What is the Tea Party Movement?
A Personal View by Martin Henrichs
Rick Santelli’s rant on the floor of Chicago Board of Trade broadcast on CNBC in early 2009 was the spark that ignited the Tea Party movement. The American people woke up!
I was motoring down I-75 in Florida in February 2009 when I heard a radio talk show host fired up about a “Tea Party”. It was the first I had heard of it. At the Residence Inn
I picked up a USA Today and read a timely article describing what this Tea Party mania was all about—a reassertion of values which make America exceptional in the world.
Doug Mainwaring, a Tea Party founder, recalls in the August 23, 2010, Washington Times that it was “Main Street America’s indictment against the ruling class.” It was an eruption of sanity and reason, of stewardship and goodwill.” It was “not Democrat or Republican, but about the American people versus the hubris of politics as usual in Washington.”
It is about individual freedom and the future of our nation. In 1900 government only took
3% of our income, meaning we were 97% free, by 2000 government took 40% leaving us 60% free, but the bonds are tightening around our wrists.
The Tea Party calls attention to this trend toward slavery, as Mainwaring so eloquently states, “Success or failure hinges on dealing with our grave internal threat—the Leviathan that our government has become, the unsustainable entitlements, the incomprehensible enormity of our debt, the conceit of social engineering and command-and-control governance, the profligacy of Washington spending and the resulting confiscatory taxation to pay for it all. Most of all, it is the annihilation of our children’s future prosperity and liberty.
The Tea Party movement is reasserting America’s founding principles in the Declaration of Independence and The Constitution–that our unalienable rights are from God, not the government. That these rights include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
According to Mainwaring, “There is a Grand Canyon-sized chasm between the mentality of Main Street America and that of our ruling class. Through the Tea Party movement, we are witnessing the rightful and necessary ascendancy of Main Street America over the Beltway, K Street (lobbyists) and Wall Street.—a cadre of legislators, members of the executive branch, lobbyists, union leaders, chief executives of for-profits and nonprofits, elitist members of media and academia.”
For too long we have witnessed the same tyranny our forefathers departed their home shores to escape—imposition of taxes and regulations without representation. Washington government is acting in complete disregard for constitutional limitations.
Mainwaring asks, “How much dead weight and cost are added through creating of enormous government bureaucracies, robbing the private sector of both capital and human resources? How much hard work and ingenuity has been stifled because of oversized welfare programs? How many people have been robbed of self-reliance and the joy of achievement because of entitlements? How much liberty, freedom and prosperity have we traded away over the years to fill the progressives voracious hunger to engineer our society?”
The Tea Party movement is not a few political firemen directing a hose of followers at a raging big government prairie fire. Rather, it is a rising tide of individuals who will peacefully smother what threatens to burn the American dream and exceptional way of life.
As Mainwaring puts it, “These are vast legions of confident, autonomous individuals who have experienced deep in their souls a very personal calling to preserve, protect and defend their nation.”
Permission is granted to reproduce this with proper acknowledgement.
Concerned Citizens,
Please forward this onto all your family and friends!!
Most people do not understand the Incorporation Doctrine. This is, in part, because it is one of those fluid legal doctrines that the US Supreme Court makes up as it goes along. Sometimes we love it, other times we hate it. The recent cases involving the Second Amendment all involve the incorporation doctrine. I have drawn heat from some on message boards suggesting that the cases were wrong and that we cannot claim state’s rights when it is convenient for us, and claim Second Amendment rights when we choose to do so.
I thought I would outline, to the best of my limited ability, the history of the incorporation doctrine, what it is and what it is not. First, lets simply say that the incorporation doctrine refers to incorporation of the bill of rights into the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment states, in pertinent part:
No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due
process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws.
Often referred to as the equal protection clause, this provision was passed in 1868 after the Civil War. In 1897, the City of Chicago wanted to take some land for the widening of a road. Included in that land was some railroad property. Statute provided an opportunity for a hearing to ensure that land was taken for public purposes and to determine the value. The compensation awarded to the railroad by a jury was $1.00. ( Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad vs. City of Chicago http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&cou… )
The railroad appealed the trial court decision and the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed the jury award of $1.00. Here is where it gets interesting. The railroad then asked the federal district court to examine the case under the 14th amendment. Were they deprived of ” . . . property . . . without due process of law?” The State of Illinois argued they had all the process they were due, a hearing and the ability to present the facts of their case. I am not going to go on ad nauseum about the facts or history of this case but suggest that you read it in its entirety yourself. Again, here is the link: (http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&cou… )
The legal principle which came out of the Chicago Burlington case was that the Federal Courts could review a state Court proceeding to ensure compliance with the Bill of Rights under the 14th Amendment. As is often the case, this is later expanded upon greatly by the Courts. While no one is disputing that individuals and corporations should be paid just compensation for property taken for public purposes, the question is whether the Federal Courts are the proper forum to determine what constitutes just compensation. Today we do not question the fact that the Federal Courts intervene in state decisions as to just compensation for a whole host of issues.
The incorporation doctrine was largely unused for 50 years after the Chicago Burlington case. Justice Hugo Black argued strongly in a dissent that the 14th Amendment incorporated all of the first 8 Amendments of the United States Constitution. (“‘no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States’ seem to me an
eminently reasonable way of expressing the idea that henceforth the
Bill of Rights shall apply to the States.” (Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 US 145 1968) The Court has always refused this “mechanical incorporation” principle but has since selectively incorporated much of the Bill of Rights into federal jurisprudence via the 14th Amendment. Today the 14th Amendment is the most frequently cited basis for federal jurisdiction. Several federal laws have been passed relying primarily on the principles of the 14th Amendment.
Although I do not agree with all of the statements in this article, I would suggest you check out the Wikipedia article on the incorporation doctrine at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incorporation_doctrine
In the 1950′s and 1960′s the Supreme Court began using the incorporation doctrine to declare that a number of federal rights applied to the states. Especially in the area of criminal law, the Court essentially rewrote state jurisprudence requiring the right to an attorney, the requirement of a search warrant, the right to a jury trial and a host of other procedural and substantive rights. Virtually EVERY federal decision that involves states relies on the incorporation doctrine. School busing, desegregation, fair housing, public employment cases . . . I could go on all day. Of course, Roe vs. Wade is the penultimate 14th Amendment decision.
I think it is extremely important for us to understand this principle. Many of the things we argue against are based on this relatively simple doctrine. As stated above, some of the things we argue FOR are based on this principle. I hope to provide and outline some of the more pertinent cases for comment in the coming weeks. I welcome your feedback on this issue.
The RDA and RBA put many of their meeting minutes online. You can read them yourself at http://www.indiana.gov/rda and http://www.rba-nwi.org/newsletter.cfm They are still pushing the extension of the South Shore Railroad into Lowell and Valparaiso despite the fact that these proposals were overwhelmingly rejected by the voters. As with all issues, we have to remain vigilant in keeping people informed as to what the unelected politicians are planning. The unelected RDA has spent about $1/2 BILLION dollars of your tax money in the past 5 years.
So that we all understand the relationship. The RDA is authorized, by statute, to fund the creation and start of transit systems. They are not authorized to fund the day to day operations. Beginning in 2011, the bus services that the RDA has funded will need new sources of funding. In the April RDA Board Meeting, Tim Brown was reminded that the RDA could not fund bus operations in Hammond, Gary, Valparaiso and Dyer beyond 2011. The Times reported that “The RBA has long pushed for a higher local tax on restaurant and bar tabs or some other means of support for local bus service.” (The Times April 21, 2010 http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/article_e1cf0cf5-7868-5c84-9138-f4296f4c3358.html ) We all know this political game, create a program and then watch people cry when funding goes away. The Times will feature a big color picture of a single mother saying she will have to quit her good paying job in Chicago if the Dash doesn’t get funded. Politicians will cave and millions more of our money will go down this bottomless pit.
Tim Brown explains the RBA and RDA relationship in a Guest Commentary in The Times:
The RBA recently spent $4.8 Million to take over and expand Hammond Transit: http://www.nwitimes.com/article_7b33cf07-af22-56a2-a72f-6f0fff893a14.html
“Last year, the Hammond City Council approved two years of funding for the RBA when that agency assumed responsibility for local bus service in Hammond. The city is paying the RBA $900,000 in 2010 and 2011 with the money coming from gaming revenue. When Hammond ran its own transit service, the annual budget was $2.4 million.”
The House and Senate are working on a compromise bill for their two bills just passed.
Here’s what they want to give us:
1) Nothing is done about the problems of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
2) However, the government can seize any private financial firm that they arbitrarily determine in danger of default. This is basically seizure of private property without judicial review.
3) The Financial Stability Oversight Council created by the bill expands the reach of the government beyond what one typically considers financial firms. It includes insurance companies and hedge funds, among others. They can, agan arbitrarily, determine a company to be in trouble and turn it over to the Treasury for regulation.
4) Too Big To Fail (like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) – Anyone this Council deems too big gets federal funds (our tax money) to stay afloat.
5) Gives the Treasury a line of credit for additional government funding. They can access your tax dollars without going through Congress for approval.
6) Regulators can guarantee the debt of solvent banks. Think takeover.
7) Creates the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Among other things it will determine what types of financial services and products can be offered to consumers. You no longer get to choose what you want to do with your money, plus it will make credit more expensive and hard to get.
Non-financial firms would be subject to financial regulations. What is the definition of a non-financial firm?
I believe it also, somewhere in its 1500+ pages gives the government the right to look at your bank transactions any time it wants.
And when do they plan to give us this little present? They hope to have all the kinks worked out and a bill to the President on: July 4. So much for liberty.
I know that it is almost impossible to influence our present Congressmen and Senators. I almost despair of writing to Visclosky, Bayh and Lugar yet again. But we need at least to let them know that we are aware of what they are doing – and they will be held accountable in November.
I feel the need to speak to you directly, from my own personal experience as the “volunteer” organizer/founder of Northwest Indiana Patriots.
I need to let you know of the personal experiences I have had, some good, some not so good.
I got up off my couch over 400 days ago, inexperienced as a public speaker or organizer. My hope was to find out if anyone out there felt like I did. On April 15, 2009 approximately 1,000 concerned citizens attended the Northwest Indiana Patriots event at the Valparaiso Court House. I was stunned with the turnout and hoped the momentum demonstrated by concerned citizens continued. A couple of the speakers at that event were referred to me by a local pundit and businessman whom I thought had NWIP’s best interests in mind. I found out later that that was not true.
After the event, emails and phone calls encouraged me to continue. I signed up on the national TEA Party Patriots site: http://teapartypatriots.ning.com/profile/FaithJones. These social networks often serve to move a mission forward, corrdinate like-minded people nationally and to stay up to date on current issues facing America. In addition to joining national groups, I created a mission statement and my daughter built a website for me, for us. I purposely did not coordinate efforts with the Lake County TEA Party as I saw no clear cut mission for the good of the people, but saw a person using the tea party movement for personal gain.
I have met many wonderful people as we assembled in front of Visclosky, Bayh’s, Donnelly’s office and even in Washington DC.
It was not longer after our first rally that the personal attacks started. I was completely unprepared for them. My social network on national ning TEA PARTY PATRIOTS site was hijacked and a post was made defaming President Obama. I reported the hijack to the police and have a paper trail demonstrating that I was not the author of that disparaging post. More attacks have come and continue to this day from the very person who spoke at first TEA Party: I was wrong and feel duped as they now show he shows his true colors.
I have spent a lot of time explaining to the media, and bloggers, the ‘who’ we are, the ‘why’ we are and reading the mission statement to them, repeatedly, with no indication that they understand any of it. NWIP is a collection of displaced Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Libertarians, etc. and some people who have never voted before. We are young and old, some richer than others and some very strained with finances. Some practice one religion, some another and some believe in a “Higher Power”. Some believe Obama is not a citizen and some say: “Get over it!” Some want believe G.W. Bush took down the Twin Towers and some say: “Get a life!” NWIP encourages free speech and with that, many topics not related to our mission statement are discussed on public message boards. We want to remind everyone again that those topics are not part of our “MISSION STATEMENT”. We have one common thread that holds us together and we focus on that…”COUNTRY!!”
As we have assembled, many have come to me and told me why they are in the streets with me. They say: I am afraid for my grandchildren. Some have said: I am afraid for my grandparents. Some, I am afraid for our Country. My response uniformly has been: this very well might be the best thing that has ever happened to America. We are “Silent No More”, we are awake!!
Personal attacks are hard to ignore, but I do my best. When my social network site got hijacked June of 2009, that got scary and was only the beginning. When I read comments posted on newspaper sites, after they have reported on NWIP, there is a person who stood out and they posted using names such as “PO”, “CPCP”. Reading comments from that person made me more aware of how hateful and hurtful some factions of our society can be. When our sponsor, Holiday Inn Express, received an email complaint from a “George Bishop” as did my boss about my participation in “Waking Up America”, I became even more aware of my surroundings. My friends investigated and found that ‘George Bishop’ was the organizer of “Organizing for Obama” which is basically, moveon.org. You will remember MoveOn, we counter-protested them on September 2nd, 2009
Organizer: Christopher Pupillo – “PO”, “CPCP” = George Bishop = newspaper commentator = emails to Holiday Inn corporate = emails to my boss = many other actions = stalker-like behaviors.
Connecting the dots?
Well, all that is overwhelming at times, but I will not live in fear.
All that information is just to get you to the meat of this email.
Many of you have read and believe in Northwest Indiana Patriots mission statement. To say that: “Limited Government, Fiscal Responsibility and Accountable Representation” is just for Governors or Senators or a Mayor would be incorrect. Our mission statement applies to all levels of government including our recent primary where we vetted County Commissioners and Sheriffs and precinct committee representatives, to mention a few.
Folks, “Accountable Representation” goes for “SCHOOL BOARD” members as well! I know many, many parents who were outraged on September 8th, 2009 regarding the topic: Critics Decry Obama’s ‘Indoctrination’ Plan for Students.
I know many of you have read the controversy in the newspaper and some saw the Channel 2 report about “me” and Portage High School Board Member Cheryl Oprisko. This all started because I “asked” if the JROTC could post the colors at our TEA Party event on April 14th. That is all I did, I “ASKED” and permission was granted.
On March 30th, 2010, Cheryl Oprisko, (elected), member of the Portage School Board, brought up her objection of the JROTC posting the colors to our TEA Party event under “other” on the meeting agenda. The story went “ROGUE”.
I ask, if you do nothing more, watch the video clips of that meeting. Cheryl Oprisko has intentionally, in bad faith, defamed, slandered, and unequivocally distorted the truth of Northwest Indiana Patriots and the entire movement itself. She played the part of educator and informer as to who the Tea Party is and she passed some kind of paper out at that meeting. What were those papers? Was it a screen print of the hijacked social network? Do you smell a political agenda, a conspiracy here?
Please watch all three of these Youtube Video to completely understand!!>>>>
If you have just watched the Youtube videos, you have a clear understanding I will not “STAND DOWN”. Enough is Enough!!
I led an email campaign in early April asking citizens to write the school board asking them to stand by the Major’s decision to allow the cadets to post the colors. While I received plenty of copies of those emails, they were never read at any school board meeting because Cheryl Oprisko’s determination to silence citizens and stop the cadets prevailed. She went around and above the entire school board and contacted Washington with her request to deny the JROTC from presenting the colors.
Were Cheryl Oprisko and her husband Mark operating alone or was ‘PO/CPCP/George Bishop behind this mission to slander the people of NWIP? Did PO contact Cheryl and give her what he thought would be damaging information? Where did Cheryl get her supposed info on NWIP? Not much of what she has said about NWIP is true and it has been heard before, by the like of PO/George Bishop. The similarities are too hard to ignore. Is it Mission Accomplished by one single voice, “Oprisko”. Or was PO, CPCP, George Bishop her helper? Curious how all that comes into play, isn’t it? Remember, it took a small group of people to stop prayer in our schools.
The school board has yet to hear from us who live us outside of their community because their by-laws apparently supersede the Constitution of the Unites States. The school board will not allow all of the citizens affected and slandered by Cheryl Oprisko to speak at a school board meeting because they do not reside in the school district.
The school board is scheduled to meet again on May 19th, 2010 to discuss the possibility of opening the floor to concerned citizens injured Oprisko’s behavior and slanderous comments.
Foundation: First Amendment Rights:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
I am leading another email campaign called: “CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?” Tell the school board to open the floor to all the citizens. Please email a copy of your email to: operationschoolboard@gmail.com
This is not a matter of “LEFT VS RIGHT” or “Rights vs Wrong”, this is a matter of simple ‘Rights’ to face your accuser.
National Day of Prayer ruled unconstitutional
Franklin Graham uninvited by Army
Navy SEAL on trial
Students sent home for wearing American flags
Prayer banned at high school graduation
That is why I fight. It is about principals, integrity and accountability which equal FREEDOM. At the risk of sounding like a song…”If you don’t stand for something, then you will fall for anything!!”
I never got in this movement for a popularity contest. I could care less if the GOP likes me or not. I don’t care if Oprisko likes me. I have never met her, though Channel 2 news somehow distorted that too and claimed that we knew each other. It is all about “when does all this stop?” When will we unite? If not now, then “WHEN?”
I could very well just leave this movement and go back to doing what I was doing. Pretending none of this affected me and believing I really can’t make a difference, and maybe I really can’t. After all, the turnouts on May 4th, 2010, Election Primary was awful!!
I will tell you, if one woman can get her voice to Washington to change the outcome that was to be made by a school board, I will default to what I have been telling concerned citizens from the beginning: “I would rather die standing up, than live life on my knees”: George Washington.
If you are with me, please send a copy of your email to the mentioned email address and I will see you on May 24th, 2010 because “WE ARE SILENT NO MORE”.
I have been called a lot of names lately online and off. The most frequent label applied to me and other conservatives is “racist.”
I don’t consider myself racist, but only the most blatant separatists would consider themselves bigots. Thus, I take this charge seriously and it is worthwhile to do some self-inspection. I wish there was a simple test. Answer these questions and we will tell you whether you suffer from the mental disorder of racial hatred. There is not. Similar to the person who says “some of my best friends are black”, the response of most tea party movements to the charge of racism has been to parade a few minorities to refute the claims. I believe this does little to address the issue either way.
First, let me say that many people simply use the term racist because it has power in our society. This diminishes the struggle that those who have faced true discrimination in our society have had. Some of the more salient issues facing our society that most frequently bring up the race debate are:
Ø School Vouchers
Ø Foreign Debt Relief
Ø Welfare Reform
Ø Housing and Mortgage Reform
Words are extremely important and understanding what a term means is key to determining whether that word applies or not. Most people in our society do not understand what racism is and isn’t. They apply a “I know it when I see it” test. Merriam-Webster provides the following definition for racism:
Main Entry: rac·ism
Pronunciation: \ˈrā-ˌsi-zəm also -ˌshi-\
Function: noun
Date: 1933
1 : a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race
The argument that I am racist is two-fold. First, people argue that I have become politically active primarily because a mixed race President was elected. That would be what I will call racism 1, based upon the above definition. I will deal with that argument later because I think it is the easier to deal with.
Racism 2 is a little more elusive. I would invite you to search disparate impact on findlaw.com to read more. A full discussion is well beyond the scope of this article and, in fact, volumes have been written. Suffice it to say that the term racist is now used to describe people who promote policies which may have a perceived negative impact on a particular race or ethnic group.
The difficulty for me arises in determining what impact is negative. Is an impact negative if it proves to be a detriment in the short term but a benefit in the long run? School voucher programs demonstrate this clearly. There is no question that inner-city schools that are under performing will receive less funding if school voucher programs are put in place. Without citing statistics, we can assume for purposes of this discussion that these schools frequently have a higher percentage of minority students, teachers and administrators. The question is whether the negative impact will be short-term or long-term. Whether society will be better served if some schools are forced to admit failure while allowing students to choose other schools. Reasonable people can differ as to the relative merits of such a program. Many invoke the racism label in the fight to maintain the status quo. It is clear to me though that reasonable people can come down on each side of this argument without regard to the race of those affected. Is race an issue for some people in this argument? Of course. Maybe I am overly optimistic in believing that most people would like to see a society that treats all of our children with equal respect and equal protection of the laws. A society that educates all of its children in a safe and productive environment and where each student can achieve to the best of his or her ability.
As for racism 1, there is no way to refute the claim because those who make it do not know me. They do not know what is in my heart and they do not take the time to analyze my words to determine if they evidence a racial bias. They do not want to. They simply want to refute any argument with the simplest possible explanation. This intellectual laziness is very dangerous in our society today and it is my hope that people of all races, faiths and political persuasions will join together to denounce it.
I welcome your thoughts and comments. As always, the opinions expressed here are solely those of the author. No implication of agreement is to be implied by any person or organization publishing these comments.
I thank you for taking the time to read one man’s simple thoughts for the day.
Dan “K Street” Coats successfully made a u-turn back to Meridian Street in the Republican Senate Primary. Mark “I AM the tea party” Leyva earned the opportunity to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest losing streak in congressional campaign history. This has pundits across the state questioning the effectiveness of “the tea party.” Was it all for naught? Have we been completely ineffective?
This does cause me to question what we have been doing and where we should go from here. I hope we can address that issue together and it is my sincere hope that each of you (probably three or four will read this) will leave a constructive comment. Nonetheless, I believe that the pundits and prognosticators fail to understand the true nature of the tea party and write us off primarily because they want us to go away.
First, let’s revisit the Northwest Indiana Patriots mission.
To restore limited government, accountable representation, and fiscal responsibility through citizen activism and education, in order to preserve the Constitution of the United States of America. (emphasis supplied)
The mission is not to field candidates, win elections or even influence party platforms. Of course we will ultimately have to do all of the above if we are to have any true effectiveness. However our primary purpose is activism and education. I have been educated by many members of the NWI Patriots over the past several months and I have only attended a few events. Our message boards are full of information that I would not have otherwise known. I want to thank each of you for every post and I hope that you continue to provide useful and pertinent information.
Keep this in mind. The forces that we are going against are strong. The battle is a long one. There are literally billions of dollars at stake for some. No one is going to roll over and die but a few hundred people working hard can turn into a few thousand and then millions. We have to resist the influences of those who would like to co-opt our movement for their own gain. Republicans want to convert us and Democrats want to demonize us.
The question now is “Where do we go from here?” Are we losers because we were not a larger force in the outcome of this primary?
It is my hope that this campaign will strengthen our resolve to focus on our primary mission. No matter who the ultimate representatives are, we can force them to listen to the will of the people if we band together.
The Northwest Indiana Patriots stand for principals that are larger than any candidate. While voting is one important aspect of our civic responsibility, our country was founded on the belief that an informed citizenry is the only defense to tyranny. Today there are many who have realized this and would mislead and misinform us to disarm us-figuratively and literally.
In the coming weeks I hope to write much more about the relationship between limited government and freedom. Those who would oppose us accuse us of having no answers to real problems. Unfortunately, most of those problems are created by those who would offer simple solutions. Like the fireman who lights a fire and then comes to your rescue, the solutions usually involve spending billions of dollars that we do not have with companies that support the incumbents.
We have had a wonderful opportunity to meet many of the candidates this election cycle. For me, NWIP has served as a great source of information regarding candidate events and forums as well as the issues. I thank all of you for that. If you have not made up your mind regarding all the candidates this election, now is the time to get on the web and read up on the issues. Be wary of misinformation and please try to remember our founding principles when voting.
This article was submitted by Ken Davidson. As always, the opinions expressed herein are his and do not reflect the views of the Northwest Indiana Patriots and are not to be taken as an official position of this group or any member.
Regional development is a little like feeding children-how can anyone come out against it? The idea of communities pooling resources to invest in infrastructure in order to promote growth is a great idea. But lets not forget this is Northwest Indiana, so lets look at the history of the Regional Development Authority, the Regional Bus Authority and the proposed Regional Transit Authority.
The RDA 2009 annual report describes Catalyst as “an agent that provokes or speeds significant change. The RDA website boasts:
The RDA has committed over $169.9 million to 16 projects through calendar year 2011. It has leveraged over $267.5 million from other funding sources. (http://www.in.gov/rda)
The RDA may receive funding from sources other than local taxation but it receives little or no funding other than tax money. That means every dime of that $437 Million came from taxpayers. Economic development expenditures should show some return over time. Lets look at the potential economic return from the RDA expenditures: (source RDA FY 2009 Report http://www.in.gov/rda/files/RDA_FY2009_Annual_Report.pdf):
1. Gary/Chicago International Airport: Although exact figures are hard to come by, The Gary Airport is the single largest recipient of RDA money and RDA future commitments (money that has been promised). The RDA has invested well over $20 Million into the Gary Airport. Federal funds totaling over $30 Million have been secured during the same time period. The plan is to invest over $100 Million into the airport in the next 5 years.
2. South Shore Railroad: I think most people in the region are resigned to supporting the South Shore Railroad. The funding for the South Shore would have probably been the same or near the same with or without the RDA. Those in the southern portions of the counties may, in all fairness, object to their local tax money being used to fund a program that probably should be funded primarily by the state.
3. Regional Bus Service: The RDA is not allowed, by statute, to contribute to the operating budget of a bus service. The RDA has contributed over $8.7 Million to regional bus studies and capital expenditures. The people of the region should be informed as to the long term proposed costs and plan for regional bus service. Is there a demand for bus service from East Chicago to Lowell and Michigan City? Do people in Valparaiso want to pay for buses from Gary to Valparaiso? The RDA funding only sets up a program that will cost billions into the future.
4. Lakefront Development: The RDA has invested approximately $80 Million into what it terms “shoreline development.” These expenditures are largely related to Representative Visclosky’s Marquette Plan for the region. Quality of life issues are certainly important to economic development but reasonable people can differ as to the expenditures here. One point to be made, however, is that much of the money for the RDA comes from casino revenue, thus it is logical that the RDA would invest back into the shoreline. Nonetheless, Lake Michigan is an important national asset. The Federal Government has not done enough to clean up and revitalize the blighted areas of Hammond, East Chicago, Gary, Portage and Michigan City. It is noteworthy that the majority of federal funding that RDA boasts securing is for lakefront projects.
In a time when unemployment is hovering at ten percent; school corporations are laying off teachers and towns are raising fees on everything from trash collection to sewer usage, it seems to me that this $437 Million investment has not been well spent. I would invite comment from anyone who can point to jobs that were created by these expenditures and any significant return in the form of taxes on any expenditure by the RDA.
Should we get out of the RDA? I hope that each of you will take a look at your area and the concerns that you have this election day. Make no mistake that this election is about the future of the region and there are two distinct viewpoints. Those who want to continue to push transportation and government funded jobs and those who want to invest in real economic development.
This article was submitted by Ken Davidson. As always, the opinions expressed herein are his and do not reflect the views of the Northwest Indiana Patriots and are not to be taken as an official position of this group or any member.
We The People: NorthWest Indiana Patriots, has not and will not endorse any candidates for the primary.
You may have heard member of NorthWest Indidna Patiots name associated with endorsements….this is true. We have members and board members that have personally endorsed candidates. We have no control of how the media or candidates use that information for radio spots and print media. That is the opinions and right of these individuals to pursue what is right in their lives. Personally if I was a candidate I would be proud to receive an endorsement from a member of NorthWest Indiana Patriots.
So for the record……NorthWest Indiana Patriots has not and will not endorse any candidates for the primary. Post primary we intend to continue to educate ourselves and our membership on the election candidates and score them against our mission statement. Candidates with a higher percentage of matching to our group and movement will be obvious choices even if we elect to not endorse them.
Non-financial firms would be subject to financial regulations. What is the definition of a non-financial firm?