Until everyone!!!! realizes that the corruption is endemic and that it doesn't get exposed because everyone else tangentially involved wants to keep their job, their suburban house, three-car garage, five near-luxury vehicles and the summer vacations in Bermuda, there can not and will not be any change. The masses think that one party or the other (or at least certain members thereof) are on their side. Well, they are not, never have been and never will be.
The bulls... being plied by Goldsmith and his cronies was evident when he first ran for mayor, but some people still lap it up no matter how putrid it gets. But that is the result when we allow our public servants to play divide and conquer while each takes turns plundering our cities, states and nation (and the world via a hegemonic empire).
Until we reject the political parties and literally burn their dried elephant and donkey carcasses at the stake, it will only be us getting scorched, burned and buried in ashes.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Department of War strikes again
Of course, Obama (Bush III) is telling Gaddafi not to kill his own people, while, by remote-control, we kill innocent civilians in a half-dozen countries and while, here at home, we slowly kill U.S. citizens by subjecting them to radiation from porno-scanners at airports. Oh, I almost forgot, Obama has already indicated that he has the authority to assassinate American citizens that he decides are terrorists. The terrifying thing is that it appears that hardly anyone cares (not counting partisan hacks). Shouldn’t he be impeached for stating such a thing? In my mind, he has clearly cemented his place in history with the war criminals of the Bush administration. And the crowds continue to cheer.
Furthermore, please tell me how we enforce a no-fly zone without killing people, particularly civilians in Libya. Haven’t we made a big enough mess of the Middle East since the middle of the 20th century? Do we have to keep interfering and sinking deeper and deeper into this morass? I don’t believe that we have the moral authority to chastise any country’s leader about anything. Whatever moral authority we may have had was lost long ago, with our immoral and illegal wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq (continuously since the 1990 when including sanctions and no-fly zones) and our even more evil forays into Pakistan, Yemen and every other place we decide needs to be droned. The acceptance of all this evil is destroying this nation, slowly but surely. It is sad to watch.
Furthermore, please tell me how we enforce a no-fly zone without killing people, particularly civilians in Libya. Haven’t we made a big enough mess of the Middle East since the middle of the 20th century? Do we have to keep interfering and sinking deeper and deeper into this morass? I don’t believe that we have the moral authority to chastise any country’s leader about anything. Whatever moral authority we may have had was lost long ago, with our immoral and illegal wars in Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq (continuously since the 1990 when including sanctions and no-fly zones) and our even more evil forays into Pakistan, Yemen and every other place we decide needs to be droned. The acceptance of all this evil is destroying this nation, slowly but surely. It is sad to watch.
Illegal is still illegal
It always amazes me that the obvious results of exporting jobs, importing workers and engaging in other forms of labor and environmental arbitrage are a mystery to newspaper editorialists and many of our so-called public leaders. Despite the fact that it should be evident to all by now, but apparently isn’t, that our real economy has been layered with a decades long, debt-based Ponzi scheme that provided the excuse for importing workers that simultaneous created an illusionary economy while permitting the transfer of wealth from the many to the few.
Delph is trying to address the issue of this oversupply of labor (remember it was never really needed), the demand (present and future) for public funds and services and the protection of our national sovereignty. Again, Indiana’s problems are mild compared to what they will be. Ask anyone still in California who has to deal with the onslaught of illegal aliens on a daily basis what the impacts to society are. Does anyone not think that it is more than just coincidental that the states with the most entrenched illegal alien population (and most entrenched illegal alien service providers and illegitimate business exploiters) have the largest budgetary problems? Operating large welfare systems that support illegal aliens (who routinely ship earnings out of the country) and the myriad financial, educational, health, social, cultural and addiction problems that many of them bring with them are foisted on the unsuspecting (the clueless ones) American public, with the attendant propaganda. Many more citizens become surprised when they realize that working does not prevent nor discourage some of the illegal aliens from belonging to criminal gangs. However, by sanctioning the illegal behavior of invading the sovereignty of this nation, we continue to forfeit our rights to decide who will be a positive contributor (we maybe wrong sometimes, but it should be our decision) to our nation and we are forced to except the good, the bad, the indifferent and the pathologically criminal, without scrutiny. It is not yet too late to reverse the tide, but it may be too late very, very soon.
Delph is trying to address the issue of this oversupply of labor (remember it was never really needed), the demand (present and future) for public funds and services and the protection of our national sovereignty. Again, Indiana’s problems are mild compared to what they will be. Ask anyone still in California who has to deal with the onslaught of illegal aliens on a daily basis what the impacts to society are. Does anyone not think that it is more than just coincidental that the states with the most entrenched illegal alien population (and most entrenched illegal alien service providers and illegitimate business exploiters) have the largest budgetary problems? Operating large welfare systems that support illegal aliens (who routinely ship earnings out of the country) and the myriad financial, educational, health, social, cultural and addiction problems that many of them bring with them are foisted on the unsuspecting (the clueless ones) American public, with the attendant propaganda. Many more citizens become surprised when they realize that working does not prevent nor discourage some of the illegal aliens from belonging to criminal gangs. However, by sanctioning the illegal behavior of invading the sovereignty of this nation, we continue to forfeit our rights to decide who will be a positive contributor (we maybe wrong sometimes, but it should be our decision) to our nation and we are forced to except the good, the bad, the indifferent and the pathologically criminal, without scrutiny. It is not yet too late to reverse the tide, but it may be too late very, very soon.
Amanda - older and wiser
It’s been a long time folks. Yes, it is me, Amanda, still curious as ever; however, I am five years older and in the 11th grade at Princess High School in Prince, IN. Not surprisingly, in light of the current economic situation, we have been learning a lot about the principles of good government; unfortunately, my teacher has had difficulty providing us with recent concrete examples. So, I have been spending a lot of my free time watching the government channel of Indianapolis to find my own examples of good government principles being applied. Ok, I know; I am not a typical teenager. Particularly, I paid attention to a proposal to sell the water company to Citizens Energy. Needless to say it was quite a learning experience. Did you know that Citizens Energy is a public trust (maybe the name should have gave me a clue – duh)?
I have learned that one of the principles of good government is that government should be financed by user fees for all direct services to individuals. Although the idea to transfer water and sewer utilities to Citizens seemed to be almost a no-brainer, I was surprised when I heard that Citizens (remember it is a public trust) would borrow millions of dollars (funded by user fees), to transfer to a public agency (the Department of Public Works of the City of Indianapolis), to fund street and sidewalk infrastructure projects. I was even more surprised that a lot of the Councilors seemed to think it was a good idea. Then the presenters also started talking about bonds being issued against PILOT (payments in lieu of taxes – I think) revenue in such a confusing manner (Wasn’t everyone involved public, so why would taxes even be an issue?); my head started to hurt. One thing that I thought I had learned in school was that user fees and taxes should be clearly applicable to the services rendered, transparent and understandable. I couldn’t figure out why Citizens (public trust) would pay the City (public) so that it could pave streets and build sidewalks instead of just continuing to apply the requisite user fees to sewer, water and gas, respectively.
Anyway, I knew I needed some help, but unfortunately, our civics teacher was out with an illness, but later, on the way to the library, I stumbled across our mayor, Meg A. Mallard. I asked her whether she knew and understood what was going on with the Citizens proposal. She said it really wasn’t that difficult to understand; the Councilors and the City of Indianapolis were just trying to make it sound complicated to hide what they are doing from the general public, who they know (other than a few dedicated folk) don’t have time to stay abreast of everything going on the city. She said that many government officials don’t like to do the things that are easy to understand, because too many people would catch on too quickly and might stop their proposals. So they pretend they are doing creative, wondrous, complicated transactions to prevent the average person from really understanding what is going on until it is too late. Basically, she said that they are attempting to divert user fees from water and sewer ratepayers that would be too difficult to take without the proposed Citizens transfer as a cover. She said the proposal was a classic case of “robbing Peter to pay Paul (I am not sure who Peter and Paul are, but I understand that no one should rob Peter).” She continued by saying that if the City of Indianapolis, or for that matter the State or Federal government does not have adequate funds to repair, pave or construct streets and sidewalks, the proper thing to do would be to propose to raise the gas tax or some other dedicated infrastructure tax or fee to the appropriate level to meet their obligations. But that would be too transparent, so they haven’t done anything for many, many years to address this issue, so there is a shortage of funds to maintain the infrastructure within the right-of-way.
Well, as always, I thanked our small town mayor for helping me understand things a little better. What I have learned from all this is that good government is easy to understand and that bad government is not. So, folks, if you don’t understand what your government is doing, you probably are witnessing bad government. Well, back to Channel 16 to see if I can find some good government in action. There must be some of it somewhere, don’t you think?
I have learned that one of the principles of good government is that government should be financed by user fees for all direct services to individuals. Although the idea to transfer water and sewer utilities to Citizens seemed to be almost a no-brainer, I was surprised when I heard that Citizens (remember it is a public trust) would borrow millions of dollars (funded by user fees), to transfer to a public agency (the Department of Public Works of the City of Indianapolis), to fund street and sidewalk infrastructure projects. I was even more surprised that a lot of the Councilors seemed to think it was a good idea. Then the presenters also started talking about bonds being issued against PILOT (payments in lieu of taxes – I think) revenue in such a confusing manner (Wasn’t everyone involved public, so why would taxes even be an issue?); my head started to hurt. One thing that I thought I had learned in school was that user fees and taxes should be clearly applicable to the services rendered, transparent and understandable. I couldn’t figure out why Citizens (public trust) would pay the City (public) so that it could pave streets and build sidewalks instead of just continuing to apply the requisite user fees to sewer, water and gas, respectively.
Anyway, I knew I needed some help, but unfortunately, our civics teacher was out with an illness, but later, on the way to the library, I stumbled across our mayor, Meg A. Mallard. I asked her whether she knew and understood what was going on with the Citizens proposal. She said it really wasn’t that difficult to understand; the Councilors and the City of Indianapolis were just trying to make it sound complicated to hide what they are doing from the general public, who they know (other than a few dedicated folk) don’t have time to stay abreast of everything going on the city. She said that many government officials don’t like to do the things that are easy to understand, because too many people would catch on too quickly and might stop their proposals. So they pretend they are doing creative, wondrous, complicated transactions to prevent the average person from really understanding what is going on until it is too late. Basically, she said that they are attempting to divert user fees from water and sewer ratepayers that would be too difficult to take without the proposed Citizens transfer as a cover. She said the proposal was a classic case of “robbing Peter to pay Paul (I am not sure who Peter and Paul are, but I understand that no one should rob Peter).” She continued by saying that if the City of Indianapolis, or for that matter the State or Federal government does not have adequate funds to repair, pave or construct streets and sidewalks, the proper thing to do would be to propose to raise the gas tax or some other dedicated infrastructure tax or fee to the appropriate level to meet their obligations. But that would be too transparent, so they haven’t done anything for many, many years to address this issue, so there is a shortage of funds to maintain the infrastructure within the right-of-way.
Well, as always, I thanked our small town mayor for helping me understand things a little better. What I have learned from all this is that good government is easy to understand and that bad government is not. So, folks, if you don’t understand what your government is doing, you probably are witnessing bad government. Well, back to Channel 16 to see if I can find some good government in action. There must be some of it somewhere, don’t you think?
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Follow the Constitution
They could start really thinking about the ideas (really radical stuff like following the Constitution, etc.) that Ron Paul, Lew Rockwell, Judge Napolitano and many others have espoused. And as others here have stated, eliminate the cronyism, statism, corporatism etc. that both parties are using to destroy this country while enriching themselves and their minions.
Oh, and by the way, admit that the Bush Presidency was an unmitigated disaster and admit that Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin et al are the problem, not the solution. Until that happens, nothing will change except the players.
Oh, and by the way, admit that the Bush Presidency was an unmitigated disaster and admit that Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin et al are the problem, not the solution. Until that happens, nothing will change except the players.
War.... What is it Good For? Absolutely Nothing! Say It Again
Well, just as I thought, Obama intends to extend the illegal Afghanistan Invasion and Occupation (Authorization for the Use of Military Force), by adding additional troops; meanwhile the illegal Iraq Invasion and Occupation drags on. By providing for the illegal “Authorization for the Use of Military Force” instead of declaring war as provided for in the Constitution, the Congress abdicated its responsibility to determine the rationale for waging war. That is one of the main reasons that no one knows what constitutes victory in these two countries, because Congress permitted open-ended use of military force. Permission to use military force without any specific guidelines results in the perpetual war we are witnessing. I guess that what happens after 60+ years of waging illegal undeclared wars. Obama shows no sign of being any different than any other President. He continues to engage in and expand the illegal bombing of Pakistan, at the same time pretending that they are our allies. Despite the phony rhetoric emanating from Democrats and Republicans that they disagree about invading and occupying countries, there has never been any indication in history that either party shies away from conducting illegal wars or for fostering false-flag operations to achieve those ends. The sad thing about the last decade is that if the Republican Party had been operating under its historic conservative principles, we would not be involved in these illegal, undeclared wars. And in doing so, we would not be expanding the empire nor subsidizing corporate operations in foreign lands through the blood, sweat and tears of our dedicated Armed Forces. As Major General Smedley Butler said in 1933, “War is a racket.”
Our long-term policies of having our military provide the muscle for our corporations to plunder third-world countries creates blowback. Couple that with imbecilic immigration and refugee policies (wait until the children of the Iraqi refugees grow up) that are intended to provide cover for our advancing empire, and you have a recipe for disaster. It is only going to get worse. What people always seem to forget is that 9/11 (regardless of whether it was a false-flag operation or not) happened because the terrorists were here (not there) in the United States, with the Saudi Visa express making it very easy for some (http://www.nationalreview.com/mowbray/mowbray061402.asp).
The bottom line is that we, as a nation, must recognize the lies emanating from our leaders to convince us that they are acting in our best interests. The only interests they act in are those of the Corporatists and their lackeys. Just remember, when evaluating a pronouncement by our President or Congress, we must always ask ourselves, “Cui Bono (Who benefits – profit wise)?” Once we determine that the answer to that question is consistently the Corporatists, we will begin to understand the massive deception propagated on the American people. Only then will we see real “Hope and Change” and the chance to reverse our spiraling decline to become the great nation envisioned within the Constitution for the United States of America.
Our long-term policies of having our military provide the muscle for our corporations to plunder third-world countries creates blowback. Couple that with imbecilic immigration and refugee policies (wait until the children of the Iraqi refugees grow up) that are intended to provide cover for our advancing empire, and you have a recipe for disaster. It is only going to get worse. What people always seem to forget is that 9/11 (regardless of whether it was a false-flag operation or not) happened because the terrorists were here (not there) in the United States, with the Saudi Visa express making it very easy for some (http://www.nationalreview.com/mowbray/mowbray061402.asp).
The bottom line is that we, as a nation, must recognize the lies emanating from our leaders to convince us that they are acting in our best interests. The only interests they act in are those of the Corporatists and their lackeys. Just remember, when evaluating a pronouncement by our President or Congress, we must always ask ourselves, “Cui Bono (Who benefits – profit wise)?” Once we determine that the answer to that question is consistently the Corporatists, we will begin to understand the massive deception propagated on the American people. Only then will we see real “Hope and Change” and the chance to reverse our spiraling decline to become the great nation envisioned within the Constitution for the United States of America.
Government Logic
This kind of stuff will never stop until the people rise up en masse. Until people understand that government can not create jobs; all it can do is create processes and procedures that can be and are easily undermined by the cult of personality, lies, deception, and graft.
Then they also want us to believe that somehow, against all logic, the government has created a viable "industry," despite it being soley funded by taxation. The claim of viability is largely based on the fact that significant sales tax revenues are generated (without providing any actual data). Those of us who are not believers are supposedly fools who can't see the obvious downtown wonderland created by our brilliant leaders of our heavily indebted city. Yet, they continue to scratch their heads wondering why our infrastructure is in a shambles. It is shameful, yet they have no shame.
Then they also want us to believe that somehow, against all logic, the government has created a viable "industry," despite it being soley funded by taxation. The claim of viability is largely based on the fact that significant sales tax revenues are generated (without providing any actual data). Those of us who are not believers are supposedly fools who can't see the obvious downtown wonderland created by our brilliant leaders of our heavily indebted city. Yet, they continue to scratch their heads wondering why our infrastructure is in a shambles. It is shameful, yet they have no shame.
Privatization Nonsense
As I've said before, privatization deals and public-private partnerships and their ilk are just ways to permit existing entities or people to steal even more money from the taxpayers and the vital funding of public services. I really hope no one is really surprised by this. The real problem is that a large percentage of the population either believes this nonsense will provide positive benefits to the city or they know that it will provide positive benefits to them individually. The rest of us just get steamrolled and told that we just don't understand.
Cato is right, if this consortium would take over the costs of the stadium, etc. so that we could retire the bonds, I would be all for this. But, at its best, all privatization does is add a layer of incompetent management between the existing public management and the poorly delivered service.
Cato is right, if this consortium would take over the costs of the stadium, etc. so that we could retire the bonds, I would be all for this. But, at its best, all privatization does is add a layer of incompetent management between the existing public management and the poorly delivered service.
Bogeyman
Just ignore history and facts; common-sense should tell you that if you mess with people, create countries out of thin air and use / abuse our intelligence agencies and military to support corporate dominance and spread our empire in foreign lands, resentment will surely sprout like weeds.
Keep believing the propaganda that the government is here to protect us. Be very afraid of the bogeyman that arise from every corner, with bombs in their underwear and sh.. for brains. They are not are enemy; our enemy is within and if you "conservatives" don't soon wake up and recognize the common links between the Bush / Clinton / Bush / Obama presidencies, you will become the walking dead.
Keep believing the propaganda that the government is here to protect us. Be very afraid of the bogeyman that arise from every corner, with bombs in their underwear and sh.. for brains. They are not are enemy; our enemy is within and if you "conservatives" don't soon wake up and recognize the common links between the Bush / Clinton / Bush / Obama presidencies, you will become the walking dead.
Mayor Duds
I wish the writer would realize that the so-called convention business is nothing more than a scam perpetrated on the citizens of Indianapolis. What other business requires a near total subsidization of its central facility, as well as partial subsidization of every hotel within spitting distance and the main retail facility and its accessory parking. Oh, yeah, and throw in an arena, stadium ball park and state park.
And on top of that, we have to read about the supposed brilliance of the previous three mayors. Have you seen most of the city outside of downtown? Other than downtown, most of it has been neglected and forced to accept substandard or non-existent infrastructure.
Please when evaluating the current mayor, keep the others off of the pedestal. They really don't deserve it. Their accomplishments basically consist of transferring wealth to a selected few, by running a huge Ponzi scheme funded by tax dollars. Take a real objective look and what has transpired over the last 30 years before you write your next article. Once you take a look behind the curtain, the truth will be revealed
And on top of that, we have to read about the supposed brilliance of the previous three mayors. Have you seen most of the city outside of downtown? Other than downtown, most of it has been neglected and forced to accept substandard or non-existent infrastructure.
Please when evaluating the current mayor, keep the others off of the pedestal. They really don't deserve it. Their accomplishments basically consist of transferring wealth to a selected few, by running a huge Ponzi scheme funded by tax dollars. Take a real objective look and what has transpired over the last 30 years before you write your next article. Once you take a look behind the curtain, the truth will be revealed
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