DEMOCRAT v GOP/GOP v DEMOCRAT: My phone, text and inboxes runneth over with questions about some of my recent political posts. The primary theme to these questions is why have I been uncharacteristically hard on the local GOP. The answer is simple. This year’s elections consist of local county offices (all GOP controlled, with a few exceptions among Township Trustees/Township Boards), state legislature (with a GOP majority of nearly 2/3rds in the Senate and the House) and last, but definitely not least, the 3rd Congressional District (as headed by Republican Marlin “We [the GOP] are not going to be disrespected…”Stutzman). As you can see, GOP is the majority party in control at all levels and therefore subject to more than usual amounts of scrutiny. Also, locally, the county purse is controlled by Republican-controlled County Council and the city’s purse strings are controlled by the Republican-controlled City Council. As a means of holding those with control over the “purses” more accountable, I will be highlighting them more this year than in years past. It’s the only way I know to help thwart wasteful spending of taxpayers dollars. A secondary theme to these questions is will I continue to hold the Henry administration accountable for their wasteful proposals. The answer is….absolutely!! (And those wasteful proposals will be set forth next year if, when and should Mayor Henry decide to run for a third term.) Remember, the Mayor can’t do a whole lot of spending without the approval of City Council. Of course, it would help if he wouldn’t make wasteful spending proposals, but ultimately, City Council has to accept/grant or reject/deny such spending proposals. One of the main motivators for me focusing on those who controls the “purses” was City Council excessive spending, especially of Legacy Funds. When City Council realized that there might be the potential for an operating deficit (duh??), then they visited their brethren on County Council, who passed the LOIT (local OPTIONAL income tax). Collectively, both City Council and County Council did a bang-up job of raising everyone’s taxes unnecessarily. Am I being harsh? No. Why? Council Council is supposed to review the departmental budgets of the other county elected officials and they have failed to do so in any real meaningful way. They’ve worked to increase the pay of the Coroner, who publically stated he would accept a lower pay rate….and this is after they approved the procurement of a shiny new vehicle for the Coroner’s use. I guess the Coroner’s customers (dead corpses) were complaining about having to travel in an ambulance??? (Shaking head as this stuff just can’t be made up.) In fairness to the Coroner, this mobile unit is supposed to be a mobile lab…which, in my opinion, doesn’t make the expenditure any more necessary. This is Fort Wayne/Allen County and not Las Vegas…if the Coroner wants to be more like CSI, perhaps he should call Jerry Bruckheimer and audition for a part, sort of like he did in the 2012 election. (Just sayin….) Of course, County Council is just trying to keep up in the wasteful spending race as they compete against City Council for the prize of biggest misuse of taxpayer dollars. City Council currently reigns supreme in that race and how could they not…if they aren’t trying spend a few million dollars on gateway beautification or a mere million to move a statute less than a city block away, then they are trying to prop up the expenses for a college to open a satellite facility that is less than 3 miles away from the main campus. Yes, THREE MILES away??? I love the University of St. Francis as much as anyone (Go Cougars!!!)….but really, spending millions to help off-set the cost of a Downtown satellite facility is as wasteful of an expenditure as they come. (Btw, that’s also if you ignore that pesky separation of Church and State—taxpayer dollars to subsidize religious education. Oh, wait, what am I thinking….I forgot about the several millions of dollars that was given to Indiana Tech for their law school, which consists of 28 students. Of course, these decisions are all being brought to you by the folks who are willing to spend $20 million in Legacy money for 200 jobs and a pretty new building. (I’m now banging my head against my laptop….hoping the pain of these horrid, horrid financial decisions will go away when I stop.) Anyways, now you all know why I have been focusing more on the GOP, especially here locally. I will continue to be fair and give “cheers” where they are deserved as well as “jeers” where appropriate.
Posted on: Mon, 27 Jan 2014 01:09:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015