We’re entering the silly season of politics again. Does it ever strike you how many politicians say, “Vote for ME” when they meet you? I understand name recognition and why putting that name out there is necessary. But in the constant litany of “Vote for ME”, some of them never get around to what they will do for YOU. They’ll talk about their platform if you ask them, but generally you don’t get much opportunity. They’ll badmouth their opponent WITHOUT you asking, but that’s not much better than hearsay at that point.
Next time a politician says, “Vote for me”, put them on the spot and tell them, “No, if I go to the polls, I’m voting for me. Now tell me why it’s worthwhile for me to spend that time and invest my vote in you.” Voting is important. Be an educated voter and make sure you’re voting for the right person for you. Not for the flashy ad or for the party that your parents voted for… Vote for YOU!
[Image]
The news tonight will be full of people lined up to get their taxes in at the last minute. I’m usually sending mine out today, but somehow I screwed up my withholding last year and got a refund. That’s incentive to get it in early. I’ve been pretty successful with TurboTax, despite having a somewhat complicated return.
Out of curiosity, I looked up Tax Freedom Day at the Tax Foundation website this morning. The good news is that Indiana Tax Freedom Day is tomorrow the 16th of April. Last year it was the 13th, so that’s not a good trend. Unfortunately for the Nation, U.S. Tax Freedom Day is 6 days away on the 21st. I probably should sit down and figure out what true Tax Freedom Day is for Becky and I, but it might be depressing. I think taxes would be looked at quite differently if everyone literally had to pay their government obligation for the first part of the year in lieu of having it come out of their paycheck somewhat unseen.
And an interesting comment I heard on the radio today from Jonathan Hoenig. To paraphrase, when President Obama has held press conferences saying, “I’m going to ask you to pay a little bit more…”, the reality is that he’s not asking, he’s telling… Asking implies you have a choice. When the alternate is jail, that’s not much of a choice.
Image Source: Tax Foundation
I’d noticed a lot of ads for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) on the radio and TV, but hadn’t really considered the cost until I got the graphic to the right from Halt the Assault… That tops what McDonald’s spends per year and they are estimated to be the biggest advertiser spending at around $2 billion per year here. And of course my google search also netted this article about McDonald’s getting an exemption on providing healthcare coverage in 2010…
Definition of a WECS per the Culver Zoning Ordinance – 2010-007:
Below are some WECS’s that are not traditional wind farm turbines that could fall under a WECS ban.
At the October Plan Commission meeting, the discussion on WECS’s continued. (Previously discussed here.) The Commission could not come to enough of a consensus to formulate a new Ordinance but they did take a series of votes that defined several of the issues. It would appear that proponents of banning WECS’s are achieving most of their goals. If they proceed along their current path, Culver residents would not be allowed to have a WECS that produces more than .5 kilowatts in the lake district, park district, and R1 residential district as well as within 1/4 mile of any of those districts.
I would still contend that the proponents of the ban are too focused on their distaste for the aesthetics of current wind turbine technology and fail to consider the advantages that could come from advances in the field.