My brother captured this moment shortly after the wedding ceremony on Saturday.   We all thought it was priceless and said just about everything that needed to be said.

I’ll be taking the next couple days off from posting here on the Indiana Barrister.

As many of you know I’m getting married this weekend and the future Mrs. Shabazz would rather have me focus on our upcoming nuptials than the politics of the day.

I’ll be back after Labor Day with more commentary and a wife.  Who knew?

If you get a chance Thursday, come hang out the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce’s Hob Nob.  It really is the premiere political event in Indiana.   It’s  Thursday from 5-7 p.m. at the Indiana State Museum, 650 Washington.   I haven’t missed one since coming to work here nearly five years ago.  It’s a good way to start measuring the candidates for 2010 and beyond.  I’ll be there.  Will you?

I was having some computer issues this morning and couldn’t upload the big IPS budget document.

This is the 2010 Budget by line item.   It is 577 pages long.

Happy reading.

2010 Adopted Budget Detail by Cost Center

I received my copy of IPS’ budget information Tuesday.   I haven’t had a chance to walk through all of it yet, but I wanted to make sure that as soon as I got a copy of it, you received one also. 

 090827 Budget Adoption Board Items

090817 Variance Analysis

090817 Board Supplmentary Information

090804 Budget Advertisement Board Items

090708 Budget Workshop Worksheets

One thing that did catch my attention is how much IPS spends on school buses.   The district is planning to spend $31 million on transportation and another $12.5 million on school bus replacement.   It seems to me by contracting with Indy Go and giving high school students bus passes, IPS might be able to save a few bucks.

As I said earlier, I got all this information via e-mail and in a relatively short amount of time.  I’m scratching my head as to why this should have been an issue in the first place.

It will be interesting to see what little nuggets we find when going through each document, line by line.

WellPoint CEO Angela Braly told the Economic Club of  Indiana today that it was time to reform health care and not just health insurance.

Braly said she providing more people with coverage without getting costs under control will only make the system worse.  She said pointed to the Massachusetts plan where coverage was expanded however cost increased.

She said that 30% of health care spending is wasted and that insurance companies support making sure everyone has insurance and that individuals with pre-existing conditions can be pooled with other high risk customers.

Braly also said she opposes a public option, in part, because insurance companies would be competing with the same entity which regulated them.

Braly spoke to reporters shortly after he speech.  You can hear those remarks below.

Angela Braly

One day someone asked me what stops me from being a Libertarian, even though I fundamentally agree with them on a lot of issues.   I told them two things, my practical nature and appreciation for the status quo.

I can respect the Libertarian ideas of limited government and personal freedom and more individual responsibility, however my Libertarian friends have confused me based on their actions at Monday night Council’s meeting.

Libertarian City-County Councilor Ed Coleman voted against a measure that would restrict panhandling at city intersections and also voted against a measure that would reduce the pay of the former township assessors back to a level when I had a Jheri curl.

The Libertarians argue that restricting panhandling violates free speech and the current laws are good enough.  They also argued against lowering the former township assessors salaries because the assessors had a contract when their pay was reduced last year after being voted out of office and the city should honor that agreement.  If I am misrepresenting anyone’s position, feel free to correct me.

What the Libertarians fail to realize is by voting against the panhandling ordinance and reducing the assessors’ pay, they were also voting against personal responsibility, a core Libertarian principle.   Instead of encouraging panhandlers to stop begging and not live off handouts the Libertarians have given a thumbs up to begging and condoning counterproductive behavior.   And by not voting to reduce the former assessors pay, the Libertarians are throwing their support behind the idea of paying people to do nothing and live off the government dole and not become self-sufficient.  And by the way, the “contract” with the assessors merely says they can’t be paid less than what they made in the 1980s.   By lowering their pay, the city was honoring their contract.

Now I know my L friends are going to take issue with what I’ve written.   I can see my former producer and current Executive Director of the Libertarian Party Chris Spangle’s head spinning like Linda Blair in the Exorcist.  I welcome any and all replies, but in their hearts, they know I’m right.    And voting against personal responsibility and self-reliance just ain’t right.

As a frequent patron of  downtown Indianapolis there is one place in particular I tend to have little use for, City Market.  I think the set up is annoying and the food isn’t all that great for what you have pay.  For a dollar or so more I can go get some real food with less hassle.  And the entire second floor looks like an entire waste of space.

The City of Indianapolis trying to figure out what to do with City Market.  Currently the 12,000 square foot facility enjoys at $250,000 subsidy from the City.  However, the venue has lost customers and barely generates enough revenue to cover its monthly $30,000 utility bill.

So what’s a City to do?

Well here’s a thought?  Instead of making City Market a giant cafeteria, how about the second floor be converted to a day care facility.  With 250,000 people working or visiting the downtown area on a daily basis, surely some of them wouldn’t mind a place for young children to stay while they are at work nearby.   If someone is going to fork over $600 a month in child care, they would probably would like to do it in place close by.

If that doesn’t float your boat, how about converting the facility into a college campus with one of the city’s universities?  Surely someone could use the space and once again, with 250,000 people working within the mile square,  a class within walking distance isn’t a bad idea.

I’m sure there are other ideas that could work just as well.  But the current business model is not working.  And who would want to pay $10 for mediocre food, when you can walk three to four blocks and have a real meal.

I e-mailed Dr. Eugene White this afternoon to let him know tomorrow I was dropping off my Freedom of Information request regarding the budget at the district office.

Here is his response.

Abdul,

I will check with my budget developer and we will let you know how soon we can have the total budget information ready for you.  I assume that your interest is in the General Fund Budget.  That is the one referred to in the Sunday Indianapolis Star.

Dr.  Eugene G. White, Superintendent

Although I am glad the Superintendent plans to honor my request, it shouldn’t take a FOIA request from the media to get simple budget information, and the members of the board who voted for the budget without going over this information, should be run out of town on a rail.

And just so you know, I still plan to drop off my FOIA request tomorrow just to be on the safe side, and so there is something in writing.   Once I get the information I plan to make it available to all of you.