taking ain't making, those who insist it 'tis are faking.
Having family in New O, the street car nostalgia thing is quaint, romantic & understandable, but should be the donation or tax write off of benefactors, not unconstitutional taking from any citizen; or cease to exist, as the market might dictate.
January 8th, 2010 at 3:04 pm
If the Franklin Township Board were to have voted down the merger, or the merger was not even a posibility, the tax rate would have climbed to $0.47 on the hundred next year. Couple this with the FACT that there would have been significant benefit losses and layoffs for the firefighters of FTFD. With the board passing the merger resolution, the tax rate will jump to $0.67 next year. It will drop back to $0.47 the following year, and when the debt is paid off after year 2, it will drop to the IFD rate which is somewhere in the $0.20s. Plus, no layoffs and an agreement from IFD that will gaurantee more firefighter staffing for the residents of Franklin Township. If you don't buy what I am saying than call your Franklin Township board member and ask them why the resolution passed 7-0. It was a no-brainer benefit to the residents & firefighters. Even the biggest opponents to IFD taking over FTFD were in support of the resolution at the meeting.
January 9th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Conspiracy theorist or not the recent revelations to the unknowing public about the Wishard Lies has all of the elements of a conspiracy against the taxpayers and the general unknowing public. One media sort looked into it and J.R. Gaylor pulled off the covers in his recent letter to the Star-a worthless paper who was taken in, hook, line, and sinker along with all the other fools who supported this boondoggle. The Buffalo Jump is alive and well.