St. Joseph Register

The Lords Prayer

2010-12-04T14:32:00.000-05:00

Our Father, who art in heaven

The one that created the Universe and the millions of stars set throughout the immeasurable frontier known as space. Our Father, the one that has great and untold power, however he loves us so much, that he gave his one and only son to die for our sins allowing hope for all generations.

hallowed be thy name.

Hallowed meaning holy, consecrated, sacred, or revered and we honor or submit ourselves to thee. For you are the one that first loved us, before we were knitted in our mothers womb you have shown us your mercy and grace even though we are from the seed of Adam. We give you praise and honor!

Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,

May we advance the Kingdom of the one true King. The King that is above all Lords and princes of this world and may we always proclaim your beauty. May we always do your bidding and may we always submit to your authority.

on earth as it is in heaven

The earth groans for your return and may your return be soon!

Give us this day our daily bread.

Everything comes from you Lord. Have we created our own bodies? Have we created the Earth? Have we created anything? The answer- only you have created all things, therefore we look for you and the manna that you provide each and everyday. Our lives are frail and weak but you alone give strength and we praise you for your provision.

And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.

You have given us grace and Mercy, may we learn from that grace to give grace and mercy to others.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

Broad is the road to destruction….may we always yearn to walk your path, the path to your love. We seek your rescue from our own desires and may we always run towards your everlasting peace. Even though we are from the seed of Adam, the Lord has given us a way to escape the curse. Praise be to our King!

For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory. for ever and ever. Amen

There is power in your name. The name of Jesus defeats sin and the name of Jesus brings lasting hope. We belong to you and may we always give you praise and glory to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords forever. Praise be to God!

Is America a Christian Nation?

2009-12-12T09:43:00.000-05:00

Is America a Christian nation?

It's interesting that we have to ask the question.

Carl Pearlston wrote a great article concerning the topic.
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Is America a Christian Nation?
CARL PEARLSTON
Is America a Christian nation? The answer is both yes and no, depending on what one means by the phrase.

Independence Hall
The use of Christian religious references in the recent Presidential Inauguration prayers has served to reopen the debate over religion in America's public life. Professor Alan Dershowitz led off with an article strongly objecting that America wasn't a Christian nation; Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby replied that it certainly was. Who is right? Is America a Christian nation? The answer is both yes and no, depending on what one means by the phrase.

When President Harry Truman wrote to Pope Pius XII in 1947 that "This is a Christian nation.", he certainly did not mean that the United States has an official or legally-preferred religion or church. Nor did he mean to slight adherents of non-Christian religions. But he certainly did mean to recognize that this nation, its institutions and laws, was founded on Biblical principles basic to Christianity and to Judaism from which it flowed. As he told an Attorney General's Conference in 1950, "The fundamental basis of this nation's laws was given to Moses on the Mount. The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings we get from Exodus and Saint Matthew, from Isaiah and Saint Paul. I don't think we emphasize that enough these days. If we don't have a proper fundamental moral background, we will finally end up with a totalitarian government which does not believe in rights for anybody except the State."

Woodrow Wilson, in his election campaign for President, made the same point: "A nation which does not remember what it was yesterday, does not know what it is today, nor what it is trying to do. We are trying to do a futile thing if we do not know where we came from or what we have been about.... America was born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the tenets of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy Scripture."

The crucial role of Christianity in this nation's formation is not without dispute, although as Revolutionary leader Patrick Henry said: "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the gospel of Jesus Christ. For this very reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship."

John Ashcroft was roundly criticized for his "No King but Jesus" speech at Bob Jones University, but he was only reminding us of our colonial and Revolutionary War heritage. In a 1774 report to King George, the Governor of Boston noted: "If you ask an American, who is his master? He will tell you he has none, nor any governor but Jesus Christ." The pre-war Colonial Committees of Correspondence soon made this the American motto: "No King but King Jesus." And this sentiment was carried over into the 1783 peace treaty with Great Britain ending that war, which begins "In the name of the most Holy and Undivided Trinity... ."

Samuel Adams, who has been called 'The Father of the American Revolution' wrote The Rights of the Colonists in 1772, which stated: "The rights of the colonists as Christians...may be best understood by reading and carefully studying the institution of the Great Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly written and promulgated in the New Testament."

It is frequently asserted by those seeking to minimize Christianity's central role in our nation's founding and history, that the founders themselves were not practicing Christians, but rather were Deists or Agnostics. In a 1962 speech to Congress, Senator Robert Byrd noted that of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, 29 were Anglicans, 16-18 were Calvinists, and among the rest were 2 Methodists, 2 Lutherans, 2 Roman Catholics, 1 lapsed Quaker-sometimes Anglican, and only 1 open Deist — Benjamin Franklin who attended all Christian worships and called for public prayer.

Samuel Chase was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a Justice of the US Supreme Court, and, as Chief Justice of the State of Maryland, wrote in 1799 ( Runkel v Winemiller): "By our form of government, the Christian religion is the established religion... ." (Maryland was one of nine States having established churches supported by taxpayers at the time of the adoption of the Constitution; these churches were gradually disestablished, the last in 1833. The Maryland constitution, typical of many of the States, restricted public office to Christians until, in 1851, it was changed to allow Jews who believed in a future state of rewards and punishments to also serve).

Christianity pervaded the laws and the legal system of the States and the federal government. For example, Judge Nathaniel Freeman in 1802 charged Massachusetts Grand Juries as follows: "The laws of the Christian system, as embraced by the Bible, must be respected as of high authority in all our courts... . [Our government] originating in the voluntary compact of a people who in that very instrument profess the Christian religion, it may be considered, not as republic Rome was, a Pagan, but a Christian republic." In 1811 ( People v Ruggles), New York Chief Justice James Kent held: "'...whatever strikes at the root of Christianity tends manifestly to the dissolution of civil government... .' We are a Christian people, and the morality of the country is deeply engrafted upon Christianity... . Christianity in its enlarged sense, as a religion revealed and taught in the Bible, is part and parcel of the law of the land... ." In 1824, the Pennsylvania Supreme court held ( Updegraph v The Commonwealth): Christianity, general Christianity, is and always has been a part of the common law...not Christianity founded on any particular religious tenets; not Christianity with an established church, but Christianity with liberty of conscience to all men... ."

Our sixth President, John Quincy Adams said "From the day of the Declaration...they [the American people] were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of The Gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledge as the rules of their conduct"

John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court said: "Providence has given to our people the choice of their ruler, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." This was said despite the explicit provision in the federal Constitution forbidding any religious test for federal public office.

Justice Joseph Story, who was appointed to the US Supreme Court by President Madison, said in an 1829 speech at Harvard: "There never has been a period of history, in which the Common Law did not recognize Christianity as lying at its foundation." Story wrote several respected treatises or Commentaries on Constitutional Law, in which are found the following: "Probably, at the time of the adoption of the Constitution, and of the [First] Amendment...the general, if not the universal, sentiment in America was, that Christianity ought to receive encouragement from the State so far as was not incompatible with the private rights of conscience and the freedom of religious worship. Any attempt to level all religions, and to make it a matter of state policy to hold all in utter indifference, would have created universal disapprobation, if not universal indignation."

"The real object of the First Amendment was not to countenance, much less to advance Mohammedanism, or Judaism, or infidelity, by prostrating Christianity, but to exclude all rivalry among Christian sects and to prevent any national ecclesiastical patronage of the national government".

Justice Story wrote for a unanimous Supreme Court in 1844 ( Vidal v Girard's Executors): "It is also said, and truly that the Christian religion is a part of the common law... ."

In 1854, The United States House of Congress passed a resolution: "The great vital and conservative element in our system is the belief of our people in the pure doctrines and divine truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

During the Civil War, The Senate passed a resolution in 1863: "...devoutly recognizing the supreme authority and just government of Almighty God...encouraged ...to seek Him for succor according to His appointed way, through Jesus Christ, the Senate ...does hereby request the President ...to set aside a day for national prayer and humiliation." President Lincoln promptly issued a Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day, stating "...in compliance with the request and fully concurring in the view of the Senate... ."

The US Supreme Court forbade polygamy in 1890 (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints v United States): "It is contrary to the spirit of Christianity and the civilization which Christianity has produced in the Western world." Two years later, the Court, by Justice Brewer, approvingly cited many of the earlier cases cited above, discussed the history and prominent role of religion in laws, business, customs, and society, and held (Church of the Holy Trinity v United States): "...this is a religious people. This is historically true. From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation... . These, and many other matters which might be noticed, add a volume of unofficial declarations to the mass of organic utterances that this is a Christian Nation... .we find everywhere a clear recognition of the same truth."

Congress in essence summarized all this preceding history when it passed a Joint Resolution designating 1983 as The Year of the Bible, stating: "Whereas the Bible, the Word of God, has made a unique contribution in shaping the United States as a distinctive and blessed nation and people; ...deeply held religious convictions springing from the Holy scriptures led to the early settlement of our Nation; ...Biblical teachings inspired concepts of civil government that are contained in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States....designate 1983 as a national 'Year of the Bible in recognition of both the formative influence the Bible has been for our Nation, and our national need to study and apply the teachings of the Holy Scriptures". In 1988, a Joint Resolution of Congress declared that the first Thursday in May of each year is to be a National Day of Prayer.

The historical record from the foregoing quotes from past Presidents, leaders, Congressmen, Jurists and court decisions, seems firmly on the side of those claiming that America was born and maintained as a Christian nation whose laws, morals, and customs derive from Christian (and Jewish) scriptures. The opponents of this view, however, point to the first sentence of Article 11 of the obscure Tripoli Treaty of 1797 as seeming conclusive proof that America was never a Christian nation. Before discussing that critical sentence, the treaty itself should be read in context with all of the Barbary treaties.

The Barbary States on the coast of North Africa, comprising the Moslem States of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, attacked ships in their coastal waters which would not pay tribute, and held captives for ransom. The European nations had treaties with those states, under which, in exchange for tribute, shipping was protected. After the Revolutionary War, our new nation followed the lead of those European nations and entered into similar treaties. Breach of those treaties by the Barbary nations led to the Barbary wars in 1801.

The first treaty was with Morocco in 1786, negotiated by Jefferson, Adams, and Franklin. It was written in Arabic with an English translation. The treaty language assumes that the world was divided between Christians and Moors (Moslems), e.g. "If we shall be at war with any Christian Power ... .", "... no Vessel whatever belonging either to Moorish or Christian Powers with whom the United States may be at War ... .", "...be their enemies Moors or Christians." These along with numerous references to God, e.g., "In the name of Almighty God,", "... trusting in God ...", "Grace to the only God", "...the servant of God ...", "... whom God preserve ...". are the only references to religion in this treaty of Peace and Friendship.

The next was the Treaty of Peace and Amity with Algiers in 1795,written in Turkish. The only reference to religion was in Article 17 which gave the Consul of the United States "... Liberty to Exercise his Religion in his own House [and] all Slaves of the Same Religion shall not be impeded in going to Said Consul's house at hours of prayer... ." The Consul's house was to function in lieu of a Christian church.

The Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation with Tunis in 1797 was in Turkish with a French translation. It begins "God is infinite.", and refers to the Ottoman Emperor "whose realm may God prosper", and to the President of the United States "... the most distinguished among those who profess the religion of the Messiah, ...." Other than a reference to "the Christian year", there is no further mention of religion.

The Treaty of Peace and Friendship with Tripoli was signed in 1796 in Arabic, and was later translated into English by Joel Barlow, United States Consul General at Algiers. Except for the typical phrases "Praise be to God" and "whom God Exalt", there is no reference to religion other than the aforesaid remarkable Article 11, which reads,

"As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion, as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen, — and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan (sic) nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

The treaty, with this language, was submitted to the Senate by President Adams, and was ratified. Thus, opponents of the 'Christian nation' concept point to this seemingly official repudiation of the very idea. Yet the language is less a repudiation of the role of Christianity in the nation's heritage than a reminder that there was no national established church in the United States as there was in the European states with which Tripoli had previously dealt. This provided reassurance to the Moslem Bey and his religious establishment that religion, in of itself, would not be a basis of hostility between the two nations. None of the other similar treaties with the Barbary states, before or after this treaty, including the replacement treaties signed in 1804 after the Barbary Wars, have any language remotely similar.

And there is a deeper mystery: As noted in a footnote at page 1070 of the authoritative treatise by Bevans, Treaties and other International Agreements of the United States of America, citing treaty scholar Hunter Miller.

"While the Barlow translation quoted above has been printed in all official and unofficial treaty collections since 1797, most extraordinary (and wholly unexplained) is the fact that Article 11 of the Barlow translation, with its famous phrase 'the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion.' does not exist at all. There is no Article 11. The Arabic text which is between Articles 10 and 12 is in form a letter, crude and flamboyant and withal quite unimportant, from the Dey of Algiers to the Pasha of Tripoli. How that script came to be written and to be regarded, as in the Barlow translation, as Article 11 of the treaty as there written, is a mystery and seemingly must remain so. Nothing in the diplomatic correspondence of the time throws any light whatever on the point" (Emphasis added)

In sum, the phrase was no doubt an invention of Mr. Barlow, who inserted it on his own for his own, unknown, purposes. It was duly ratified without question by the United States Senate, which would no doubt be hesitant to object to any phraseology which was represented as desired by the Bey of Tripoli, with whom the United States wanted peaceful relations. It remains a mystery.

Can America still be called a Christian nation? It is certainly a more religiously pluralistic and diverse society than it was during the 18th, 19th, and early 20th centuries. There are increasing numbers of non-Christians immigrating to this country, and there has been a rapid rise in adherents to Islam among our population. There are millions of Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Shintoists, Unitarians, Hindus, Wiccans, Naturists, Agnostics, and Atheists, but Christians comprise roughly 84% of the population. Our constitutional legal system is still based on the Jewish/Christian Bible, not the Koran or other holy book. We still observe Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, as an official holiday. Easter and Christmas still have a special place in the holiday lexicon. The Ten Commandments are still on the wall behind the Supreme Court Justices when they take the bench. Our coins still display the motto "In God We Trust." The US is still firmly part of a Western Civilization fashioned by a Judeo-Christian religious ethic and heritage. Alexis de Tocqueville observed more than a century and a half ago, "There is no country in the world, where the Christian religion retains a greater influence over the souls of men than in America." That is still true today. We live, not under a Christian government, but in a nation where all are free to practice their particular religion, in accommodation with other religions, and in accordance with the basic principles of the nation, which are Christian in origin. It is in that sense that America may properly be referred to as a Christian nation.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Pearlston, Carl "Is America a Christian Nation." Connecticut Jewish Ledger (April, 2001)

THE AUTHOR

Carl Pearlston is an attorney in the Los Angeles area, specializing in arbitration/mediation, a former professor of Constitutional Law, an Annapolis graduate, and a Jewish conservative active in various organizations including Toward Tradition.

Voting ourselves money

2009-12-09T11:31:00.001-05:00

"When the people find they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic"
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A Desperate December Deal
(From the Heritage Foundation)

If you are one of the few Americans who still subscribes, your morning newspaper probably has a headline like this: Democrats Reach Deal on Health Plan. Don’t believe it. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is still light years away from producing the 60 votes necessary to pass Obamacare out of the Senate. And the few details that have leaked out about this new “broad agreement” only reveal just how desperate Reid is to get any bill on to President Obama’s desk by the New Year.

Of course, there is no good policy reason why the Senate should be rushing the reorganization of one-sixth of our nation’s economy through their chamber. As leftist columnist E.J. Dionne has frankly admitted, the December deadline is a purely political invention, created for the sole purpose of enabling President Barack Obama to point to at least one accomplishment during his State of the Union speech in January. Details of the agreement have not been made public, and Senate Democrats are refusing to make them public until they hear back from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). But judging from what little has been selectively leaked to the public, this idea deserves to die:

Doubling Down on Debt: Medicare is already bankrupting our country. In 2007 alone, Medicare was forced to draw $179 billion from the general revenues of the U.S. Treasury. According to the latest Medicare trustees report, the program already faces $36 trillion dollar long-term budget shortfall. Medicare’s annual drain on our resources is set to skyrocket in 2011 when the first wave of baby boomers retire. The new Senate deal would only make this problem worse by expanding Medicare eligibility to people without insurance between the ages of 55 and 64.

Death Sentence for Hospitals: The Reid Health Bill already delivers a huge blow to our nation’s hospitals by cutting Medicare reimbursements to hospitals by hundreds of billions of dollars. Moving millions of more Americans to Medicare would cut into hospital revenues even further. That is why both the American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals sent alerts yesterday urging their members to oppose the new Senate deal.

A Government Run Health Care Coup: You might think that leftists who have been dreaming about single payer, government run health care for years would be upset about the new Senate deal. They are not. The existing Medicaid expansions in the bill, and the new Senate deal Medicare expansions, are just a continuation of the left’s health care agenda since the defeat of Hillarycare: Slowly expand existing government programs so that all private health care is strangled out of existence. So instead of fighting to preserve the public option, leftist activist Chris Bowers urges readers to fight “to expand the Medicare buy-in to all Americans between the age of 55 and 64 (inclusive).” Progressive health care guru Ezra Klein says the new deal is better than the public option because “it seed[s] health-care reform with scalable experiments.”

When President Barack Obama gave one of his first national health care addresses in June, he instructed Congress: “As we move forward on health care reform, it is not sufficient for us simply to add more people to Medicare or Medicaid.” But after months of debate in Congress, that is all Obamacare has turned out to be.

Tax Caps to the Constitution in Indiana

2009-12-07T19:01:00.000-05:00

All eyes are on Bauer for tax reform this year! Will Bauer use the normal stonewall techniques and kill the amendment to cap taxes to the Indiana Constitution?

Hoosier tax payers revolted several year ago with Tea Parties before Tea Parties were cool. However, if the caps are not added to the constitution then we can say, "so long" to the lower property taxes and you bet your last dollar that we will continue with a higher sales tax as well...

A good article follows from the Evansville Courier
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Leery Dems move forward on tax caps
* By Eric Bradner
* Posted December 7, 2009 at 1:11 p.m. , updated December 7, 2009 at 1:11 p.m.

Evansville Courier & Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Though Democrats who control the Indiana House are nervous about the effects that constitutional property tax caps would have on local governments, they will nonetheless charge toward an early 2010 vote that could give Hoosiers the final say.

As the House Ways and Means Committee considered the amendment Monday, firefighters warned that the quality of public safety could diminish if the funds aren’t available to pay for it, and businesses said it’s not fair that they must pay a higher rate than homeowners.

Tony Wolfe, the president of the Gibson County Council, said the caps deal a major blow to his county’s finances. He was one of several local government officials who warned they might have to raise taxes elsewhere to make up the difference.

“The unintended consequences of some of the things that pass up here filter down pretty hard on counties,” he said.

Homeowners, though, told lawmakers they worry the tax caps could eventually be lifted if they aren’t written into the constitution.

“We are not promised a fiscally responsible governor. We are not promised a fiscally responsible Legislature,” said 23-year-old Indianapolis resident Wesley Robinson.

“It’s only right that taxpayers have some form of control over local government spending,” said Kristen Brown, 45, of Columbus.

State lawmakers in 2008 voted to phase in property tax caps of 1 percent for homes, 2 percent for farms and rental property and 3 percent for businesses. According to estimates by the Legislative Services Agency, the General Assembly’s non-partisan research arm, those caps would save property taxpayers – and cost local governments – $465 million in 2010 and $488 million in 2011.

Lawmakers also voted in 2008 to amend those caps into Indiana’s constitution. To complete that process, the amendment needs to be passed by both the House and the Senate this year and approved by voters in a November 2010 statewide referendum.

Kent Morgan, 64, a retired Indianapolis resident, said he watches schools build massive new sports complexes and professional sports teams build new arenas on the backs of taxpayers.

“All I ask – please keep your promise. Please keep your word,” he said.

The fiscal panel did not vote on the caps Monday, but its chairman, Rep. Bill Crawford, D-Indianapolis, said members will vote next week on House Joint Resolution 1, the constitutional amendment.

If it wins the panel’s approval, the amendment moves to the full House, which Democrats control 52-48, for the legislative session that begins Jan. 5. There, Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, has signaled he will give it a vote.

Meanwhile, the Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee plans to vote on the amendment Tuesday. It is expected to easily win passage both in that panel and in the full Senate after the session begins, since Republicans control that chamber by a 33-17 margin.

Democrats have long argued that while property tax caps might save homeowners money, the steps the state has taken to make up for that loss, such as raising the sales tax from 6 to 7 percent, simply shift the burden.

They point out that allowing local governments to increase other taxes could amount to a tax shift, not a reduction.

“That’s the alternative to property taxes,” said Rep. Dennis Avery, D-Evansville.

Avery quizzed one homeowner who was testifying in support of the caps over whether that homeowner grasped the full meaning of their implementation.

“You’re expecting to see your taxes go down, but you’re not expecting to see a decline in public safety,” Avery said. “How is that possible?”

Democrats such as Bauer have argued that if tax caps are to be written into Indiana’s constitution, they must be coupled with legislation preventing property assessments from rising wildly from year to year.

House Bill 1004, which would cap the amounts assessments could increase, was scheduled to be considered Monday as well. However, due to snow, that bill’s author, Democratic Rep. Dale Grubb of Covington, could not attend. Instead, lawmakers will discuss it Wednesday.

Bosma responds to reform from Bauer

2009-12-01T11:26:00.000-05:00

Ya know--I'm not holding my breath concerning the reforms proposed by the House Speaker Pat Bauer. I'm still waiting to see the promise from Bauer on the elimination of the gas tax. Oh wait... how about the cozy 100,000 dollar plus job he is receiving from Ivy Tech that garners favor at the state level. Shouldn't he represent them without pay?

Has the speaker seen the light? Has he converted to putting the state first and his party second? Every Republican and Democrat knows the answer to that question. The answer is a big fat NO! Countless reforms could be imposed, however thinking that Pat Bauer will reform anything is kin to thinking that a fox will no longer eat chickens. The best way to reform anything in Indiana is to throw out the fox (Bauer)!

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Brian C. Bosma
House GOP led, others follow reform bandwagon

As Thomas Jefferson wrote, "Information is the currency of democracy." There is no more fundamental currency for public confidence in government than openness, transparency and accountability with respect to our elected officials.
As Speaker of the Indiana House in 2005 and 2006, my first step was to require all floor proceedings of the House be broadcast on the Internet so every Hoosier could see how their representative voted, and what they said in debate. We ended the prior practice of absent members voting by proxy in committees, and opened key committee rooms to Internet broadcast. We even required that the budget be available both physically and online for 48 hours before its adoption, a first in recent state history.

Our House GOP team championed and adopted comprehensive executive branch ethics reform and created the office of Inspector General to root out corruption in state government. Nearly 200 cases of corruption have been investigated and resolved in the past four years, leading to cleaner, more open government at all levels. Despite strong opposition, reform was the hallmark of the 114th General Assembly.
We took other actions to increase public confidence as well. I personally repealed the legislative lifetime health-care program, and we advocated for, and ultimately adopted, reform of the legislative retirement system, making both systems closer to what state employees receive. Despite these gains, much work remains.
Indiana must join the growing number of states requiring increased disclosure of elected officials' personal and family financial interests. Not only the employer, but the job title and assignment of legislators and their spouses should be disclosed. Financial holdings in real estate and investments should be more fully disclosed and penalties for late or intentionally inaccurate filings should be enacted. Every disclosure should be available online, and lists of late filers should be published.
Disclosure requirements for gifts from lobbyists must be significantly tightened and gifts of more than a reasonable business meal should be banned altogether. The practice of lobbyist-funded out-of-state trips for golf excursions and other recreation should be brought to an end.

House Republicans have long advocated a one-year cooling-off period before a legislator becomes a lobbyist. While House Speaker Pat Bauer has killed this reform in past sessions, it is my hope that his recently revised attitude on ethics reform will result in the passage of this important legislation this year.
Increased registration, reporting and regulation of lobbying interests also are required. The professionals representing interest groups in Indiana's capital are without question an honorable group, but increased regulation, reporting and public access will increase public confidence as well.
Finally, the Speaker has proposed increased scrutiny of political contributors who bid on public contracts. While this proposal may have merit, the same regulation and transparency requirements must be applied to the Indiana State Teachers Association, one of the largest public contractors in the state. The ISTA single-handedly contributed $1,040,850 to Indiana House Democrat leaders and candidates last election cycle, dwarfing every other contributor to legislative races. If campaign finance reform is to ring true, this undue influence is the first that should be addressed.
Reform was the hallmark of the Republican-led 114th General Assembly. With the Speaker's recent conversion, it's my hope that the 116th General Assembly can do as well.

Strong statement from Daniels

2009-12-01T06:03:00.000-05:00

"Abe Lincoln said: Some stumps you can pull out of the ground, some stumps you can blow out of the field and some stumps you just have to plow around," Daniels said. "I am tired of plowing around Pat Bauer and his Democratic majority, and I want your help to move him out of there." Gov. Daniels

Cheers for the boldness of the quote above! Only in South Bend could an obstructionist like Pat Bauer be praised and propped up for over 40 years. Pat Bauer's record has demonstrated his loyalty to "his" party over sound judgment and the good will for the State of Indiana.
My question to the Governor and the Indy establishment: What does the Gov. mean?
The statements above seem straightforward. However, the Indiana Republican Party must face their fear of Mr. Bauer and fund a candidate to run against the man. Will they stick their neck(s) out on the possible long shot campaign and take on Mr. Bauer, or will they simply look at the numbers from the gerrymandered district and consider it a lost cause? I hope not.

Any candidate willing to put his/ her name on the line for any office deserves my respect. I might disagree with their position but the gruelling pace will consume the candidates entire family either in a negative or positive manner. However, the first road block that a candidate meets when he or she runs against the Majority Leader is the lack of any substantial help from the Republican Party establishment. Any candidate (in the past) running against Bauer finds cheers from fellow Republicans from Northern Indiana but the Republican establishment in Indy treats the man/woman like a leper. Oh, you get cheers and a nice slap on the back at a few public functions, however they never take you seriously. NEVER! I know- I speak with experience. I have the distinction of being in a select club of lepers.

Question: How do you defeat an Army? War 101 says that you find and take out as many generals as possible. To move the State of Indiana forward, Mr. Bauer must be forced into early retirement but it will take a concentrated effort by Republicans in Indy and around the whole State to accomplish the task. I'm looking forward to seeing Mr. Bauer's retirement and I will help anyone with the sheer guts take him on!

I am taking the Governor at his word. At this point I believe that he will campaign for representatives and candidates trying regain the majority in the Indiana House. However, the Governor must take on the "little general" by endorsing, speaking and making sure that funds are provided for the defeat of Mr.Bauer.

Will the Governor come up to the region and campaign for the candidate? Will he send anyone? I hope so! It looks like a shift in thought-it's long overdue and I want to thank the Gov. for his willingness to join this fight. A little late, but I'm glad he is on board.

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From the Indy Star--

Behind closed doors

Daniels has answers for the GOP

To win races, he says, party must think about everyday people

When Gov. Mitch Daniels spoke last weekend at the Indiana Republican Party's Fall Dinner, he had Texas on his mind.

Daniels gave his speech a day before flying to Texas for the Republican Governors Association to meet with GOP colleagues from across the country, gatherings from which he said he usually plays "hooky."

Daniels said he decided to attend this time, in part, to help his party answer some key questions.

"They want to know about a Republican Party that wins elections, which it hasn't done a lot of in too many places, and nationally, for a while," Daniels said. "So, I'll tell them what we think the answer is."

Then, the governor followed with this advice: "You start by making it absolutely apparent that everything you say and do, your first concern, is the everyday people of the place, or in our case the state, to which you are accountable. You are happy about the prosperous people, the people that come to dinners like this; you're proud of them. But you never, never, never lose sight of the central meaning of the American experience: that anybody from anywhere has a chance. In where you go, in what you say, in what you do and how you approach your duties, you seek to make it possible for people to do that."

Daniels said his Republican colleagues also need to begin practicing more positive politics.

"I'll say to them, in Indiana, we practice the politics of addition, not division. We look for ways to bring people together. We look for ways to minimize or soft-pedal those things about which we disagree. We stand up always for things that are central to us, but we don't demonize anybody and we don't succumb to the temptation to criticize anybody, certainly not their motives, not their background. We remember what Ronald Reagan taught us some years ago: We have no enemies, only opponents.

"But most of all, if you want to know why we've been winning elections in Indiana, it's because we are known for what we're for, not just for what we're against."

Choice words for Bauer

Daniels' speech at the Republican dinner did, however, have some red meat.

When Gov. Mitch Daniels spoke last weekend at the Indiana Republican Party's Fall Dinner, he had Texas on his mind.

Daniels said he decided to attend this time, in part, to help his party answer some key questions.

Daniels said his Republican colleagues also need to begin practicing more positive politics.

"But most of all, if you want to know why we've been winning elections in Indiana, it's because we are known for what we're for, not just for what we're against."

Choice words for Bauer

Daniels' speech at the Republican dinner did, however, have some red meat.

(2 of 3)

He took a few jabs at House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, and his recent proposal to reform the state's lobbying laws.

"It took five years, but our opponents finally, finally -- as I always knew they would -- are starting to get it," Daniels said. "That it doesn't always work real well to be 'no, no, no' and criticism, criticism, criticism and attack, attack, attack.

"You know I'm for it, it's overdue, but the proposals for ethical reform of the Indiana legislature that have just been put forward by our opposition, I think are a really good idea," Daniels continued, before drawing a loud round of applause and laughs with this line: "But I just got to say one thing: When Pat Bauer turns into a reformer, something has changed, right? Something is going on."

The governor then stressed the importance of Republicans regaining control of the House in next year's election, saying he will "do everything I can in the next year to see that that happens," before touting the high caliber of candidates the party has recruited to run for legislature.

"Abe Lincoln said: Some stumps you can pull out of the ground, some stumps you can blow out of the field and some stumps you just have to plow around," Daniels said. "I am tired of plowing around Pat Bauer and his Democratic majority, and I want your help to move him out of there."

About those Derby tickets

Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, says he always wanted to pay his own way to the Kentucky Derby, and plans to reimburse the gambling company that paid his tab.

Recently, a lobbying report filed with the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission showed that Kenley -- chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee -- accepted tickets valued at $876.64 to the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks races from Centaur Inc., which operates Hoosier Park racino in Anderson.

At the time of the May derby in Louisville, the legislature was headed into a special session where casino and racino owners were hoping to win concessions.

When first asked by The Indianapolis Star about whether it had given him any pause to take the tickets from Centaur given the gambling issues facing the legislature, Kenley said no.

"I don't think that it created a problem," he said, noting that he had not allowed the gambling issues to move forward in the special session.

Last week, though, Kenley expanded on his account. Kenley said he had asked former State Rep. Matthew Whetstone, who now is a lobbyist with Krieg DeVault, if he knew where he could get tickets. That firm represents a riverboat casino. Kenley said he didn't know until he went to Louisville with his family that the tickets were from Centaur.

There, he said, he saw Whetstone and told him, "You need to make sure you let me know how much these tickets are."

He was told "not to worry about it," he said. But, Kenley said, he'd still planned on "getting this cleared up" and had thought he had until the end of this year to do so.

"It was a mistake on my part," he said, to not have reimbursed Centaur earlier. Now, he said, he'll do that.

Stimulating the nonexistent

The economic stimulus package not only created jobs, it also created congressional districts, according to the government Web site that tracks the spending.

Recovery.gov breaks down the money awarded and jobs created so far by congressional district. The site said that Indiana's nonexistent 10th congressional district has received $1,219,756, which resulted in eight jobs. The nonexistent 00th, 11th, 14th and 18th districts have also gotten funding, according to the site.

Republicans were among those having a field day with the inaccuracies.

"From the beginning, I said this program would be exposed to rampant waste, fraud and abuse," said Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind. "Now, as we see these magical numbers from the Obama administration, how can we ever be convinced that this money will be accounted for and given proper oversight? The answer is simply this: we can't."

States and other funding recipients had to report last month how they spent the funding they've received. Indiana's listing of congressional districts on the Web site has since been corrected.

In a blog posting on the White House Web site, G. Edward DeSeve, an Obama adviser, said the mistakes were a result of human error that shouldn't detract from the overall effort to bring openness to the stimulus program.

"We fully agree with those who find the mistakes in the data frustrating -- and we've been working with the Recovery Board to find the mistakes and fix them," DeSeve said. "We are going through the reports with a fine-tooth comb, identifying the mistakes and working with filers to correct them."

Thankful for Government Programs

2009-11-27T05:40:00.000-05:00

Noticed yesterday that the South Bend Tribune local section featured a man giving thanks for social security, medicare and his union.

I'm saddened by this:
First, the Tribune featured this man on the front page with a large picture and a bold quote giving thanks for government programs. On Thanksgiving Day the tribune could have featured other, more meaningful quotes.
Second, I feel sorry for the man! According to his public statement, Mr. Myers actually gave thanks for government programs over things like God, family and health.
It is evident that Mr. Myers has a love for government programs. I feel sorry for the man and I find it disturbing that the Tribune reinforced Mr. Myers by putting his quote on the front page of the Local Section.
_______________________________________________

What are you thankful for?

I'm thankful that the Democrats under FDR gave us Social Security, and the Democrats under LBJ gave us Medicare, both of which I have benefited from, along with my union pension. And I hope that all Americans who are hurting now will soon have a health plan and a good job. I had been unemployed many times in my working years and know how you feel.
— Louis Myers
South Bend

Tribune Photo/MARCUS MARTER

Louis Myers is pictured at his home on Madison Road in St. Joseph County. Myers is thankful, among other things, for his union pension.

South Bend wants to spend 40 million-what?

2009-11-25T08:01:00.000-05:00

Plans are in the works for a huge facelift for South Bend's baseball stadium. City planners have unveiled their vision of spending 30- to 40-million dollars to upgrade Coveleski Stadium, where the single-A Minor League Baseball Silver Hawks play. Mayor Steve Luecke says the money won't come from the city's general fund, but instead South Bend officials plan to phase in the renovations using the Professional Sports Development Fund and Tax Increment Financing District revenue. The city wants "The Cove," as the stadium is affectionately called, to become an entertainment anchor for the downtown. (Scource-WFRN news)
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During an economic hardship,South Bend asked and received a higher tax on our income. The purpose of the tax was to "save" the basic necessities for the city to function (firefighters, police, etc). After hearing about the 40 million dollar plan for the "Cove" the public should "storm" the County City building with pitchforks. The City never raised this idea to spend 40 million on a baseball stadium during their media blitz to raise your tax dollars! Shame on them and shame on us if we allow the 40 million dollar plan to proceed.
This headline is a hard pill to swallow. I realize that the funds are in different places within the City. However, this plan makes no sense. It seems like the mayor and his stooges have lost touch with reality!
When you cry and moan to people that the city is out of money and threaten to take the drastic action of taking away their public safety, the people take that at face value.
Don't get me wrong- I love baseball and the Silver Hawks make for a great night out. However the "desperate picture" represented by our leaders was false and they should be taken to task for their irresponsible behavior.

Some headlines from August, 2009;

WNDU report--
Posted: 6:40 PM Aug 7, 2008

Budget woes for South Bend, and a possible surplus for Mishawaka

St. Joseph County, IN

If a local option income tax raise is passed, leaders say budget cuts in South Bend could be bearable, while the city of Mishawaka could end up with a surplus.
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And ABC Channel 57---

City of South Bend cutting jobs

11:48PM

July

2009

E-mail

Comments 0

Public safety positions among the cuts

The city of South Bend is making cuts to its budget and public safety is taking a big hit.

State property tax cuts have left South Bend with a $22 million budget shortfall next year.

The police department is set to lose 19 officers. The fire department is cutting 45 positions.

That means some fire stations will be forced to close and that could cause a delay in response time.

The Parks and Recreation Department is eliminating 30 percent of its staff and closing both city pools, the ice rink, the East Race and Potowatomi Greenhouses.

The mayor says it's going to everyone will feel the impact.

15 percent of the city's employees will be cut. That's more than 200 jobs.

Local News Powered by Weigel Broadcasting

Happy Holidays from the St. Joseph County tax man.

2009-11-25T06:41:00.000-05:00

Happy Holidays from the St. Joseph County tax man.

St. Joseph County residents try to understand increase in tax bills

FOX 28.com Links

How to read your property tax bill

Written By: Lindsey Sablan

If you live in St. Joseph County, you should have received your tax bill by now.

While you were expecting to receive the bill in the mail, many of you weren't expecting to see an increase in your bill.

Now residents are trying to understand why they're paying more, despite the property tax cap.

Jack Jones saw an increase in his property taxes this year and says, "I was disappointed, yes."

Many St. Joseph County residents reacted just like Jack Jones when they got their tax bills.

After the state legislature capped property taxes, residents were hoping for some relief, but Jones didn't get it.

"I'm not quite sure why. I've got to complete my analysis of it, but I suspect it's because the city's not getting back money from the state that they did last year," says Jones.

St. Joseph County Treasurer Sean Coleman says you should look at two places on your bill to understand why you may see an increase.

Coleman says, "One is the assessment of the property, the assessed value of property. See if there's a significant difference between the first year of assessed evaluation and this years. Secondly, I would tell them to look at the number of state credits."

This year, the property tax relief credit was eliminated and the homestead credit was significantly reduced, which means you could pay more.

St. Joseph County resident Bob Kiefer's property taxes actually dropped, but he's still upset because his overall tax bill went up.

Kiefer says, "The year before taxes went up, my taxes went up 40% and now they came down 40%, but other taxes went up."

Kiefer says with the local option income tax and sales tax increases, he's still paying the same amount.

In today's economy, he says people need a break, "For people who live paycheck to paycheck, I don't know how they do it."

Jones agrees, "You don't like to give up more of your money than you have to."

As for the future, property tax caps will be completely phased in next year and residents hope relief is on its way.

City residents may see an increase compared to county residents, Coleman says that's because city residents pay for another layer of services.

Remember you must pay in person or have your tax bill postmarked by December 11th.

St. Joseph Register spotlight-Camp Ray Bird

2009-11-25T06:08:00.000-05:00

Our mission

The mission of Ray Bird Ministries, Inc. is to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the "at-risk" children and teens of the Michiana area, nurture those believers through memorable camping experiences and prepare them for participation in local churches.

Who we serve

At Ray Bird Ministries, we serve the economically disadvantaged children and teens of the greater South Bend area.

Our heritage

The late Mr. and Mrs. Ray Bird (Ethel)

On December 8th 1914, Mr. Ray Bird backed by a few concerned citizens opened the doors of the City Rescue Mission to South Bend's homeless and needy citizens. Their first Sunday School service was attended by a group of 24 children. The Bird's ministry would continue to focus on the needy children and their families for many years to come. By 1935 the Sunday school had an enrollment of 450 persons.

On an early summer morning in 1919 the Elks Club gathered together on newly acquired land purchased for the City Rescue Mission at Chain O'Lakes (now known as Bass Lake). Mr. & Mrs. Fredrick Cunningham and Mr. & Mrs. James Oliver donated the parcel jointly for Ray Bird's Fresh Air Camp. The Elks Club erected the camp's original lodge in a single day. It became a haven for hundreds of destitute families for years to come. The families worked through the hard times, the husbands seeking work in town while the wives and children raised garden crops at the camp to sell in town. The camp still has in its possession a large garden sprayer, which was used by the Bird's gardeners in the 1920's.

As years passed the camp evolved to meet the needs of each passing generation of needy children. The need continues and the program has continued to change and grow to meet today's needs. But the bottom line stays the same - we are hear to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ!

Today the City Mission no longer exists, but Bird's Fresh Air Camp now known as Camp Ray Bird, continues preach the good news of Jesus Christ to the at-risk children and teens. To learn more about Camp Ray Bird's history, email our director to receive a free copy of "Where Miracles Happen all the Time: A Historical Documentary of Camp Ray Bird" on video CD (plays in any DVD player).

Mission Opportunities

Summer Missions Trip Opportunity/Volunteering

You can bring your youth group for an excellent and affordable week-long summer mission trip. Senior high youth group students serve as junior counselors and kitchen assistants. What's in it for participating teens? A chance to see that God can use them, An opportunity to see God work in the lives of the campers and in their own lives, Opportunities to talk with campers about the gospel of Jesus Christ and to care for the spiritual, physical and emotion needs of the campers, Interactions with mature summer camp staff members, Exposure to many campers who come from tough homes - perhaps out of their comfort zone, and Great fun and long-lasting memories. Come join us this summer and help advance God's kingdom. Email our director to request an information packet. The first step in applying to bring a group in the summer is to download, complete and return a Volunteer Church Application.

Other mission trip/volunteer resources

Volunteer Staff Application

Volunteer Staff Reference Form (two are required for each volunteer)

Get involved on Summer Staff

Are considering employment doing urban or inner-city summer camp ministry in Michiana (Southern Michigan and Northern Indiana)? Then Camp Ray Bird is the place for you! You can be part of sharing the gospel with hundreds of at-risk children and teens from greater South Bend, Indiana. Each summer 30+ seasonal paid employees are hired. See our calendar page for the summer calendar.

Contact our director for more information on summer ministry opportunities (and a great summer job) in this urban ministry in South Bend, Indiana. If you are interested, you can download the following

Summer Staff Application* (for new staff, NOT for returning staff)

Summer Staff Reference Form *

*If you do not have access to Microsoft Word, please email our director for other options.

Volunteer Work Projects for Groups

We are always looking for help as we maintain and upgrade our grounds and facilities. Work groups (youth or adults) stay for free in exchange for the work. This is an excellent way to build teamwork and teach service. Families and individuals are welcome. If you would like to help, we will find a good job for you outside or in the office. Contact our facilities director for more information. You can also download a work group pre-arrival questionnaire.

Be a Volunteer

Would you like to share your talents with Ray Bird Ministries? At times help is needed in the following areas: kitchen work, grounds, maintenance and new building projects. Email us with questions or for more details.

Financial Support

Are you interested in supporting the work God is doing at Ray Bird Ministries? Please contact our director with any questions.

You can make make a donation by sending a check payable to Ray Bird Ministries to:

Ray Bird Ministries / P.O. 3717 / South Bend, IN 46619

Or you can donate on line

To make regular donations via credit card, click here to download our credit card donation form.

To donate property, equipment, stocks, mutual funds or other securities, please email our director or call our office at 574-232-8523.

To make a gift to or learn more about the Ray Bird Ministries endowment, please visit www.cfsjc.org (The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County).

Why should my church support Camp Ray Bird?

Click here to see what one local church has to say.

A MONTHLY ABORTION FEE

2009-11-19T15:25:00.000-05:00

If you love INNOCENT life then please read the following.
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Sen. Reid’s Government-Run Health Plan Requires a Monthly Abortion Fee
Posted by GOP Leader Press Office on November 19th, 2009.
Just like the original 2,032-page, government-run health care plan from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) massive, 2,074-page bill would levy a new “abortion premium” fee on Americans in the government-run plan.
Beginning on line 7, p. 118, section 1303 under “Voluntary Choice of Coverage of Abortion Services” the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run health plan. Leader Reid’s plan also requires that at least one insurance plan offered in the Exchange covers abortions (line 13, p. 120).
What is even more alarming is that a monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run health plan. It’s right there beginning on line 11, page 122, section 1303, under “Actuarial Value of Optional Service Coverage.” The premium will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account – and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services.
Section 1303(a)(2)(C) describes the process in which the Health Benefits Commissioner is to assess the monthly premiums that will be used to pay for elective abortions under the government-run health plan and for those who are given an affordability credit to purchase insurance coverage that includes abortion through the Exchange. The Commissioner must charge at a minimum $1 per enrollee per month.
A majority of Americans believe that health care plans should not be mandated to provide elective abortion coverage, and a majority of Americans do not believe government health care plans should include abortion coverage. Currently, federal appropriations bills include language known as the Hyde Amendment that prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions under the Medicare and Medicaid programs, while another provision, known as the Smith Amendment, prohibits federal funding of abortion under the federal employees’ health benefits plan.
Leader Reid’s 2,074-page health care monstrosity is an affront to the American people and drastically moves away from current policy. The National Right to Life Committee has called the Reid abortion language “completely unacceptable.” The American people deserve more from their government than being forced to pay for abortion. The pro-life Stupak/Pitts amendment passed the House by a vote of 240 to 194, enjoying the overwhelming support of 176 Republicans and 64 Democrats. The Stupak/Pitts Amendment codifies current law by prohibiting federal funding of elective abortions under any government-run plan or plans available under the Exchange. The Reid plan ignores the will of a bipartisan majority of the House, and indeed the American people, by rejecting this bipartisan amendment.
Health care reform should not be used as an opportunity to use federal funds to pay for elective abortions. Health reform should be an opportunity to protect human life – not end it – and the American people agree. House Republicans have offered a common-sense, responsible solution that would reduce health care costs and expand access while protecting the dignity of all human life. The Republican plan, available at HealthCare.GOP.gov, would codify the Hyde Amendment and prohibit all authorized and appropriated federal funds from being used to pay for abortion. And under the Republican plan, any health plan that includes abortion coverage may not receive federal funds.

2009-11-18T07:55:00.000-05:00

Headline:

Exclusive: Jobs 'Saved or Created' in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist

The quotes below are priceless. Unfortunately, the actual bill will burden our nation for generations to come. The stimulus package was and is a reckless piece of legislation.

By now, this is old news, however it demonstrates a worthy point. If the Federal Government cannot manage something as simple as this; then how in the world can we expect the Feds to engineer Cap and Trade or Health Care reform?

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"We report what the recipients submit to us," said Ed Pound, Communications Director for the Board.

"Some recipients clearly don't know what congressional district they live in, so they appear to be just throwing in any number..."

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Exclusive: Jobs 'Saved or Created' in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist

Human Error Blamed for Crediting New Stimulus Jobs to Nonexistent Places

By JONATHAN KARL
Nov. 16, 2009

E-mail

Here's a stimulus success story: In Arizona's 15th congressional district, 30 jobs have been saved or created with just $761,420 in federal stimulus spending. At least that's what the Web site set up by the Obama administration to track the $787 billion stimulus says.

Discrepancies on government web site call into question stimulus spending.

There's one problem, though: There is no 15th congressional district in Arizona; the state has only eight districts.

And ABC News has found many more entries for projects like this in places that are incorrectly identified.

Late Monday, officials with the Recovery Board created to track the stimulus spending, said the mistakes in crediting nonexistent congressional districts were caused by human error.

"We report what the recipients submit to us," said Ed Pound, Communications Director for the Board.

Pound told ABC News the board receives declarations from the recipients - state governments, federal agencies and universities - of stimulus money about what program is being funded.

"Some recipients clearly don't know what congressional district they live in, so they appear to be just throwing in any number. We expected all along that recipients would make mistakes on their congressional districts, on jobs numbers, on award amounts, and so on. Human beings make mistakes," Pound said.

The issue has raised hackles on Capitol Hill.

Rep. David Obey, D-Wisc, who chairs the powerful House appropriations Committee, issued a paper statement demanding that the recovery.gov Web site be updated.

"The inaccuracies on recovery.gov that have come to light are outrageous and the Administration owes itself, the Congress, and every American a commitment to work night and day to correct the ludicrous mistakes."

cap and trade

2009-11-16T05:37:00.000-05:00

Just recieved this from the 9-12 group. The information concerns a bill known as Cap and Trade. Right now it's flying under our "radar" screen and it must be "gunned" down. However it won't go away unless our Senator and other Washington representatives hear from their boss and I'm not talking about Mr. Reid or Ms. Pelosi. If passed, the bill would be a disaster, therefore we need to act! Christine Murdock has provided some numbers to contact our Senator.

This is really easy to do but you have to do it. Either call him 1-202-228-5823, Fax him 1-202 2281377, or email him: http://Bayh.senate.gov/contract, or you can write him . You don't have to say anything except tell him to vote no for these 2 bills.

House License?!?!

I encourage you to read the provisions of the Cap and Trade Bill that has passed the House of Representatives and being considered by the Senate. I am ready to join the next march on Washington! This Congress and whoever on their staffs write this junk are truly out to destroy the middle class of the USA ....

A License required for your house...no longer just for cars and mobile homes....

Thinking about selling your house - then look at H.R. 2454 (Cap and trade bill) This is unbelievable!

Home owners take note & tell your friends and relatives who are home owners!

Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Cap and Trade Act, you won't be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act. H.R. 2454, the "Cap & Trade" bill passed by the House of Representatives, if also passed by the Senate, will be the largest tax increase any of us has ever experienced. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that in just a few years the average cost to every family of four will be $6,800 per year. No one is excluded. However, once the lower classes feel the pinch in their wallets, you can be sure they will get a tax refund (even if they pay no taxes at all) to offset this new cost. Thus, you Mr. and Mrs. Middle Class America, will have to pay even more since additional tax dollars will be needed to bail out everyone else.

But wait. This awful bill (that no one in Congress has actually read) has many more surprises in it. Probably the worst one is this: A year from now you won't be able to sell your house. Yes, you read that right. The caveat is (there always is a caveat) that if you have enough money to make required major upgrades to your home, then you can sell it. But, if not, then forget it. Even pre-fabricated homes ("mobile homes") are included. In effect, this bill prevents you from selling your home without the permission of the EPA administrator. To get this permission, you will have to have the energy efficiency of your home measured. Then the government will tell you what your new energy efficiency requirement is and you will be forced to make modifications to your home under the retrofit provisions of this Act to comply with the new energy and water efficiency requirements. Then you will have to get your home measured again and get a license (called a "label" in the Act) that must be posted on your property to show what your efficiency rating is; sort of like the Energy Star efficiency rating label on your refrigerator or air conditioner. If you don't get a high enough rating, you can't sell. And, the EPA administrator is authorized to raise the standards every year, even above the automatic energy efficiency increases built into the Act. The EPA administrator, appointed by the President, will run the Cap & Trade program (AKA the "American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009") and is authorized to make any future changes to the regulations and standards he alone determines to be in the government's best interest. Requirements are set low initially so the bill will pass Congress; then the Administrator can set much tougher new standards every year.

The Act itself contains annual required increases in energy efficiency for private and commercial residences and buildings. However, the EPA administrator can set higher standards at any time. Sect. 202 Building Retrofit Program, mandates a national retrofit program to increase the energy efficiency of all existing homes across America. Beginning 1 year after enactment of the Act, you won't be able to sell your home unless you retrofit it to comply with the energy and water efficiency standards of this Act. You had better sell soon, because the standards will be raised each year and will be really hard (i.e. ex$pen$ive) to meet in a few years. The Act allows the government to give you a grant of several thousand dollars to comply with the retrofit program requirements IF you meet certain energy efficiency levels. But, wait, the State can set additional requirements on who qualifies to receive the grants. You should expect requirements such as "can't have an income of more than $50K per year", "home selling price can't be more than $125K", or anything else to target the upper middle class (and that's YOU) and prevent them from qualifying for the grants. Most of us won't get a dime and will have to pay the entire cost of the retrofit out of our own pockets. More transfer of wealth, more "change you can believe in." Sect. 204 Building Energy Performance Labeling Program, establishes a labeling program that for each individual residence will identify the achieved energy efficiency performance for "at least 90 percent of the residential market within 5 years after the date of the enactment of this Act."

This means that within 5 years 90% of all residential homes in the U.S. must be measured and labeled. The EPA administrator will get $50M each year to enforce the labeling program. The Secretary of the Department of Energy will get an additional $20M each year to help enforce the labeling program. Some of this money will, of course, be spent on coming up with tougher standards each year..

The label will be like a license for your car. You will be required to post the label in a conspicuous location in your home and will not be allowed to sell your home without having this label. And, just like your car license, you will probably be required to get a new label every so often - maybe every year.

The government estimates the cost of measuring the energy efficiency of your home should only cost about $200 each time. Remember what they said about the auto smog inspections when they first started -- that in California it would only cost $15. That was when the program started. Now the cost is about $50 for the inspection and certificate; a 333% increase. Expect the same from the home labeling program. Sect. 304 Greater Energy Efficiency in Building Codes, establishes new energy efficiency guidelines for the National Building Code and mandates at 304(d) that 1 year after enactment of this Act, all state and local jurisdictions must adopt the National Building Code energy efficiency provisions or must obtain a certification from the federal government that their state and/or local codes have been brought into full compliance with the National Building Code energy efficiency standards.

Our place

2009-11-13T06:11:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I noticed a bumper sticker stating, "The Earth is not made for us... we are made for the Earth."

What a terrible statement! According to the 1st chapter in Genesis, God created the Heavens and the Earth.

Why did he do it?

Simple:He did it for Love. He lavished us with a blue sky, green plants,water, warmth from the Sun and about a trillion other reasons to give Him thanks (literally). Not to mention the vastness of space to fill up our inquisitive nature. What a wonderful gift from our creator.

Every good lie has an element of truth wrapped around it. Therefore, a person could debate that the Earth is not made for us? However, it diminishes the gift given to us by God during the original design of creation. Also, it diminishes the significant place God has established for the human species. Remember- we are made just a little lower than the angels.

The Earth was made for humans and for our pleasure.I also believe that God found great pleasure in loving humanity through His creation. Scripture states, "God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good." God states in scripture that it was good! He was pleased with the results and I can imagine the great celebration in Heaven following the culmination of the creation story.

The second part of the statement,"we are made for the Earth" reflects a sad and disappointing view of our existence on the planet. Our bodies are made for this Earth and this may be a crude example, but in many ways our flesh acts like a very sophisticated astronaut suit. I realize that the human body is much more than just a suit. However the flesh will be discarded when the Lord calls us home. Notice that I said, calls us home. My eternal home is not on this Earth, it longs for eternity with my Savior Jesus Christ. Due to sin we cannot call the Earth our home.

I feel sad for the lost soul with the bumper sticker and I pray that she will find the rich treasure awaiting her through Jesus and His salvation.
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Genesis 1

The Beginning

¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³ And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

⁶ And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." ⁷ So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. ⁸ God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

⁹ And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

¹¹ Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. ¹² The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.

¹⁴ And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. ¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

²⁰ And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

²⁷ So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

²⁹ Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰ And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Obama Dithers

2009-11-12T11:06:00.000-05:00

From the Heritage Foundation:

THURSDAY, NOV. 12, 2009

Obama Dithers While Our AfPak Credibility Burns
Last month, The Washington Post reported that President Barack Obama had asked senior officials for a province-by-province analysis of Afghanistan “to help determine which regions are being managed effectively by local leaders and which require international help.” He supposedly wanted “the clearest possible understanding of what the challenges are to our forces and what is required to meet the challenge.”

But now two weeks later the Associated Press reports that President Obama has rejected all of the options presented by his national security team and is now asking for “revisions to clarify how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government.” The White House continues to assert that Obama just needs more time to properly calibrate how to communicate to the Afghan government that it “must improve in a reasonable period of time.” But Obama has been President for ten months now, and his rhetoric during the campaign would tend to suggest that he has been aware for sometime of our struggles in Afghanistan. The truth is the Pentagon has been scrutinizing the failures of our AfPak strategy for over two years and the new administration has benefited from all the work done before it took the White House. The argument that we need more study, or that half measures will do, is wearing pretty thin. All this news makes it look like the president is shopping for a rationale to justify a commitment that is “politically” acceptable in Washington.In fact, the ongoing public debate about Afghanistan has already cost the U.S. credibility with its NATO allies and is confusing our regional partners who are starting to hedge their bets and plan for a decreased U.S. commitment to the region. As well-known Pakistan expert Ahmed Rashid commented on October 27th in an article in the National Interest, “Every sign of the United States or NATO dithering over strategy only convinces the Pakistani military about keeping its Taliban option open.”Yes, the recent flawed Afghan election was a setback to international efforts to stabilize Afghanistan, but as Heritage senior research fellow Lisa Curtis notes: “Part of the reason Karzai’s reputation has suffered is the deteriorating security situation — so it stands to reason that providing additional U.S. troops to reverse Taliban momentum, as Gen. Stanley McChrystal has requested, would also increase the credibility of the Afghan regime. While the Obama administration is right to demand cleaner rule from Karzai, it also must be realistic about the security situation and acknowledge that stemming Taliban advances is vital to U.S. national security interests.”The Obama administration used to believe that defeating the Taliban was a vital national security interest. It was just this past August when President Obama said: “This is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on 9/11 are plotting to do so again. If left unchecked, the Taliban insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al Qaeda would plot to kill more Americans. So this is not only a war worth fighting. This is a — this is fundamental to the defense of our people.”We need a decision from President Obama, and pretty compelling rationale to support it, soon. Obama’s Afghan strategy should provide U.S. military commanders on the ground with the resources they need to fight a successful counterinsurgency campaign against the Taliban. Depriving our commanders of the resources they require is a recipe for failure.

VETERANS DAY-1985

2009-11-11T12:19:00.000-05:00

Former President Ronald Reagan on Veterans Day

"We endanger the peace and confuse all issues when we obscure the truth; when we refuse to name an act for what it is; when we refuse to see the obvious and seek safety in Almighty. Peace is only maintained and won by those who have clear eyes and brave minds. Peace is imperiled when we forget to try for agreements and settlements and treaties; when we forget to hold out our hands and strive; when we forget that God gave us talents to use in securing the ends He desires. Peace fails when we forget that agreements, once made, cannot be broken without a price"

__________________________________________

Remarks by President Ronald ReaganVeterans Day National CeremonyArlington National CemeteryArlington, VirginiaNovember 11, 1985

PRESIDENT REAGAN: Secretary Weinberger, Harry Walters, Robert Medairos, reverend clergy, ladies and gentlemen, a few moments ago I placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and as I stepped back and stood during the moment of silence that followed, I said a small prayer. And it occurred to me that each of my predecessors has had a similar moment, and I wondered if our prayers weren't very much the same, if not identical.
We celebrate Veterans Day on the anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I, the armistice that began on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. And I wonder, in fact, if all Americans' prayers aren't the same as those I mentioned a moment ago. The timing of this holiday is quite deliberate in terms of historical fact but somehow it always seems quite fitting to me that this day comes deep in autumn when the colors are muted and the days seem to invite contemplation.
We are gathered at the National Cemetery, which provides a final resting place for the heroes who have defended our country since the Civil War. This amphitheater, this place for speeches, is more central to this cemetery than it first might seem apparent, for all we can ever do for our heroes is remember them and remember what they did -- and memories are transmitted through words.
Sometime back I received in the name of our country the bodies of four marines who had died while on active duty. I said then that there is a special sadness that accompanies the death of a serviceman, for we're never quite good enough to them-not really; we can't be, because what they gave us is beyond our powers to repay. And so, when a serviceman dies, it's a tear in the fabric, a break in the whole, and all we can do is remember.
It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray haired. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives -- the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember.
There's always someone who is remembering for us. No matter what time of year it is or what time of day, there are always people who come to this cemetery, leave a flag or a flower or a little rock on a headstone. And they stop and bow their heads and communicate what they wished to communicate. They say, "Hello, Johnny," or "Hello, Bob. We still think of you. You're still with us. We never got over you, and we pray for you still, and we'll see you again. We'll all meet again." In a way, they represent us, these relatives and friends, and they speak for us as they walk among the headstones and remember. It's not so hard to summon memory, but it's hard to recapture meaning.
And the living have a responsibility to remember the conditions that led to the wars in which our heroes died. Perhaps we can start by remembering this: that all of those who died for us and our country were, in one way or another, victims of a peace process that failed; victims of a decision to forget certain things; to forget, for instance, that the surest way to keep a peace going is to stay strong. Weakness, after all, is a temptation -- it tempts the pugnacious to assert themselves -- but strength is a declaration that cannot be misunderstood. Strength is a condition that declares actions have consequences. Strength is a prudent warning to the belligerent that aggression need not go unanswered.
Peace fails when we forget what we stand for. It fails when we forget that our Republic is based on firm principles, principles that have real meaning, that with them, we are the last, best hope of man on Earth; without them, we're little more than the crust of a continent. Peace also fails when we forget to bring to the bargaining table God’s first intellectual gift to man: common sense. Common sense gives us a realistic knowledge of human beings and how they think, how they live in the world, what motivates them. Common sense tells us that man has magic in him, but also clay. Common sense can tell the difference between right and wrong. Common sense forgives error, but it always recognizes it to be error first.
We endanger the peace and confuse all issues when we obscure the truth; when we refuse to name an act for what it is; when we refuse to see the obvious and seek safety in Almighty. Peace is only maintained and won by those who have clear eyes and brave minds. Peace is imperiled when we forget to try for agreements and settlements and treaties; when we forget to hold out our hands and strive; when we forget that God gave us talents to use in securing the ends He desires. Peace fails when we forget that agreements, once made, cannot be broken without a price.
Each new day carries within it the potential for breakthroughs, for progress. Each new day bursts with possibilities. And so, hope is realistic and despair a pointless little sin. And peace fails when we forget to pray to the source of all peace and life and happiness. I think sometimes of General Matthew Ridgeway, who, the night before D-day, tossed sleepless on his cot and talked to the Lord and listened for the promise that God made to Joshua: “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
We're surrounded today by the dead of our wars. We owe them a debt we can never repay. All we can do is remember them and what they did and why they had to be brave for us. All we can do is try to see that other young men never have to join them. Today, as never before, we must pledge to remember the things that will continue the peace. Today, as never before, we must pray for God's help in broadening and deepening the peace we enjoy. Let us pray for freedom and justice and a more stable world. And let us make a compact today with the dead, a promise in the words for which General Ridgeway listened, “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”
In memory of those who gave the last full measure of devotion, may our efforts to achieve lasting peace gain strength. And through whatever coincidence or accident of timing, I tell you that a week from now when I am some thousands of miles away, believe me, the memory and the importance of this day will be in the forefront of my mind and in my heart.
Thank you. God bless you all, and God bless America.

Fort Hood

2009-11-11T06:48:00.000-05:00

In memoriam

Just a few thoughts on ND football

2009-11-10T05:43:00.001-05:00

“I got the humility from Mom and Dad. But when I was here, coach (Lou Holtz) pounded it in; made sure it didn't leave. It was never about me, it was always about the team.”
Jerome Bettis

Good article from the South Bend Tribune. However, the team and Mr. Weis should take a look into the quote above. Did you notice what Betis said, ...it was always about the team.

I have no doubt that Charlie Weis has a great knowledge of the game and he can be a great motivator. However something is lacking and I suspect that the quote from Betis has something to do with the problem.

For further discussion:
An interesting article from World Magazine describes the main goal of any team sport.
Taken from a review of the documentary, More than a game;
"Lebron James was flashy, Dru Joyce III was feisty, Sian Cotton was hefty, Willie McGee was mature,and Romeo Travis was in the game for the girls. They called themselves the "Fab Five", and they were the stars of a basketball team some called the best in high school history. ... More than a Game tells the story of how these teens packed university stadiums and catapulted the Fighting Irish from Akron, Ohio, to national fame....They call each other "brothers" and Dru Joyce II,their coach, takes it upon himself to teach them more than a game."My job wasn't about basketball," he says. "It was about helping them become men."
The review further states, "It is easy to see Joyce, with his soft-spoken pep talks and prayers,as the father figure who first has to command the boy's respect before he can check their braggadocio and hold them together as a team.

The biggest question that I have as a fan of ND football:

Is Charlie Weis challenging the team to become men?

________________

NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL: Can Irish regain their staggered swagger?

By AL LESAR
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND — It was beyond schematic deficiencies. It was beyond two uncharacteristic and costly fumbles. It was beyond a pass that bounced off the back of a star receiver and into the hands of a defender. It was beyond two missed field goals. It was a dreadful lack of passion.

What happened to the Notre Dame football team in Saturday's loss to Navy was bad.

How it happened was even worse.

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Uninspired. Listless. Disinterested. Lethargic. Pick your adjective.

Nobody under the Golden Dome could argue.

Coach Charlie Weis said this week that he would stress accountability. The locker room mirror's crowded with guilty faces looking back.

But do they care enough to recognize the crisis? If so, do they care enough to want to solve the crisis? That's a coach's dilemma when the tightrope has started to fray.

What makes this situation all the worse is that Weis and his staff spent the week leading up to the Navy debacle focusing on three issues.

Tackle the fullback. Actually, on every play but one (a 25-yard TD run by Vince Murray) the Navy fullback did get tackled. However, it was after more than 200 yards had been gained.

Guard against a play-action pass. Ricky Dobbs' 52-yard scoring pass to Greg Jones put the kibosh on that goal.

Play with as much passion (or more) as the Midshipmen on every play. Not even close. The beach ball dancing around the student section caused more of a stir than the way the Irish played most of the game.

The energy outage was induced by a Navy team that wasn't supposed to compete.

Passion isn't measured in yards and inches. Or, points on a scoreboard.

It's gauged by bodies flying. It's the intensity that develops into a confidence. It's a confidence that evolves into a swagger.

That swagger is the distance between a program on the cusp of greatness, with the "want to" to achieve it, and one content to wallow in mediocrity.

What Weis has to deal with is a bigger concern than scheme. Erase the greaseboard and the blueprint is changed.

Not so fast, my friend.

Passion is different. It's either there or it isn't. Passion isn't coached.

Have all the narrow escapes and disheartening last-second losses finally exacted their toll? Is the Irish tank finally empty?

When Weis talks about accountability, it can easily be construed as blame. With blame comes negativity. With negativity comes a downward spiral that can flush the rest of the season — and possibly a coaching career — down the commode in a hurry.

Will egos get in the way of survival?

The time for blame has passed. This is damage-control mode, plain and simple. This is not a drill. This, fellas, is the real thing.

If the program doesn't heal itself soon, the life-support equipment will be in place. Keeping a heart beating by artificial means rarely ends well. The guy with his hand on the plug always has the last call.

It may already be too late.

Not to worry. Fate is fate. Control is limited. With only three games promised, the only option is to play them hard; play them well; play them with passion.

And give the guy with his hand on the plug a reason to have a second thought.

20 years of Freedom " Reagan's speach-Tear down this wall

2009-11-09T05:32:00.000-05:00

Ronald Reagan's speech in Germany

Ronald Reagan defends liberty and freedom in his speech. He shows the distinct contrast between the two systems.

As a result, freedom prevailed and we can celebrate 20 years of freedom for a unified Berlin.

This speech by President Ronald Reagan to the people of West Berlin contains one of the most memorable lines spoken during his presidency. The Berlin Wall, referred to by the President, was built by Communists in August 1961 to keep Germans from escaping Communist-dominated East Berlin into Democratic West Berlin. The twelve-foot concrete wall extended for a hundred miles, surrounding West Berlin, and included electrified fences and guard posts. The wall stood as a stark symbol of the decades-old Cold War between the United States and Soviet Union in which the two politically opposed superpowers continually wrestled for dominance, stopping just short of actual warfare.

Listen to the entire speech - 26:39

Chancellor Kohl, Governing Mayor Diepgen, ladies and gentlemen: Twenty-four years ago, President John F. Kennedy visited Berlin, speaking to the people of this city and the world at the City Hall. Well, since then two other presidents have come, each in his turn, to Berlin. And today I, myself, make my second visit to your city.

We come to Berlin, we American presidents, because it's our duty to speak, in this place, of freedom. But I must confess, we're drawn here by other things as well: by the feeling of history in this city, more than 500 years older than our own nation; by the beauty of the Grunewald and the Tiergarten; most of all, by your courage and determination. Perhaps the composer Paul Lincke understood something about American presidents. You see, like so many presidents before me, I come here today because wherever I go, whatever I do: Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin. [I still have a suitcase in Berlin.]

Our gathering today is being broadcast throughout Western Europe and North America. I understand that it is being seen and heard as well in the East. To those listening throughout Eastern Europe, a special word: Although I cannot be with you, I address my remarks to you just as surely as to those standing here before me. For I join you, as I join your fellow countrymen in the West, in this firm, this unalterable belief: Es gibt nur ein Berlin. [There is only one Berlin.]

Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of Europe. From the Baltic, south, those barriers cut across Germany in a gash of barbed wire, concrete, dog runs, and guard towers. Farther south, there may be no visible, no obvious wall. But there remain armed guards and checkpoints all the same--still a restriction on the right to travel, still an instrument to impose upon ordinary men and women the will of a totalitarian state. Yet it is here in Berlin where the wall emerges most clearly; here, cutting across your city, where the news photo and the television screen have imprinted this brutal division of a continent upon the mind of the world. Standing before the Brandenburg Gate, every man is a German, separated from his fellow men. Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar.

President von Weizsacker has said, "The German question is open as long as the Brandenburg Gate is closed." Today I say: As long as the gate is closed, as long as this scar of a wall is permitted to stand, it is not the German question alone that remains open, but the question of freedom for all mankind. Yet I do not come here to lament. For I find in Berlin a message of hope, even in the shadow of this wall, a message of triumph.

In this season of spring in 1945, the people of Berlin emerged from their air-raid shelters to find devastation. Thousands of miles away, the people of the United States reached out to help. And in 1947 Secretary of State--as you've been told--George Marshall announced the creation of what would become known as the Marshall Plan. Speaking precisely 40 years ago this month, he said: "Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos."

In the Reichstag a few moments ago, I saw a display commemorating this 40th anniversary of the Marshall Plan. I was struck by the sign on a burnt-out, gutted structure that was being rebuilt. I understand that Berliners of my own generation can remember seeing signs like it dotted throughout the western sectors of the city. The sign read simply: "The Marshall Plan is helping here to strengthen the free world." A strong, free world in the West, that dream became real. Japan rose from ruin to become an economic giant. Italy, France, Belgium--virtually every nation in Western Europe saw political and economic rebirth; the European Community was founded.

In West Germany and here in Berlin, there took place an economic miracle, the Wirtschaftswunder. Adenauer, Erhard, Reuter, and other leaders understood the practical importance of liberty--that just as truth can flourish only when the journalist is given freedom of speech, so prosperity can come about only when the farmer and businessman enjoy economic freedom. The German leaders reduced tariffs, expanded free trade, lowered taxes. From 1950 to 1960 alone, the standard of living in West Germany and Berlin doubled.

Where four decades ago there was rubble, today in West Berlin there is the greatest industrial output of any city in Germany--busy office blocks, fine homes and apartments, proud avenues, and the spreading lawns of parkland. Where a city's culture seemed to have been destroyed, today there are two great universities, orchestras and an opera, countless theaters, and museums. Where there was want, today there's abundance--food, clothing, automobiles--the wonderful goods of the Ku'damm. From devastation, from utter ruin, you Berliners have, in freedom, rebuilt a city that once again ranks as one of the greatest on earth. The Soviets may have had other plans. But my friends, there were a few things the Soviets didn't count on--Berliner Herz, Berliner Humor, ja, und Berliner Schnauze. [Berliner heart, Berliner humor, yes, and a Berliner Schnauze.]

In the 1950s, Khrushchev predicted: "We will bury you." But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history. In the Communist world, we see failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind--too little food. Even today, the Soviet Union still cannot feed itself. After these four decades, then, there stands before the entire world one great and inescapable conclusion: Freedom leads to prosperity. Freedom replaces the ancient hatreds among the nations with comity and peace. Freedom is the victor.

And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom. We hear much from Moscow about a new policy of reform and openness. Some political prisoners have been released. Certain foreign news broadcasts are no longer being jammed. Some economic enterprises have been permitted to operate with greater freedom from state control.

Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.

General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

I understand the fear of war and the pain of division that afflict this continent-- and I pledge to you my country's efforts to help overcome these burdens. To be sure, we in the West must resist Soviet expansion. So we must maintain defenses of unassailable strength. Yet we seek peace; so we must strive to reduce arms on both sides.

Beginning 10 years ago, the Soviets challenged the Western alliance with a grave new threat, hundreds of new and more deadly SS-20 nuclear missiles, capable of striking every capital in Europe. The Western alliance responded by committing itself to a counter-deployment unless the Soviets agreed to negotiate a better solution; namely, the elimination of such weapons on both sides. For many months, the Soviets refused to bargain in earnestness. As the alliance, in turn, prepared to go forward with its counter-deployment, there were difficult days--days of protests like those during my 1982 visit to this city--and the Soviets later walked away from the table.

But through it all, the alliance held firm. And I invite those who protested then-- I invite those who protest today--to mark this fact: Because we remained strong, the Soviets came back to the table. And because we remained strong, today we have within reach the possibility, not merely of limiting the growth of arms, but of eliminating, for the first time, an entire class of nuclear weapons from the face of the earth.

As I speak, NATO ministers are meeting in Iceland to review the progress of our proposals for eliminating these weapons. At the talks in Geneva, we have also proposed deep cuts in strategic offensive weapons. And the Western allies have likewise made far-reaching proposals to reduce the danger of conventional war and to place a total ban on chemical weapons.

While we pursue these arms reductions, I pledge to you that we will maintain the capacity to deter Soviet aggression at any level at which it might occur. And in cooperation with many of our allies, the United States is pursuing the Strategic Defense Initiative--research to base deterrence not on the threat of offensive retaliation, but on defenses that truly defend; on systems, in short, that will not target populations, but shield them. By these means we seek to increase the safety of Europe and all the world. But we must remember a crucial fact: East and West do not mistrust each other because we are armed; we are armed because we mistrust each other. And our differences are not about weapons but about liberty. When President Kennedy spoke at the City Hall those 24 years ago, freedom was encircled, Berlin was under siege. And today, despite all the pressures upon this city, Berlin stands secure in its liberty. And freedom itself is transforming the globe.

In the Philippines, in South and Central America, democracy has been given a rebirth. Throughout the Pacific, free markets are working miracle after miracle of economic growth. In the industrialized nations, a technological revolution is taking place--a revolution marked by rapid, dramatic advances in computers and telecommunications.

In Europe, only one nation and those it controls refuse to join the community of freedom. Yet in this age of redoubled economic growth, of information and innovation, the Soviet Union faces a choice: It must make fundamental changes, or it will become obsolete.

Today thus represents a moment of hope. We in the West stand ready to cooperate with the East to promote true openness, to break down barriers that separate people, to create a safe, freer world. And surely there is no better place than Berlin, the meeting place of East and West, to make a start. Free people of Berlin: Today, as in the past, the United States stands for the strict observance and full implementation of all parts of the Four Power Agreement of 1971. Let us use this occasion, the 750th anniversary of this city, to usher in a new era, to seek a still fuller, richer life for the Berlin of the future. Together, let us maintain and develop the ties between the Federal Republic and the Western sectors of Berlin, which is permitted by the 1971 agreement.

And I invite Mr. Gorbachev: Let us work to bring the Eastern and Western parts of the city closer together, so that all the inhabitants of all Berlin can enjoy the benefits that come with life in one of the great cities of the world.

To open Berlin still further to all Europe, East and West, let us expand the vital air access to this city, finding ways of making commercial air service to Berlin more convenient, more comfortable, and more economical. We look to the day when West Berlin can become one of the chief aviation hubs in all central Europe.

With our French and British partners, the United States is prepared to help bring international meetings to Berlin. It would be only fitting for Berlin to serve as the site of United Nations meetings, or world conferences on human rights and arms control or other issues that call for international cooperation.

There is no better way to establish hope for the future than to enlighten young minds, and we would be honored to sponsor summer youth exchanges, cultural events, and other programs for young Berliners from the East. Our French and British friends, I'm certain, will do the same. And it's my hope that an authority can be found in East Berlin to sponsor visits from young people of the Western sectors.

One final proposal, one close to my heart: Sport represents a source of enjoyment and ennoblement, and you may have noted that the Republic of Korea--South Korea--has offered to permit certain events of the 1988 Olympics to take place in the North. International sports competitions of all kinds could take place in both parts of this city. And what better way to demonstrate to the world the openness of this city than to offer in some future year to hold the Olympic games here in Berlin, East and West? In these four decades, as I have said, you Berliners have built a great city. You've done so in spite of threats--the Soviet attempts to impose the East-mark, the blockade. Today the city thrives in spite of the challenges implicit in the very presence of this wall. What keeps you here? Certainly there's a great deal to be said for your fortitude, for your defiant courage. But I believe there's something deeper, something that involves Berlin's whole look and feel and way of life--not mere sentiment. No one could live long in Berlin without being completely disabused of illusions. Something instead, that has seen the difficulties of life in Berlin but chose to accept them, that continues to build this good and proud city in contrast to a surrounding totalitarian presence that refuses to release human energies or aspirations. Something that speaks with a powerful voice of affirmation, that says yes to this city, yes to the future, yes to freedom. In a word, I would submit that what keeps you in Berlin is love--love both profound and abiding.

Perhaps this gets to the root of the matter, to the most fundamental distinction of all between East and West. The totalitarian world produces backwardness because it does such violence to the spirit, thwarting the human impulse to create, to enjoy, to worship. The totalitarian world finds even symbols of love and of worship an affront. Years ago, before the East Germans began rebuilding their churches, they erected a secular structure: the television tower at Alexander Platz. Virtually ever since, the authorities have been working to correct what they view as the tower's one major flaw, treating the glass sphere at the top with paints and chemicals of every kind. Yet even today when the sun strikes that sphere--that sphere that towers over all Berlin--the light makes the sign of the cross. There in Berlin, like the city itself, symbols of love, symbols of worship, cannot be suppressed.

As I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag, that embodiment of German unity, I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner: "This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality." Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom.

And I would like, before I close, to say one word. I have read, and I have been questioned since I've been here about certain demonstrations against my coming. And I would like to say just one thing, and to those who demonstrate so. I wonder if they have ever asked themselves that if they should have the kind of government they apparently seek, no one would ever be able to do what they're doing again.

Thank you and God bless you all.

Ronald Reagan - June 12, 1987

GOP & Hispanics

2009-11-07T09:27:00.000-05:00

Great article from World magazine.

Sheds some insight on reaching the Hispanic population and sheds some light on a rising star in the Republican Party.
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All together now

Q&A: Ted Cruz says a winning recipe for the GOP has to include both fiscal and social conservatives—and the nation’s naturally conservative Hispanics | Marvin Olasky

James Allen Walker for WORLD

Ted Cruz is running for the important position of attorney general of Texas, but his significance nationally may be even greater. Here are excerpts from our interview:

Q: How would you define yourself theologically and politically? I was raised a Christian and came to Christ at Clay Road Baptist Church in Houston. In terms of political views, I'm a plain and simple conservative: I'm a fiscal conservative, I'm a social conservative. I think there are absolute truths about what is right and about what works.

Q: You went to Princeton and won national and North American debate championships. I spent a lot of time, pretty much every weekend all four years of college, debating, and it was a wonderful experience. We did parliamentary-style debate: It was extemporaneous—you got your topic 10 minutes before the debate—so you had to learn to debate any proposition effectively and persuasively. That discipline was incredibly helpful in understanding the views of the other side.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

Q: Then on to Harvard Law School: What was that like? Understanding Harvard Law School is very important to understanding our president, Barack Obama. He is very much a creature of Harvard Law. To understand what that means you have to understand that there were more self-declared communists on the Harvard faculty than there were Republicans. Every single idea this president has proposed in the nine months he's been in office has been orthodox wisdom in the Harvard faculty lounge.

Q: Why are they so far to the left? The communists on the Harvard faculty are generally not malevolent; they generally were raised in privilege, have never worked very hard in their lives, don't understand where jobs and opportunity come from. If you asked the Harvard faculty to vote on whether this nation should become a socialist nation, 80 percent of the faculty would vote yes and 10 percent would think that was too conservative.

Q: You were founding editor of the Latino Law Review at Harvard. Will you benefit from ethnic politics? Republicans have to do better in the Hispanic community if the party is to succeed nationally. You don't have to be a statistician to look at the demographic trends and realize that if the Hispanic community votes the way the African-American community is voting, which is 90 percent-plus Democratic consistently, Republicans will never win another election. The Hispanic community is fundamentally conservative and yet Republican politicians are terrible at reaching out to the Hispanic community.

Q: You became the youngest solicitor general in the United States, writing over 70 briefs to the Supreme Court and arguing before the Supreme Court eight times. What's that experience like? The Supreme Court courtroom is a small room. You can almost reach out and shake hands with the justices. They are nine of the smartest, most aggressive judges in the universe. You have 30 minutes. You maybe get one or two sentences in; immediately someone jumps in and interrupts you, and then someone else does. It's like being thrown to sharks: They come at you from every direction. It is absolutely invigorating.

Q: Now you're the favorite to get the GOP nomination for attorney general in March. What's your assessment of the Republican Party? You have two large groups: the movement conservatives who are typically more socially conservative, typically from the middle classes economically, and sometimes economically more liberal. Then you have the business Republicans, sometimes called the country club Republicans, who tend to be socially more liberal and economically more conservative, and tend to be far wealthier. The dirty little secret of Republican politics is those two parts of the party don't understand each other and don't really like each other.

Q: But they have to work together to win elections. The problem is a simple problem of math: neither one gets to 50 percent without the other. Periodically you get people in the Republican Party who say, "Wouldn't it be great if we took this part of the party and threw them out into the wilderness? because then we'd just be surrounded by people who agree with us." Being surrounded by people who agree with you is fun, but you don't win an election that way. Part of effective leadership in the Republican Party, something that Reagan did very well, is to speak to the values of all the parts of the party, the values of mainstream Americans. There are very few leaders in public life who are doing that.

Q: Are we getting good political discussions today? One of the best ways to learn what you believe is to learn what others believe, especially those who passionately disagree with you. You've got to understand how someone can be of good conscience and intelligent, look at the exact same issue as you, and come to a position 180 degrees opposite. One enormous problem we have in civil discourse today is that it's so polarized: People tend to think that anyone who disagrees with them is either stupid or evil. They're either too dumb to know the right answer, or if they're smart enough to know the right answer they're malevolent and want the wrong answer to prevail. To convince someone, you have to answer this question: If your mom came to these views, how would you try to convince her?

Q: What's GOP outreach to Hispanics like? They tend to do one of two things: They hang up a piñata and throw a Cinco de Mayo party. That is patronizing and condescending and turns people off. Or, they propose "Democrat Lite," a partial welfare state, and think that's outreach. The truth is: The Hispanic community is a deeply conservative community. It believes passionately in faith, family, patriotism—the military enrollment rates in the Hispanic community are the highest among any demographic group in this country—and it's also a group that believes passionately in the American Dream, in the incredible promise that freedom and opportunity present.

Q: Republicans need to do better regarding immigration. This country is unique in the world because for hundreds of years the United States was formed from people from all over the world. It wasn't the smartest or the richest or strongest who came here, it was people crazy enough to leave everything behind in pursuit of freedom. That basic ethos of what it means to be an American shows what is wrong with what President Obama is proposing doing. The government taking over the economy destroys freedom and opportunity. That's a message that resonates in the Hispanic community, because they believe passionately in working hard for the American Dream and a better future for their kids.

Q: What makes a successful president? Three things. One, firm principles—you have to know what you believe, you have to have a solid foundation, and you have to have studied. Two, it takes backbone and the competence to act on those principles. That's an area in particular that Republicans have been lousy in lately. All of us learned in high school biology the basic principle that invertebrates can't walk upright, and yet politicians disprove that every day. But you don't just need principle and background: You need the ability to communicate. You have to be able to motivate, inspire, and connect with people. And maddeningly, in the Republican Party we manage to elect people over and over who don't have firm principles; if they have firm principles they don't have a backbone; and if they have firm principles and a backbone they can't communicate to save their lives. That's consistently a recipe for failure.

Also see Marvin Olasky's column, "Candidate of the future," Nov. 7, 2009.

Copyright © 2009 WORLD Magazine
Articles may not be reproduced without permission
November 07, 2009, Vol. 24, No. 22

HEALTH CARE VOTE IN THE HOUSE

2009-11-05T07:47:00.000-05:00

Dems split on health care bill.

Question:How will Joe Donnelly vote?

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"But with no Republican backing for the measure, Democrats will need overwhelming support from their own. A festering intra-party disagreement over how to prevent federal funds from being used to pay for abortion remained unresolved Wednesday morning."

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From the Washington Times

House Dems clear way for health vote

Rate this story

By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- House Democrats cleared the way Wednesday for a pivotal floor vote on health care overhaul as early as the weekend, after tweaking their 1,900-page bill to crack down harder on insurance companies.

"Americans are ready for comprehensive health insurance reform and the House will soon act," Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said in a statement that accompanied dozens of last-minute changes to the bill, released Tuesday night.

Publication of the changes started a 72-hour legislative clock, meaning that a floor vote could take place as early as Saturday.

But with no Republican backing for the measure, Democrats will need overwhelming support from their own. A festering intra-party disagreement over how to prevent federal funds from being used to pay for abortion remained unresolved Wednesday morning.

And in the Senate, progress on health care legislation was still on hold.

The 10-year, $1.2 trillion House bill is estimated to expand coverage to about 96 percent of eligible Americans. Beginning in 2013, it would provide government subsidies to extend coverage to tens of millions who now lack it, and ban insurance company practices such as denying coverage to people with pre-existing medical problems.

For the three years before the federal aid starts flowing, the bill would set up a temporary "high-risk pool" through which people who have been denied coverage because of poor health could obtain a government-subsidized policy.

The bill would set up health insurance "exchanges" through which self-employed people and small businesses could buy coverage, either from a private insurer or a new government plan that would compete. All the plans sold through the exchange would have to follow basic consumer protection rules, making it easier to shop and compare among them. The majority of Americans covered under big employer plans would not see dramatic changes.

The House bill would be paid for by boosting taxes on upper income earners and cutting Medicare payments to health insurance companies, hospitals and other medical providers. Democrats also moved Tuesday to close a biofuel tax credit loophole, raising about $23 billion to help pay for the legislation.

The major last-minute changes to the House bill hardened the battle lines in the confrontation between Democrats and the health insurance industry. Insurers have sought above all to block creation of a government insurance plan, which happens to be the top legislative goal for liberals.

Other changes to the bill, such as enhanced status for the government's office of minority health, were intended as sweeteners for supportive lawmakers.

In a move aimed directly at health insurance companies, the revised House bill would launch a federal-state crackdown on what it terms "unjustified premium increases." The companies would have to publicly disclose the justification for premium increases before they go into effect. The federal Health and Human Services department would monitor patterns of premium increases, and could bar insurers from the exchanges if the price hikes are found to be out of line. The bill would also provide $1 billion in grants to state insurance commissioners, allowing them to ramp up their own monitoring and enforcement.

Democrats also strengthened a provision that would strip the industry of its decades-old exemption from federal antitrust laws.

Supporters said the tougher approach is needed to keep insurance companies from artificially boosting premiums in advance of the major reforms taking effect in 2013.

While the White House cheered the momentum in the House, the Senate's top Democrat signaled Tuesday that Congress may fail to meet President Barack Obama's self-imposed year-end deadline for passing health care legislation. That would leave the fate of Obama's top domestic priority to the uncertainties of the 2010 election season.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., spoke as Democratic officials said it could be December before Senate debate begins in earnest. The drive to pass legislation has been plagued for months by divisions within the party's rank and file.

Any delay past Obama's oft-repeated year-end timetable would put the issue off until the 2010 election year and inevitably raise doubts about Democrats' ability to deliver on behalf of the Obama administration.

Associated Press writers David Espo and Erica Werner contributed to this story.

Vote in Maine

2009-11-04T07:46:00.001-05:00

Maine votes to reject gay marriage

Marriage is a foundational pillar in which our society rests. The vote in Maine was a bittersweet moment for marriage. It was good that marriage will remain as a bond between a man and a woman. Bitter, due to the fact that many within Maine and throughout the nation have turned away from biblical teachings concerning marriage.

*We need a spiritual revival within our land bringing healing to broken families, individuals and hearts that have been hardened.

*We need a land in which hearts will be turned back to God and the direction he calls for us.

You can argue with me, however it is hard to argue with scripture---

The Pharisees came and asked Him, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" testing Him.
And he answered and said to them, "What did Moses command you?"
They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce, and to dismiss her."
and Jesus answered and said to them,"Because of hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the creation,God made them male and female.For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one; so then they are no longer two,but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."

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"As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live." Pope John Paul II

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Maine voters reject gay-marriage law

- Click-2-Listen

By David Crary and Glenn Adams ASSOCIATED PRESS

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- Voters in the northeastern state of Maine repealed a state law that would have allowed same-sex couples to wed, dealing the gay rights movement a heartbreaking defeat in the corner of the country most supportive of gay marriage.

Gay marriage has now lost in every single state -- 31 in all -- in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine -- known for its moderate, independent-minded electorate -- and mounted an energetic, well-financed campaign.

With 87 percent of the precincts reporting, gay-marriage foes had 53 percent of the votes.

"The institution of marriage has been preserved in Maine and across the nation," declared Frank Schubert, chief organizer for the winning side.

Gay-marriage supporters held out hope that the tide would shift before conceding defeat at 2:40 a.m. in a statement that insisted they weren't going away.

"We're in this for the long haul. For next week, and next month, and next year -- until all Maine families are treated equally. Because in the end, this has always been about love and family and that will always be something worth fighting for," said Jesse Connolly, manager of the pro-gay marriage campaign.

At issue was a law passed by the Maine Legislature last spring that would have legalized same-sex marriage. The law was put on hold after conservatives launched a petition drive to repeal it in a referendum.

The outcome Tuesday marked the first time voters had rejected a gay-marriage law enacted by a legislature. When Californians put a stop to same-sex marriage a year ago, it was in response to a court ruling, not legislation.

Five other states have legalized gay marriage -- starting with Massachusetts in 2004, and followed by Vermont, New Hampshire, Connecticut and Iowa -- but all did so through legislation or court rulings, not by popular vote. In contrast, constitutional amendments banning gay marriage have been approved in all 30 states where they have been on the ballot.

The defeat left some gay-marriage supporters bitter.

oil prices rising again

2009-11-02T08:16:00.000-05:00

The rising gas prices haven't got a lot of attention, however its starting to put a crimp on the pocket book...again.

Guess what, this issue will not go away. Washington has this crazy idea that CAP and Trade will solve the problem. Unfortunately, it confuses the problem. Lawyers, environmentalists, and politicians cannot solve this dilemma with regulations. Our energy crisis has to be dealt with in simple currency- known as Texas Tea.We need responsible exploration of our natural resources: NOW!

The United States cannot afford to be dependent on other nations for it's energy supply. The problem that we face, isn't other countries massive energy supplies (although it doesn't help). The problem we face, is our own infighting on the subject.Our representatives have to understand that our natural reserves drive our economy,therefore making it a matter of national security as well. Unfortunately third world nations understand this concept and they are willing to take advantage of our governments stupidity. Unfortunately, at this moment our government representatives are leading us down a path that brings our economy and national security in great peril. We must demand better!

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Gas prices on rise again in Indiana

By Tom Spalding

Posted: October 28, 2009

Gas prices continue to rise in Indiana, with motorists who need to use premium paying close to $3 a gallon.

AAA Hoosier Motor Club reported the average price for unleaded rose 5 cents to $2.68 in Indianapolis and statewide today, a 34-cent jump from a month ago.

A year ago, the economic recession forced prices at the pump down to $2.50 per gallon just months after they'd set new records in Indiana.

More coverage: Check IndyStar.com's Pump Patrol to see the lowest prices in the metro area.

The Web site Gasbuddy.com says prices in Indianapolis have hit as high as $2.79 today at area pumps after a 20-cent increase earlier in the week.

The rising price of crude oil, which closed Tuesday at $79.55 a barrel, is putting pressure on gasoline prices.

The national average gas price has increased 6.8 percent during the past four weeks from $2.504 a gallon to 2.675 a gallon, according to AAA.

More coverage: Click here for a roundup of Indianapolis-area business news and state updates.

There is a good chance that this week, retail gasoline will week surpass peak summer prices reached just over four months ago during the driving season when prices are usually at their highest.

Pump prices are following crude higher, and refiners are now cutting back on production because the cost of the crude that they convert to fuel has been rising so fast.

An Energy Department report set for release at 10:30 a.m. today probably will show that U.S. crude-oil supplies rose 1.91 million barrels in the week ended Oct. 23 from 339.1 million the prior week, according to the median of 16 estimates by analysts before the department’s report.

The fight for our culture and our children

2009-10-30T07:42:00.000-04:00

Reading: The De-valuing of America "The Fight for our culture and our children" by William J.Bennett. The following paragraph(s) give a clear and concise argument regarding the liberal elite and their worldview.
As I read this, the thought process of many in our nations Capital, media and education circles have become clear to me.
This is no longer a scuffle between Democrats and Republicans. It has become a fight to tear down the very fabric of our culture and rebuild it in the liberal elite mindset. The result has dire consequences.

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Bill Bennett writes:
Make no mistake. By elites I do not mean registered Democrats. The elite are people who, unlike the rank and file Democratic party I came from, are often not at home with the traditional beliefs of most Americans; they tend to be skeptical and mistrustful of American society. Their measure is not simply the extent to which our society falls short of realizing its ideals,but sometimes the wholesale rejection of American ideals. Marked by alienation, suspicion and doubt, the liberal elite call into question what is commonly thought of as "the American dream."
From what I have observed, the liberal elite proceed from a certain social and political predisposition. The predisposition tends to be an adopted orientation, not a conclusion based on evidence and argument. When you sift through their arguments,you will often find that modern-day academics and intellectuals (which many elites fancy themselves to be, or long to be) have arrived at their positions not, ironically, through intellect, through open-ended, disinterested thinking and inquiry, but through disposition, sentiment, bias, and ideology.Many intellectuals are predisposed to accept certain premises and arguments- a preconceived reality.They search for facts to sustain their political position.The approach is (as philosopher Karl Jaspers said of Marx's writings) "one of vindication, not investigation" Serious public debate is therefore a casualty, since they are not likely to change their minds on the basis of compelling empirical arguments. Their starting point is not evidence but ideology. They are undeterred by what Thomas Huxley called "the tragedy of a fact killing a theory."
Another motivation of critics of American practices is status.They hope to achieve reputations, among other elites especially, for being original,deep thoughtful and unconventional. Odi profanum vulgus ("I hate the vulgar crowd") is a fitting slogan. If the middle class likes it- be it conventional morality, patriotism,Ronald Reagan,or even Rocky, light beer, cookouts,or Disney World-that alone is enough for many of the elites to disdain it, often with an aura of self-assured moral and intellectual superiority. The goal of life is the acquisition of the "advanced" attitudes,in contrast to ( in the view) the more crass, unsophisticated, simplistic attitudes of the middle class,of most Americans.
At a gathering of the elite, an often performed ritual is to mention a derided object or individual,followed by a superior laugh and roll of the eyes. As the novelist Tom Wolfe has pointed out, oftentimes in the eighties, when elites met, they didn't make arguments against Ronald Reagan or his policies, they simply mentioned his name and snickered.
These deep divisions go a long way toward explaining differences in public policy and the tenor and shape of contemporary public discourse. By virtue of their influence much of the debate on social and domestic policy, include matters such as education, drugs, AIDS, abortion, sexual norms, race relations, welfare and poverty, economics, law and the arts. This confluence has had its effect. "elites abandoned the ethic of character," George will has written, "an ethic that encouraged and even enforced right conduct." This abandonment has consequences.

Bauer for reform???--I'll believe that-when pigs fly!

2009-10-29T08:07:00.000-04:00

St.Joseph Register

Pat Bauer weighs in on reform for lawmakers. As a former candidate against Bauer I have to admit my skepticism towards this announcement. When it comes to reform in the statehouse it is hard to trust the speaker due to his record. How can he talk about reform when he holds a "made up" position at Ivy Tech, drawing a salary that would make Bernie Madoff blush. Might be an overstatement, but the concept remains the same. When Bauer gives up his salary at Ivy Tech then I will believe his statements concerning reform. I have nothing against the mission of Ivy Tech. However, their decision to garner favor by hiring representatives to fight for them in Indy is underhanded at best.

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From the Indystar---

Legislative ethics reform won some important but unexpected backers Tuesday: leaders of the Indiana House and Senate.

House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, laid out a package of reforms for the legislative session that begins Jan. 4, including a one-year waiting period before legislators could become lobbyists.

Database: See what gifts your legislators have accepted from lobbyists

Senate President Pro Tempore David Long, R-Fort Wayne, said the Senate also would put out a package in the next few weeks, with the centerpiece being a cooling-off period for legislators who want to lobby.

In past years, reform efforts have died unceremoniously. This year alone, 11 reform bills -- five in the Senate and six in the House -- were filed. All were sent to the rules committees, the graveyard where legislative leaders often send controversial issues. None received a hearing.

The cooling-off period for lobbying has come to the forefront as legislators have jumped -- often in midterm -- from making laws to lobbying for them.

More than 30 former legislators, including four former House speakers, are lobbyists. In 2007, only a few months after winning new, two-year terms, Reps. Matt Whetstone, R-Brownsburg, and Robert Kuzman, D-Crown Point, resigned to become lobbyists. Also, in 2002, Rep. Mike Smith, R-Rensselaer, resigned only days after his re-election to head the Indiana Casino Association.

In 2008, one proposal to impose a cooling-off period received a Senate hearing, only to die without a vote. Senators in both parties huffed that they were insulted by the implication that lawmakers would use their position to win a lucrative lobbying job.

The new interest in ethics reform legislation surprised advocates who have been pushing for such bills.

House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, who earlier this year authored one of those doomed bills imposing a cooling-off period, said he was "quite pleased and, may I say, shocked" at what he called Bauer's conversion.

(2 of 2)

And Sen. Mike Delph, a Carmel Republican who has pushed for a major overhaul of lobbying rules, called the backing by legislative leaders "a good day for Indiana."

"This is a step in the right direction in terms of rebuilding the public trust and fomenting the idea that government is accountable to the citizens and the constituents that elect their representatives."

Gov. Mitch Daniels -- who, in one of his first acts as governor, signed an executive order tightening ethics restrictions in the executive branch, including a one-year ban on employees becoming lobbyists -- called Bauer's proposal "a very good initiative. . . . Absolutely, I'm glad to see them moving on this front."

The announcements come as newspapers across the state were preparing to editorialize on the need for lobbying reforms, and Delph, among others, speculated that that might have spurred Bauer's new support for reform.

Bauer, though, said he and his staff have been working on his package for several months. And past bills, he said, "were filed against the legislature only, but they never included the executive branch, never included the lobbyists themselves."

"This brings a balance of all three," Bauer said. "If you just do one, you are not coming close to solving the problem. You need a balance."

Long said that one reason for pursuing reforms now is increased public interest.

"I think this has been building," he said. "Over time there's been some criticism of people leaving the legislature and moving right into a lobbying job. . . . It's gotten a little more topical every year, and I think it's time we discuss it in the open."

Included in Bauer's ideas is banning those getting or seeking state contracts from making political contributions to candidates for state office.

Lobbyists reacted by questioning the need for another proposal -- a ban on representing clients with conflicting interests -- saying ethics codes already bar that unless the clients give their OK.

Although such details might prove stumbling blocks in passing reform legislation, Julia Vaughn, policy director for Common Cause/Indiana, said the fact that Bauer put a package on the table sends a huge signal to other legislators that bodes well for the chances of passage.

"We'll quibble about the details later, but we are happy that the speaker has chosen to weigh in," she said. "This provides us a starting point, which is significant. It gives us a fighting chance."

Does anyone know about the special election next week?

2009-10-27T06:37:00.000-04:00

Good article on next weeks special election.

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Regional transportation system gets attention ahead of special election

Billboards, radio ads to raise awareness of special election.

By ERIN BLASKO
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND — Asked Monday morning if he knew about next week's special election, Emanuel Caraman put aside his cup of coffee, paused and then answered simply and unabashedly.

"No," the 30-year-old South Bend man said.

Told the election is a voter referendum to decide whether St. Joseph County should join a regional transportation district along with LaPorte, Porter and Lake counties, Caraman paused a second time.

"Say that again," he said.

Caraman's confusion about the Nov. 3 special election is precisely what local members of the Republican Party are hoping to address with a media blitz announced Monday at a news conference at the County-City Building.

The blitz, to include dozens of billboards and radio ads as well as a Web site (www.southshoretax. org), is part of a strategic push by the St. Joseph County Republican Party to raise awareness of the referendum and its potential impact.

If St. Joseph County voters decide to join the proposed RTD, residents would be taxed up to 0.25 percent on their income to fund its operation.

"What very much concerns me is that we are a week away from an election that could raise the income taxes of residents in St. Joseph County, and no one seems to be aware of it," county commissioner Andrew Kostielney, one of several Republican officeholders present at Monday's announcement, said.

According to Kostielney, county Republicans object to inclusion in the RTD because it would result in an additional tax on county residents but provide "little to no economic benefit" to the county itself.

As proposed, the RTD would provide oversight of the South Shore Railroad in St. Joseph, LaPorte, Porter, and Lake counties as well as regional bus service in Lake and Porter counties.

Chris Riley, Republican Party chair, said given the potential impact on taxpayers, his party would be remiss if it did not oppose the RTD.

"Somebody has got to look out for the taxpayer," Riley said, "and we feel it is the responsibility of the Republican Party."

Next Tuesday's special election is the result of a provision in the state budget, passed in June, that requires St. Joseph, LaPorte, Porter and Lake counties to decide by voter referendum whether to join a regional transportation district.

For the referendum to pass, two of the four participating counties would need to vote in favor of it.

Citing cost issues, both LaPorte and Lake counties have refused to hold the election.

In St. Joseph County, election officials have pared down costs by consolidating polling places and adopting low-tech voting methods, including issuing paper ballots.

downtown building

2009-10-26T05:54:00.001-04:00

It is my hope that this project becomes successful. However, the developers and city officials are working on the premise of "...build it and they will come." That premise works in Hollywood, but it rarely works in the real marketplace. They have forgotten economics 101:supply and demand. In other words-will the marketplace support this venture? An honest question without a good answer. If this was a slam dunk venture then investors would be beating each other to make the deal. The problem, it's sketchy at best and their betting your tax dollars that it will work.

Again, It is my hope that this venture is successful; for the sake of the tax payers and the downtown. However the location doesn't support something like this over the long term and it may end up like the College Football Hall of Fame-empty. Again- I want to be wrong!

The developers have accomplished a nice thing. They have restored a piece of art in downtown South Bend, but that isn't good enough.

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Developer lauds mixed-use mecca downtown

By GENE STOWE
Tribune Correspondent

Tribune file photo

In addition to thorough restoration of the old building, at left, the American Trust Place project involved building a five-story addition
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A long-derelict building in the heart of South Bend has been restored and updated to mixed use, with space for first-floor retail, offices on the second and third floors and condominiums on the top two floors.

American Trust Place debuted on the night before Art Beat in September, hosting a reception — with artists' displays and musicians' performances — to kick off the festival and show off the structure.

“Really, it's a project myself and a few others have looked at for a long time,” said developer Brad Toothaker. “The thing we thought it would be great to do in our downtown would be to have mixed use.

“It's three nice little baskets of different types of product,” a diversity that can buffer the building when one sector is suffering economically.

The tour included an elegantly furnished model condominium on the fourth floor, with a wide-window view that reaches to Notre Dame. Interest in the residential component is high, Toothaker said.

“There's a good demand for it,” he said. “It's the piece we're moving the most downtown. A lot of it is empty-nester professionals. We're getting some response from married professionals that are double income, no kids.”

In addition to thorough restoration of the old building, the project involved constructing a five-story addition and more basement storage, nearly doubling the size to 38,000 square feet.

Officials working to revive downtown South Bend cheered the development at the reception and in later interviews.

“We're so excited about American Trust place downtown,” said Marco Mariani, executive director of Downtown South Bend Inc. “It provides a really nice option for maybe a childless couple or singles in the market to have an urban lifestyle. It keeps us competing in the larger market.”

Other residential projects in or near downtown are on the drawing board.

A collaboration of Toothaker, his partners, and government support at the city, state and federal levels, along with grant money, made the project possible.

“It was office space a long, long time ago,” said Toothaker, adding that a department store once had accounting and other support services in the building. It had been vacant for some 35 to 40 years above the ground floor.

“There was nothing but dust and dirt upstairs,” he said.

Workers added all new electricity, gas, heating and cooling, telecommunications, an elevator and fire sprinkler system. The space is ready for occupancy.

“Most of the finishing touches have to do with customizing the space for the tenant that comes in there,” Toothaker said.

The fifth floor, once a 1,200-square-foot penthouse smaller than the other floors, was expanded and turned into a three-bedroom and a one-bedroom unit. The fourth floor, with the addition, is divided into one one-bedroom unit and four two-bedroom units.

“The price range is in the upper $200s to low $300s,” Toothaker said. “We definitely come under the new market in most cases.”

Plans call for construction of an all-residential tower adjacent to the building above the parking lot, holding 28 to 42 apartment-sized residential units, probably in the spring of 2011.

“American Trust Place is a success on so many levels,” said Sue Solmos, residential marketing specialist for the city of South Bend. “The rehabilitation of an elegant, historic building is just a start.

“Add to that the fabulous new addition which complements the original structure. Put all this quality and sophistication together right downtown and you have a winner.

“To be able to pull this off in the midst of challenging economic times speaks to the stability of the developer, his partners and the city of South Bend. I think we will see many more such projects. This is a very exciting time to live in our city.”

National Hate Crimes Bill Passed

2009-10-24T15:31:00.000-04:00

Congress attached a Hate Crime Bill with a defense spending bill. The bill is waiting for the presidents signiture.
Also, can this bill be challenged in the court system due to it's potential of threatening the first amendment?
________________________________________________________________

Congress Approves Law Extending Hate Crime Protections to Gays
To assure its passage after years of frustrated efforts, Democratic supporters attached the measure to a must-pass $680 billion defense policy bill the Senate approved 68-29.
FOXNews.com
Friday, October 23, 2009

Senate Democrats used a must-pass military spending bill to push through a controversial measure Thursday extending hate-crime protection to gays.
The bill, known as the Matthew Shepard Act, named for the gay Wyoming college student murdered 11 years ago, was opposed by conservatives because of language they said targets clergy and others who oppose homosexuality on religious grounds and who might express those beliefs publicly.
"The inclusion of the controversial language of the hate crimes legislation, which is unrelated to our national defense, is deeply troubling," said Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., said the bill was a "dangerous step" toward thought crimes. He asked whether the bill would "serve as a warning to people not to speak out too loudly about their religious views."
But Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., said "nothing in this legislation diminishes an American's freedom of religion, freedom of speech or press or the freedom to assemble. Let me be clear. The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act targets acts, not speech."
To assure its passage after years of frustrated efforts, Democratic supporters attached the measure to a must-pass $680 billion defense policy bill the Senate approved 68-29. The House passed the defense bill earlier this month.
Hate crimes law enacted after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., in 1968 centered on crimes based on race, color, religion or national origin.
The expansion has long been sought by civil rights and gay rights groups. Conservatives have opposed it, arguing that it creates a special class of victims.
Some 45 states have hate crimes statutes, and the bill would not change current practices where hate crimes are generally investigated and prosecuted by state and local officials.
But it does broaden the narrow range of actions — such as attending school or voting — that can trigger federal involvement and allows the federal government to step in if the Justice Department certifies that a state is unwilling or unable to follow through on an alleged hate crime.
The measure also provides federal grants to help state and local governments prosecute hate crimes and funds programs to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles.
"As we learned in the civil rights era, sometimes communities need assistance and resources from the federal government when they have to confront the most emotional and dangerous kinds of crimes," said Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.
The bill also creates a federal crime to penalize attacks against U.S. service members on account of their service.
Attorney General Eric Holder said nearly 80,000 hate crime incidents have been reported to the FBI since he first testified before Congress in support of a hate crimes bill 11 years ago. "It has been one of my highest personal priorities to ensure that this legislation finally becomes law," he said.
The FBI says more than half of reported hate crimes are motivated by racial bias. Next most frequent are crimes based on religious bias, at around 18 percent, and sexual orientation, at 16 percent.
Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, said the measure was "part of a radical social agenda that could ultimately silence Christians and use the force of government to marginalize anyone whose faith is at odds with homosexuality."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Faith based fraud

2009-10-23T08:09:00.000-04:00

"...Indiana has passed a first-in-the nation law that increases the penalty for fraud that involves seniors and religious affiliation."

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Faith-based fraud

World Magazine

Charity: Indiana increases penalties for con artists who use religion to target victims | Warren Cole Smith

When church leaders want to raise money for building programs, they often turn to companies like Indiana-based Alanar, which trains these leaders to sell bonds to fellow church members. In Alanar's training is advice to open meetings with prayer, quote Scripture during the sales call, and "never sell the facts, sell warm stewardship and the Lord."

For Alanar, the plan worked. Thousands of investors—mostly church members thinking they were supporting church programs—forked over at least $120 million to the company. The only problem: Alanar was allegedly an elaborate—and illegal—Ponzi scheme. That's what Huntington County (Ind.) prosecutor Robert Hunley II says. He filed 10 separate felony charges against the leaders of Alanar, former pastor Vaughn Reeves and his sons, Chip, Chris, and Josh. The charges accuse the Reeveses of diverting at least $6 million for personal use.

"This is a day a long time in the making," Hunley said in a prepared statement when charges were filed on June 30. "I'm glad to hold Vaughn Reeves and his sons accountable. People trusted their life savings to these men. Investors felt they were helping to build churches, not buy the Reeves[es] expensive homes, fancy cars, airplanes and swimming pools." A Nov. 6 hearing will determine whether the statute of limitations for the charges has expired.

No one knows how much of what Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita calls "faith-based fraud" takes place each year. Much of it goes undetected because victims are embarrassed to come forward. And organizations involved in the fraud can often operate for years before being detected. Indiana officials believe that Alanar operated at least five years before charges were brought against the Reeveses. The investigation that resulted in the charges took a year and a half and involved the IRS, the FBI, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and local and state officials. According to Hunley, "These cases are often hard to find, and difficult to investigate."

But Bob Webster of the North American Securities Administrators Association said the amount of faith-based fraud could easily be in the hundreds of millions annually. It has gotten so bad that Indiana has passed a first-in-the-nation law that increases the penalty for fraud that involves seniors or religious affiliation. Such crimes are now Class B felonies there, with minimum penalties of at least three years in prison. The law went into effect on July 1, and according to Webster, other states are likely to follow suit.

Jim Gavin, a spokesman for the Indiana Secretary of State's office, told WORLD, "The damage to individuals and communities is just devastating. Not only is there financial damage, but the emotional damage, what they've done to churches and communities, is very troubling." In the Alanar case alone, "thousands of investors" lost money.

Indiana has also launched an aggressive investor education program. Among the tips offered: high pressure tactics and a lack of documentation are sure signs of trouble. "Even if you're dealing with someone you know from church," Gavin said, "do the same kind of research you would do with someone you don't know."

The investors who invested in the Alanar bonds wish they had gotten that advice sooner. Some of those investors were present at the courthouse when the charges were announced against the Reeveses, offering boisterous applause.

WOW- the Indiana BMV does a good job!

2009-10-21T08:48:00.000-04:00

On a personal note:
I have to give a thumbs up to the Indiana BMV. I heard about the great customer service from others, but my skepticism couldn't accept that possibility until last night. I went to the South Bend Indiana BMV to renew my license and I was overwhelmed with efficiency, kindness and a different type of attitude.
The attitude surprised me! I'm used to a, "Hey don't bother me... I'm a government employee and I'm doing you a favor just to speak to you" type of response. Instead, I felt like the person actually cared that I stepped through the door and that I help to pay her wages for the week. She heard my concerns and addressed them in a quick and efficient manner. I thought-well it just might be one employee, however every contact had the same type of work ethic. Sometimes I can be very critical of the government, so I want to surprise some people by saying--
A big thumbs up to the BMV!

Incredible-keep it up

SPECIAL VOTE FOR AN INCREASED TAX TO DEVELOPE THE NORTHERN INDIANA TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT

2009-10-20T12:05:00.000-04:00

JUST IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS---
SPECIAL VOTE FOR A TAX TO FUND A NORTHERN INDIANA TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT
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Opposition is organizing for Michiana regional transportationSpecial election to decide transportation measure slated for Nov. 3.
By ERIN BLASKOTribune Staff Writer
As a vote on it draws near, a measure that would create a regional transportation district encompassing St. Joseph and surrounding counties is facing organized opposition on at least two fronts.On Thursday, Ron Cenkush, an Osceola resident and member of the Libertarian party, will host a public meeting in Mishawaka to discuss ways to get the word out about the vote and its potential negative impact on St. Joseph County and its residents.He has already created a Web site, www.no-rta.com.

And in Porter County, county Commissioner Robert Harper has been campaigning against the measure for several weeks, spreading the word with mailings and yard signs and through a Web site, www.stoptherta.com.Both question the necessity of the proposed RTD, as well as the potential cost to taxpayers. "Our goal is mainly about awareness," Cenkush, who is seeking his party's nomination for 5th District state representative, said. "We want people to know about (the vote). I don't think many folks know what's coming. It sort of has the stench of being snuck under our noses."What is coming is a Nov. 3 special election that will put to voters in St. Joseph, LaPorte, Porter and Lake counties a single question:"Shall there be created the Northern Indiana regional transportation district ... to provide a regional rail system serving Lake, Porter, LaPorte and St. Joseph counties and regional bus public transportation system serving Lake and Porter counties with (insert county name) County becoming a member of the district."For it to pass, two of the four participating counties would need to vote in favor of the measure.Those counties would then be taxed up to 0.25 percent to fund the district. The stated purpose of the RTD is to provide oversight of the South Shore Railroad as well as regional bus services in Lake and Porter counties.The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, which operates the South Shore, supports the measure, as does the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, which has some oversight of the commuter railroad as well as regional bus service in LaPorte, Porter and Lake counties.Representatives of both groups did not immediately return calls seeking comment.'Just another tax'But the proposal, and even the election itself, has proved unpopular among some residents and county officials. In LaPorte and Lake counties, officials have gone so far as to refuse to fund the special election, objecting that it was ordered by the state with no regard for cost and should be delayed until the May primary.In each county, cost estimates to conduct the election ran into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.What, if any, ramifications election officials in those counties might face for failing to perform their elected duties is not known.Meanwhile, in St. Joseph and Porter counties, where the election is to proceed as scheduled, some question whether the purported benefits of the RTD justify the costs to taxpayers.In St. Joseph County, where officials recently voted to double the local option income tax, inclusion in the RTD would mean an additional tax to fund regional transportation projects that might not benefit the county, Cenkush said. One such project is the proposed expansion of the South Shore to cities in central Lake and Porter counties."It is our understanding that little, if any, of the expansion will be in St. Joseph County," Cenkush said. "Why would we vote for yet another county income tax increase to provide expansion in adjacent counties?"Even in Porter County, which would conceivably benefit from the RTD, Harper questions its need."The demand (for public transportation) just isn't there, and it's just another tax," he said.Cenkush agrees, and is confident voters will, as well. "I kind of think the issue will take care of itself if people know about it," he said.Staff writer Erin Blasko:eblasko@sbtinfo.com(574) 235-6187

2009-10-20T11:55:00.000-04:00

DID YOU KNOW-----

In November, 4 counties in northern IN will hold a special election that will raise our taxes and not give any additional benefits, regarding the South Shore. Of the 4 counties, St Joe is the only county holding this election at a cost of around $40,000! The other counties can't afford to hold the election. So WHY are we in SJC having it? It was highly suggested by Commissioner Andy Kostielney that we contact the other commissioners and tell them no on the tax. Bob Kovach is not in favor of it, but is still on the fence a bit. each of these can be emailed at the following direct emails:akostiel@co.st-joseph.in.usdthomas@co.st-joseph.in.usrkovach@co.st-joseph.in.usIf anyone needs to know who their commissioner is, here's the website to find your commissioner:http://www.stjosephcountyindiana.com/departments/commissioners/index.htm

Rokita and redistricting

2009-10-20T10:49:00.000-04:00

This could be Todd Rokita's best achievement...."if passed". The obvious problem with all of this- politicians hate to give up any control of power.
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Rokita to roll out redistricting proposal
Star report
Posted: October 20, 2009

Indiana's secretary of state today will discuss his proposal for redrawing congressional and legislative district boundaries.
Todd Rokita proposed in September a campaign to pass reforms in 2010 to take politics out of the process as much as possible, an effort backed by Gov. Mitch Daniels.
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In April 2011, the legislature should receive 2010 census data used to draw state legislative and congressional maps before it adjourns at the end of this month. If the House and Senate disagree on congressional maps, a special commission of lawmakers and an appointee of the governor will decide those boundaries.
Today, Rokita "will recommend that the General Assembly adopt a redistricting process that puts people before politics by keeping communities of interest together and eliminating the use of political data from the process of redrawing political boundaries," according to a statement sent Monday by spokesman Jim Gavin.
Rokita today plans to outline issues with the redistricting process. He also will show how he used criteria to draw fair, easily understood concept maps based on 2000 census data, according to the statement.

Long -Thompson gets a job with the Federal Credit Administration

2009-10-19T18:01:00.000-04:00

Long Thompson gets a job

The 2008 Democratic candidate for Indiana governor has been picked by President Obama to join that board that oversees the Federal Farm Credit Administration. Jill Long-Thompson has a lengthy history in Washington - first as a congresswoman between 1989 and 1995 and then as an official in the U.S. Agriculture Department during the Clinton adminstration. Long-Thompson was defeated by current Northeast Indiana Republican Congressman Mark Souder in the 1994 election and tried to make a political comeback when she ran for the open second district congressional seat in 2002 but lost to Chris Chocola. Her nomination to the federal farm board has to be approved by the U.S. Senate.

News Director

Don Wagner

Why marriage matters for adults

2009-10-16T06:29:00.000-04:00

Interesting Article from Focus on the Family Website. Marriage is a vital institution that needs to be celebrated.

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___________________________________________________________

God's Design for Marriage

Why Marriage Matters for Adults

Is marriage an old-fashioned, outmoded institution? Is it merely a piece of paper, having no real impact on our lives?

by Glenn T. Stanton

Researchers are finding that marriage has a much greater impact in our lives than many have assumed. This is especially true in the area of adult health and well-being. Sociologist Linda Waite and researcher Maggie Gallagher explain, "The evidence from four decades of research is surprisingly clear: a good marriage is both men's and women's best bet for living a long and healthy life."¹ Men and women who are in their first marriages, on average, enjoy significantly higher levels of physical and mental health than those who are either single, divorced or living together. The research on this is very strong.

Leading social scientist, James Q. Wilson, explains:

"Married people are happier than unmarried ones of the same age, not only in the United States, but in at least seventeen other countries where similar inquiries have been made. And there seems to be good reasons for that happiness. People who are married not only have higher incomes and enjoy greater emotional support, they tend to be healthier. Married people live longer than unmarried ones, not only in the United States but abroad."²

Research conducted at the University of Massachusetts concludes,

"One of the most consistent observations in health research is that the married enjoy better health than those of other [relational] statuses."³

Dr. Robert Coombs of UCLA reviewed more than 130 empirical studies published in this century on how marriage impacts well-being. He found that these studies indicate "an intimate link between marital status and personal well-being."⁴

Alcoholism

Coombs, in his review, found that 70 percent of chronic problem drinkers were either divorced or separated, and only 15 percent were married. Single men are more than three times as likely to die of cirrhosis of the liver.⁵

Long and Healthy Life

Unmarried people spend twice as much time as patients in hospitals as their married peers and have lower activity levels.⁶

Research conducted at Erasmus University in Rotterdam reports that "married people have the lowest morbidity [illness] rates, while the divorced show the highest." Professor Linda Waite of the University of Chicago finds that the "relationship between marriage and death rates has now reached the status of a truism, having been observed across numerous societies and among various social and demographic groups."⁷

In Waites' 1995 presidential address to the Population Association of America, she explained that the health benefits of marriage are so strong that a married man with heart disease can be expected to live, on average, 1400 days longer (nearly four years!) than an unmarried man with a healthy heart. This longer life expectancy is even greater for a married man who has cancer or is 20 pounds overweight compared to his healthy, but unmarried, counterpart. The advantages for women are similar.⁸

Additional research from Yale University indicates that a married man who smokes more than a pack a day can be expected to live as long as a divorced man who does not smoke. This researcher explains with a touch of humor, "If a man's marriage is driving him to heavy smoking, he has a delicate statistical decision to make."⁹

Dr. Coombs' research agrees with these findings: "Virtually every study of mortality and marital status shows the unmarried of both sexes have higher death rates, whether by accident, disease, or self-inflicted wounds, and this is found in every country that maintains accurate health statistics."¹⁰

Research published in JAMA finds that cures for cancer are significantly more successful (eight to 17 percent) when a patient is married and being married was comparable to being in an age category 10 years younger.¹¹

Mental Health

Research dating back to 1936 shows that first-time psychiatric admission rates for males suffering from schizophrenia were 5.4 times greater for unmarried men than for married men. Dr. Benjamin Malzberg, the author of this study, concludes, "The evidence seems clear that the married population had, in general, much lower rates of mental disease than any of the other marital groups."¹²

More recent research conducted jointly at Yale University and UCLA reports:

One of the most consistent findings in psychiatric epidemiology is that married persons enjoy better health than the unmarried. Researchers have consistently found the highest rates of mental disorder among the divorced and separated, the lowest rates among the married and intermediate rates among the single and widowed. They also found that a cohabiting partner could not replicate these benefits of marriage.¹³

General Happiness

A study published in the Journal of Marriage and the Family examined the link between personal happiness and marital status in 17 industrialized nations that had "diverse social and institutional frameworks." This study found:

"married persons have a significantly higher level of happiness than persons who are not married. This effect was independent of financial and heath-oriented protections offered by marriage and was also independent of other control variables including ones for sociodemographic conditions and national character."¹⁴

Increased levels of happiness among the married was found in other studies as well.¹⁵

Miscellaneous

Additional research shows that marriage:

Provides the highest levels of sexual pleasure and fulfillment for men and women¹⁶
Protects against feelings of loneliness¹⁷
Protects women from domestic and general violence¹⁸
Enhances a parent's ability to parent¹⁹
Helps create better, more reliable employees²⁰
Increases individual earnings and savings²¹

Research conducted at the University of Colorado indicates why marriage is so beneficial to adults:

Generally, compared with those who are not married, married individuals eat better, take better care of themselves, and live a more stable, secure and scheduled lifestyle.²²

Clearly, married men and women provide better things for society than their unmarried peers. Husbands and wives are not as likely to be a burden to the health care system or be a drain on a company's health insurance benefits because of their better health and increased ability to recover from illness quicker and more successfully. They are less likely to miss work because of illness. They are not likely to jump from job to job. They are less likely to suffer from alcoholism and other substance abuse and less likely to engage in other risk behaviors. Married women are significantly less likely to be victims of any kind of violence, either by her spouse or by a stranger. They are less lonely and happier. Happier people make better citizens, employees and neighbors. Married people earn and invest more money. They report enjoying the job of parenting better and they are more successful at it. This mountain of social science research tells us marriage is a serious and valuable community treasure.

¹Linda J. Waite and Maggie Gallagher, The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier, and Better Off Financially, (New York Doubleday, 2000), p. 64.

²James Q. Wilson, The Marriage Problem: How Our Culture Has Weakened Families (New York: Harper Collins, 2002), p. 16.

³Katherine Reissman and Naomi Gerstel, "Marital Dissolution and Health: Do Males or Females Have Greater Risk?" Social Science and Medicine 20 (1985): 627-635.

⁴Robert Coombs, "Marital Status and Personal Well-Being: A Literature Review," Family Relations 40 (1991) 97-102.

⁵Coombs, 1991, p. 97.

⁶Lois Verbrugge and Donald Balaban, "Patterns of Change, Disability and Well-Being," Medical Care 27 (1989): S128-S147.

⁷I.M. Joung, et al., "Differences in Self-Reported Morbidity by Marital Status and by Living Arrangement," International Journal of Epidemiology 23 (1994): 91-97.

⁸Linda J. Waite, "Does Marriage Matter?" Presidential Address to the American Population Association of America, April 8, 1995; Linda Waite, "Does Marriage Matter?" Demography 32 (1995): 483-507.

⁹Harold Morowitz, "Hiding in the Hammond Report," Hospital Practice (August 1975), p. 39.

¹⁰Coombs, 1991, p. 98.

¹¹James Goodwin, et al., "The Effect of Marital Status on Stage, Treatment, and Survival of Cancer Patients," Journal of the American Medical Association, 258 (1987): 3152-3130.

¹²Benjamin Malzberg, "Marital Status in Relation to the Prevalence of Mental Disease," Psychiatric Quarterly 10 (1936): 245-261.

¹³David Williams, et al., "Marital Status and Psychiatric Disorders Among Blacks and Whites," Journal of Health and Social Behavior 33 (1992): 140-157.

¹⁴Steven Stack and J. Ross Eshleman, "Marital Status and Happiness: A 17-Nation Study," Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60 (1998): 527-536.

¹⁵Coombs, 1991, p. 100.

¹⁶Robert T. Michael, et al., Sex in America: A Definitive Survey, (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1994), p. 124-129; Edward O. Laumann, et al., The Social Organization of Sexuality: Sexual Practices in the United States (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), p. 364, table 10.5; Andrew Greeley, Faithful Attraction: Discovering Intimacy, Love and Fidelity in American Marriage, (New York: Tom Doherty Association, 1991), see chapter 6.

¹⁷Randy Page and Galen Cole, "Demographic Predictors of Self-Reported Loneliness in Adults," Psychological Reports 68 (1991): 939-945.

¹⁸Jan Stets, "Cohabiting and Marital Aggression: The Role of Social Isolation," Journal of Marriage and the Family 53 (1991): 669-680; Criminal Victimization in the United States, 1992," U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, (March 1994), p. 31, NCJ-145125.

¹⁹Ronald Angel and Jacqueline Angel, Painful Inheritance: Health and the New Generation of Fatherless Families (Madison: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1993), pp. 139, 148.

²⁰Janet Wilmoth and Gregor Koso, "Does Marital History Matter? Marital Status and Wealth Outcomes Among Pre-retirement Adults," Journal of Marriage and Family, 64 (2002): 743-754.

²¹Waite, 1995, p. 483-507; Waite and Gallagher, 2000, see chapter 8; Wilmoth and Koso, 2002, p. 743-754.

²²Richard Rogers, "Marriage, Sex, and Mortality," Journal of Marriage and the Family 57 (1995): 515-526.

Next article in series:
Reclaiming the Heart of Marriage

Previous article in series:
God's Design for Marriage

Planned parenthood cutting staff-Open Door Community Health Center receives funds

2009-10-15T06:26:00.000-04:00

Hopefully this will become a trend. It is time to see the abortion industry eliminated, therefore stopping the holocaust of the innocent.

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Note: We need to look at the bottom paragraph again. It states, "But, she said, instead of funding the Planned Parenthood clinic in Marion, the council and the Indiana State Department of Health decided to award funds to a competitor setting up shop there , Open Door Community Health Center."

The St. Joseph Register has to admit...we need to hear more about the Open Door Community Health center. The workers listed below (from Open Doors website) list Planned Parenthood on their resumes'.

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From the Indy Star----

President and CEO Betty Cockrum added a sixth clinic, in Marion, to that list Wednesday.

There had been no drop in demand for services in Marion, the agency said. But, like the four Indianapolis metro-area clinics and one other slated to close, it relied on federal Title XX family-planning funds to operate and pay for some patient services.

The jobs being cut are 17 full-time and eight part-time positions. Those affected include service providers, finance specialists, administrators and managers.

The cuts will leave Planned Parenthood with 28 clinics and about 175 employees in the state. The remaining clinics will keep the same hours, including weekends and evenings.

"In every tough situation, there is an opportunity," Cockrum said. "We have evaluated our operations up, down and sideways to ensure we strengthen our sustainability."

In addition to the clinic in Marion, sites will be closed in Anderson, Kokomo, Franklin and Shelbyville. The only Indianapolis site on the list is Northwest Planned Parenthood on Michigan Road near 86th Street. The six centers serve about 9,000 clients, mostly low-income women, each year.

The combined closures will save $1.35 million, Cockrum said. The group's annual budget is $15 million. Planned Parenthood receives funding from patient fees, government grants, private donations and foundation donations.

Planned Parenthood said that except in Marion, the clinics targeted for closing could not sustain their operations just with the income they generated.

The Marion closing is another story.

Gayla Winston, president of the Indiana Family Health Council, a nonprofit that administers about $2 million in Title XX grant funds, said Planned Parenthood is still the top recipient of its grants.

But, she said, instead of funding the Planned Parenthood clinic in Marion, the council and the Indiana State Department of Health decided to award funds to a competitor setting up shop there , Open Door Community Health Center.
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From the "Open Door Community Health Center" site.

Family Planning

We offer two locations for family planning services:

Muncie: 806 W. Jackson Street

Anderson: 2525 E. 10th Street

At these locations, we serve both men and women, providing a variety of birth control methods (including abstinence) and education on how to safely use these methods, as well as testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases. In addition we also provide annual gynecological exams. There are no age restrictions

for our services and maintaining confidentiality is one of our top priorities.

Cost of services: Services are inexpensive, with patients paying based on their household size and income.

To make an appointment, call 765-281-4263 or 765-641-1185.

Muncie Location

Hours:

Monday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Tuesday 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Wednesday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Thursday 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Closed for Lunch: 12 p.m. - 1 p.m.

Anderson Location

Hours:

Monday: Closed

Tuesday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Wednesday: Closed

Thursday 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Friday: Closed

Closed for Lunch: 1 p.m. - 2 p.m.

Family Planning Providers

Robin Cooper, Nurse Practitioner

Site Supervisor for Open Door’s Family Planning Clinic, Robin Cooper has been in women’s health care for a long time. She earned a B.S. degree in nursing from Ball State University in 1991, and completed her M.S. in nursing from the University of Phoenix in 2002. A clinician at Planned Parenthood, she later became the Program Consultant for Title X with the Indiana Family Health Council. In her spare time, Robin camps with her family, bowls and spoils her granddaughter.

Cindy Evans, Nurse Practitioner

Cindy splits her time between Open Door Anderson Family Planning on Tuesday and Thursday and the Southway Centre facility practicing women’s health on Monday and Wednesday. She has worked in women’s health since 1994. She received her national certification in 1998 and her master’s degree from Ball State University in 2003. She began her women’s health career at Planned Parenthood and worked for more than nine years with the Indiana Family Health Council in Indianapolis as a nurse practitioner and program consultant. She enjoys spending time with her two young children, swimming, reading, and music. Cindy and her family reside in New Castle.

Walorski running for Congress

2009-10-14T07:25:00.000-04:00

Thought I would share this information with anyone in the Great State of Indiana. Jackie Walorski has decided to run for Congress. I and many others believe that Jackie Walorski will be a great representative for the district and I hope that you will help her to the Capital building in D.C.

Kevin Mitschelen

October 13, 2009

Greetings!

I appreciate your continued interest and support of me as an Indiana State Representative. Over the past five years, I have worked tirelessly to represent my constituents (and even those who can't vote for me!), on issues that are important to Northern Indiana. I have voted to have a balanced State budget every year without raising taxes, voted to cut the size of State Government, fought for legislation that allowed businesses to relocate to Indiana and allow the businesses here to flourish with less government regulation. As a legislator, many of you know I am a co-author of the Voter ID bill to protect the integrity of the voting system and I also co-authored the lifetime handgun permit, which allows Hoosiers to protect themselves and their homes.

Over the past seven months, I, like many of you, have become increasingly worried about the direction our country is going under the reign of Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. We're watching an unprecedented growth of the Federal Government happen right before our very eyes. This government now has its hands in the US Banking Industry, US Auto Industry and YOUR pockets as well. For every job the Federal Government provides...YOU are paying for it, not them. We've seen their bailouts and stimulus plans fail and now they are talking of another stimulus plan, which equates into billions, if not trillions of our tax dollars frivolously spent on programs that are not working. Our state has benefited MORE from the $8 billion dollars of PRIVATE investment that has come in, from the outside, to create thousands of new jobs, than the millions of dollars that have come to our State via the Federal Government, which is AGAIN all of our hard-earned tax dollars. Now we see Congress and the US Senate ready to roll out a Government Health Care Plan and Cap and Trade which will cripple Indiana taxpayers.

I can no longer stand by, from a safe, political seat, and watch Congress and this Administration put our families and jobs at further risk. It is for all of these reasons that I am filing a committee to run for Congress. I have only been a successful legislator because of you and you know that no one will work harder to produce jobs and cut taxes than me....so I wanted to give you a "heads up", BEFORE the media takes this info and spins it around tomorrow. I want to continue to fight for our families, our jobs and our economy. I want to take on Obama and Pelosi, on behalf of the Hoosiers of the 2nd Congressional District.

I have put my foot in front of my "freight trains" over the past five years and have been successful in winning for "people", not for political parties. I cannot stand by and watch the greatest country on the face of the earth suffer at the hands of an extremely liberal ideology. We need common sense, Hoosier problem-solving abilities in Washington, DC. I am ready to bring "balance" back to the decision making ability of Nancy Pelosi. I am proud to be an American, and a Hoosier and would be proud to have your support. This is our country, let's fight together to take it back.

Sincerely,

Jackie Walorski

My Top Ten Road to Recovery

2009-10-12T07:41:00.000-04:00

Road to Recovery
The Left would want us to believe that higher taxation, more regulation and more government programs will solve our economic downturn. Question: When has that worked? Answer: Never.

I'm a simple man so I have a few simple answers to getting our country back to sound economic guidelines.
"My Top Ten"are as follows (You may have more-I would like to hear other ideas)

1.Eliminate our present tax code and eliminate the IRS
2.Congress cannot spend more than it makes
3. Stop shutting down exploration of Natural Resources
4. Win the fight against terrorism. We need to send the Terrorists back to the stone age with the concept of bringing the troops home.
5. Government needs to go on a diet. Eliminate fat through a reduction in Federal programs. Leave it up to the states and local authorities. Or better yet- the local church or charitable organizations
6.Eliminate the death tax
7. Eliminate the capital gains tax
8. Lower the corporate tax
9. Reform Social Security before Congress ruins the program.
10 Encourage entrepreneurs! Just thinking out of the box... how about no corporate tax for the first year of business

And one more...The citizens of this great country must save more than they earn.
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________

Attached is a copy of the the wrong the ideas floating around Washington right now.
__________________________________________________
__________________________________________________

The Morning Bell

WEDNESDAY, OCT 7, 2009

The ‘Tax and Spend’ Left are Back with a Vengeance

According to exit polls, Americans who voted last November 4th described themselves as 34% conservative, 44% moderate and only 22% liberal.

One third of new voters were independents — and about two-thirds of them voted for President Barack Obama

. How did President Obama win over so many moderates and independents? By explicitly renouncing his party’s tax and spend past. Specifically, Obama promised to “cut taxes for 95% of workers and their families

” and enact “a net spending cut

” for the federal government. Not only has President Obama failed to keep these promises, but his leftist base is stepping up their campaign for massive new tax hikes and spending increases.

Recent Entries

	In the Green Room: David Goldhill on How American Health Care Killed His Father

	New Resolution Would Better Enforce PAYGO: Will Democrats Allow a Vote?

	FTC to Regulate Blogger Claims (I Was Not Paid to Say This)

	Speaker Pelosi Hints at Massive Tax Hike

	Can Christians be Capitalists?

Obama’s ‘no tax increases on families making $250,000 a year or less

‘ lasted exactly 15 days. On February 4th, the President signed into law a bill expanding the children’s health insurance program that was paid for with a 156% tax hike on tobacco.

Since slightly more than half of today’s smokers (53%) earn less than $36,000 per year

, there is no way this bill can not be considered a tax hike on the poor. Democrats in the House have also passed a trillion dollar energy tax hike

, and the Senate is about to approve new taxes on individuals who don’t have health insurance

, businesses that want to create jobs

, and on families with high cost health insurance plans

. But even all those new taxes are just the beginning. This past Monday on Charlie Rose, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said a new value-added tax (VAT) is “on the table” as well.

A VAT is a type of national sales tax. However, instead of being collected at the cash register, it is imposed on manufacturers at each “value added” stage of the production process. Since everybody buys stuff, including families making less than $250,000 a year, any VAT would necessarily break Obama’s no tax hike promise. Worse, a VAT would expand the size of government, inadvertently increase income tax rates, and destroy jobs.

And it is that last part, the destroying jobs part, that should most worry Americans today. The latest Bureau of Labor and Statistics report released last Friday contained some truly sobering employment numbers that completely undercut any claims that the President’s $787 billion stimulus plan is working. Every aspect of the labor market in September was negative

. The labor force participation rate fell to 65.2 percent, the lowest point of this recession and the lowest rate in 25 years. The unemployment rate increased by only 0.1 to 9.8 percent, but the unemployment rate would have been higher had 571,000 not left the labor force. The male unemployment rate reached 10.3 percent, the highest level since the Great Depression.

So what is the left’s answer to the President’s failed spending? More spending. The New York Times editorial board

recommends “more stimulus to spur job creation” or “a large federal jobs program” or, we love this one: “surprise us.” Not to be outdone, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is suggesting the federal government should raise its deficit stimulus spending to at least $1.2 trillion

. And none of this even includes the trillion dollar price tag for Obamacare

or President Obama’s long-term budget which would permanently keep annual spending between $5,000 and $8,000 per household higher than it had been under President George W. Bush.

Supreme Court Hears Mojave Cross Case

2009-10-08T06:43:00.000-04:00

There is an old song with a chorus that states, "There is power, power, wonder-working power, in the precious blood of the Lamb...."

The Supreme Court will determine if a cross in the Mojave National Preserve will be allowed to stand or will be torn down. I'll let you know where I stand: "Don't you dare take it down!" For decades we have seen Christ and His Father taken out of the public square. As a public school graduate, I remember the Ten Commandments being posted on the wall, Christmas songs honoring Christ and prayers before meetings. I also remember when they were stripped from my education and the school system. The question is this: has this social experiment succeeded? Has it made us more enlightened, or have we become like a ship without a rudder? I would suggest that the experiment has not succeeded and that our nation must turn back to its Judeo-Christian heritage.

In my lifetime of just 41 years I have seen my government take away this Judeo-Christian heritage from our nation. Now, that same government wrings its hands and wonders why Chicago has a problem with gang violence. I find it interesting that the government takes away the voice of the church through IRS tax codes and then it wonders why crime rates have doubled, tripled or quadrupled in every category since 1960.

The atheist will argue that there is no God. My question to the atheist is this: Why would you care about two boards thrown together (the Cross) if it didn't reach your soul? Why would you spend millions of dollars trying to rid this symbol from future generations and the public square if it didn't have any power? It is true that "there is nothing new under the Sun." In John 12:43 it states, "...for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God."

I am sure that you can sense frustration in this piece, however I know that God is in control, and I am praying for another Spiritual Awakening to occur (sooner rather than later). The Cross has power due to its Message, and that Message brings hope and freedom. Take away the cross and the freedom to express God in the public arena and we take away the very fabric that formed this great country.

Supreme Court Hears Mojave Cross Case

Justices to Decide if Memorial to WW I Vets Constitutional

By ARIANE de VOGUE
Oct. 7, 2009

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Deep in the heart of the Mojave National Preserve in California stands a five foot cross carefully disguised in a plywood box.

In this Sunday, April 20, 2003 file picture, Jacob Overson, 16, walks near a tarp-covered cross...

(Christine Wetzel/Las Vegas Review Journal/AP Photo)

The U.S. Park Service was forced to cover the cross until the Supreme Court decides whether the cross can remain in its place as a monument to fallen soldiers during World War I, or whether it must come down because its presence violates the Constitution.

The case is the latest in a recent flurry of challenges to religious symbols placed on public property.

The cross was constructed more than 70 years ago by the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

It stood peacefully for over 60 years the Park Service was asked if a Buddhist Shrine could also be built near the cross.

God bless you Mr. Anderson

2009-10-07T05:37:00.001-04:00

Our nations troops deserve our praise. We live in a very safe cocoon and it is due to men and women like Spc. Paul Eugene Anderson. God Bless you Mr. Anderson.

From the South Bend Tribune
Spc. Paul Eugene Andersen killed by 'indirect gunfire' in Iraq.

By ERIN BLASKO
Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND — After he shipped to Iraq in November of last year, Spc. Paul Eugene Andersen kept in touch with his wife, Linda Andersen, through Skype, a Web application that enables video conferencing over the Internet.

She was speaking to him Thursday afternoon when the connection terminated, a common occurrence because of the frequent sandstorms in the largely arid country.

Several hours later, just before midnight, she awoke to a knock at the door.

"I asked who it was," Linda Andersen said Thursday from the dining room of her home on Sunset Lane, "and they said it was the National Guard.

"I asked them to hold on a minute," the 55-year-old said through tears, "because I wanted to make sure I was dressed decently enough."

When she opened the door, she was met by a chaplain.

"I knew it wasn't good after that," she said.

Not long after his face disappeared from Linda Andersen's computer monitor, Paul Andersen, a member of the 855th Quartermaster Company based out of South Bend, reportedly died from wounds suffered during an attack on his Baghdad camp by enemy forces.

The Department of Defense announced his death Monday on its Web site.

A 24-year-veteran of the armed forces, the 49-year-old was scheduled to return home Nov. 4, according to family.

"He said we were going to

spend Christmas and Thanksgiving together," Linda Andersen said.

Paul Andersen was completing his second tour of duty in Iraq, his wife said. He was assigned to "laundry and bath," she said, which meant he traveled base-to-base in a large vehicle containing laundry and shower facilities for soldiers.

"It's the most important part of the military," Linda Andersen's son, Gregory Jester, said of the job. "It makes you look good and smell good."

Linda Andersen said she worried about her husband's safety, but that her anxieties were somewhat soothed by the fact that his job rarely put him in harm's way.

"He always said he was in a safety zone," she said, "so I didn't have to worry about him."

The particulars of the attack on Paul Andersen's camp are not known. The Department of Defense has only said it involved "indirect gunfire."

Linda Andersen said she is not sure she wants to know more than that.

"I couldn't really say whether I want to really know," she said. "I don't know how much my brain and heart can take. I don't know how much they can comprehend."

Linda Andersen said she last saw her husband in August. He returned home on leave to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary, she said.

The couple married in 2004, just four months after they met cute at the home of an acquaintance, Linda Andersen said.

"I backed up and stepped on his foot," she recalled laughing, "and I just asked him what the hell he was doing and please get out of the way.

"He just stood there."

Linda Andersen said her husband explained to her early on his commitment to the Army, and that she fully accepted and supported his decision to serve.

Just prior to his death, she said, he had re-enlisted for six more years.

The past four days have been difficult to comprehend, she said.

"Hell. Tiring. Unbelievable," she said and then paused. "There are no words really that can describe how I feel.

"I take a deep breath and sometimes it helps, and sometimes it doesn't."

Paul Andersen is survived by his wife; three biological children; three step-children; one biological grandchild; and eight step-grandchildren.

His body is scheduled to return to South Bend later this week from Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Del., where it arrived Saturday.

Linda Andersen's son, Thomas Klempay, will accompany the body.

Staff writer Erin Blasko:
eblasko@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6187

The State must "wean itself" off of gambling for revenue.

2009-10-06T06:00:00.000-04:00

The Indy Star hit a home run with their assessment of Gambling in the state of Indiana. The State must "wean itself" off of gambling for revenue.
The editorial staff got it right when they stated,
"The state can now turn in one of two directions. It can begin to wean itself from a heavy dependency on gambling. Or, like a desperate addict doubling down on a losing hand, the state can toss out more favors to casino operators and churn out even more enticements for Hoosiers to throw away their money on lottery tickets."
Question...will our Representatives walk away from the Gambling table or will they throw more taxpayer money at a losing hand?

Our Opinion-Indy Star

Addicted to gambling revenue

Posted: September 28, 2009

For years, proponents of the never-ending expansion of gambling contended that it was a fantastic hedge for states against economic downturns because the various branches of the industry, from casinos to lotteries, were considered to be immune from the effects of a recession.

The current economic slump has proven the fallacy of that argument. Nowhere is that more evident than in Indiana.

The Hoosier Lottery's profit from ticket sales dropped 17.5 percent in fiscal year 2009, the largest decline of any state in the nation. Revenue tanked despite a heavy marketing campaign, the addition of new games, and the state hawking tickets that cost as much as $30 a pop.

Indiana's lottery is far from the only gambling outlet that's hurting. Two racinos are begging for lucrative tax breaks a little more than a year after opening. The owners lament that the market isn't as strong as they originally thought. And wagering and admission tax revenues have tumbled at the state's 11 riverboat casinos.

Indiana isn't the only state suddenly losing its bet on pumping up revenue through gambling. The 12 states that push casinos on their residents and visitors suffered an 8.5 percent drop in revenue from those operations from 2008 to this year, according to a study by the Rockefeller Institute.

"States cannot depend on gambling revenue,'' Lucy Dadayan, a senior analyst with the institute, told The Star's Mary Beth Schneider, "because it is not likely to keep pace with long-term budgetary needs and spending growth.''

Leaders in Indiana, one of the most gambling-dependent states in the nation, should be especially alert to that warning.

Statehouse powerbrokers for years viewed gambling as a painless way to generate more tax revenue. But with the market saturated and revenue evaporating, the shortsightedness of that position has been painfully exposed.

The state can now turn in one of two directions. It can begin to wean itself from a heavy dependency on gambling. Or, like a desperate addict doubling down on a losing hand, the state can toss out more favors to casino operators and churn out even more enticements for Hoosiers to throw away their money on lottery tickets.

The most important skill for a gambler is to know when to walk away.

It takes a governor

2009-10-05T05:54:00.000-04:00

Recently I read an article from World Magazine entitled, "It takes a Governor".Joel Belz makes a great point for future Presidential resumes'. Also, its good to see that Indiana is recognized as a leader for fiscal responsibility.

It takes a governor

Budgetary insights from the desk where the buck stops | Joel Belz

Bayh: Darron Cummings/AP • Daniels: Alex Brandon/AP

It takes a governor, I've come to think, to make a competent president. You're not ready for the presidency until you've actually headed a government. Senators and congressman learn a few leadership skills, I guess—but they can never point to their desks and say: "The buck stops here!" A governor can say that.

That's why I paid attention the other day when I saw something that came from the pen of the governor of Indiana. I won't prejudice you politically just yet by telling you his name. I do want to excerpt a few brief comments that come, as I mentioned, only with the experience that a governor brings to the table. Read with that thought in mind:

"State government finances are a wreck. The drop in tax receipts is the worst in a half century. Fewer than 10 states ended the last fiscal year with significant reserves, and three-fourths have deficits exceeding 10 percent of their budgets. Only an emergency infusion of printed federal funny money is keeping most state boats afloat right now.

"America is on an unsustainable fiscal path that threatens our future. Changing course is imperative. . . ."

"Most governors I've talked to are so busy bailing that they haven't checked the long-range forecast. What the radar tells me is that we ain't seen nothing yet. What we are being hit by isn't a tropical storm that will come and go, with sunshine soon to follow. It's much more likely that we're facing a near permanent reduction in state tax revenues that will require us to reduce the size and scope of our state governments. The time to prepare for this new reality is already at hand."

"Last month the Office of Management and Budget predicted that the national debt will increase by $9 trillion over the next decade—$2 trillion more than forecast just four months earlier. Government net interest payments exceed $1 trillion in 2019, up from $382 billion this year. Because projected deficits exceed projected economic growth, the gap will be self-perpetuating."

"The coming state government reset will be particularly wrenching after the happy binge that preceded this last recession. During the last decade, states increased their spending by an average of 6 percent per year, gusting to 8 percent during 2007-08. Much of the government institutions built up in those years will now have to be dismantled."

"The consequences of all this will not be benign. A world saturated with U.S. currency will eventually look elsewhere to invest, causing the dollar's value to drop. Foreign creditors, their confidence shaken by our fiscal profligacy, will demand higher payments to keep holding our debt. The net effect will be 'stagflation,' that pernicious combination of slower growth, higher inflation and interest rates, and lower living standards. . . ."

"Even if Americans wanted to go back to their high spending, high-borrowing ways, will anyone lend them the funds to spend like it's 2007 all over again? Consumer credit will remain tighter as a matter of both sound business and new government regulation. Home equity appreciation is gone as a huge source of collateral, even if lenders were either willing or permitted to loan freely against it."

"These events will diminish our global influence, because fiscal strength is essential to diplomatic leverage, military might, and national significance. No great nation can rely upon the generosity of strangers or the forbearance of potential adversaries to meet its security needs. America is doing both. China uses its monetary reserves to curry favor in developing countries once in the U.S. sphere of influence; we must borrow to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan."

OK. Time to end my little game. It's time to tell you that all these sober paragraphs—with every word coming verbatim from the pen of an Indiana governor—in fact come from two very different Indiana governors. The Hoosiers' current governor, Republican Mitch Daniels, wrote the first and then every alternate paragraph. Indiana's previous governor, Democrat Evan Bayh (now a U.S. senator), wrote all the paragraphs in italics. Both men's thoughts appeared in recent weeks as guest editorials in The Wall Street Journal.

It's unsettling how neatly the counsel of a thoroughgoing conservative and that of a through-and-through liberal tend to mesh. Doesn't it grab your attention when political opposites agree? And could it be that such consistency comes because the thinking of both has been tested by the fires of actually administering the affairs of a state? Just maybe, we ought to be keeping our eyes on what happens in the Hoosier state over the next few months.

If you have a question or comment for Joel Belz, send it to jbelz@worldmag.com.

Income tax doubles in St. Joseph County

2009-10-02T05:58:00.001-04:00

"Our message is: today's the day they doubled the tax, so today's the day we start voting them out of office," said Citizens For Common Sense founder Carole "Kelly" Havens.

_____________________________________________________________

One side note: take a look at the headline. "Dozens protest" and then look at the second paragraph when it states, "about 50 taxpayers". Just getting tired of the liberal slant and innuendos offered by the Tribune.

____________________________

Dozens protest implementation of Local Option Income Tax hike

By TROY KEHOE
WSBT-TV Reporter

SOUTH BEND — As St. Joseph County's new local income tax rate took effect Thursday, dozens of taxpayers gathered outside South Bend's County-City Building with a new rally cry: those who voted the tax in will soon be voted out of office.

About 50 taxpayers, led by the watchdog group "Citizens for Common Sense," held a "rally the troops" effort, signing up volunteers to go door to door this fall, targeting precincts in each St. Joseph County Council and South Bend Common Council district where elected officials voted in favor of a 0.95% increase in the county's local option income tax.

The previous rate was 0.8%, making St. Joseph County's new option income tax rate 1.75%.

"Our message is: today's the day they doubled the tax, so today's the day we start voting them out of office," said Citizens For Common Sense founder Carole "Kelly" Havens.

The new 1.75% rate makes St. Joseph County tied for the 17th highest local income tax rate among Indiana's 92 counties, and the third highest in the Michiana area, behind Fulton and Pulaski Counties.

Clear and present danger-Austin Nimocks

2009-10-01T08:16:00.000-04:00

On Monday the Indiana Register noticed an article from the Indy Star. The Title of the article"Woman to appeal denial of same-sex divorce. Remember: Indiana Law prohibits same sex marriage at this point.However, the court has the authority to challenge that law and declare it "unconstitutional".Recently Austin R. Nimocks from the Alliance defense Fund made the statement below.
_________________________________________________________________

"This case (posted in the Indy star) is a clear and present legal danger to Indiana's DOMA, and underscores the need for a Constitutional Amendment protecting marriage in Hoosierland."

Austin R. Nimocks
Senior Legal Counsel

Alliance Defense Fund
From the Indy star:

Woman to appeal denial of same-sex divorce

Below, you will find an article from the Indy Star. As the article states, "...an appeal in the Indiana case would have to address a 1997 law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman and bars recognition of same sex marriage from other states."It will be interesting to see if this case gains traction or dies on the vine.

"Woman to appeal denial of same-sex divorce"

By Jon Murray
Posted: September 25, 2009

A Hoosier woman who entered into a same-sex marriage in Canada plans to appeal a Marion County court's refusal this month to grant the couple a divorce, her attorney says.
Marion Superior Court issued an order Sept. 4 dismissing the separated couple's request for a divorce. Tara Ranzy and Larissa Chism were married in 2005 in Toronto.
They lived in Pennsylvania at the time but since had settled in the South Bend area, and they filed for divorce in Marion County after Ranzy hired an Indianapolis attorney.
Attorney Karen Jensen said today that Ranzy authorized her to file a notice of appeal of the order and pursue the issue at the Indiana Court of Appeals.
The case illustrates the difficulty of divorce for married gay and lesbian couples who live in states that don't recognize same-sex marriages. Their marriages are void at home, and they can't request divorces in Canada or the handful of states that allow same-sex marriages because of residency requirements that require at least one member to live there six months or even longer.
An appeal in the Indiana case would have to address a 1997 Indiana law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman and bars recognition of same-sex marriages from other states.
The court's order, signed by Commissioner Jeffrey Marchal and Judge Heather Welch, says that law bars the court from recognizing Ranzy and Chism's marriage at all, even for purposes of divorce.

Call Star reporter Jon Murray at (317) 444-2752.

Tax rally in St. Joseph County

2009-10-01T07:48:00.000-04:00

Thought I would post this again.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

tax rally in St. Joseph County

---Event this Thursday---

Tax Backlash Rally

Thurs, Oct. 1 at 5:30pm

County-City Building, South Bend

(corner of Jefferson & Lafayette)

This is the day our option tax

DOUBLES

And also the day we start

VOTING THEM OUT.

Walking plans. Candidates. Redistricting.

And info about a special election this Nov. 3.

Speakers. Data. Bring Signs!

Questions? Contact Kelly Havens 272-7606

Students have rights taken away in Georgia

2009-09-30T08:27:00.000-04:00

This will sound simplistic and moronic to the loony left, but you know what, "I don't care". Stop trying to strip God out of the public square! Students in Georgia made signs promoting God and scripture at Football games. Students at Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe led this effort (according to press reports) and as a result they deserve the right to keep their freedom of speech. If the high school students would of held up a sign praising Allah, Zues or anything but the one true God, then their freedom of speech would have been protected.

--A tragic twist--

It seems ironic that Chicago reported a tragic death of an honor student (Christian Science Monitor headline): "Honor student beaten to death: Can Chicago curb youth violence? Derrion Albert was apparently caught in a brawl between two rival student groups as he walked home from Fenger High School. It’s not the city’s first such incident: In 2008, more than 30 students were killed." The death of Mr. Albert is tragic and that's my point. How long can our culture survive if we continue to strip the Bible and it's teachings from the public arena? How long will we allow the small minority to remake the foundations of our nation?
On the same news cycle we see the story headlined below. Can anyone see the connection?????????????

Reported by the Chattanooga Times Free Press

Community members are rallying around Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School cheerleaders after they were banned from displaying signs with Bible verses urging fans and players to “commit to the Lord” and “take courage and do it.”

The banners — the paper ones that football players crash through at the beginning of games — have been common sights in the school’s football stadium since 2003, local officials say.

“The cheerleaders are not trying to push a religious cause, to shove religion down someone’s throat,” said local youth minister Brad Scott, who was LFO High’s class president in 2004. “The cheerleaders are just using Scripture to show motivation and inspiration to the players and the fans.”

Catoosa County Schools spokeswoman Marissa Brower said a Fort Oglethorpe resident lodged a verbal complaint to Superintendent Denia Reese last week, saying that the display of a Bible verse on the football field is a violation of federal law.

9/18/09 At a football game on the school's field, cheerleaders at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School hold up a sign with a Biblical verse on it. After a complaint last week, the school has banned the cheerleaders from using any more signs with religious statements on them, saying it violates the U.S. Constitution.

A school system statement released Monday said the message constitutes “a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution for signs with Bible verses to be displayed on the football field.”

Mr. Scott said the ban prompted a rally tonight in support of the cheerleaders outside the Chick-fil-A restaurant on Battlefield Parkway so people can show their support for the cheerleaders and their signs.

A Facebook page called “We Support the LFO Cheerleaders! LET THEM HAVE THEIR SIGNS BACK!” also has been established.

Mrs. Reese lends her personal appreciation, if not her official support.

“I regret that we had to ask the LFO cheerleaders to change the signs used in the stadium prior to football games,” Mrs. Reese states. “Personally, I appreciate this expression of their Christian values; however, as superintendent I have the responsibility of protecting the school district from legal action by groups who do not support their beliefs.”

An area outside the stadium has been designated so the signs can be used there, she said.

UPDATE: Georgia: Rally in support of cheerleaders moved to larger site

“I rely on reading the Bible daily, and I would never deny our students the opportunity to express their religious beliefs,” she said. “I appreciate that our community has rallied in support of this LFO tradition.”

Fort Oglethorpe Mayor Ronnie Cobb vehemently disagrees with the ban and said he’ll call on the City Council to support the cheerleaders and their signs.

The signs don’t infringe on anyone’s religious rights and are good for school spirit, he said.

“I’m totally against them doing away with it,” Mr. Cobb said, adding that the cheerleaders’ rights are being abused.

The mayor said football coach John Allen made the signs a tradition around 2003 and it has continued ever since.

“If it’s offensive to anyone, let them go watch another football game,” he said. “Nobody’s forced to come there and nobody’s forced to read the signs.”

Current head football coach Todd Windham said the school system must obey the law, despite everyone’s opinions.

“Just my standpoint, I thought the banners were unique,” Mr. Windham said. “I really feel for the girls who prepare the banners and I think they really do a good job. They prepare a whole season’s worth during the summer and they put in a lot of work on those.”

However, officials say the school system’s position centers on the trust between students’ parents and what the system teaches.

“Families entrust public schools with the education of their children, but condition their trust on the understanding that school activities will not purposely be used to advance religious views that may conflict with their religious beliefs,” the system’s release states. “As a result, the courts prohibit rabbi-led prayers at school sporting events, Wiccan posters in gymnasiums and reading the Quran over the school public announcement system.”

Catoosa officials say the U.S. Supreme Court has “ruled that religious activities at high school football games create the ‘inescapable conclusion’ that the school endorses the religious activity.”

Such violations open the system to “lawsuits resulting in injunctions, unnecessary legal costs and damages that have to be paid by the local taxpayers, and possibly the loss of federal funding,” according to the statement.

Mr. Scott said the “separation of church and state” has nothing to do with cheerleaders who are not “part of the state” and simply want to offer an inspirational message with signs they made on their own time.

Mr. Scott, who ministers to some of the cheerleaders who attend his church, said the most recent sign he saw quoting from Timothy 1:7 could be considered inspirational in many settings.

“All those words; ‘power, love, self-discipline’ can be applied to the game, encourage the players and show school spirit,” he said.

Local resident and 1992 LFO alum Jeremy Jones called the decision “premature.”

“To act on the complaint of one person ... seems premature,” Mr. Jones said. “The cheerleaders have raised their own money for this project and have worked hard to make these signs.”

Several players were upset by the ruling and decided to hold a team prayer after they took the field last week, Mr. Windham said.

“That was something new, but it was something they wanted to do to show support for the cheerleaders,” he said.

Following each game there is a player-led prayer, he said, but under their interpretation of the law, the coaches cannot lead a prayer.

Staff Writer Lyndsey Young contributed to this story.

tax rally in St. Joseph County

2009-09-29T05:44:00.000-04:00

Woman to appeal denial of same-sex divorc-indy star

2009-09-28T11:41:00.001-04:00

Below, you will find an article from the Indy Star. As the article states, "...an appeal in the Indiana case would have to addresss a 1997 law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman and bars recognition of same sex marriage from other states."It will be interesting to see if this case gains traction or dies on the vine.

"Woman to appeal denial of same-sex divorce"

By Jon Murray
Posted: September 25, 2009

A Hoosier woman who entered into a same-sex marriage in Canada plans to appeal a Marion County court's refusal this month to grant the couple a divorce, her attorney says.
Marion Superior Court issued an order Sept. 4 dismissing the separated couple's request for a divorce. Tara Ranzy and Larissa Chism were married in 2005 in Toronto.
They lived in Pennsylvania at the time but since had settled in the South Bend area, and they filed for divorce in Marion County after Ranzy hired an Indianapolis attorney.
Attorney Karen Jensen said today that Ranzy authorized her to file a notice of appeal of the order and pursue the issue at the Indiana Court of Appeals.
The case illustrates the difficulty of divorce for married gay and lesbian couples who live in states that don't recognize same-sex marriages. Their marriages are void at home, and they can't request divorces in Canada or the handful of states that allow same-sex marriages because of residency requirements that require at least one member to live there six months or even longer.
An appeal in the Indiana case would have to address a 1997 Indiana law that defines marriage as between a man and a woman and bars recognition of same-sex marriages from other states.
The court's order, signed by Commissioner Jeffrey Marchal and Judge Heather Welch, says that law bars the court from recognizing Ranzy and Chism's marriage at all, even for purposes of divorce.

Call Star reporter Jon Murray at (317) 444-2752.

God is in Control!

2009-09-25T07:41:00.000-04:00

Did you see it! The sunrise was spectacular this morning...Wow!
Only God can create a show like that! The bright colors mixed in with a few clouds, creating a display of art worth more than all the paintings ever sketched on canvass. Unfortunately, it lasts for only a few moments, unfortunately it appears to a few us at a time,however each time we see something like this, our souls have to pause and give glory to our creator.
A terrible thought came over me as I slumbered into my car to go to work,it said,"...it's just another day". However, God displayed "manna" to me this morning. He set my soul on the right path. He knew what my heart needed and as a true God of surprises he gave me a wonderful sunrise that touched my soul. How could I say that any day is "just another" day.
I have to admit that my mind wanders to the political and cultural war that shapes America right now. We see a lunatic in Iran trying to obtain nuclear weapons, Russia is a dominant force again, and our beloved country continues to practice it's assault on the unborn. However, with all of the turmoil that our world faces we can rest on one thing. God, is in control of it all!
I could go on, however the following verse (s) states it like like a work of art. I hope you give glory to our creator today!

Psalm 138 (New International Version)

Psalm 138

Of David.

¹ I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
before the "gods" I will sing your praise.

² I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.

³ When I called, you answered me;
you made me bold and stouthearted.

⁴ May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD,
when they hear the words of your mouth.

⁵ May they sing of the ways of the LORD,
for the glory of the LORD is great.

⁶ Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly,
but the proud he knows from afar.

⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes,
with your right hand you save me.

⁸ The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me;
your love, O LORD, endures forever—
do not abandon the works of your hands.

Dr. Alveda King to speak at Right to life Dinner tonight

2009-09-24T08:16:00.000-04:00

I wanted to advertise an event for the St. Joseph County Right to Life dinner. Below, you will find a copy from the St. Joseph County Right to Life Website.

Dr. Alveda King will be giving the keynote speech It is my hope that the local media will cover the event.

______________________________________________________

Niece of Martin Luther King to Speak at Annual Dinner

Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be the keynote speaker at the 18th Annual "Life is Precious" Dinner to be held Thursday, Sept. 24 at the Century Center in South Bend. A victim of abortion, Dr. King now devotes her life to educating people about the tragedy of abortion, especially its impact on the African American community. For reservations, or for information about program advertising, dinner sponsorship, or hosting a table, contact the Right to Life office at 232-5433. Proceeds from the dinner will be used to finance educational media campaigns in St. Joseph County.

Indiana ripping down perfectly good homes!

2009-09-23T08:30:00.000-04:00

The letter was delivered to Gov.Daniels in July. Overall, I believe that the Governor has done a good job, however he has a deaf ear at times (or his staff) so I could use your help. As of this writing we have not received any response from the Governor.
The following letter describes waste in regards to the US 31 project. So far we have been fighting the destruction of perfectly good homes to no avail, therefore I could use your help! I ask you to take a few moments and read the letter below and if you are inclined-feel free to send it to your representative.
Gov. Daniels aid is Mr. Eric Holcomb--eholcomb@gov.in.gov

_____________________________________________________________
Mitschelen and Associates
Kevin Mitschelen
21190 W. Johnson Rd.
South Bend, IN 46614
mitschelens-4@sbcglobal.net
574-291-1850
574-876-3526-cell

Governor Daniels:

I would like to thank you for taking a few minutes of your time regarding a policy that INDOT has in place for the seizure of property and the removal of structures in the way of the U.S. 31 highway project.

In years past, the department would give the original owners of such structures the chance to buy back their homes or buildings for removal. If they declined, the department would then hold public auctions in which citizens would be able to buy these structures. For decades this practice has allowed many structures to be saved by moving and/or salvaging them. This in turn has provided many benefits, including:

-The state spending less on the cost of demolition for removal. (This is simple math - instead of demolishing the entire structure, only its foundations would require removal.)
-By saving the house, the state would receive future property taxes over the life of the house. (Again, this is simple math - property taxes would be paid for decades to come.)
-Less construction waste, which would result in less negative environmental impact. As you are aware, construction waste (including demolition) accounts for 1/4 of what goes into landfills. (Your administration can show ingenuity here by thinking "outside the box" to reduce negative environmental impact.)
-Future homeowners would benefit (with a higher equity in their home).
-Basement plumbers, electricians and contractors would benefit (through the creation of such jobs in the private market).

I had the opportunity to run against Pat Bauer for State Representative in South Bend last year, so an invitation to the groundbreaking of the U.S. 31 project (near Lakeville) was extended to me. As stated in the ceremony, "...this is a very large project." Due to its massive scale and the number of people affected, I would ask that you and your administration consider the 5 points mentioned above.

For decades the policy of holding public auctions to remove structures has seen great success. However, just this last year, the state of Indiana demolished perfectly good homes instead of moving them, as a part of the Capital Ave. expansion project (S.R. 331). This policy has also spread throughout the state.

In recent press conferences you have supported Indiana taking the lead in both recycling and "green" construction. Frankly, I can't think of any bigger recycling project than saving a house from the landfill.

For the past two years, we have received a polite, yet frustrating response from several officials in the INDOT's LaPorte district as well as from within Indianapolis; we are therefore asking for your involvement.

At this point we have established correspondence with Representative Jackie Walorski, House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, Congressman Joe Donnelly and Indiana's Lieutenant Governor's office regarding the matter, and we have also sent repeated letters to INDOT officials. Rep. Walorski introduced HB 1475 which asked for a reversal of the current policy, yet it was killed in committee in 2009. Rep. Bosma wrote a letter of support for the bill as well. However, I am growing more and more confident that my state officials (with the exception of Reps. Walorski and Bosma) are content with sending us on one wild goose chase after another until all of the homes for the U.S. 31 project have been destroyed.

The U.S. 31 project will affect over 400 structures. As stated above, this is obviously a large-scale project with both environmental and financial implications; we therefore ask for your help in reversing INDOT's current policy and establishing guidelines to save as many structures as possible.

Sincerely,

Kevin Mitschelen
Lewis Mitschelen (Owner of Mitschelen and Associates)

Is it 600,000 or 700,000 dollars?

2009-09-16T07:41:00.000-04:00

According to the South Bend Tribune. The city (of South Bend) has found a way to keep code enforcement staff members working 40-hour weeks next year..." The Tribune continues,"Starting next year,Mayor Stephen Luecke had said code enforcement inspectors would be forced to work 32 hours as a cost-cutting measure, in the wake of state-enacted property tax cuts. But city controller Gregg Zientara said about 100,000 in uncommitted capital funds was found and will be allocated to code enforcement's payroll account."
As Joan Rivers would say, "Can we talk." My goodness, the city 'just' found 100,000 dollars. What the heck! Can you imagine 'just' finding 100,000 dollars in your bank account. Wouldn't it be great to live in the same la la land that our South Bend politician and bureaucrats live in.

Unfortunately the South Bend Tribune glosses over this with an extremely mild question for the city controller. They ask, "...how much in uncommitted capital funds was found altogether,and how much might remain." The answer, "Zientara said he did not know an exact figure, but estimated it could be 600,000 or 700,000."Look, I'm not a trained reporter, but the tribune doesn't say anything about a followup question.
Unbelievable-The City Controller doesn't know if the fund has 600,000 or 700,000 dollars and he doesn't get a follow up from that kind of response . Had you or I been there, we would have asked, " So Mr. City Controller, the difference of 100,000 is a lot of money, is it closer to 700,000 or is it closer to 600,000?" Or how about this, "The Mayor said he was going to cut the program and the staff to 32 hours which is still full time; why the shift?" Instead, the article talks about the relief the director has with finding the "new" money.
Earlier, I said that our politicians live in a la la land and I meant it. This article hits home with me. Yesterday, I had to walk up to a worker within my department and state to that person that we could no longer use her service to the company. Due to budget constraints within the department we had to let her go. That's real! That's hard! That's responsible behavior and the City of South Bend has this idea that they can spend like drunken sailors with your tax money. Do to budget constraints the citizens of St.Joseph County bailed out the City of South Bend via a higher tax rate from our pay checks. Well, as a citizen of St. Joseph County and a working taxpayer I am asking the City to stop blaming the State of Indiana for their fiscal irresponsibility and be accountable. There's change we can believe in!

St. Joseph Register

The Lords Prayer

Is America a Christian Nation?

Voting ourselves money

Tax Caps to the Constitution in Indiana

Bosma responds to reform from Bauer

Strong statement from Daniels

"Abe Lincoln said: Some stumps you can pull out of the ground, some stumps you can blow out of the field and some stumps you just have to plow around," Daniels said. "I am tired of plowing around Pat Bauer and his Democratic majority, and I want your help to move him out of there." Gov. Daniels

__________________________________________

From the Indy Star--

Behind closed doors

Daniels has answers for the GOP

To win races, he says, party must think about everyday people

Choice words for Bauer

Choice words for Bauer

About those Derby tickets

Stimulating the nonexistent

Thankful for Government Programs

What are you thankful for?

South Bend wants to spend 40 million-what?

Happy Holidays from the St. Joseph County tax man.

Happy Holidays from the St. Joseph County tax man.

St. Joseph County residents try to understand increase in tax bills

Video Gallery

St. Joseph Co. residents see property tax increase

FOX 28.com Links

How to read your property tax bill

St. Joseph Register spotlight-Camp Ray Bird

Our mission

Who we serve

Our heritage

Summer Missions Trip Opportunity/Volunteering

Other mission trip/volunteer resources

Get involved on Summer Staff

Volunteer Work Projects for Groups

Be a Volunteer

Financial Support

Why should my church support Camp Ray Bird?

A MONTHLY ABORTION FEE

Headline:

Exclusive: Jobs 'Saved or Created' in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist

The quotes below are priceless. Unfortunately, the actual bill will burden our nation for generations to come. The stimulus package was and is a reckless piece of legislation.

"We report what the recipients submit to us," said Ed Pound, Communications Director for the Board.

_______________________

Exclusive: Jobs 'Saved or Created' in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist

Human Error Blamed for Crediting New Stimulus Jobs to Nonexistent Places

cap and trade

Our place

Yesterday, I noticed a bumper sticker stating, "The Earth is not made for us... we are made for the Earth."

What a terrible statement! According to the 1st chapter in Genesis, God created the Heavens and the Earth.

Why did he do it?

Simple:He did it for Love. He lavished us with a blue sky, green plants,water, warmth from the Sun and about a trillion other reasons to give Him thanks (literally). Not to mention the vastness of space to fill up our inquisitive nature. What a wonderful gift from our creator.

I feel sad for the lost soul with the bumper sticker and I pray that she will find the rich treasure awaiting her through Jesus and His salvation.__________________________________________________

Genesis 1

The Beginning

Obama Dithers

VETERANS DAY-1985

Fort Hood

Just a few thoughts on ND football

Good article from the South Bend Tribune. However, the team and Mr. Weis should take a look into the quote above. Did you notice what Betis said, ...it was always about the team.

I have no doubt that Charlie Weis has a great knowledge of the game and he can be a great motivator. However something is lacking and I suspect that the quote from Betis has something to do with the problem.

________________

NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL: Can Irish regain their staggered swagger?

20 years of Freedom " Reagan's speach-Tear down this wall

GOP & Hispanics

Great article from World magazine.

All together now

Copyright © 2009 WORLD Magazine Articles may not be reproduced without permission November 07, 2009, Vol. 24, No. 22

HEALTH CARE VOTE IN THE HOUSE

Dems split on health care bill.

Question:How will Joe Donnelly vote?

______________________

"But with no Republican backing for the measure, Democrats will need overwhelming support from their own. A festering intra-party disagreement over how to prevent federal funds from being used to pay for abortion remained unresolved Wednesday morning."

From the Washington Times

House Dems clear way for health vote

Vote in Maine

Maine votes to reject gay marriage

*We need a spiritual revival within our land bringing healing to broken families, individuals and hearts that have been hardened.

*We need a land in which hearts will be turned back to God and the direction he calls for us.

Maine voters reject gay-marriage law

I feel sad for the lost soul with the bumper sticker and I pray that she will find the rich treasure awaiting her through Jesus and His salvation.
__________________________________________________

Copyright © 2009 WORLD Magazine
Articles may not be reproduced without permission
November 07, 2009, Vol. 24, No. 22