When did we all become so bitterly political?

When did vicious killings, blind terrorism, the slaughter of innocent children and cruel rampages by mad men become so divisive and partisan in America?

An evil lunatic walks into an elementary school and kills 20 children in one of the most unimaginable and savage crimes ever committed. There was not a living soul in America who did not feel the shock and sorrow that day. We were united by the grief.

Yet, when the next day dawned, the fresh sorrow was pierced by the tired whining of the old nakedly partisan political debate about gun control. In an instant, we went from being totally unified to being cleaved in half once again by politics.

In the months since, the partisans have not relented. Lobbyists have been hired and the poor families of the little victims have been dragged into the maw of the nasty, squalid struggle for political power in this town. The tiny little coffins have become political talismans in a fight for new laws that everyone agrees won’t bring back the children and would have done absolutely nothing to prevent the massacre in the first place.

In Boston, two ferocious bomb blasts mow down weary but joyous revelers at a world-famous marathon.

As so often happens when Americans are unmolested by politics, good people ran toward the explosions. Risking their lives and not knowing whether there might be more bombs, bystanders raced to tend to the injured and comfort the dying. Complete strangers stripped off their clothes and tore them into tourniquets.

With bare hands, they tied the strips of clothing around the most gruesome injuries to slow the bleeding, never minding the garish white bones splintered and sticking out at grotesque angles. Across the country, people watched the scene in horror.

But even before nightfall, politics had seeped in like a toxic vapor and soon took over.

Folks on the right jumped to the conclusion that the atrocity was committed by Muslim terrorists. On the left, people jumped to the conclusion that some kind of homegrown, right-wing wacko had perpetrated the crime. Neither side based the accusations on much evidence.

A columnist for The New York Times — our national newspaper of record — pinned blame on Senate Republicans for not approving President Obama’s choice for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. No wonder we are so lost.

When Mr. Obama stepped before the cameras to speak — certainly a moment of national unity through the years — he strained to NOT call the attack “terrorism.” For strictly political reasons, of course. Then, like crazy birds chasing a cicada, conservatives went loony and criticized Mr. Obama’s decision not to use the T-word — as if that might mend a wound or bring back a deadened heart.

Even at that moment, people were still bleeding, people were still frantically trying to find loved ones and people had not yet woken up to find their legs shattered and sawn off. They awoke to an appalling national debate over why somebody didn’t use the word “terrorism.” The whole lot of these partisans should be ashamed.

By the next morning, the entire frothing mess had boiled over into sheer lunacy. One lifelong politician used the travesty to push for higher taxes. Another used it to argue for more street cameras. Congress, meanwhile, moved with alacrity to remove trash cans around the Capitol.

It is hard to pinpoint exactly why or when America lost its soul and became so brutish, unthinking and deaf to others. So uncharitable. It certainly isn’t how we reacted in the aftermath of 9/11.

Was it spawned by the blind hatred in some of former President George W. Bush? Is it because of the blind hatred in others today of Mr. Obama? Or is there just so much regret on both sides that the unity after 9/11 birthed two unpopular wars and turned the federal government into an even more unpopular security leviathan?

Whatever it is, it is corroding the soul of America and our soul must be cleansed of it before we will ever be great again.

Source: Charles Hurt

Resolved: No American citizen shall be required to pay federal income taxes at a rate higher than the country’s millionaire president pays.

Let’s call it the Alternative Maximum Fairness Tax: Calculate your current tax rate, compare it to the president’s and pay the lower of the two.

The White House admitted in a Friday afternoon news dump, of course that President Obama paid only an 18.4 percent effective federal income tax rate on his adjusted gross income last year of $608,611. The highest income-tax rate last year was 35 percent (and has now increased to 39.6 percent, thanks to the fiscal cliff tax hike). Once again, the president piously demanded that “the wealthiest Americans should pay their fair share” and yet, in the very same paragraph, the multimillionaire president admitted to paying less than half the standard rate for his income bracket.

If that weren’t enough hypocrisy, Mr. Obama once again called for the so-called “Buffett Rule” of raising taxes on high earners at the same time that he admitted to breaking the rule by paying lower taxes than Warren Buffett’s secretary. This president then had the audacity to claim that he believes in “protecting families making under $250,000 from seeing their taxes go up.” I suppose the operative word there is “seeing.” President Obama is clearly fine with hiking your taxes so long as you don’t see it happen. That’s why he cleverly hid 20 separate tax hikes on families making under $250,000 inside Obamacare.

To add insult to dishonesty, Mr. Obama’s 18 percent tax rate is almost half the standard rate that one of those families earning just under $250,000 faces, which is 33 percent. Is the president aware that his teleprompter has been running around saying that in order for all Americans to have a fair shot, it’s imperative that “everyone plays by the same set of rules”?

Mr. Obama’s teleprompter evidently has gone rogue. It made another audacious statement at its 2012 State of Union Address: “It’s time to apply the same rules from top to bottom.” Fine. Let’s force the president to live up to that ideal or at least expose the Democrats as the hypocrites they are. Here’s how:

Whenever Mr. Obama and the Democrats attempt to burden current or future Americans with higher taxes or higher debt, Republicans should add the Alternative Maximum Fairness Tax amendment to it. Fiscal cliff. Debt ceiling. You name it. Add the amendment that says no American citizen shall be required to pay a federal income tax rate higher than the president’s and dare the Democrats to oppose it. Force them to defend the indefensible.

Democrats claim that the rich should pay their “fair share.” OK. Let’s flesh out exactly what really is fair. Is it fair that General Electric paid zero federal taxes on $14 billion income in the same year its CEO served as a close adviser to the president? Is it fair that crony companies like AIG and Solyndra received hundreds of millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money as their executives kicked hundreds of thousands of dollars back to Mr. Obama’s campaign? Is that fair?

Is it fair that a president whose income is well into the top 1 percent of earners he derides pays a lower tax rate than the families he promised to protect from higher taxes right before he raised them? Then what is fair? Assuring Americans that they will never be forced to pay a higher income-tax rate than their multimillionaire president. That’s fair. That is undeniably fair.

Of course, if fairness is what we seek, then there is a much better way to achieve it.

A flat income tax is fair. If someone earns 10 times what you earn, he pays 10 times the taxes you pay. That’s fair. If someone earns half what you earn, he pays half the taxes you pay. What’s not fair about that? Further, eliminate loopholes that the government uses to bend your behavior to their liking and that the wealthy exploit to avoid paying higher taxes, and the system would become fairer still.

The president and the Democrats are enormously vulnerable on matters of fairness because of their flagrant hypocrisy. Their government-centered society itself corporate welfare, bank bailouts, Obamacare, etc. is inherently unfair precisely because it chooses winners and losers, or more accurately, friends and enemies. It unavoidably creates separate sets of rules for separate groups of Americans. If the current Republicans cannot expose the fundamental unfairness of Barack Obama and stop it, then let’s replace them with champions of liberty and fairness who can.

Source: Dr. Milton Wolf

Indiana – Catch the latest addition of the “Indiana State Police Road Show” radio program every Monday morning at your convenience.

Download the program from the Network Indiana public website at www.networkindiana.com. Look for the state police logo on the main page and follow the download instructions. This 15 minute talk show concentrates on public safety and informational topics with state wide interest.

The radio program was titled “Signal-10” in the early sixties when it was first started by two troopers in northern Indiana. The name was later changed to the “Indiana State Police Road Show” and is the longest continuously aired state police public service program in Indiana.

Radio stations across Indiana and the nation are invited to download and air for FREE this public service program sponsored by the Indiana State Police Alliance and Cops for Kids, a subsidiary of the Indiana State Police Alliance.

This week’s show features Nathan Riggs, Media Relations Director for the Indiana Department of Transportation. Mr. Riggs discusses National Work Zone Awareness Week and offers safety tips to motorists traveling through construction zones.

St. Mary’s Health is set to offer “Nutrition Nuggets,” a five-part Healthy Living Workshop series. The classes will be held at the St. Mary’s Women’s Wellness Center location in the Medical Office Building on 3801 Bellemeade Avenue. Attendees can choose between two convenient times, noon – 1 p.m. or 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
The first class, “Sugar: Sweet Love or Toxic Frienemy,” will take place Thursday, April 25th. It will take a look at our culture’s history with sugar and its impact on human health. Participants will explore how much sugar they actually consume and develop strategies to avoid sugar.
The classes will be presented by Beth Anderson, certified Holistic Health Coach, founder of Holistic Health Hotspot, and author of The Holistic Diet: Achieve Your Ideal Weight, Be Happy and Healthy for Life.
Other dates and topics include:
• Wednesday, May 1st – Understanding and overcoming sugar addiction
• Wednesday, May 8th – Learn what holistic health is and set healthy goals
• Wednesday, May 15th – Top Ten Ways to Improve Your Nutrition
• Thursday, May 23rd – Discover what is robbing you of your energy – and how to get it back

A complete description of each class is available at: http://www.stmarys.org/healthy-living.
The cost is $90 for all five classes. Pre-registration for a single class is $20, and same day registration is $25. Men, women, and teens are all welcome to attend.
For more information or to register, please call 812-485-5725.

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The Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation is investing in long-term strategies for long-term succeses like Early Childhood Education and Response to Intervention, said Superintendent David Smith at the State of Our Schools presentation today.

The address is given annually in April during the noon-time Rotary Club’s weekly meetings. To see the State of our Schools brochure click here.

The superintendent said that the face of education is changing. Where at one point educational institutions thought it was important to begin education in kindergarten or first grade, research now shows that 90 percent of a child’s brain is developed by age 5, “but yet when we start educating students hasn’t changed for 100+ years, which is regrettable.”

Smith explained that in Vanderburgh County there are 12,000 children who are five years old, but only 36 percent of those students have access to high quality early childhood programs; and 55 percent of the children are eligible for free and reduced lunch – which means they may not be able to afford to attend high quality pre-schools.

He said this is why the EVSC is currently serving 320 students in early childhood programs through the EVSC Even Start and Teen Parent programs, as well as in pre-K classrooms at Culver Family Learning Center, Daniel Wertz Elementary, Cedar Hall, Caze and two tuition-based programs at Scott and Daniel Wertz schools (Little Husky and Little Panther World).

“So, we have about 2,000 students who could still use access to high quality early childhood models,” Smith said. “Just as EVSC led the state in kindergarten education more than a quarter century ago, without state funding – we couldn’t wait another 25 years for funding to begin to start early childhood programs. They are too important.”

He explained research behind the value of early childhood programs done in the 1960’s. The Perry Project in 1962 selected 123 students who were at high risk of failing in school. More than 50 students were placed in a high quality program.

The Perry Project wanted to determine if there was a difference in long-term educational success between students attending a nursery school or a pre-K program that worked to grow cognitive abilities.

Children were tracked until they were 40 years old and it was discovered that the children in the program designed to grow a child academically graduated high school at a rate 31% higher than their peers; earned 44% more; and had 33% fewer instances of crime.

The return on investment was astounding, Smith said. For every $1 invested in early childhood, there was a $12.90 return. There was a savings in educational costs because children spent less time in special education; taxes on earnings, welfare savings and a savings of $171,473 in less crime – totaling $195,621 of public benefit.

“Indiana is currently one of only seven states that do not see the wisdom in that – spending less money on those in jail, and more time in pre-school,” Smith said.

Another of the long-term strategies is the Response to Intervention framework. Smith explained that RtI is a tiered system of interventions for both academics and behavior – providing interventions to students who have been assessed as needing additional help, as a preventative measure – before a student begins to show learning losses. He said that 80% of students should thrive in the first tier; but for those who are progress monitored and are found in need of additional help, they will move to Tier 2 where targeted, research-based interventions are used along with frequent monitoring to assess a student’s progress – generally about 15% of students may be in this category. If, after targeted help is given a student is still not reaching his or her potential – possibly about 5% of students, they would be moved to Tier 3, where intensive interventions take place.

He likened RtI to going to the doctor for a physical. “Hopefully the doctor performs some type of assessment on you. If you are fine, then no medicine or intervention is needed. If you are not, then they provide an intervention to take care of what was discovered.”

Smith added that the beauty of RtI is that it also works for students exceeding advanced expectations. “We are also able to advance them up through small group interventions, as well. RtI allows us to get the most out of every child. It is not a one-size fits all mentality. “I don’t want to go to my doctor and have him treat me the same as the person before me. I have different needs.”

“I know this works and it is based upon research-proven best practices,” he said. The goal is to spend dollars early to help a student be as successful as possible and to avoid spending dollars later, when it is more costly.

Another of the hallmarks of the EVSC are the options provided to students for their educational experience.

The superintendent noted that the innovative programs for 21st century learners allow students to succeed in ways that fit their needs. Among those K-6 programs are Helfrich Park STEM Academy, Plaza Park International Prep Academy, and No Excuses University at Fairlawn Elementary.

At the high school level, the options are unprecedented, like at the Randall Shepard Academy for Law and Social Justice. “I know of no other program in the nation where the chief justice instructs students several times a year. He gives so much of himself – not just his name, but his talents and efforts.

“Or, the Medical Professions Academy, where we now have twice as many applicants as there were slots to be filled at Central High School.” Dr. Joey Barnett, the head of the Pharmacology program at Vanderbilt and a Central graduate, mentors students in the program.

EVSC also has the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme – which is now a half-day program that any student in our area can attend. Smith said the outcomes for students in this program are on par with world figures. He also cited New Tech Institute with its Project Based Learning; the EVSC Virtual Academy, which has just expanded to K-12 instruction; Early College High School where students have the possibility of earning 60 hours of college credit; and finally, the Southern Indiana Career and Technical Center, ranked by the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education as one of the top five centers in the nation.

He said the career and technical education at this location is one of the best in the nation – and it exists “just 10 miles away from us.”

It serves students from five counties, seven school corporations and 19 high schools and 735 are enrolled there. There are 22 programs of study in eight career clusters. But most importantly, the superintendent explained, is that 20 of the 22 programs offer nationally recognized certification opportunities for students. “A decade ago, there were two.”

He explained that there are nearly 200 community, business, and industry organizations that are involved in direct partnerships with the career and tech center in delivery of education. An example is the Engineering Design and Precision Machine students who partnered with Toyota Motor Manufacturing of Indiana to design and produce an assembly and checking station that is being utilized in production now at Toyota.

Students at the Center also have earned an average of 3,100 dual credits per year during the past four years and are recruited annually by more than 50 post-secondary institutions. 95.5 percent of students at the Career and Tech Center graduate, as compared with the area graduation rate of 92 percent.

Smith said that EVSC is in the midst of new Strategic Planning to guide critical processes and project management. “It will empower us to know our needs and allocate our resources — not only telling us what to do; but also what not to do,” he said, “while holding us accountable – aligned to quantifiable metrics.

Aligning resources is important, because of the EVSC’s fiscal reality – which has accounted for conservatively, $46.8 million in declines in funding in the past three years; or if you include the dollars that were cut and never returned to the EVSC – in excess of $60 million since 2009-10.

Smith explained that the School Board does not have control of raising more money. Each of the means by which the EVSC is funded: federal funds; basic grant (state funding); and levy or property tax funds are all controlled outside the hands of the EVSC. There is no discretion or latitude in obtaining more funding.

He explained that the Assessed Valuation of Vanderburgh County is now around $6 billion; but if it had tracked as it had been projected, would now be over $9 billion.

He indicated that the EVSC has been thinking about the future for a long time, and has planned and prepared for realities like this. “Many schools who have not – have little choice but to do an across the board cut – and when you do that, you may cut things that are incredibly valuable.”

The EVSC has honed and refined its processes and procedures, driving dollars to the classroom. One example cited involved the amount of money spent per student in 2006 and in 2012 for central office functions.

The MGT study in 2006 indicated the EVSC spent on average $838 per student on central office functions; but today when the EVSC’s enrollment is virtually the same, it has dropped to $442.

“And we have driven that savings into the classroom – not one person has lost a job, class sizes are not larger. There are a lot of positions we haven’t filled; we’ve changed health insurance plan designs twice; and we have grown programs because our students deserved it.

Smith said his parents always taught him “you can’t control what happens to you – but you can control how you respond.

“We will never be defined by the negative; we will continue to lift up our employees and give kids in our community the best education they can have.

Rep. Larry Bucshon with Thomas J. Donahue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber

(Washington, DC) – Representative Larry Bucshon (IN-08) received the prestigious “Spirit of Enterprise” award from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce this morning for his 100 percent record of supporting American free enterprise, entrepreneurship, and job creation.

According to the Chamber, the award is based on Rep. Bucshon’s strong pro-growth voting record in the House, including his 2012 votes on “the establishment of Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) with Russia” and “votes to repeal onerous provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, improve the process by which regulations are promulgated, and better secure the United States from cyber threats.”

Rep. Larry Bucshon (IN-08):

“I am honored that the U.S. Chamber recognized my strong record of supporting free enterprise and entrepreneurship,” said Rep. Bucshon. “In Congress, I have consistently supported policies that will foster economic growth and job creation and I will continue to do so.”

Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber:

“In the face of high-stakes politics and difficult choices, Rep. Bucshon provided America’s job creators with a strong voice in Congress,” said Thomas J. Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber. “This award recognizes Rep. Bucshon for consistently demonstrating his support for pro-growth policies.”

BACKGROUND:

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world’s largest business federation representing the interests of more than 3 million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers.

A letter from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to Rep. Larry Bucshon on the “Spirit of Enterprise” award is attached. You can also access the Chamber’s press release here.

BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS

REVISED AGENDA
1. CALL TO ORDER

2. MINUTES April 3, 2013

3. CONSENT AGENDA
a. Request Re: Approve and Execute Agreement with Mike and Nancy Roberts for Angel
Mounds Boat Ramp. – Johnson
b. Request Re: Approve and Execute Park Use Application with the West Side Nut Club
for the Library Park During the Fall Festival October 6 – 13, 2013. – Hayes

4. OLD BUSINESS
a. Request Re: Open Quote for Picnic Table Frames, Park Bench Frames and Bleachers. – Schall
b. Request Re: Open Bids for Reptile Exhibit in Kley Building at Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic
Garden. – Beck
c. Request Re: Approve and Execute Addendum to BLA Contract for Preliminary Wetland
Determination at Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden. – Beck
d. Request Re: Award Quote for Pool Chemicals. – Schall
e. Request Re: Approve and Execute Amended Maintenance Agreement with the Evansville-
Vanderburgh Building Authority for Various Department Facilities. – Johnson
f. Request Re: Update on the Gresham Home from ECHO. – Stephanie Tenbarge

5. NEW BUSINESS
a. Request Re: Consideration of Golf Extra Play Proposal. – Johnson/McAtee
b. Request Re: Approve and Execute Agreement with ABATE of Indiana for Usage of
Roberts Stadium Parking Lot. – Johnson
c. Request Re: Any Other Business the Board Wishes to Consider and Public Comments.

6. REPORTS
a. Denise Johnson, Executive Director

7. ACCEPTANCE OF PAYROLL AND VENDOR CLAIMS

8. ADJOURN