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Happy 4th of July!

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Tomorrow is Independence Day!  Most of us around here will have to get our fireworks fix from the TV rather than in person.  The county-wide burn ban has been extended to include fireworks.  It appears that most of our region is under the same restrictions due to the drought.

It’s just not the same thing when you can’t smell the gunpowder and feel the boom in your chest.  While it would be very cool to see the fireworks in Washington like in the picture to the right, nothing can really beat watching fireworks light up the sky over Lake Maxinkuckee.  I think the water enhances the sound when you’re watching from a distance and often you get a double display as you see the bursts of color reflected on the water.

For many years we would make an annual pilgrimage of it and meet with friends and relatives at the lake to have a bon-fire and cookout as we waited for the show.  Our nieces and nephews grew up anticipating the annual gathering.  Unfortunately those days are gone.

July 4th, 2012 is falling in an election year.  Once again we’re being told that this is the most important election ever!  I’ve heard that a few too many times to put a lot of stock in it.  Neither side’s dominance is likely to result in an Independence Day (the 1996 movie) destruction of the White House as depicted to the left.  That doesn’t mean that the partisanship isn’t excessive in Washington right now.  Whoever wins, even by a slim margin, will call it a mandate and think it gives them license to push the pendulum as far as possible in their direction. 

I am currently reading a book about Benjamin Franklin.  It’s been interesting reading about how one of our founding fathers struggled with the choice to fight for independence and the various minor grievances that were compounded to create the original decision.  (I’ve always been partial to old Ben despite what he did to us with DST!)  It’s enlightening to relate those historic events to current movements such as the TEA Party and MoveOn.org.  To quote Dan Brown, “History is always written by the winners.”   It will be interesting to see what comes of our current culture clashes.

Here’s another good quote I like from Winston Churchill, “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.”  Despite the terrible partisanship, we are still better off than North Korea, Iran or any of the other radical governments out there.  Tomorrow is a good day to set aside the politics and think about the positive things about our nation.  Take some time while enjoying the holiday cookout to think about how our country started and what we have.  Fly a flag and give thanks to those that created our nation as well as those that are currently protecting our freedom here and overseas.  Happy 4th of July!

MCEDC Reelection

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Despite diligent campaigning on my part, my proposed successors all lost yesterday’s election.  I will be Chairman of the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) for another year.  I have enjoyed the interaction in the position and feel I have learned a lot, but I had offered to step down.  It is not an onerous position, but I often cannot devote the time to it that I think it warrants.  My real job often gets in the way of my extracurricular activities!  For better or worse, my peers on the board disagreed with my self-assessment.

My involvement in MCEDC serves multiple personal and business goals:

  1. It is a way to give back to our community.  It is truly a need that was neglected before MCEDC’s inception.
  2. It is a way for me to know what the trends are in Marshall County as well as our region.  This helps me give direction to Easterday Construction.
  3. It is a way to influence the direction of Marshall County.  MCEDC has been a force in drawing our communities together and finding common goals that move our county forward.  I am proud to have been a part of this.

Regarding other board member updates, Roger Umbaugh was reappointed by Marshall County as their representative.  Don Mahoney was reappointed by Argos as their representative and accepted another term as Treasurer.  Bill Davis, Bremen’s representative, accepted another term as Vice Chairman.

I’m looking forward to another year of making a difference.  As always, suggestions are welcome.

Indiana Becomes 23rd Right to Work State!

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Congratulations to our Indiana Governor and all of our Indiana legislators  that worked hard to pass Right To Work legislation this session.  They withstood a lot of heat in order to do the right thing.  Thank you also to the Democratic Caucus for staying and making their position heard rather than leaving for Illinois again.

I have no doubt that this was the right thing to do, both as an employee freedom of choice issue and as an Indiana Economic Development issue.  Maybe Indiana can be the first State in our Midwest region to begin to stem the tide of manufacturing jobs moving to the South.

See my previous post on why I supported Right To Work here.

Right to Work for Indiana

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We need to turn Indiana Red!

Right to Work legislation seems to be successfully working its way through the legislature this year.  A much better showing for our State than last year when the Democrat Caucus vacationed in Illinois rather than addressing the issue.

This is important legislation for all Hoosiers.  From my position on the the MCEDC board I have heard that this issue is one of the few deterrents to business location or relocation in Indiana.  This has been promoted by IDEC.  This was also listed as a problem by one of our site selector consultants.  There are many case histories such as the story of Oklahoma here which tell of how a state’s economic fortunes have improved after passage of Right to Work legislation.

With Speaker Bosma supporting it (you can sign a petition here) and Governor Daniels promising to sign it, there is a lot of muscle behind the current push.  It would be a boon to Indiana’s economic development position.

Aside from that, I believe that it is a freedom issue.  I worked in a closed shop factory for 30 days one summer.  It was an eye-opening experience.  I had no interest in joining the union.  In fact I was generally in trouble with the union steward.  The floor manager, who was not union, learned that if he needed some task completed quickly (if it was in my skill set) I would do it.  That was unacceptable to the union members.  I was taking someone else’s job!  I had worked several summers at Easterday Construction before taking that job.  I was taught there that I should do something even if it was wrong.  Easterday Superintendents always told the labor that if you finish a task and don’t know what else to do, pick up a broom and sweep the floor.  Boy, did that ever start a flap when I did that during one of the union’s unscheduled breaks!  That basically got me “blackballed” and I was told that I would not be accepted after my 30 day probation period.  Why would I want to join the union when I didn’t agree with their policies and they didn’t agree with my work ethic?  Why did they have the right to keep me from that job?  If they would have allowed me to remain, why would I want to contribute to their causes with which I didn’t agree?  I should have had the freedom to work there, but I didn’t.

If you want to express your opinion on this, use the link above to vote on Brian Bosma’s page.  This week there is a poll on the Pilot News website.  Currently it is running more than 60% in favor.  There is also information at Halt the Assault website here.  And there is also information on the Indiana Chamber of Commerce website here.  Join me in contacting our legislators to make this Law in Indiana!  I’ve already contacted mine.  If you don’t know who yours is, I’ll help you find them!