IS IT TRUE April 24, 2012
IS IT TRUE that a most unusual sewer bill for the last month for a home in Newburgh was made known to the CCO yesterday?…that what is unusual about this sewer bill is that the actual water use which is widely thought to be the basis for the sewer charge was clearly recorded as ZERO?…that the monthly charge for that 31 day period of ZERO USE was $42.41?…that the charge of $42.41 was the same when the use was over 2,000 gallons per month?…that this is an example of decoupling gone wild?…that if one uses ZERO water that the charge for sewer should be ZERO as well?…that if there is a nominal fee it should not be $42.41, it should be more like $5?…that the water bill for ZERO use was not ZERO either?…that the charge for ZERO water was $7.22?…that the sewer charge for ZERO is exactly 487% higher than the water bill?
IS IT TRUE that we have just learned that 2011 was a year in which a record was set for the number of United States citizens who renounced their citizenship?…that just a few years ago the average number of American citizens who renounced their citizenship averaged just under 500 per year…that the number has been growing since 2009 and that last year 1,788 Americans renounced their citizenship?…that is an increase of over 250% in just three years?…that there is not any exit interview study that has been released to the public so there is no way right now to know why these people have decided to become citizens of someplace else?…that most of the opinions that have been expressed about this phenomena revolve around the complicated nature of American taxation and in particular how foreign income is taxed?…that this may be true and is an easy answer but what if that is not the reason?…that we expect that the long time number of 500 per year was a baseline that was dominated by people who may have married a foreign national or had some philosophical disagreement with the American Republic?…that the additional people renouncing their citizenship are in most likelihood economic refuges of some sort?…that America has always been a place that people come to for opportunity as opposed to a place that they flee?…that these canaries in the American coal mine merit serious study because if we are losing our job creators over economic policies and tax laws we had better get busy and change that?
IS IT TRUE that the WalMart Corporation is making news for allegedly paying bribes to local officials in Mexico to get permits issued faster?…that this should not surprise anyone and that the use of bribes to public officials to grease the wheels of commerce while disgusting has been going on in every country including the United States for as long as there have been public officials to be greased?…that the United States and especially local governments find ways for pet projects to move to the front of the line or be escorted through the process all of the time?…that what is called a bribe in Mexico is called a political contribution in the United States?…that the end result is the same?…that when a favor is done for a person or a company that was not customarily done for everyone and money exchanges hands that is in effect a bribe?
IS IT TRUE that private vetting efforts on the Earthcare Energy deal continue and more information turns up nearly every day?…that this information is being made available to elected officials who should have known such things before a vote was held on the loan?…that there are some very concerned people in the halls of local government right now?…that some of the people in local government are “as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs”?
Will these people bring these concerns before the City Council and request that these issues be discussed and suggest that a re-vote should occur in light of the new information? If they are going to sit on their hands with their mouths shut, they are part of the problem not part of the solution.
Some are on the City Council and yes a re-examination is the goal. Wish them well.
Sounds promising, but based on the past I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for it to happen.
Is Winnecke a big enough man to admit that he got flim-flammed? Will O’Daniel and Adams switch their votes? Either of those things can get this vetted before writing a check. I’m with you on not holding any breath though.
Editor: great news, if you go out to the Johnson Controls case on IURC website (Cause # 44123), and look at the Joint Petition, the Evansville Water & Sewer admit that they base sewer billings on the amount of actual water used. If they give you any gruff when you call them about reversing the sewer charge, hit them with a copy of the Joint Petition–that’s about as clear as you can get. If EWS can’t even get this right, how can we expect them to pull off a $ 79 Million project with Johnson Controls ???
If you dig deeper you will find that the Evansville Waterworks will charge you for water service if you own property in Evansville, regardless of whether you use water or not, or you have connected a pipe to the city’s water meter. In that instance you will be billed about $43 per month, simply because you own a vacant lot in Evansville with a water meter on it (and the city won’t let you remove the water meter, because it’s their property).
He states the bill was for a home in Newburgh. I think then, that it would be Chandler Utilities he would have to take his concerns up with. They just put in a new system, and it reads remotely. I think the system in Chandler is leaps ahead from what I was experiencing with the bills in Evansville last fall.
Regarding renouncing the citizenship status. It is all about avoiding the insane taxation system in the U.S. More and more people are revolting by “Opting Out” of the system.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/07/20/more-rich-americans-renounce-u-s-citizenship-for-lower-taxes/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_citizen_movement
Think about this, if we all “Opt Out”, then we give the Federal Government no real choices of how to raise revenue.
Also, remember that the only reason that we have legal income taxes is because a Court had ruled that since they were “Voluntary”, that Income Taxes were legally applied. Does anyone feel that they are still “Voluntary”?
AAU
There can be no doubt that some of the U.S. citizens who have renounced their citizenship have done so in protest over the policies of the President of the United States, who seems to be hell-bent on transforming this country into a totalitarian police state. Let us never forget that there is an index of economic freedom, and the United States is less free than Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Canada, Chile, Mauritus, and Ireland.
While is off topic, why the heck does the EVSC have the parking lot next to their abandoned administration offices chained off so it can’t be used by Civic Center patrons or people going to the Centre or Ford Center. Half of the Civic Center back 40 parking lot will be torn up for months, and the EVSC brass seems to be giving the taxpayers the middle finger salute by chaining off a parking lot they don’t even use.
Very good point! Our tax money paid for it.
GToe, thanks for the response. The EVSC “brain trust” refuses to let taxpayers (repeat taxpayers) park in the Civic Center lot of their abandoned HQ.
They will probably tell a sob story about liability issues. If liability issues are the reason, why didn’t they close it after hours while they were still using it? Why don’t they have the parking lots at Old North and the Support Services Bldg. across Stringtown Rd. chained off if liability issues such a concern?
They should put up a kiosk and charge a fee to park there. I am sure the EVSC could make enough money to pay the attendant and have some left over to pay tuition for some cronies.
In Mexico a bribe is called “La Mordida.” The word literally means “the bite.”
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