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Text Box: VOTE “NO” TO REGIONAL TRANSPORT DISTRICT On Tuesday, November 3 we vote on whether to join a new Regional Transportation District. If this vote goes through, we will be part of a 2-4 county District in northern Indiana, paying for expansions to the South Shore and to the bus systems in the other counties (but not ours). Upon passage, a Board would be created – whom we would not elect – and their first business would be to vote on an additional .25% option tax. Why is this happening? This election should never have been scheduled in an off year when no other election was planned. But the state legislature passed it as a last-minute amendment to the state budget, apparently tacked on by B. Patrick Bauer. No one can fathom why Bauer wanted this. Does he own land where the South Shore would expand? Was he trying to make some elected official in Lake or Porter County look bad or good? LaPorte County, who got sucked into this, has filed in court to block having to hold the election. Watch like a hawk for this election! To save money, it will not be held at the regular polling places. Instead, every eight or so polling places will be combined in one central location. Call Voter Registration 235-9521 now. (Or try the St. Joe County Republican website.) You need to find out where and get all your family, friends and neighbors out to vote. There is just one question on a paper ballot: Do you want this District? Yes or No TUES, NOVEMBER 3

"Our Councils' Gift to Us" - The logo adorning the now popular “sea of red” T-shirts having made public appearance at the December 2008 option tax hearing is an image of a grinchly figure withdrawing money from the pocket of a sleeping taxpayer.

(forgive incomplete development—we need people like you to help our online sector get moving)

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Text Box: Don't Be Left Out! If you want to receive important news and last-minute updates: We need your e-mail address! We pledge to keep your e-mail address confidential. We never share the list. Our e-mails are sent “blank carbon copy” so no one sees your address and you don't see anyone else's. We send only urgent updates. You can remove your name any time. E-mail us today at CitizensforCommonSense@gmail.com to get on the list. If you're already on our mailing list, we just need an e-mail saying "Put me on the urgent update list." Text Box: Essays by local citizens: (Featured articles may be viewed on this page, scroll down.) 500,000 Buildings by John Boyer, CCS Board On Airport Expansion by Charles Spiher Walorski vs. Donnelly by Kelly Havens Remembering History by Vi Nace College Football Hall of Fame by Greg Burkowski

REGIONAL RALLY

 

Sat, Nov. 7, 2009 at 1?pm

 

Warsaw?/Kokomo?/Huntington?

 

“Countdown to Election 2010”

 

Watch for updates at:

www.concernedcitizensofmichiana.com
Text Box: For a PDF of the “Election Update” (scroll to bottom of current page to view) detailing who is up for election when, CLICK HERE

Thank you!  Thanks to all the donations that have poured in, we will be switching to bulk mail.  We have already applied for the permit!  Plus, you were so kind, we are halfway to being able to run Radio Spots against the RDA tax!!

500,000 Buildings

by John Boyer

 

Ever wonder just how massive our Federal Government is?  The President recently announced that he was ordering a study to implement energy savings at all of the over 500,000 buildings that the federal government owns. If in fact the 500,000 number is correct, that amounts to 10,000 per state, and in Indiana's case, an average of 109 per county.  Another way to look at this number is one building for every 600 US Citizens.   Add to this, buildings owned by the states and local governments, is it any wonder the good ol’ USA is broke?

 

Taxes hidden and otherwise imposed at every level of government are constantly increasing as witnessed by our recent option income tax increase.   It is often said that politicians in government never see a tax they don't like and that taxes are never reduced or eliminated. If they are, they are merely replaced by another tax.  We need to remember that government is never a source of goods. Everything produced is produced by “we the people” and everything that government gives to “we the people” must therefore first be taken from the people.

 


Over 200 years ago, Professor Alexander Tytler wrote about the fall of the Athenian Republic. His words ring out more than ever today.  He states "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent force of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasure. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidate promising the most benefits from the public treasure, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship."

 

The average age of the world's great civilizations has been 200 years.  Each has progressed from Bondage to Spiritual Faith, to Great Courage, to Liberty, to Abundance, to Selfishness, to Complacency, to Apathy, to Dependence and then, back again to Bondage!  It is said that today, more people in the US are receiving a government or non-profit pay check than a private paycheck. They can outvote us and therefore, extort us!

 

Is it any wonder that Tea Parties are becoming more and more popular?

 

ON AIRPORT EXPANSION

By Charles Spiher

 


For all the absurdity of the proposed expansion of Transpo (see Oct. issue), it is even more difficult to ignore the airport authority, yet another “autonomous” entity operating away from public scrutiny.   I once discussed this at length with a local reporter. We watched as they were tearing up LWW (an Indian path that had survived five centuries), adding round-a-bouts, and condemning large parcels of property, all to build extended runways.


The irony was that property on the north end of the airport (junior soccer fields) could easily have been seized at a fraction of the cost with little disruption to traffic or relocating dozens of trailer park residents.  All this occurring while carriers have been abandoning service, offering less flights to fewer travelers -- in a metroplex of declining growth.  Incredible.  If the decline continues, the authority will probably devise another expansion plan.

 

Walorski vs. Donnelly

By Kelly Havens

 

Q: What’s better than a State Rep. who fights for lower taxes and core values?

A: Having her as a Congressman!

Cheers were heard all over the northern Indiana last week when Jackie Walorski announced that she was putting together an exploratory committee to consider running against Joe Donnelly for Congress.  Walorski, who has for five years now represented Indiana House District 21 (which includes southern St. Joe County), has been a staunch and vocal defender of Hoosier values like hard work and holding the line on government spending.  And isn’t that what we need in Washington?  Representatives who know that the best government is the one that stays out of our pockets and out of our way?  The only question is:  Where do we find another fighter to take her place in the State House?  Be on the look out for such a candidate, but in the mean time, let’s do everything in our power to get Jackie’s spirit, knowhow, and common sense to Capitol Hill!

 

REMEMBER HISTORY

By Vi Nace

 

Let’s look back in history to 900AD and the so-called “Fall of the Maya”.  The Maya had been around since about 3000BC and their elite had grown so much that by about 800AD the middle and lower class could no longer afford to support the larger “elite” class.  The question then was: “Do I feed my family or the elite?”  The people who were tired of supporting the elite just began to silently evacuate the great city-states of the Mayan lowlands.  A few migrated south into Latin America, but the majority built new city-states in the sparsely settled highlands of Yucatan.  They just left the elite behind to fend for themselves while they moved north and had the freedom to be independent and live their lives without interference.  This can still be seen in the modern Mayan Yucatan houses of today.  Each has their own private sanctuary where they pray in private to their gods without the interference and expense of taking care of the elite to do it for them.

 

Why do we study history?  One reason is so we don’t make the same mistakes some past civilizations did.  WE LEARN FROM HISTORY!  The people of 2009 in America do not have the luxury of a sparsely settled area to move to and escape the “elite of Washington DC”.  But a silent revolution has been building in the United States the last few years.  This has resulted in the “tea parties”.  These tea parties may often reference the Boston Tea Party, but many of them really did begin with one woman inviting others into her house for an afternoon tea to discuss the political future of America!

 

The “Washington elite” are saying bad things about the people having tea parties both in their houses and on the streets.  They are scared because their “cushy” way of life is threatened.  And this fear is well founded because there are going to be changes made by the little guys of America!  What goes around will come back around and the future holds good things for ALL Americans.  It will take some time and it may happen so far into the future that I may no longer be alive to see it, but it WILL happen!

 

For at least 5 years I have received e-mails, including again last week, that argue that the elected elite of Washington should not have their salaries and perks continued for the rest of their lives after they retire or are retired by the voters.  There is no private industry in this country that I know of that can afford to do this.   The real kick in the teeth is: they voted it for themselves!

 

Now they are being asked if they will take the same health plan that the rest of us will get.  Have you heard any of them answer “yes” to that question? Anyone remember 8 or 9 years ago when President Bush came to town hall meeting in South Bend to tell us that Social Security was in trouble?   I said then that the fastest way to fix it was to put Congress on it.  Want to bet it would be fixed in less than 5 minutes? 

 

I have some questions about all the health care bills.  Why do they keep saying on TV that most of the elected elite in Congress have not read them?  Isn’t their job to write and enact legislation?  Isn’t that why they get the “big bucks”?   Didn’t they write these bills?  If not, who did?  And if they aren’t the author, why aren’t they reading it in full before voting?  Are the Washington elite shirking their responsibility?  Are they failing us  little guys, like the Maya elite did in 900 AD?

 

If I were a member of Congress, I would not expect a Cadillac health plan and salary for the rest of my life after my term was up.   Most of the people who are involved in the tea parties probably feel they could govern with more sense than this.  They are not “nut-cases”; they are just plain people who still remember American History, the Continental Congress and what it really means to be an American.

 

College Football Hall of Fame

By Greg Burkowski

 

Mayor Luecke said in an interview on WSBT News that he would like to see the College Football Hall of Fame building converted into a meeting place to promote downtown South Bend after the Hall leaves. At no point did the Mayor advocate that this meeting place be turned over to the private sector so that it may contribute to the tax base of our community.

After hearing person after person at council meetings demand more tax base and lower taxes, Steve Luecke still wants to continue down the same path that has put our city in financial ruin. The Mayor and his cronies are out of touch with reality. Making the same mistakes over and over again expecting different results is stupidity. Electing the same people over and over again that have led us to financial ruin is also stupidity.

 

Essays by Local Citizens