Wall Street Journal sheds light on how the Carsons' win elections. Operation Chaos asks you vote for Dr. Woody Myers

This article found in the Wall Street Journal chronicles how the election day game is played by members of the Carson campaign. Andre Carson is light on substance, but did manage to find a buyer for his super delegate presidential vote. This is our chance to root the Carson name out of our Congress. Operation Chaos asks you vote for Dr. Woody Myers and Senator Hillary Clinton in the primary. Please read what the WSJ has to say about the "Carson Cartel". The Carson's and other dirty players like them, are why we need voter ID laws.


THE CARSON SHOW
a wink and a nudge, Democrats gin up voter turnout.
BY JASON L. RILEY

State says woman's Broad Ripple property value nearly doubled in two years forcing homeowner into financial crisis!

This is yet another letter asking for help to sort out a property tax assessment. It's bad enough that greedy mortgage companies and irresponsible buyers went into high risk mortgages, but property tax increases like Indiana suffers are truly criminal.

Our reader bought a home in middle-class part of the city based on what she could afford in mortgage, insurance, and taxes. Since the state decided to raise property taxes (sometimes by as much as 850%), many homeowners are faced with tough choices. Unlike subprime borrowers, she did NOT sign on to a contract which caused her property tax to double.

There is talk that the taxpayers are going to have to bail out the greedy sub prime borrowers and lenders, yet where is the the help for responsible homeowners who are getting screwed out of their homes by tax and spend politicians?

Comments will be turned on so that suggestions can be offered to this homeowner. We suggested that she get an independent appraisal. --HFFT

Hello! Don't know if you can help me with this, but I thought I would ask.

I live in the Warfleigh district of Broadripple. My taxes recently more than doubled, as my assessment went from $109,00 to $180,000 in two short years.

I bought the house in 2006.

I have been advised by the accessor's office to file an appeal, and I do understand how to fill out the form. I just don't know what arguments I can use, and didn't know if you had any suggestions.

I was told by the accessor's office that the accessment was based in large part on what I paid for the house, and it is true that I paid $180K for it in March, 2006. However, at that time taxes were $1500 a year.

I knew finances would be tight for a few years, but I went ahead and took the plunge. Now I am looking at an approximate tax of $3300. And, if the main argument to my appeal is "It's not fair!," I'm not going to get very far. I know I'm not the only one in this same boat. I wouldn't have bought this house if the original tax cost had been so high. I know that the tax rate is going to go down until 2010, but that sure doesn't help me now.

Wanda did you lie to the taxpayers? Washington Township School Board candidate, Wanda Roddy, has some 'splain' to do!

Washington Township school board candidate, Wanda Roddy, will not defend questions regarding the accuracy of her resume.

She still refuses to answer the following questions. Why is she hiding?

Did Wanda lie in her written biographic information to the Indianapolis Star? Did she lie in the written information she furnished the PAC (Friends of Washington Township Schools) that recruited her?

Wanda said to Indy Star, “
I am the founder and director of a national award-winning, school-based program to help at-risk teens graduate from North Central and other area high schools.” She made a similar statement to Friends of Washington Township Schools PAC.

According to page 3 of a document from the Health & Hospital Corporation “Future Promises – A Program for Pregnant and Parenting Teens,” Wanda Spann Roddy “(…) has overseen all administrative and programmatic aspects of this program since its inception in 1997.”

The problem is that the North Central High School program predates Wanda’s involvement and was she was not the founder of the North Central program. Here are the facts that Wanda does not want to answer:

The North Central High School teen parenting program was actually started in 1991 by the North Central PTO, when its president wrote a grant request to fund the program.
The Health Foundation of Greater Indianapolis (317-630-1805) favorably responded to the grant request with funds of over $25,000. Betty Wilson remains the president of that organization.

There are other long-running teen parenting programs in Indianapolis. These include the Children Bureau’s Vivian Smith House. However, by all accounts, the North Central program was the first to be incorporated into a school system.

Several years later, in about 1999, Wanda Spann Roddy became a part-time employee of the IU Shalom Center. There she looked into teen parenting programs, including the existing North Central program. Her part-time job duties included continuing a teen pregnancy project that had started in 1997, prior to her employment at IU Shalom.

In 2002, Ms. Spann Roddy used her teen parenting knowledge to gain full-time employment with the Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County. She now supervises that program.

MSD Washington Township and its PTO was the founder of the first Indiana teen parenting program to be incorporated into a school system. Ms. Spann Roddy used the earlier efforts of others to further her career. She continues to deny them credit for their efforts. The evidence indicates that Ms. Spann Roddy is incorrect in self-describing herself as the “founder” of the North Central teen parenting program. She has refused to respond and set the record straight.

You may recall that “Watergate” happened months prior to the re-election of Richard Nixon. The facts were slow in coming to light. Nixon and his staff stalled. We all know the outcome. Both Ms. Spann Roddy and Friends of Washington Township Schools PAC have continued to stall and avoided directly responding to these charges. The school board election is in a week. But these issues will not go away and, over time, the truth of her record could prove even more damaging.

Maybe you will have better luck learning the truth.

State Rep Mike Murphy fundraiser tonight in Broad Ripple

Mike Murphy spoke up on behalf of the taxpayers and was for property tax repeal. He's have a wine tasting fundraiser tonight.

Pull off the Monon Trail for a fundraiser for
State Representative Mike Murphy

For a fun wine tasting at our favorite Broad Ripple Coffee Shop
Wednesday, April 30
5:30-7:30
AtThe Perk Up
6536 Cornell Avenue
(251-0033)

Taxpayers own schools, yet Jim Schellinger warns he will sue over the use of photos of schools designed by CSO Architects

Ok, Jim Schellinger is either evil or clueless. Advance Indiana and Indiana Barrister report that Jim Schellinger is threatening to sue Jill Long Thompson for using photos of schools his firm designed in their campaign ads. The schools belong to the the property owners in the district, not Jim Schellinger or CSO Architects.

Let's make a note to work to see if we can keep his firm from getting another taxpayer funded contract. Do you see his contempt of us? And we thought Bart was bad!

Does anyone else see a problem with a potential governor who believes that images of public property bought and paid for on the backs of taxpayers belong to him?

Schellinger's campaign went south since bringing Jen Wagner of Taking Down Words blog on board to handle his communications. She earns the reputation of being the nastiest of all pundits and obviously will stop at nothing, no matter how much it insults taxpayers, in her pursuit of blinded politics.

You might recall that Jen Wagner is the woman who wrote that the property owners who went to the Indiana Tea Party protest that they were "attention starved".

Both Schellinger and Wagner seem to have lost touch with the taxpayers and reality.

Too much stimulation!

Columnist Dave Barry explains the economic effects of the so-called "Economic Stimulus Payment" (2008 tax rebate):

Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.

Q. Where will the government get this money?
A. From taxpayers.

Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
A. Only a smidgen.

Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase ahigh-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.

Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China?
A. Shut up.

Why would African American city councilors vote to keep one of their own down?

Local attorney and MBE/WBE Darla Williams received the official nod from the city council to begin her mayoral appointed position as an administrative law judge.

From Hoosier Access live blog of the council meeting:

"7:36 PM - Proposal 163 - Approves Mayor Ballard’s appointment of Darla Williams as an Administrative Law Judge presiding over environmental violations. Proposal Passes 18-8 with Councilors Bateman, Brown, Minton-McNeill, Evans, Gray, Oliver, Pryor, and Sanders opposing. Isn’t it interesting that 7 African-American Democrats are opposing the appointment of another African-American to a position such as this?"

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What we don't get is why seven African American city council members voted to keep down a well qualified, african american lawyer who put herself through law school!
,

What is worse is that some of these same Center Township gang on the city council were heard grumbling later that there aren't enough blacks in appointed city offices.

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Anyone's guess how long until Monroe Gray goes to federal prison for the ethics violations tied to his bankrupt concrete company that received no bid city contracts, his ghost employment at IFD, cheating on his property taxes, and other ethics violations?

21% of voters undecided: Can Hillary take Indianapolis and Indiana?

January in New Hampshire Hillary Clinton cried for love of Country.
Her tears rang true with many Americans.

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I connected with her before that day too. It was a few months after the Iraq War started in 2003. I am still looking for the video clip, but I remember feeling both grateful and proud that she stood bold, smart, and strong before Congress.

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Hillary Clinton stood as a Matriarch in front of the U.S. Congress at war on that day.

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She was the FIRST to demand to know how American taxpayers would foot the bill for this war with no known long term plan or budget to give to Congress. She still has not received her answer. I wrote to Hillary Clinton's campaign in hopes the courageous footage of her demands of Congress can be found and replayed again during the Indiana primary.
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Senator Clinton, your opponent, Senator Barack Obama, endorsed congressional candidate Andre Carson for nothing more than his super delegate vote. Senator Obama bought and paid for a broke Andre Carson.
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Andre Carson swore to his constituents during his six-week special election campaign, that if he won his grandmother's Center Township throne, he would never miss a Congressional vote. The Congressional record shows he missed two votes since the March 2o08 special election. He proved himself to be a liar in short time. And that is a good thing for we now know what Andre Carson is to the taxpayers. We also know what Carson takes from big out of state lobbyists and questionable allilances he networks with via Senator Obama.

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I found myself caught up in the Obama JFK-esque bubble until he greedily endorsed Carson for Congress. Our 7th district Congressional race is one with many other viable candidates, including two African Americans with a much longer standing of public service. Obama ignored 7th district Congressional candidate Dr. Woody Myers who Jeanne White recently endorsed as the only public servant in Indiana who stood up for her son, Ryan White, over 20 years ago when this child was persecuted by an entire Indiana school system and city for having AIDS.

I am not part of Senator Clinton's campaign and I am not a contributor, but I call foul and hope her staff can retrieve the 2003 archive footage of that rousing lashing she dished to Congress over the cost of the Iraq War.
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Find that footage, air it, and you shall take Indiana. You DESERVE it.
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I am impressed now well you are wearing this campaign considering your opponent is younger. You are blessed to have your husband and Chelsea by your side.
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Godspeed in Indiana, Senator Clinton.
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Sincerely, Melyssa

founder/volunteer
HOOSIERS FOR FAIR TAXATION

The Flaming Lips - Do You Realize??

Do yourself a favor, watch this beautiful message and consider Our place.

Indiana's Voter ID law upheld by Supreme Court: Drudge Report suggests it could hurt Obama

The Supreme Court upheld our voter ID law today. Democrats complained that the law will disenfranchise voters in spite of the fact that there is no evidence that it does. Conversely, county clerk Beth White's inability to open several precincts during last year's primary denied more than 3,000 citizens their right to vote in the 2007 primary.

Today's Drudge Report suggests that the decision could hurt Obama.

The backbone of FAIR TAXATION is responsibility for one's own actions

This petition from AngryRenters.com is getting quite a bit of national circulation. Do check it out!

Sign the Petition to Congress

WHEREAS: Most Americans rent or own their home outright, and the vast majority of homes (98%) are not in foreclosure.

WHEREAS: Both banks and borrowers should be reponsible for their actions, and the government should not reward reckless behavior.

WHEREAS: It is wrong to force all taxpayers-- including renters who are already subsidizing home owners through the tax code-- to pay for additional bailouts for big banks and home flippers.

BE IT RESOLVED: That Congress should not pass any bailout programs that reward risky borrowing and lending. Let the free market sort it out!

Mayor Greg Ballard: Use your bully pulpit to clean up Bart's mess with the CIB & The Colts

Advance Indiana and Indy Tax Dollars have strong words for Mayor Greg Ballard, the CIB, and The Indianapolis Colts franchise.

Our Mayor, that we all worked so hard to get elected, by his own words owes no one but The People. The People deserve to know the overall financial details of this deal, including the advertising revenue generated from the facility we bought.

Here's the latest dirt that The Colts and the CIB are dishing up to the taxpayers who foot 100% of Indy's operating costs and debt:

From Advance Indiana:
"Star editorial laments the fact that the Capital Improvement Board will not disclose to the public how much the Indianapolis Colts earn from advertising rights at the stadium the public is paying to build and maintain. The editorial reads, in part:

No such challenge has arisen over Lucas Oil Stadium sponsorships and advertising, all of which benefit the Colts exclusively and none of which, except for the $120 million for naming the overall facility, have been disclosed as to dollar amount.

Again Tuesday, approving ad displays from eight sponsors, the CIB noted that it will not be told by the Colts how much the deals are worth. The CIB said as much about the 14 sponsorships previously sold by the team. The Indiana Stadium and Convention Building Authority, which is constructing the stadium that the CIB will run, likewise says it is not let in on the Colts' business in this regard.

What's missing here, from the point of view of taxpayers, is a distinction. True, the Colts were awarded all advertising-related proceeds in the stadium deal, and that is that. However, no one in government has been able to provide justification for keeping the size of the take secret from the public bodies that oversee the stadium, and from the public that owns it.

Saddled with the bulk of the $704 million cost, including any overruns, taxpayers would be interested in knowing how much might have been defrayed if the advertising were thrown into the pot. They know of the $120 million, of course. Experts have estimated that the value of the 14 sponsorships is in the tens of millions. Now there's display advertising, which taxpayers, depending on pending negotiations with the Colts, may have to pay for covering up or taking down for non-football events.

As the excitement mounts over the opening of a new season, and the bills mount as well, it's time to let every investor in the home team's success see the entire portfolio.

The CIB doesn't want you to know how much the Colts are making off of Lucas Oil Stadium at your expense because it knows just how outraged you will be when you learn those figures. The important point to be made in all of this is the fact that the CIB has no means of paying for the operating and maintenance expenses on the new stadium, which are expected to top $10 million annually. That's because the deal the CIB negotiated with the Colts is so one-sided it gives all revenue-producing opportunities to the Colts, depriving the public of any of the benefits. As far as this writer is concerned, the Colts had better plan on giving back some of that money. We the public will be damned if we dig any further into our pockets to subsidize their billion-dollar franchise. If the CIB hasn't already broached that subject with Mr. Irsay, it had better make plans. We will not stand by and allow you to use revenues intended to pay of the cost of constructing the stadium for operating and maintenance expenses. That was your cute little answer to the RCA Dome's financial woes and that's why we still owe $70 million on it, even as we prepare to tear it down."

http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2008/04/show-me-money.html

Indiana Minority Report: "We No Longer Believe"

Indiana Minority Report acknowledges that presidential candidate, Senator Barack "Barry" Obama, is not in tune with the needs of People of Indianapolis.

Recently, Obama endorsed Andre Carson in spite of the fact that Andre Carson's funding comes primarily from big interest lobbyist groups, which Obama denounces in his campaign.

Should Barack Obama loudly and publicly denounce his endorsement of Andre Carson, he might find he is not a target of Operation Chaos .

Senator Obama: You can't have it both ways in the 7th district. You should be a better judge of people and their motives if you really think you are going to be Our president.

Let Operation Chaos begin. Spread the word!

Libertarian Meet-n-Greet Friday night at 7pm

The Libertarian Party of Marion County is throwing a reception tomorrow night (Friday) in anticipation of the LPIN state convention this Saturday. The reception is at the Wingate Inn, Suite 102, beginning at 7:00 p.m. The hotel is one block east of I-465 at the Rockville Road exit, which is two miles north of Indy's airport.

No RSVP needed, please just stop by and meet some other Libertarians! You do not need to be registered for the convention to come and enjoy to the reception, nor do you need to be a guest at the hotel. We hope to see you there!

Meet pro-repeal state representative Mike Murphy on April 30th wine tasting

Dave Bond of STOPIndiana.com asked us to pass this on to you:

Dear Amigos:
Remember what happened the last time we got out and voted?

You're invited to join Mike Murphy & meet other candidates who are working to repeal property taxes, next Wednesday at the Perk Up Coffee shop in Broad Ripple.

Mike is also a supporter of the Indiana Voters League. He has been one of the very few legislators willing to assist in our property tax efforts and was only one of two legislators (Cindy Noe) who made contributions to our efforts when we needed it.

Apparently, Mike is targeted in the primary for not succumbing to the powers that be and for standing his ground. His opponent is a school Board Member that has been publically opposed to the efforts of taxpayer groups to access information regarding school use of taxpayer funds.

Also, Mike is desperate need of volunteers to help walk the district in the final days of the election; apparently the forces put together to protect unbridled spending of taxpayer dollars have amassed to keep Mike from supporting our mission.

Please pass this along to anyone who may help in this effort…call Charlie Hiltunen at 590-3118 or Megan Robertson at 450-3060 for more information.


Pull off the Monon Trail for a fundraiser forState Representative Mike Murphy
For a fun wine tasting at our favorite Broad Ripple Coffee Shop
Wednesday, April 30
5:30-7:30
AtThe Perk Up
6536 Cornell Avenue
(251-0033)

The politicians duped you, the taxpayer, good this time

The activists tried to warn you. We tried to tell you what would happen. We warned you were going to end up paying even more and warned the politicians' spin machine and the media would try to sell you higher taxes couched in rhetoric that you are getting "relief". The protests dwindled to just a few hardcore activists at the end. Gary Welsh of Advance Indiana explains it clearly today.

FROM ADVANCE INDIANA:

"When a student fails to turn his homework into the teacher on time, he receives a failing grade. When your elected officials fail to complete their work on time, you pay for it. A Star report today indicates that most counties have not submitted the information the state needs to set property tax rates, including Marion County where the delays will cost taxpayers $30-$50 million in interest costs for the money local governments will have to borrow on a short-term basis to cover spending obligations. "That means homeowners may not know until late summer or fall what they'll owe, while local school districts, towns and other government agencies scramble to cover expenses in the interim," the Star reports. Marion Co. Treasurer Mike Rodman tells the Star tax bills might not go out until November--conveniently after this year's election. Maybe we should start withholding paychecks from the government officials responsible for timely submitting this information to the state like the City-County Council just did with the Marion County Coroner until they do the job they've been ordered to do under Indiana law."

Brian Howey of the Howey Political Report on NPR Today

HOWEY ON NPR’S TALK OF THE NATION FROM 2-3 P.M. TODAY:

HPI Publisher Brian A. Howey will appear on National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation from 2 to 3 p.m. today. Also featured on the show will be hosts Ken Rudin and Neal Conan, Laura Leslie of North Carolina Public Radio, Obama campaign manager David Plouffe and Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson.

Tremco Roofing not only screws taxpayers, but evidently they telephone harass them

Diane Vice is reporting today she frequently received calls from "unknown" and "caller ID blocked" since starting the blog "Welcome to My Tea Party" which exposed Tremco Roofing's nationwide school bidding schemes.

The other day, Diane picked up a phone call from 216-292-5000 that was not caller ID blocked. The caller would not speak. She believes that it is the same caller who blocks calls, but forgot to push *67 before dialing her this time. Turns out the number is Tremco.

Diane contacted her attorney and asks that you spread the message that Tremco harasses taxpayers who dare to challenge their school bidding schemes designed to steal your property tax dollars.

Andre Carson missed another Congressional vote

Andre Carson
during the special election campaign promises to never miss a vote

Well, well, well, Andre Carson's Congressional voting record (rather lack thereof) is keeping up with that of his late grandmother. Now even the democrats over at Blue Indiana are reporting on his broken promise to never miss a vote. And not surprisingly, the Indiana Minority Report covers the story too.

However, what the voters should be asking is why presidential candidate Barack Obama, who claims to reject big interest PAC money, endorses Andre Carson? Andre Carson's campaign fund is mostly made up of PAC money. In fact $512k of his $740k campaign chest is from PACs which include Muslim interest groups.

Does this mean that Obama thinks it is just fine for members of Congress to take big PAC contributions, but it is not ok for a presidential candidate? Or does it mean that Obama does not look very closely at the people with whom he associates and/or endorses?

TOMORROW: Citizens For Education Candidate Forum

Citizens for Education
Our TAXPAYER-ENDORSED pledges:
1) Education first
2) NO property tax increase
3) Reduce long-term debt

4/22 CFE Forum - new program info
The 4/22/08
Citizens For Education Candidates and Property Tax Forum
DATE: TUESDAY, April 22, 2008
TIME: 7 to 9 pm
PLACE: Pleasant View Lutheran Church (NE door)
MODERATOR: Jim Shella
PROGRAM: 7-8pm Washington Township CFE School Board Candidates

Greg Wright, Washington Township School Board Member

Joanna Franklin and Jack Werner will answer written questions from the audience.
(Ask them if they will close Harcourt School!)

8-9pm Indiana Senate District 30 Republican Candidates

Steve Keltner
Incumbent Teresa Lubbers and Candidate Ken Morgan will answer written questions from the audience. (Ask them if we truly have property tax relief now.)

Both program segments will have speakers who will discuss various issues that pertain to Washington Township schools and/or property taxes.

Hosted by Pleasant View Lutheran Church.

The May 6 primary election will determine the fate of the candidates who will be at this forum: in the case of the School Board candidates, the May 6 primary will determine if they are elected. In the case of the Senate District 30 candidates, the May 6 primary will determine which of the two will be the Republican candidate for that seat.

Know the candidates and their positions before you vote on May 6th!
For more information, go to our new website at www.citizensforeducation.com.

Marion County Libertarians Nominate First Round of Candidates

The Libertarian Party of Marion County has nominated these candidates in the first round:Kurt St. Angelo, Center Township Advisory Board, District 4Paul Dijak-Robinson, Center Township Advisory Board, District 6Jared Wales, Decatur Township Advisory Board, District 3Chris Ward, Lawrence Township Advisory Board, District 1Eric Barnes, Lawrence Township Advisory Board, District 2Timothy Maguire, Pike Township Advisory Board, District 2Brad Klopfenstein, Warren Township Advisory Board, District 3

Also on Saturday, Allison Maguire was selected to be the 7th District Representative to the Central Committee of the Libertarian Party of Indiana.

State and Federal candidates are chosen during the Libertarian Party of Indiana’s State Convention. A number of Marion County Libertarians are seeking state nominated offices next Saturday, including Steve Keltner, Sam Goldstein, Joel Palmer, Barry Campbell, John Meuser and Ed Angleton.

The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the United States, and is the only non-major party with ballot access in the state of Indiana. Libertarians believe in being SERVED by a small non-intrusive government that is financially responsible, administratively competent and socially tolerant.


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For more information contact: Libertarian Party of Marion County, http://www.indylp.org/, (317) 490-1469

http://lpinscr.blogspot.com/2008/04/marion-county-nominates-first-round-of.html

IRS surrounded by police cars on April 15th -- FairTax delivers petition

FairTax volunteers visit the IRS on April 15

Editors note: Ron Paul is the only presidential candidate that will work to close the doors of the IRS, so that you can keep your entire paycheck. He's also the only anti-war, pro-constitution, and small government candidate on the ballot for president. He's also very popular with Wall Street. Here's an update we received today from the FairTax folks who are working hard for you in Congress.





Dear FairTax supporters:





The FairTax campaign was very visible April 15th in Washington, D.C. when we delivered, along with the National Taxpayers Union, more than 160,000 FairTax petition signatures to Rep. John Linder and other FairTax co-sponsors.





Thank you.





In Washington, we took the FairTax bus to Union Station where we saw even more enthusiasm for the FairTax. The bus was, of course, eye-popping and won waves and honks up throughout the city.





We then stopped off halfway to Capitol Hill where we found IRS headquarters surrounded on tax day with 30-40 police cars. "Just a normal precaution," a Metro police captain told us.





He was friendly and curious about the issue and after ten minutes of earnest talk he and five other officers asked if they could have FairTax caps. "Sounds really good to us and we wish you luck," he said. "No problem pausing the bus for a few photos," he said, "and good luck on your national campaign; we all need it."





It was then on the Rayburn House Office Building where we proudly carried our blown up petition poster and 103,000 FairTax.org petition names bound in four handsome books. We met up the new leader of the National Taxpayers Union who brought 63,000 more petition names to the event.





We think it very healthy that other organizations are coming on board as excitement for our worthy cause grows. We presented the petitions, talked with many co-sponsors and snapped photos for hometown releases for the next hour. FairTax House sponsor Rep. John Linder was appreciative and complimentary and continues to push hard inside Congress. The voice of so many citizens strengthens his hand, of course.





The petition will now be broken down by Congressional district and sent along to Members of Congress who have not yet come aboard as co-sponsors of H.R. 25 and S. 1025 and will be sent to each of the leading Presidential candidates.





Thank you for your support and for your belief that "We, the People," can direct government policy. Together, we are moving the FairTax closer and closer to being enacted into law. This is a citizen campaign determined to make public policy actually serve the public.





What's next? We need to take our message to Town Hall meetings hosted by Congressional Members in hometowns across the country. Now that April 15th is past, we will be focusing on getting the word out and asking local leaders to take our case directly to elected officials in your hometowns.





Sincerely,





Ken Hoagland


Communications Director

Missing in Action: Andre Carson

Andre Carson, who swore to us that he would not ever miss a vote in Congress if elected, proved he could not keep his word for even six weeks. Hat tip to Bart Lies for catching it.

Jim Shella, Polis Politics, Hoosier Access, and Advance Indiana report that Andre Carson has run out of money. Channel 8 pulled his scheduled commericials because they did not receive the required advance payment.

There is speculation on the blogs about why presidential candidate Obama endorsed Andre Carson. Obama runs commericials in our market right now claiming he does not accept special interest money, yet for some reason he did not have a problem endorsing Andre Carson who most certainly does.

There are better democrats running for the 7th district congressional seat.

Perhaps if Andre had not littered our homes with sometimes two mailers in one day, he would have a little money left to pay Channel 8.

“Barry” Barack Obama…

HFFT received the following tidbit in our mail today. Keep in mind, Obama recently endorsed Andre Carson. Ask yourself why? Below are some very good questions. If you are considering voting for Obama (like I was) answer these questions first. --Melyssa


Do I have this straight?

His father was a Kenyan, Muslim, black- we have seen pictures of his African 'family

His mother is a Kansan, atheist, white- where are the pictures of his Kansan, white mother and his white grandparents who raised him?

His father deserted his mother and him when he was very young and went back to his family in Kenya

His mother married an Indonesian Muslim and took him to Jakarta where he was schooled in a Muslim school

His mother returned to Hawaii and he was raised by his white Kansan grandparents

He later went to the best high dollar schools, how?

He lives in a $1.4 million dollar house that he acquired through a deal with a wealthy fund raiser. How?

He 'worked' as a civil rights activist in Chicago- has never held a productive job. Never received a paycheck from a business which was not government funded and/or taxpayer supported. (the presidency is not a civil rights post nor is it subject to affirmative action set asides. On-the-job training won't cut it. )

He entered politics at the state level and then the national level where he has minimal experience

He is proud of his 'African heritage' but it seems that his only African connection was that his African father got a white girl pregnant and deserted her. I didn't know that sperm carried a 'cultural' gene. Where is the pride in his white culture?

He goes to a 'Afro-centric' church that hates whites, hates Jews, and blames America for all the world's perceived faults, including 'creating' AIDS to inflict on Africans. He then repeatedly whitewashes the pastor, his church, and the members who cheered after hearing the pastor's vitriolic pulpit tirades

He could not confront his pastor but he wants us to believe that he can confront north Korea and Iran!

In his brief time in the senate he has managed to amass the number one ultra-liberal voting record of the hundred members, voting consistently for bigger government, higher taxes, big entitlements and legislation which would severely curtail America’s ability to fight terrorism, protect our borders and our national interests around the world.

But he is a good orator.

Yeah, I think I see how well he could be a uniter and bring us together. I think the hope is that he hopes no one will put the pieces together.

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce our new chief pilot. He's never flown an airplane. In fact he's never even sat in a cockpit, but he's ridden on them. We're sure he will guide us safely through the storms we are about to encounter on this flight.

People don't plan to fail ; they fail to plan - Anonymous

Congrats to local attorney/activist Darla Williams

Patriot Paul, Mayor Ballard, and Darla Williams at
Mayor Ballard's swearing in ceremony on January 1, 2008

Yesterday evening Darla Williams received a mayoral appointment to to preside as the hearing officer in our environmental court.

Congratulations, Darla and thanks Mayor Ballard for appointing her.

What did State Senator Teresa Lubbers do for your property taxes?

Senators Lubbers & Kenley busy at the state house
( getting absolutely nothing accomplished)

Senator Teresa Lubbers (Indiana District 30) was invited to many property tax debates and forums and to her credit, she always showed up. However, ask yourself did she truly represent you? Did she stand up in the state senate for what you wanted? Or did she cower like the rest of the senators and try to bury your chance to get property tax repealed?

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Or did she show absolutely no compassion toward the news that two property owners committed suicide? They called it quits on life shortly after their taxes were drastically raised overnight.
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Well guess what?
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Teresa Lubbers has some very serious competition and both candidates spoke at length with HFFT today to say their campaigns are going marvelously.

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Get to know Ken Morgan and Steve Keltner.
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Ken Morgan (R) knocks on doors a MINIMUM of 4 hours each day, 7 days a week since the special election. You will recall that Ken Morgan became a key property activist working with HFFT and StopIndiana.com last summer. He launched Indiana Voters League which helped to successfully usher in a new city council and mayor.
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He says he'd rather be fly fishing, but he cannot enjoy his retirement when folks in his neighborhood of Meridian Kessler are facing the real threat of losing their homes and not being able to sell them for the assessed values, due to the ridiculously high taxes. Ken is well aware that 50% of your tax bill goes to fund our schools which shamefully have one of the worst drop out rates in the country.

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Ken deserves your vote during the May primary. The plan is to defeat Lubbers, so she is not included in the general election in November. We've heard multiple insider reports that Lubbers is terribly afraid of this election and has even broken down in tears. She knows she let us down.

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Once Lubbers is out of the way, then the race is between Ken Morgan and Steve Kelter, another candidate you must get to know. Steve is smart, articulate, well-educated and he has FOCUS. As a medical professional, he also has well thought plans for health-care reform.

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Because Steve is a Libertarian, and the Libertarians do not waste taxpayer funds on primary elections, you will see Steve Keltner's name on your ballot in November for the general election.

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A race between Steve Keltner and Ken Morgan is taxpayer heaven. In either case with those two candidates, we win either way!

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Will you take time to read their websites, email them, or even call them up to get to know them better? If you like what they offer, give them some money and/or invite them into your home to meet your friends. Both deserve your attention and your vote this year! Both will give you their time if you ask.

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How many doors has Lubbers knocked on lately? How many doors has she slammed shut on us? Let Morgan and Keltner open new doors and let some fresh air into the state house.
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VoteKenMorgan.com

VoteKeltner.com

SO YOU WANTED CHANGE? Did Ye?

We received this today in our email from a patriot. --HFFT

Well, so far we've gotten a preview!

How ya like it now?

A little over one year ago:
1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon
3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%.

Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we've seen:
1) Consumer confidence plummet
2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.45 a gallon
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase)
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate (stock and mutual fund losses)
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure.
7) 40% of America is on some form of Government program.

America voted for change in 2006, and we got it!

Jim Shella to host taxpayer advocacy forum for Washington Township: State Senate candidate & activist Ken Morgan to speak

Citizens for Education
Our TAXPAYER-ENDORSED pledges:

1) Education first
2) NO property tax increase 3
) Reduce long-term debt

4/22 CFE Forum - new program info
The 4/22/08 Citizens For Education Candidates and Property Tax Forum

DATE: Thursday, April 22, 2008
TIME: 7 to 9 pm
PLACE: Pleasant View Lutheran Church (NE door)
MODERATOR: Jim Shella
PROGRAM: 7-8pm Washington Township CFE School Board Candidates Joanna Franklin and Jack Werner will answer written questions from the audience.

Ask them if they will close Harcourt School!

8-9pm Indiana Senate District 30 Republican Candidates

Incumbent Teresa Lubbers and Candidate Ken Morgan will answer written questions from the audience. Ask them if we truly have property tax relief now.

Both program segments will have at least one other speaker who will discuss various issues that pertain to Washington Township schools and/or property taxes.Hosted by Pleasant View Lutheran Church.The May 6 primary election will determine the fate of the candidates who will be at this forum: in the case of the School Board candidates, the May 6 primary will determine if they are elected. In the case of the Senate District 30 candidates, the May 6 primary will determine which of the two will be the Republican candidate for that seat.

Know the candidates and their positions before you vote on May 6th!

For more information, go to our new website at www.citizensforeducation.com.

Opportunity to kick ineffective incumbents out of power and serve your fellow citizen

We know there are some honorable folks out there that could truly do good public works. Look at the list below of local offices without an opposing candidate this year. See any local taxing authorities?

As a Libertarian, you don't run in the primary. You will see your name printed on the ballot with an icon of Lady Liberty beside it instead of a donkey or an elephant. Libertarians have ballot access. With the definite anti-incumbent mood out there, you could help rattle some cages and do good for the taxpayers and ultimately the future of this place your children will inherit.

Step up if you have talent, education, and time and desire to give back.
-HFFT

Candidate recruitment at full steam

By means of redistricting the major parties have carved out "safe districts," where the election results are so certain that the lesser major party won't even run a candidate. Based on preliminary filings, 21 Democrats and 30 Republicans will run unopposed in November in Marion County.

The Libertarian Party of Marion County is seeking candidates for November, particularly for these one-sided races.

It's a good way to showcase our party and to point out one of many ways that the major parties have broken our democratic system.

As of now, the offices that have only one candidate include:

State Senate districts 33 and 35
State Representative districts 25, 88, 90, 97, 98, and 99
Center Township Board Districts 1, 2, and 3
All Decatur Township Board Districts except 3
All Franklin Township Board Districts
Lawrence Township Board Districts 4, 5, and 7
All Perry Township Board Districts except 4
Pike Township Board Districts 1, 3, 4, and 5
All Warren Township Board Districts except 3
Washington Township Board Districts 2, 3, and 7
All Warren Township Board Districts except 3

The LPMC has so far recruited about 20 candidates for public office in November, including 6 candidates in two-way races. If you are willing to throw your hat into the ring for a very good cause, i.e., freedom from other people trying to make your private decisions, please contact Co-Chair Barry Campbell at altic.lock(at)gmail.com.

Abdul is not above downtown money begging

HILARIOUS !

A constitutional request from the Granny Warriors

Hello Everyone,

So far we have a little over 3,000 signatures on the Petition to "Restore The Constitution" that is being formally presented to Congress on April 15, 2008 during The Freedom Rally.

In order to present this to congress, we need everyone to sign on. Right now, the signatures on this petition, represent less than half the population in my home town of New Fairfield, CT.

If each person who already signed, would get 10 people to sign, we'd have enough signatures to make a difference and if you haven't signed yet, please do so now:


http://www.PetitionOnline.com/USRC01/petition.html (Direct Link)

I need to close the petition tomorrow evening. Turnaround time is 3 Business days (printing & express shipping). The petition needs to be in our possession by Monday, for the Tuesday presentation.

Granny Warriors

Freedom Rally

State of the City Address by Honorable Mayor Ballard

We realize this is a late posting, but felt it was important to have Ballard's address archived in this blog. Sorry about the quick cut and paste and capitalization typos, our blog Miss is on a personal hiatus. -- HFFT

INDIANAPOLIS – (April 9, 2008) -- thank you councilor cockrum for the introduction. i love short introductions.

Good evening and welcome to union station for the state of the city address. I would like to give special thanks to the members of the city-county council present, and the members of the Marion County delegation to the statehouse, specifically S enator Merritt, Senator Waltz, Senator Lubbers, Representative Elrod, Representative Buell, Representative Noe and representative Murphy.

I am also honored to have prosecutor Brizzi in attendance, the consul of mexico juan m. solana and my fellow marion county mayors, mayor thoman, mayor wright and mayor ricketts.

Indianapolis is a strong city, and it is getting stronger. Our strength does not come from any single act of any public official. We are strong as a city because Indianapolis is home to great people.

Whether its the volunteers at Gleaner’s Food Bank, or the mentors at the Boys and Girls Clubs, our citizens go above and beyond to care for their neighbors and their neighborhoods.

Our strength combined with our immense potential, should give all of us hope for a bright future.

Our strength as a city will endure and improve as long as we work to develop a government that embraces the good ideas of our citizens,

incorporates those good ideas into plans for the future, and remembers that government exists to serve its citizens, NOT the other way around.

Our city faces serious challenges, none more serious than the level of crime.

Ibelieve that Government’s primary responsibility is public safety, and that’s why my team and I have made public safety job number one.

One of the most obvious weaknesses regarding Public Safety was a disjointed chain of command.

In a crisis situation Police and Fire must work together, Otherwise lives will be lost.

That is why i worked to bring IMPD back under the office of the Mayor.

Upon taking control of IMPD, we looked at the structure, tactics, and goals of the Department and decided to make changes.

IMPD is filled with hard-working, dedicated officers, BUT, we have restructured the department in a way that makes use of the ideas and enthusiasm of the officers closest to the problems.

We eliminated some top command positions and are reinvesting that money into putting more officers on the street.

we are rededicating ourselves to community policing because the true goal of the police department should not be to react to crime, but to prevent it.

This cannot be done by IMPD alone. It requires collaboration between community, police, anD other agencies of government.

Recently we launched the “Peace in the Streets” initiative city-wide to tell the criminal element in our community that we have had enough.

In the words of our Public Safety Director, Scott Newman, criminals will take what the community will tolerate.They thrive in environments that accept crime. we are letting everyone know that we do not accept crime: not in our streets, not in our neighborhoods,
not in our schools, and not in our city.

we have opened two new offices – one dealing with abandoned homes, and one dealing with ex-offender re-entry. These two areas have been neglected by our city for far too long.

Abandoned homes pose a threat to safe neighborhoods in Indianapolis. many of these are warehouses for guns and drugs. at a minimum, they are a blight to the neighborhood.

a few weeks ago, i appointed an individual whose job it is to address this problem using all of the resources we can bring to bear. we have also cREATED an abandoned homes task force that has begun meeting.

There is no single solution to tackling abandoned homes. addressing this problem will involve changes in our policy and perhaps our ordinances, but by working with neighborhood groups, concerned citizens, our City-County Councilors, and City and County agencies, I am confident that we can reduce the number of abandoned homes in our city.

Ex-offender reentry is an area that this city has never addressed. we have about five thousand individuals each year who have paid their debt to society – and who return to our community. We have many community organizations,

places like Workforce inc. and The Hope Team, who are working to provide services for these individuals, helping them become productive, valued members of our community. But as a city, we have never addressed the magnitude of the problem.

A key component of our ex-offender reentry plan is dedicating a point person who will work with law enforcement and community groups to insure these individuals are not slipping through the cracks.

while public safety will always remain job one, In talking with the business community, the issue that comes up time and again is education. Businesses need an educated workforce and good schools for their employees’ children to attend.

We cannot improve our economy without also working to improve the quality of our educational system.

the Mayor controls few of the levers of education, but I have met with, and will continue to meet with school leaders to understand and assist with the challenges they face.

There are many great organizations in this county that tutor and mentor children through educational programs.

My administration, through my deputy mayor of economic AND WORKFORCE development is working to bring these groups together in a coordinated effort to make sure every child’s educational needs are met.

Public Safety and Education are tWO of the most important issues we plan to address in the coming years, but one of the greatest obstacles to overcome, is THE way our government is structured and its effect on our budget.

When I went to the state legislature earlier this year, I didn’t go there to convince State Legislators to stop property tax relief. I went there to encourage them to enact it, because the current system of property taxes threatened to make Marion County unlivable.

My job is not to make Government comfortable for Government, but to make Marion County comfortable for its citizens.

Does it make balancing our budget more difficult? Yes IT DOES. Is it worth it to make sure citizens don’t live in fear of losing their homes? Definitely. No question.

When I took office on January 1st, Indianapolis already had A STRUCTURAL DEFICIT OF $26 million. additionally, tHE PROPERTY TAX REFORM ENACTED BY THE INDIANA GENERAL ASSEMBLY WILL REDUCE Our PROPERTY tax revenue in the future.

but we also had some big wins during the past legislative session, chief of which is the state’s decision to pick up the pre-1977 public safety pensionS.

this decision by the governor and the leadership in both houses will save marion county taxpayers over $1 billion over 30 years.

our leadership on this issue will benefit cities from all across the state.

even with the parts of that legislation that will reduce our spending obligations, we will still face a reduction in revenues. this reduction in rEVENUES needs to be met with a reduction in spending.

We have already made significant progress in reducing our spending. EARLIER THIS YEAR, I INSTRUCTED ALL CITY AND COUNTY AGENCIES TO LOOK AT THEIR PLANNED SPENDING FOR 2008 AND SEE IF THEY COULD HOLD THEIR SPENDING TO 95% OF THEIR APPROVED BUDGET.

MANY AGENCIES IDENTIFIED WAYS TO CONSTRAIN SPENDING WITHOUT ADVERSELY IMPACTING SERVICES. THROUGH THIS SIMPLE PROCESS OF REVIEWING OUR SPENDING, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED NEARLY $9 MILLION DOLLARS THAT WILL NOT BE SPENT.

wE will BE DILIGENT in REVIEWING EVERY SERVICE THAT THE MARION COUNTY TAXPAYERS HAVE COME TO EXPECT AND ENSURE THAT THE SERVICE IS BEING PROVIDED IN THE MOST ECONOMICAL AND EFFICIENT MANNER.

we must also consider if we have multiple agencies performing essentially the same service. Right now there are over 40 different taxing entities in Marion County. Some of these entities provide needed services, but many duplicate functions already being performed.

wE MUST ALSO BE MINDFUL OF THE DEBT THAT WE ARE LEAVING FOR THE NEXT GENERATION. Our long term debt in this city is 5.7 billion dollars, 2.8 billion of which is supported by property taxes. In our school systems alone,

we have amassed a debt of 1.8 billion dollars. IN ORDER to address long-term spending problems, I WILL ASK the State Legislature to give Marion County the ability to finish the job of consolidation that started over 4 decades ago.

I recognize that when we begin to talk about government consolidation, the conversation becomes political. That is why I am thankful Governor Daniels created the Kernan-Shepherd Commission,

which took a bi-partisan look at municipal government and saw the same thing we have seen in Marion County for a long time: government has too many layers and has grown too large.

If we are going to put Marion County on firm financial footing, we have to ask ourselves not just how much are we spending, but how and why are we spending.

a perfect example of this is an agreement made last year to spend $3.5 billion over the next 20 years to comply with a federal mandate to reduce the dumping of raw sewage into our waterways during heavy rainfalls, a goal that we fully support

However, after looking at the plans, we found a way to accomplish the same results while spending less. by using Value engineering and other measures we will lower the cost by 15-20 percent and use those savingS to reduce the planned sewer rate increases.

Many of our plans have been inspired by conversations with concerned citizens. I have no pride of authorship.

It doesn’t matter to me where the idea comes from because my goal is to do what is best for the city. WHAT WORKS, WORKS.

in fact, some of the plans we are implementing were created by the previous administration like the great indy neighborhoods intiative, better known as gini.

this is a great program that encourages neighbors to work together across traditional boundaries to organize and get involved in their neighborhoods, decide collectively on the priorities for their neighborhoods, and THEN act on those priorities.

we are also convening the high-performance government team which is a bi-partisan commission created last year by the city-county council to review the many taxing entities in marion county

and make recommendations to increase government efficiency.
last year, the citizens of marion county were hit with a 65% INCOME TAX INCREASE,

AND ALTHOUGH WE HAVE RETURNED MUCH OF THAT INCREASE IN THE FORM OF Additional PROPERTY TAX RELIEF, it is my goal that the high-performance government team, coupled with the full implementation of the kernan-shepHErd commission by our state legislature, will produce

ENOUGH SAVINGS FOR A REPEAL OF THE rest of that TAX.

One of the ways we remain in touch with citizens throughout Marion County is through the “Mayor’s Night Out.”

Every month, all the department heads and I, go to a different neighborhood and hear questions from constituents on everything from potholes to economic development.

One significant change we made after hearing from citizens involves a project already underway when we took office to install remote monitoring stations – 30-fOOt tall metal poles -- in peoples’ yards.

initially, We were convinced from the way the proposal was presented that this was the only way to proceed.

After hearing the outcry from those who would have had to live with one of these structures, we went back to the drawing board,

and found another way to meet our needs without inconveniencing these citizens.

A true partnership between government and its constituents is more than listening though. It also involves being transparent and honest.

soon we will announce the dates for indystat which ARE established performance measures for city government and we will make these results open to the public.

we are also going to have budget reviews open to the public so that Everyone can see how we are spending your money.

to increase the level of trust our citizens have for their public officials, we have also introduced a comprehensive ethics package. This will give city-county employees, as well as elected officials, clear direction on what is ethical behavior.

This will also give the public a clear view of who is influencing their government by requiring lobbyists to register and gifts to be reported.

By improving on the fundamentals: reducing crime, balancing our budget, and making government more tRansparent, we will continue to make Indianapolis stronger.

If we are to remain competitive in the future, however, we need to expand the idea of what Indianapolis can be.

As a Marine, I traveled all over the world, and one thing that struck me was how the world, in the words of Thomas Friedman, is getting flatter.

If Indianapolis is to remain competitive 30-40 years from now, we must dedicate ourselves now to increasing our city’s International profile. This must be a two-fold process. First, we must improve the cultural flavor of Indianapolis. This has always been a destination for people from all over the world.

Irish immigrants founded St. John’s downtown in 1837, in 1910 immigrants from Greece established the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, and in 1999 the Indianapolis Sikh community built a new home on the Southeast Side.

We need to make our ethnic communities more visible to the rest of the city.

one way We are doing that is by increasing ethnic diversity on our boards and commissions.

but We must also increase our visibility abroad.

That is why I have tasked our Director of International and Cultural Affairs to expand the sister-city program. Currently we have four sister cities: Taipei, Taiwan; Cologne, Germany; Monza, Italy; and Piran, Slovenia.

In the past, this program has not been very active, nor has it been used as an economic development and cultural tool. We are going to change that.

The mission of our sister cities program is to promote the global reach of Indianapolis by not only creating awareness of the international community existing in the city; but also by cultivating collaborative relationships throughout the world that promote Indianapolis and build on our international Presence.

we must build a city that attracts the best and brightest from all corners of the globe.

If the first 100 days have shown me anything, it is that Our future is bright. If we are to reach our potential, it will take all of us working together.

i invite all of you to Come to a Mayor’s Night OUT; call the Mayor’s Action Center, or contact us through our website.

this is your government and i encourage all of you to get involved.

END

Pennsylvania Department of Education Rescinds Tremco School Contract

GOOD NEWS FROM WELCOME TO MY TEA PARTY BLOG:

Saturday, April 12, 2008
"According to a Pennsylvania news report from the Ellwood City Ledger, the state's Department of Education rescinded a Tremco contract for a Riverside Beaver County School after a board member called a special meeting in late March to take a second look at the information.

Apparently, this Tea Party blog was indirectly mentioned in the report.According to the board member, taxpayers began asking questions about how "the system worked", and it was discovered that "Tremco was not following the negotiated terms of the agreement with the state". He said that Tremco offered to "act as the architect of the project as well as the contractor which per the agreement in Pennsylvania would be illegal."

"In a letter addressed to MacKay, a department representative said that engineering or architectural services for the project must be obtained by the district, not through Tremco and the purchasing agencies organization," stated the March 27, 2008 news report."

The rest of the article is available on Diane Vice's blog here. She is the Indiana homemaker and activist who figured out Tremco's dirty dealing to taxpayers in Indiana, stood up to them, and exposed them even when faced with a lawsuit against her for doing so.

Diane is a great example of how one person can make a whole lot of difference to taxpayers.

Cronyism Dominates Construction Spending at Washington Township School

URGENT:
PLEASE FORWARD THIS MESSAGE TO EVERY TAXPAYER YOU KNOW IN WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP

Brothers Steve and Tim Thoman have the inside track for a multi-million dollar heating and air conditioning contract for North Central High School. Their firm is Performance Services, Inc.

Thanks to a little inside help from Steve’s brother-in-law, school employee Mike Gause, they were able to pitch a school board meeting in January. This presentation so impressed the Superintendent that it is still posted on the front page of the school’s website. Go to http://www.msdwt.k12.in.us/ click on “Mr. Thoman’s Report on NCHS HVAC Controls” for the full slide presentation.

While dancing through the charade of a public bid process, industry sources believe that cronyism will deliver the business to the Thoman brothers. The school’s proposal evaluation committee includes Washington Township school employees Phil Smith, Joe Licata, Bruce Goberville, Joe Truett, and (you guessed it) brother-in-law Mike Gause. There is not a single engineer on the bid evaluation team. None.

School Board member, Greg Wright, was unsuccessful with his requested that an independent engineer evaluate the bids. Apparently, that suggestion was not in the best interest of insiders and would only benefit the taxpayers.

Following a long tradition, school insiders slide construction projects to their friends and relatives. For example, Washington Township Superintendent Mervilde was hired by the spouse of a CSO Architects executive. CSO is to handle the $200 million plan to rebuild all of the elementary and middle schools.

Some Washington Township traditions die hard.

In case you forgot, Jim Schellinger (candidate for governor that airs pro-school commercials) is the "S" in CSO Architects. CSO Architects is getting richer off Washington Township School contracts.

Off topic: New type of car jacking threat in Indy -- Please forward

Subject: Fw: Indianapolis Police Dept.

This could happen anywhere!!!Indianapolis Police report - This is real -
IMPORTANT PLEASE READ - T
his happened on the NE side of Indy. A friend stopped at a pay-at-the-pump gas station to get Gas. Once she filled her gas tank and after paying at the pump and Starting to leave,the voice of the attendant inside came over the Speaker. He told her that something happened with her card and that she needed to Come inside to pay.

The lady was confused because the transaction showed Complete and approved. She relayed that to him and was getting ready to leave but The attendant, once again, urged her to come in to pay or there'd beTrouble. She proceeded to go inside and started arguing with the Attendant about this threat. He told her to calm down and listen Carefully: He said that while she was pumping gas, a guy slipped into the back seatOf her car on the other side and the attendant had already called thePolice. She became frightened and looked out in time to see her car door openAnd the guy slip out. The report is that the new gang initiation thing is to bring back aWoman and/or her car. One way they are doing this is crawling underwomen's cars while they're Pumping gas or at grocery stores in thenighttime. The other way is slipping into Unattended cars and kidnappingthe women. Please pass this on to other women, young and Old alike. Beextra careful going to and from your car at night. If at all Possible,don't go alone! This is real!! The message: 1) ALWAYS lock your car doors, even if you're gone for just a second. 2) Check underneath your car when approaching it for reentry, and checkIn the back before getting in. 3) Always be aware of your surroundings and of other individuals in yourGeneral vicinity, particularly at night!! Send this to everyone so your friends can take precaution. AND GUYS...YOU TELL ANY WOMEN YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS THIS IS TOO SERIOUS..DO NOT DELETE. PLEASE PASS IT ON.

Sergeant John L. Krueger
IPS Police Department
Northwest High School
5525 W. 34th StreetIndpls, IN. 46224
(317) 693-5696

Message to Republicans

Keep Those Awful Democrats Out
I read with keen interest in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that former Congressman Bob Barr, R-GA, may be considering running for president as the candidate of the Libertarian Party. Then I read with growing disgust the comments posted on the AJC blog, condemning Barr for even thinking of it. No, we have to get on board McCain’s "Straight Talk Express." To save America. From whom? Why, from the Democrats, of course!

You remember the Democrats. That party of big government, big spending, always squandering American blood and treasure on foreign soil. (Remember Vice Presidential candidate Bob Dole in 1976: "All the wars o’ the 20th Century have been Democrat wars!") Surely, we must rally behind the Republican ticket to keep America safe and strong!

RELATED:
The 'Great Society' Murray N. Rothbard on a previous installment of the regime
Cash for Good Behavior
Bush's Uniformed Flunky Petraeus will call for aggression against Iran
The Ridiculous Surge on the failure of escalation
95 Years to Go on the subjugation of Iraq
Our Own Worst Enemy Men who lust for power
Use Your Reason When you hear environmental hysteria
Let's Foreclose on the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008
Bush Destroys Chances for Judicial Confirmations
Coerced Schools vs. Voluntary SchoolsAll Hail the Black Market

As we (some of us) have been doing for decades. It will be 40 years ago this fall that I picked up a copy of National Review with the cover story, "A plea to conservatives from Barry Goldwater." Goldwater’s plea was that we not "throw away" our votes by casting our ballots for American Party candidate George C. Wallace of Alabama. Because many of us heeded Goldwater’s plea, Richard Nixon narrowly defeated Democrat Hubert Humphrey.

From that time to the present day, a Republican has been in the White House for 28 of the past 40 years. Ronald Reagan also enjoyed the support of a Republican Senate for six of his eight years. Republicans controlled both houses of Congress from 1995-2006, including the first six of President George W. Bush’s eight years in the Oval Office. Jimmy Carter made no Supreme Court appointments in his single term, so ten consecutive nominees seated on the Supreme Court were the choices of Republican presidents. What have we achieved with all this Republican success?

Are you proud, conservatives, of our great Republican annual deficits of $400 billion (conservatively estimated) and our national debt of nine (or is it ten now?) TRILLION dollars? Are you proud of a government willing to go to war at the drop of a hat or the tilt of a turban? Are you glad we are paying for our wars and our vast military empire through our increasing financial dependence on Communist China, among others? Aren't you glad that our wars in the oil rich Middle East have driven oil prices above $100 a barrel?

Aren't you happy we have established the principle under this administration that the president has the power to lock up American citizens indefinitely, without trial, without charges, without due process? Won't you be delighted when the next Democratic president (Hillary Clinton?) builds on that precedent?

Don’t you feel so much safer now that the same administration that apparently ignored warnings of a terrorist attack prior to 9-11 now claims that to prevent another one it needs to listen to our international phone calls without a warrant? Aren't you glad the allegedly conservative party is about to nominate a candidate for president whose contempt for the freedom of speech guaranteed in the First Amendment has been expressed in various ways, most ominously in features of his McCain-Feingold Campaign Reform Act?

Ah, but Obama (or Clinton) will pack the federal courts with liberal judges! Uh-huh. And we may be sure the Republican nominee won’t? Amnesia is fast becoming the leading cause of mental dysfunction among Republicans. Sure, Reagan gave us Scalia and Rehnquist as chief justice. Bush ’41 gave us Clarence Thomas and Bush ’43 nominated Roberts and Alito, who, so far, appear pretty good. But who gave us Warren Burger and Harry Blackmun, the author of the Roe v. Wade decision, along with Lewis Powell? Nixon. Who gave us John Paul Stevens (Ford) Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy? (Reagan) David Souter? (Bush ’41). And once Clinton came into office, who were such good sports about the whole thing that they whisked through the nominations of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer?

The Republican members of the Senate, of course, only three of whom voted against Ginsburg. And that was after the Democrats had "Borked" Judge Robert Bork and nearly derailed the nomination of Justice Thomas. If the Republicans believed a fraction of their own rhetoric about the importance of confirming "strict constructionists" to the high court, they would have worked to block the Ginsburg and Breyer appointments.

Time and again, at every turn, the Republican Party has betrayed its conservative faithful. So much so that the name "Republican" is now virtually synonymous with betrayal. But don’t expect lobotomized Republican voters to notice. They are too busy being frightened by the Democratic bogeyman.

April 7, 2008
Manchester, NH, resident Jack Kenny [send him mail] is a freelance writer.
Jack Kenny Archives

Recommendation: REPLACE THE SCOUNDRELS

by Charley Reese**
Syndicated Columnist

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, we have deficits? Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The president does. You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does. You and I don't write the tax code. Congress does. You and I don't set fiscal policy. Congress does. You and I don't control monetary policy. The Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president and nine Supreme Court Justices - 545 human beings out of the 300 million - are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but private central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking thing. I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it.

No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to determine how he votes.

A CONFIDENCE CONSPIRACY
Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a SPEAKER, who stood up and criticized G.W. BUSH for creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it. The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes.

Who is the speaker of the House? She is the leader of the majority party. She and fellow Democrats, not the president, can approve any budget they want. If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto.

REPLACE THE SCOUNDRELS
It seems inconceivable to me a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted -- by present facts - of incompetence and irresponsibility.
I can't think of a single domestic problem, from an unfair tax code to defense overruns, that is not traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise power of the federal government, then it must follow what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it unfair. If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it in the red. If the Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want them in IRAQ.
There are no insoluble government problems. Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief there exist disembodied mystical forces like "the economy," "inflation" or "politics" that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power. They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses - provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees.

If our Senators and Representatives are NOT working to solve these problems, we should vote all of them out of office and elect individuals who will clean up their mess.
Why don't the people do something about it? The 3 people running for the Presidency is already part of the 545 people that have created the problems.

**Charley Reese is a syndicated columnist known for his plain spoken manner and paleo conservative views. He was associated with the Orlando Sentinel from 1971-2001, both as a writer and in various editorial capacities. King Features Syndicate distributes his column, which comes out three times each week.

Example of property tax mail we receive daily

From a Butler Tarkington resident since 1982:
"Everyone on my block saw their assessments go from 10 - 16% upwards. I looked up Sally's houses, and one of them had gone from $100k something to $355k..... a huge increase. And I do not suppose that rates are going to be so much lower. If the 1% cap were already in place, I could deal withit - but with it being phased in I fear a huge bill is on its way. I'll be writing Lubbers and Orentlicher again, I guess."

Editor's note: Good luck getting action from either politician, especially Senator Lubbers. Come November please remember the poor performance of our politicians, the INCREASED state budget approval, the INCREASED sales tax, their endless posturing coupled with INACTION, and the arrogance of the politicians we elected to represent the people's interests over their own.

Come November VOTE OUT INCUMBENTS. Instead cast your vote for every independent, Libertarian, Green Party candidate or anyone else running who is not part of the status quo machine. While you are at it, volunteer to work the polls to keep an eye on things. We hear that Steve Keltner (Senator Lubbers' challenger) is already coordinating volunteers for election day help.