IS IT TRUE that a deferral of responsibility for maintenance loophole popped up this week that is likely to be exploited in the future?…several years ago the EVSC was “given” ownership of Bosse Field because the City of Evansville asserted that they could not pay to maintain the old classic ballpark?…if you fast forward to today, the EVSC is about to tax the residents of Vanderburgh County to pay for some maintenance of the baseball stadium that is mainly is by the money losing but always entertaining Evansville Otters?…there is something about this that seems SNEGAL even though it probably wasn’t from day one?…this loophole may be exploited in the future to lay off city responsibilities onto other taxing entities like school corporations?…we may see municipal water distribution, roads, bridges, arenas, and even sewer departments “given” to school systems so they can hide infrastructure repair taxes in school bond issues?…this is not an honest way of doing business?

IS IT TRUE that the Vanderburgh County School system is now a proud owner of a $3 1/2 million golf course located in the northern part of the county and a semi-pro baseball stadium in dire need of millions dollars worth of repairs ? …it would have been a wise investment if members of the Vanderburgh County school board would had used the money spent to buy a golf course on academic endeavors?

IS IT TRUE we are told that some parents who are sending their kids to Vanderburgh County public high schools are extremely concerned and disappointed that not one (1) student was selected as a 2017 National Merit Finalist?  … they feel the administrators of Vanderburgh County school system should never allowed this to happen?

IS IT TRUE speaking of EVSC, they have tried to re-brand their way out of poor academic performance by renaming failing schools as academies and other nonsensical concoctions of hollow words?…propaganda without substance is often where clueless people go to avoid the hard work of real improvement?

IS IT TRUE parents sending their kids to private or charter schools in Vanderburgh County should be extremely pleased  that seven (7) students attending their schools were selected as 2017 National Merit Finalist?  …we congratulate the teachers and administrators of those private and charter schools for doing a great job in preparing their students for the 2017 National Merit Finalist tests?

IS IT TRUE parents sending their kids to Castle High School should be extremely proud that seven (7) out of eight (8) Warrick County high school students were selected as 2017 National Merit Finalist?  … the administrators and school board members of Warrick County school system should be extremely pleased with themselves for providing their students with an excellent classroom educational learning environment?  …the administrators and teachers of the Newburgh Christian School should also be pleased that one on their students were also selected  as a 2017 National Merit Finalist?

IS IT TRUE  each year there are around 7,500 National Merit Finalists named across the country and this year seven (7) of them are from Vanderburgh County and eight (8) are from Warrick County?  …what is really interesting is what schools are producing these high achievers?…Mater Dei High School produced one (1) finalist, Memorial produced three (3) finalists, and the Charter Signature School produced three (3) National Merit Finalists?…no other high school in Vanderburgh County produced a single one?…the larger enrollment EVSC High Schools called North, Bosse, Central, Harrison, and Reitz produced exactly zero (0) National Merit Finalists between them?…the Evansville Day School that has in the past has been a big producer also had zero (0)?…in Vanderburgh County every student to be named a National Merit Finalists was either attending a private school or a charter school? 

Tri-State Graduations Honor Students Moving Forward

It’s that time of year again! Mater Dei high school seniors graduated Sunday evening. Graduation kicked off at 4P.M. there. Staff say many students are walking this year. Students say they are excited to move to the next phase of their…

The Ryan-Bucshon “Go Along To Get Along” Republican Party and “Omnibust”

By Richard Moss MD

Eighth District Congressman Larry Bucshon, M.D. released the following statement after the House passed legislation to fund the government:

“While this legislation is far from ideal, it nonetheless makes progress getting our priorities in order after eight years of the failed policies of the previous administration.  I wish we could have done more in this bill…”

HR 244, the “Omnibust” bill, is a 1700 page, $1.2 trillion dollar behemoth like so many other Omnibus bills passed by Republican Congresses since 2010.  Nowhere to be found was a discussion over cutting spending, eliminating wasteful programs, paying down the debt, or balancing the budget.  Just borrow and spend, boys and girls, and pass the tab onto our children.

2010 was the year the Tea Party rose up in righteous anger, having decided that Barack Obama and the Democrats had done enough damage to the country, and gave the House over to the Republicans. Speaker John Boehner shed tears as outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi handed him the Speaker’s gavel. Perhaps he was crying for all the carnage he and President Obama would unleash upon the nation.  It didn’t improve after 2014 when the Republicans took the Senate.  Nor, apparently, has it gotten any better after 2016 when Republicans took the White House with a man claiming he would “drain the swamp.”  Indeed, the Ryan-Bucshon Republicans are a living embodiment of a famous New York Yankee catcher’s oft-repeated expression about déjà vu all over again.

“Omnibust” is a Democrat’s dream.  It fully funds their agenda.  That is why 178 Democrats voted for it, compared with only 131 Republicans.  That is why both Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi praised it.  That is why one hundred and three Republicans voted against it. Congress Larry Bucshon was not one of them.  He sided with the 178 Democrats that voted for the bill.  But that is what you would expect from Larry Bucshon.  Go along to get along Larry.  Or GAGA. Not MAGA (Make America Great Again), mind you, but GAGA.  GAGA Bucshon. Speaker Paul Ryan, Establishment Republicans, and the Democrats can always count on GAGA-Bucshon to deliver the goods.

So what did GAGA-Bucshon, Paul Ryan, and the Democrats vote for?

Continued funding for refugee resettlement from the six countries Trump tried to temporarily halt. In the face of rogue activist judges preventing the nation from protecting itself from terrorists, the Republican Congress was the last stop.  They failed. The program receives $3.1 billion, the same as under Obama.

Lawless Sanctuary Cities are also fully funded, circumventing another key element of the Trump Campaign.

Planned Parenthood was funded.  Yes, our stalwart Republicans voted to use taxpayer dollars for a private organization that provides abortion services and trades in baby parts.

They funded the EPA and its war on fossil fuels and the American economy pursuant of the mythical unicorn known as “Global Warming.”

There will be an increase in the H2-B visa program allowing more low-skilled foreign workers to take American jobs.

Phony “green energy” programs within the Department of Energy will receive additional funding, this at a time when the entire Department along with a few other choice agencies and departments should be on the chopping block.

Funding for the federal judiciary was increased even as leftist federal courts engage in legal insurrection and undermine our constitutional system.

The Wall was not funded, this, a hallmark of the Trump Campaign.  Nothing less than an actual physical barrier will serve the security and immigration needs of the nation, yet this critical promise was ignored. (Daniel Horowitz)

Nancy Pelosi loved the Ryan-Bucshon-Democrat budget.  She even bragged about it, mentioning how she blocked 160 GOP priorities.  Democrats have merely to say, “boo”, as in “we’ll shut down the government”, to get our rock-ribbed Republicans to cower under their desks in the fetal position and betray everything they ever stood for.

It seems we small government types are trapped in the wrong body.  We self identify as constitutional conservatives but we inhabit the transgendered body of a big government, liberal progressive Democrat-lite Republican Party pretending to be conservative.  The GOP limps along pathetically as it goes through the motions of being conservative, but in the end always delivers  – for the Democrats.

Conservatives do not have a home in this Republican Party.  We are a foreign body in a host that has launched an immune reaction against us.  The Republican Party is comfortable with the massive federal Leviathan.  Beyond lip service, it has no interest in the constitution, small government, or balancing the budget.  It is not a vehicle for conservative values or ideas.   It is the Republican-Whig party that stands for nothing.

Conservatives must take back the Ryan GAGA-Bucshon Republican Party and return it to its constitutional roots if we are to save the country.  Otherwise it will go quite fittingly the way of its Whig predecessor.

Brief Bio: Richard Moss MD is a practicing Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon, author, and columnist who resides in Jasper IN.  He lost his bid for the Republican nomination for Congress in Indiana’s 8^th district in 2016. Find more of his essays and blog posts at exodusmd.com.  Also find him on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.