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Libertarians to Occupiers: Crony capitalism is the problem

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 14, 2011

Contact: Wes Benedict, Executive Director
E-mail: wes.benedict@lp.org
Phone: 202-333-0008 ext. 222

Libertarians to Occupiers: Crony capitalism is the problem

WASHINGTON – Libertarian Party Chair Mark Hinkle released the following statement today:

“I have been following the Occupy protesters, who call themselves the ‘99%’, with interest.

“It’s true that 99% of Americans do not enjoy the special benefits of crony capitalism. Crony capitalism is very different from real capitalism. In crony capitalism, government hands out special favors and protections to politically well-connected businesses.

“The TARP bailouts, Solyndra, and the military-industrial complex are all facets of crony capitalism.

“Libertarians love free markets and hate crony capitalism.

“Unfortunately, hypocritical Republican politicians have taught a lot of Americans to think that ‘free markets’ means freedom for government and big business to engage in crony capitalism.

“That’s not what free markets are. A free market is where the government leaves businesses alone, does not attempt to pick winners and losers, does not stifle competition, does not hand out corporate welfare, and does not absolve businesses of liability for their actions. Most of our economy today does not resemble a free market at all.

“It’s unfortunate that so many businesses today go to the government begging for handouts and special treatment. I wish they wouldn’t. But the real problem is the politicians who choose to give those favors to them, at everyone else’s expense.

“I hope the Occupy protesters will start to direct their anger away from Wall Street and big businesses, and toward our government, which has done so much to destroy free markets and entrench crony capitalism.”

For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222.

The LP is America’s third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets, civil liberties, and peace. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website.

Harrisburg, PA Files for Bankruptcy after Incinerator Project Fails to Live up to Expectations

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The City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania took a rare step this week and filed for bankruptcy. The bankruptcy allegedly was necessary because the City took on a debt level of over 4 times its annual budget and in particular because a large municipal project did not live up to the financial expectations that were projected at the time it was built.

Harrisburg like many midwestern cities has seen its population shrink from a high of 89,544 people in 1950 to a low of 48,950 in the 2000 census completing a drop of 45% in only 50 years. During the last decade population has stabilized and is currently at 49,528. Harrisburg which is the capitol of Pennsylvania saw continuous growth prior to 1950 but has been declining since then.

In an effort to satisfy the newly created EPA back in the early 70’s, Harrisburg embarked on an incenerator project that was touted to be a money maker. That performance never panned out leaving the people of Harrisburg holding the bag for the debt that was incurred to build it.

Reference:

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/9367-harrisburg-pennsylvanias-incinerator-a-story-of-unintended-consequences

“It Seems to Me” a transcript from 1973 by J.C. Kerlin, The Birth of the Evansville Political Machine

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Every once in a while a literary treasure is found in the strangest places and the timing of such a find is almost always perfect. It could be said that serendipity has a sense of humor.

During the past week with the “FloatGate” political drama at the Fall Festival, the surprise juxtaposition of the delay of a local Vectren rate increase hearing just before a real hearing was disclosed, and the Mayoral debate when both candidates accused each other of being in the clutches of “The Machine” of old boy politics, this wonderful transcript by a local author written in 1973 was made available to the City County Observer.

Taking the time to read this and to ponder on its contents makes it very clear why political machines can flourish in Evansville. As this transcript shows, Evansville itself is the result of the actions and control of a “political machine” that was forged before most of the current residents were born. The torch has been passed from generation to generation and from party to party but the soul of the machine never changes. Living with “The Machine” is a way of life in Evansville. It is part of our comfort zone

The cranks of today’s political machine are being turned by the anointed great great grand political children of the architects of “The Machine”. As with the proverbial organ grinder, it is the organ and the grinder that matters. The monkey that turns the crank is interchangeable and works for peanuts.

Please read this transcript as it is quite relevant to the events of this week, this year, and even this century. Many will have their awareness enhanced from this. Some may become angry. The important thing is that over the course of the next decade Evansville has a chance to dismantle “The Machine” or secure its place as master of our destiny for a few more generations.

Some wonderful excerpts:

“The symbol Watergate, so applied, from now on may be used from now on to describe the vast array of violations of the honor system and the exploitations of the freedoms of choice in the conduct of official affairs.”

“that which for a while appeared to be simply one set of politicians trying a political trick on another has become much more serious with implications that in high places, high stakes are for sale at high prices.”

“Political connections helped relieve him (Evansville Mayor) of the suspicion of his involvement in a bootlegging scandal, and he threw the Courier off his track by buying the newspaper”

“a newspaper was compromised and a community intimidated by a parasitical element that destroyed a political party”

“in all Watergates, both big and small, it seems to me there is one ingredient, that the offenders are brought to account, not by the established authority, or official procedures, but by other politicians. In other words a black kettle is called so by a black pot.”

Link to the transcript:

https://city-countyobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/J.C._Kerlin_Transcript.pdf

Enrollment Information Sessions Begin for EVSC’s Early College High School

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An information session is planned for the EVSC’s Early College High School on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Ivy Tech Community College at 10a.m. in Rooms 101 and 102. These sessions target this year’s eighth grade class – next year’s freshmen – at any school in the area. Partners include Ivy Tech, Vincennes University and the University of Evansville.

Students in Early College can earn up to 60 hours of college credit while simultaneously earning their high school diploma. Students will spend part of their school day at Ivy Tech’s campus and part at their home high school. During the junior year, students will choose degree pathways offered by Vincennes University and Ivy Tech. Students also may enroll in select courses at the University of Evansville.

Study options offered include:
Exercise Science
Pre-Engineering
Health Science
Computer Science
General Studies
Criminal Justice
Accounting
Information Technology
Advanced Manufacturing

Berger Lecture topic is the Obama era and competing visions of America

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Dr. Carolyn Calloway-Thomas, professor and director of the Preparing Future Faculty Program at Indiana University, will present the 2011 College of Liberal Arts Berger Lecture, “A Clash of Cultures? The Era of President Obama and Competing Visions of America,” at 6 p.m. Wednesday, October 26, in Kleymeyer Hall in the Liberal Arts Center.

Calloway-Thomas, who is a member of the IU Department of Communication and Culture, will talk about “combative political comments that strike at the heart of discourses on contested issues such as immigration, culture, race, and ideology and whether such disturbing events are civic aberrations or if they are emblematic of a deeper fissure between two competing visions of America – cosmopolitanism and provincialism,”according to Dr. Gael L. Cooper, professor of public relations.

Calloway-Thomas is president of the Bloomington Faculty Council and was recently elected president of the World Communication Association. She is the author of Empathy in the Global World: An Intercultural Perspective (Sage Publications, 2010) and coauthor of Intercultural Communication: a Text with Readings (Allyn & Bacon, 2007) and Intercultural Communication: Roots and Routes (Allyn & Bacon, 1999), as well as co-editor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Sermonic Power of Public Discourse (University Alabama Press, 1993).

Her teaching and research areas are intercultural communication, public dialogue, civic engagement, pedagogy, and communication in Black America. In 2007, she was invited to participate in the Oxford Round Table conference on diversity and public policy at Oxford University in England. Her national awards include a Ford Postdoctoral Fellowship a Fulbright scholarship to Nigeria, West Africa a Carnegie scholarship the National Communication Association’s Robert J. Kibler Award and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Grambling State University. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Grambling College, master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, and Ph.D. from Indiana University.

The Berger Lecture Series remembers and honors Sydney Berger, who was one of Evansville most respected attorneys. He worked with local labor and civil rights organizations and taught at USI for nearly two decades. The College of Liberal Arts celebrates the values he cherished by having a speaker each year speak on the theme of civil rights or civil liberties. The lecture is generously underwritten by Charles L. and Leslie A. Berger.

Source: USI.edu

UE Earns Top Honors in GreenOVATION Awards for Sustainability and Beautification

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Has your institution planted new trees in the last year? Do you run an in-house recycling program that includes paper, plastic, aluminum, cardboard, and other materials? Are outdoor areas kept clear of weeds and litter? Do you hold a LEED certification?

By answering “yes” to these questions and others, the University of Evansville landed in the top-scoring category of the GreenOVATION Awards for Beautiful and Sustainable Businesses, sponsored by Keep Evansville Beautiful and the Evansville Business Journal.

The awards honor area companies and institutions for their achievements in beautification and conservation. To apply, organizations completed a survey about their attributes and practices. Based on their scores, they were placed in one of three categories: Excellence Award (earning 90 percent of possible points), Merit Award (75 percent), and Endeavor Award (60 percent).

“These are truly progressive and assertive leaders in conservation and sustainability,” said Cheryl Martin, Evansville Business Journal editor, as she presented the Excellence Awards today at Keep Evansville Beautiful’s annual award luncheon. “They are the pacesetters we can model our efforts after.”

UE also scored in the top category in 2010, the first year for the GreenOVATION Awards. The University earned points for assets such as an extensive recycling program, two LEED-certified buildings (the Schroeder Family School of Business Administration and the Ridgway University Center), and an attractively landscaped campus.

Source: USI.edu

IS IT TRUE? October 14, 2011

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The Mole #??

IS IT TRUE? October 14, 2011

IS IT TRUE that we have at this point been advised by every single member of the Evansville City Council that they were not aware at their meeting Monday night 6 hours later the public notice of a prehearing at the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission for a fee increase for Vectren’s installation of dense pack technology would be published?…that it merits repeating that NO MEMBER of the EVANSVILLE CITY COUNCIL whether they met privately with Vectren or not was aware of the forthcoming publication?…that for any members of the City Council who did meet with Vectren to be without such information really raises a red flag?…that the date of an upcoming official hearing regarding a fee increase would most certainly be material information to any elected official?…that we wonder if Vectren’s October 24th date with the City Council would have been delayed if it was known that a fee increase hearing was already scheduled for the 25th?

IS IT TRUE that a barrage of emails and a phone call just answered the last question?…that if the members of the Evansville City Council had known last Monday night that there would be an announcement of a fee increase hearing for October 25th that the October 24th date at the City Council for Vectren WOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT HAVE BEEN POSTPONED UNTIL AFTER THE ELECTION?…that we were encouraged to hear that public policy would have trumped perceived political opportunism?…that the Evansville City Council got rolled, bambozzled, tricked, or whatever else one wishes to call it?…that this issue may just come up again next Monday?

IS IT TRUE that we also would like to correct a piece of incorrect information that we published from a historically reliable source?…that Councilman Curt John did not meet behind closed doors with Vectren but he will be signing Councilman John Friend’s petition?…that is three whacks for our incorrect Mole?

IS IT TRUE that the week has been filled with free political entertainment that is just priceless?…that when the City County Observer christened the last days of the campaign as 40 Days of Hell that we had no idea just how much hell would be raised or from where it would be coming?…that there are only 25 Days of Hell left and we can hardly wait to see what can top “Floatgate”?…that we are completely in tune to the two candidates for Mayor of Evansville accusing each other of being cogs in “The Machine”?…that yesterday a most appropriate and timely manuscript from a local author J. C. Kerlin called “It Seems to Me” that was written in 1973 when Watergate was just rocking the country was made available to the City County Observer?…that the text of this manuscript make it very clear just when “The Machine” in Evansville came to power and how?…that the tactics described in this manuscript are still being used and the powers enjoyed by the latest inheritors of “The Machine”?

IS IT TRUE that Evansville has had a Machine in charge of local politics since before most everyone here now was born?…that the Machine is so much a part of life that most people either do not recognize it for what it is or are so comfortable with it that they accept the burdens that “The Machine” places on the back of the community?…that we hope that all of our readers will consume the contents of this manuscript, elevate their awareness of how things are done in Evansville, and will resolve to destroy “The Machine” over the course of the next decade?…that this is a treasure to read so take your time?

https://city-countyobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/J.C._Kerlin_Transcript.pdf

“FloatGate” Approved for Publication in Urban Dictionary

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Democratic Parade Float

This morning the City County Observer submitted the term “FloatGate” for consideration to be included in the online dictionary called Urban Dictionary. This afternoon we received notification that this word will be joining Snegal (sneaky but legal) as the second word that has been formed as a result of the CCO reporting on the antics of politics in Evansville.

The approved definition and example are as follows

FloatGate: An orchestrated political event created when a prominent political leader is removed from a float in a parade conspicuously so as to cause embarrassment for a candidate for office.

Example: When the policeman called for a warrant to be served on a local democratic official during a parade at the time that the official was on a float, his public handcuffing attracted enough media attention that it became known as FloatGate.

EPD Makes Arrest for South Kerth Meth Lab

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NEWS RELEASE

Type of Release: SOUTH KERTH METH LAB ARREST
Date of Release: October 13, 2011
Approving Supervisor: Rob Hahn, Assistant Chief of Police

Summary

On October 11th, Ryan Galloway was arrested for Class B Felony Manufacturing Methamphetamine. Galloway gave a home address of 1716 S. Kerth which is owned by his grandmother. On October 12th, the grandmother called the police for a “standby” so officers could check her rental home at 1716 S. Kerth, since her grandson had been living there. Uniform officers observed several items associated with the manufacturing of meth inside the home. Members from the Meth Suppression Unit and JTF responded to the scene. Over 100 “one pot” meth labs were recovered inside the house. EPD Crime Scene, Evansville Fire and ISP Meth Suppression were also called to the scene which lasted several hours to pull items safely out of the house. The Health Department also tagged the residence as uninhabitable. Ryan Galloway will be charged with a second count of Manufacturing Methamphetamine.

IS IT TRUE? October 13, 2011 What the CCO Polls Indicate

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IS IT TRUE? October 13, 2011 What the CCO Polls Indicate

IS IT TRUE that the poll being run today indicates and has indicated since we put it up that about 5% more people believe that Lloyd Winnecke won last night’s mayoral debate?…that if that is an indication of the outcome of a general election that the margin would be 52.5% to 47.5% in favor of Mr. Winnecke?…that we are certain that the margin of error for our non-scientific poll is greater than 5% and that the election is still too close to call?

IS IT TRUE that yesterday’s poll titled “The real story behind the FloatGate handcuffing of Alex Jarvis is…” drew a lot of opinions?…that of the opinions offered the leading vote getter was that the Democratic Central Committee did some dirty tricks followed closely by the Davis campaign did some dirty tricks?…that about half that amount thought the police were just doing their job, and a few attributed it to the planets aligning against Mr. Jarvis?…that the only things we are sure of about FloatGate is that a puppetmaster was involved and that the Vanderburgh County Democrats turn into the Hatfields and McCoys when they eat Fall Festival food?…that we can’t wait till next year?

IS IT TRUE that the voters in our polls are so fed up with the delays and incompetence exhibited in trying to Vet the two bidders to do the downtown Convention Hotel that they voted by a 50% margin to just let the next Mayor of Evansville do this because the decisions of the current Mayor have yielded negative and embarrassing results?

IS IT TRUE that our voters reject the concept of putting an indoor tennis center in Wesselman Park by a 3 to 1 majority?

IS IT TRUE that our voters by a 20 to 1 margin support a petition to attempt to force the Indiana Utilities Regulatory Commission to hold any hearings that involve a Vectren rate increase in Evansville?

IS IT TRUE that our voters by a 90 to 1 margin support Councilmen John Friend and Dan McGinn’s efforts to get full public disclosure of the legal bills of the City of Evansville?…that this is the largest majority that we have ever seen in any poll that the CCO has conducted?…that this indicates that our readers are four times more upset about the lack of transparency in the legal expenses of the City of Evansville than they are with a Vectren rate increase?

IS IT TRUE that in our last recent poll and the one that has drawn the most votes that an overwhelming percentage of the voters (66%) think that both Lloyd Winnecke and Mayor Weinzapfel are being less than honest regarding what really happened with the secret meeting where the Homestead Tax Credit was indeed taken away?…that in Mr. Winnecke’s defense his was deemed to be honest by a 4 to 1 majority over the number of voters who expressed the opinion that Mayor Weinzapfel was being honest?…that every time this comes up that a little more information comes out and it is finally becoming clear?…that we have had several messages stating that they think that Mr. Winnecke and the other Republicans in the meeting really did get bamboozled by the all Democratic contingency from the Evansville City Council led by Mayor Weinzapfel?…that like FloatGate and BoothGate we may never really know for sure?

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