IS IT TRUE October 26, 2012
IS IT TRUE today was the next to last economic reporting day before the election for President of the United States?…the top line and best number was the 3rd quarter economic growth rate which was reported to be 2% annualized which is the best number in 2012 but still less than half of what the Obama Administration projected it would be at this point in time back in 2009 when the stimulus was passed?…included in the report was a statement on the number of Americans that have qualified for permanent disability?…the number of people on disability has increased by 17.3% to 8.8 Million citizens?…the number of people on disability increased by 17,000 people in September alone?…that once a person gets disability it is essentially a lifetime subscription to a monthly government check?…it is suspect with respect to how the number of people who are truly disabled (as in unable to work) could possibly increase by 17.3% from traditional levels?…rather than a real increase in disabled people it is more likely that many of these people could not find a job, exhausted their unemployment, and found a way to be deemed to be disabled as a survival tactic?…when it comes to survival skills human beings are pretty ingenious?…many of these people a year or two ago would have liked a job and done it well?…the economy drove many of the newly disabled to seek sustenance through disability?…these people are not included in the official unemployment numbers and never will be again?
IS IT TRUE that one of the things that the two big political parties fear is the vanishing commodity known as the informed intelligent voter?…people get information that leads them to their decisions from many places but the most trusted place according to a recent Business Industry Political Action Committee (Bipac) found that employees ranked their employer’s website as the most credible source of political information on the Internet, more than media sites or parties and candidates?… Over 75% of the more than 500 respondents from a variety of industries indicated that employer-provided information was useful in deciding how to vote, and over a quarter said it made them more likely to vote?…the following words appeared on the website of a large employer recently and sent some media members and Democrats into a conniption fit?…having read these words over and over looking for something inflammatory or manipulative it is hard to find fault with these words?…that one of the most important things in anyone’s decision process when it comes to voting is how a certain candidate’s proposals will effect ones employer’s prospects for success?
“To help you engage in the political process, we have enclosed several items in this packet. For most of you, this includes information about voter registration deadlines and early voting options in your state. At the request of many employees, we have also provided a list of candidates in your state that have been supported by . . . our employee political action committee. “I want to emphasize two things about these lists. First, and most important, we believe any decision about which candidates to support is—as always—yours and yours alone, based on the factors that are most important to you. Second, we do not support candidates based on their political affiliation.”
IS IT TRUE the misplacement of $1.65 Million by the City of Evansville that was published for the first time yesterday by the City County Observer has been reported elsewhere to have been misplaced by a mere few months?…the reality of the situation is that “13 months†or “over a year†which is the factual reality would not qualify as a few by any reasonable person?…the money has been found and returned to its rightful account so one could take a “no harm, no foul†approach?… that just passes the buck and enables the “let it slide†and “anything goes†for the select to continue in Evansville as it seems like it has for 50 years?…the exposure of idiocy after idiocy and amateurish stunts by the dozen should be used as an opportunity to insert some accountability into Evansville?…it is accountability and cognizance that has been missing for some time?…consolidation will not solve the problem of oblivious living in and out of local government?…consolidation will not inject interest where there is none or inspire vitality among the lazy?…if there had been accountability, cognizance, an engaged public, and vitality in Evansville for the last 50 years there would not be a referendum on consolidation this year?…if these attributes had been in place here in recent history the economic growth would have made the point of consolidation moot as it would have happened naturally sometime in the 1980’s?…success breeds consolidation but consolidation without dramatic change does not breed success?…consolidation is a good idea but is not a magic bullet for anything of substance without the actions of new and better leaders?
Jane Henegar, executive director of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, will speak on campus next week in a presentation sponsored by the University of Evansville’s Department of Philosophy and Religion.
The fall 2012 RopeWalk Visiting Writers Reading Series will continue with a reading by Mako Yoshikawa at 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 1 in the second floor reading room of USI’s David L. Rice Library.