Bumper sticker of the moment: "Honk if you're paying my mortgage"

Times Journalist Agrees with Buzzcut

The author of the Hammond Times article that claimed that State Senator Luke Kensley was the author of the law that blackmails Lake County into imposing an income tax chimes in in the comments:

Buzzcut,

Since my reporting is at the center of your recent posts, I'd like to suggest some reading:

http://tinyurl.com/alpcxo

http://tinyurl.com/c8ndem

I am passing along this information because your post seems to question the accuracy of a recent Times article I penned.

I'd note that the first link, an article from the final day of the 2007 legislative session, indicated that the levy freeze applied to schools in Lake County.

That was a product of me learning of the clause at a late hour and not having time to study the language of the bill, which says the freeze applies only to civil taxing units.

I'd note that I was not the only one to make a mistake that day. Barring a 1 percent income tax for property tax relief, the bill reduced Lake County's levy growth factor to 0, which in effect would've meant civil taxing units in the couny could not have levied any property tax in 2008.(Anything multiplied by 0 = 0.) Lawmakers remedied the drating error in November 2007, by replacing the 0 with a 1.

- Patrick Guinane

So... Kensley is lying. He's the author of the bill. He's a bastard.

Buzzcut Replies to State Senator Luke Kenley

Here is my reply:

Luke,

Are you or are you not the author of the bill that blackmails Lake County into having an income tax? That's what the Hammond Times printed. If you aren't, well, maybe you should ask them for a retraction.

But seeing as how it is LAW, it must have gotten through your committee. Did you vote for it to come out of committee? Did you vote for it to become law?

Why on earth would the nominally Republican controlled Senate pass a COUNTY SPECIFIC law to freeze Lake County's levy until we implement an income tax?!? I can see Democrats passing this, but why would a Republican be for it.

I appologize about the number, I misstyped it. 219-XXX-XXXX. Again, I would love to talk to you personally about this. If I'm wrong about anything, by all means, set me straight.

Feel free to forward the message on to the state police, I'd like to see what they say about it.

Buzzcut
Munster, IN

State Senator Luke Kenley is mad at Buzzcut

Here is Republican State Senator Luke Kenley's reply to my scathing e-mail about his blackmailing Lake County into imposing an income tax:

Well I tried your phone # and the operator said it was a non-working number. I was hesitant to even call for fear it would be useless to try to have a civil call after such a threatening and rude e-mail. All these assumptions you are making about what I have or haven't done seem pretty offbase. I'm trying to decide whether to forward your email to the state police.

I'm a dumbass, I mistyped my own phone number! I was a little livid when writing that e-mail, my brain got a little ahead of my fingers.

I hope he sends it to the state police, I could really use that kind of publicity.

Buzzcut is an equal opportunity offender

Some commenters think that I'm just an in-the-bag-for-Republicans hack. But I can piss off people on both sides.

Here's my e-mail to Luke Kenley:

Why are you blackmailing Lake County over the income tax?

Wednesday, February 25, 2009 2:32 PM

From: Buzzcut
To: lukekenley@iquest.netLuke,

Lifelong Republican here, but the article in the Times about your meeting with Larry Blachard has me foaming-at-the-mouth livid.

I had no idea that you were the jerk behind the law that freezes our levy unless we implement an income tax. I figured that it was some Democrat Socialist bastard (I know, that's redundant), not a Republican.

Now, I have absolutely no problem with the levy being frozen. God knows, it should be, the way these people spend money around here. It will impose a little discipline.

But where do you get off imposing an income tax in Lake County? If we don't want an income tax, what business is it of yours, or anyone in Indianapolis?

Not to mention that the law in question is unconstitutional county specific legislation. Whatever happened to the oath that you'd protect and defend the constitution?

You know, first Sue Landske exempts Lake County from governmental reform, and now I find out that you're the one blackmailing us. I really question what the hell the Republican party stands for in this state. It isn't small government and low taxes, as evidenced by the actions of our Republican Senators.

I would LOVE to talk to you personally with this, either via reply, or even better, call me at 219-xxx-xxxx.

Regards,

Needless to say, Kenley is a little pissed off at the e-mail! I'll post his reply in another posting.

Republican Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, is a f-ing bastard

Y'all know that I'm a Republican, but I have to say that Luke Kenley is a bastard.

Here's the background:

A quartet of Lake County Council members visited the Statehouse on Tuesday to talk taxes and other topics with state lawmakers.

Council President Larry Blanchard, R-Crown Point, met privately with Senate Appropriations Chairman Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville.

Kenley co-authored a 2007 law preventing nonschool governmental units in Lake County from raising property taxes until the council adopts a 1 percent personal income tax and dedicates the $92 million in proceeds to property tax relief.

Blanchard said the meeting provided an opportunity to share the "trials and tribulations the county is dealing with." He briefed Kenley on how tax changes the General Assembly began implementing in 2002 have depressed industrial property values in Lake County.

Kenley has said he is willing to revisit the 2007 law if some legislative tweaks could entice Lake County to end its status as the only Indiana county without an income tax.

Got all that? Kenley is the guy who is blackmailing Lake County into having an income tax.

A REPUBLICAN is trying to blackmail us! What a jerk!

You know, I'm all for the frozen levy. God knows that government needs to cut back. But at some point, the levy needs to be unfrozen, and not at the expense of having an income tax.

Republican State Senator Sue Landske gets standing O at Republican Dinner

During the Lincoln Day Dinner, the Crown Point Party Chairman was the MC, and he gave a shout out to Sue Landske for fighting to preserve the current state of Lake County government.

I was kind of ticked off at that. I support getting rid of townships, and having a single county executive that appoints all the other officeholders. I'd bet that a lot of the other conservatives in the room support it too.

Lincoln Day Dinner Republican Inside Baseball

So I went to the Lake County Republican Lincoln Day Dinner last night. It was a VERY interesting time.

First off, there is the Pete Thayer insurection against Chairman Curley. I have to admit that Pete has me enthralled just like Newt Gingrich or Sarah Palin does. They get me with the way that they speak, their style and the content of what they say. Hard hitting, tell it like it is, go for the juggular.

Well, that probably blinded me to the fact that Pete is nutty. And his campaign for the chairmanship is... a little over the line. For example, in the literature that he gave out last night, he claimed that George Janiec was going to be his secretary. Well, in fact, he never asked Janiec to do so, and Janiec was a little pissed off, especially because he already promised Curley that he would be Curley's secretary.

It looks like Pete has similar problems with the other people on his "team".

I spoke to St. John township chair Joe Hero about all this, and he explained to me the story about how Curley became chair. Bottom line is that Curley IS disorganized, but he is honest, and has the best interests of the party at heart, and does bring a lot to the table in terms of providing financial support. It seems like Curely will probably pull this out.

Also at the dinner, Indiana House Minority Leader Brian Bosna spoke. He gave a red meat speech that really got me going. He talked about how 2010 is so vital, that whoever controls the house controls redistricting. We're 2 seats short of a majority.

Afterwards, I went up and introduced myself, and told him that Candelaria-Reardon should be one of the two seats we take back. She tried to blackmail Lake County into having an income tax, and she's vocally against making the tax caps permanent. She's the one we need to go after. She's vulnerable.

Indy to consider changes to County "Option" Income Tax

Burried in the Times yesterday (so much so that I can't find the link online) was a blurb that Indiana lawmakers are considering a big change to county "option" income taxes that might make it fly here in Lake County.

Right now, the knock against the COIT is that it will take money from South Lake County and ship it in truckloads to North Lake County. It is a way to bailout Gary, East Chicago, Hammond, and Whiting, at the expense of everyone else.

The change being considered is to add your municipality to your income tax form. Then, money coming from, say, Munster, could stay in Munster. At least, that's how I read the story. I don't know if that's how it would actually work.

This might be a brilliant strategy on Gary and East Chicago's part. Many, many of the workers in the mills and the refinery live in Illinois. Their tax money is totally up for grabs. If that money goes to East Chicago and Gary, it could be a windfall.

Also, I believe that Porter County only has a 1/2% COIT. Thus, if Lake has a 1% COIT, the mill and refinery workers in that county, of which there are many, would also have to pay the additional 1/2%, presumably to Gary and East Chicago.

This just might be a way to peel off a lot of the opposition by the towns to the COIT. If the South Lake County towns start supporting the COIT, I predict that it will pass.

Buzzcut shows why we're a "Nation of Cowards on Race"

So Attorney General Eric Holder says that we're a nation of cowards on race because we're afraid to talk frankly on the topic.

I think that the reaction to things I've said on this blog illustrates why people don't talk about race: because we don't want to be called bigots for saying things that are in no way bigotry.

It isn't bigotry to wonder if the fact that Michelle Obama failed the bar exam proves that she benefited from Afirmative Action. Especially when I go on to link to a Bar Association study showing that African Americans are many times more likely to fail the bar exam the first time, and in fact to never be able to pass the bar. That's the result of Afirmative Action at work.

It isn't bigotry to note that South Lake County (which I define as anything south of Ridge Road, and thus including Munster) pays a lot more taxes than North Lake County.

It isn't racist to talk about "Gary Interests", or to note that working class whites vote Republican in far higher numbers in places other than Lake County, and that thus Republicans should be doing much better here than they are.

The reason that people are "cowards" when it comes to race is because it isn't a good feeling to be called a racist, and liberals are very quick to throw out that epithet, for things that are more in their mind than reality.

Instead, we just sweep all these issues under the rug, where they fester.

So if we are a nation of cowards, Mr. Holder, it is because of your ideology, your party, and you.

Visclosky replies to my request for his tax return

Well, I got a very nice letter from Visclosky saying that it will be a cold day in hell before I get his tax returns.

He also said that he doesn't have a driver, and drives a '99 Jeep Cherokee. His financial disclosures are on opensecrets.org.

I thought Democrats all drove Priuses. Doesn't he know that SUVs are eeeeevil?

I'll scan the letter and post it.

Indianapolis ready to REALLY throw Lake County under the bus

Interesting news out of Indy today:

1) Democrats are ready to use some of our stimulus money to bail out Gary. They'd give Gary money to offset some of that lost to the tax caps.

2) Democrats know that they really can't do #1 unless Lake County "takes care of itself" by imposing a County "Option" income tax. But since we fought off the income tax last year, and it appears that it is even LESS likely to pass this year...

3) Democrats may impose an income tax on Lake County from Indianapolis.

I don't have any idea how they can do #3. Seems like unconstitutional "county specific" legislation to me.

I'll tell you what. This is all coming from the Democrat controlled house. I wonder if the Republican controlled Senate will go for it.

News from the Senate is that ammendments added to the bill to eliminate townships and create a county executive not only exempt Lake County, but will put the changes to referendum statewide.

Everything that is wrong with Gary... and Obama

There was an interesting Op-ed in the Times yesterday by Ragen Hatcher, an at-large Gary councilwoman. I assume that Ms. Hatcher is the daughter of the fist black mayor of any large city, Former Gary Mayor Richard Hatcher.

What was interesting about the op-ed was its... Obamaness. Lots of soaring rhetoric about how we all need to "come together", but absolutely no specifics, nor any acknowledgement of what's really to blame for Gary's problems: mass ignorance and failed morality, combined with gross incompetance of which her father was exhibit A.

A snippet:

We must reignite our sense of pride and rekindle our love for one another to band together to create the best educational system this country has ever seen. We must come together to make our community safe for one another. Then we will attract the businesses we need to make Gary thrive.

We must come together to rid our city of trash in empty lots and potholes that damage our cars. We must come together to demand that our consumer needs be met with a smile and in a timely fashion.

Ummm... yeah.

How about this. You take care of your yard, I'll take care of mine. I'll take care of my kids, you take care of yours. And if we all do what we're supposed to and what is right... all will be well.

And when someone does something wrong... how about telling the police about it? Give 'em a hand. Soon, the knuckleheads will all be in jail, and the law abiding people will be safe to walk the streets again.

And don't vote for corrupt Democrats.

Democrat Lake County Councilman Tom O'Donnel says busses are "Social Justice".

Democrat Lake County Councilman Tom O'Donnel reveals that he's secretly a Communist.

You know, "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs".

That's what social justice is. The poor have economic rights that the non-poor are obligated to provide for. It's just a nice way of framing Communism.

O'Donnel wants to keep the bus service in Gary, East Chicago, and Hammond going, depite their impending bankruptcy. And he defends his proposal to fund bus service with a food and beverage tax as "social justice":

For me, my support for bus transportation has always been a matter of social justice.

There are people who depend upon public transit, and we need to find a solution to sustain that service.

Got that. There are people who depend on the busses. What right do we non-bussers have to defund the service?

Nevermind that few people ride the busses, that the money is wasted, that there are other ways to provide mobility that are more effective.

Nope. Can't do it. It's "social justice".

What alternative is there to busses?

I am a well known bus hater. They're too big for the roads they're run on, they waste enourmous amounts of fuel, spew polution, and they're a colossul waste of time for any poor schmuck foolish enough to ride them.

But there is a certain segment of the population that does use them. The ultra-poor, some elderly, and handicapped.

So what could be done to help the few who depend on what little public transit is available in Lake County?

Mark Kiesling has the answer:

For the $7 million the Regional Bus Authority wants from the tax, you could buy a small fleet of fuel-efficient cars or vans and give rides on demand to qualified low-income or elderly riders, or give them vouchers to pay for private cab services. You could do both.

But to continue running the bus services the way it is now is just throwing good money after bad. East Chicago does not even charge for bus service, much like its sidewalks.

The voucher idea is an excellent one. There is already taxi service throughout the county. Pay vouchers for legitimate people without cars: the poor, the handicapped, the elderly.

Everybody else? Pay for the taxi yourself, or better, get a car.

Lake County left out of government reform

Two Lake County senators, Democrat Lonnie Randolph of East Chicago, and Sue Landske of Cedar Lake, put wording into a bill to reform county government to make Lake County exempt from the reform.

The bill, which would make most county posts appointed rather than elected (Treasurer, Recorder, etc.), will apply to every County except Lake and Marion.

This, of course, is unconstitutional county specific legislation. Lanske knows better.

I see a lawsuit coming. I'm going to have to consult with my counsel, Joe Hero.

This is just so damn infuriating. As Mitch Daniels said, Lake County is EXACTLY the county most in need of reform. That a Democrat and a Republican conspired to exampt Lake County just makes it that much worse.

If I see Landske at the Lincoln Day Dinner next Saturday, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind.

Lake County Republican inside baseball

I went to the Munster Central Campaign Committee meeting last night. Peter Thayer of East Chicago came to ask for our support for Lake County Chairman. Pete is currently Secretary.

The current chairman, John Curley, is not doing a good job. Despite the Democrats stealing gas, stealing money, and being all around bad guys and gals, the Republicans are losing more and more campaigns. Formerly solid towns like Crown Point have gone Democrat because of Republican infighting, which has been ignored by Curley.

Pete is a firebrand. I've seen him speak before, and I really like him. It seemed like he had the support of everyone in the room (which, admittedly, was a small slice of Republican Committeemen).

Pete wants to be far more aggressive in building the grassroots of the party (most committeemen positions are now vacant) as well as advertising our brand more. I couldn't agree more.

Lake County is largely white and working class. That's the demographic that Republicans OWN elsewhere. We should be competitive in Lake County. As it is, we're an endangered species, and it makes no sense whatsoever.

The problem with "infrastructure" spending in the "stimulus"

Commenter "anonymous" bring the following hypocrisy to our attention:

Looks like Indy area Republicans on the other side of the specturm are asking for even more than Gary.

"James Brainard is a Republican mayor whose city sits in a Republican county carried comfortably by Sen. John McCain in last year's presidential race. But at the moment, he is rooting for President Obama."

...

"His wish list runs several pages and costs a combined $428 million. "

From: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/06/king.sou.carmel/index.html

“According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $94,128, and the median income for a family was $110,549.[6] Males had a median income of $70,618 versus $38,917 for females. The per capita income for the city was $38,906. About 1.6% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.5% of those under age 18 and 2.2% of those age 65 or over.”

If you look at the details of what they want to spend the money on, included are such "amenities" as a new water slide.

This is a huge problem with the stimulus. Pretty much everyone is okay, in theory, with spending some cash on "infrastructure". But when you get to the details of what the infrastructure is... it's really pork.

I don't think the taxpayers of Richmond should be spending money on water slides, much less Federal taxpayers. At least when the Richmond taxpayers pay for it, they're responsible for it through their own taxes.

I wrote previously about how Lake Station wanted to use their stimulus cash for a wind turbine for city hall, which is a really bad idea.

If the stimulus was used to, say, build the Illiana bypass, it might be more palatable (but even then, the Illiana should be a tollway built by a private company).

The devil in the details is that "infrastructure" is in the eye of the beholder (as is "pork"). The fact that Democrats jammed this thing through Congress without a lot of oversight means that there's more pork than infrastructure.

Newsflash: Visclosky is corrupt.

What a coincidence. As soon as I start looking into who gives to Visclosky, a story comes out that his biggest contributor (one of the lobbying firms from Virginia that I talked about) is under investigation.

No word on why they're being investigated.

Over 1/4 of Visclosky's earmarks last year went to clients of this lobbying firm.

You know, Visclosky narrowly survived the Republican Revolution in '94. It was the only election in his 30 year or so career that was even close. If there is another Republican Revolution in 2 years, I hope that these revelations, as well as anger of the stimulus plan, which he voted for, takes him down.

I changed the comments settings...

...I want to know who Anonymous is...

Update: I changed the settings back...

The problem with Anonymous posting is that you don't know which "Anonymous" you're talking to when replying to comments. At least pick a "handle", would ya? I'm not looking for IPs or anything (that's above my pay grade, and you can't do that with Google Analytics anyway).

Gary's Clown Mayor asks for $400 million bailout

Gary's budget is about $60 million per year. The Democrat Mayor of Gary, the Clown Rudy Clay, just went to Indy to ask for $400 million of the "stimulus".

Why on earth would we want to throw good money after bad in Gary? Gary has a declining population. Unless the Mayor is asking to bulldoze most of the city... this is a colossal waste of money.

The biggest of the city's big ticket requests comes in the realm of public housing, where Clay posits a huge overhaul.

The Gary Housing Authority would use $105 million to build 700 new housing units, after spending several million dollars to demolish the Ivanhoe Gardens Public Housing development and parts of the Delaney West development.

According to the city's estimates, the entire public housing face lift would create 5,600 jobs.

Six new fire stations would run $18 million and create 900 jobs, according to the city's report.

A $19 million project would build a 350-slip Gary Marina, to help complete the Marquette Plan and create 950 jobs.

Privately, several legislators said they were skeptical of Clay's chances of success, in no small part because Gary is viewed in the Statehouse as a victim of its own mismanagement.

Public housing is not only a waste of money, but it takes renters away from legitimate landlords, thus making taxable property in the city even more worthless, and making Gary's tax problems worse as well.

The city needs to close fire stations, not open new ones.

The Gary Marina might be a good project... if it were developed privately. After the fiasco that is the Steelyard ($50 million over budget), the City of Gary has shown that it is not competent to build anything.

Tommy responds to Buzzcut's relentless logic

So what did Democrat Lake County Councilman Tom O'Donnel say whan presented with Buzzcut's relentless logic that Lake County employees are overpaid?

I don't want to fight with you but those earnings are so inconsistent with what the county pays the huge majority of its employees. Maybe city and town employees are paid those kind of numbers but certainly not the county.

Tom

I hate it when liberals are confronted with an argument, and respond by covering their ears and screaming, "La, La, La, I can't hear you, La, La, La!".

Update: I'd like to prove Tommy wrong. Unfortunately, the Lake County Budget and Sallary Schedules are not online.

I asked Tommy for the budget electronically. I don't expect to see it.

Wages in Lake County

Next, I graphed wages in Lake County. In doing so, it because apparent that manufacturing wages were a lot higher than everything else (in '06, manufacturing wages were over $80k on average!).

This seems to me to be because of the steelworkers and the amount of overtime that they work. This is why their wages increased so much at the same time that their numbers decreased so much.

Since this was skewing the results quite a bit, I subtracted manufacturing wages from the wages for the private sector. After making this adjustment, you can see that local government employees make about 30% more than non-manufacturing private employees. Including manufacturing employees means that local government employees make 10% more than private sector employees.

So... the only conclusion I can come to is that local government employees are overpaid.

Government employment in Lake County.

The first graph shows employment in Lake County. You can see that manufacturing employment plunged over the last few years, health care and food service increased, and government employment was flat.

Are Lake County public employees underpaid?

Democrat Lake County Councilman Tom O'Donnel says that Lake County's government workers are underpaid. This doesn't sit well with me. How would I figure out if they were underpaid or not?

Luckily, the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis collects statistics on this sort of thing. I found tons of statistics on personal income, broken down into categories. One of those categories is "local government".

I was able to get spreadsheets for 2001 to 2006. I'll post some of the graphs I made.

In a nutshell, public employees in general in Lake County are well compensated.

Buzzcut has influence

Here

And Councilman Tom O'Donnell, D-Dyer, said people in his district remain strongly opposed to the new tax plan.

"When people hear 'tax,' they don't hear anything after that," O'Donnell said. "They don't hear about funding regional big-ticket projects."

While insisting he will listen to any proposal to raise revenue, O'Donnell said he would have a hard time backing a tax his constituents vehemently dislike.

"If the feedback I'm getting from town council members in my district is consistent, and the feedback I'm getting from constituents is consistent, there's no way I could support it," he said.

Letters to Tommy

So I've been corresponding with Lake County Councilman Tom O'Donnel:

Tom,

I see a lot of chatter about the income tax in the last few days. I just have to ask, why on earth would you think that municipal budgets are more important than my family's budget?

This is a very severe recession. I don't know about you, but I've been told by my employer that we're not getting a raise this year, and I'm HAPPY about that! At least I have a job.

So if Whiting has to cut its featherbeded budget, well, too bad. It's been bloated for decades. Time to cut back.

Have you seen this article in Forbes? http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0216/078.html Public employees make 33% more in salary and 42% more in salary and benefits than private sector workers do.

So if the levy if frozen, and as a result public employees are not getting raises... so what? They're overpaid to begin with. They probably need to have their salaries frozen for about 10 years to bring them in line with the private sector.

Don't flip. Stay strong.

He wrote back:

The statistics in Forbes are absolutely inconsistent with what happens in Lake County Government. In fact, the employees have probably only had two raises in the ten years I have been on the council. Two years ago we raised every full time employee who made LESS THAN $20,000 to $20,000. Certainly that $9.62 wage is SUBSTANTIALLY below the $25 wage quoted in the article and dramatically below the "private sector" wage cited therein.

I would indicate that full time elected officials make $54,000 and that most full time employees probably average between $23,000 and $29,000 per year. Last year we eliminated 112 positions and reduced our budget by $15,000,000.00.

All I said to Bill Dolan from the Times was that I would listen to the proposals. I feel fairly confident that there is insufficient support on the council for the passage of any new tax

I hope he's right that there isn't support on the council for ANY tax.

Is Munster so Republican?

Looking over Visclosky's fundraising, I can look at just the people in Munster who donated to his campaign.

There's a lot of interesting people from my neighborhood who donated.

Like Republican Town Council President Helen Brown. WTF Helen! Way to support the team!

My favorite Times Board member, Cal Bellamy. He gave Visclosky $7000 over the last 10 years. He also gave Hillary 2 grand last year, and Obama $1000. Guess that explains all his columns in the Times.

David Bochnowski, President of People's Bank. Looking at some other campaign websites, this guy gave almost $50,000 to Democrats last year! Insane. You guys should see his house and the street he lives on. Nicest street in Indiana. What a [jerk] for being a Democrat.

Brian McShane of McShane's Office Supply (a REALLY hooked up company).

Dennis Rittenmeyer, President of Calumet College.

David Van Dyke, owner of Precision Homebuilders. He has THE biggest house in Indiana. [Really]. Lives next to Bochnowski.

Ed Robinson, CEO of Community Hospital.

Lots of doctors and others associated with the hospital.

Update: edited to take some of the... tactlessness... out of the post.

Where does Visclosky get his money in Indiana?

More illegal County Specific Legislation

The Indiana Senate is crafting a local government reform bill, to eliminate County Commiteemen and have a county executive.

Lo and behold, they're exempting Lake County from the bill!

That is totally, totally unconstitutional! You can't have state laws that single out any one county for special treatment.

During debate Wednesday in the Senate Local Government Committee, Sen. Sue Landske, R-Cedar Lake, offered an amendment to pull Lake County out of the bill as well.

Landske argued the county's population of more than 492,000 people makes it unique.

"Lake County is unique in a lot of respects," Landske said. "It has a very diverse population, and faces a lot of challenges."

Landske also pointed out Lake County is unique in that the County Council has legislative responsibilities, a power held by the Board of Commissioners in every other county except Marion and St. Joseph.

"I ask the committee to give us a little more time to develop a more deliberate response in Lake County," Landske said.

This is total crap. Yes, Lake County is unique, but so what. Why should we have a different set of rules than everybody else?

If we did have a County Executive, there would be a risk that Gary would control it like they control so much in this county. But then that could galvinize the Republican party to be unified in opposing the North Lake County Machine (i.e. the Democrats).

Guys like Gery Scheub would switch parties. A real Republican party would emerge, and the County Executive would be a contested election.

Lake County Income Tax Chatter Increases

There have been quite a few articles over the last couple of days about the Lake County Income Tax. Whiting's mayor is pushing hard for it, proposing to split the $92M it would allegedly raise for tax relief (i.e. bail out North Lake County) and half for new spending (South Shore extendsion, busses, etc.).

Lake County Councilmen Ted Bilski and Tom O'Donnel are the weak links. They're the ones that I said would flip for the income tax last year, and they're making noises that they might flip this time.

Councilman Tom O'Donnell, D-Dyer, said Wednesday, "The municipalities have to be getting nervous at this point -- and not just the big cities. The bottom line is I anticipate a cry from both the cities and towns to unfreeze our levy and do it however we've got to do it."

O'Donnell's comments are a sign of growing momentum to revive debate on a proposed income tax for county residents.

Councilman Ted Bilski, D-Hobart, who was a crucial swing vote to kill the 2007 income tax push, also said this week he has been in local income tax discussions with Lake County mayors.

Bilski said he would be receptive if city and town officials form a consensus that imposing an income tax is the only way to preserve the current level of public services.

This is absolutely infuriating! Why should we "preserve current levels of public services"? This is a friggin' recession! Cut back! Cut salaries. Eliminate pensions! Cut services! Do whatever you have to do to keep taxes where they are.

Somebody here is going to flip. My money is on Bilski flipping. He's the business manager for the Teamsters, and they represent public employees. No way he is going to allow jobs or salaries to be cut.

Where does Visclosky get his money?

Campaign Contributions by State



Amazing what you can do with a pivot table in Excel.

No suprise, Indiana leads in contributions. But look at how much Virginia gives him! That's lobbyist money, folks.

How do I get Visclosky's tax returns?

I sent Visclosky this message.

Anybody know how I can get a Congressman's tax return?

Does Visclosky have household help?

Strong editorial against the Food and Beverage Tax

Here:

Before the Lake County Council approves a new tax, many questions need to be answered, including:

* What is the plan for the RBA to provide bus service? We expect details for routes, equipment and staffing. So far there is no solid plan available. Just some suggestions from consultants.

* What is the cost to launch a new regional bus service? What will the annual operating cost be? What are the equipment and maintenance details and costs?

* Where will the money come from? Just a food and beverage tax? That's a lot of food for an operation that could cost $14 million to $30 million a year.

* What provision has been made for long-range development of a regionwide bus system? How? When? How much?

* Who will serve on the RBA board? Some of the existing board members represent bus service providers. Does this pose conflicts? Does this board representation need to be changed to make it more professional?

* What about the RBA audit suggestion of the potential for fraud and other exposure to financial losses? What changes have been made as a result?

* How will the on-demand service work differently and better than the prior service?

* Will this bus service serve outlying communities like Lowell, Crown Point, Winfield and Hobart? If so, how? If not, why not?

* How many passengers in recent years have used the buses? We want the number of individuals riding the buses, not just the total number of rides.

* Will the RBA buses link to the Chicago area bus system? Link to South Shore train stations?

* What shape is the equipment of the three cities in now? Gary's bus service costs twice as much per mile as Hammond's service, partly because of poor equipment. What will it cost to make the entire fleet and other equipment meet minimum standards? Who gets paid for the existing gear? And who determines how much?

There are other questions, to be sure, but these are a starting point.

It is quite clear that the Food and Beverage tax is a hail mary to preserve existing bus services in Hammond, East Chicago, and Gary. Why, exactly, should South Lake County be taxed in order to provide bus serive in areas that we never go to?

Public Employees are screwing America

If I were dictator for a day, I would abolish public employee unions because of stuff like this:

In public-sector America things just get better and better. The common presumption is that public servants forgo high wages in exchange for safe jobs and benefits. The reality is they get all three. State and local government workers get paid an average of $25.30 an hour, which is 33% higher than the private sector's $19, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Throw in pensions and other benefits and the gap widens to 42%.

For New York City's 281,000 employees, average compensation has risen 63% since 2000 to $107,000 a year. New Jersey teaching veterans receive $80,000 to $100,000 for ten months' work. In California prison guards can sock away $300,000 a year with overtime pay.

Four in five public-sector workers have lifetime pensions, versus only one in five in the private sector. The difference shifts huge risks from government to private-sector workers.

Get rid of unions. Eliminate pensions. Cut pay 33%. That's what I'd do if I were dictator for a day.

Stimulating Indianapolis

Be careful what you wish for:

The question which will occupy Brown and his colleagues for the rest of the legislative session: Does it know how to handle a sudden gift of $5 billion, Indiana's share of the cash in the stimulus package adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives?

That much money would seem perfect to accelerate Indiana's revenue-starved economy.

But early indications are the federal stimulus could prove as traffic-snarling to the state legislature as all that snow was to Naptown.

It radically changes the debate between Gov. Mitch Daniels and Republican and Democratic legislators.

"How do we best close a $1 billion budget shortfall and find money to create jobs?" has been the question on lawmakers' lips for the first several weeks of the session.

When the stimulus package becomes law, the question will change to "What should we do with all this dough?"

That's a trickier question than you might think for the governor, his administration and 150 legislators to answer.

There will be many federal strings attached to the money, which would comprise about 40 percent of Indiana's entire 2009 state budget. And Daniels preached against letting the package beget a pork barrel extravaganza.

The porkfest is coming to Indianapolis. Democrats are crapping their pants, they're so excited, like overeager puppies.

Forget about the tax caps. Gary, cancel that bankruptcy filing. Santa Claus is coming to town, and he's not a fat, bearded cracker in a red suit from the North Pole. He's a skinny black guy in an Armani from Chicago.