IS IT TRUE January 22, 2013

IS IT TRUE President Obama set a good example for a country that struggles with health and obesity issues by choosing to walk the mile or so from the steps of the Capitol where he was sworn in as President of the United States to the White House where he will live the next 4 years?…of all things that are poised to make a financial mockery of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) the UNAFFORDABILITY of healthcare and health insurance under the terms of that act is the one that has the potential to cause future changes to be necessary?…if we Americans were in better health it may have not been the case that a projection of savings of $2,500 per year per family would not have changed into an increase of $3,500 per year per family just in anticipation of the January 2014 implementation of the ACA?…there were many good and assertive intentions for the expansion of progressive policies by President Obama in yesterday’s inauguration speech yet the subject of the economy was barely even hinted at?…in poll after poll nationwide the people of this country on both sides of the political spectrum choose THE ECONOMY over every other social issue under consideration?…for the most part since the dawn of civilization PROSPERITY is what leads to expanded freedoms and the ability to protect RIGHTS that are just words on paper unless the ability and willingness to protect those rights is possible?…the plight of the American family from an economic perspective during the last 5 years has degraded due to the economy by nearly $10,000 per household?…that is made up of the $4,000 pay decrease, the $3,500 increase in health insurance premiums, and the cost increases in everyday items like gasoline, electrical power, and food that are conveniently omitted from official government data of cost of living?…it would not be a stretch to advise or even beg the President to put economic policies into place to grow the economy first so that the ideological policies some of which are long overdue will not evaporate into the vacuum of poverty and day to day struggle to survive?

IS IT TRUE that the Signature High School in downtown Evansville has been ranked among the Top 10 high schools in the United States for several years now?…no other school in the State of Indiana even cracks the Top 500?…the performance and recognition that the Signature School has achieved has it in a position that a lottery is held to see who gets to attend?…there are more than two times the applications as there are spots in each class?…Signature School was not always as celebrated as it is now?…this writer was a Signature parent in the early days and that the decision to choose Signature School was opposed and ridiculed by some of the teachers and administrators at the middle school level?…it could even be said that the biggest enemy of the formation and expansion of the Signature School were the EVSC teachers and administrators?…we should all think back to the origins of the Signature School and how much courage was shown in the face of hostility to make our now nationally ranked and celebrated high school a reality?…the old guard of Evansville is often on the wrong side of prosperous changes and the Signature School is something that many opposed?…we are all better off that the downer dopes who opposed Sig did not get what they wanted in the early days?…the CCO once again celebrates and congratulates Signature High School for all of its accomplishments?

IS IT TRUE that it has now been over 1,650 days since then Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel announced that a 4-Star hotel would be coming to downtown Evansville if only we would build a new arena?…that really turned out to be a colossal disappointment and a lesson in the realities of value and financing for the City of Evansville?…this week we may finally learn the price that will have to be paid to get a quality owner operator to put down roots in downtown Evansville and build a hotel?…the incentive package is expected to exceed $40 Million not counting the demolition of the Executive Inn or the value of the land?…it will soon be up to the Evansville City Council to decide whether or not the people of Evansville will be giving an out of town developer a $40 Million incentive to compete against the other hotels that are in this region through their own private investment?…we understand that the City of Evansville may even be asked provide incentives for retail space, restaurant space, and more residential units to make a hotel happen?…as residential units goes we are expecting to see some action this year down at the McCurdy Hotel to add 90 or so apartments to the downtown mix?…the McCurdy was once slated to be incented to the tune of $20,000 per apartment?…we shall learn soon if that is still the case?…it will be nearly impossible to get unsubsidized development into downtown Evansville without a dramatic uptick in values?