A failure to act. A terrible, stunning legacy for any leader. But far worse when it is the president of the United States. And that’s the point driven home by Mitt Romney’s selection of the young Paul Ryan as his running mate. For Ryan dared to lead when Barack Obama did not.

After more than three years of what promised to be a historic, transcendent presidency, the nation still faces record unemployment, with nearly $16 trillion in debt and the looming insolvency of Social Security and Medicare. Yet Congress is paralyzed. And the president appears powerless to heal divides or change the direction of the country.

Through it all, Ryan stood alone, attacked from the left—and even the right.

He spoke not only of balancing the budget but also of rescuing entitlement programs through real reform. And it was more than “just words.” He actually came up with the plans to do so.

His reward? To be vilified. Branded a granny killer. (A desperate theme now repeated in a ludicrous charge against Romney as a murderer.)

In his remarks this morning following the announcement, Ryan spoke with his signature sincerity of “turning ideas into action, and action into solutions.”

“Politicians from both parties have made empty promises,” he said, “which will soon become broken promises—with painful consequences—if we fail to act now…We have a critical decision to make as a nation. We are on an unsustainable path that is robbing America of our freedom and security. It doesn’t have to be this way.”

“If we fail to act now.” Those are the words on which this election will hinge.

The 2012 race just got real, and the focus will be where it needs to be.

No more silly spectacle about Michelle Obama’s $6,000 jacket or Ann Romney’s dressage horse. The race will now be about something.

And that something is important: the economic future of the country.

“If we fail to act now,” Ryan said this morning. Those are the words on which this election will hinge.
Oh, sure, the hounds of hell will be unleashed by the left to inflame fear. And the attacks have already begun.

But a smart leader surrounds himself with even smarter people. Romney has done that.

He’s made the right choice in Ryan. For the Republican Party and the nation.

Let the battle of ideas begin. We can no longer fail to act.

Source: Daily Beast

Facts and Summary

The President and his party’s leaders refuse to take action in the face of the most predictable economic crisis in our nation’s history. The President’s budget calls for more spending and more debt, while Senate Democrats – for over 1,000 days – have refused to pass a budget. This unserious approach to budgeting has serious consequences for American families, seniors, and the next generation.

House Republicans refuse to ignore our generation’s greatest domestic challenge: reforming and modernizing government to prevent an explosion of debt from crippling our nation and robbing our children of their future. We’re advancing a budget that builds upon a bipartisan consensus for principled solutions: real spending discipline and restored economic freedom; patient-centered health care reform; and pro-growth tax reform. The House Republican budget – The Path to Prosperity – offers a clear choice of two futures. We’re putting our trust in the American people to choose a brighter future for generations to come.

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For years, both political parties have made empty promises to the American people. Unfortunately, the President refuses to take responsibility for avoiding the debt-fueled crisis before us. Instead, his policies have put us on the path to debt and decline.

We reject the broken politics of the past. The American people deserve real solutions and honest leadership. That’s what we’re delivering with our budget, The Path to Prosperity. House Republicans are advancing a plan of action for American renewal.

Our budget:

Cuts government spending to protect hardworking taxpayers;

Tackles the drivers of our debt, so our troops don’t pay the price for Washington’s failure to take action;

Restores economic freedom and ensures a level playing field for all by putting an end to special-interest favoritism and corporate welfare;

Reverses the President’s policies that drive up gas prices, and instead promotes an all-of the-above strategy for unlocking American energy production to help lower costs, create jobs, and reduce dependence on foreign oil.

Strengthens health and retirement security by taking power away from government bureaucrats and empowering patients instead with control over their own care;

Reforms our broken tax code to spur job creation and economic opportunity by lowering rates, closing loopholes, and putting hardworking taxpayers ahead of special interests.

At its core, this plan of action is about putting an end to empty promises from a bankrupt government and restoring the fundamental American promise: ensuring our children have more opportunity and inherit a stronger America than our parents gave us.

Link to the Full Document “The Path to Prosperity

http://budget.house.gov/uploadedfiles/pathtoprosperity2013.pdf

BOARD OF PARK COMMISSIONERS

REGULAR MEETING
KEVIN WINTERNHEIMER CHAMBERS
ROOM 301, CIVIC CENTER COMPLEX
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2012
12:00 NOON

AGENDA

1. CALL TO ORDER

2. MINUTES August 1, 2012

3. CONSENT AGENDA N/A

4. OLD BUSINESS
a. Request Re: Approve and Execute Change Orders for Additional Work for the Gresham
Home Renovations. – Boberg
b. Request Re: Approve and Execute Changer Orders for the Pigeon Creek Greenway Passage –
Phase 3. – Boberg
c. Request Re: Approve Bid Documents and Advertising the Request for Bids for Stadium
Demolition. – Johnson

5. NEW BUSINESS
a. Request Re: Approve and Execute Gateway Service Agreement with Element Payment
Services, Inc. for Swonder Ice Arena/DPR. – Nadeau
b. Request Re: Approve Budget Transfers and CIP Reprioritizations. – Boberg
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

AUGUST 8, 2012

The Evansville Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 73 announces today they are strongly opposed to re-organization of City-County Government and support the efforts of Citizens Opposed to Re-Organization of Evansville (C.O.R.E). We have allowed C.O.R.E. to conduct their weekly meetings at our lodge located at 801 Court Street for the last month.

The F.O.P. conducted its own study in 2011 that found mergers of city and county law enforcement of nearby cities does not work. We believe that law enforcement was left out of this plan so that we, the F.O.P, would not oppose this question on the 2012 ballot. If voters decide to vote yes on this issue, they will lose their right to decide the merger of law enforcement to the Mayor and his 15 Member Council.

The F.O.P. does not agree with the plan that was rushed and hastily put together. The City and County law enforcement agencies differ in policing philosophy, pensions, insurance, wage structure, and equipment that would cost millions if the two agencies merged.

The F.O.P. plans to present informational meetings to residents throughout Vanderburgh County in the upcoming weeks to educate the voting public about the shortcomings of the plan. The F.O.P. will work to defeat the question on the fall ballot.

The F.O.P. was present during the recent hearing of the Election Board when CORE questioned the validity of the petition filed by the League of Women Voters, regarding placing the Re-Organization issue on the 2012 ballot. We believe that the Board’s decision was based on what they could or could not do legally at this time in reference to questioning the legality of the petition.

“It is clear that the number of valid signatures was well below the threshold of the 2,632 that was necessary to bring this issue to a vote. If done with due diligence, then the Vanderburgh County Clerk’s Office would have caught the fact that the petition in question had significant signature errors. It’s a shame that such an important issue is tainted by invalid signatures on the petition. This error will force registered voters of Vanderburgh County to decide an issue on the 2012 ballot that was not performed with due diligence.”

The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 73 has over 1,400 active and retired national, state, county, and city officers as well as local citizens that support local law enforcement.