government

Last Word on Walorski/Donnelly

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The Walorski/DonnellyCongressional Race for the Indiana 2nd District was a pretty bitter fight.  It was a pretty tight race up to and including the final days of the race.  Interestingly, there was a Libertarian, Mark Vogel, in the race.  I consider myself fairly politically savy, but I was unaware the third candidate until the weekend before the election when I received a glossy mailer touting Mr. Vogel as the “true conservative” in the race.

Mark Vogel Campaign Flyer Front

Mark Vogel Campaign Flyer Back

Despite serious campaign fatigue it caught my eye because of some of the positions being proclaimed, such as abolishing the IRS and the income tax.  All of them were conservative to the extreme.

Looking at it a little further, another thing caught my eye… The return address:  The Indiana Democratic Party!

Whether you want to call it dirty pool or extremely smart politics, apparently the Indiana Democratic Party didn’t think Joe Donnelly could beat Jackie Walorski in a head to head battle, so chose to spend precious dollars on promoting the third candidate.  Also, it appears they were right since the majority of those voting did not vote for Mr. Donnelly.   According to Mr. Vogel’s website, the ad was sent without his knowledge or consent, nor was it sent with the consent of the Libertarian Party.  A complaint has been filed with the FEC for violations of Federal election laws.

James Madison Quote on the 10th Amendment

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“The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government are few and defined.  Those which are to remain in State governments are numerous and indefinite.” – James Madison, The Federalist No. 45

The 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America:  The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

Anirban Basu Quote

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“One of the reasons to be skeptical about the prospects for above average GDP growth next year is the knowledge that state and local government spending will continue to fall, at least in real terms.”

—ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu.

Jennifer Laurent appointed as Executive Director of MCEDC

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Marshall County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) announced today that it has appointed Jennifer Laurent to be the Executive Director of the organization. Laurent joined the staff in February, 2010 as Assistant Director of Development Finance and has served as Interim Executive Director since June.

“Jennifer was given the opportunity and support of the MCEDC Board to demonstrate her ability to lead the organization” said Roger Umbaugh, Chair of the MCEDC Board of Directors. “At the same time, a national search was conducted and several other impressive candidates were considered. We’re pleased to announce that the Board has approved Jennifer as Executive Director and look forward to her continued successes.”

“I look forward to continuing our important work to keep and grow jobs in Marshall County and positioning the area for new investment” Laurent said. “We have many competitive strengths – transportation access, a high-caliber workforce, beautiful natural resources – and many innovative industries already at work here. But we need to build our regional alliances and development industry contacts to make sure these assets are well known.”

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Robert Smith Quote on Monopoly and the Economy

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“During the housing bubble, investors threw cash at real estate like it was Monopoly money. That may be an exaggeration, but perhaps not an extreme one. Generations of kids have been raised on the board game Monopoly, spending countless hours accumulating houses and hotels. Did we all learn bad lessons from years of passing Go and collecting $200?  …looking at Monopoly in post-recession 2010, the rules seem like a sure way to crash an economy: The bank can never run out of money, mortgages are easy to get, and when you build houses the rent always goes up.”

Taken from a NPR article Monopoly Game:  Rules Made to be Broken? by Robert Smith