IS IT TRUE November 19, 2012
IS IT TRUE we heard a lot from the presidential and congressional candidates about keeping taxes low for the middle class and helping small businesses create jobs?… they said nothing, though, about an unknown and hidden “tax†on the use of credit cards that hurts every consumer and merchant in America?… this hidden tax is called the swipe fee and is the fee that merchants pay to banks to accept a card and pass on to consumers?…even though swipe fees are invisible to consumers, they result in higher prices, even for those who mostly pay with cash and rarely use a card?…the only difference between swipe fees and taxes is that the $50 billion in revenue that the swipe fee generates every year goes directly to banks rather than to the government?… every American household on average pays about $427 a year in the swipe fee “tax.â€?… the swipe fee is the second highest operating expense for merchants, an especially serious burden for small businesses?…swipe fees are the fastest-growing expense these businesses face, rising much faster than, for example, health care costs?…while health care has received a lot of presidential attention, swipe fees did not draw any attention at all?…maybe that is because the politicos on both sides of the aisle line their campaign coffers with donations from the “too big to fail†banks that rake these fees in and have little interest in the backbone of American business that is all too often deemed “too little to matterâ€?
IS IT TRUE that the EPA gave the City of Evansville 730 days (a full two years) to come up with a plan to implement actions necessary to correct the problems associated with having a Combined Sewer System?…the CSO of Evansville frequently pours raw sewage into the Ohio River, our streets, into basements, and keeps that crappy aroma permeating the air of the South Side?…now with 10 days to go before the November 30th deadline Mayor Winnecke and city officials are asking for a 180 day extension BECAUSE THEY HAVE NOT DONE THEIR JOB by creating even so much as a plan?…this failure of both the Weinzapfel Administration and now the Winnecke Administration could result in fines being levied on the city for not even planning to plan?…the first idea was to see if the EPA would allow the can to be kicked 30 years down the road instead of 20?…City leaders even tried to float a trial balloon stating they had “saved†the people of Evansville $300 Million but that was for doing half the job and hoping the EPA would play ball?…here we are 720 days into a 730 day project with our Mayor and his surrogates begging like dogs for an extension that would not have been necessary if the Weinzapfel Administration would have started this project when they should have?…the excuse being put forth is that “is rained too much in 2011 to take good dataâ€?…given the changing and unpredictable nature of weather this is about as dumb as a box of rocks to make this assertion?…data was taken for years that lead to the EPA successfully suing the City of Evansville (along with 10 other dysfunctional places) and other places have done their fixes?…the actions needed are known and the City of Evansville has once again deliberately FAILED TO PLAN WHICH IS THE SAME AS PLANNING TO FAIL?…THAT PLANNED FAILURE SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY PLANNING EXERCISE THAT LOCAL GOVERNMENT IS CAPABLE OF DOING WELL?
IS IT TRUE that in a recent Ernst & Young Strategic Growth Forum that Bob Nardelli, the GE product that went on to serve as the CEO of both Home Depot and Chrysler made a very profound statement with respect to manufacturing in America?…Mr. Nardelli’s statement was “if America had the lowest cost of electricity manufacturers would flock back to our shoresâ€?…he went on to state that in most heavy industry that labor is only a 10% contributor to the expenses?…our own Gail Riecken without having heard Mr. Nardelli said much the same thing on a local basis in an interview with the Indianapolis Star yesterday when she stated “Vectren’s rates are a deterrent to potential homebuyers and businesses looking to relocateâ€?…the cost of electricity in America is only exceeded greatly by one thing on business expenses and that is the fact that our corporate income tax rates are the HIGHEST IN THE INDUSTRIALIZED WORLD?…it seems as though one way or another our country seems to be infatuated with ways to impose WARTIME ECONOMIC SANCTIONS ON OURSELVES?…if we just had a population that was aware and capable that would get off the darn couch and raise some hell about these things we may just make a comeback?
