IS IT TRUE we first wish to advise all of our readers to drive and walk with caution today as the Tri-State seems to have had another run-in with mother nature’s snow machine?…this will of course be particularly true in downtown Evansville where the Barnett Doctrine of “let the empty buildings shovel their own snow†is still in force?…Yukon Cornelius is still looking for gold and silver in downtown Evansville and it is a good thing he has a sled and a dog pack to moooosh because otherwise he would fall flat on his butt like some downtown worker or even a possible shopper will probably do today?…local government still finds it perfectly acceptable to spend $127 Million on a temple to sport with another $40 Million plus being considered for a hotel yet spending $500 to clear the sidewalks is unaffordable and out of the question?…sometimes visitors to Evansville must think Neanderthals are in charge of city government?
IS IT TRUE that site selectors now advise local economic development officials that their website is just about the only way to make it through to round two in a business attraction project?…the only thing that can get a location to round two without a website that is informative and easy to navigate is a strong personal relationship?…over 90% of acceptable locations do not even make round two because of website deficiencies?…the CCO would like to commend the SW Indiana Coalition for Economic Development for establishing and maintaining a most excellent and easy to navigate website?…this website is probably why the Evansville region really does make the cut and always seems to have lots of opportunities to pursue?…getting beyond round two however takes things like a ready to go workforce, specialized talent, and infrastructure?…only after those things are cleared does one make the final round?…exemplary websites may cause lots of interest but cannot eliminate problems like dilapidated infrastructure, dysfunctional government, and an inadequate workforce?…we seem to have great icing but a cake of questionable quality?…it is time to fix the cake?
IS IT TRUE world economists are now projecting that the Eurozone will have a contracting economy in 2013 due to continued debt issues in Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Ireland?… they will all of course be looking to Germany to bail them out again?…one must wonder just how long the German people are going to tolerate being the lender of last resort to irresponsible dysfunctional countries?…one may ask how on earth does that affect us here in the United States and why do we care?…it is about customers, markets and investments?…the USA is a strong trading partner with the Eurozone and has maintained a win-win relationship for years?…if more turmoil comes into the Eurozone financial markets we will suffer too?
IS IT TRUE that on the home front there is both good news and bad news?…that hiring in the private sector while slow is consistent and positive so from an unemployment perspective the worst seems to finally be behind us?…that is not to be confused with something that is acceptable or prosperous but it should diminish some of the paranoia that has had the country in a funk for 5 years now?…the latest self defeating micro-blow is the fact that the reinstatement of the 2% FICA tax that hits the average family for about $1,000 per year combined with the spike in gas prices has flat-lined consumer spending?…consumer spending is about 70% of the US economy so this avoidable phenomena will hurt earnings which will hurt hiring, etc. etc. etc.?…the comes at a time that the Obama Administration is crowing about not raising taxes on the middle class and doubling the gas mileage on cars?…sometimes one has to wonder if the President and Congress are even living on the same planet that regular people are?…that both of the President’s claims are either extreme delusion or outright lies?…what is really disappointing is that lots of people apparently believe him when he says gas mileage has doubled and that we all got a tax cut?…the cognizance of the entire country or maybe the interest in politics is perfectly reflected in Evansville’s electorate?…maybe we should send the City Council to Washington as they seem a capable as our congress is?
The wealth gap is higher than ever and has steadily gotten bigger since Obama took office. Doesn’t sound like socialism to me.
The demeanor of this article seems depressing.
I readily understand that.
However, I discern that the writer is a member of my generation.
My generation caused all this mess.
My generation, the most spoiled, most wealthy,most self-important, generation in the history of the world screwed this up for everyone to follow.You are very welcome.
I have children that will inherit the biggest damn number I have ever seen that will be their debt. They really thank us for that.
We, you and I, have really screwed this up.
We are to blame.
When we look in the mirror, yep, that’s who to blame.
Actually I wrote it and I am 56 years old. I was in elementary school when President Johnson pushed the great society through congress. I had never heard the word entitlement at the time and my friends parents all worked. Nearly all of us lived in homes with both of our parents. The great society programs in my opinion are responsible for the decline of the school system, the dilapidation of American cities, the increase in dependency, and the decline of two parent families. Personally I do not like what the great society has done to American society. To his credit, I do support President Johnson’s civil rights legislation.
Over the course of my life I have taken student loans to go to college that I paid back and never taken any public assistance even when I could have. I have paid many hundreds of thousands in taxes and today find myself nearing retirement age with rising taxes, runaway energy costs, and declining asset values. Sometimes I think we should all just go on the dole for 6 months and crash the system so it can finally be fixed.
I have also never voted for a President or any other official who openly supported programs designed to encourage dependency and I never will. I do not know your name or age so I can’t comment on whether or not we are contemporaries. What I do know is if our government does not adopt responsible sustainable policies that we will both have to work ourselves into the grave to keep the lights on, a roof over our head, and food on the table.
Joe, why stop at Johnson? If we’re strolling through the historical records of disastrous presidencies, let’s look at two of the other big 20th Century culprits – Wilson and FDR.
Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law, and the 16th Amendment (Federal Income Tax) also happened under his watch, not to mention we managed to get dragged into The Great War under him in which 320,000 Americans were killed or wounded. He also laid the groundwork for the League of Nations, the forerunner to the modern UN, which is a threat to national sovereignty and lends an air of officialism and acceptability to the inequities of sanctions on so-called “rogue” nations. Wilson was a disaster unlike the country had seen until that time. It is only through the lens of succeeding history that the studious can understand – through a proper analysis of the roots causes of the Great Depression, the onset of WWII, and the move toward greater socialist and globalist foreign policies – just how detrimental the Wilson presidency was.
Now on to FDR…. Contrary to popular misconception, the people to whom we in the US apply the label of “The Greatest Generation” were really anything but. Why? Exhibit A for this assertion lies in the fact they elected a professed socialist, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, to the highest office three times. FDR managed to do this nation more harm in his terms in office than any other US president before or since, and that includes Wilson, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Bush II and Barack Obama.
Wartime Presidents, with the possible exception of Johnson, typically get treated kindly by history – cases in point being Washington (who although wasn’t President at the time, was the leader of the Revolution), Lincoln, FDR, and Wilson. One of these men was a true hero and patriot who, when offered a kingship, turned it down and urged a republican form of government, the other three deserve far more scrutiny and criticism than history has thus far given them. Their policies on everything from debt, inflation and conscription to social welfare and wage and price controls should be ridiculed as the foolish experiments they are. The biggest offender was undoubtedly Roosevelt.
I hope all our armchair historians begin to deprogram the crap they were told in school and actually begin to read history critically. As bad as Barack Obama is, he is still a long shot from our worst president in history. Unfortunately, we’ve been trained to believe the true worst presidents are the BEST! This makes a lot of sense when you think about it. It’s kinda like how the oppressed people of North Korea openly wept when Kim Jong Il died. Thus was the extent of the dependency and brainwashing.
There is no reason to stop with Johnson but he did his damage in my life so I chose to do my comment that way. Were it not for the softening up of the American resilience that occured due to the policies of Wilson and FDR, Johnson’s great society would have been laughed off.
To use the old analogy of boiling a frog, Wilson put the frog in the water, FDR lit a slow burning fire, and Johnson jumped at the opportunity to pour on the gas to boil the already exhausted frog. The result is playing itself out now.
Agreed. Did you see where Indiana just voted to nullify NDAA: http://blog.tenthamendmentcenter.com/2013/02/indiana-senate-passes-ndaa-nullification-31-17/
By the way, my rant wasn’t directed at you, Joe. I know you know all this stuff.
I never thought it was. You added to the dialog.
The rich are richer now then they were then. Where’s all the wealth redistribution that schmuck Joe the plumber warned of? With all this crying about entitlements, I sure don’t see guys like the Koch bros suffering too much.
David Hamilton Koch (pron.: /ˈkoʊk/; born May 3, 1940) is an American businessman, philanthropist, political activist, and chemical engineer. He is a co-owner (with older brother Charles) and an executive vice president of Koch Industries, a conglomerate that is the second-largest privately held company in the United States.[7] Koch is the fourth richest person in America as of 2012,[8] and the second-richest resident of New York City as of 2010.[3][4]
He is a major patron of the arts and had contributed to several charities, including Lincoln Center, Sloan Kettering, a fertility clinic at New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the American Museum of Natural History’s David H. Koch Dinosaur Wing.[9] The New York State Theater at Lincoln Center, home of the New York City Ballet was renamed the David H. Koch Theater in 2008 following a gift of 100 million dollars for the renovation of the theater. Condé Nast Portfolio described him as “one of the most generous but low-key philanthropists in America”.[10] He and his brother Charles have also donated to political advocacy groups, including Americans for Prosperity.[3] He is a survivor of the USAir Flight 1493 crash in 1991
Charles de Ganahl Koch (pron.: /ˈkoÊŠk/; born November 1, 1935) is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is co-owner, chairman of the board, and chief executive officer of Koch Industries Inc., the second-largest privately held company by revenue in the United States according to a 2010 Forbes survey.[5] As of October 2012, Charles was ranked the 6th richest person in the world with an est. net worth of $37.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.[6] He was ranked 18th on Forbes World’s Billionaires list of 2011 (and 4th on the Forbes 400), with an estimated net worth of $25 billion, deriving from his 42% stake in Koch Industries.[3] His brother David H. Koch, also owns 42% of Koch Industries, and serves as Executive Vice President. The brothers inherited the business from their father, Fred C. Koch, and have since expanded the business to 2,600 times its inherited size. Originally involved exclusively in oil refining and chemicals, Koch Industries has expanded to include process and pollution control equipment and technologies, polymers and fibers, minerals, fertilizers, commodity trading and services, forest and consumer products, and ranching, producing a wide variety of well-known brands, such as Stainmaster carpet, Lycra fiber, Quilted Northern tissue and Dixie paper products.
Koch provides financial support for a number of public policy and charitable organizations, including the Institute for Humane Studies and the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. He co-founded the Washington, DC-based Cato Institute. Through the Koch Cultural Trust, founded by Charles Koch’s wife, Elizabeth, the Koch family has also funded artistic projects and creative artists.[7]
In 2007, Koch’s book The Science of Success was published. The book describes his management philosophy, which is referred to as “Market-Based Management”.[8]
It looks to me like the Koch brothers give away a very significant portion of their wealth, unlike many liberal politicians who find it fashionable to flirt with socialism now that Obama is President.
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How do you catch wild hogs…leave corn in the forest, they will come and eat…after a while, pull up a roll of fence, they will be concerned for a bit, but will keep coming and eating..pull up another roll of fencing, again they will be concerned, but will keep on eating, eventually, the last roll will be the gate, close the gate and you will have the entire herd…they will be discontent for awhile, but, grow comfortable in the pen, without their freedom…is this America? “the goveernment that gives everything, will take everything” Ronald Reagon!
This whole read of comments is just a Smile,….and a Wow! Thanks to CCO!
You have created a wonderful forum, with an occasional bit of intrigue thrown in for fun. Keep ‘m coming. Crash
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