IS IT TRUE June 25, 2013

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Mole #3 Nostradamus of Local Politics
Mole #3 Nostradamus of Local Politics

IS IT TRUE June 25, 2013

IS IT TRUE that we have been told by numerous “CCO MOLES” that City Councilman, Jonathon Weaver is about ready to announce his intention to run for Mayor of Evansville?…if Mr. Weaver announces that indeed he shall run for the next Mayor of Evansville it is the opinion of many that Mayor Wennenke shall have the political battle of his career?…both have supported the Earthcare joke, the bark park fiasco, and handing out millions of local taxpayer dollars to get a hotel in downtown Evansville?…it will truly be difficult to find issues these two do not agree on including supporting every word that comes from the mouth of former Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel?…deciding between these two as candidates may come down to a local version of “Dancing with the Stars” featuring Jonathan and Lloyd?

IS IT TRUE Good Jobs First, a nonprofit national policy resource center out of Washington DC released a study yesterday on the efficacy of local and state governments handing out corporate welfare to companies in excess of $75 Million to create jobs?…the results of this study were abysmal to say the least with a conclusion that these big handouts cost taxpayers $456,000 for each job actually created?…the size of the study that included well over 200 such corporate welfare deals was large enough and broad enough to have statistical significance?…the biggest mark among the 50 states for this practice of job extortion was the State of Michigan that handed out $7.1 Billion to 29 companies?…in spite of such handouts Michigan was the only state of 50 that had a net population loss between the years 2000 and 2010?…from a dollars per job perspective this practice of writing checks to companies for over $75 Million rivals the federal stimulus for overpriced buying of jobs?…even Apple Computer gets into the act by extorting huge sums of money for putting data centers in?…Apple’s most important criteria for choosing such a site however is not the size of the bribe they get it is all about CHEAP ELECTRICITY and having TWO PROVIDERS?…if any location wants an Apple data center they had better be down at about 5 cents a kW*hr and have a backup provider ready to supply electricity?…for these reasons SW Indiana is out of luck when it comes to big data centers like the ones Apple and Google install across the country?

IS IT TRUE during the first month of having all LED lighting in place this writers home used 607 kW*hr less electricity than last year?…this amounts to a 26.4% reduction just from replacing every bulb in the house with LED bulbs?…2013 has been slightly hotter than 2012 as well so the savings may even be higher?…the savings associated with this reduced consumption amount to about $150 per month here in Edison territory making the payback period for the $600 worth of LED bulbs only 4 months?…they are rated to last roughly 20 years at 3 hours per day on time?…over the life of these light bulbs the savings should amount to $36,000 on an investment of only $600 assuming the rates do not rise?…if the electric rates rise which they certainly will the savings are even greater?…back in SW Indiana where the rates are slightly lower saving 607 kW*hr per month would save closer to $100 making the payback period 6 months instead of 4 months?…LED bulbs used to replace incandescent bulbs are the highest energy payback since the invention of walls and roofs so get out there and replace the bulbs used the most as fast as your budget will allow?

IS IT TRUE Evansville had a deluge of rain yesterday with some areas recording more than 6 inches in a half a day?…flooding was all over the place and even found its way into places that normally do not flood at all like the Eastland Mall parking lot?…it was good to live on the second floor yesterday unless of course your car was parked at ground level?…another thing that was sure to have happened yesterday with so much rain so fast is a major discharge of raw sewage into the Ohio River and even into some neighborhoods because our city managers have not seen fit over the last 50 years to fix the combined sewer problem?…finally at gun point of an EPA lawsuit they have made a half baked proposal to do these repairs?…it is mystifying how a half baked job on keeping raw sewage out of the streets and river are is seen as progressive but that parks, stadiums, and hotels still take priority?…it is a half century of neglect that inspired the readers of the City County Observer to vote by a 10 to 1 majority in our readers poll to support a 100% solution to the sewer fiasco before ONE RED CENT IS SPENT ON FUN AND GAMES?…Evansville does not have a clean audit, is facing over a BILLION DOLLARS in basic infrastructure repairs and yet our leaders are seriously wanting to hand out $37.5 Million in corporate welfare for a hotel compound, $46 Million for new water meters, and over $10 Million for a dog park with skateboard ramps?…sometimes you just gotta wonder what people are thinking?…this makes about as much sense as parents who choose cotton candy for dinner for their children as opposed to a balanced home cooked meal?

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35 COMMENTS

  2. “…this makes about as much sense as parents who choose cotton candy for dinner for their children as opposed to a balanced home cooked meal?”

    Balanced home cooked meal? How quaint! In my FD response area the standard meal for a toddler appears to be a sippy cup full of Mt. Dew and a 1/2 bag of chips. Older kids have the freedom to choose from whatever fast food joint or gas station convenience store they can get to on their bicycles or scooters.

    The elected officials of a locality reflect their citizenry, yes?

    • “The elected officials of a locality reflect their citizenry, yes?”
      (DeltaBravo)

      * * * *

      There seems to be a lot of buyers remorse nowadays concerning what we actually elected.

      Knowledge will forever govern ignorance. Which brings me to the area of the responsibility of the 4th Estate and what sort of report card I would give them for their job of keeping the public informed.

      For purposes of discussion we should probably break it down into three areas: national, state, and local.

      Lets concentrate on local, because the old saw says that “The elected officials of a locality reflect their citizenry.”

      For 18 months the financial ledgers of The City of Evansville were not reconciled, which constituted a statutory violation every month that they were not reconciled. Further, after 12 months of violations, the books were handed to a new city administration which continued the violations for another 6 months.

      All of this took place under the public radar until the release of a State Audit made it impossible to keep the public (local citizens) ignorant of the facts any longer.

      Why was the local newspaper complicit in that charade for a year and a half? How can you expect the voting public to be informed if no one is doing the job?

      ___

      • I don’t disagree with your post, but I do think that this line…

        “There seems to be a lot of buyers remorse nowadays concerning what we actually elected.”

        … is perhaps a bit of wishful thinking.

        True, there are a number of engaged citizens who are asking questions. There are similarly a number of citizens who regularly follow local civic finances and try to keep a tab on what’s happening in the ‘halls of power’ in Evansville.

        I would posit, however, that your average Evansville resident didn’t vote in the last local election, couldn’t name their representative on the City Council, never watches the news or reads the local paper (online or otherwise), has no concept of what the City budget looks like, and couldn’t name a single person who works in the Mayor’s office (including the Mayor). I’m being very serious about this.

        It would be interesting to do a ‘man in the street’ interview some evening along the Riverfront and ask any of the above questions to the folks strolling by. Do this on a weekend so it’s not just the people who work downtown biasing the results of the survey. I bet the results would be stunning.

        Or maybe they wouldn’t.

  3. Corporate Welfare

    Some things just do not change. This 11-09-1998 Time Magazine article

    http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/time/1998/11/02/corp.welfare.html

    is actually timeless. What was happening then is still happening and if anything has increased, especially when one considers bailing out all of Wall Street after 2007.

    Unethical behavior at the personal level is the major factor. Religion has taken a beating and as a natural consequence ethics has declined to the point that no one is guarding the gates of government or business.

    ___

    • I would love to see a study that proves self-proclaimed religiosity has a correlation with high personal ethics. Some of the biggest dirt bags I know are regulars in church on Sunday…

      • Religion certainly does not guarantee ethical behavior. Many ethical people are not encumbered by religious dogma. After all the religious are mostly of the opinion that one can be forgiven by the unseen for unethical actions. The non-religious person on the other hand is well aware that it is how they treat others that determines their reputation. In my experience, the more one thumps the bible or pledges to die for the Koran is an indication of a person that is trouble to deal with. Religious zealots are the most damaging and unethical people on earth. The worst thing is they think they are doing God’s work. Isn’t rationalization great?

        • You have heard the saying: “as long as there are three people in this world there will never be total agreement on anything.”

          This insight into human nature is the reason I am no fan of the “secular morality” being pushed in public education nowadays. As long as religion is verboten in the public schools their attempts at moral instruction will fall way short of the mark.

          __

          • Secular morality as taught in homes or schools pretty much follows the 10 Commandments as they pertain to man’s interaction with men. Do not steal, murder, commit adultery, covet another’s goods, bearing false witness,or honoring one’s parents, or are all common sense ways to behave in a civil society. No cross, star of David, or any other religious symbol will replace the common sense that came out of the wilderness thousands of year’s ago. Of course the other four commandments are about man’s interaction with God so they don’t really apply to how we deal with each other. I bet you the jails are full of people of faith who have broken those six common sense commandments after being told they were commandments from God. With or without religious symbolism common sense needs to prevail to keep us above the level of animals.

          • All 618 commandments found in Torah can be boiled down to two biggies. One is secular, the other is religious. Bottom line, it’s about how you treat others, including humans, animals, and components of the natural world. Whether you do it out of fear or love determines your outlook and outcome.

          • “With or without religious symbolism common sense needs to prevail to keep us above the level of animals.”

            I don’t think you should compare humans to animals in this regard. It does a disservice to animals, since they generally don’t senselessly harm each animals. If I might be allowed a quote from ‘Aliens’:

            Ripley: “You know, Burke, I don’t know which species is worse. You don’t see them f***ing each other over for a g***amn percentage.”

            The CCO, from political analysis to quotes from sci-fi movies in less than 15 comments! Booyah! 🙂

  4. “IS IT TRUE … flooding was all over the place and even found its way into places that normally do not flood at all like the Eastland Mall parking lot?”

    Ed: I have seen Eastland Mall parking lot flood in the past during intense rainfall events, particularly the area of the lot between Olive Garden and Macy’s under which flows Harper Ditch through a large culvert. This culvert also flows directly under Shoe Carnival and Green River Road, and during such events, can back water up all the way under the Expressway and into properties on the south side of the Lloyd immediately west of Harrison High School.

    Flooding of this sort is simply the result of storm water run-off from intense rainfall events exceeding the capacity of the subsurface storm water conveyance systems (pipes) or the impediment of flow due to obstructions in the receiving open channel system (Harper/Wabash Erie, in the case of Eastland Mall) by overgrowth of trees, unremoved fallen trees or accumulated sediment and debris (trash), undersized waterway openings under roadways and rail lines, or tailwater from flooded major streams (Pigeon Creek, for instance).

  7. Beaver for Mayor? Only the idiots of Evansville can make it happen. If this happens, then Weinzapfel will indeed look like a great mayor in comparison!

  8. My guess is we’ll choose between Weaver and Winnecke the same way Americans chose between Obama and Romney, by spinning a roulette wheel, saying eenie meenie minie moe, and throwing darts at photos on a wall.

    I guess I’ll be voting Libertarian after all.

  10. Did Beaver ever show proof to the CCO of the alleged sign stealing last election or can we officially say he was full of it?

  11. Editor:

    Please explain how Mantis Toboggan’s comment deserves to survive any more than his/her first posting above.

    It is offensive, off message, crude, rude and insensitive, among other things.

    Please remove it and MT from your board.

Comments are closed.