Higher taxes are all but certain for Madison County as the Alexandria City Council voted to approve COIT at its Oct. 19 meeting. The measure would primarily benefit Anderson city employees, but with Madison County taxpayers picking up the bulk of the tab.

Now with 49.5% of the County Income Tax Council’s “allocated votes,” the County Option Income Tax needs only the approval of the Madison County Council or of the Elwood City Council, which both vote next week.

Upcoming Votes

• Madison County Council, Mon., Oct. 26 at 7 p.m.
• Elwood City Council, Tues., Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.

The local firefighters union has a lot of skin in the game, selling scare tactics to the community. Union reps are floating the idea that without the tax, lost jobs will thrust the community into immediate danger with longer response times and fewer hands to save lives and put out fires. It sounds feasible, but fails to address the fact that as staffing increases, individual firefighter effectiveness declines, an economic concept known as diminishing returns.

Further, as their salaries increase beyond what the market will bear, performance drops as men feel less inclined to run into a burning building. Over-compensated employees are simply “paid too much” to face that kind of peril. The same concept applies to law enforcement, where overpaid officers feel less likely to chase an armed gunman.

On the other hand, too few public servants paid too little, ironically, yields the same result as overstaffing and paying too much. Therefore, if public safety is the key issue, then we must find the optimal level of both staffing and compensation that taxpayers can support.

Links

• Alexandria Council OKs Tax Increase
• Alexandria City Council Home Page

Anderson City Council has approved a COIT increase. Now, the Madison County Council is set to face taxpayer fury on Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. in the Anderson City Hall Auditorium as it prepares to be the straw that broke the camel’s back if it supports an overwhelming new tax for all of Madison County.

The fate of COIT rests with either:

1. The county’s approval
2. The approval of the Democrat-controlled Elwood City Council

If COIT passes, then taxpayers will suffer from inept officials who refuse to make difficult budget cuts or make better use of taxpayer money. At the heart of the matter is whether government bloat should continue to thrive at the expense of taxpayers.

Despite the Democratic domination running rampant in all areas of government, the Republican party is building support in communities and holding elected officials’ feet to the fire.

This week, a Herald Bulletin editorial summed it up best:

“There are those still in government who act as if their first responsibility is to city employees. It’s not. … [It is] to the citizens of the city, to keep taxes low and to run lean while providing essential services.”

The Republican party boldly stands for lower taxes and smaller government. Our friends over at the bi-partisan, watchdog group Rebuild Anderson, also want to see our community grow and not wither under the duress of higher taxes.

Rebuild Anderson is organizing a walk to distribute flyers to alert citizens about what COIT means for Anderson, Elwood and all of Madison County’s taxpayers. Both Democrats and Republicans will take part. This is a great time to contact people who have been wanting to get involved — to reach out to those who want to speak out — but don’t know how.

Complacency is keeping folks fat and glued to America’s couches! It’s time to get off your can, and go door-to-door. Help educate the community about the pending tax hike that city and county councils want to keep secret. Besides, walking is an excellent way to start your exercise regimen that you’ve been putting off for months! Or years?

Only you can stop higher taxes, and it begins at the grassroots level.

Rebuild Anderson Walk Schedule

• Sat., Oct. 17 at 10 a.m. in Chesterfield at Millcreek Civic Center
• Sun., Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. in Pendleton at Fall Creek by the playground
• Tues., Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. in Elwood at Dairy Queen on State Road 13
• Weds., Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. in Elwood at Dairy Queen on State Road 13
• Sat., Oct. 24 in Elwood, Pendleton and other areas if they are not done (times to be determined)

Your Officials

Please send a polite email or call. It’s their job to listen to you!

Madison County Council

• Bill Savage (D-Dist. 1)
  savagewd@hotmail.com
  Ph: (765) 552-8384
• Buddy Patterson (D-Dist. 2)
  buddypatterson@comcast.net
  Ph: (765) 378-5345
• John Bostic Jr. (D-Dist. 3)
  Ph: (765) 649-2138
• Gary Gustin (R-Dist. 4)
  g.gustin3@verizon.net
  Ph: (765) 778-7804
• Larry Crenshaw (R-At Large)
  lcrenshawapd@yahoo.com
  Ph: (765) 649-0716
• Larry Higgins (D-At Large)
  bighig0928@aol.com
  Ph: (765) 208-0923
• Mike Phipps (R-At Large)
  mike@gophippsgo.com
  Ph: (765) 610-6442

Elwood City Council

COIT will surely pass with the Democrats’ domination in Elwood. Let these folks know that re-election is not an option if they vote COIT.

• Jason Leonard (D-Dist. 1)
  Ph: (765) 557-0504
• Debbie Brown (D-Dist. 2)
  Ph: (765) 278-7823
• David Savage (D-Dist. 3)
  Ph: (765) 552-6894
• John Wright (D-Dist. 4)
  Ph: (765) 552-6617
• Jack Powell (D-Dist. 5)
  Ph: (765) 552-7634
• Brian Courtney (D-At Large)
  Ph: (765) 552-0744
• Matt Leeson (D-At Large)
  Ph: (765) 552-0669

Links

• Rebuild Anderson Web Site
• Rebuild Anderson Facebook Page
• Editorial: Rise Up Against Local Tax Increase

Garnering little attention is a meeting of the County Council on Thursday to discuss its own budget shortfall. The County Council will meet Oct. 8 at 5 p.m. in Council Chambers at the Madison County Government Center, Room 110.

An Oct. 6 story in the Herald Bulletin revealed Democrat councilmen reluctant to touch that “third rail” of politics: job cuts — a task they would rather leave for Republicans.

Council President Bill Savage (D-Dist. 1) sees shorter work hours as a solution, and Councilman John Bostic (D-Dist. 3) is calling for a shorter work week in what amounts to a 20 percent pay cut for all. In fact, Bostic would rather hurt taxpayers with higher taxes than to “hurt personnel.” He added, “Somewhere down the line, that tax has got to come.”

Despite meeting four times in a week, County Councilman Buddy Patterson (D-Dist.2) said the Democrat-led council has yet to find a solution that trims 10 percent of the budget. Accustomed to year after year of increasing budgets, Patterson claims most county departments are unable to find savings. For Democrat councilmen, cutting back is an absurd notion.

“We’re really going to try and prevent layoffs,” Patterson said. But at the expense of taxpayers? Why are higher taxes acceptable — and reducing the workforce is not? It boils down to reasons of political expediency.

Gentlemen, government is not in the business of saving or creating jobs. That’s a task best left to local entrepreneurs, who by the way, can only thrive in this dire economic climate with lower taxes. Unfortunately, as long as Democratic councilmen continue pandering to the people who elected, the local economy will suffer as a result.

These dodgy wimps will do anything to latch onto power and forever avoid carrying the albatross of job cuts. What heroes they could be if they only had the courage to do their jobs and represent us taxpayers! Is this too much to ask?

Links

• County Wrestles with $3.8 Million in Budget Cuts
• Madison County Council Home Page

On Thursday, an impassioned group of citizens will face Anderson City Council to express outrage towards the proposed new tax for Anderson and Madison County. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

Whether you call it COIT or LOIT, it all adds up to a new tax that will make our county a less attractive place to live. It’s another case of inept city leaders, drunk on taxpayer money, who don’t know when to say when.

This week, the City Council released an amended agenda for the Oct. 8 meeting that will include an executive order for implementation of a “voluntary furlough,” that is, the City Council’s strategy to dodge the politically squeamish task of cutting jobs.

Basic human nature dictates that a city employee will no more choose to take a layoff than take a hole in the head. Likewise, to think such a compromise would appease taxpayers is foolish.

Links

• LOIT Alert flyer – Please distribute to friends and co-workers
• City Council’s Amended Agenda for Oct. 8
• Anderson City Council Home Page
• Rebuild Anderson Web Site

U.S. payrolls plummeted by 260,000 in September as the unemployment rate inched upward to 9.8 percent, the highest level since 1983. State and local governments are reeling, and businesses small and large are posting losses.

“Where are the jobs?” is a rightful refrain Republicans like Rep. Mike Pence have been repeating for months now, and the Obama administration continues to lose focus.

In a statement, Pence said:

The American people know that true economic recovery starts with fiscal discipline in Washington, D.C., and tax relief for working families, small businesses and family farms.

The Democrat-led Congress is letting those wise words fall on deaf ears.

Adding insult to idiocy, Vice Pres. Joe Biden gave the not-so-brilliant assessment that “We don’t think that ‘less bad’ is good.”

Entrepreneurialism Not a 4-Letter Word

The problem at hand is a lack of jobs, caused by government meddling in what should be left to individuals acting in their own self-interests. This is free-market capitalism, where the unintended consequence is that everyone benefits.

It’s amazing what happens when liberals tax and spend other people’s money. Just look at how our government has wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on an inefficient pet projects like John Murtha’s airport. The bottom line is that individual “greed” motivates an entrepreneur to allocate his own resources efficiently, where his past profits become his future investments.

It takes money to make money, and coincidentally, it takes workers to make the widgets in the capitalist’s factory. As my economic professor used to say, “What greedy little capitalist piggy wants to stop at making $50,000? $100k? $500k? $1 million?”

Competition is a capitalist’s constant threat. It keeps him in line; it keeps him honest and on his toes. Liberals seem to ignore that fact and are eager to portray entrepreneurs as evil-doers. However, it is their complete and utter ignorance of how the world works that poses threats to our liberty and prosperity.

The Equality of Opportunity

The real evil is the United States’ fiscal irresponsibility that has empowered indirectly other countries, including our enemies, at the expense of blacks and minorities in this, a U.S. welfare state. Instead of economic equality and racial reparations, we need the equality of opportunity, where everyone starts the race from the same starting line.

Add to our nation’s woes a looming crisis in the Middle East, a belligerent, tyrannical dictator in North Korea, and not to mention an ongoing war in Afghanistan. All the while, Democrats keep conjuring up new ways to legislate the way to prosperity. It will never work. I can’t think of a better way to drive investors and jobs out of this country.

Will liberals ever admit that government is the problem?

Instead, these events have captured our imagination in recent months, overshadowing the urgent need for jobs:

Top 10 Reasons the U.S. is Losing Focus on Jobs

10. Cash for Clunkers
9. Health Care Reform
8. Cop, Educated Idiot Meet for Beers
7. Chicago-style Olympics Pitch
6. National Energy Tax
5. Soft Drink, Fatty Food Sin Tax
4. Where to House Guantanamo Bay Prisoners?
3. United Nations Apology Tour
2. A Hate Crimes Bill for Gays and the Transgendered
1. Presidents Clinton and Carter Form Racial Tag-Team

Watch for Pres. Obama to host another prime time news conference soon. Or maybe this time, we’ll be treated to a long-winded speech live from the Oval Office?

Links

• September Unemployment Data
• Pence Statement on Latest Unemployment Figures
• Biden on Unemployment: “Less Bad” Isn’t Good
• Republicans Seize on Jobs as Proof Obama’s Policies Have Failed

On Thursday, Oct. 8, the Anderson City Council convenes for a public hearing to:

1. Repeal CEDIT
2. Increase COIT to increase the Homestead Credit percentage
3. Impose an extra COIT for public safety

Your city council, dominated by Democrats, is poised to pass this ordinance.

The word around town is that a lone Republican may actually favor the ordinance. And even if a couple of Democrat dissenters vote it down, the nine-member council still has enough votes to pass it.

Herald Bulletin Editorial

The Herald Bulletin hit the nail on the head in its July 10 editorial:

When the economy is sour, unemployment up, wages down, charitable giving stagnant and government assistance limited, it’s not the right time to raise taxes.

It’s the right time for government to become leaner and more efficient, to re-evaluate the services it offers and the way they’re offered.

Action Items

• Post a link to your Facebook page.
• Tweet it to your Twitter account.
• Email or text it to your friends and family.
• Phone a friend.
• Meet us all at City Hall on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.

Many in our community don’t even know about the proposed ordinance. We must hold local leaders’ feet to the fire, and send them the message that raising taxes is unacceptable, especially with our slumping economy.

Why aren’t we exploring more traditional options like salary cuts? If the ordinance passes, God forbid, we can repeal it with new council seats in 2010. Correction: City elections are in 2011. (Thanks, Russ!)

What, When & Where

Anderson City Council Public Meeting

Thursday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m.
City Hall Council Chambers

120 East 8th Street

Anderson City Council

• Rick Muir, (D), President, At-Large
• Donna Davis (D), Dist. 2
• Pamela Jones (D), Dist. 3
• Ollie Dixon (D), Dist. 4
• Joe Newman (D), Dist. 6
• David Eicks (D), At-Large
• Rodney Chamberlain (D), At-Large
• Mike Welch (R), Dist. 1
• Art Pepelea, Jr. (R), Dist. 5

Council members are not without controversy. In June, Councilman Dixon pleaded guilty to a charge of driving while intoxicated and was the focus of a grand jury indictment on a charge of criminal recklessness in connection with his toting a loaded .45-caliber handgun into the county jail. Dixon called the gun charge “ridiculous,” and “political-, racial- and class-motivated.”

The charge was eventually dismissed by a tearful Madison Circuit Court Judge Fredrick Spencer — who is also a Democrat — on his last day on the bench following a state investigation of alleged misconduct.

Links

• Anderson City Council Home Page
• Anderson City Council Agenda
• Herald Bulletin: Just Say No to COIT Increase
• Judge Spencer Dismisses Gun Charge Against Councilman Dixon
• Herald Bulletin: Spencer’s judgment questionable
• Dixon pleads guilty to DWI

The city of Anderson is in shambles with a projected $8.2 million budget shortfall in 2010, and government leaders are getting nervous. They are ready to pull the trigger on a new tax with a funny name: LOIT, or Local Option Income Tax.

A bipartisan organization called Rebuild Anderson, recently released figures on what LOIT means for you and for other residents of Anderson and Madison County.

The city of Anderson is hosting an information session at City Hall, 120 East 8th Street, on Thursday, Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. Now is the time to let your officials know that tax hikes and new taxes are unacceptable, especially at a time when all of us are belt-tightening. Let your voice be heard before it’s too late!

Download the LOIT Alert Flyer at right and distribute to your family and friends.

The mayor of Anderson, Kris Ockomon, said last week there is “not really a way” to lay off workers. Why is furloughing city workers out of the question?

This author knows two city employees, by name, who dawdle behind their computers every day playing solitaire, forwarding joke/humor emails to friends, and checking their Facebook pages. Why are we paying for this?

Just this week, local radio personality Leland Franklin (WHBU-1240 AM), described seeing a city employee napping in a city truck while parked at Shadyside Park. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and it’s time for underutilized employees to find other employers who will appreciate and better utilize their skills.

The Herald Bulletin reported that the city can save $1 million for every 25 employees who get the pink slip. Let’s get creative and think of ways to downsize staff and upsize service.

If the Anderson City Council was so quick to defund economic development consultant Greg Winkler in 2007, then we need to start trimming the fat in other areas.

Legislators had apparently considered naming their new tax the “Standard Healthy Income Tax,” but instead opted for the term, LOIT, that best describes the liberal tendency to “loiter” (wander aimlessly) around unpopular, burdensome issues like tax hikes and increasing the size of local government. Nonetheless, it’s another instance of government helping itself to more of your hard-earned money.

Links

• Rebuild Anderson
• Anderson officials brainstorm budget fixes
• State Deadline Dates for Communities to Adopt LOIT

Earlier this week, U.S. Congressman Mike Pence gave a brief speech from the House floor in support of a bipartisan resolution to commemorate the horrific events of September 11, 2001:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLmP75Pi-JA

“We rise to pay a debt of gratitude to all those who rushed in when others were rushing out.”

The legislation was introduced by Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Sept. 8, 2009.

Background

On Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked and destroyed four civilian aircraft, crashing two of them into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City; a third into the Pentagon outside of Washington, D.C.; and a fourth that crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pa. Nearly 3,000 innocent men, women, and children were murdered in the attacks. Immediately following Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. Armed Forces moved swiftly against al-Qaeda and the Taliban, which the President and Congress had identified as enemies of America. Many members of the Armed Forces remain abroad, defending the Nation from further terrorist attacks and continuing to battle al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Links

• Pence Remembers September 11 on House Floor
• House Resolution 722