Comments on Advance Indiana™: Espich: We've Been Had By The CIB

J Pat Bauer arrived in 1970, has a ridiculous rug ...

2009-12-19T08:38:10.072-05:00

J Pat Bauer arrived in 1970, has a ridiculous rug and has served as nothing but an obstructionist for most of his 39-year tenure.

At least Espich is trying to be a positive force.

Of course the real blame lies with voters who accept mediocrity and outright incompetence, and continue to reelect these dimmies and feebs to office.

Gary, your point is well-made here, but Jeff Espic...

2009-12-19T06:20:02.774-05:00

Gary, your point is well-made here, but Jeff Espich is just one of the village idiots at the GA who've stayed too long.

I believe he arrived in 1972. That's 38 years by my count. He's uttered some of the stupidest things ever said in that chamber. He supported Bowen's ridiculous 1973 tax package, which gave birth to some of the inequities in our property tax system. And doubled our sales tax, a trend continued exclusively by Republican governors over the years. But he's got Democratic company in the Stupid Corner.

So pardon me if I shoot the messenger. He and his ridiculous bowl haircut can go back to Uniondale from whence he came. He is part and parcel of the problem, along with Bauer, Dobis, Pond, et al.

Garton finally went. Way too late.

I believe the total bond debt for Marion County/Ci...

2009-12-18T17:41:44.792-05:00

I believe the total bond debt for Marion County/City of Indianapolis, if you combine all those corporate entities, will reach about $4 billion once the Wishard bonds are issued.

Jon, The Indiana Supreme Court stripped Article 13...

2009-12-18T17:40:32.896-05:00

Jon, The Indiana Supreme Court stripped Article 13 of any effect when it ruled that you could create coterminous municipal corporations in a city like Indianapolis and not run afoul of Article 13. The debt of the Airport Authority, the CIB, the water company, library board, building authority, etc. don't count against the consolidated city's debt limit.

Per the IBJ for teh week of December 14-20 we see ...

2009-12-18T16:41:35.205-05:00

Per the IBJ for teh week of December 14-20 we see an article about mayors needing more revenue. In that article they quote the assesed valuation of Marion County as 56.9 billion dollars. Per article 13, part 1, of the Indiana Constitution,

"No political or municipal corporation in this State shall ever become indebted, in any manner or for any purpose, to an amount, in the aggregate, exceeding two per centum on the value of the taxable property within such corporation, to be ascertained by the last assessment for State and county taxes,previous to the incurring of such indebtedness; and all bonds or obligations, in excess of such amount, given by such corporations, shall be void"
Per my calculation 2% of 56.9 is 1.13 billion dollars. So tell me how we can add Wishard's 803 million to the 700+ miilion for LOS, the 275 million for the convention center, the Central Library, the airport, Conseco etc.
We are way past 1.13 in bonds now, how is that legal?

I've added a link.

2009-12-18T14:21:55.632-05:00

I've added a link.

I'm having a difficult time finding the CIB vi...

2009-12-18T14:18:57.355-05:00

I'm having a difficult time finding the CIB video on indygov. Anyone got a link?

Same song new chorus. Whether Wishard's shell...

2009-12-18T11:45:11.129-05:00

Same song new chorus. Whether Wishard's shell game funding with IUPUI again working behind the curtain, IPS deep in big salary administrators, 2000 pgs of a health care plan we won't be given time to digest, or a suppossed skid row CIB, shaving expenses just before borrowing $9M: Taxpayers are nothing more than cattle.
.
I understand now why Indiana is ranked 48th for "happiest" states and Louisiana 1st: Louisiana's just as corrupt (Sen. Landrieu bringing home $300M for her health care vote)- but hey, at least they have sunshine!
.
Who needs a po' boy when (thanks to your government)- YOU ARE a po' boy! AHHH Gar-ron-TEE!

HFFT, I think we've discussed this before. Ar...

2009-12-18T10:55:57.674-05:00

HFFT,

I think we've discussed this before. Article 8 doesn't say that only corporation taxes can be used to fund schools.

It's good to see Jeff woke up to what the CIB ...

2009-12-18T10:52:51.811-05:00

It's good to see Jeff woke up to what the CIB has been doing to Indianapolis residents for years.

Gosh, maybe Espich, with his eyes now newly opened...

2009-12-18T10:17:24.467-05:00

Gosh, maybe Espich, with his eyes now newly opened, will get angry about the fact that the legislature is trying to change the Constitution for property tax caps when our politicians are not obeying the Constitution that we've got in place.

In particular our state government is violating Article 8 which says that Indiana's schools are to be funded with corporation taxes.

Instead homeowners are forced to pay for school spending and the tab is sending some homeowners into foreclosure.

It's that time of the year for giving. Sure.....

2009-12-18T08:33:32.070-05:00

It's that time of the year for giving. Sure..take taxpayer money by the millions that you don't need. After all, the CIB was in crisis mode for months with talk of insolvency, questionable expenditures, incompetent planning, chronic complaining, and the source of justified derision by citizens and media editorials. So despite the 'investigation' that led to a giant Christmas present, legislators like Rep.Espich now sit with sugar cream pie in their face, while deepening the debt for homeowners. How proud must they feel of being scrooged and hoodwinked, especially when going into overtime at our expense to balance the budget.
' No member asked her a single question about a decision she seemed to have made unilaterally to take out the loan.' Say what? You mean all the dunces followed the new leader without question off the cliff with taxpayers in tow? Fire all of them as enablers who kept taxpayer money under false pretenses..and for what purpose they kept it? Under the pretense of "flexibility as we go into Pacers negotiations". Say What? Oh, I forgot, bribe money for the latest sports extortion. If a private individual had done this, they would be in the prosector's office.

It's high time a politician stepped up to give...

2009-12-18T08:20:36.524-05:00

It's high time a politician stepped up to give this a critical look. I hope it's just the start of a serious investigation.

Indy has been getting fleeced for years in a Ponzi scheme that would impress even Tim Durham.