IMPORTANT WEATHER UPDATE: Please check here Friday morning before 8:30 am to see if the rally is cancelled due to weather. We're expecting heavy sleet, ice, snow starting at 7pm tonight and continuing until at least noon tomorrow.
--HFFT editor
I waivered back and forth for days about the rally on Friday at the state house. I didn't know the right thing to do. I knew that I could not stand with Eric Miller and John Price who are using the the marriage amendment as a wedge in the property tax repeal movement, yet I did not want to create divide within the ranks of people who support property tax repeal. However, upon reflection and yesterday's move by Representative Turner to attach the marriage amendment to property tax reform, I realized I'm not the one driving the wedge.
The wedge is being driven by Representative Bosma and Representative Turner with help from the ever-opportunistic Advance America and Eric Miller. The marriage amendment issue took precious time last year in the general assembly that could have been used to divert Indiana from the tax crisis it faces. Now they are doing the same thing again! This is wrong and we need to tell them it is wrong!
Today Gary Welsh of Advance Indiana correctly compares Eric Miller's state house antics as similar to the KKK. It seems a lot of Hoosiers agree. There is no reason to bind the marriage amendment to property tax repeal. Our legislators AND Eric Miller are making a mockery out of the troubled lives of Hoosiers who are counting on our legislators to get us out of this mess and get us relief. It is looking like our only option will be to vote out this crop of state house trouble makers and get people in who will fix the problem.
In Eric Miller's property tax repeal literature, you get the opportunity to save $40 and buy his program to learn to run a campaign for just $99. He's always finding a way to make the bucks off his flock, their pain and their anger, isn't he? Kudo's to Gary Welsh for pointing that out.
Hoosiers For Fair Taxation will never ask you for money. We are merely volunteers and we pitch in what we can to the cause as needed. Melyssa, Laura Hile, Paul Wheeler, Jeff Hays, Ken Morgan, Max Katz, Dave Bond, Wayne Kirk, Sean Sheperd, Andy Horning, and a host of others fund projects when the need arises.
We are not here to make money off your anger or advance any agenda except open, friendly, transparent, and accountable government. That and we shall work tirelessly to see that property tax is repealed. We welcome newcomers with open arms and give you meaningful work to do.
I long to see my beloved Indiana as culturally diverse, tolerant of others, and fiscally sound with the People rightfully in control of government.
Please join us on Friday at noon at the state house.
Melyssa, founder & volunteer
HOOSIERS FOR FAIR TAXATION
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Wedge whacks -- Melyssa's take on what is going on.
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7 comments:
Melyssa,
It looks like Mother Nature is going to put a damper upon attendance. Is there an alternate date or plan in place if this snow emergency does occur? I'd hate to see an opportunity for lawful public assembly be lost to a snow fall.
Thanks
Re protest, I hope you take the high road and do not refer to Miller in any way by your signs, which should stay with property taxes. The only two groups able to draw a crowd are now fighting with each other publically so each are undermining the cause of property tax elimination.
Lets see, does one stand with the property tax part of the fair tax promotion of HFT or does one stand with the property tax part of Millers marriage ideas. Both have side issues.
As an outsider, you have both turned me off of showing up. My only focus, is the legislature and what they are doing not each other. I haven't seen much of real commentary on the bills or the exhorting of communication on them with the legislature.
Abdul's latest post says that blogs are mistaken. If the snow isn't a factor I'm showing up well before noon tomorrow. People are coming in from all over the State.
It's quite telling that Miller and his team have to try and get SJR-7 onto the tax amendment: they've run out of options.
They know that Hoosiers aren't willing to take rights away from other citizens. Hoosiers realize that we have much more important things for our legislators to work on then "marriage".
Keep up the good fight
No, we won't refer to Miller at the protest. We simply want our legislators to stay on task and that task is finding a way to repeal property tax. We also want to keep pressure on the legislature to not cave into school lobbyists who do not have taxpayers interests at heart, nor do they necessarily have our children's best interests at heart.
They work for engineering, architectural, and construction concerns and help keep educrats in place with the status quo that is obviously not working as evidenced by our state's graduation rate.
I'm sorry to say, but this argument is pure hogwash. The Marriage Amendment took absolutely NOTHING away from property tax discussions. Why is so much emphasis placed on that one bill when there are literally hundreds of others being considered? Last session, the marriage amendment had ONE hearing and was killed in committee. It didn't even reach the floor, and yet everyone acts like it took up so much time.
Adding the language to the property tax amendment doesn't matter one bit. You take a vote on it and move on. The bill (HJR 1)was dropped because Democrats DIDN'T SUPPORT THE REPEAL OF PROPERTY TAXES. That's when it was withdrawn. It had nothing to do with the marriage language.
Don't burn bridges with people who agree with you.
Take a look at Abdul's reporting here and you'll see that I'm right about this.
http://www.indianabarrister.com/archives/2008/01/he_said_he_said.html
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