I don't know how else to say it than to say it was really painful listening to Mayor Greg Ballard try to answer questions before the Indianapolis Star editorial board today. His non-answer replies this far into his term is simply unacceptable. He totally dodged giving a straight answer to Matt Tully's question about his plans for dealing with the CIB's so-called budget shortfall. The Mayor acts like it's someone else's decision over at the CIB or at the State House to come up with a solution for the CIB's budget problem. Whenever they figure it out, he'll tell us what is going to happen. That is unacceptable leadership. It's also clear that his commitment not to rely on a general tax increase is very narrowly defined. For example, a food and beverage tax increase would be paid by someone who benefits from the sports facilities by his way of thinking. His responses to questions relating to public safety, his supposed forte, were abysmal. It is becoming all too apparent that he's not calling the shots in his own administration. Someone hands him some brief talking points on each subject and he simply repeats those lines, albeit in a butchered fashion, over and over again without really saying anything you can really understand. Click here to view the interview.
UPDATE: I attended the Mayor's Night Out tonight for my downtown neighborhood. I could not be more angry at Mayor Ballard's handling of my question about the CIB problem. Firstly, his staff altered the written question I submitted asking the Mayor to explain which taxes he intended to raise to bail out the CIB. His staff altered it so that it was posed as a pro sports team question, extolling the virtue of having two professional sports teams and how our downtown wouldn't exist but for their presence. The Mayor feigned astonishment that the question would be posed positively and not negatively as he says he's accustomed to hearing the question. He once again deflected responsibility to the CIB and the legislature for figuring out what had to be done; however, he made it clear there would at least be a new ticket tax imposed to address the problem. The ticket tax is very popular with politicians like Mayor Ballard because they never purchase tickets to sporting events. They get their tickets for free from the CIB or lobbyists and enjoy free food and drinks in the luxury suites. What really angered me, though, was Mayor Ballard's suggestion that the motive of anyone who opposed increasing taxes to bail out the CIB was to get the Colts and Pacers to leave town. That's what your Mayor said tonight. If you think the public has paid enough and that the billionaire sports team owners should pay their fair share, you are essentially telling the Colts and Pacers to leave town. I've commented that the Mayor's staff has been quietly telling people that if this bailout does not go through the state legislature, there is a real possibility that the City will lose the Pacers to Seattle and the Colts to L.A. As far as I'm concerned, the Mayor essentially stated the same tonight. Either you, the taxpaying public, dig deeper into your pockets to provide additional subsidies to the Colts and Pacers, or they will leave the City. Forget about the billions you've already subsidized them over the years. That all means nothing now. A gun is being held to your heads. Hand over the money or else. Particularly insulting to the downtown residents gathered tonight was the Mayor's suggestion that the only reason we choose downtown as our home is because of the Colts and Pacers. You are completely clueless, Mr. Mayor. Unlike you, I have spent almost 20 years living in downtown Indianapolis. My decision to live downtown has absolutely nothing to do with the presence of the Colts and Pacers. If you think downtown's existence is totally dependent upon the presence of these two teams, then you demonstrate just how little you know about this City. Thanks for nothing, Mayor Ballard.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Active Duty Soldier Joins Suit Against Obama The "Impostor"
An active duty soldier in the United States Army joins a growing number of citizens who have challenged President Barack Obama's eligibility to be president of the United States because he is not a "natural born citizen" as required under Article 2 of the Constitution. Lt. Scott Easterling pens the following letter announcing his participation in a California lawsuit challenging Obama's constitutional qualilfication to hold the office in which he calls his Commander-In-Chief an "impostor":
Constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley thinks Easterling's comments and participation in the lawsuit are more likely to lead to his being court martialed because of his status as an active duty officer in the U.S. military. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against the country. Thus far, the lawsuits have been dismissed on the ground that the person bringing the suit lacks standing to bring the suit.
To Any and All Interested Parties,
As an active-duty Officer in the United States Army, I have grave concerns about the constitutional eligibilty of Barack Hussein Obama to hold the Office of President of the United States. He has absolutely refused to provide to the American public his original birth certificate, as well as other documents which may prove or disprove his eligibility. In fact, he has fought every attempt made by concerned citizens in their effort to force him to do so.
Until Mr. Obama releases a "vault copy" of his original birth certificate for public review, I will consider him neither my Commander in Chief nor my President, but rather, a usurper to the Office - an impostor.
My conviction is such that I am compelled to join Dr. Orly Taitz's lawsuit, as a plaintiff, against Mr. Obama. As a citizen, it pains me to do this, but as an Offficer, my sworn oath to support and defend our Constitution requires this action.
I joined the Army at age 40, after working in Iraq as a contractor with KBR in 05/'06. I chose to work with KBR to support my troops and then left that lucrative position when the Army raised it's maximum enlistment age to 40. Upon completion of Basic Training, I entered Officer Candidate School and commissioned as a 2LT in August 2007. After completing the subsequent Basic Officer Leadership courses, I was assigned to Ft. Knox and shortly therafter deployed to Balad, Iraq. I was promoted to 1LT on Feb. 2, 2009 and I have approximately five months remaining of our fifteen month deployment.
I implore all Service-members and citizens to contact their Senators and epresentatives and demand that they require Mr. Obama prove his eligibility. Our Constitution and our great nation must not be allowed to be disgraced.
Very Respectfully,
Scott R. Easterling
1LT OD/LG
United States
Army
Constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley thinks Easterling's comments and participation in the lawsuit are more likely to lead to his being court martialed because of his status as an active duty officer in the U.S. military. Dozens of lawsuits have been filed against the country. Thus far, the lawsuits have been dismissed on the ground that the person bringing the suit lacks standing to bring the suit.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Police Raid Scrap Metal Business Where 51 IMPD Officers Worked Off-Duty
Federal, state and local law enforcement agencies raided the City's largest scrap metal business, Omni Source, on suspicion the business may have been knowingly purchasing stolen metal products. What is particularly alarming about today's raid is the Star's Vic Ryckaert's report that as many as 51 IMPD officers have been employed part-time by Omni Source to provide security for the company's six locations. Ryckaert writes:
Ironically, IMPD Chief Spears' off-duty work providing security for the Indianapolis Colts raised concerns in the past that Colts' players may have been receiving special treatment from the police department. Spears' predecessor also worked security for the Colts at the same time law enforcement agencies were probing Colts' owner Jim Irsay for prescription drug fraud. That probe got swept under the rug. I've raised concerns about police powers being used in connection with security services off-duty IMPD officers were providing the National Institute for Sports and Fitness.
Will this probe bring about changes in IMPD's policies? Perhaps. "This investigation is extremely important," said IMPD Major Chris Boomershine. "This is a very large company." Boomershine declined to comment on how high in the organization the probe will reach. "I believe you could see some changes in how business is done in Marion County and Indianapolis," Boomershine said. I'm sure Major Boomershine is sincere in that belief. It's just that I've seen these types of probes wind up in the garbage after the prosecutor's office makes a half-assed attempt to prosecute a few low-level types before it moves on to something else, leaving those most responsible for the wrongdoing completely unscathed.
Anyone have any word on the media blackout on why City-County Councilor Lincoln Plowman was moved out of the Major's job in charge of investigations at IMPD a few months back, a job to which Scott Newman promoted him less than a year ago, and replaced by the imminently more qualified Boomershine? Inquiring minds want to know.
UPDATE: The Star's story quotes a spokesman for the company, Vice President Ben Eisbart. Eisbart is a former Fort Wayne school board member and Democratic member of the Fort Wayne City Council before being defeated by now-Senate President Pro Tempore David Long. “We want to see that justice is done,” Eisbart said. “This is a total surprise,” Eisbart said, noting employees who knowingly purchase stolen goods are fired. “We don’t tolerate that. That goes against everything we believe in.” Omni Source has contributed nearly $20,000 to state and local candidates over the past several years, including former Governor Frank O'Bannon, Governor Joe Kernan, Governor Mitch Daniels, Attorney General Greg Zoeller, Sen. David Long, Sen. Jean Breaux, State Reps. David Wolkins, Win Moses and Randy Borror. The Fort Wayne-based company was acquired by Steel Dynamics, a publicly-traded company, a couple of years ago. The company was originally founded by the Rifkin family of Fort Wayne.
Here's an interesting item. Awhile back, a person who works on assisting ex-offenders in re-entering the workforce after completing their jail sentences explained to me a serious problem with our community corrections program. Community corrections is a sort of half-way house before complete freedom. In order to participate in the community corrections program rather than spend the balance of their terms in prison, the ex-offenders are required to pay a weekly fee, which many cannot afford to pay. According to this source, some of the ex-offenders were stealing copper and other scrap metal anywhere they could find it in order to sell it to scrap metal dealers to pay for the cost of the community corrections program. Ironically, the City boasts about ex-offenders' participation in a program locally that recycles computer parts. "According to the Office of Sustainability, more than 143,000 pounds of electronics were recycled as part of the effort that pairs SustainIndy with Workforce, Inc., the city's ex-offender re-entry initiative that hires ex-offenders to collect and process electronics for recycling," Nuvo reports in its most recent edition in a story discussing e-cycling legislation proposed by State Rep. Mary Ann Sullivan (D-Indianapolis).
OmniSource employs 51 IMPD officers to run security at its yards in Marion County. Chief Michael Spears on Monday suspended those work permits. It was unclear whether any IMPD officers are implicated in the investigation.
The company's practice of hiring off-duty officers "causes us a great deal of concern," Spears said. Among the officers employed by OmniSource are Maj. David Allender, commander of the north district, and south district Detective Jason Prendergast, the department's chief investigator of scrap metal thefts.
"Each one of these work permits will be evaluated," Spears said.
Spears on Monday barred officers from working part-time jobs at OmniSource. Prendergast was reassigned from investigating metal thefts. Spears declined to talk about details of the investigation, saying it has been placed in the hands of detectives with the prosecutor's grand jury division.
Ironically, IMPD Chief Spears' off-duty work providing security for the Indianapolis Colts raised concerns in the past that Colts' players may have been receiving special treatment from the police department. Spears' predecessor also worked security for the Colts at the same time law enforcement agencies were probing Colts' owner Jim Irsay for prescription drug fraud. That probe got swept under the rug. I've raised concerns about police powers being used in connection with security services off-duty IMPD officers were providing the National Institute for Sports and Fitness.
Will this probe bring about changes in IMPD's policies? Perhaps. "This investigation is extremely important," said IMPD Major Chris Boomershine. "This is a very large company." Boomershine declined to comment on how high in the organization the probe will reach. "I believe you could see some changes in how business is done in Marion County and Indianapolis," Boomershine said. I'm sure Major Boomershine is sincere in that belief. It's just that I've seen these types of probes wind up in the garbage after the prosecutor's office makes a half-assed attempt to prosecute a few low-level types before it moves on to something else, leaving those most responsible for the wrongdoing completely unscathed.
Anyone have any word on the media blackout on why City-County Councilor Lincoln Plowman was moved out of the Major's job in charge of investigations at IMPD a few months back, a job to which Scott Newman promoted him less than a year ago, and replaced by the imminently more qualified Boomershine? Inquiring minds want to know.
UPDATE: The Star's story quotes a spokesman for the company, Vice President Ben Eisbart. Eisbart is a former Fort Wayne school board member and Democratic member of the Fort Wayne City Council before being defeated by now-Senate President Pro Tempore David Long. “We want to see that justice is done,” Eisbart said. “This is a total surprise,” Eisbart said, noting employees who knowingly purchase stolen goods are fired. “We don’t tolerate that. That goes against everything we believe in.” Omni Source has contributed nearly $20,000 to state and local candidates over the past several years, including former Governor Frank O'Bannon, Governor Joe Kernan, Governor Mitch Daniels, Attorney General Greg Zoeller, Sen. David Long, Sen. Jean Breaux, State Reps. David Wolkins, Win Moses and Randy Borror. The Fort Wayne-based company was acquired by Steel Dynamics, a publicly-traded company, a couple of years ago. The company was originally founded by the Rifkin family of Fort Wayne.
Here's an interesting item. Awhile back, a person who works on assisting ex-offenders in re-entering the workforce after completing their jail sentences explained to me a serious problem with our community corrections program. Community corrections is a sort of half-way house before complete freedom. In order to participate in the community corrections program rather than spend the balance of their terms in prison, the ex-offenders are required to pay a weekly fee, which many cannot afford to pay. According to this source, some of the ex-offenders were stealing copper and other scrap metal anywhere they could find it in order to sell it to scrap metal dealers to pay for the cost of the community corrections program. Ironically, the City boasts about ex-offenders' participation in a program locally that recycles computer parts. "According to the Office of Sustainability, more than 143,000 pounds of electronics were recycled as part of the effort that pairs SustainIndy with Workforce, Inc., the city's ex-offender re-entry initiative that hires ex-offenders to collect and process electronics for recycling," Nuvo reports in its most recent edition in a story discussing e-cycling legislation proposed by State Rep. Mary Ann Sullivan (D-Indianapolis).
City's Parks Rot: It's A Question Of Priorities
Indianapolis' Capital Improvement Board spends tens of millions annually maintaining the Indiana Convention Center, Lucas Oil Stadium, Victory Field and Conseco Fieldhouse, but when it comes to maintaining our city's parks, the City makes our parks department scrimp by on a $3.5 million a year budget to maintain and improve them. The CIB's Barney Levengood calls it a big sacrifice if Conseco Fieldhouse will have to make do for another year without a new ramp or put a hold on replacing carpeting in the convention center. The parks department can't even fix leaks in swimming pools. Instead, it spends $387,000 a year to refill water to replace the lost water. The Star's Brendan O'Shaughnessy discussed the problem:
The parks department is already facing a $3.7 million operating budget this year according to O'Shaughnessy's report. What is the Ballard administration's answer to this problem? "The Indy Parks board recently approved a slew of new fees, including increases of $1 for admission to some pools and to Eagle Creek Beach," O'Shaughnessy writes. Any surprise here? The burden always falls on the little people. With any luck, some of the much-needed projects will be addressed with the millions the City expects to receive from the federal stimulus plan.
Meanwhile, the Ballard administration is conducting secret talks with state legislators to get state authority to raise a slew of new taxes on tickets, food and beverage, diversions of tax revenues from other government services, etc. to raise another $37 million (or take your pick of what the number is on any given day) in order to continue the taxpayers' one-sided obligation to maintain and operate the sports palaces from which the billionaire sports team owners get to keep all of the revenues generated.
To be fair to Ballard, his administration inherited the nearly $100 million backlog in repairs and improvements to the City's parks from Bart Peterson, who always chose funding of new sports stadiums and public subsidies for private development within the City's downtown over the City's parks. As I recall, he knocked off several weeks from the summer season for the operation of the pools at the City's parks to save money. It is clear that Ballard's approach is to continue the tradition of helping the most well-off among us to the detriment of those of modest or low-income means. After all, those elites wouldn't be caught dead in our city parks. Why do they care what they look like or whether they are functioning as intended.
In recent years, Colvin's job with Indy Parks has been to stretch $3.5 million dedicated to maintenance and capital improvements as far as it can go each year.
The reality, he said, is that he's had to use most of the money to react to emergencies such as leaky roofs and dangerous playgrounds.
Indy Parks Director Stuart Lowry and his staff came up with a comprehensive project backlog list after touring and evaluating nearly 200 properties last year. The $100 million figure includes $9 million for dozens of playgrounds where the equipment is years beyond the point at which it would typically be replaced.
Pools are also a problem. Bethel Pool lost 100,000 gallons of water a day last summer, about half of what it takes to fill the pool. Instead of fixing its leaky pipes and water-cleaning system, Indy Parks installed a $63,000 pool liner that only addresses a small part of the problem.
The city's inability to address such problems often leads to waste.
For example, it costs taxpayers $87,000 to fill 15 outdoor pools at the start of each summer, but an additional $387,000 to refill what leaks out.
"Typically, what we do is Band-Aids with little projects," Lowry said.
The parks department is already facing a $3.7 million operating budget this year according to O'Shaughnessy's report. What is the Ballard administration's answer to this problem? "The Indy Parks board recently approved a slew of new fees, including increases of $1 for admission to some pools and to Eagle Creek Beach," O'Shaughnessy writes. Any surprise here? The burden always falls on the little people. With any luck, some of the much-needed projects will be addressed with the millions the City expects to receive from the federal stimulus plan.
Meanwhile, the Ballard administration is conducting secret talks with state legislators to get state authority to raise a slew of new taxes on tickets, food and beverage, diversions of tax revenues from other government services, etc. to raise another $37 million (or take your pick of what the number is on any given day) in order to continue the taxpayers' one-sided obligation to maintain and operate the sports palaces from which the billionaire sports team owners get to keep all of the revenues generated.
To be fair to Ballard, his administration inherited the nearly $100 million backlog in repairs and improvements to the City's parks from Bart Peterson, who always chose funding of new sports stadiums and public subsidies for private development within the City's downtown over the City's parks. As I recall, he knocked off several weeks from the summer season for the operation of the pools at the City's parks to save money. It is clear that Ballard's approach is to continue the tradition of helping the most well-off among us to the detriment of those of modest or low-income means. After all, those elites wouldn't be caught dead in our city parks. Why do they care what they look like or whether they are functioning as intended.
Cartoon by Star editorial cartoonist Gary Varvel.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
How Obama And The Democrats Changed Welfare As We Know It Overnight
Without question, the greatest achievement of the Clinton administration was the landmark welfare to work law passed by the Republican-controlled Congress in 1996 and signed into law by President Bill Clinton, who had promised to change welfare as we know it when he first ran for president in 1992. The legislation led to a marked reduction in the number of people drawing welfare benefits as people were moved into jobs. More importantly, it dramatically reduced the number of children living in poverty, particularly among African-Americans. How many of you knew that President Barack Obama's stimulus plan did away with those welfare reforms in one fell swoop? That's right. Under a provision tucked away in the bill nobody read is a provision that rewards states with additional funding if they add more people to the welfare rolls, the complete opposite of Clinton's welfare to work law, which paid states a flat amount for their welfare programs but allowed them to retain any surplus funds. President Obama opposed those changes as an Illinois state senator. Interestingly, Obama discussed as far back as then a strategy for reversing this policy. Who knew he would achieve that objective during the first 30 days in office. The consequences of these changes could prove dramatic and negative on the very people who he claims to be helping. Check out this video and see for yourself.
Daniels' Plane Makes Emergency Landing
A state aircraft flying Gov. Mitch Daniels to Washington, D.C. this morning was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Columbus, Ohio after the plane's windshield cracked. This late-breaking news was delivered by CBS News' Bob Schieffer, host of "Face The Nation", where Daniels was scheduled to make an appearance this morning while attending a meeting of the National Governors Association. Ohio state police drove Daniels to a television station in Columbus where he participated in the news show to discuss the President's federal stimulus plan.
More On The Worst Legislature
A Star analysis of the job township trustees do in delivering relief to the poor confirms what you already knew. They do a lousy job.
According to the Star analysis, average average administrative costs statewide are 74 cents for every dollar given in aid. Marion County's Center Township's Trustee spends $1.74 for every dollar given in aid. The story doesn't explain why Center Township's costs are so high, but it essentially boils down to the fact that Carl Drummer, like his predecessor Julia Carson, uses the office to employ as many political hacks as needed to work the polls on election day without regard to the quality or quantity of the work they perform for taxpayers. Other interesting facts:
A continuing examination of township government by The Indianapolis Star reveals the following: Administrative costs are excessive, reducing the amount of taxpayer money available to the poor; and eligibility requirements are so inconsistent that whether someone receives aid often depends more on where they live than on how badly they need assistance.
According to the Star analysis, average average administrative costs statewide are 74 cents for every dollar given in aid. Marion County's Center Township's Trustee spends $1.74 for every dollar given in aid. The story doesn't explain why Center Township's costs are so high, but it essentially boils down to the fact that Carl Drummer, like his predecessor Julia Carson, uses the office to employ as many political hacks as needed to work the polls on election day without regard to the quality or quantity of the work they perform for taxpayers. Other interesting facts:
- One-fifth of the townships delivered aid to five or fewer people in 2007.
- Income aid ranged from $350 a month to $1,800 a month.
- In Marion County, eight of nine townships failed to file a report annually detailing eligibility requirements.
- 89 townships failed to file accounting records for aid to the poor.
- Townships have amassed large reserves, including $50 million intended for aid to the poor.
An interesting note on why Center Township has written criteria for eligibility while the other townships in Marion County don't. During the late Julia Carson's reign as Center Township Trustee, she was sued by the ACLU for applying arbitrary standards for determining eligibility. She deemed the lawsuit frivolous at the time but agreed to change the way the township did business as part of a settlement agreement.
Hope of getting legislation passed to eliminate the politically-driven and inefficient township trustees and replacing them with a professionally-run county office was flushed down the toilet in the Senate this week. That should make radio talk show host Amos Brown happy. He has decided that anyone who favors a better system is a racist. According to Brown, only a "lily white group" favors the change. He has told his radio listeners that Mitch Daniels is a racist, Mayor Greg Ballard is a racist, Senator James Merritt is a racist. This past week, he concluded the same about Marilyn Schultz and Kevin Brinegar, coalition organizers. Brown is beginning to sound like Uncle Leo on "Seinfeld", who was convinced every non-Jew was anti-Semitic. Don't confuse Brown with the facts. He would rather protect the high-paid jobs of a handful of elected black officials by defaming the proponents than do something to help poor blacks dependent on the delivery of services at which these elected officials are failing miserably.
Meanwhile, the Star's political columnist Matt Tully reminds us of how Indiana lawmakers take care of themselves while killing the township reform legislation in order to protect the jobs of their political cronies. Remember that health care for life perk the legislature finally eliminated for themselves and family members after a public outcry? Well, they slipped another health care perk for themselves through the legislature when nobody was looking. It's a supplemental health care savings account worth about $1,000 for each year of service for their part-time job. The benefit becomes vested after 10 years of service; it's 15 years for full-time state employees.
The same super wealthy Noblesville senator who wants to raise your taxes to bail out the CIB for the benefit of the billionaire sports team owners, Sen. Luke Kenley, sponsored the perk, which passed the Senate on a vote of 47-1. The House passed the measure by a 77-21 vote with Rep. Charlie Brown taking the authorship honor. Tully notes that the House-passed budget uses $23 million in revenues derived from the cigarette tax increase for the state's new Health Indiana Plan for low-income persons to access affordable health care plan to pay for part of the costs of their new perk. Tully says there was a brief discussion on the benefit during debate on the budget. Tully writes, "Defending the decision to do so, Ways and Means Chairman Bill Crawford, D-Indianapolis, offered fellow lawmakers this gem: 'Remember,' he said, 'we got a benefit out of that.'"
While legislators are busy lining their own pockets with this generous health care perk, they are continuing their annual tradition of killing meaningful lobbying reform legislation, including Sen. Mike Delph's proposals to reduce the threshold for lobbyists to report gifts to legislators from $100 to $25 and to file more frequest reports of their lobbying activities. The same fate has been handed to Sen. Pat Miller's proposal to make legislators wait at least a year after they leave the legislature before they become a lobbyist. Yep, Harrison Ullman was right. It's the worst legislature.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Obama Makes Serious Foreign Policy Blunder In Pakistan
A decision by the Pakistani government to win peace with the radical Talibans in the Swat Valley region of this nuclear-armed country in the most troubled region of the world received the blessing of the administration of President Barack Obama. That capitulation to Islamic radicals will undoubtedly cost the lives of more American troops fighting to protect the democratically-elected government in Afghanistan and could lead to the entire government falling into the hands of a Tehran-like regime with dozens of nuclear weapons at its disposal. Our own government has heretofore been resisting the idea of ceding any part of Pakistan to the Taliban. The former Afghan Talibans harbored Osama bin Laden and his Al Quaeda terrorist network when they ran the government there prior to 9/11. After a number of military offensives by American forces in Afghanistan against Taliban fighters, it is believed that the radicals are settling down in the Swat region not more than a hundred miles from the nation's capital city. The New York Times explains the Obama administration's take on the decision:
The Pakistani government will allow this region to be ruled by harsh Sharia law rather than the civil law. For the peaceful people who call this area home, the consequences could not be worse. A recent New York Times article depicts what is happening in the region based on accounts of recent Pakistani immigrants to our country:
By not standing up for the rights of the people in the Swat Valley region, the Obama administration is causing danger to every person living in the region with American ties. "Though every community of exiles from a conflict-ridden country suffers when relatives who remain behind are caught in the fight, the immigrants from Swat also bear the burden of believing that their presence in America is endangering their relatives back home, where the Taliban have imposed their authority over vast swaths of the region, about 100 miles northwest of Islamabad," the NY Times says. It's hard to believe that this region was Pakistan's most popular tourist region until the Taliban started moving into the region a couple of years ago. "But the tourism industry has evaporated amid the Taliban’s uprising, and by some estimates, hundreds of thousands of residents have abandoned their homes, fleeing for Mingora or other regions of Pakistan," the NY Times observes.
This development happens just as Obama prepares to deploy an additional 17,000 American troops to neighboring Afghanistan. Allowing the Taliban to gain a foothold in Pakistan makes absolutely no sense. The possibility of Pakistan becoming an Islamic republic is a far greater threat to world stability right now than the possibility of Iran developing a nuclear weapon. The country is said to have 60 nuclear warheads. The country's top nuclear scientist has been identified as a part of an international nuclear proliferation network and other scientists are believed to have Al Quaeda ties. Have we learned nothing from the history of dealing with these terrorists?
Speaking in India on the last leg of his trip to Pakistan, Afghanistan and India, the Obama administration’s special envoy to the region, Richard C. Holbrooke, did not address the truce directly but said the turmoil in Swat served as a reminder that the United States, Pakistan and India faced an “enemy which poses direct threats to our leadership, our capitals, and our people." . .
.
“The Taliban was trying to take advantage of the local movement and desire for a judicial system,” the official said. The official insisted that the Obama administration, informed of the accord, “showed understanding of our strategy.”
On Monday, a White House spokesman, Tommy Vietor, said only, “We have seen the press reports and are in touch with the government of Pakistan about the ongoing situation in Swat.”
The Pakistani government will allow this region to be ruled by harsh Sharia law rather than the civil law. For the peaceful people who call this area home, the consequences could not be worse. A recent New York Times article depicts what is happening in the region based on accounts of recent Pakistani immigrants to our country:
Pakistani immigrants from the Swat Valley, where the Taliban have been battling Pakistani security forces since 2007, say some of their families are being singled out for threats, kidnapping and even murder by Taliban forces, who view them as potential American collaborators and lucrative sources of ransom. Some immigrants also say they, too, have been threatened in the United States by the Taliban or its sympathizers, and some immigrants say they have been attacked or kidnapped when they have returned home.
The threats have brought an added dimension of suffering for the immigrants, who say fresh reports of hardship arrive here every day, sometimes several times a day, and spread quickly among the several thousand Swati immigrants in the New York region: families driven from their villages, houses being destroyed, relatives disappearing. The fate of the valley dominates conversation among the exiles.
“It’s 24/7,” said Zakrya Khan, 30, the owner of two gyro restaurants in New York whose staff of 15 is almost entirely Swati. “This is their only concern now.”
By not standing up for the rights of the people in the Swat Valley region, the Obama administration is causing danger to every person living in the region with American ties. "Though every community of exiles from a conflict-ridden country suffers when relatives who remain behind are caught in the fight, the immigrants from Swat also bear the burden of believing that their presence in America is endangering their relatives back home, where the Taliban have imposed their authority over vast swaths of the region, about 100 miles northwest of Islamabad," the NY Times says. It's hard to believe that this region was Pakistan's most popular tourist region until the Taliban started moving into the region a couple of years ago. "But the tourism industry has evaporated amid the Taliban’s uprising, and by some estimates, hundreds of thousands of residents have abandoned their homes, fleeing for Mingora or other regions of Pakistan," the NY Times observes.
This development happens just as Obama prepares to deploy an additional 17,000 American troops to neighboring Afghanistan. Allowing the Taliban to gain a foothold in Pakistan makes absolutely no sense. The possibility of Pakistan becoming an Islamic republic is a far greater threat to world stability right now than the possibility of Iran developing a nuclear weapon. The country is said to have 60 nuclear warheads. The country's top nuclear scientist has been identified as a part of an international nuclear proliferation network and other scientists are believed to have Al Quaeda ties. Have we learned nothing from the history of dealing with these terrorists?
Ballard's State Of The City Address Falls Short On CIB Problem
If you were hoping for some straight talk and specifics from Mayor Greg Ballard on the colossal financial crisis of the CIB in his State of the City Address, you will be disappointed. "We are working with Governor Daniels and the General Assembly on solutions--solutions that directly involve the users of the facilities and those who benefit from them," is all that Ballard had to offer on the "$36 million deficit" at the CIB, which Ballard laments is "grab[bing] the headlines". "[The] challenges we face go beyond the headlines, and impact our citizens every day and in every paycheck," he explains. He adds, "Placing blame for this problem is not important, but fixing the problem is."
I couldn't disagree with Ballard more on that last point. Assessing blame for the current CIB requires analyzing how we got ourselves in this mess and what we can do to avoid facing similar problems in the future. Even worse, it clearly signals his belief that the problem can only be corrected by increasing public expenditures. While Ballard offered zero specifics on what he means by asking "users of the facilities and those who benefit from them" to provide the money for the additional spending, we know from well-placed leaks to the mainstream media what he has in mind. He wants anyone who attends an event at one of the facilities to pay a ticket tax. He wants to capture revenues which would otherwise fund other government services from an expanded development area around the CIB facilities and divert them to the CIB. He wants higher taxes on food and beverages and hotel stays. There's even talk of imposing a local income tax on people who work in Marion County but lived outside of it.
Ballard said in his speech today that "[w]e must tell the truth when we talk to our fellow citizens." Sadly, he won't even talk to us about his plans to fix the CIB. Instead, he allows guys like Bob Grand and Pat Early, both of whom have contributed to the very problem we find ourselves in today, to do the talking for him. To the extent they've spoken to the media, the information they've supplied has been very misleading and omits key information. Instead of talking to the man or woman on the street, the people who elected the outsider Ballard, he puts his trust in the same people who have consistently failed us and selfishly used public resources to benefit themselves and their friends and clients. "We must rely on the wisdom of our elected officials in the General Assembly and the City-County Council" and "the sage advice of those who came before us . . . ," he says. These are the same people candidate Ballard told us were the problem. Now he's telling us they are the solution. Why didn't we just re-elect Bart Peterson? Isn't that the same thing he told us? And please don't tell us you have made the budget process transparent when these folks you entrust play hide the ball with the facts and figures and negotiate in secret, behind closed doors with State House leaders to bail us out this mess.
Speaking of telling the truth, what's with the moving target on exactly what the CIB's deficit is? One day it's $20 million. The next day its $43 million. Then $50 million. And now we're down to $36 million. It's not exactly inspiring confidence in the people you expect to foot the bill to close this so-called budget gap.
What is a win for civic pride to Ballard? "We opened Lucas Oil Stadium, the new Indianapolis International Airport and finalized the JW Marriott Hotel tower project." "And, there's this event known as Super Bowl 46." It's all about the trophy projects. What about the state of our parks? What about the state of our streets and sidewalks? What about the lack of sewers in many neighborhoods? What about the skyrocketing number of abandoned homes in old neighborhoods and the blight and crime that accompanies them? These are things that affect the quality of life for the average person who lives in Indianapolis. Most residents can't afford the cost of tickets to see a Colts or Pacers game, let alone eat out at some of the fine but expensive restaurant in the mile square. They would be happy if you would just fix the sewers so raw sewage doesn't back up in their basement, give them a sidewalk, fix the potholes or do something about the abandoned house next to them. I found it remarkable that the Mayor had nothing to say about the 20% rate hike water users in the city are facing because the water company foolishly borrowed money using variable rate bonds that are now costing us over 9% in interest.
The Mayor assures us the city is safer today with him in charge of the police department, even without the 100 additional police officers you were promised as part of a $90 million, 65% increase in the local income tax. Hey, only 8 police officers are calling in sick on average during weekend duty. The number used to be 45 before Ballard took control of the police department he tells us. They had better be showing up for work. We are giving them back-to-back pay raises well above the rate of inflation, while most people are seeing their wages frozen or slashed. The Mayor is also very proud of the $5 million he passed out in crime prevention grants "to organizations fighting the good fight at the grassroots, neighborhood level." Sorry, I'll take my chances on the benefit of additional police officers over well-dressed ministers and career government grant seekers for my personal safety any day.
Addressing the infrastructure problem that has been ignored for too long is now a priority the mayor tells us. To address that problem, he has put a political science professor at IUPUI in charge. As a person with a political science degree, I can't recall any of my professors to whom I would turn for such a task. Again, it just reflects the failure of this administration to think outside the box on anything. Everything is approached as business as usual. Ballard intends to tap federal stimulus dollars to address some of those needs. While some high-dollar projects are focused on the federally-mandated sewage water collection and treatment improvements, many others are directed largely to the mile square area in an effort to "look our best" for the 2012 Super Bowl.
Overall, I would give this speech a D-minus. I'm just glad I didn't have to sit through it. Truly disappointing. What a difference a year makes. This guy has been transformed entirely from a modern-day Citizen Kane to just another politician whose decision-making is totally driven by the will of the same campaign contributors and elite insiders who have bled every last ounce of blood out of this city for their own benefit.
I couldn't disagree with Ballard more on that last point. Assessing blame for the current CIB requires analyzing how we got ourselves in this mess and what we can do to avoid facing similar problems in the future. Even worse, it clearly signals his belief that the problem can only be corrected by increasing public expenditures. While Ballard offered zero specifics on what he means by asking "users of the facilities and those who benefit from them" to provide the money for the additional spending, we know from well-placed leaks to the mainstream media what he has in mind. He wants anyone who attends an event at one of the facilities to pay a ticket tax. He wants to capture revenues which would otherwise fund other government services from an expanded development area around the CIB facilities and divert them to the CIB. He wants higher taxes on food and beverages and hotel stays. There's even talk of imposing a local income tax on people who work in Marion County but lived outside of it.
Ballard said in his speech today that "[w]e must tell the truth when we talk to our fellow citizens." Sadly, he won't even talk to us about his plans to fix the CIB. Instead, he allows guys like Bob Grand and Pat Early, both of whom have contributed to the very problem we find ourselves in today, to do the talking for him. To the extent they've spoken to the media, the information they've supplied has been very misleading and omits key information. Instead of talking to the man or woman on the street, the people who elected the outsider Ballard, he puts his trust in the same people who have consistently failed us and selfishly used public resources to benefit themselves and their friends and clients. "We must rely on the wisdom of our elected officials in the General Assembly and the City-County Council" and "the sage advice of those who came before us . . . ," he says. These are the same people candidate Ballard told us were the problem. Now he's telling us they are the solution. Why didn't we just re-elect Bart Peterson? Isn't that the same thing he told us? And please don't tell us you have made the budget process transparent when these folks you entrust play hide the ball with the facts and figures and negotiate in secret, behind closed doors with State House leaders to bail us out this mess.
Speaking of telling the truth, what's with the moving target on exactly what the CIB's deficit is? One day it's $20 million. The next day its $43 million. Then $50 million. And now we're down to $36 million. It's not exactly inspiring confidence in the people you expect to foot the bill to close this so-called budget gap.
What is a win for civic pride to Ballard? "We opened Lucas Oil Stadium, the new Indianapolis International Airport and finalized the JW Marriott Hotel tower project." "And, there's this event known as Super Bowl 46." It's all about the trophy projects. What about the state of our parks? What about the state of our streets and sidewalks? What about the lack of sewers in many neighborhoods? What about the skyrocketing number of abandoned homes in old neighborhoods and the blight and crime that accompanies them? These are things that affect the quality of life for the average person who lives in Indianapolis. Most residents can't afford the cost of tickets to see a Colts or Pacers game, let alone eat out at some of the fine but expensive restaurant in the mile square. They would be happy if you would just fix the sewers so raw sewage doesn't back up in their basement, give them a sidewalk, fix the potholes or do something about the abandoned house next to them. I found it remarkable that the Mayor had nothing to say about the 20% rate hike water users in the city are facing because the water company foolishly borrowed money using variable rate bonds that are now costing us over 9% in interest.
The Mayor assures us the city is safer today with him in charge of the police department, even without the 100 additional police officers you were promised as part of a $90 million, 65% increase in the local income tax. Hey, only 8 police officers are calling in sick on average during weekend duty. The number used to be 45 before Ballard took control of the police department he tells us. They had better be showing up for work. We are giving them back-to-back pay raises well above the rate of inflation, while most people are seeing their wages frozen or slashed. The Mayor is also very proud of the $5 million he passed out in crime prevention grants "to organizations fighting the good fight at the grassroots, neighborhood level." Sorry, I'll take my chances on the benefit of additional police officers over well-dressed ministers and career government grant seekers for my personal safety any day.
Addressing the infrastructure problem that has been ignored for too long is now a priority the mayor tells us. To address that problem, he has put a political science professor at IUPUI in charge. As a person with a political science degree, I can't recall any of my professors to whom I would turn for such a task. Again, it just reflects the failure of this administration to think outside the box on anything. Everything is approached as business as usual. Ballard intends to tap federal stimulus dollars to address some of those needs. While some high-dollar projects are focused on the federally-mandated sewage water collection and treatment improvements, many others are directed largely to the mile square area in an effort to "look our best" for the 2012 Super Bowl.
Overall, I would give this speech a D-minus. I'm just glad I didn't have to sit through it. Truly disappointing. What a difference a year makes. This guy has been transformed entirely from a modern-day Citizen Kane to just another politician whose decision-making is totally driven by the will of the same campaign contributors and elite insiders who have bled every last ounce of blood out of this city for their own benefit.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)