Today Mayor Ballard has come out saying that "Now is the time" we put forth a mass transit plan in Indianapolis. There are a small group of people pushing for this, politicians, politicians in REALTOR clothing, and politicians in downtown development clothing. They all want to rush something through during their election cycle so they can be the ones who "gave" Indianapolis this great "gift." Or better said, give them the gift that just keeps on taking.
Indianapolis does not need an enhanced mass transit system right now, in fact it is likely at least twenty years from that need. Our current one is anything but well utilized, or self-sustaining. We would be spending 1.3 billion dollars shared between us and the Federal Government, who by the way is also us, to purchase something we don't yet need, and likely will barely use. Then we will be given the opportunity to pay millions more per year in operating losses over the next twenty years hoping that it will be mostly covering its own costs by then. After twenty years, how much of that initial infrastructure purchase will be required to replace? How much will that be?
After a brutal fight to cut our property taxes, we are being asked to allow them to be raised so we can see a train running through town several times a day. Has any thought been given to the traffic jams that it will cause at every intersection from the North side to Downtown to allow the trains to go by all day? Has any thought been given to the cost in human lives and property damage to the danger of these trains running all day in a densely populated area? What consideration has been given to the property values and quality of life issues, such as noise, dirt, and danger that will be a result of the trains running up and down along homes along the way?
I agree we should be looking into long-term solutions, but by taking a long-term approach. We have the benefit of time, let's use it, rather than jumping in as if we are backed into a corner, let's take our time, and explore options. If we feel we have a good solution, if we feel we are well served to start procuring land and property, then start that process.
However, right now it seems more that a group of politicians in all walks of life, are just wanting to have their pictures taken cutting the ribbon with no thought of the massive losses of dollars and frankly quality of life for the city in the near term.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Post Election 2012, Where Are We, Where Are We Going?
"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated." Thomas Payne
I just thought all of us could benefit from reading those words written in December of 1776 when all looked lost in our countries Revolution for Independence. With that said, if you think I am going to get Pollyanna with rose-colored glasses and blow smoke up your skirt you are going to be disappointed.
We just went through a very hard fought election and ended up in figuratively the same place we were going in. We went in with an either incompetent or intentionally destructive president, a Senate Leader who has decided to put that chamber in a total deep freeze with nothing ever coming to the floor, and a House that is opposed to both. We went to bed Tuesday night/Wednesday morning exactly the same, at least on the surface.
What actually changed is the likely end of The United States of America as a Free Market Capitalist based economy in a Representative Constitutional Republic under the Rule of Law. At least for as long as most of us will be living, and that is optimistic, it is likely gone forever.
What are we up against?
1. Obamacare will be fully implemented, in so doing it will enslave ALL Americans to owe their very lives to the whims of the government bureaucracy. This is slavery as much as any shackles and chains could ever reach. For this reason government healthcare is always the first thing any Totalitarian Regime puts into place.
2. Dodd-Frank will stay the law and will be more and more rolled out. This essentially ends any semblance of the free market system, now government has total control over any financial transaction.
3. Obama will choose the next three Supreme Court Justices who will stack the court with a 6-3 lead assuring a Marxist Constitutional Revisionist view for the next 20-30 years. One could argue right now that the game is over, fulfilling Nikita Khrushchev’s prophecy. That we would not be defeated from outside but would vote for Communism from within.
It appears that the One Party Rule that is tied to a dependent voter base who relies on government for their lives is complete. It was started under Woodrow Wilson, put on steroids under FDR, another shot of steroids by LBJ, and maybe harvested by BHO. The goal was to get enough people who abdicated their very lives to government largess who would always vote to keep Democrats in office to protect their goodie bag.
So what's next? Do we just give up? Do we figure out how to best take care of ourselves and our families in the "new" world and let the rest go? Do we fight back? What's Next?
First of all I would strongly recommend no matter what you do about the country that you first and foremost figure out the best way to take care of yourself and your family in our new reality.
What can we do to try to save our Republic? Of course America will go on, look at Europe, we will survive just not the way we could or should unless we can figure out a strategy to take it back. There is not going to be any easy path. The last best chance we had ended Tuesday night. It is now a series of long-shots. We have a chance to help a bit in 2014 if we can figure out a path to take the Senate and stop Obama from doing further damage in the last two years of his second term. Who knows, maybe those three judges will hang in for two more years. That would be HUGE!
As expected after a loss, especially one where we were so blindsided, a lot of finger pointing is going on. The old school blames the tea party, the tea party blames the "RINOs", our candidate was too moderate, too conservative, too negative, not negative enough, whatever. There is likely some blame to spread around, but I don't think it is really anyone who is to blame, it is more than that. We just had more people choose freebies than freedom, and that is a problem. I have heard we need to "reach out to the single women, minorities, immigrants, and those who want a bigger and bigger social net to take care of them. In my opinion if that is our approach, why bother, why be copies of the Democrats? Holding offices with an R instead of a D but doing the same things is not a win in any way.
My thoughts are we need to go all out to take the shot at the Senate in 2014. Then if we win the Senate we try to start dialing things back, but make sure that nothing of the Obama ideology is pushed forward. Win or lose that race we need to start looking long term. If we are to make a come back to our Constitutional and Free Market principles we have to educate our electorate. We have for far too many decades allowed the left to indoctrinate and not educate our children. Beginning in the 1950s we were taught revisionist history, in what history we were taught. Each decade became significantly worse, today our kids are getting out of school with virtually no understanding of our country's history and how it came to be, or what makes it work. They have been instead taught that all of those things were evil if taught at all. They have been indoctrinated on television, in the movies, in their music, and schools, and now we are shocked they don't love our country and what it stands for.
We need to find a way to get our hands back into the schools, but short term, I have an idea. Instead of running a billion dollars of ads bashing our opponents, we MUST educate our electorate. We could take advantage of those ad buys to start doing so. What if we picked five keys to our platform and had ads teaching the advantages of that issue, do so with clever visuals and catchy jingles that will get stuck in people's head. We all can sing along to the jingles of commercials from decades before if we can "get into the voter's heads" we might start getting through to them. Run the ads on the shows that young voters watch and start reprogramming them. If we do not win the Senate and House in 2014, this will be starting the program to hope to turn this country back by our grandchildren's time. If we can win the Senate, we might be able to take it back sooner.
I know this isn't all kittens and sunshine, but this is how I see it today.
I just thought all of us could benefit from reading those words written in December of 1776 when all looked lost in our countries Revolution for Independence. With that said, if you think I am going to get Pollyanna with rose-colored glasses and blow smoke up your skirt you are going to be disappointed.
We just went through a very hard fought election and ended up in figuratively the same place we were going in. We went in with an either incompetent or intentionally destructive president, a Senate Leader who has decided to put that chamber in a total deep freeze with nothing ever coming to the floor, and a House that is opposed to both. We went to bed Tuesday night/Wednesday morning exactly the same, at least on the surface.
What actually changed is the likely end of The United States of America as a Free Market Capitalist based economy in a Representative Constitutional Republic under the Rule of Law. At least for as long as most of us will be living, and that is optimistic, it is likely gone forever.
What are we up against?
1. Obamacare will be fully implemented, in so doing it will enslave ALL Americans to owe their very lives to the whims of the government bureaucracy. This is slavery as much as any shackles and chains could ever reach. For this reason government healthcare is always the first thing any Totalitarian Regime puts into place.
2. Dodd-Frank will stay the law and will be more and more rolled out. This essentially ends any semblance of the free market system, now government has total control over any financial transaction.
3. Obama will choose the next three Supreme Court Justices who will stack the court with a 6-3 lead assuring a Marxist Constitutional Revisionist view for the next 20-30 years. One could argue right now that the game is over, fulfilling Nikita Khrushchev’s prophecy. That we would not be defeated from outside but would vote for Communism from within.
It appears that the One Party Rule that is tied to a dependent voter base who relies on government for their lives is complete. It was started under Woodrow Wilson, put on steroids under FDR, another shot of steroids by LBJ, and maybe harvested by BHO. The goal was to get enough people who abdicated their very lives to government largess who would always vote to keep Democrats in office to protect their goodie bag.
So what's next? Do we just give up? Do we figure out how to best take care of ourselves and our families in the "new" world and let the rest go? Do we fight back? What's Next?
First of all I would strongly recommend no matter what you do about the country that you first and foremost figure out the best way to take care of yourself and your family in our new reality.
What can we do to try to save our Republic? Of course America will go on, look at Europe, we will survive just not the way we could or should unless we can figure out a strategy to take it back. There is not going to be any easy path. The last best chance we had ended Tuesday night. It is now a series of long-shots. We have a chance to help a bit in 2014 if we can figure out a path to take the Senate and stop Obama from doing further damage in the last two years of his second term. Who knows, maybe those three judges will hang in for two more years. That would be HUGE!
As expected after a loss, especially one where we were so blindsided, a lot of finger pointing is going on. The old school blames the tea party, the tea party blames the "RINOs", our candidate was too moderate, too conservative, too negative, not negative enough, whatever. There is likely some blame to spread around, but I don't think it is really anyone who is to blame, it is more than that. We just had more people choose freebies than freedom, and that is a problem. I have heard we need to "reach out to the single women, minorities, immigrants, and those who want a bigger and bigger social net to take care of them. In my opinion if that is our approach, why bother, why be copies of the Democrats? Holding offices with an R instead of a D but doing the same things is not a win in any way.
My thoughts are we need to go all out to take the shot at the Senate in 2014. Then if we win the Senate we try to start dialing things back, but make sure that nothing of the Obama ideology is pushed forward. Win or lose that race we need to start looking long term. If we are to make a come back to our Constitutional and Free Market principles we have to educate our electorate. We have for far too many decades allowed the left to indoctrinate and not educate our children. Beginning in the 1950s we were taught revisionist history, in what history we were taught. Each decade became significantly worse, today our kids are getting out of school with virtually no understanding of our country's history and how it came to be, or what makes it work. They have been instead taught that all of those things were evil if taught at all. They have been indoctrinated on television, in the movies, in their music, and schools, and now we are shocked they don't love our country and what it stands for.
We need to find a way to get our hands back into the schools, but short term, I have an idea. Instead of running a billion dollars of ads bashing our opponents, we MUST educate our electorate. We could take advantage of those ad buys to start doing so. What if we picked five keys to our platform and had ads teaching the advantages of that issue, do so with clever visuals and catchy jingles that will get stuck in people's head. We all can sing along to the jingles of commercials from decades before if we can "get into the voter's heads" we might start getting through to them. Run the ads on the shows that young voters watch and start reprogramming them. If we do not win the Senate and House in 2014, this will be starting the program to hope to turn this country back by our grandchildren's time. If we can win the Senate, we might be able to take it back sooner.
I know this isn't all kittens and sunshine, but this is how I see it today.
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