Is my wife's check engine light an omen?

The check engine light on my wife's van came on today, the same day that IDEM said that emissions testing will NOT be abandoned, even though Lake County is in compliance with air quality regs.

Damn! Now I'm going to have to go to Autozone, use their scanner, and figure out what's wrong. Otherwise, I might have just put a piece of electrical tape over the indicator and forgotten about it!

Hopefully its just an O2 sensor.

Update: Some retard who filled up her tank last didn't screw the gas cap on tightly enough. That was enough to throw a code and set the check engine light.

I have no idea who that retard was. No idea.

New York Times Continues its War on McCain

Anybody who thinks that being born in the Panama Canal Zone doesn't make you a "natural born citizen" obviously must have graduated from an Indiana public school. ;)

Note to New York Times: Puerto Rico is not a state, but its residents are "natural born citizens". The canal zone is no different than Puerti Rico.

Man, these guys are stupid.

Tom O'Donnel isn't going to flip yet

Remember that I predicted that Democrat Lake County Councilman Otm O'Donnel would be the one to flip and support a veto overide of the COIT.

So far, he seems to be steadfast in his non-flippitude:

Councilman Tom O'Donnell, D-Dyer, a key vote if the council is to overcome a promised veto by the county commissioners, said his constituents are strongly opposed to the income tax.

"People just don't want it, and until we start showing some initiative to make some serious budget cuts ourselves, I can't support it," O'Donnell said.

Ted "The Flipper" Bilski seems to be less steadfast in his non-flippitude:

Councilman Ted Bilski, another potential swing vote, said he too expects to again say no.

"I represent communities that are running pretty lean, frugal operations," Bilski said. "Asking homeowners living in my district to shoulder another tax burden right now doesn't make sense."

Bilski said he would revisit the income tax question if elected officials in the communities he represents tell him they need the revenue.

As we have seen, government officials are not shy about asking for more money!

Based on that quote, I predict we will have an income tax in short order.

How do the new COIT distribution options work?

WOW! They did this study quickly!

Consulting firm Crowe Chizek just completed a study of three new options for divvying up the estimated $81 million in property tax relief that would be raised by a 1 percent Lake County income tax.

OPTION 1: Use the income tax to reduce county government levies. Would produce wide disparities. Extremes are St. John Township residents reaping $3.9 million more in property tax relief than they pay in income tax, and Calumet Township taxpayers losing $6.4 million.

OPTION 2: Return the income tax money to property owners in the city or township -- in the case of unincorporated areas -- where it was raised. On the whole, taxpayers in all 19 cities and towns would break even. But there would be slight disparities -- less than $1 million apiece -- among unincorporated areas.

OPTION 3: Distribute 60 percent of the money to property owners in the city or township where it was raised and the other 40 percent by population. Money would go to reduce property taxes paid to cities, townships and the county, which would create disparities similar to option 2. Gary residents, for instance, would come out $558,000 ahead, while Munster taxpayers would take a $318,000 hit.

Okay, I'm putting my money on Option 3. Any option that screws Republican Munster is going to be VERY attractive to Democrats

Join Buzzcut at the Revolution

Senate passes property tax "reform"

Well, the Senate FINALLY passed the property tax reform plan, but it is so different that HB 1001 that it needs to go into conference commitee.

There are still a LOT of loopholes in this bill. There are no constraints on spending, and referendum approved capital spending is not subject to the 1% tax cap.

The bill also encourages County "Option" Income Taxes. In fact, it allows counties to make up some of the lost property tax revenue with an income tax.

This is not reform, this is swapping. You get lower property taxes, but you get higher sales and income taxes. Is this really what people want?

Obama is the black Ronald Reagan

I've been a Michelle Obama-hater lately, so maybe I need to post on a good thing about Obama.

The knock against Obama is that he is a great speaker, but there's no there there.

In fact, that's not true, and Obama is really like Reagan in his rhetoric.

His rhetorical gimmick is simple. When he addresses a contentious issue, Mr. Obama almost always begins his answer with a respectful nod in the direction of the view he is rejecting -- a line or two that suggests he understands or perhaps even sympathizes with the concerns of a conservative.

At Cornell College on Dec. 5, for example, a student asked Mr. Obama how his administration would view the Second Amendment. He replied: "There's a Supreme Court case that's going to be decided fairly soon about what the Second Amendment means. I taught Constitutional Law for 10 years, so I've got my opinion. And my opinion is that the Second Amendment is probably -- it is an individual right and not just a right of the militia. That's what I expect the Supreme Court to rule. I think that's a fair reading of the text of the Constitution. And so I respect the right of lawful gun owners to hunt, fish, protect their families."

Then came the pivot:

"Like all rights, though, they are constrained and bound by the needs of the community . . . So when I look at Chicago and 34 Chicago public school students gunned down in a single school year, then I don't think the Second Amendment prohibits us from taking action and making sure that, for example, ATF can share tracing information about illegal handguns that are used on the streets and track them to the gun dealers to find out -- what are you doing?"

In conclusion:

"There is a tradition of gun ownership in this country that can be respected that is not mutually exclusive with making sure that we are shutting down gun traffic that is killing kids on our streets. The argument I have with the NRA is not whether people have the right to bear arms. The problem is they believe any constraint or regulation whatsoever is something that they have to beat back. And I don't think that's how most lawful firearms owners think."

In the end, Mr. Obama is simply campaigning for office in the same way he says he would operate if he were elected. "We're not looking for a chief operating officer when we select a president," he said during a question and answer session at Google headquarters back in December.

"What we're looking for is somebody who will chart a course and say: Here is where America needs to go -- here is how to solve our energy crisis, here's how we need to revamp our education system -- and then gather the talent together and then mobilize that talent to achieve that goal. And to inspire a sense of hope and possibility."

Like Ronald Reagan did.

That is what I like about Obama. He can say something good about the other side. That will do wonders for dismantling the politics of personal destruction.

Senate refuses to eliminate township assessors

One of the only "reforms" in the property tax "reform" debate this year was the elimination of township assessors.

Now even that reform is being scaled back.

The Senate wants to put it to a local referendum.

Great, pass the buck. What the hell do we elect these guys for if they won't make the hard choices and live with the consequences?

At least the ammendment to link the tax caps to income was defeated.

The Jackass from the 1st Senate District, Frank Mrvan, also failed to eliminate the tax caps for landlords and commercial property. The vast majority of lost revenue in Lake County from the tax caps is because of the breaks for landlords and commercial property. Boy, do they get screwed by taxes!

Senate gives North Lake County another loophole

The Senate appears to be prepared to give the overtaxing municipalities of Lake County a loophole. Rather than stick them with the tax cap and let the cuts fall where they may, they are creating a "distressed unit" designation that may allow "certain items" to go over the tax caps.

Already the list of loopholes is so long that I can't even keep track of them all in my head.

I reiterate my predicition: 6 years from now there will be another property tax crisis. There are entirely too many loopholes for municipalities to work with.

Is it a big deal to fail the bar exam?

Commenter Abdul-Hakim takes me to task over my Michelle Obama comment:

Hey dude,

The IL bar exam has a 65-percent pass rate. When you take you have a 1 in 3 chance you won't make it. I know great lawyers who've taken it twice and idiots who passed the first time. It's no measure of how good an attorney you will be. And yes, I passed the first time.

Actually, according to this the pass rate is 79%.

Mayor Daley famously failed the bar exam twice. So by that bar, Michelle Obama is a friggin' genius!

Also, according to this African Americans have a first time taker bar exam pass rate on the order of 50%.

Michelle Obama's senior thesis is semi-literate, black separatist nonsense

Get the thesis here.

Why should anyone care about this?

It's that deeply, unrelentingly critical way of thinking about the U.S.A., and about most of our citizens, that characterizes the "victicrat" — the person who has been taught, or who has taught herself, that she is a pitiful figure buffeted by hostile forces, whose only hope for survival is to return the hostility, and to band together with others like herself ("the Black community") for mutual aid, all of them in a hostile posture to the out-group.

Most Americans don't see our country like that, and have a low opinion of people who do. Millions of white — or, as Mrs. Obama writes, "White" — Americans would love to have had the breaks Mrs. Obama had, and resent the fact that they didn't have them because they don't belong to a designated victim group. They resent the ease with which two beneficiaries of those breaks can parlay their victim status into two six-digit salaries and a seven-digit house, without ever doing any kind of work that adds to the nation's wealth or security. And they especially resent that people who have attained those heights of success, with the assistance of those breaks, seem to nurse nothing but hostile emotions towards the country that made it possible for them.

Michelle Obama failed the Illinois Bar Exam

Because of affirmative action, everything that African Americans of Michelle Obama's generation have achieved is tainted. No one knows if she genuinely earned her admission to Princeton and Harvard Law, or if she took the place of a more accademically qualified non-minority.

Check this out:

The May admission to the bar is for those who took the Winter (March I think) bar exam. Most take the July bar exam, and I think were admitted in October, so I don't understand Obama's date of admission. Not everyone who graduates in May takes the July exam, but in Mrs. Obama's case she was already at Sidley and Austin, so I'd guess her main job would've been studying for the bar exam. So, the guess would be she didn't pass the July exam and did pass the winter exam, what with over half a year of studying for it. Now, many folks who attend schools like Harvard aren't really taught the things that are on bar exams, if only because many of their profs don't want to teach it (too boring).

There is another explanation. The pass rate on the bar exam for African American test takers is much, much lower than for whites and Asians. This is because African Americans with much lower academic credentials are accepted to law schools. They have lower graduation and pass rates as a result.

East Chicago not thinking outside the box

The BP refinery is embarking on a $3.8B expansion. They will be reworking the refinery while it is still operating. To do so, they need a large staging area. Just such as area is available across the street from the refinery, the old Sinclair refinery property.

BP approached East Chicago about "borrowing" the site. The site is heavily polluted. BP said that they would need the site for 5 years, but after they were done, they would pay for the remidiation. It was a win-win situation: BP gets the space they need for the expansion, and East Chicago gets a remediated site for free.

East Chicago turned them down.

Are they insane? Is there any better illustration of just why a tax cap is needed? Where do they get off turning BP down?

More on the Mittal assessment mistake

Commenter "g" says that I've still got it wrong:

Mittal paid their $11.5M which was due. The double entry by the incompetent township assessor (redundant, yes) resulted in an overstated total assessment in the taxing district, not the levy. The levy is just the total of the budgets that "need" to be funded. The result of restating the total assessment ($11.5M lower) will be an even higher EC tax rate and an additional bill for each and every taxpayer not already under the cap.

I had not realized that Mittal actually paid the bill. Got a source for that, g?

I think I understand the mechanics. There is a total assessed value of a taxing district, and a municipal budget. Take the total assessed value, divide it by the budget, and you get the levy. Take the total assessed value, multiply it by the levy, and you have the budget.

If you have a fixed budget, and the assessed value goes down (because of that double entry), your levy is going to go up if your budget stays fixed.

So my question is, is the appeal on the basis that Mittal should not get its $11.5M back? Or is the appeal that the levy should be recalculated so that everyone else in East Chicago makes up the $11.5M?

Michelle Obama is a fascist

Michelle Obama actually said this:

Barack Obama will require you to work. He is going to demand that you shed your cynicism. That you put down your divisions. That you come out of your isolation, that you move out of your comfort zones. That you push yourselves to be better. And that you engage. Barack will never allow you to go back to your lives as usual, uninvolved, uninformed.

And what is she going to do if you refuse to work, shed your cynicism, etc.?

USA! USA! USA!

US Navy-1 Spy Satellite-0

Once again, the millitary shows us that they're the only competant institution left in America. The politicians are fools, the schools are crap, religion is just politics by another name, but the millitary can get things done.

Democrats link tax caps to income

What if your tax cap were related to your income, not your assessed value?

This is the most retarded thing I've ever heard of. Why not just get rid of property taxes and just have income taxes? Why make the tax system even more complicated?

Point of fact, no one makes more money in a year than their house is worth. So this means the Democrats are starving government of even more money than Mitch's tax caps would.

Democrats are fools.

Democrat State Rep. Reardon tries to steal $11.5M from Mittal Steel

Due to an error by the North Township auditors office, Mittal Steel in East Chicago was sent two bills for $11.5M.

Democrat State Rep. Reardon is trying to allow East Chicago to appeal that tax mistake.

The article is a little vauge. Actually very vaugue. It's not clear exactly what the consequences of the appeal would be.

My initial thought was that she was trying to stick Mittal with the $11.5M. I now think that's incorrect.

What I think she is trying to do is recalculate the levy without that additional $11.5M in there. Essentially everyone's tax bill in East Chicago would go up to make up for that $11.5M.

It really goes to show where the Democrats allegience lies. They rather stick it to the taxpayers rather than simply make East Chicago live with less money.

Obamaniks are latte-drinking, Prius- driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies

The president of the union that represents the employees of my former employer has some interesting things to say about Obama:

Early in his speech, Tom Buffenbarger [president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers] asked, “So now we have a decision to make. Will we rely on the Harvard Law Review editor? The silver-tongued orator from Kansas, Hawaii and Illinois? The man in love with the microphone?”

Taking off the gloves, he said, “Barack Obama is no Muhammad Ali. He took a walk every time there was a tough vote in the Illinois State Senate. He took a walk more than a 130 times. That's what a shadow boxer does. All the right moves. All the right combinations. All the right footwork. But he never steps into the ring.”

But it was Obama supporters for whom Buffenbarger saved his most vitriolic contempt, and he proved that the Democratic Party’s coalition is nothing if not fragile. Channeling Howard Beale from the movie "Network," he yelled into the microphone, “Give me a break! I've got news for all the latte-drinking, Prius- driving, Birkenstock-wearing, trust fund babies crowding in to hear him speak! This guy won't last a round against the Republican attack machine. He's a poet, not a fighter.”

Communist at Purdue University Calumet

With Castro stepping down, it seems that the last bastion of Communists in the world are US universities. Purdue University Calumet is not immune to this infestation.

Kathleen Tobin, a PUC professor of Latin American studies, disagrees. She is teaching a Cuban history class, and has been to Cuba three times.

"Unless it would come to a conflict between the United States and Cuba, I don't think that there will be substantial changes in the short term," Tobin said.

She thinks the Cuban people will sustain communism after Castro's departure. She thinks people in the U.S. see Cuba through a distorted anti-communist lens. She thinks Cubans value their nationalized systems, and that they will not let them crumble. She also opposes the embargo.

Power now rests with a generation of younger people who don't hold Cold War grudges, Tobin said.

"I think that the future is really in their hands," she said.

And Ms. Tobin sees Cuba through the distorted lens of a card carrying Pinko Commie bastard.

And that would be okay if she worked somewhere that didn't accept tax dollars for its existance.

Michelle Obama Hates America

Michele Obama: "for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country,"

Barack Obama: "What she [Michelle Obama] meant was, this is the first time that she's been proud of the politics of America..."

Both statements are asanine. Michelle Obama graduated college in 1985. She has been an adult since then. NOTHING good has happened in American politics since 1985?

What about 8 years of Clinton? What about all the good that has happened in the country since '85? Fall of the Berlin Wall? End of Communism? Peace dividend?

Even for a Democrat, that statement is really stupid. I don't like the Clintons, but even this "wingnut" of a Republican knows that lots and lots of good things happened during their regin of error. Isn't that statement, you know, insulting to Democrats as well as Republicans?

This little faux pas is going to give McCain just the opening he needs to pound the crap out of Obama. McCain is going to use the usual Republican play book to beat Obama with the baseball bat of patriotism. All those little old ladies that switched from Hillary to Obama are now going to switch to McCain because of the lack of patriotism shown by Obama's wife.

Obama is an empty suit

MSNBC's Chris Matthews: "You are a big Barack supporter, right, Senator?"

State Sen. Watson: "I am. Yes, I am."

Matthews: "Well, name some of his legislative accomplishments. No, Senator, I want you to name some of Barack Obama's legislative accomplishments tonight if you can."

State Sen. Watson: "Well, you know, what I will talk about is more about what he is offering the American people right now."

Matthews: "No. No. What has he accomplished, sir? You say you support him. Sir, you have to give me his accomplishments. You've supported him for president. You are on national television. Name his legislative accomplishments, Barack Obama, sir."

State Sen. Watson: "Well, I'm not going to be able to name you specific items of legislative accomplishments."

Matthews: "Can you name any? Can you name anything he's accomplished as a Congressman?"

State Sen. Watson: "No, I'm not going to be able to do that tonight."

Matthews: "Well, that is a problem isn't it?"

(MSNBC's "MSNBC Live," 2/19/08)

Mayor McCheeze wastes $35M per year of casino money

According to a commentary by Hammond Mayor McCheeze, the Horseshoe Casino kicks off $35M PER YEAR to Hammond.

Hammond currently uses this as a re-election slush fund for council members and Mayor McCheeze.

Mayor McCheeze wants to use some of this payola to close the $21M deficit that the tax caps will cause.

I actually support this idea. If you are going to be getting $35M in payola, why not use it to fund government directly, instead of using it to simply re-elect Democrats?

Loopholes, loopholes, everywhere there's loopholes

The senate's version of property tax reform is so full of loopholes that it will not result in ANY lowering of the overall property tax burden.

2 examples:

1) The Senate plan, which cleared committee Tuesday on a 9-0 vote, also would create a "distressed unit" appeal board to hear funding pleas from local governments ravaged by the tax caps. Senate Tax Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, said the state panel, which he likened to a bankruptcy court, could help Whiting cope with an expected loss of roughly $2.5 million.

2) Counties that impose a property tax relief income tax of at least 0.25 percent could, under the Senate plan, hike the tax another 0.25 percent to offset police and fire budget cuts caused by the property tax caps.

And then there's this:

Lake County would remain under last year's legislative mandate to impose a 1 percent income tax for property tax relief. But senators have included the three new income tax distribution formulas under review by the Lake County Council.

So Whiting, Hammond, et. al will be exempt from the tax caps, Lake County is still being forced to impose a COIT, counties are being encouraged to jack up their COIT by an additional 0.5%, and the distribution formulas are going to be changed so that North County gets more out of a COIT.

Why exactly should any Republican be for this bill?

Political exploitation of "The Children"

With a dropout rate of over 50%, should Gary high school students be as school learning, or at the statehouse lobbying against HB 1001?

Gary Schools Superintendent Mary Steele-Agee should be fired for this.

Republican Rumors

Okay, I have some good rumors to pass on:

In the 1st house district, Fernando Urura [sp] has filed.

In the 11th, Cy Herder [sp] has filed.

In the 12th GEORGE JANIC has filed. YEAH!

In the 13th, Joe Hero has filed.

In the 14th, Catherine Camble [sp] has filed.

The 4th and 15th have Republican incumbants, and the 2nd and 3rd have no Republicans (why bother!).

South Shore Extension is officially off the track.

The South Shore Extension funding bill is going to an "exploratory commitee". Essentially it is dead this year.

With all the revelations in the last week that Visclosky hasn't been straight on the true cost of the thing, I can't say that I'm disappointed. Okay, I'm a little disappointed.

Just how morally bankrupt is the Democrat Party?

Former East Chicago Mayor and unindicted coconspirator in the "Sidewalks for Votes" scandal Bob Pastrick is a Democrat "Superdelegate" in Indiana.

So not only has Pastrick stolen elections in the past, he has the potential to now steal the election from Obama and hand it over to Hillary.

County "Option" Income Tax STILL not dead!

Senate Bill 20, which gives Lake County 3 more options for distributing COIT revenue, loos set to pass out of the House commitee. It already passed the Senate 48-0.

One downstate Rep. realizes the scam:

"I continue to wonder why we should treat Lake County different. Every time we vote to treat Lake County different, something blows up," said state Rep. Dan Leonard, R-Huntington. "Can you tell me why Lake County is so different?"

There are 3 new distribution options, and any option can be split any way between homesteads, residential, and commercial property.

It will be interesting what Ted "The Flipper" Bilski has to say now. Last time we heard, he was still against the COIT, even with the new distribution formulas. But that was before the public employee unions got involved in HB 1001.

South Shore Extension Answers!

Finally, we got some answers to my many, many questions about the South Shore Expansion.

First of all, the $1B price tag for the extension is for capital costs only. The costs do not reflect inflation (i.e. it will cost more to do the extension in the future).

Secondly, the current South Shore service pays for half of its operating costs via ticket revenue. The Extension will need a source of revenue for operating expenses as well as the capital cost. No one has addressed the need for an operating subsudy.

Third, a "gateway" station in Hammond is going to cost a LOT more than one in Hegewich, which was the planned transfer station before Mayor McCheeze struck a backroom deal to bring it to Hammond.

The Hammond station could very well cost a billion dollars all by itself. It will be a detour as well, a much longer route than the Hegewich station.

Negotiations with Metra to permit more trains have not commenced, and there is no guarantee that Metra will even allow more trains on their tracks.

I also found out that Munster has been planning for the Extension for 20 years, and has 3 possible locations for a station.

With the publishing of all this information, it is clear that, once again, Visclosky has mismanaged this project. He did not get Metra on board. He did not reign in Mayor McCheeze and that insane clown in Gary, and made the region look like fools in Indy. And he did nothing to publicize the need for an operating subsidy.

Public Employees to Taxpayers: Drop Dead

Literally.

The Hammond firefighters union took out a full page ad in the Times to denounce HB 1001. They claim that the 1% tax cap will cause Hammond to lay off 1/3 of its unionized firefighters. That's 60 firefighters.

I think that, in the future, there will be no dedicated firefighters. Municipal workers will do double duty as firefighters. EMS service will be privatized.

It's the only way to pay for fire service under a 1% cap.

Anthropological observations of County Employees

Seeing as I had 2 and a half hours in Crown Point, I had ample opportunity to do an anthropological study of our county's public employees.

I walked all over the building with my 4 year old. We went up and down the escalator about 20 times.

Lots of public employees hanging out and walking around aimlessly. The younger ones dress down, and look pretty "downmarket" if you know what I mean. Lots of smokers.

The older ones dressed up. LOTS of older employees. Don't these people retire at 65 like they're supposed to?

Out in the parking lot there were LOTS of political bumper stickers. I saw a lot for DuPey and Philpot. Philpot has got to be running for coroner.

Side note: so much for term limits. Philpot was the coroner before, then got term limited. So then he became the clerk. And now he's going to run for the coroner again? What's the deal with that?

What if North Lake County could unilaterally pass a COIT?

Strange story in the Times yesterday, evidently the House speaker wants to pass a law that would put a county income tax to a "weighted vote".

It sounds to me that the cities of North Lake County could force the county to impose an income tax.

Seeing as how the Lake County Income tax was strongly supported by Councilmen from North county, this law would definately get the COIT passed here.

Seems completely unconstitutional to me. "Weighted voting" sounds fascist, doesn't it?

Mr. Buzzcut goes to Crown Point

So yesterday was the day that I went to the County building, to the auditor's office, to file my homestead exemption. It was an out and out disaster.

First of all, in this day and age, why can't you file the exemption online?

Anyway, I went into the building, into the auditor's office, and no one was waiting in line. I ask to file my exemption, and I was told that I was in the wrong place. The REAL line was down the hall.

So I went down the hall, turn the corner, and the line to file is out the door and down the hall!

I went in and took a number. I was 34, and they were "processing" number 9!

And it took half an hour to go from 9 to 10!

There were 4 computer terminals that could be used to process people, but at any one time they had no more than 3 people working there. There were a bunch of government slackers in the back office that could have come out to process the backlog, but they didn't.

Finally, 2 hours after I got in line, they got to 34. A good number of people between 9 and 34 just gave up and left.

And what took them so long? After all, they just need a couple of pieces of info to process the exemption.

Well, they PERSONALLY filled out the form, by hand. They could have had us do the forms while we were in line, or they could have a computer form. But no, they clerk had to fill out the form. It took another 20 minutes to get processed.

Ub-frickin' believeable. Total BS.

To make matters worse, it's the county building. The place is a total dump. The floors are filthy, and the place is falling down. Would it kill them to clean the place once in a while?

I never expected to be there for 2 and a half hours, so I brought my 4 year old with me. He's a trooper, but this was tough for him.

They were nice enough to give him a cupcake. Must have been some slack assed government employees birthday or something.

Also, while we were waiting in line, the recorder came over and told us that we "might" need our mortgage info on their letterhead for the auditor to process us. I had all my info, but even so I took her up on the offer. But did the recorder look up my info? No, she just took the numbers that I had and put them on her letterhead!

Buzzcut is STILL confused about the "Prebate"

This article is pretty comprehensive, but I'm still confused about the "stimulus plan" rebate.

One of my previous questions has been answered. The rebate is in fact a "prebate", just like the one in 2001. Your tax refund next year will have the prebate deducted from it. Those of us who rely on our refund to pay off christmas related credit card bills need to keep that in mind.

It seems like a portion of the prebate goes to everyone. Basically, you get $300 per exemption. In my case, that means my minimum prebate is $1500 (one for me, one for my wife, one for each of 3 kids).

But what about the kid that's born this year? It is not clear that I'd be getting another $300 for her. It might be that they only count your '07 exemptions.

Then you have the part of the prebate that offsets taxes paid in '07 and '08. This is also confusing. I think that, because I paid less than $1200 in taxes last year, I might not get the full $600 that this prebate maxes out at. I could get the extra money when I file '08 taxes.

RDA is not on board the South Shore

The RDA met yesterday, and discusions revolved around how the RDA has made NO commitment to the South Shore Expansion.

This is frickin unbelievable. Congressman Viscloskey has sold this thing on the basis that the RDA will kick in $350M. That simply is not the case. The RDA has promised nothing.

We could end up with a regional tax to pay for this thing, and NO money from the RDA. Then what will happen? Viscloskey will go back to Indy, and get the regional tax increased.

We could very well end up with a 1/2% income tax in Lake County just to pay for the South Shore expansion. It would be more if all the pork that the Clown Rudy Clay and Mayor McCheeze want is included.

What a disaster. Visclosky is worse than Slick Willey in terms of bald headed lying.

Lake County income tax still not dead...

The latest is that the County Council voted to spend $15k on a study of the various distribution formulas in the latest house bill.

Once again, that house bill is Lake County specific. It seems to me that if they use the distribution formulas in that bill, we would have grounds for a lawsuit. County specific legislation is unconstituional.

What am I missing here? Please, you legal eagles out there tell me, because I don't get it.

Pork derails the South Shore

The powers that be in Lake County aired their dirty laundry in a Senate commitee meeting on the South Shore Extension, and pretty much derailed the whole project as a result.

The downstate legislators were particularly vocal that the Lake County politicians should have been on the same page before they came into the meeting.

Instead, you had fools like the clown Rudy Clay advocating for more pork for Gary, instead of doing what was right for the whole community.

Typical.

Only new tidbit is that a 1% food and beverage tax in the 4 county region served by the South Shore would generate $15M.

More reason for Buzzcut to chill about November

Just because Democrats are showing up in the primaries and Republicans aren't doesn't mean we will get killed in November:

In the open election of 1988, 23 million Democrats voted in primaries, as did 12 million Republicans. Yes, you're reading that correctly. Nearly twice as many Democrats voted. That was a precursor to President Michael Dukakis's election.

In 1980, Democrats actually had an incumbent president, who was challenged by Ted Kennedy. Republicans, meanwhile, had a competitive primary between Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Democrats cast 16.1 million votes in their primaries that year, compared to just (corrected) 12.7 million for Republicans. We all know what happened in Jimmy Carter's second term, don't we?

The only times Republicans have outnumbered Democrats in primaries in the last 35 years were 2000 and 1996 — both years when Republicans were sick of being out of power. Even in those years, Republican turnout was only slightly higher than Democratic turnout.

That's where the Democrats are now — they are sick of being out of power. Plus, they'll probably still be choosing their nominee in July, so expect their advantage to climb. Their turnout is higher, just as it always has been, it shouldn't come as any surprise.

By historical standards vis-a-vis the Republicans, Democrats' turnout this year has been sluggish compared to 1988 or 1976. Or maybe Republican turnout has been unusually high. According to Dave Leip's Election Atlas (an extremely useful tool, by the way), their total vote is just over 19 million, plus 500,000 caucus-goers. The Republicans' total vote is just under 13 million, plus 350,000 caucus-goers.

East Chicago vote fraud nets a slap on the wrist

So what's the punishment for a public employee who commits vote fraud in East Chicago? A misdemenor, and the guy doesn't even lose his job with the Lake County police. And he was working for Gary streets and san while he was on unpaid leave.

90 days probation for engaging in vote fraud. And they guy doesn't lose his job as a sworn officer. Un-fricking-believable.

Hammond Fire Chief Whines in Indy

Showing just what the people of Hammond are getting for their extra $15,000 (the fire chief's recent raise), the Fire Chief of the City of Hammond testified before the House Ways and Means Committee yesterday that Mitch's 1% cap will kill people.

Inside the hearing room, Hammond Fire Chief Dave Hamm warned legislators that the budget cuts triggered by the tax caps would cost lives.

"One thing that I can assure you is our response time will worsen, and there will be deaths," Hamm said. "Please, please do not take that as a threat. ... It's just a matter of fact. It's going to happen."

Bunch of B.S. scare mongering.

Hammond can save $8M today. Eliminate pensions.

The Chief also supports the County Option Income Tax.

Public employees need to butt the hell out of the political process.

Wall Street Journal to Buzzcut: McCain DOES have a chance.

The Wall Street Journal's John Fund disassembles my argument that primary turnout means that the Democrats are going to roll this November.

Given that polls show Mr. McCain is currently in a dead heat against either Mr. Obama or Mrs. Clinton, it would be wise for the pundits to show a little humility this year. The Democratic strategists I talk to believe the race will be hard-fought and close, regardless of the direction the economy or the war in Iraq takes.

What strikes me is how close the vote total was in lots of blue states in '04. Who knew that Bush lost Pennsylvania by only 4 points?

I'm feeling a lot better about November. Obama has momentum now, it is only a matter of time before Hillary unleashes some dirty tricks. She abd Bill are not going to lose this nomination that easily.

Mitch to Hammond: Drop Dead

Okay, not really, but the choices to be made in Hammond because of "tax reform" are stark.

According to Hammond Council President (and Lake County public employee) Dan Repay:

For example, eliminating the city clerk's office would yield about $1.1 million in savings; city court, under $1 million; streets, $2.8 million; parks, $3.8 million; and transit, $2.5 million. Together, cutting these departments would yield some $11 million in savings, still $10 million short of the $21 million hole the governor's tax plan blows into Hammond's budget.

The next largest budgets are police, at $21 million, and fire, at nearly $16 million.

"We have pensioners to the tune of $8 million," Repay said. "Do we cancel their pensions?"

Oh man, don't turn me on like that, Dan.

Yes, pensions should be eliminated. Cash them out, save $8M. Eliminate the clerk and court. Eliminate the transit system. And start cutting what is left. Cops and firemen should not be immune to cuts.

Of course, once again, I'm not for the 1% tax cap. I'm happy with the current tax cap of 2%.

Buzzcut is confused about the tax rebate.

The so called "stimulus plan" is going to be sending out so called "rebates" in May.

Allegedly, they're based on taxes paid in '07, but are calculated based on adjusted gross income.

That's confusing. The tax you pay is not solely based on AGI. There are lots of deductions: child tax credit, home mortgage insureance, state and local taxes, etc.

Based on my AGI, I should be getting $2100 in the rebate ($1200 for myself and Mrs. Buzzcut, $300 each for the three Buzzcutettes).

But I didn't pay that much in federal income tax last year. Can you get back more than you paid in taxes in '07?

And does this count towards your refund in '08? When I do my taxes next year, am I going to have to deduct the $2100 from my refund next year? That's what happened in '01, the last time we screwed around with this rebate nonsense.

South Shore Extension keeps getting porked up

Now it's a transfer station in Hammond.

How the hell is the train going to get from 45th and Calumet in Munster up to Hammond?

These people are f-ing jackasses. Hammond has more pull than Munster.

More COIT Chatter

It looks like the bill giving Lake County 3 new options for distributing the COIT revenue is going to pass, and now the inevitable "study" must be done to tell us how exactly we will be screwed.

Luckily, it seems like Bilski is still not in favor of the COIT, even with the new distribution formulas.

Councilman Ted Bilski, D-Hobart, who held the deciding vote that kept the tax from passing in December, said at Thursday’s study session that “the option income tax doesn’t work.”

“I don’t think that those new formulas are any better than what we had. It could be a little worse than what we had,” said Councilman Larry Blanchard, R-Crown Point. “But I think the majority of the council wants to see (the estimate) on paper. They want to see it done by a professional accounting firm and base their decision on that. There’s quite a bit at stake.”

Maybe this thing is still dead. I didn't hear from Tom O'Donnel, though. He could still flip.

What's the REAL Federal debt?

If the Federal Government kept its books the way that private corporations are forced to, the Federal Debt would be $54 TRILLION, not $9 Trillion.

Substantial negative cash flow can be acceptable if it is offset by a strong balance sheet. Here the news is quite sobering. The U.S. has $1.6 trillion in assets and $10.8 trillion in liabilities, resulting in a negative net worth of $9.2 trillion as of the end of its Sept. 30, 2007, fiscal year. Of those liabilities, $5.1 trillion is owed to the public. Another $4.8 trillion is owed for federal employees and veteran benefits. The killer item, however, is $45 trillion in off-balance-sheet debt, which is the present value of future benefits owed for Medicare and Social Security.

As Citigroup (nyse: C - news - people ), Merrill Lynch (nyse: MER - news - people ), UBS (nyse: UBS - news - people ), HSBC (nyse: HBC - news - people ) and others recently discovered with their structured investment vehicles, these liabilities should be treated as real balance sheet liabilities. For the U.S., that would mean a net debt of $54 trillion, a figure 3.9 times our revenues, if we consider our $14 trillion economy as our figure for "sales."

Obama will not win Indiana

David Brooks is his usual brilliant self today.

Hillary Clinton is a classic commodity provider. She caters to the less-educated, less-pretentious consumer. As Ron Brownstein of The National Journal pointed out on Wednesday, she won the non-college-educated voters by 22 points in California, 32 points in Massachusetts and 54 points in Arkansas.

Well, well, lookie here. Hillary won the non-educated vote by 54 points in Arkansas.

Indiana is RIGHT behind Arkansas in terms of the % of population without a college degree.

Hillary is going to win Indiana by at least 10 points. I'm going to Intrade to put money on it.

Mitch to Whiting: Drop Dead

Okay, not really. But the tax caps ensure that Whiting will not be able to continue being an independent city. There just is not enough money in that community to provide the services that a city provides under the Indiana constition.

Whiting Mayor Joseph Stahura said his city, which depends heavily on the BP Whiting refinery taxes, is a worst-case scenario waiting to happen.

Following the tax cuts and state-mandated payments of old debt, liability insurance and police and fire pension funds, "I'm left with about $1 million for my entire operation, police, fire, street department and administration," Stahura said.

Stahura said it costs the city $1.9 million per year for police protection, $1.6 million for fire protection and $600,000 to repair streets.

There it is again, those damn pensions. Cash them out and eliminate them. Then there will be enough money for Whiting to survive.

Or not. Other option is to consolodate with Hammond.

Vote Analysis

Republicans are doomed in November

I did an analysis of vote totals for most of the primaries/ caucuses across America.

Democrats (Obama, Hillary, etc.) got almost 18 Million votes. Republicans (McCain, Romney, etc.) only got 12 million votes.

There is absolutely no way that McCain or Huckabee or Romney or any Republican is going to win in November. The Democrat nominee is irrelevant. The shear number of votes that Democrats have gotten in the primaries show that they have the numbers to win no matter who the nominee is.

Republicans got more votes than Democrats in only three states: Arizona, Utah, and Alaska.

My advice to Republicans: start betting heavily in the futures market by shorting stocks a year out. At least you'll personally make a lot of money.

I also advise to bet heavily in those betting markets on a Hillary win in November. She is going to pull the nomination off eventually (I prefer Obama, but let's be realistic). And then the numbers will work out for her in November.

I love Dubya, but what a disaster he has created electorally. What the hell has happened to Republicans?

A Century of Hoosier Unlearnedness

Low SAT scores are not a recent phenomenon.;)

1897: Egged on by an amateur mathematician, the Indiana General Assembly almost passes a bill adopting 3.2 as the exact value of pi (or π). Only the intervention of a Purdue University mathematician who happens to be visiting the legislature prevents the bill from becoming law, saving the most acute political embarrassment.

What became known as the Indiana pi bill was sponsored by Rep. T.I. Record at the behest of Edwin J. Goodwin, a physician and math dilettante who claimed to have figured out how to square circles.

House Bill 246, proposed as "an act introducing a new mathematical truth," went through three reads before being passed unanimously by the House, presumably to avoid having to endure a fourth.

Although it comes down to us as the "pi bill," pi itself is never mentioned in Record's bill, which was, in fact, intended to confirm Goodwin's formula for squaring the circle. The value 3.2 for pi was a prerequisite for making that formula plausible.

House 246 was sent on to the state Senate and was on the verge of passage when everyone's bacon was serendipitously saved by C.A. Waldo, a Purdue mathematics professor who happened to be in the Statehouse on another matter. Shown the bill and offered an introduction to the genius whose theory it was, Waldo declined, saying he already knew enough crazy people.

Waldo stuck around long enough to educate the senators, and the bill eventually went away.

Incidentally, pi is an irrational number -- its value can be worked out in infinitesimal detail, never ending and never repeating -- but calculated down to 50 decimal places it is 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510. Squaring the circle remains a mathematical impossibility.

South Shore Extension starts to go off its track

First it was the addition of a bypass at Michigan City. Then something at the South Bend airport. Now joke-of-a-Mayor Rudy Clay wants a spur added to the South Shore Extension to go to the Gary airport-to-nowhere. Mayor McCheeze in Hammond wants a "superstation" in Hammond, linking the old South Shore to the new.

It is this kind of "piling on" that South Shore Extension opponents cite as a major talking point against the expansion.

And they seem to be right. This thing is never going to come in under $1B with Rudy Clown and Mayor McCheeze around.

Too many damn laws

What is the purpose of a part time legislature, biennial sessions, and the short session, if the result is still 800 bills being put forth?

Take this session. Even with filing limits of five bills per House member and 10 bills per senator, 402 bills were filed in the House and 339 in the Senate. The Senate passed 154 bills and sent them to the House. The House approved 114 bills and sent them to the Senate.

An overwhelming majority had nothing to do with this session's deemed emergency -- property taxes.

Lawmakers should be limited to ONE bill per session. Our democracy has been in existance for 231 years. Why on earth do we need over 100 new laws per year?

As Lamar Alexandar used to say, "Cut their pay and send them home"!

Where the HELL are Lake County Republicans?

Now that Buzzcut is out of the 12th district race, will ANY Republican step up and challenge Reardon? I promise to work as hard on your campaign as I would on my own!

Republicans are NOT doing very well recruiting candidates. That is very disappointing. This is a year not unlike 1994, when a lot of incumbants are VERY vulnerable.

The Republican Party, a seeming permanent minority in the county, has its eye on the coroner's race and looks to focus its attention on state representative races this year, where the party holds two of the county's 10 seats.

"Locally, there isn't a lot to get excited about. In the state representative races there are some things to get excited about, and I hope we get some candidates for them," said Gasparovic.

Republican County Chairman John Curley said he expects some "very qualified" people to announce bids for the state legislature.

Interesting comment on South Shore Expansion

I think that a commenter to John Byrne's blog has answered one of the longtime unanswered questions about the expansion: will Metra allow more SS car onto their tracks?

From commenter Rick La Fever:

What has to happen is people need to see what a billion dollars will buy in regards to this rail extension. Anyone who thinks that either the Canadian National railway or CSX Railroad is going to allow overhead wire(i.e. catenary) to be strung over the existing rail line better think again, And for those "worried" about waiting for a slot on the Metra Electric, that might not be as much of problem since if CN buys the EJ&E they plan on downgrading their shared right of way with Metra Electric to downtown Chicago so therefore the slot issue will cease to be a problem.

The merger between CN and EJ&E is key to the South Shore extension. So why does Congressman Visclosky oppose it?

The Buzzcuts are multiplying.

There were more children born in 2006 than any year since 1961. Not coincidently, the Buzzcuts has a child in '06. This fascinating article has some other fertility tidbits.

The 4,265,996 babies born in 2006, the most since 1961, reflect increases in birth rates for women in all parts of the country and nearly every demographic group studied — including teenagers, whose rate had dropped every year since 1991. The only decline was among girls under 15.

But that does not mean the new arrivals look like their parents’ generation. For starters, they are much more likely to be Hispanic, to live in a red state and to be part of an evangelical Christian family.

Hispanic women in 2006 gave birth at a rate corresponding to lifetime averages of 2.96 children per woman, compared with 2.11 for non-Hispanic black women and 1.86 for non-Hispanic whites. The fertility rates for Hispanic immigrants were higher than those in many of their countries of origin, including Mexico, where the rate is 2.4, according to the Pew Hispanic Center.

Democrat Rep. Charlie Brown says "This thing is greased". Well, he'd know!

Democrat State Rep. Charlie Brown, a South Shore Extension opponent, says that the legislation creating a STIF to fund the expansion is "greased".

He thinks that secret, backroom deals have been made to get downstate GOP support for something that benefits Democrat Lake County (just not Gary Democrats).

Take it from Charlie, he KNOWS backroom deals. He INVENTED backroom deals!

Schools will take a hit under a 1% tax cap

Under Mitch's plan, East Chicago schools need to take an 18% cut. Even Munster needs to make a 5.6% cut.

I am REALLY not on board Mitch's tax plan. I think the current 2% cap is just fine and dandy. Much more reasonable cuts are necessary to hit the 2% cap. And you don't have a 7% sales tax, either.

The subprime crisis comes to Munster.

Okay, this is totally unbelievable.

The house across the street from me is abandoned. The former "owner" walked away from it in August. He was having financial and marital difficulties, according to the neighbors. He evidently also owed some of THEM money, and has renegged.

In November, a company supposedly came out and "winterized" the house.

On about Wednesday night, I noticed a huge puddle in the street in front of the house. I thought it was strange, but was too busy to investigate further.

Then yesterday the village water department was out in front of the house, digging up the front yard. A nice water department employee came over and asked me if I wanted to go inside and see what happened.

We went in, and the first thing we saw was 2 inches of water on the floor. We walked into the living room, and the ceiling was totally collapsed, and a water pipe was spewing water from the ceiling onto the floor. We walked by the basement door, and the basement was full of water up to the rafters. There was mold on all the sheetrock surfaces, and every wood surface was warped. Even the blades on the ceiling fans were all drooped because it was so moist in the house.

So the pipe froze, broke, filled up the basement, and the hydrostatic pressure forced water out of the drain tile through the sump, saturating the yard until it started pouring into the street. One of the neighbors called the water department, and they got involved. They had to dig up the yard to find the shutoff valve, which had be illegally burried at some point, probably by a landscaper.

The town can't figure out who actually owns the house. The company that was supposed to "winterize" it doesn't actually know which bank owns the house.

To fill up th basement and yard, you are talking about thousands and thousands of gallons of water. To get that much water through a little water line to a bathroom, the leak was probably going for at least a week, maybe more.

I think that the house is a total wreck, and will probably need to be condemned. This is probably mortgaged for $400k or so (it is Munster, after all).

Un. Frickin. Believable. I've never seen anything like it.

Who's going to pay for this? You and me. The taxpayers of Munster. The stockholders of banks. Homeowners who will pay higher interest on future loans. All because some asshole thinks that he can walk away from his obligations.

"Hispanic Advocates" make unreasonable demands of BMV

The BMV is going through their records and crossreferencing the names and social security numbers of Hoosiers with the Social Security office. If the name on your drivers license doesn't correspond to the name associated with the SS number that they have on file, they send you a letter threatening to take away your license if you don't straighten in out.

According to unnamed "Hispanic Advocates", this is somehow discriminatory against hispanics because the BMV did not send out letters in both English and Spanish.

Of course, if they DID send out such letters to people with hispanic-ish names, the "hispanic advocates" would be bitching about that to.

Newsflash: English is the defacto language of the US. All government proceedings should be in English only. And it doesn't discriminate against hispanics to do so.

"Mrs. Buzzcut" gets her way...

...unintentionally.

Commenter Chris Hedges reminds me that Indiana election law says that, ""No person shall be a Senator or a Representative, who, at the time of his election, is not a citizen of the United States; nor any one who has not been for two years next preceding his election, an inhabitant of this State, and, for one year next preceding his election, an inhabitant of the district whence he may be chosen. Senators shall be at least twenty-five, and Representatives at least twenty-one years of age" Art. 4, Sec. 7."

Unfortunately, I only became a Hoosier in September of '07. That's not enough residency to run for office this November.

Aw crap!

I should still file anyway.