IS IT TRUE? Part 2: April 4, 2011
IS IT TRUE that the question was asked, ” how did the USST keep all of their people and the Eastern Europe Countries under Communism for so long?…that the answer is in 4-1-11 edition of the Wall Street Journal. However, it didn’t mention the USSR, Communism or Socialism by name?…that it did reveal that in the United States, we now have more people working for the Government,—than people working in manufacturing, farming, construction, fishing, and forestry put together?…that the Government, regardless of political affiliations, uses the power of these monetary hand outs and calls them “jobs of necessity” to guarantee a form of political support.
IS IT TRUE that from the days of the Roman Empire, this form of patronage system has destroyed those governments naive enough to try it?…that eventually, the Governments find they are paying too much out– and little is coming in?…that the results are a total collapse of the monetary system, the will to work, and the re-evaluation of the currency, which leads to massive poverty?
IS IT TRUE that prominent psychologists have opined for years that the trouble with narcissists is that they are not even aware that they are narcissists?…that recently some scholarly work indicates that narcissists are completely aware of their narcissism?…that Dr. Scott Barry Kaufmann published an abstract to that effect just last week?…that reading this abstract and seeing the traits of narcissists is almost like reading a biography of high ranking elected officials?…that you may read this report on the following link?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-barry-kaufman/do-narcissists-know-they-_b_840894.html
IS IT TRUE that there is a heated debate brewing over the concept of threshold rejection as it applies to the consolidation effort to join the City of Evansville and Vanderburgh County under a single government?…that there are some that think that it is unfair to have separate elections one in the city and one in the county both of which must pass to allow consolidation to go forward?…that there are some very passionate people who believe that the so called “one person one vote†process that has been sanctioned by the Vanderburgh County Commissioners (Winnecke, Tornatta, Melcher) is basically a way for the less wealthy, highly debt laden, and shrinking City of Evansville to hijack the more prosperous county and tax them into paying the sins of the city past?…that on first blush this seems to be a supportable conclusion?…that if there is to be consolidation that it needs to be with the consent of the governed?…that a “one person one vote†scenario where either the City of Evansville or unincorporated Vanderburgh County reject consolidation will not constitute the consent of the governed?…that land grab or not, consolidation needs to have the consent of the governed to go forward?…that if the county is taken over without permission of the county at the ballot box that the bordering counties shall benefit from a wave of refugees from the new borders of the City of Evansville?
IS IT TRUE that the Butler Bulldogs will be seeking the first NCAA basketball championship ever for their school and the first for an Indiana college since Keith Smart’s buzzer beater took down Syracuse in 1987 and brought the trophy back to Bloomington and IU for Coach Bobby Knight?…that the City County Observer will be glued to the TV in support of Butler this evening?
I support consolidation but only if it is highly beneficial to the city. We have got to convert to 21st century smart growth principles if we have any desire to preserve and expand at the same time.
…and it is reasonable to assume, from the manner in which you made your statement, that you could care less what benefit those “taken over” by the city receive from consolidation? That has a familiar ring to it! Hey, who knows, maybe they’ll build a high speed rail link between Daylight, Armstrong, Euphoria, Darmstadt and downtown! Yeah, I know, if you’re neighbor is “doing well”, it also benefits you, even if you are the one paying your neighbors debts.
It’s pretty obvious that Magic Man to this day still doesn’t have a clue about high speed rail but yet decides to keep on attacking it day in and day out without a clue of the difference btw high speed rail, light rail, and commuter rail. Let me guess Magic Man you worked in rail and you were just being sarcastic, right?
In regards to soon2b, the Lexington no growth zone worked well until they violated it and now the city is sprawling all over the place in shambles. They fully regret going past New Circle Road.
There is no reason to build in the county when sewers in the city haven’t been put in yet. This is how the southeastern side got in the mess it’s in.
Is it true that I just read Eville Taxpayers post and laughed endlessly at the simple fact that I would motivate him to waste 5 mins of his life to make that kind of post. YES! Yes it’s true!
You apparently do not know the difference between storm sewers, sanitary sewers, and combination sewers. The residentially developed area of Knight-out whose sanitary sewage drains through the southeast side, had separate storm sewers that drain through either Angel Mounds via Kolb Ditch, or through K-1 pump station via Aiken Ditch, with no problems.
The area I assume you and the Smart Growth nitwits would designate “no-growth” is on the far northwest, northern, and northeast sides of the county, and you have yet to explain how you propose to legally and morally deprive the landowners of their right to fullest and best use of their private propety.
The Lexington model was designed to serve the rich horse elite. The Portland model is a model of urban oligarchy. We don’t need a consolidation that steals taxes from the property owners who it also robs of property rights.
Sorry to disappoint. I do know the difference between these various forms of rail transport. I also understand the cost of acquiring right-of-way, the cost of dealing with intersecting roadways, the cost of constructing a suitable roadbed and laying appropriate rail and installing the signal and communications systems. Oh, yeah, and I did work for a major railroad for 17 years.
“There is no reason to build in the county when sewers in the city haven’t been put in yet. This is how the southeastern side got in the mess it’s in”
These two sentences tell so much about you. Obviously you don’t understand that the minimum building lot size where sewers aren’t available is 2.5 acres. This is more than adequate to handle a private, effective sewage disposal system as well as have one or two alternate locations should it eventually have problems.
“There is no reason to build in the country”
Really? Who says so? You? Who cares? Who died and made you Lord over everyone else’s property rights? If I own property in the country, why should you or anyone else have the right to tell me I can’t live on it or sell it to someone who wants to? Nice guy! I’ll remember that when you want to take away some of my property for your high speed rail fiasco.
I haven’t researched it extensively but I seem to recall that Lexington’s “no growth” deal wasn’t actually no growth. They made the minimum building lot 10 acres. As Soon2B mentioned, this was a deal to help the rich have their own little private horsie domain, not control growth. Ya know, to keep out the riffraff.
After all, country living should be an exclusive right of the wealthy. It’s not for common workin’ folk. They belong in the city either in highrise apartments or in small homes on postage stamp lots.
Right on, Bro!
Ain’t it a kick in the ol’ keister when you got some young snot nose fresh outta school and still livin’ in mommy and daddy’s basement trying to tell grown-ups how we ought to live our lives?!?
You worked in high speed rail for 17 years? Unless you worked on the ACELA in NYC you didn’t even come close to it unless you worked out of the country. For the last time, high speed rail is NOT regular freight rail, not even close.
And HSR costs 1/4th the price of interstates. A hsr line takes up .42 of a football field while interstates take up 1.10. Don’t know where you’re getting your info from.
Like you said, you haven’t been to Lexington much less New Circle road so you have no idea just how big of a cluster it is. I’ll give you a clue, go to Pearl Drive on the westside.
If you want to live in the county than you pay more for the more expensive infrastructure and you pay for your own kids to go to their public schools. I went to a catholic high school and still have to pay for BOTH evansville and vanderburgh county public school students. You never hear of anyone lobbying to break up the EVSC. Heck they’re building new North out in the boondocks.
I guess you suppose I-69 wouldn’t be taking away your property would you? Yea surrrreee.
Soon2b,
“Ain’t it a kick in the ol’ keister when you got some young snot nose fresh outta school and still livin’ in mommy and daddy’s basement trying to tell grown-ups how we ought to live our lives?!?”
The real kick in the ol’ keister, is when you realize that the “snot nosed fresh outta school”… blah blah blah… learned his “smart growth principles”, from our dear, elder, “leadership”.
Yea, you know the “adults” treating us like adults – the smoking police, the entertainment venue experts, the condo development pros, the gage festival wizzes, the Opus One wine chugglers?
So, what I take from your comment regarding so-called Smart Growth is that you would have the city government power-take the unincorporated areas of our county, and then impose a no-growth zone outside the present extent of urban development? Something like they did in Lexington or even worse in Portland? So that we in the county will have our taxes raised to benefit the blighted urban core to which you would restrict in-fill only development, while our property values in the rural areas would plummet because we couldn’t put our vacant land on the real estate market for development? Is that your idea of “expand and preserve” at the same time?
Anybody that still doesn’t get the fact that legitimate “benefits” from consolidation are marginal at best, isn’t paying attention…
Is it true that anybody that still will say they “support consolidation but only if it is highly beneficial to the city.”, needs counseling?
There is a limit to how irrational, fence-sitters can go to take benefits from both alternatives and make them your position.
Is it true, this alternative co-opting is ruining our society?
The: I support attacking Lybia, as long as we’re not spending as much as we would if we were in the full “lead”, paying for it all… positions?
The: I support Obamacare, as long as it reduces the overall “costs” of healthcare – as long as my bill isn’t higher… positions?
The: I support tax cuts & increases as long as they beneficially impact my personal budget… positions?
The: I ran for state house to work for the taxpayers, but if I don’t get my way I’ll flee to hide out in Urbana… positions?
“that there are some very passionate people who believe that the so called “one person one vote†process that has been sanctioned by the Vanderburgh County Commissioners (Winnecke, Tornatta, Melcher) is basically a way for the less wealthy, highly debt laden, and shrinking City of Evansville to hijack the more prosperous county and tax them into paying the sins of the city past?…that on first blush this seems to be a supportable conclusion?…that if there is to be consolidation that it needs to be with the consent of the governed?…that a “one person one vote†scenario where either the City of Evansville or unincorporated Vanderburgh County reject consolidation will not constitute the consent of the governed?…that land grab or not, consolidation needs to have the consent of the governed to go forward?…”
Words worth repeating! I could care less if consolidation comes to a vote or not. Bring it on! The problem is, without Rejection Threshold, it is a RIGGED vote. 100% of rural voters could vote it down but it could still pass. Exactly how is that fair?
This whole thing stinks as badly as the Executive Inn debacle. That was so well orchestrated but not in a manner that didn’t make it all look like a pre-planned scam perpetrated on the taxpayers. With Weinzapfel’s arrogance, he didn’t care about that. All he wanted to do was get what he wanted by manipulating events so they occurred in their proper sequence so the outcome was assured. This project was so chock full of “Points of no return”, its outcome was a given, at least, until the wheels began to come off his political machine.
The same with consolidation. The Chamber of Commerce “wrote” the law that they then came to Evansville with. They then promoted its use, taking advantage of the loophole they intentionally put in the law to make passage a slam dunk (ability to leave out rejection threshold). Evansville is their own little private experiment in government manipulation.
Their sales pitch was that it would make business grow like crazy. They just didn’t bother to specify exactly how. The Chamber is very long on rhetoric and extremely short on facts, maybe because no one dare grill them in public. The Chamber created an imaginary, dire need for consolidation. They genetically manipulated the seed and planted it.
The League of Women Voters then played the role of their little puppets and got the subject opened up with their petition that took three whole months to get completed!. They (the Chamber) then used their political influence to ensure rejection threshold was eliminated. Their political servants, not ours, did their bidding flawlessly.
The Chamber claims that we have too many stumbling blocks without consolidation for businesses to locate here. When the government officials at the meeting were asked to specify what those stumbling blocks were, they were totally silent. For people who make their living flapping their jaws, why was that? The Chamber officials also failed to point out any specific stumbling blocks. Heck, why be specific when you don’t have to? When no one holds your feet to the fire, you can say any kind of crap you want to and claim it as fact.
Then, here comes the illustious consolidation committee. Their consultant, probably because he was told to, “offers” city residents a tax cut that is made up for by a tax increase to rural dwellers. Nothing like buying votes!! Notice how the figures were somewhere close to revenue neutral? Of course, there was absolutely no justification for raising rural taxes nor cutting city taxes, for that matter. Nothing additional was going to be received and nothing taken away. Just buying the votes of the majority.
The committee then hints at eliminating the sewer surcharge for rural dwellers. Sure, let’s buy some more votes while we’re at it. My question is, if they can afford to cut out that charge under consolidation, why can’t they just do it now? Consolidation has absolutely nothing to do with Water & Sewer’s overhead. It won’t reduce their costs.
Do you really believe they will just drop the 35% surcharge and take the hit on their income? Only a fool would believe that. If it happens at all, they then will raise rates overall to make up for it. They will have to. They will have no choice. It will simply be stuck in with another rate increase in an attempt to hide it from public view. It’ll be like spending $5 in gas to save $1.50 on that package of paper towels.
Lest we not forget, I could not find any public official commenting on the proposed 2011 ballot date for consolidation other than to say it might not be legal since it was not a regular election year outside the city. Really? No kidding? How about what SHOULD have been the reason to not hold it in 2011?? That it wouldn’t be FAIR to rural voters as that would be the only reason for them to go to the polls? More vote-rigging that was attempted? I bet there are those that are pining that it couldn’t be done.
This whole thing is like one of those chincy commercials selling some widget you can’t do without. “Normally it is $29.95 but, if you are one of the fist 200 callers, you can get it for just $9.95! We’ll even throw in a second one free, plus S&H! Call now!!! Time is tunning out!!” All the while, you are watching the caller count tick up. Hurry! Run to the phone! Others are getting there before you!!! Of course, any idiot should realize that this commercial was recorded months before and that caller count is totally bogus!!
If anything, everyone should vote NO on consolidation just to show groups like the Chamber of Commerce that they need to butt out of governmental affairs. Writing our laws and then campaigning for their implementation?? Come on! We should boycott all non-essential businesses that are members of the Chamber and explain to the owner exactly why we are doing so. Businessmen with a conscience should terminate their memberships.
Of course, this entire scenario is simply a figment of my imagination, until proven otherwise. I claim none of it to be factual unless proven by actual events. Everything has been changed to suit my own little reality.
As if it is not bad enough for taxpayers to be forced to pay for all the financial benefits that local business receives due to laws that were drafted by Chamber attorneys and either lobbied for or hidden in other legislation, and believe me when I tell you those benefits run into the multiple-millions of $$$$ annually here in Evansville, the Chamber now wants to extend its influence into deciding the very type of government we will live under.
There seems to be much confusion about this whole process, and the best advice that can be offered for understanding what is going on is also the oldest advice: “follow the money”.
_
“Do you really believe they will just drop the 35% surcharge and take the hit on their income? Only a fool would believe that. If it happens at all, they then will raise rates overall to make up for it. They will have to. They will have no choice. It will simply be stuck in with another rate increase in an attempt to hide it from public view. It’ll be like spending $5 in gas to save $1.50 on that package of paper towels.”
Perfect example of how the plan is defective and the statute has not been followed to it’s intended end. The Crowe Horwath report of the economic impact of the plan was completed BEFORE the committee decided to mandate the end of the 35% rural upcharge for sewer services.
Yes, the common council will have to raise taxes in BOTH the urban services district and the general services district to raise the money lost by dropping the 35% upcharge. Or the water and sewer utility will have to boost the sewer services fee for the general services district to recoup the difference. Either way, the plan is defective because the Crowe Horwath report doesn’t take this and several other factors into account resulting from decisions made by the committee AFTER the Crowe Horwath report was finished and published.
I think it violates the intent of the enabling statute to move forward with the plan before correcting and finishing the Crowe Horwath report. But then I’m not a lawyer, and I’m just a guy looking for a new home in Warrick County or Owensboro, KY, if this plan passes referendum.
Editor,
Why is soon2b’s personal attacks allowed on here?
If you’re arguing about fairness I would agree with you. They would never say that without having to hide behind their screen names which separates them from me. But truth be told, I love it when they post stuff like that on there. It just proves that they’re about to get embarrassed on election night and it’s starting to get under their skin.
The Mosby’s are desperate and I LOVE IT. Al Lindsey is about to give them a lesson or two in how to have a fair and honest political career. This time next year I highly doubt you will see soon2b and mfcdkw around here. In all likelihood it’s the same person anyways and that person will be on the outside looking in.
Make no mistake, the future is very bright if we go to the polls and put the right people in office.
Once again young man, you are wrong. Soon2b and I are not the same person. I don’t know who he or she is. As far as being around here next year, Good Lord Willing, I’ll be here. I certainly won’t let election results of canidates that I support run me off. If bad results of elections ran people away, we wouldn’t be talking lindsey, would we.
I’ve been accused of being Annie Groves, Debi Mosby, now Soon2b.
Keep guessing.
Go Butler
Well at least I finally found something I can agree with you on: Go Butler
It’s always good to agree on something. Go Dawgs
I’m glad I came to this website before I decided to vote. Soon2b, you should be ashamed of your conduct. When you post vile and vicious comments like you just did, it speaks volumes about your candidate Mr. Watts. If you can’t stick to debating public policy than perhaps you just shouldn’t post on her at all. I sure hope Mr. Watts doesn’t condone yours and mfcdkw’s conduct.
Have I said anything on this site that isn’t true. When I have ask pointed question about someone, they don’t respond.
I have never, I repeat, never said anything about anybody on one of my post that wasn’t true. But like Jack Nickelson said, You can’t handle the truth.
I’m sorry if you feel I used a vile epitaph. Please change “snot nose” to “green-behind-the-ears kid.” And if you truly are a school teacher, please learn when to use “then” instead of “than” and “here” instead of “her” and “as you just did” instead of “like you just did.”
Looks like soon2b has gotten off his meds…I hope the city and county consolidate just so I can get on here and watch soon2b go off the deep end… Soon2b are you related to Charlie Sheen by any chance?
Ma’m/Sir, I am not debating that your comments are true or untrue, what I am arguing is that your comments towards railoverauto, usa1975, 6thwarddemocrat, and anyone else who supports Mr. Lindsey have been vicious, vile, and personal to say the least.
I don’t know how connected you are with the Mosby camp, but if I were Mr. Watts I would immediately distance myself from you, soon2b, and Debbie Mosby herself if I had any dignity about me. Until then, perhaps my vote for Mr. Watts would be a bad idea.
I truly hope you are ashamed by the comments you post on here and will reconsider how you treat your fellow neighbors.
I don’t know what you’ve been reading. I’ve been called a thug, good ol boy, idiot and many other names. Not ONCE have I called anyone on this site a name. Why don’t you have anything to say about the things that are said about other people on this site. You want to talk about vicious and vile. I guess you don’t count what they say as treating your fellow neighbors badly. Don’t look at what I say under a microscope while you look at the Lindsey supportes through rose colored glasses.
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