IS IT TRUE that former Governor Joe Kernan issued the following statement to the people of Evansville and Vanderburgh County regarding consolidation:
“”The citizens of Evansville and Vanderburgh County should be very proud of the great work that has been done to create a unified local government plan for the greater good of the community.

“Your local government will be less redundant, better organized, more efficient, less expensive for all taxpayers, and very importantly more transparent and easier for everyone to understand.

“Congratulations on moving this process along as far as you have. Now just push it across the line in November.

IS IT TRUE that upon learning of this statement opponents of consolidation took Governor Kernan to task on this competence regarding this issue?…coming from South Bend and finding his way into the Governor’s office by virtue of the death of Governor O’Bannon do not allegedly give Governor Kernan and experience at all in governing a consolidated city-county?

IS IT TRUE that gasoline was reported this morning to have set a record for high prices nationwide for the Labor Day weekend?…that gasbuddy.com reports today that the average price of a gallon of gas in the United States is $3.80 per gallon which is indeed the highest ever for a Labor Day weekend but not the highest ever but it is close?…that El Paso gets the award for the most affordable gas at $3.43 but that our friends in Chicago get the award for getting hosed the worse paying an average of $4.33?…that here in Evansville we are still paying above average prices at $3.87?…paying above average prices may be worth it if we were not getting clubbed with excessive prices for electricity too?…what would really ease the pain of high energy costs would be some higher wages?…that as long as our local schools continue to see ISTEP scores fall that it is going to be difficult to attract better paying jobs to this region?

IS IT TRUE that the embattled President Obama has hauled out the Alpha President Bill Clinton to take to the television to ask American voters for 4 more years for the incumbent who has had a very fiery past with President Clinton?…that President Clinton has accused then candidate Obama of pulling the race card on his wife’s campaign in 2008 and recently referred to the business career of Republican candidate Mitt Romney as “STERLING”?…President Clinton reminisces in the commercial about how great the economy was during his administration and how four more years for President Obama is just the cure for the stubborn malaise of an economy we have now?…that President Clinton must have forgotten a few things about his years in the White House if he is confusing 2012 with his second term?…President Clinton’s time in office was economically a very good time for America and was from a policy perspective more like the times of President Reagan than President Obama?…the wheels did fall off of the stock market bus at the end of the Clinton presidency just like the wheels fell off of the housing bus at the end of the Bush presidency?

IS IT TRUE the Obama campaign was out in full force this weekend asserting that in spite of high unemployment, falling wages, doubled gas prices, skyrocketing energy prices, and over a 20% rise in the price of necessities like food that we are all better off than we were four years ago?…that politics surely does make strange bedfellows and even stranger rationalizations?…that even for staunch democrats to hear words like “we really are better off now than four years ago” not only counters President Obama’s own words but has about the same believability factor as claiming that a head of lettuce is a filet mignon?…as one of our favorite songs states, “we won’t get fooled again” may become the anthem for this presidential campaign?…that applies to lies and distortions coming from both campaigns?

IS IT TRUE the Evansville Convention and Visitor’s Bureau recruited a new sales manager who accepted the job and moved to town to take on the challenge of selling Evansville as a tourist and convention destination?…this person who was chosen and who chose Evansville only stayed on the job for four months before packing their bags and leaving both the town and the job?

IS IT TRUE that the business recruitment team for Evansville got another win yesterday with the announcement that 41 jobs would be coming to the Vanderburgh Industrial Park?…that California based PGP International will be making breakfast cereal and energy bars in the park and was attracted to Evansville using the customary giveaways of tax abatements, tax credits, and free training grants?…the City County Observer congratulates the team that attracted this company and encourages the Vanderburgh County Commissioners to pioneer and effort to put a simple memorandum of understanding in place outlining just what commitments were made in exchange for the incentive package?…only through contractual documentation can future fiascos like the Whirlpool “take the money and run” incentive grab that made five City Administrations and the City Council look like 5th graders with a lemonade stand as opposed to competent managers of the taxpayer’s money?

IS IT TRUE that County Commissioner Marsha Abell is on record as disturbed at the Human Rights Commission for advocating for language in an amendment to a county resolution that would have expanded the county’s discrimination code to include language on sexual orientation, gender identity and age, and change the word “handicap” to “disability.”?…this amendment was passed by the City of Evansville but has not been brought up for a vote by the County?…that Commissioner Abell has stated that SHE would not be putting this to a vote because the Commissioners are too busy with budget issues?…it is not just HER decision to make and that all three County Commissioners need to get it through their head that all of their constituents deserve an up or down vote on this issue and it should happen before the November election?…that setting aside 15 or 20 minutes in the next meeting to start the process that leads to an up or down vote on this amendment is good public policy?…that the Commissioners now have two opportunities to exercise good public policy?…that forcing a contract to get tax abatements AND letting the sexual orientation amendment go to a vote are both the right thing to do and that the CCO encourages Marsha and the boys to get on with it?

IS IT TRUE that the State of Illinois got its credit rating reduced largely because it runs chronically large deficits and has excessive off balance sheet obligations with respect to public employee pensions?…the generous pensions handed to the public unions by politicians eager to buy union support is getting lots of states into trouble now but that Illinois and California are the two states that are looking more like Detroit when it comes to long term financial viability?…that California Governor Jerry (Moon Beam) Brown finally bit the bullet Monday and proposed a drastic cut back in pensions that is absolutely necessary to avoid bouncing checks and a date with bankruptcy in the future?…some public employees in California retire before the age of 50 at full salary with benefits?…some of these people are being paid over $150,000 per year for doing nothing?…that there is no such thing as any system at any level that can survive financially in a world of life expectancies of 80+ years with 48 year olds retiring to a full salary and benefits for life?…this sort of kickback scheme has failed or will fail everywhere?…it is time for all pension benefits, social security, and other plans to be brought into line with reality?…if adjustments are not made all of us who are more than 10 years from retirement will be flipping burgers into our graves because the gravy train has stopped and the free rides are over?…this guy would rather get less than get nothing which is what will be available in 2025 from the over $400k that has been paid into the SS system to date?