I know I shouldn't be surprised that Mitch would stick up for corporations over the Hoosier's he's supposed to serve (am I the only one who gets the feeling he thinks we're supposed to serve him?)I just didn't expect the administration to be so open about it:
"According to the administration, lawmakers will know everything they need to know before they're asked to act. But they acknowledge that bidders' proprietary interests will trump detailed legislative or public scrutiny of any proposed deal, which could leave lawmakers discussing a pig in the poke."
Oh, but it gets better:
"According to the state's published timeline for the lease, bidders must submit "final and binding proposals" by early January, with a "financial close" anticipated in June.
That is well past the last day that lawmakers can meet in next year's short legislative session, which must end by March 15."
So not only are they going to keep the General Assembly and the public in the dark, but they have it timed so that the deal will be finalized during a time that legislators can't meet. Kind of like how they announced all the BMV closing after the General Assembly adjourned, so as to avoid the legally required legislative overview of the closings.
But don't worry, Mitch insists that he'll only sign if the state comes out a winner. If this ends up anything like the DST fiasco we'll end up paying to drive on gravel roads.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Sunday, October 30, 2005
A Separate Peace - PEGGY NOONAN
A Separate Peace
America is in trouble--and our elites are merely resigned.
Thursday, October 27, 2005 12:01 a.m.
It is not so hard and can be a pleasure to tell people what you see. It's harder to speak of what you think you see, what you think is going on and can't prove or defend with data or numbers. That can get tricky. It involves hunches. But here goes.
I think there is an unspoken subtext in our national political culture right now. In fact I think it's a subtext to our society. I think that a lot of people are carrying around in their heads, unarticulated and even in some cases unnoticed, a sense that the wheels are coming off the trolley and the trolley off the tracks. That in some deep and fundamental way things have broken down and can't be fixed, or won't be fixed any time soon. That our pollsters are preoccupied with "right track" and "wrong track" but missing the number of people who think the answer to "How are things going in America?" is "Off the tracks and hurtling forward, toward an unknown destination."
I'm not talking about "Plamegate." As I write no indictments have come up. I'm not talking about "Miers." I mean . . . the whole ball of wax. Everything. Cloning, nuts with nukes, epidemics; the growing knowledge that there's no such thing as homeland security; the fact that we're leaving our kids with a bill no one can pay. A sense of unreality in our courts so deep that they think they can seize grandma's house to build a strip mall; our media institutions imploding--the spectacle of a great American newspaper, the New York Times, hurtling off its own tracks, as did CBS. The fear of parents that their children will wind up disturbed, and their souls actually imperiled, by the popular culture in which we are raising them. Senators who seem owned by someone, actually owned, by an interest group or a financial entity. Great churches that have lost all sense of mission, and all authority. Do you have confidence in the CIA? The FBI? I didn't think so.
But this recounting doesn't quite get me to what I mean. I mean I believe there's a general and amorphous sense that things are broken and tough history is coming.
_______________________
Let me focus for a minute on the presidency, another institution in trouble. In the past I have been impatient with the idea that it's impossible now to be president, that it is impossible to run the government of the United States successfully or even competently. I always thought that was an excuse of losers. I'd seen a successful presidency up close. It can be done.
But since 9/11, in the four years after that catastrophe, I have wondered if it hasn't all gotten too big, too complicated, too crucial, too many-fronted, too . . . impossible.
I refer to the sheer scope, speed and urgency of the issues that go to a president's desk, to the impossibility of bureaucracy, to the array of impeding and antagonistic forces (the 50-50 nation, the mass media, the senators owned by the groups), to the need to have a fully informed understanding of and stand on the most exotic issues, from Avian flu to the domestic realities of Zimbabwe.
The special prosecutors, the scandals, the spin for the scandals, nuclear proliferation, wars and natural disasters, Iraq, stem cells, earthquakes, the background of the Supreme Court backup pick, how best to handle the security problems at the port of Newark, how to increase production of vaccines, tort reform, did Justice bungle the anthrax case, how is Cipro production going, did you see this morning's Raw Threat File? Our public schools don't work, and there's little refuge to be had in private schools, however pricey, in part because teachers there are embarrassed not to be working in the slums and make up for it by putting pictures of Frida Kalho where Abe Lincoln used to be. Where is Osama? What's up with trademark infringement and intellectual capital? We need an answer on an amendment on homosexual marriage! We face a revolt on immigration.
The range, depth, and complexity of these problems, the crucial nature of each of them, the speed with which they bombard the Oval Office, and the psychic and practical impossibility of meeting and answering even the most urgent of them, is overwhelming. And that doesn't even get us to Korea. And Russia. And China, and the Mideast. You say we don't understand Africa? We don't even understand Canada!
Roiling history, daily dangers, big demands; a government that is itself too big and rolling in too much money and ever needing more to do the latest important, necessary, crucial thing.
It's beyond, "The president is overwhelmed." The presidency is overwhelmed. The whole government is. And people sense when an institution is overwhelmed. Citizens know. If we had a major terrorist event tomorrow half the country--more than half--would not trust the federal government to do what it has to do, would not trust it to tell the truth, would not trust it, period.
It should be noted that all modern presidents face a slew of issues, and none of them have felt in control of events but have instead felt controlled by them. JFK in one week faced the Soviets, civil rights, the Berlin Wall, the southern Democratic mandarins of the U.S. Senate. He had to face Cuba, only 90 miles away, importing Russian missiles. But the difference now, 45 years later, is that there are a million little Cubas, a new Cuba every week. It's all so much more so. And all increasingly crucial. And it will be for the next president, too.
__________________________________________
A few weeks ago I was chatting with friends about the sheer number of things parents now buy for teenage girls--bags and earrings and shoes. When I was young we didn't wear earrings, but if we had, everyone would have had a pair or two. I know a 12-year-old with dozens of pairs. They're thrown all over her desk and bureau. She's not rich, and they're inexpensive, but her parents buy her more when she wants them. Someone said, "It's affluence," and someone else nodded, but I said, "Yeah, but it's also the fear parents have that we're at the end of something, and they want their kids to have good memories. They're buying them good memories, in this case the joy a kid feels right down to her stomach when the earrings are taken out of the case."
This, as you can imagine, stopped the flow of conversation for a moment. Then it resumed, as delightful and free flowing as ever. Human beings are resilient. Or at least my friends are, and have to be.
Let me veer back to the president. One of the reasons some of us have felt discomfort regarding President Bush's leadership the past year or so is that he makes more than the usual number of decisions that seem to be looking for trouble. He makes startling choices, as in the Miers case. But you don't have to look for trouble in life, it will find you, especially when you're president. It knows your address. A White House is a castle surrounded by a moat, and the moat is called trouble, and the rain will come and the moat will rise. You should buy some boots, do your work, hope for the best.
___________________________________________
Do people fear the wheels are coming off the trolley? Is this fear widespread? A few weeks ago I was reading Christopher Lawford's lovely, candid and affectionate remembrance of growing up in a particular time and place with a particular family, the Kennedys, circa roughly 1950-2000. It's called "Symptoms of Withdrawal." At the end he quotes his Uncle Teddy. Christopher, Ted Kennedy and a few family members had gathered one night and were having a drink in Mr. Lawford's mother's apartment in Manhattan. Teddy was expansive. If he hadn't gone into politics he would have been an opera singer, he told them, and visited small Italian villages and had pasta every day for lunch. "Singing at la Scala in front of three thousand people throwing flowers at you. Then going out for dinner and having more pasta." Everyone was laughing. Then, writes Mr. Lawford, Teddy "took a long, slow gulp of his vodka and tonic, thought for a moment, and changed tack. 'I'm glad I'm not going to be around when you guys are my age.' I asked him why, and he said, 'Because when you guys are my age, the whole thing is going to fall apart.' "
Mr. Lawford continued, "The statement hung there, suspended in the realm of 'maybe we shouldn't go there.' Nobody wanted to touch it. After a few moments of heavy silence, my uncle moved on."
Lawford thought his uncle might be referring to their family--that it might "fall apart." But reading, one gets the strong impression Teddy Kennedy was not talking about his family but about . . . the whole ball of wax, the impossible nature of everything, the realities so daunting it seems the very system is off the tracks.
And--forgive me--I thought: If even Teddy knows . . .
____________________________________
If I am right that trolley thoughts are out there, and even prevalent, how are people dealing with it on a daily basis?
I think those who haven't noticed we're living in a troubling time continue to operate each day with classic and constitutional American optimism intact. I think some of those who have a sense we're in trouble are going through the motions, dealing with their own daily challenges.
And some--well, I will mention and end with America's elites. Our recent debate about elites has had to do with whether opposition to Harriet Miers is elitist, but I don't think that's our elites' problem.
This is. Our elites, our educated and successful professionals, are the ones who are supposed to dig us out and lead us. I refer specifically to the elites of journalism and politics, the elites of the Hill and at Foggy Bottom and the agencies, the elites of our state capitals, the rich and accomplished and successful of Washington, and elsewhere. I have a nagging sense, and think I have accurately observed, that many of these people have made a separate peace. That they're living their lives and taking their pleasures and pursuing their agendas; that they're going forward each day with the knowledge, which they hold more securely and with greater reason than nonelites, that the wheels are off the trolley and the trolley's off the tracks, and with a conviction, a certainty, that there is nothing they can do about it.
I suspect that history, including great historical novelists of the future, will look back and see that many of our elites simply decided to enjoy their lives while they waited for the next chapter of trouble. And that they consciously, or unconsciously, took grim comfort in this thought: I got mine. Which is what the separate peace comes down to, "I got mine, you get yours."
You're a lobbyist or a senator or a cabinet chief, you're an editor at a paper or a green-room schmoozer, you're a doctor or lawyer or Indian chief, and you're making your life a little fortress. That's what I think a lot of the elites are up to.
Not all of course. There are a lot of people--I know them and so do you--trying to do work that helps, that will turn it around, that can make it better, that can save lives. They're trying to keep the boat afloat. Or, I should say, get the trolley back on the tracks.
That's what I think is going on with our elites. There are two groups. One has made a separate peace, and one is trying to keep the boat afloat. I suspect those in the latter group privately, in a place so private they don't even express it to themselves, wonder if they'll go down with the ship. Or into bad territory with the trolley.
Ms. Noonan is a contributing editor of The Wall Street Journal and author of "John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father," forthcoming in November from Penguin, which you can preorder from the OpinionJournal bookstore. Her column appears Thursdays.
Copyright © 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
America is in trouble--and our elites are merely resigned.
Thursday, October 27, 2005 12:01 a.m.
It is not so hard and can be a pleasure to tell people what you see. It's harder to speak of what you think you see, what you think is going on and can't prove or defend with data or numbers. That can get tricky. It involves hunches. But here goes.
I think there is an unspoken subtext in our national political culture right now. In fact I think it's a subtext to our society. I think that a lot of people are carrying around in their heads, unarticulated and even in some cases unnoticed, a sense that the wheels are coming off the trolley and the trolley off the tracks. That in some deep and fundamental way things have broken down and can't be fixed, or won't be fixed any time soon. That our pollsters are preoccupied with "right track" and "wrong track" but missing the number of people who think the answer to "How are things going in America?" is "Off the tracks and hurtling forward, toward an unknown destination."
I'm not talking about "Plamegate." As I write no indictments have come up. I'm not talking about "Miers." I mean . . . the whole ball of wax. Everything. Cloning, nuts with nukes, epidemics; the growing knowledge that there's no such thing as homeland security; the fact that we're leaving our kids with a bill no one can pay. A sense of unreality in our courts so deep that they think they can seize grandma's house to build a strip mall; our media institutions imploding--the spectacle of a great American newspaper, the New York Times, hurtling off its own tracks, as did CBS. The fear of parents that their children will wind up disturbed, and their souls actually imperiled, by the popular culture in which we are raising them. Senators who seem owned by someone, actually owned, by an interest group or a financial entity. Great churches that have lost all sense of mission, and all authority. Do you have confidence in the CIA? The FBI? I didn't think so.
But this recounting doesn't quite get me to what I mean. I mean I believe there's a general and amorphous sense that things are broken and tough history is coming.
_______________________
Let me focus for a minute on the presidency, another institution in trouble. In the past I have been impatient with the idea that it's impossible now to be president, that it is impossible to run the government of the United States successfully or even competently. I always thought that was an excuse of losers. I'd seen a successful presidency up close. It can be done.
But since 9/11, in the four years after that catastrophe, I have wondered if it hasn't all gotten too big, too complicated, too crucial, too many-fronted, too . . . impossible.
I refer to the sheer scope, speed and urgency of the issues that go to a president's desk, to the impossibility of bureaucracy, to the array of impeding and antagonistic forces (the 50-50 nation, the mass media, the senators owned by the groups), to the need to have a fully informed understanding of and stand on the most exotic issues, from Avian flu to the domestic realities of Zimbabwe.
The special prosecutors, the scandals, the spin for the scandals, nuclear proliferation, wars and natural disasters, Iraq, stem cells, earthquakes, the background of the Supreme Court backup pick, how best to handle the security problems at the port of Newark, how to increase production of vaccines, tort reform, did Justice bungle the anthrax case, how is Cipro production going, did you see this morning's Raw Threat File? Our public schools don't work, and there's little refuge to be had in private schools, however pricey, in part because teachers there are embarrassed not to be working in the slums and make up for it by putting pictures of Frida Kalho where Abe Lincoln used to be. Where is Osama? What's up with trademark infringement and intellectual capital? We need an answer on an amendment on homosexual marriage! We face a revolt on immigration.
The range, depth, and complexity of these problems, the crucial nature of each of them, the speed with which they bombard the Oval Office, and the psychic and practical impossibility of meeting and answering even the most urgent of them, is overwhelming. And that doesn't even get us to Korea. And Russia. And China, and the Mideast. You say we don't understand Africa? We don't even understand Canada!
Roiling history, daily dangers, big demands; a government that is itself too big and rolling in too much money and ever needing more to do the latest important, necessary, crucial thing.
It's beyond, "The president is overwhelmed." The presidency is overwhelmed. The whole government is. And people sense when an institution is overwhelmed. Citizens know. If we had a major terrorist event tomorrow half the country--more than half--would not trust the federal government to do what it has to do, would not trust it to tell the truth, would not trust it, period.
It should be noted that all modern presidents face a slew of issues, and none of them have felt in control of events but have instead felt controlled by them. JFK in one week faced the Soviets, civil rights, the Berlin Wall, the southern Democratic mandarins of the U.S. Senate. He had to face Cuba, only 90 miles away, importing Russian missiles. But the difference now, 45 years later, is that there are a million little Cubas, a new Cuba every week. It's all so much more so. And all increasingly crucial. And it will be for the next president, too.
__________________________________________
A few weeks ago I was chatting with friends about the sheer number of things parents now buy for teenage girls--bags and earrings and shoes. When I was young we didn't wear earrings, but if we had, everyone would have had a pair or two. I know a 12-year-old with dozens of pairs. They're thrown all over her desk and bureau. She's not rich, and they're inexpensive, but her parents buy her more when she wants them. Someone said, "It's affluence," and someone else nodded, but I said, "Yeah, but it's also the fear parents have that we're at the end of something, and they want their kids to have good memories. They're buying them good memories, in this case the joy a kid feels right down to her stomach when the earrings are taken out of the case."
This, as you can imagine, stopped the flow of conversation for a moment. Then it resumed, as delightful and free flowing as ever. Human beings are resilient. Or at least my friends are, and have to be.
Let me veer back to the president. One of the reasons some of us have felt discomfort regarding President Bush's leadership the past year or so is that he makes more than the usual number of decisions that seem to be looking for trouble. He makes startling choices, as in the Miers case. But you don't have to look for trouble in life, it will find you, especially when you're president. It knows your address. A White House is a castle surrounded by a moat, and the moat is called trouble, and the rain will come and the moat will rise. You should buy some boots, do your work, hope for the best.
___________________________________________
Do people fear the wheels are coming off the trolley? Is this fear widespread? A few weeks ago I was reading Christopher Lawford's lovely, candid and affectionate remembrance of growing up in a particular time and place with a particular family, the Kennedys, circa roughly 1950-2000. It's called "Symptoms of Withdrawal." At the end he quotes his Uncle Teddy. Christopher, Ted Kennedy and a few family members had gathered one night and were having a drink in Mr. Lawford's mother's apartment in Manhattan. Teddy was expansive. If he hadn't gone into politics he would have been an opera singer, he told them, and visited small Italian villages and had pasta every day for lunch. "Singing at la Scala in front of three thousand people throwing flowers at you. Then going out for dinner and having more pasta." Everyone was laughing. Then, writes Mr. Lawford, Teddy "took a long, slow gulp of his vodka and tonic, thought for a moment, and changed tack. 'I'm glad I'm not going to be around when you guys are my age.' I asked him why, and he said, 'Because when you guys are my age, the whole thing is going to fall apart.' "
Mr. Lawford continued, "The statement hung there, suspended in the realm of 'maybe we shouldn't go there.' Nobody wanted to touch it. After a few moments of heavy silence, my uncle moved on."
Lawford thought his uncle might be referring to their family--that it might "fall apart." But reading, one gets the strong impression Teddy Kennedy was not talking about his family but about . . . the whole ball of wax, the impossible nature of everything, the realities so daunting it seems the very system is off the tracks.
And--forgive me--I thought: If even Teddy knows . . .
____________________________________
If I am right that trolley thoughts are out there, and even prevalent, how are people dealing with it on a daily basis?
I think those who haven't noticed we're living in a troubling time continue to operate each day with classic and constitutional American optimism intact. I think some of those who have a sense we're in trouble are going through the motions, dealing with their own daily challenges.
And some--well, I will mention and end with America's elites. Our recent debate about elites has had to do with whether opposition to Harriet Miers is elitist, but I don't think that's our elites' problem.
This is. Our elites, our educated and successful professionals, are the ones who are supposed to dig us out and lead us. I refer specifically to the elites of journalism and politics, the elites of the Hill and at Foggy Bottom and the agencies, the elites of our state capitals, the rich and accomplished and successful of Washington, and elsewhere. I have a nagging sense, and think I have accurately observed, that many of these people have made a separate peace. That they're living their lives and taking their pleasures and pursuing their agendas; that they're going forward each day with the knowledge, which they hold more securely and with greater reason than nonelites, that the wheels are off the trolley and the trolley's off the tracks, and with a conviction, a certainty, that there is nothing they can do about it.
I suspect that history, including great historical novelists of the future, will look back and see that many of our elites simply decided to enjoy their lives while they waited for the next chapter of trouble. And that they consciously, or unconsciously, took grim comfort in this thought: I got mine. Which is what the separate peace comes down to, "I got mine, you get yours."
You're a lobbyist or a senator or a cabinet chief, you're an editor at a paper or a green-room schmoozer, you're a doctor or lawyer or Indian chief, and you're making your life a little fortress. That's what I think a lot of the elites are up to.
Not all of course. There are a lot of people--I know them and so do you--trying to do work that helps, that will turn it around, that can make it better, that can save lives. They're trying to keep the boat afloat. Or, I should say, get the trolley back on the tracks.
That's what I think is going on with our elites. There are two groups. One has made a separate peace, and one is trying to keep the boat afloat. I suspect those in the latter group privately, in a place so private they don't even express it to themselves, wonder if they'll go down with the ship. Or into bad territory with the trolley.
Ms. Noonan is a contributing editor of The Wall Street Journal and author of "John Paul the Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father," forthcoming in November from Penguin, which you can preorder from the OpinionJournal bookstore. Her column appears Thursdays.
Copyright © 2005 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Ohio Congressman Forfeits DeLay Money - Yahoo! News
Ohio Congressman Forfeits DeLay Money
Okay--so when is Chocola going to give HIS DeLay money to charity, huh?? We need to pressure him right now.
"WASHINGTON - An Ohio congressman became the fourth House Republican to forfeit or return campaign contributions from a committee run by indicted former Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
Rep. Steven LaTourette, who represents northeast Ohio, gave $13,000 from his re-election campaign to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Relief Fund earlier this month. That equaled the contributions his election campaigns had received from DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority PAC since the 1994 election cycle.
LaTourette didn't announce his decision publicly, and his aides declined to talk about it on Friday. LaTourette did discuss it in an Oct. 11 letter to an Aurora Democrat who plans to run against him.
"As a former prosecutor, I trust that the legal system will work and Tom DeLay, like every American, should have his day in court and should be afforded the presumption of innocence. However, in order to remove any questions that may arise about these contributions, I have made a donation in the same amount to the Bush-Clinton Katrina fund," LaTourette wrote to Palmer Peterson.
Peterson had written a letter challenging LaTourette to return the money and posted it on his own campaign Web site.
DeLay stepped aside as the No. 2 GOP leader in the House after he was indicted Sept. 28 on conspiracy charges arising out of an investigation into campaign fundraising in 2002 election races for the Texas state Legislature. He was indicted again five days later on money-laundering charges.
Rep. Kenny Hulshof of Missouri said earlier this month that he, too, sent a check for $14,500 — the amount he had received from DeLay's committee since 1996 — to the Katrina relief fund. Republican Reps. Jeb Bradley of New Hampshire and Heather Wilson of New Mexico returned funds from the committee."
Okay--so when is Chocola going to give HIS DeLay money to charity, huh?? We need to pressure him right now.
"WASHINGTON - An Ohio congressman became the fourth House Republican to forfeit or return campaign contributions from a committee run by indicted former Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
Rep. Steven LaTourette, who represents northeast Ohio, gave $13,000 from his re-election campaign to the Bush-Clinton Katrina Relief Fund earlier this month. That equaled the contributions his election campaigns had received from DeLay's Americans for a Republican Majority PAC since the 1994 election cycle.
LaTourette didn't announce his decision publicly, and his aides declined to talk about it on Friday. LaTourette did discuss it in an Oct. 11 letter to an Aurora Democrat who plans to run against him.
"As a former prosecutor, I trust that the legal system will work and Tom DeLay, like every American, should have his day in court and should be afforded the presumption of innocence. However, in order to remove any questions that may arise about these contributions, I have made a donation in the same amount to the Bush-Clinton Katrina fund," LaTourette wrote to Palmer Peterson.
Peterson had written a letter challenging LaTourette to return the money and posted it on his own campaign Web site.
DeLay stepped aside as the No. 2 GOP leader in the House after he was indicted Sept. 28 on conspiracy charges arising out of an investigation into campaign fundraising in 2002 election races for the Texas state Legislature. He was indicted again five days later on money-laundering charges.
Rep. Kenny Hulshof of Missouri said earlier this month that he, too, sent a check for $14,500 — the amount he had received from DeLay's committee since 1996 — to the Katrina relief fund. Republican Reps. Jeb Bradley of New Hampshire and Heather Wilson of New Mexico returned funds from the committee."
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Libby but not Rove?
NYT via Drudge (yeah I know) is reporting that Libby will be indicted tomorrow, while Fitzgerald will extend his investigation to continue looking at Rove.
We'll see how accurate this is.
We'll see how accurate this is.
A Public Service
As a public service I will now translate the linked article in the Star from Mitch to Hoosier:
If there isn't any economic development in the next 3 years it your fault fattie, not mine!
I guess we should at least be happy he blamed somebody other then Governor Kernan for once.
And now time for a public service bonus, a sartorial guide for Mitch:
When you're touring a soybean field to discuss bio-diesel it's ok to wear plaid and a ball cap. When you're meeting with an executive who is trying to decide whether or not to close a huge factory, a suit wouldn't be a bad idea. Dress for success Mitch, dress for success.
And another thing, ditch the cowardly lion and go as Gump, while cowardly (handling of DST) maybe be a close second, Gump (well just about every stupid thing he's done so far, including dressing like Forrest when meeting with Delphi executives) just seems more your style. Maybe it's time to go back to playing Ping Pong.
If there isn't any economic development in the next 3 years it your fault fattie, not mine!
I guess we should at least be happy he blamed somebody other then Governor Kernan for once.
And now time for a public service bonus, a sartorial guide for Mitch:
When you're touring a soybean field to discuss bio-diesel it's ok to wear plaid and a ball cap. When you're meeting with an executive who is trying to decide whether or not to close a huge factory, a suit wouldn't be a bad idea. Dress for success Mitch, dress for success.
And another thing, ditch the cowardly lion and go as Gump, while cowardly (handling of DST) maybe be a close second, Gump (well just about every stupid thing he's done so far, including dressing like Forrest when meeting with Delphi executives) just seems more your style. Maybe it's time to go back to playing Ping Pong.
Daylight Savings, an Idea Not Worth Fighting For
At least to Mitch it isn't:
"Daniels is unlikely to attend any of the hearings, press secretary Jane Jankowski said."
Why not Mitch, DST is your baby, I'd think you would want to help your fellow Hoosiers get the time zone they want. Or are you afraid that you won't be welcomed as just another good ole boy?
Or is this just another example of your inability to lead?
"Daniels is unlikely to attend any of the hearings, press secretary Jane Jankowski said."
Why not Mitch, DST is your baby, I'd think you would want to help your fellow Hoosiers get the time zone they want. Or are you afraid that you won't be welcomed as just another good ole boy?
Or is this just another example of your inability to lead?
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
You Know Indiana Means Business When Governor Gump Shows Up
"Mama always said economic development is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get."
And Whose Fault is That?
It would appear that the fallout over the DOT potential ruling on DST have begun to take shape, with most of the concern centering on the St. Joseph county decision.
"Gov. Mitch Daniels issued a statement calling the decision -- which would move St. Joseph County to the Central time zone and leave its social and economic neighbor to the east, Elkhart County, in the Eastern time zone -- "obviously unworkable."
Who didn't see this coming? Mitch it was your idea to not set a time zone, you said let the counties petition DOT individually. You said you expected the counties that petitioned to simply receive a letter granting their requests. How did you not see this coming? It was your idea.
This mess is nothing more then the most severe manifestation of Mitch's absolute abdication of his role as a leader. He has a BMV commissioner running wild, unemployment checks that take months to arrive to those who need them, and FSSA isn't any better off then before. But this has been Mitch's crown jewel of leadership failure, DST was his idea, he was willing to twist any and all arms as needed to get it passed, and he didn't care in what form it was passed, and there in lies the problem. He was so eager to get it passed that he allowed it to become this charade of effective governance, allowing nearly any change required to pick up a vote regardless of it effect on the implementation. So now we are left with this mess, people being told it will be their choice on what time zone they live it, except it isn't, and nobody really has any clue how it will end.
He may be governor, but he's no leader.
"Gov. Mitch Daniels issued a statement calling the decision -- which would move St. Joseph County to the Central time zone and leave its social and economic neighbor to the east, Elkhart County, in the Eastern time zone -- "obviously unworkable."
Who didn't see this coming? Mitch it was your idea to not set a time zone, you said let the counties petition DOT individually. You said you expected the counties that petitioned to simply receive a letter granting their requests. How did you not see this coming? It was your idea.
This mess is nothing more then the most severe manifestation of Mitch's absolute abdication of his role as a leader. He has a BMV commissioner running wild, unemployment checks that take months to arrive to those who need them, and FSSA isn't any better off then before. But this has been Mitch's crown jewel of leadership failure, DST was his idea, he was willing to twist any and all arms as needed to get it passed, and he didn't care in what form it was passed, and there in lies the problem. He was so eager to get it passed that he allowed it to become this charade of effective governance, allowing nearly any change required to pick up a vote regardless of it effect on the implementation. So now we are left with this mess, people being told it will be their choice on what time zone they live it, except it isn't, and nobody really has any clue how it will end.
He may be governor, but he's no leader.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Apprently they didn't get Mitch's memo
Remember when Mitch said he expected all the counties requesting a time zone change would simply get a letter approving the change?
Yeah, not so much.
Props to Masson's blog for finding the document.
Yeah, not so much.
Props to Masson's blog for finding the document.
Monday, October 24, 2005
I Feel Safer Already
"The idea is to keep terrorists from playing bingo or running a charitable game to raise large amounts of cash, Holiday said"
Well it's about time somebody clamped down the terrorist elements of the AARP.
Well it's about time somebody clamped down the terrorist elements of the AARP.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Sometimes Reality and the GOP's "Reality" Just Don't Match
So the economy is booming right? Since January Mitch has created all these new super high paying jobs so nobody would ever need to file bankruptcy, right?
"From the August figures compared to the September figures, there was a 62 percent increase in the Chapter 7 filings in the South Bend Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court."
"According to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, there were 205,129 personal bankruptcy filings across the country the week of Oct. 10. Many experts say the backlog of unprocessed cases could reach the 300,000 mark."
I know what the GOP apologist will say, these are all people who ran up credit cards and don't want to pay, right?
"To investigate medical contributors to bankruptcy, we surveyed 1,771 personal bankruptcy filers in five federal courts and subsequently completed in-depth interviews with 931 of them. About half cited medical causes, which indicates that 1.9–2.2 million Americans (filers plus dependents) experienced medical bankruptcy."
So we have a situation where workers have low paying jobs and poor insurance (unless of course they work at Wal-Mart in which case they have no insurance at all) can find themselves in a very bleak financial situation if somebody in their family suffers a serious illness of accident. And the GOP's response is to remove the safety net. Not to fix health care, not provide more job training so we can attract better paying jobs, no that's too much work, just stick 'em with the bill, who cares if they can pay it.
"From the August figures compared to the September figures, there was a 62 percent increase in the Chapter 7 filings in the South Bend Division of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court."
"According to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, there were 205,129 personal bankruptcy filings across the country the week of Oct. 10. Many experts say the backlog of unprocessed cases could reach the 300,000 mark."
I know what the GOP apologist will say, these are all people who ran up credit cards and don't want to pay, right?
"To investigate medical contributors to bankruptcy, we surveyed 1,771 personal bankruptcy filers in five federal courts and subsequently completed in-depth interviews with 931 of them. About half cited medical causes, which indicates that 1.9–2.2 million Americans (filers plus dependents) experienced medical bankruptcy."
So we have a situation where workers have low paying jobs and poor insurance (unless of course they work at Wal-Mart in which case they have no insurance at all) can find themselves in a very bleak financial situation if somebody in their family suffers a serious illness of accident. And the GOP's response is to remove the safety net. Not to fix health care, not provide more job training so we can attract better paying jobs, no that's too much work, just stick 'em with the bill, who cares if they can pay it.
Friday, October 21, 2005
Rep. Chocola (R-Himself) is One of Tommy's Kids
So sure Chocola has taken $40,000 from DeLay, it was just money right, it's not like DeLay had any control over Chocola or his campaign?
"An ARMPAC mailing to gun-owning voters in Chocola's race for an open congressional seat praised him as someone who "will protect the sporting traditions that Indiana sportsmen have passed on. For future generations to continue to enjoy our heritage, we need the leadership of Chris Chocola."
Now the idea of Chocola sitting in a deer blind aside, this is more then just money, this is DeLay playing an active role in Chocola getting elected. This is Chocola owing DeLay one, which is exactly how DeLay operates. So you gotta ask what did DeLay get for his help?
"An ARMPAC mailing to gun-owning voters in Chocola's race for an open congressional seat praised him as someone who "will protect the sporting traditions that Indiana sportsmen have passed on. For future generations to continue to enjoy our heritage, we need the leadership of Chris Chocola."
Now the idea of Chocola sitting in a deer blind aside, this is more then just money, this is DeLay playing an active role in Chocola getting elected. This is Chocola owing DeLay one, which is exactly how DeLay operates. So you gotta ask what did DeLay get for his help?
It Takes $850,000 to Figure Out that Indiana's Property Tax System is Broken?
The surprising part of this article isn't that the system is broken, anybody whose ever eaten a pork tenderloin (that's right non-Hoosiers, we have food you've never even heard of) knows that. What is surprising is that Mitch didn't jump all over this issue, maybe because the study was commissioned by Governor Kernan in 2003. Or maybe it's because fixing property taxes will end up requiring raising or creating another tax. Ultimately that's the sort of reform that requires leadership, and while Mitch is a "reformer" he's no leader. It's probably just as well, we can't afford to have Mitch handle this the same way he handled DST.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Howey Hearts Mitch
I've come to expect the national "news" media (the quotes are for Fox) to do a certain amount of water carrying for the Bush administration, it's so much easier to just read a press release then to, well you know report. But not to be outdone our local media has been going out of it's way to make sure Mitch doesn't miss the national press corp's touch, none possibly more so then Brian Howey. The last few weeks has been a build up towards this mash note to Mitch, but still the force with which Howey really seems to love his dear leader was a little shocking. Even more shocking is how little sense he makes in his column, but then love makes you do crazy things.
"Except that it sucks ... resources, as opposed to private corporations that contribute funding to government. “If we ignore this, if manufacturing goes away, then the whole state hollows out and collapses,” said Ed Roberts, vice president of the Indiana Manufacturers Association. “Government consumes a lot of resources. But without those resources, it all collapses.”
Yeah that's the problem too many BMV branches, not cheap foreign labor. As for private corporations that contribute, you can't throw a rock without hitting a company getting a tax abatement. And then there's Wal-Mart which views Medicaid as it's own free health insurance company.
Except that it sucks ... resources, as opposed to private corporations that contribute funding to government. “If we ignore this, if manufacturing goes away, then the whole state hollows out and collapses,” said Ed Roberts, vice president of the Indiana Manufacturers Association. “Government consumes a lot of resources. But without those resources, it all collapses.”
"Wake up, Hoosiers.
If, in a decade, government continues to be our biggest employers, we are going to be in deep, deep trouble. It is an unsustainable trend."
Damn right if we're gonna keep shedding jobs we've got to start looking for new sources of unemployed workers, those people aren't going to fire themselves.
"We have a governor who is a reformer."
Oh he's something else all right he really reformed the Hell out of the unemployment system. And DST, that was one of the best managed policies ever.
"Except that it sucks ... resources, as opposed to private corporations that contribute funding to government. “If we ignore this, if manufacturing goes away, then the whole state hollows out and collapses,” said Ed Roberts, vice president of the Indiana Manufacturers Association. “Government consumes a lot of resources. But without those resources, it all collapses.”
Yeah that's the problem too many BMV branches, not cheap foreign labor. As for private corporations that contribute, you can't throw a rock without hitting a company getting a tax abatement. And then there's Wal-Mart which views Medicaid as it's own free health insurance company.
Except that it sucks ... resources, as opposed to private corporations that contribute funding to government. “If we ignore this, if manufacturing goes away, then the whole state hollows out and collapses,” said Ed Roberts, vice president of the Indiana Manufacturers Association. “Government consumes a lot of resources. But without those resources, it all collapses.”
"Wake up, Hoosiers.
If, in a decade, government continues to be our biggest employers, we are going to be in deep, deep trouble. It is an unsustainable trend."
Damn right if we're gonna keep shedding jobs we've got to start looking for new sources of unemployed workers, those people aren't going to fire themselves.
"We have a governor who is a reformer."
Oh he's something else all right he really reformed the Hell out of the unemployment system. And DST, that was one of the best managed policies ever.
Brownie You're Doing a Heck of a Job Eating Dinner
So it turns out that FEMA's slow response was due to Michal Brown having to wait at the Baton Rouge Applebee's?
""He needs much more that [sic] 20 or 30 minutes," Worthy wrote.
"Restaurants are getting busy," she said. "We now have traffic to encounter to go to and from a location of his choise [sic], followed by wait service from the restaurant staff, eating, etc. Thank you."
So it wasn't that FEMA didn't know how to do it's job, but that Bush's hand picked appointee was too busy ordering appetizers to order the necessary help.
Of course now we'll see Brownie show the GOP's famed love of personal responsibility and accountability and fess up to awe-inspiring incompetence.
""He needs much more that [sic] 20 or 30 minutes," Worthy wrote.
"Restaurants are getting busy," she said. "We now have traffic to encounter to go to and from a location of his choise [sic], followed by wait service from the restaurant staff, eating, etc. Thank you."
So it wasn't that FEMA didn't know how to do it's job, but that Bush's hand picked appointee was too busy ordering appetizers to order the necessary help.
Of course now we'll see Brownie show the GOP's famed love of personal responsibility and accountability and fess up to awe-inspiring incompetence.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Shocking
I'm shocked, just shocked that Bush's FCC would rule that Christian Broadcasting is a better use of the airwaves then educational programming. Just shocked I tell you.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Isn't "Change" Great?
Boy it sure is a good thing that Mitch "changed" Mayor Peterson's no tax plan to build a new stadium, it might have worked. Instead we have Mitch's tax that is only bringing in half the amount of money needed. Isn't that great? Now he can cut even more government services to make up the difference! Maybe he can replace Hoosier Millionaire with a weekly show where education, Medicaid, transportation, and the BMV compete to keep their funding!
Sunday, October 16, 2005
They Really Mean an Army of One (Because You're on Your Own)
A year after being required by Congress too reimburse soldiers for body armor the soldiers had to purchase, the Pentagon has still not begun payments. The reason? They never wanted to pay the soldiers back.
An anonymous parent of a Marine sums it up pretty well:
"We agree with the comment of a former Marine whose son, also a Marine, is serving in Fallujah, who was quoted by the AP: "...I think the U.S. has an obligation to make sure they (soldiers) have this equipment and to reimburse for it. I just don't support Donald Rumsfeld's idea of going to war with what you have, not what you want. You go to war prepared, and you don't go to war until you are prepared."
This sets an interesting, and scary precedent, will tank commander be required to buy their own M1 Abrams tanks (cost $4.3 million) or how about B-2 pilots, (cost $2.2 billion?) Of course not, so why would the pentagon expect troops on the ground to buy their own armor? And why hasn't the GOP, America's "pro-military" party enforced this law? For that matter why has the GOP which runs the Pentagon continued to drag it's feet?
An anonymous parent of a Marine sums it up pretty well:
"We agree with the comment of a former Marine whose son, also a Marine, is serving in Fallujah, who was quoted by the AP: "...I think the U.S. has an obligation to make sure they (soldiers) have this equipment and to reimburse for it. I just don't support Donald Rumsfeld's idea of going to war with what you have, not what you want. You go to war prepared, and you don't go to war until you are prepared."
This sets an interesting, and scary precedent, will tank commander be required to buy their own M1 Abrams tanks (cost $4.3 million) or how about B-2 pilots, (cost $2.2 billion?) Of course not, so why would the pentagon expect troops on the ground to buy their own armor? And why hasn't the GOP, America's "pro-military" party enforced this law? For that matter why has the GOP which runs the Pentagon continued to drag it's feet?
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Well Todd, what is the government for then?
So the Indiana Secretary of State has decided that the government isn't responsible for rebuilding after Katrina:
"It absolutely amazed me how quick we were to say that the government was responsible for that hurricane," Rokita told attendees of a program presented by the IU Republican Women. If we continue to think that way, pretty soon we will be living in a country that looks not unlike the former USSR."
Just a little tip here Todd, but currently your team is at bat so I'd go easy on the USSR references, Joe McCarthy didn't drink himself to death to become the new Lenin.
Now that seems to be a dim enough understanding of the role of government, but then he also manages to show just how little he understands the scale of the destruction, and how much it cost to rebuild after a disaster of that scale:
"The responsibility of reconstruction after the hurricane, he said in a post-lecture interview, should have been placed upon the shoulders of citizens, churches and neighbors."
Now that is a lot of yard sales and church bazaars. Except oh wait, there are no neighbors left, their houses were destroyed as well as the churches, so sorry guys no billion dollar bingo games to pay for it all.
I'm not sure what's worse, that this guy got elected, or that somebody lost to him.
"It absolutely amazed me how quick we were to say that the government was responsible for that hurricane," Rokita told attendees of a program presented by the IU Republican Women. If we continue to think that way, pretty soon we will be living in a country that looks not unlike the former USSR."
Just a little tip here Todd, but currently your team is at bat so I'd go easy on the USSR references, Joe McCarthy didn't drink himself to death to become the new Lenin.
Now that seems to be a dim enough understanding of the role of government, but then he also manages to show just how little he understands the scale of the destruction, and how much it cost to rebuild after a disaster of that scale:
"The responsibility of reconstruction after the hurricane, he said in a post-lecture interview, should have been placed upon the shoulders of citizens, churches and neighbors."
Now that is a lot of yard sales and church bazaars. Except oh wait, there are no neighbors left, their houses were destroyed as well as the churches, so sorry guys no billion dollar bingo games to pay for it all.
I'm not sure what's worse, that this guy got elected, or that somebody lost to him.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
More Tale from Mitch's Blame Squad
You gotta love a law that allows the state's Inspector General to accuse former State Police Superintendent Melvin Carraway of impropriety, but refuse to discuss the details. I don't have any clue whether or not Carraway broke a rule, but then neither does anybody else who reads this article, so why release such a sketchy news release? Because while the charges always make headlines the truth usually ends up on B8 in the Star.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
And Now Introducing Mitch and the Harriet Miers Sextet
Today Mitch announced his appointments to the State Board of Education. And while his picks maybe somewhat unknown (on paper they look good, but Mitch has a way of putting his pals ahead of everything else) it his reason for picking them that seems all so familiar, and bogus:
"He appointed, he said, a "reform-minded" board which he wants to look at how Indiana can best give teachers the most "time on task" with children."
What is that supposed to mean? And given the absolute failure of Mitch's recent reforms what should we even expect? Closing all but 5 schools? Oh, wait he's already pitching that idea. Firing all the principals and replacing them with Galayans employees? Buying RV's to replace aging schools?
The best part? Mitch forget to tell the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
"Daniels had earlier said he would consult with Reed on the appointments. She learned of them today in phone call from Shane."
"He appointed, he said, a "reform-minded" board which he wants to look at how Indiana can best give teachers the most "time on task" with children."
What is that supposed to mean? And given the absolute failure of Mitch's recent reforms what should we even expect? Closing all but 5 schools? Oh, wait he's already pitching that idea. Firing all the principals and replacing them with Galayans employees? Buying RV's to replace aging schools?
The best part? Mitch forget to tell the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
"Daniels had earlier said he would consult with Reed on the appointments. She learned of them today in phone call from Shane."
Monday, October 10, 2005
Rove: Beginning of the End, or just the End of the Beginning?
Reports are that Karl Rove was brought back for his fourth appearance before the grand jury for questioning about "discrepancies in testimony between Rove and Time reporter Matt Cooper about their conversation of July 11, 2003." At issue is that Rove didn't disclose details of the conversation to the grand jury during his first testimony, or the FBI when they interviewed him.
Which is great and all, but this is starting to drag on with no end in sight. Add in Judy Miller "suddenly" finding notes from a conversation with Scooter Libby, which will need to be investigated in depth, and well by the time this ends Bush could be back to clearing brush full time. I'm thinking that the White House has taken control of the time line, they may not be able to affect the outcome, but they may be able to determine when it happens. If they can offset the indictments until next spring, as opposed to this fall, then there won't be any trial activity next fall, and the GOP can focus on the evils of gay people and single moms, instead of an avalanche of corruption. People don't necessarily know who Tom Delay is, and don't always care, but anything to do with why we went into Iraq gets their attention. If you want to pound away on Delay, and Duke Cunningham, and the people who took Delay's dirty money (I'm looking in your direction Rep. Chocola) you need Rove as an ice-breaker, not everybody knows what TrimPAC is, but we all know how the war in Iraq has gone.
Justice delayed is justice denied.
Which is great and all, but this is starting to drag on with no end in sight. Add in Judy Miller "suddenly" finding notes from a conversation with Scooter Libby, which will need to be investigated in depth, and well by the time this ends Bush could be back to clearing brush full time. I'm thinking that the White House has taken control of the time line, they may not be able to affect the outcome, but they may be able to determine when it happens. If they can offset the indictments until next spring, as opposed to this fall, then there won't be any trial activity next fall, and the GOP can focus on the evils of gay people and single moms, instead of an avalanche of corruption. People don't necessarily know who Tom Delay is, and don't always care, but anything to do with why we went into Iraq gets their attention. If you want to pound away on Delay, and Duke Cunningham, and the people who took Delay's dirty money (I'm looking in your direction Rep. Chocola) you need Rove as an ice-breaker, not everybody knows what TrimPAC is, but we all know how the war in Iraq has gone.
Justice delayed is justice denied.
Indiana to Start Pumping E85
Thanks to grant money (sad that it takes free money to get them to do it) 8 Indiana gas stations will start selling E85 fuel, fuel that contains 15% ethanol. While not every vehicle can use E85, it is a start.
I realize that ethanol isn't the solution, but it is a good start. It gets people thinking about alternatives to gas, and reduces our dependence on foreign oil, even if it is but a drop in the ocean. It also means an expanding market for Indiana corn growers (that is if Mitch doesn't auction them all of to this week's favorite megafarm) and for the ethanol plants that are popping up all over the state. So no we probably won't all be driving cars powered purely by ethanol or soy diesel, but it's a little easier to imagine driving cars powered by something other then gas.
I realize that ethanol isn't the solution, but it is a good start. It gets people thinking about alternatives to gas, and reduces our dependence on foreign oil, even if it is but a drop in the ocean. It also means an expanding market for Indiana corn growers (that is if Mitch doesn't auction them all of to this week's favorite megafarm) and for the ethanol plants that are popping up all over the state. So no we probably won't all be driving cars powered purely by ethanol or soy diesel, but it's a little easier to imagine driving cars powered by something other then gas.
Sunday, October 09, 2005
Mitch to Farmers: Suck It
That is what his administration is saying when it tries to force megafarm on communities. Most dislike them due to pollution, which isn't a small consideration given that the state's most prolific water polluter is a hog megafarm in the Western part of the state. But megafarms are lethal to the family farm, they take the bottom out of market prices making it impossible for family farms to make any profit. Note that as these prices have fallen, food hasn't become any cheaper at the grocery store, megafarm aren't about reducing our costs, just theirs.
So why is this so important?
"Indiana has ignored agriculture economic development for years, Miller said. Now, it's time to get with it. Megafarms provide jobs. Most importantly, the large amount of manure can be a source of new bio-fuels."
So are minimum wage jobs, worth the destruction of a way of life? Is it really worth destroying the bedrock of rural communities, the family farm, to create a few more jobs to pad Mitch's numbers? Or is this more about the money these corporations provide Mitch's re-election?
So why is this so important?
"Indiana has ignored agriculture economic development for years, Miller said. Now, it's time to get with it. Megafarms provide jobs. Most importantly, the large amount of manure can be a source of new bio-fuels."
So are minimum wage jobs, worth the destruction of a way of life? Is it really worth destroying the bedrock of rural communities, the family farm, to create a few more jobs to pad Mitch's numbers? Or is this more about the money these corporations provide Mitch's re-election?
Friday, October 07, 2005
Sometimes Change Isn't a Good Thing
"The new fault lines in Indiana politics are between the forces of change and the forces of standing still.” -Mitch
See the problem Mitch is that you have to think through the consequences of your actions, your "change." If you push through a bill requiring Day Light Savings, but pass the buck on what time zone that it should be problems happen. Actually you end up with a big mess, as the people in the Lafayette area are going to find out as Tippecanoe County switches to Eastern Daylight Savings, and the counties surrounding it go with Central.
Or when you decide to centralize the unemployment payments offices, but don't hire enough people to make sure the checks aren't sent out in a reasonable period of time. A lot of people, people who don't have a lot to begin with, were hurt by your "change." But I doubt any of your neighbors in Geist were effected so no biggie, right Mitch?
Or when you "change" how the state distributes property tax money to county and municipal governments, your change was to shortchange them. Now local governments will be faces with cutting services, like police and fire, or raising property taxes. People are already losing their houses at near record rates, higher property taxes will only push that further.
But your right about change Mitch, I just hope the state survives until 2008 to make an important change.
See the problem Mitch is that you have to think through the consequences of your actions, your "change." If you push through a bill requiring Day Light Savings, but pass the buck on what time zone that it should be problems happen. Actually you end up with a big mess, as the people in the Lafayette area are going to find out as Tippecanoe County switches to Eastern Daylight Savings, and the counties surrounding it go with Central.
Or when you decide to centralize the unemployment payments offices, but don't hire enough people to make sure the checks aren't sent out in a reasonable period of time. A lot of people, people who don't have a lot to begin with, were hurt by your "change." But I doubt any of your neighbors in Geist were effected so no biggie, right Mitch?
Or when you "change" how the state distributes property tax money to county and municipal governments, your change was to shortchange them. Now local governments will be faces with cutting services, like police and fire, or raising property taxes. People are already losing their houses at near record rates, higher property taxes will only push that further.
But your right about change Mitch, I just hope the state survives until 2008 to make an important change.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
News You Could Have Used a Year Ago
It turns out a Marine who had worked at the White House since 1999 (yes he started during the Clinton presidency) was caught spying for groups within the Philippines. That alone is a fairly big news story, but what is interesting is when he was caught:
"Last year, after leaving the Marines, Aragoncillo was caught by the FBI while he worked for the Bureau at an intelligence center at Fort Monmouth, N.J."
Now why wasn't this news a year ago? Hmmm, what could have been happening a year ago were a serious security leak would have been a really bad thing for President Bush? ...Oh yeah that's right he was running for re-election claiming that he was the only person we could trust with national security matters.
"Last year, after leaving the Marines, Aragoncillo was caught by the FBI while he worked for the Bureau at an intelligence center at Fort Monmouth, N.J."
Now why wasn't this news a year ago? Hmmm, what could have been happening a year ago were a serious security leak would have been a really bad thing for President Bush? ...Oh yeah that's right he was running for re-election claiming that he was the only person we could trust with national security matters.
Monday, October 03, 2005
No Ann Just You
We'll let DeLay stay in Texas, I here they're preparing a nice room for him right now.
Privatized Highways Congested with Problems
The Star writes about a pretty lengthy list of problem privatized highways, and notes that Mitch may be wildly optimistic in how much Indiana would get to privatize the toll road. So why do it?
"With fuel prices rising and traffic congestion worsening, Gov. Mitch Daniels wants to turn over two of Indiana's interstates to private hands.
Leasing out tolling and concessions rights on the roads, the Republican governor believes, will spare motorists who are in no mood to hear about a new levy at the pump. Privatizing also frees up money for other road needs."
Once again Mitch is playing his shell game with our taxes, we continue to pay more for less while he tries to claim he has no role in the new taxes. Once these road are privatized we can expect the tolls to double at the start. But hey the road are privately held, what can Mitch do about it?
"With fuel prices rising and traffic congestion worsening, Gov. Mitch Daniels wants to turn over two of Indiana's interstates to private hands.
Leasing out tolling and concessions rights on the roads, the Republican governor believes, will spare motorists who are in no mood to hear about a new levy at the pump. Privatizing also frees up money for other road needs."
Once again Mitch is playing his shell game with our taxes, we continue to pay more for less while he tries to claim he has no role in the new taxes. Once these road are privatized we can expect the tolls to double at the start. But hey the road are privately held, what can Mitch do about it?
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Something's Fishy in Alaska
Hands down Alaska has to be the per capita pork capital of America. $500 million for bridges that will serve a total of less then 100 people, and now $29 million to promote the Alaskan fish industry, including $500,000 to paint Alaska Airlines planes to look like fish. Does anybody actually care that much about where their fish comes from that Alaska needs $29 million to get you to eat their's? And does the GOP really think they are still the party of fiscal conservatives?
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