It's The Economy, Even If The Media Doesn't Report It

Blatantly stolen from Captain’s Quarters

Bill Clinton got elected on the James Carville slogan, "It's the economy, stupid." Fourteen years later, it's the media playing stupid, as a roaring economy has been treated with more secrecy than national-security programs by newspapers and television news channels. Michael Barone points out the hypocrisy:

The Labor Department Friday announced that the number of jobs increased between April 2005 and March 2006 not by 5.8 million but by 6.6 million. As an editorial in the Wall Street Journal notes, "That's a lot more than a rounding error, more than the entire number of workers in the state of New Hampshire. What's going on here?" The most plausible explanation, advanced by the Journal and by the Hudson Institute's Diana Furchgott-Roth in the New York Sun, is that lots more jobs are being created by small businesses and individuals going into business for themselves than government statisticians can keep track of. Newspaper reports on the number of jobs usually focus on the Labor Department's business establishment survey. But over the past few years, the Labor Department's household survey has consistently shown more job growth than the business establishment survey. The likely explanation: The business establishment survey misses jobs created by new businesses. Our government statistical agencies do an excellent job. But statistics designed to measure the economy of yesterday have a hard time reflecting the economy of tomorrow.

The federal budget deficit has been cut in half in three years, three years faster than George W. Bush called for. Why? Tax receipts were up 5.5 percent in FY 2004, 14.5 percent in FY 2005, and 11.7 percent in FY 2006. That's up 34.9 percent in three years. And that's after the 2003 tax cuts. When you cut taxes, you get more economic activity, and when you get more economic activity, the government with a tax system that is still decidedly progressive gets more revenue.

The bottom line: The private-sector economy is much more robust and creative than mainstream media would have you believe.

What? Your newspaper hasn't told you about the massive addition of jobs since the Bush tax cuts? Perhaps they've mentioned the new historical highs for the Dow Jones index. No? How about that falling deficit, driven by a huge boost in tax revenues caused by record employment and increased profits (and therefore taxes) in the private sector? Page C-17, you say?

What a shock in a midterm election season!

When the last labor report came out, many people pointed to the small job growth as a point of criticism for the Bush administration. However, with unemployment at 4.6%, we're approaching the point where there aren't many left to employ. At a certain point, the unemployment figure reflects transitional status and not joblessness of any significant length. As Barone notes, it also might reflect the effect of new investment in small businesses, which do not report employment as rapidly as corporations and which created the 800,000 shortfall in the new-job count the BLS just corrected.

If critics want to see more jobs get created, then they should promote the freeing of capital for investment into the economy. Raising taxes will have the opposite effect, something George H. W. Bush found out the hard way in 1990.

Posted by Captain Ed at October 11, 2006 06:03 AM

Tax Cuts for the Poor

Who reads USA Today anymore?  Well, maybe we should have read this.

Income tax cuts benefit all payers

By Kevin McCoy, USA TODAY

 

Americans of every income have benefited from a drop in federal income tax rates as Bush administration tax cuts enacted since 2000 took effect, an independent analysis of newly released IRS data shows.

But those earning $75,000 to $500,000 are shouldering a larger share of total taxes paid as millions more of them earn higher incomes and get hit with the Alternative Minimum Tax, the analysis also found.

The review by the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan research group that favors low taxes, provides one of the first detailed looks at the impact of federal tax changes phased in between 2000 and 2004.

Alluding to the political debate that often surrounds tax issues, Gerald Prante, a Tax Foundation economist, said, "It is true that in dollar amounts the rich have gained the most. But everybody's tax rates have fallen."

The analysis showed, for example, that a taxpayer who earned $35,000 in 2000 would have paid 8.54% of that income — $2,989 after credits — in federal taxes. In 2004, federal taxes would have accounted for 5.12% of that taxpayer's annual income, or $1,792. That represents a 40% decrease in tax burden.

At the higher end of the income brackets, a $1.75 million earner would have paid $513,625 in 2000 federal taxes, when the rate for that earning bracket was 29.35%. Four years later, when the rate dropped to 25%, that earner would have paid $437,500. That represents a 14.8% cut in tax burden, the analysis shows.

Millions of upper-middle and moderately high-income earners also benefited from tax rate cuts. But the analysis shows their savings was limited by the Alternative Minimum Tax, which eliminates some deductions and credits they could otherwise claim on federal tax returns. The levy particularly hits those whose high state and local taxes become ineligible for federal tax deductions.

For instance, taxpayers who earned between $100,000 and $200,000 in 2004 paid 22.5% of all federal taxes, up from 19.4% four years earlier. Those who earned between $200,000 and $500,000 in 2004 paid 17.9% of all federal taxes, up from 15.4% in 2000, the analysis showed.

Prante said the federal government "cut ordinary income tax rates but left AMT alone. So the middle range (of taxpayers) ended up getting less of a reduction."

The Tax Foundation also found that:

• Millions of lower-income Americans — those earning $25,000 annually or less — have been taken off the federal tax rolls. In 2000, roughly 29 million tax returns had no federal tax owed. Four years later, the number rose to about 43 million returns.

The increase resulted from the doubling of the child tax credit from $500 to $1,000, as well as the Earned Income Tax Credit, a federal benefit program for low-income workers.

• Income for the highest-earning Americans dropped sharply from 2000 to 2002, following the end of the bull stock market of the late 1990s, then grew rapidly from 2002 to 2004 as the economy recovered.

What a beautiful day

…to be 33.

Daniel Chesterfield

Perhaps you’ve seen this on television:

 

If you enjoyed it, you’ll love the original:

 

Humor to deter the wrath from the post below.

Let’s lighten the mood around here before the ladies decide to declare fatwa on me because of the blatantly scientific post below.  Or was that supposed to be sexist?

The Pregnancy Tester

Finally, Proof!

We always knew it, now the science backs it up!  Sorry ladies. 

Men are more intelligent than women, claims new study

C’mon, you know it makes a great Monday morning headline.

Have you ever...

I suppose that we all do it every once in a while.  We all play the “what if?” game.  What if I’d have left the house three minutes earlier, would I have been part of that automobile accident right now?  What if the Indians had not let Bob Howry go during last off-season, would the team be contending for a shot for the playoffs right now?  What if I had not had those hot wings last night, would my tail end not feel unnatural?

Ok, that last one is a bit extreme, but you get the idea I think.

All of these things are decisions.  Some are bigger than others, some are just off the wall, but each one becomes part of the fabric of our lives.  One thing that I’ve come to understand is that each one of these decisions, whether bad ones or brilliant, make us exactly who we are today.  Sometimes we screw up royally and make a horrible decision, many times we make the right ones. 

Luckily every once in a while we get a chance to make one right, or at least as close to right as we can.  I hope we all get the opportunity one of these days.

We Will Never Forget

A nice quote

I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn't arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I'm going to be happy in it. -Groucho Marx

Labor Day

May you all have a nice weekend.  Labor Day doesn’t make much sense to me though.  Don’t really know why.

Welfare to Work

And old acquaintance of mine (in internet years) has something that I think might be valuable to read when we consider the Projects in town here.

Welfare to work - Ten years later…again

He references two articles, the first his own, and the second, an interview with Georgia’s Commissioner of Labor Michael Thurmond

And here’s a link to the front page of his blog, Drifting Through the Grift. 

 

The New View

Well, if you’ve picked up a Villager, like we all do and rapidly search for anything about Windham, because we’re navel-gazers like that, you’ve seen that after eight tries at passing an income tax increase, the Council has changed gears.

Like some of us *ahem* have been saying for quite a while.

Personally, I believe that if the Council could guarantee that every penny of the Income Tax increase would go directly to the Police Department, it would pass. The problem is that as it is now, the increase would go directly into the General Fund which is used for every other program in the Village save Water/Sewer business (unless there’s a shortfall there, which is another story entirely). Some in the Village have a mistrust in the Council, and consequently refuse to hand over their money to the General Fund without any kind of definite direction as to the use of the increased revenue. Each time that the issue has arisen, the drumbeat from Council’s direction is “It will go to the Police Department, trust us.” – Source

How hard would it be to split off the Police Department from the General Fund? What would be involved in setting it up after the same fashion as the Water/Sewer Department? Would that open up new avenues of increasing the revenue? That’s the type of creative thinking we’re looking for.  Same source as above

So now we have proposed a 4.something mill property tax levy.  This solves a lot of concerns, but raises a couple of others which we will be looking at over the next few months.  Hopefully we can have a clear picture of the tax landscape before the voting takes place in November.

A Taste of what I think is funny

Admit it, you’re either laughing hysterically or are really scared right now.

Via b3ta stuff

A Week of Good Thoughts

Suppose we start this very day To live our lives in a different way;
Suppose we vowed and constantly tried To help those in trouble on life’s wayside;

If we showed by our deeds a hint of His love

Wouldn’t earth be a bit more like heaven above?

ON MONDAY: Look for a smile today and return it with one of your own.
Give someone faith and hope, it’s such a beautiful loan.
ON TUESDAY: Gather a thought that’s kind, one that’s sincere and deep.
Be sure to pass it along for such are too precious to keep.
ON WEDNESDAY: Forget yesterday’s sorrows, mistakes, sadness, and pain.
Lift your heart with hope as flowers to sun and rain.
ON THURSDAY: Offer a word of comfort and prayer to help someone in need.
A little thoughtful gift, some flowers, or a smile makes us all rich indeed.
ON FRIDAY: You shall not pass this way again, so do any good you can do.
Don’t put it off till tomorrow or the chance may be lost for you.
ON SATURDAY: Today will soon be a memory so don’t let it come to an end,
without a smile, without a song, or just a word from a friend.
ON SUNDAY: Don’t let worry and care depress you, or brush your joy away.
But arise and give thanks to God above, for His love and another “Blest Day.”

“...let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his
own things, but every man also on the things of others” (Phil 2:3, 4).

Source

Aww crud.

Tonight was the Village Council meeting and I completely forgot about it.  Sure, things have been quite busy around the house and all, but that’s really no excuse.  It just slipped my mind.

Anyway, there are a couple of issues that continue to nag at my mind.

1.  Has anyone heard anything about that whole Fire Department Agreement that was such a vitally important issue last November lately?  Why is it suddenly of little importance?  Was it being overemphasized or is this a resolved issue?

2.  Hey look, the schools around here seem to be improving and no one wants to talk about it.  I think its a great thing that we’ve more than doubled our scoring from last year.  Is it the pinnacle of scholastic achievement?  Not by a long shot yet, but considering the multitude of factors outside the schools that enter into the problem, any turnaround is a good one.

3.  The Police Department in town is doing very well for being vastly underfunded.  In my jaunts around town, a cruiser is regularly seen driving here or there.  Visibility is an important piece of the puzzle, and I’m glad to see that being continued.

4.  The tax issue that continues to be raised and continues to be voted down.  I commented to a member of council prior to the election that if it doesn’t pass at this time, there has to be something going on other than simply not wanting to raise taxes.  I believe that a clear case was made by the Villager in the days prior to the election that would have sufficed to sway enough voters to pass the issue.  The problem is that the issue did not pass.  My conclusion is that there is another reason why the tax isn’t passing rather than the realization of need.  Of course, that’s pretty much the same conclusion that was stated three election cycles ago, but pishposh.

5.  I’m beginning to think that the future of this town does not lie with attracting new business.  In our area, one of the greatest “growth industries” is construction.  Specifically high-end housing construction.  I know its an impossibility but wouldn’t it be great to have the Council claim eminent domain over Maple Grove parkway and transfer ownership to some high falutin’ construction outfit?  Let’s put some $200,000 homes right in the middle of Windham rather than what’s there now.  Sell the lots for $50,000 a piece like they’re doing in Garrettsville right now.  The draw would be a quiet neighborhood on an out-of-the-way road basically in the middle of nowhere.  What a great place to get away from mundane business life?  Come to Windham!

Ahh to dream. 

Before We Judge Others

Heavenly Father,

Help us remember that the jerk who cut us off in traffic last night is a single mother who worked nine hours that day and is rushing home to cook dinner, help with homework, do the laundry, and spend a few precious moments with her children.

Help us to remember that the pierced, tattooed, disinterested young man who can’t make change correctly is a worried 19-year-old college student, balancing his apprehension over final exams with his fear of not getting his student loans for next semester.

Remind us, Lord, that the scary looking bum begging for money in the same spot every day (who really ought to get a job!) is a slave to addictions that we can only imagine in our worst nightmares.

Help us to remember that the old couple walking annoyingly slow through the store aisles and blocking our shopping progress are savoring this moment, knowing that, based on the biopsy report she got back last week, this will be the last year that they go shopping together.

Heavenly Father, remind us each day that, of all the gifts you give us, the greatest gift is love. It is not enough to share that love with those we hold dear. Open our hearts not to just those who are close to us, but to all humanity.

Let us be slow to judge and quick to forgive, showing patience, empathy, and love.

“All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them . . . ” —Matthew 7:12

Source

Oops

Isn’t it nice to know that us little folks aren’t the only one’s to make mistakes?  The big guys do it to.  Sadly, this is during a war, when reporters are supposed to be held to a higher degree of trust.

Reuters calls the doctor, take 2

and

Extreme Makeover - Beirut Edition

 

*cough cough*

 

Number one in the preseason poll

Yeah, I know it doesn’t mean much, but hey, its still a number one ranking. 

On the lighter side...

Waitress gets own ID when carding patron

WESTLAKE, Ohio - A bar waitress checking to see if a woman was legally old enough to drink was handed her own stolen driver's license, which was reported missing weeks earlier, police said.

"The odds of this waitress recovering her own license defy calculation," police Capt. Guy Turner said Monday.

Maria Bergan, 23, of Lakewood, was charged Sunday night with identity theft and receiving stolen property. She was arrested at her home in suburban Cleveland and was jailed in Westlake to await a court appearance.

The 22-year-old waitress, whose name was not released, called police last week and said she had been handed her own stolen driver's license by a woman trying to prove she was 21. The woman, who became suspicious of the delay as the waitress went to call police, fled the Moosehead Saloon, but her companion provided her name.

The waitress said she had lost her wallet July 9 at a bar in Lakewood.

The victim also had a credit card stolen. The stolen card has been used to make $1,000 in purchases, Turner said.

Twice in five days

Well, the lovely little vista most of us call home has made the front page of the Courier twice in the last couple of days.  Under other circumstances, we’d be proud.  When does football season start again?  Tell me the volleyball team is expected to be good this year.  I’ll take anything else at this point.

First off, I think its a good thing that The Honorable C. James Moore^TM went to the Commissioners to try and get some help in the Maple Grove/projects/huge problem that we have in town.  We need all the help we can get in this area.  Even with a fully staffed police department like we had a couple of years ago, we would still have to depend upon mutual aid and county assistance.  You don’t disperse a 70 person crowd with four or five officers. 

Of course, the paper was quick to point out our financial difficulties of late and use them as a reason that some of these things are taking place.  The Mayor was even quoted as saying that we only have one full-time officer on patrol at a time. 

“Hi guys, wanna do some badness type things tonight?”

“Yeah man, lets get in a scirmish, yea, even a throwdown.”

“Where should we go?”

“Hey, I hear that Windham place only has one cop around, lets take our bad selves over there.”

Yeah, not necessarily the best quote to have in the headline article of the local paper.  Of course, I doubt all that many folks who do the badness-type things really read the Record-Courier, so no foul is going to be called right now.

Anyway, even with the recent financial problems, this is not some new problem that’s only cropped up since we had to reduce police hours.  I recall reading a Landlord’s Meeting record from 1994 that discussed the issue of having private security to patrol the area and give aid to the local police.  Once again, that’s going to be discussed.  Let’s hand it to a committee, because committees fix things.  Sure they do.  Don’t wait on the Owners to do al that much except for talking about it, because they’d be taking more money out of their pockets. 

One thing that would be valuable for the Owners to do is a *real* background check.  Not the mandated bare minimum “hey, no felonies, right?” check, but a serious looking into.  You can get online and find out just about anything you want to these days.  I’ve seriously thought about doing it, but then realized how much that would cost.  Yeah, it ain’t cheap.  It would be able to weed out more of these morons that keep getting shipped to us. 

*note – saying morons does not necessarily imply that every person living there is a moron – just that the ratio in the Maple Grove/Project/Problem Area is higher than in most places*

Then came today’s (August 1) paper.  Whee.  There’s another tax issue on the ballot.  Yeah.  I do have to admit though, its about time that they address the  issues that we’ve been crying out about since last October.  Replacing officers.  But…

Enh, that’s enough for now.  Catch you later.

Kinda Interesting

I wonder how Windham would compare?  Maybe I’ll have to track down county by county rates somehow.

Unemployment Rates by State

Its a comparison of the average 80’s rate, the average 90’s rate, and the current rate.

Its on the ballot

Interesting, we get to vote on raising the minimum wage in November.  Not sure yet how things will go, but this view isn’t mentioned so much.  From Marginal Revolution

How to Unemploy Immigrants

In a shocking op-ed in the NYTimes two well known liberals, Michael Dukakis and Daniel Mitchell (a former price-control Czar), acknowledge that the minimum wage creates unemployment.  Nevertheless, they are in favor of raising the minimum wage.  Why?  Because it will create even more unemployment among immigrants than among natives.

The mean-spirited, Machiavellian nature of their op-ed is chilling but I will give Dukakis and Mitchell this, their logic is impeccable.  The minimum wage creates unemployment among the low-skilled.  As a result, the minimum wage tends to create disproportionate unemployment among teenagers and young African Americans.

Similarly, since many immigrants have lower-skills than natives, Dukakis and Mitchell are correct that a well-enforced minimum wage will put immigrants out of work reducing the pull of the American economy to workers in foreign countries.

I wonder if the NYTimes would have printed an op-ed that advocated minimum wages as a way of creating unemployment among African Americans and raising white wages?

(Long-time readers will know that the original proponents of the minimum wage had in mind exactly that so Dukakis and Mitchell are true progressives.)

Your Political Profile:

Overall: 85% Conservative, 15% Liberal

Social Issues: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Ethics: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

How Liberal Or Conservative Are You?

I hear...

…that it would be an excellent night to stay out of the projects.

Advice needed:

So what do you tell your six year old daughter in this situation?

Her:  Mommy, I’m scared because I had a bad dream and I can’t forget it.

Mommy:  What was your dream honey?

Her:  I forgot.

And how do you tell her anything without laughing?

Council hits the "redo" button

From the Forum

Linkage.

Hat tip to The Voice.

There's gotta be a way

How can we get in on the bidding process? 

Alternative fuel business may be area’s future

Monroe Energy LLC of Greenford is looking at four Mahoning Valley sites for an ethanol/bio-diesel plant that could start turning corn and soy into fuel within two to three years. One site is in Lordstown. This one plant, though itself will only employ about 40 to 100 workers, has the potential to spawn 2,000 support jobs. And there is demand for many, many more such plants.

…

Hopefully, Lordstown’s recent income tax increase will not scare away the Monroe plant. Lordstown already failed to capitalize on The Andersons Inc., which owns a fertilizer distribution business on Muth Road. The company is building its second ethanol plant near its hometown in northwest Ohio. Ethanol helped drive The Andersons Inc. stock from $8 a share in 2001 to $91 a share in March.

…

It is imperative that Ohio, and Trumbull County in particular, prevent Wisconsin, western states and others from taking the lead. Mahoning Valley leaders should consider an alternative fuels summit to capitalize on the state’s close gubernatorial race to solicit support from Columbus. And Ohio leaders should capitalize on this being a battleground state in the next presidential election to solicit federal help.

This window of opportunity will be small. We can wallow in sorrow over Delphi and GM. Or we can rise to the challenge, battle for the next economic trove, and resume our position as a world leader.

You get to keep more of your money

That’s what the term “tax cut” really means.  Not, “they’re giving us our money back” or “they should spend it somewhere else”.  We give our money to the government, when they don’t use it all, they should return it, not find new ways to spend it.

State to accelerate income tax cuts

Rather than transferring money from an expected budget surplus to the state's Rainy Day Fund, Ohio is returning money to residents by speeding up income tax cuts.

Beginning Oct. 1, the Ohio Department of Taxation will cut personal income tax rates by 8.4 percent, double the annual amount called for in the tax reform package instituted last July.

The cut would be in addition to a 4.2 percent cut in tax rates in January. Ohio's tax reform package called for a 21 percent income tax cut phased in over five years.

According to a release from Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, the 8.4 percent cut would average about $390 per Ohioan.

Independence Day

The words that declared our independence over two hundred years ago remain as relevant today as ever.

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed…

…We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The Declaration of Independence

If you haven't heard it yet...

You must not live in town…

15 charged in Windham vandalism 5 adults, 10 juveniles allegedly trashed park

Maybe we’ve got 15 “volunteers” to blacktop Center Street.  By hand.  I’m sure the Water Department can find some really nice jobs for these cretins.  Nothing like a good bit of sludge to remind people that being stupid has consequences.

I think some of the parents need a good thrashing too.

Edit to add: I removed the linkage, as it seems to change with each new day. One more thing to complain about with the Record Courier I guess.

News

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi killed in air raid

Positivity

Or “The Continuing Theme”.  Taken from the Washington Post:

And Now For Some Good News

By now Americans know the litany: The nation is engaged in a difficult and costly war in Iraq; Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon; gas prices are high; the costs of reconstructing the Gulf Coast region are huge; illegal immigration is a major problem -- and more.

These issues are real and pressing. But they aren't the whole story -- and they ought not color the lens through which we see all other events. We hear a great deal about the problems we face. We hear hardly anything about the encouraging developments. Off-key as it may sound in the current environment, a strong case can be made that in a number of areas there are positive trends and considerable progress. Perhaps the place to begin is with an empirical assessment of where we are.

Read it all.

History Lesson

President Bush gave a very interesting commencement address to the newest class of West Point.  Michael Barone comments upon it:

Bush Knows His History

Remember "Reform Ohio Now"?

I recall seeing some signs supporting the amendment in the Village back in November.  I’m sure that those folks aren’t very happy with their own party right now.

Reform won’t wait from the Columbus Dispatch

“After House leaders, who needed three-fifths approval to place a redistricting amendment on the statewide November ballot, lost the first vote, they cleverly repackaged the bill to mirror a Democratic reform plan drawn up last year. And Democrats proceeded to vote down their own idea.”

On this Memorial Day...

A different view of our present struggle:

Looking Back at Iraq

There may be a lot to regret about the past policy of the United States in the Middle East…

Top 50 Conservative Rock Songs

Yeah, we rock.  Really we do!  No seriously!  Why are you laughing?

Rockin' all night long!

Maybe Ohio has finally decided to get on the bandwagon

Some good economic news from Ohio.

Ohio among tops for job growth

Ohio's job growth in April outpaced that of all but two other states, while the nation's overall jobless rate fell compared with a year ago, according to federal statistics released Friday.

Ohio added 18,500 jobs in April, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. That brought Ohio's total number of jobs to 5.46 million in April, compared with 5.44 million in March.

April's largest job growth was in Illinois, with 23,100 jobs added, and in Georgia with 19,500. Ohio outpaced Michigan, where 16,600 jobs were added, and Minnesota with 15,800, according to bureau statistics.

North Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma and California experienced the largest job losses for April.

National unemployment dipped to 4.7 percent, compared with 5.1 percent in April 2005.

Is it just me?

If there’s work going on at the Center Street/Maple Grove intersection, shouldn’t there be a “Road Closed” sign beside KT’s driveway?  It is the “point of no return” for folks driving down the road in that direction, and for parents who perhaps weren’t paying all that much attention, it would save some hassle without having to turn around.

Of course, its most likely just me.

So there was this Council Meeting tonight

And there was huge community interest in it.  I was totally astonished to see a whopping five people turn out.  One of those folks even got to be on Council!  Not a bad deal if you ask me.

It wasn’t me if you were wondering.

Anyway, as Council Meetings go, it was rather dull overall.  Sorry folks, it really was a toss up between watching paint dry and taking notes.  Anyway, a brief review.

Council President Scott Garrett commended the Edwards’ for coordinating the Clean Up Day.  It does look pretty nice and they did a lot of work pulling this all together.

Sonya Edwards was appointed to the open Council position.

Mayor Jim Moore compared the last three attempts at passing the Income Tax issue.  He pointed out that in November it had 30% support, in February it had 24% support, and in May it received 36% support.

The Safety Committee is looking into any federal grants to help with financing the Police Department.  Rachel Barrett will be the new chair for this committee and it will meet on the second Tuesday of the month at 7:15 pm after the Finance Committee’s meeting at 6:30.

The Financial Committee discussed issues with improperly depositing USDA money into the General Fund and conforming to the advice of the Auditor.  A Worker’s Compensation payment is to be made for the months of April and May to the tune of $28,606.00.  Marian also pointed out that the interest on the sustained debt is compounding continually.

Two ordinances were passed as Emergency measures.  They are as follows:

Ordinance No. O-2006–13  Declaring it necessary in order to continue to provide services in the Village of Windham to increase the Village Income Tax by .5% effective January 1, 2007, declaring an Emergency and repealing all prior inconsistent ordinances.

Ordinance No. O-2006–14 Declaring it necessary to place a .5% General Income Tax increase on the ballot for the August 8, 2006 Special Election said increase to be effective January 1, 2007 and notifying the Portage County Board of Elections to cause notice of the election, and declaring an Emergency and repealing all prior inconsistent ordinances.

The Committee also pointed out that there has been a request made by the Portage County Commissioners to purchase a 12 x 12 granite brick for the Veterans Memorial that will be in the front lawn of the County Courthouse.  It will be a Level III donation at the cost of $1,000.00.  The Council tabled the issue until next meeting.

The Service Committee presented an ordinance pertaining to the continuing issues with the water meters in the Village.  Presented was this ordinance, which was passed unanimously by Council:

Ordinance No. O-2006–11 Enacting new Section 927.06 of the Codified Ordinance of the Village of Windham to assess a monthly fee for water meter rentals and to create a fund for meter repair, replacements, and maintenance to be effective July 1, 2006 declaring an Emergency and repealing all prior inconsistent ordinances.

Through this ordinance, the Village Water Department will be able to purchase new water meters from a fund set up specifically for that purpose.  A $5.00 fee will be assessed per meter beginning in July, 2006.

The committee also presented issues raised by Kevin Knight.  Some fences in the Village are in need of repair which is estimated to cost $5,600.00; a valve on the water tank needs replaced which will cost $7,000.00; and some of the storm sewers in the Village are in need of maintenance.

The Public Housing Committee recommended that their Ordinance be tabled until the next meeting:

Ordinance O-2006–15 Amending Section 1341.02 (49) of the codified Ordinance of the Village of Windham to include single family rental units to the housing code to make them subject to inspections and licensing fees repealing all prior other inconsistent ordinances and declaring an emergency.

The Ordinance is intended to tighten up on licensing and enforcement of such in the Village.  There was also discussion about the method of inspections.  The housing inspector has not been filling out reports correctly and has not responded to a request made by the Mayor two weeks ago.

The Planning and Zoning Committee put this ordinance before Council, which was passed unanimously:

Ordinance O-2006–12 Authorizing a request to the Ohio Board of Building Standards to certify the Village of Windham for enforcement of the Residential Code of Ohio with the condition that the Portage County Residential Building Department exercise enforcement authority and accept and approve plans and specifications, and make inspections, and authorizing an agreement for such enforcement between the Village of Windham and Portage County Residential Building Department declaring an emergency.

The ordinance is a formality to make the PCRBD officially the building code inspectors.

In Guest Recognition, Robert Edwards thanked the Village and Council members individually for their help during the Clean-Up Day.

The Council went into Executive session twice during the meeting, first to discuss the selection of the new Council member and second to discuss legal and police personnel issues.

Mother's Day

To the women of the world who have taken on the most underappreciated job in the history of the planet:

Happy Mother’s Day

I’ve been blessed to be surrounded by two women in my life who have been excellent examples of motherhood.  First, my own mother who raised me to be the charming chap that I am today.  Without her example of patience and persistence, my perspective (alliteration!) would be totally different.  She showed me what love truly means and can do within a person, and how that love interacts with another person who loved her back, even though things may not always be perfect.  Everyone should be able to say that they love their mother, and have the love of their mother to show to others.  I’m lucky enough to be able to say the same.

My wife is the second dear mother in my life.  She has now raised three excellent children and shown them the same type of love that my own mother showed to me.  I’ve witnessed the struggles of young motherhood and how she has adapted to the changes in life, personality, and the simple differences between each of the kids.  She has shown how to be flexible, yet tenderly remaining resolute in the things which will better the kids’ lives.

To both of the mothers in my life, I love you dearly and couldn’t imagine life without you.

To everyone that is a mother, may the kind thoughts offered you this day always be a reminder of how truly important you are in so many lives.  You are the guides to the next generation and that is a tremendous responsibility.

And now, for a post that makes very little sense.

Chris!

Nooooo!

Some random pictures from Saturday

Let’s hope we get these sized correctly. 

Hmmm...

Traffic has spiked after the election.  What do you folks want?  A nasty repudiation?  Spit and vinegar?  Clever snark? 

If I had it in me, I’d do it.  I’m thinking more along the lines of submitting a resume to Council for the soon-to-be resigned seat.

The outcome of the Income Tax vote

 FOR THE INCOME TAX – 131 – 36.09%

AGAINST INCOME TAX – 232 – 63.91%

Got five minutes to burn?

Did you love to play Mario Brothers on the old Nintendo? Then check this out.

Mario Live!

Hey...

I hear that a Village Council seat is being resigned.  Who could fill that seat?  Hmmm……

The Resignation Letter of Ms. Shelley Craine

The title pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it?

April 8, 2006

 

Village of Windham

9621 East Center Street

Windham, OH  44288

 

To Mayor Jim Moore, Council President Scott Garrett, Council members Rachel Barrett, Jason DeBolt, Robert Donham, Marian Garrett, Scott Garrett, Jodi Minotti, and to the residents of the Village of Windham:

 

It has been my privilege to serve as Village Fiscal Officer for the past 16 months.  I want to say thank you for the opportunity that you have given me.  After thoughtful consideration, I am submitting my resignation effective Friday, April 21, 2006.

 

I would like the residents of the Village of Windham and the Village Council members to know that when I accepted this position, I understood completely that this job is an “Executive position” which is defined as Exempt from Overtime according to Federal Wage and Hour Laws and beyond my normal and reasonable salaried wage and the one (1) week of vacation time that I am due, I will not under any circumstance seek additional compensation for hours worked above my normal 40 hour work week from the Village of Windham.  There will also not be any attempt on my part to seek any compensation from the State of Ohio Office of Job and Family Services Unemployment Division.  In resigning this position, I acknowledge that I forfeit all rights to those options.

 

I also acknowledge that all work completed during my tenure belongs to the Village of Windham and will be willingly surrendered and all records will be left on the premises for future reference.  Upon my last day of work, I will voluntarily surrender all keys, passwords, safe combination, bank signature rights, all files, records, official copies of Council minutes, official copies of Ordinances & Resolutions, Village cell phone, email addresses and rolodex phone files, cash balances, financial records, UAN procedures and training manuals, LGS Conference Manuals, all Village owned computer equipment and furniture and computer backup CDs and floppy disks.

 

To the best of my ability, I will leave the 2005 and 2006 Financial and Clerical records in a condition that will be conducive to the upcoming Audit.

 

In addition, I would request that Marian Garrett contact the State Auditor’s office to inquire concerning any reporting requirements that may exist as a result of my resignation.

 

I understand the confidential nature of the financial work I have completed for the Village and will not make any further public statements, nor speak in any capacity on behalf of the Village.

 

This will include speaking to any member of the press in regards to the financial affairs or any other matter regarding the Village of Windham.

 

Thank you and my best wishes to you all.

 

May God Bless the Village of Windham.

 

Sincerely,

 

Shelley K. Craine

Wow, I haven't seen you since....

Well, April 16 has rolled around and the church celebrates a great day.  This day has great significance for Christians across the world, and is observed with honor and reverence.  Why?

• Its the day in which we remember the Lord’s death – 1 Corinthians 11:23–26
• Its the day in which we rejoice in his resurrection – Matthew 26:26–29
• It is the day in which Jesus rose from the grave – Mark 16:9
• It is the day in which Jesus was shown to be the Son of God with power – Romans 1:4
• It is the day upon which the church officially began – Acts 2:1
• It is the day when the Apostles received the Holy Spirit – Acts 2:1–4
• It is the day when Jesus was worshipped for the first time (by Thomas) – John 20:25–26
• It is the only day when Christians are recorded as gathering together – Acts 20:7
• It is the day in which John received his Revelation – Revelation 1:9–10

That’s right, it is that blessed holy day which all Christians are to observe, to worship upon, to partake of the Lord’s Supper, and to enjoy fellowship with and the edification of other Christians.

The first day of the week.

And to prove that I'm a geek...

I give you…

The Greatest Lightsaber Duel EVAH!!!

(evah = ever for you uncool types, you know, from Garrettsville)

The type of information that I'm looking for...

After the most recent defeat of the Village’s 0.5% income tax increase, it was stated by a Village official that the voters complained about printing too much material in support of the increase in November, then complaining about not having enough information when the issue was raised again in February. Now I can only speak for myself here, others likely have differing views, but my personal call for information is not in the vein of “we need the money, here’s why”. I’m looking for something on this order.

To the electorate of Windham Village:

Recently we decided to once again put the 0.5% Income Tax increase back on the ballot which you will be voting upon May 2. We have come to you each time in the past and explained the need for this increase, owing to past financial oversight on our part, and even more generally an economic downturn.

This increase, if approved, will bring approximately $60,000 in new revenue to the Village. We believe that it is important for you to know how we intend to use this revenue. There is no dispute over the need to improve the Village Police Department. We will, with this new revenue, be able to hire at least one new full-time officer, and possibly two, depending upon the availability of funds outside of this new revenue. We will also be able to take approximately $10,000 to improve the Department facility, as has been requested by Police Chief DeSalvo. Though this will not be able to fulfil every need of the Department, we hope that we can take a good first step in the right direction.

We also will use $15,000 to improve the equipment of the Streets Department. The Village workers have been working with some out of date equipment which needs updated.

In the second and third years of the increase, we also intend to continue to improve both Departments, along with other needs of the Village which may come up.

Sincerely,

Windham Village Council and Administrators

To me, that would go a long way in alleviating some concerns that I have. Plus, it nails each of their tails to the wall when it comes to spending the revenue that WE GIVE the Village.

I love my job

You know, sometimes this whole preaching thing has its down times (read:  past Villager letters).  Sometimes a day comes along when everything gets validated.  Or at least is just so odd that it has to be noted.

So I’m down at the building getting the clothing building ready for Thursday.  I had to go up to the storage building to get a few boxes and noticed a white car sitting on the other side of the building from where I had parked.  Surely no one is in it, so I walk up to the car to check. 

And see something that I wasn’t necessarily expecting.

Needless to say, the car drove off rather quickly.  What on earth would possess a couple to do something like that in a church parking lot?  Yikes.

Final Four

Certainly everone paying any kind of attention to the basketball events of late is a bit disappointed that we don’t get to watch the Bombers play tomorrow morning for the State Championship.  Those young men wanted to be there as much as those of us who were cheering them on did.  Let’s keep our focus though.

The Windham Bombers made the Final Four in the state of Ohio.  That’s no small feat.  To top it off, we have a great nucleas of players coming back next season, which could very well play to this high level.  Without doubt, we’ll miss the seniors and their leadership of this team, which they’ve done so well.  With Coach Hill and his steady hand guiding these players, great things will continue to come.

And lets just make sure it doesn’t take another 24 years to get back to Columbus again.  I don’t think anyone could take that. 

Having problems with WQKT?

There’s another feed off of Sportsjuice. It might be a little Columbus Grove biased, but I’m not entirely certain right now. Click the link below to go directly to the feed (hopefully)

Linkage


edit to add:

Yeah, there's no question to the bias. Yikes.

Radio Schedule

As you may know, WQKT out of Wooster, Ohio (not far from my home!) regularly broadcasts all of the state basketball games.  This season is no different.  Click “here” to go to their schedule and click on the flashing “streaming” icon beside the game at 2:00 pm.

Unfortunate timing...

How many of us got up on Saturday morning and wanted to read the newspaper to see what was said about the Bombers going to State?  Likely many of us.  We weren’t too surprised to see that Kent State garnered the front page news by losing to Pitt.  It wasn’t too surprising considering they’re a major Division 1 college.  Right next to it though was an article about Windham.  Great!  We made the front page by having a great basketba….whoa, what’s going on here?

Its all about how the Village is in financial trouble?  Harrumph!  I can’t believe that they’d pull this one right when we are on the verge of great things happening!

The problem is that at least this time around, we’re probably the victims of unfortunate timing.  With the Village Council meetings being held on Wednesday evening, Thursday word would get out about what happened in that meeting, perhaps concerning Village finances.  Friday the newspaper journalist would contact the Village for comment to be put in the newspaper on Saturday.  So yeah, the timing sucks, but its not some disjointed conspiratorial agenda against Windham.

This time. 

FYI

In the continuing effort to bring you all things State Bound Windham Bombers, here’s a link to the whole Division IV bracket in Ohio.  Look at the road that Windham has taken and compare it with the others.

Boys Basketball Division IV Bracket (pdf file)

More on the Bombers

So the Record Courier isn’t cutting it when it comes to reporting?  Big surprise there.  Here are two articles from the Wooster Daily Record, the closest newspaper to Berlin Hiland.

Half not good enough for Hiland

By BRYAN SCHAAF
Daily Record Sports Writer

---

CANTON - The Hiland boys were the best team on the floor for one half of Friday’s Div. IV Canton Regional championship game against Windham.

It’s just too bad that it was the wrong half.

After two quarters of play, the Cinderella Hawks had gone blow-for-blow with the high-powered Bombers, and even held a slim 34-32 advantage going into the locker room.

But with only 16 minutes left to earn a trip to the Final Four, the Bombers turned it up a notch, outscoring the Hawks 23-14 in the third quarter before hanging on for a 77-69 victory.

“We just didn’t defend today,” said first-year Hiland coach Mark Schlabach, who just missed out on a third straight trip to Columbus after taking Loudonville to the state semis in each of the past two seasons. “We didn’t get stops when we needed them. That’s something we’ve done all year, but today we just didn’t get it done. Usually, we speed other people up, but today, they sped us up.”

The Bombers (22-3) came out flying in the second half, scoring on three of their first four possessions to grab a 49-46 lead.

After trading buckets with the Hawks (20-6) midway through the period, Windham’s Ian McGuire and Matt Heller scored on back-to-back possessions to kick-start an 8-2 run to close out the quarter with a 55-48 lead.

“I think the key to the game was at the half when we switched defenses,” said longtime Windham coach Marty Hill, who’s making his first trip to the state tournament since 1982. “We’d gone man-to-man in the first half and switched to a full-court matchup. We think we’ve got some pretty athletic guards. We got some steals and turned them into easy layups.”

The Bombers opened the fourth quarter with a big 3-pointer from Brett Apthorpe to push the lead to 10.

However, despite leading in the fourth, Hill knew that his team’s lead wasn’t safe against Hiland, which canned six 3-pointers in the first half.

And when Kenny Miller connected from the top of the arc with 3:53 left in the game to trim the lead to six, Hill called a timeout to regroup.

“We took the 3 away for most of the second half,” said Hill. “Hiland is very well coached and they do a great job in their zone offense. It’s really hard to get them out of their rhythm. I told our kids that we had four ideas of what we wanted to do, and by the end of the game, we were on idea No. 4.”

Apparently idea No. 4 worked, though, as Hill’s Bombers forced the Hawks into three turnovers in the final 2:47 to rebuild their lead to 12 points.

Hawks’ leading scorer Joel Gause got hot late, scoring eight of his team-best 21 points in the final 1:50, but it wasn’t enough, as the Bombers hit six of their final 10 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

“Give Windham credit, because I don’t want to take anything away from them,” said Schlabach. “But our guys know that we didn’t play our best game today, and you can’t not play your best and end up in Columbus.”

Behind Gause, the Hawks got 13 points from Clinton Yoder, while Phil Major finished with 10 points and four assists. Dustin Kaufman added eight points and 11 rebounds in the loss.

Windham was led by Heller’s 19 points and six assists, while McGuire (18 points), Apthorpe (17) and Phil Workman (10) also reached double figures in scoring.

Still, eight weeks ago, it’s doubtful many saw the Hawks even appearing in a regional tournament, let alone playing for a trip to Columbus.

“I think we got focused about Game 15 this year,” said Schlabach. “We knew we couldn’t win a league championship, but we wanted to judge the success of our program by how we do in the tournament. We tried to focus on the tournament, but we didn’t accomplish our goal of getting to Columbus. I do think that it set the tone for years to come, though.”

And number two…

 

Judge Hawks by way they finished

By ELLIOTT SCHREINER
Daily Record Sports Writer

---

CANTON - At the beginning of the 2005-06 season, Hiland boys coach Mark Schlabach said to judge his team by what it would be at the end of the year, not the beginning.

The Hawks came to a fork in the road midway through the season.

They were coming off losses to Inter-Valley Conference rivals Garaway and Sandy Valley and were out of the league race.

But from that point on, the Hawks rolled.

They won 10 of their next 11 games, with the one loss coming to Triway (ranked fourth in final Div. II AP Poll) at the Pit.

“I thought we got focused around Game 15 this year,” Schlabach said.

That all culminated in a loss at Friday night’s Div. IV Canton Regional final.

The team obviously turned the right way when they met their fork in the road, but when they went up against Windham, the Bombers were just too much.

“We just didn’t get stops in the second half,” Schlabach said. “We flat out couldn’t stop them, they were scoring at will.”

HE’S NOT SUPPOSED TO DO THAT - That wasn’t the story in the first half.

The Hawks were able to shut down the scoring combination of Ian McGuire and Brett Apthorpe, holding the pair to nine points on 2-of-8 shooting.

What the Hawks didn’t expect was big-time scoring from Bombers’ point guard Matt Heller.

The 5-10 junior came into the contest averaging seven points and seven assists.

But he exploded in the first half against the Hawks with McGuire in foul trouble and Apthorpe ineffective.

“Matt Heller just kept us in the game,” Windham coach Marty Hill said. “He probably took more shots in the first half than he has in the entire tournament.”

McGuire and Apthorpe came back strong in the second half, though, finishing the game with a combined 35 points.

“We expected that from Apthorpe and McGuire,” Schlabach said. “But we weren’t expecting it from (Heller).”

LONG TIME COMING - It’s been 24 years, but Hill has finally made it back to the state semifinals.

In his 32 years at Windham, he’s coached his teams to 10 regional tournaments, but only making it to state in 1977 and 1982.

There have been some trying times in those 24 years, including a matchup with a loaded Columbus Worley team in the early nineties.

“They had five guys go on to play Div. I ball,” Hill said. “We went to scout them and their JV players were dunking.”

The past two seasons, his teams made it to Canton, bowing out in the regional semifinals both times.

But Hill and the Bombers had an X-factor on their side this time.

“I told the kids, sort of for confidence, that I’ve been to 10 regionals,” he said, “and that we’d only played in two regional finals and won both of them.”

ONE GAME SHORT - With the loss, the Hawks fell one game short of their first trip to Columbus since 2000.

While not many people at the beginning of the year saw them as a state-caliber team, they proved all doubters wrong, peaking at the right time and taking Windham to the limit before falling.

The team lost six seniors off their 2004-05 squad. Needless to say, they were short on talent.

But over the course of four months, they evolved from a team struggling for an identity into a talented - and now tournament-seasoned - team.

While Schlabach was surprised at his team’s success, he knew never to doubt his team.

“I don’t want to put limits on the players,” he said. “I don’t think the kids played above their talent level.

“About six or seven games ago, we started playing defense and rebounding better. We just didn’t do that tonight.”

By the way, Hiland’s girls basketball team has become back to back state champions, beating East Canton 59–54.

 

On the national side

Curious about how things work in Congress when it comes to budget time?  Check out this interview by Hugh Hewitt with Congressman John Campbell.  Mr. Campbell has been a congressman for 90 days and has had 63 requests for earmarks to be added to the budget. 

Put simply, a lot of people want to get their hands on “free” government money.

His solution?

We need a spending limit, and we need a line item veto. And I'm not sure that anything else is going to stop it, just because of the way that Congress works with individual...with so many members and so many interest groups.

ALERT!

WINDHAM - At the recent Village Council meeting, a change in the official seal of the Village of Windham was proposed.

Photo courtesy of Homestarrunner.com

And for goodness' sake, yes, its a joke. Sheesh.

Congratulations

Definitely going out to the basketball team.  Even though my home school was defeated, it was one of the best games that I’ve seen in years.  Of course, I haven’t seen a high school basketball game since 1992, but that’s beside the point.

Watching ONN this evening, it seems that Windham will be playing Columbus Grove, with a record of 20 – 5.  Grove has been on quite a streak in the playoffs and before it, and has a “feel good” quality to folks in the middle of the state, much like Windham to everyone in our community. 

If Coach Hill can continue to motivate these young men the way that he has been since the beginning of the season, the next game should not only be a fun one to watch, but should also be a win. 

As I was walking out of the game tonight, I saw some friends from back home and they asked me if the team always played that well.  The answer was obviously yes, and they were surprised that they’d not heard of Windham before, apart from my talking about the Village.  I’m still befuddled by the fact that the team wasn’t ranked in the AP polling, especially considering their caliber of play during the last three weeks of the season.  Perhaps it has something to do with the PTC being a young league or some such. 

Regardless, we have a fine team and excellent coaching staff to represent us in Columbus next week.  No matter what happens, this team will always be a great team because of the people involved.

Torn

Well, tonight is the Regional Championship game down in Canton and I find myself in a bit of a pickle.  Its something that I realized a few weeks back might happen, but the moment of truth has come.  Its confession time though.

I graduated from Berlin Hiland High School.

The passion that many of you all feel for all things Windham Bomber-ish, I feel for my beloved Hiland Hawks.  The ground that the late Perry Reese walked on is nearly holy in the area where I grew up.  Basketball is king.  The high school was able to build an entire arena for its basketball teams that cost over 1.5 million dollars solely on private donations.  There are 1600 seats in the gym, of which 900 belong to season ticket holders.  People put directives in their Wills as to where those season tickets go.  Last I heard the waiting list for season tickets was nearly seven years.

Put simply, we eat, sleep, and breathe basketball.  The girls basketball team played yesterday in the State Semifinal game, beating Fort Loramie 49–47.  They play East Canton for the State Championship on Saturday. 

This is a huge weekend for people in East Holmes.  Even the Amish are going crazy, as they always do.  They love their basketball too.  You can’t drive a half mile without seeing a sign in support of the Hawks, stretching to the county border and beyond. 

I expect the game between Windham and Hiland to be an excellent game, as both teams have similar styles.  Unity and team play is emphasized very strongly on both teams.  Neither team could be characterized as dirty.  They can both put up big numbers very quickly.  It should be a great game to watch no matter who wins.

I’m torn.

Admit it though, if you lived in Berlin and you were watching the local team play Windham, wouldn’t you be too?

Let's hope we never find one of these around here

Marijuana must be huge business in Tennessee.

Underground vault and its unsavory contents

Why Antonin Scalia totally rocks the house

He gave a speech recently at a Federalist Society meeting.  Here’s an excerpt:

A "Living Constitution" means that laws would change based on the whims of judges, not on anything concrete. When it is applied we get the silliness of graphic pornography being allowed under the principle of Freedom of Speech while people of faith are persecuted under a twisted interpretation of Freedom of Religion while gun ownership is virtually outlawed in some states in spite of a whole Amendment put in to guarantee the right to bear arms. While few see it as an example of injustice, the courts arrogantly ignored the Sixth Amendment when they tried Timothy McVeigh in Indiana rather than Oklahoma. As trivial as that may seem, it still marks an ominous trend of the courts....

A document that "bends" with the culture does little good when that elasticity is completely controlled by judges who live and work in a completely different culture than the people their decision affect. Is the difference between the culture today and a decade ago really more different than the cultural difference between a rich, New England circuit court judge and a poor, Southern blue collar worker? Cultural divides do not just exist along time lines, they exist geographically, economically and sometimes even racially. To rip out the meaning of the Constitution just to accommodate one minor difference in time makes little sense when other, more dramatic differences exist. The question should be: Do these cultural differences really warrant a change in the application of the Constitution? If so, the Founding Fathers allowed for a way to compensate, by allowing the Constitution to be amended. That's the solution, if one is needed.

But the philosophy of a "living document" becomes an open door to a power grab by a despotic oligarchy of judges. And we have seen that happen right before our eyes.

Reflections on a cold election day morning

I’m not used to having to go out and vote on a day in February.  There’s just something that seems so unnatural about that.  Elections should be for May and November.  But even so, there are things that the public must decide upon, and today is that day.  Go out and vote today, and let your powerful voice be heard.  Whether tax issues pass or fail, whether I voted for or against something, voting is one of the most special benefits of being a citizen of the United States, and is our sole power against a tyrannical government, whether on the national scale or local.  (And no, I’m not implying anything there either.)

Its been one of those odd mornings here in Windhamite land.  The kids didn’t want to go to school when they got out of bed, but ran to the bus gleefully when it arrived.  I’ve never quite figured that one out.  I remember getting on the bus when I was a kid.  It was only a ten minute ride to Walnut Creek Elementary, but one which I could always catch up with some of my friends what we did the night before.  It usually involved something about running around in the woods behind my home. 

There were a lot of snowy days back then, umm, like there are now I guess.  We’d go sled riding down over the hill from my house.  There was a pretty big hill down there that ended with a pond at the bottom.  We would wait for it to ice over then sled right onto the pond.  At night, about 100 Amish kids would play freeze tag on ice skates on the pond, which would be lit with those little camp stove lights.  If I could make one recommendation, never get on the ice with 100 Amish kids playing freeze tag, it sometimes looks more like tackle football.

I made a lot of stupid mistakes then, I still make them today.  Most of you likely know what I’m talking about.  One of the hardest things about being a preacher is that you have to keep yourself in check every moment of the day, and in every interaction with other people that you make.  I have a hard time doing that.  One of the things that I struggle with is a temper that I honestly think is in my genetic code somewhere.  My family has a bad tendency to get angry at times.  We (I) say things at times that shouldn’t be said.  I can’t state the amount of times I’ve had to stop myself, but sadly, sometimes I don’t get the chance to stop myself.  I apologize to everyone for the ignorant statment I’ve made, and if I’ve offended you specifically, please let me know, I’d like the opportunity to correct it. 

Groundhog Day is one of my favorite days of the year. 

The Seahawks were robbed!  Robbed, I say!  Of course, that could be my anit-Pittsburgh Steelers stance coming out, but still.  At least the commercials were pretty good this year.  The Ameriquest commercials were my favorite.  And the MacGuyver commercial!  Priceless!

Get out and vote folks.

But I voted for it, before I voted against it

Or something.

Well, if you haven’t had a chance to peruse the flyer prepared by Mr. Donham supporting the upcoming Income Tax increase, I’d suggest you get your mitts on a copy. Email me at windhamite@gmail.com and I can send one to you rather speedily. After reading it, this should make more sense.

Everyone who is against supporting the Police Department raise your hands. Hmm, no hands are going up. We all want to support the PD here in Windham, there’s no question. They certainly need to be lauded for the work that they do, as they are definitely understaffed. But when it comes to discussing the Income Tax, the Police Department is not necessarily the main issue.

Let’s go back a few months to when the School District had a levy on the ballot that they were fighting tooth and nail to get passed. You couldn’t turn around without getting hit by some kind of information about why we should be supporting the levy. Certainly there were influential voices both for and against the levy and the debate was rather lively. The main issue, though, came down to whether we as taxpayers trusted the School Board to improve the system. Many pointed out shortcomings in the past as reasoning why the levy should have failed. Others pointed to the specific points made as to how the receipts were to be used. In the end the latter point won the day. We now watch the School Board very closely (though perhaps not publicly stating it) as to the job that they’re doing. If the promised plan of action isn’t followed, there will be a price paid in the future.

The issue of raising the Income Tax in some ways falls into the same pattern. People on both sides of the issue arguing back and forth about the need and the use of any raised revenue. I would like to commend Mr. Donham on his prepared circulator as it is definitely the most professional looking document to come out of the Village Government outside of prepared minutes. Efforts in the past to defend and support the Income Tax increase have on the surface not been as professional in appearance. It may seem trifling, but it does matter, as anyone in the business would will tell you.

The flyer is correct in identifying two points as to why people are voting no on the Income Tax. The first issue raised is “You need to be more creative”. The solution produced by the Village Council is to raise the tax of all people who work in the Village by .5 % and also for those who work outside the Village, but don’t pay tax wherever they work (generally referred to as “middle of nowhere”). That is creative certainly, but is in my opinion missing the point of creativity.

The creativity being discussed by those against a tax increase is necessarily in who would be paying the tax, but more in its use. Personally, I believe that if the Council could guarantee that every penny of the Income Tax increase would go directly to the Police Department, it would pass. The problem is that as it is now, the increase would go directly into the General Fund which is used for every other program in the Village save Water/Sewer business (unless there’s a shortfall there, which is another story entirely). Some in the Village have a mistrust in the Council, and consequently refuse to hand over their money to the General Fund without any kind of definite direction as to the use of the increased revenue. Each time that the issue has arisen, the drumbeat from Council’s direction is “It will go to the Police Department, trust us.” Even in Mr. Donham’s flyer we have “Make no mistake about it, the vast majority of the new revenue from the income tax change would go directly to the Windham Police Department.” Folks in Windham have long memories, predating even my own habitation of the Village. The sentiment that continues to be stated is that there is a deep mistrust between the voter and the Village Government because of past actions. This is an extremely high hurdle to overcome and will not be overcome by producing one flyer four days before an election.

The second point raised is that “We are over taxed”. Let’s first look at the rates of all municipalities in Portage County:

• Aurora – 2.0%
• Kent – 2.0%
• Tallmadge – 2.0%
• Ravenna – 2.0%
• Hiram – 2.0%
• Windham – 1.5%
• Garrettsville – 1.5%
• Mantua – 1.5%
• Brady Lake – 1.0%
• Streetsboro – 1.0%

Again, the point seems to be slightly missed in the flyer. I don’t know a single voter who thinks that they should be paying more tax. Very few people will step up to the plate and say, “Sure, have more money from my wallet.” The case that is brought up when one makes a comparison such as in the above example is that a Village as small as Windham surely doesn’t need to collect the same tax rate as municipalities the size of Aurora and Kent. But then lowly (in size not stature!) Hiram stands there with a two percent tax rate, which fouls the argument a bit.

Stated simply, we’re not over taxed. Sure we like to think so, but most of us sit in homes that are relatively warm, ordering pizza while watching the Super Bowl on televisions that have a nifty $50.00 cable bill cord running into the back of them. Nearly always we find time and money to do the things that we want to do.

In truth though, we just don’t want to give our money away. As we stated before, there is a deep seated mistrust in the community and that mistrust leads to tighter pursestrings when it comes to Village Government. People are perturbed when the Village receives a one million dollar grant for beautification of the community and see the money being used on things that don’t directly seem to improve the image of the Village. Tens of thousands of dollars are being found to pay for a Worker’s Compensation oversight in a budget that was touted as being extremely tight, possibly running short. Water and Sewer billing is incomprehensible at times thanks to years of mismanagement (pity the people trying to clean up the mess). The amount of water meters that are known or suspected of being non-working is over 100. To top it all off, the Village has to deal with a vindictive citizen suing to the tune of more money than I’ll ever see at one time. Maybe we’re not over taxed, but we are over burdened with all of these things that should have been taken care of long ago.

How hard would it be to split off the Police Department from the General Fund? What would be involved in setting it up after the same fashion as the Water/Sewer Department? Would that open up new avenues of increasing the revenue? That’s the type of creative thinking we’re looking for. Explain why that won’t work. Perhaps the law doesn’t allow it. Perhaps there is a financial obligation involved that we don’t know about. Tell us why you “truly believe this is our last alternative for the time being.”

Flyer supporting the proposed Income Tax for the Village

This weekend a flyer is going to be circulated in support of the Income Tax to be voted upon on Tuesday, February 7.  Mr. Donham has taken the time to explain some of the “why’s” behind the reasoning of the tax itself, along with some tables comparing Windham with other towns in the area.  Watch for it.

If you don’t get out this weekend because the weather might be bad, let me know.  I have an Adobe copy of the Flyer and will email it for your convenience.

Opinion to come later.

The surest way to retire early

Sue someone. 

Its pretty much accepted that suing someone or a company that has scads of money just laying around for people to lounge around on is an acceptable way to secure one’s financial future.  Its likely that the Village of Windham has a collective insurance policy that would cover your basic wrongful termination/slander/insert I’ve-been-offended-reason here suit. 

Some would call such lawsuits frivolous, and they might be correct in asserting such.  Others may be way off base.  Others say that the litigator is just in it to make a point, or a statement, or to just drag someone else through the mud because their feelings have been hurt at some point in the past.  Old feelings do die hard.  Of course, if you have physical trauma, you’ve got a good basis for such a lawsuit that go beyond feelings.  There’s nothing like a good coffee burn in the nether regions that makes a jury writhe uncomfortably.  Let’s feel badly for them because sure, they spilled the coffee themselves because they didn’t put it in a cupholder while talking on their cellphone while sitting in the middle of the intersection.  Its not their fault that the coffee was heated to the surface of the sun’s temperature.  Big Coffee is to blame!  And not to mention the caffeine!  The government should be regulating that stuff anyway!

Can we PLEASE institute some sort of “loser pays” system?

If you ever

The weekend was nice and all, but it also contained a trip to Pennsylvania.  Do they have to take Driver’s Training there?  I’m guessing no.

Just so you know

There is an election on the 7th of February. There's going to be this tax issue on the ballot. If you didn't know.