Betty Knight (Benson) Smith, 83, of Evansville, Indiana, passed away on Wednesday, February 4, 2015 at Good Samaritan Nursing Home surrounded by her loving family.

Betty was born in Onton, Kentucky on March 10, 1931 to the late Guy D. and Ellon (Johnson) Benson. Betty was a pillar in our community, serving in both Evansville and Vanderburgh County with the Democratic Party for many years.  She served 13 years on the Evansville City Council, 8 years as Vanderburgh County Clerk, 4 years as Vanderburgh County Council, 8 years as Vanderburgh County Recorder and 10 years in the Pigeon Township Trustee’s office as a caseworker.  She was the owner of the Civic Center Inn and the Park Place Restaurant.   She was a member of National Business Women’s Association, Fraternal Order of Police, JFK Club, Young Democrats, and the Vice-President of Vanderburgh County Democratic Party.  She was a member of the Evansville Housing Authority, the Salvation Army and the Soup Kitchen.  She received the Distinguished Hoosier Award in May 2008 from Governor Mitch Daniels, the JFK Award–“Profiles in Courage,” August 9, 2008, the Evansville Black Expo, “Women’s Banquet”  Award in 1993, she was honored as the Volunteer of the Year at the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen, she received “The Enchanted Lantern” for No-Ruz Grotto, and she received the “Keys to the City” of Evansville in 1988.   Betty was a loving mother who cherished her four children and her grandchildren. Betty was a strong lady who helped improve the lives of many people in our community.  During her free moments, Betty was an avid reader, played cards and enjoyed taking care of people.

Betty is survived by her children, Rebecca Isley (David), Greg Knight, Bev Oswald (Mike Frierdich), Rhonda Clayton (Ron), all of Evansville, IN; sister, Mary Lilly Blackford (Ed); grandchildren, Zach McWilliams (Kim), Katie Fitch (Mark), Chad Oswald (Nichole), Chase Oswald, Susan Knight and Maddie Clayton; great-grandchildren, Caroline Fitch, Charlie Oswald and Rory McWilliams; and many nieces and nephews.
Betty was preceded in death by her first husband and the father of her children, Elvis Knight; second husband, Fred Smith; her parents; sisters, Loreen Donohoo and Agnes Ray; brothers, David, Gene, Olan, Sam, Frank and Dan Benson.

A celebration of Betty’s life will be held at 11:30 AM on Saturday, February 7, 2015 at Browning Funeral Home, 738 Diamond Avenue, Evansville, IN 47711 with Rev. Joe Mitchell officiating.  Burial will follow at Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery.
Friends may visit with the family from 1:00 PM until 8:00 PM on Friday, February 6, 2015 at Browning Funeral Home and again from 9:30 AM until service time on Saturday at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The Salvation Army, P.O. Box 4055, Evansville, IN 47724 or Autism Speaks, 1060 State Road, Princeton, NJ 08540.

Condolences may be made online at www.browningfuneral.com.

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By David Bossie

This week, President Obama unveiled his budget for fiscal year 2016, which in Washington begins October 1, 2015. Like every Obama budget before it, this year’s offering is crammed full of every tax-and-spend liberal policy you can think of.

Tax hikes? They’re there. More spending? Check. Never-ending deficits? Obama’s got that too. Disastrous debt? It’s there in spades.

Obama even tries to roll back the modest budget caps of 2011, calling them “mindless austerity.” Now, I know he isn’t very well informed but perhaps someone can write a newspaper article telling the President that those “mindless” spending limits were something he has agreed to for nearly four years.

Obama’s 2016 budget would be the most expensive federal spending plan in American history, doling out $4 trillion of hard working American taxpayer’s money through literally hundreds of duplicative, outdated and wasteful government programs.

It would raise discretionary spending — the one-third of spending Congress debates annually — by an unaffordable $75 billion. To pay for it, he plans to tax American businesses and job creators by hundreds of billions of dollars. As if we aren’t taxed enough already.

His budget never gets close to balance. Ever. It runs deficits of over $450 billion forever, ballooning the national debt from $18 trillion today to over $20 trillion by 2016.

The parade of horribles goes on for pages and pages, even including Obama’s amnesty plan for illegal immigrants and his ludicrous plan for more “free” education.

Conservatives across America must mobilize to ensure that this disastrous budget never becomes law.

Republicans in Congress must be held accountable and stand tall for fiscal responsibility by conservatives in order to ensure that they do not cave to Obama and his cheerleaders in the media.

I know, as I’m sure you do, that nobody can last long financially if they are borrowing money to pay their bills. Eventually, you have to pay the piper and the results are never pretty.

If enacted, Obama’s 2016 budget would continue America down the road into an economic time-bomb. The massive deficits and unsustainable debt will destroy the American economy, ruining livelihoods and wrecking the futures of millions of American families.

His tax increases will hurt already struggling small businesses and penalize millions of small business owners with the so-called Buffett Rule.

If Obama’s spending isn’t reigned in, the national debt will make the American Dream unattainable for future generations. Consuming vital national resources as more and more money goes to pay interest rather than funding our military, veteran or the fight against ISIS.

And while Republicans control both houses of Congress, don’t be surprised if the leadership team doesn’t lead from the front when it comes to taking on Obama. If the Republican Establishment has proven anything over the past six years, it’s that they tend to get weak-knee with Obama and Democrats as soon as the liberal media turns up the heat.

America needs an optimistic alternative vision from Republicans in Congress. We must repeal Obamacare. We must stop amnesty. We must cut spending and balance the budget, and we must do it now. President Obama’s budget must be rejected for the dangerous, tired same-old doomed plan that it is.

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David N. Bossie has served as president of Citizens United and Citizens United Foundation since 2001.