Northwest Indiana Comical Politics

The Lake County Government Thieves and Charlatans Are at Your Door!!!

The Lake County Government Council is about to vote on implementing a local county income tax.  An individual income tax of 1% on income earned in Lake County.  The overall affect of this tax will be to dramatically shift funds from south Lake County to the northern cities of Lake County.  It has no other value.  It is a way for the mayors of the three incompetent, corrupt, non-performing, and generally financially bankrupt cities to pick the pockets of the citizens of Lake County further.  There, literally, is no additional benefit for this effort.

The Lake County Council, who is about to vote on this tax, is so afraid of the truth coming out, that they have forbidden Mr. Michael Griffin, Clerk/Treasurer of Highland, from making a power point presentation to them on the inequality and ineffectiveness of this tax and its consequances.  There is no one who disagrees with the assessment that Mr. Griffin is the most knowledgeable individual in Lake County, if not the State of Indiana, on local government financing.  The man is not only brilliant on this topic, among others, everyone, Democrat or Republican (or in between), know him to be of the utmost integrity as well as fair and unbiased.  He is real credit to all public and elected officials. 

To deny him the opportunity to present his case speaks volumes about what the Lake County Council is about to do and their commitment to "not be confused by the facts."  I therefore take this humble opportunity to make available the power point presentation that Mr. Griffin would have presented to the Council if he had been given the opportunity.  The following is his presentation: Income20tax20talk1.ppt.

The central idea is two fold.  One, it is a shift of money from south towns to the northern cities.  Two, the tax only addresses, as usual, increasing the source of government funds not with reducing any of the costs.

This continuous feeding of the northern cities insatiable appetite for other people's money and their incompetent governorship must be put to an end.  The only way to do that is like dealing with an addict, cut off the source of juice.  You are therefore encouraged to call, fax, or write your Lake County Commissioners and Lake County Council members and tell them: "NO!!  and Hell, NO on the income tax!!"  If you do not do it now, do not cry later. 

The following are all the elected people in position to make a difference and their phone numbers:

LAKE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

Frances DuPey, Commissioner, 3rd District

Building 'A', 3rd Floor, 2293 N. Main Street, Crown Point, IN 46307

Phone: 219-755-3205

Alt. Phone: 219-933-2808

Fax: 219-755-3064

Gerry Scheub, Commissioner, 2nd District

Building 'A', 3rd Floor, 2293 N. Main Street, Crown Point, IN 46307

Phone: 219-755-3200

Fax: 219-755-3064

Roosevelt Allen Jr., Commissioner, 1st District

Building 'A', 3rd Floor, 2293 N. Main Street, Crown Point, IN 46307

Phone: 219-755-3056 Fax: 219-755-3064

Gary Courthouse, 400 Broadway, Gary, IN 46402

Phone: 219 881-6078

East Chicago Courthouse, 3711 East Main Street, East Chicago, IN 46312

Phone: 219 397-6728

LAKE COUNTY COUNCIL

Ted Bilski, Councilman

Elsie Brown-Franklin, Councilwoman

William (Will) Smith, Jr., Councilman

Thomas C. O'Donnell, Councilman

Ernie Dillon, Councilman

Larry Blanchard, Councilman

Christine Cid, Councilwoman

2293 N. Main Street

Crown Point, IN 46307

Phone: 219-755-3000

Fax: 755-3283

DO IT NOW!!!  THERE REALLY IS NO TOMORROW ON THIS.

How to Spin an Ugly Duckling Into a Princess!!!

The suck-ups to Mayor Tom McDermott, Jr, (Baby Mac) have been out in force spinning his election win in every way but the truth. 

Only in the minds of midgets (or the other way around) or people on drugs can the mayoral election in Hammond be described as anything but a goodbye send off to Baby Mac.  (It may very well be the kiss of political death to his partner in crime and fooling of the citizens of Hammond, Dan Repay.) 

The new spin is that Baby Mac almost lost the election, winning by only 400 votes, because he took the tough stand of cutting governmental costs by reducing services, specifically the health department.  To my direct knowledge, the people who are responsible for wholesale distribution of this spin are the two local newspapers, The Times and The Post-Tribune and Dr. Dan Lowery on his "Anyday NWI Will Be Like Heaven" show on Channel 56.  The newspapers gave this lie in their editorials and Lowery repeated this mantra not once but at least twice on his show.  The second time it was repeated on Lowery's show by Jim Wieser (a useless Democratic Party operative). 

First, all these people are lying about the Hammond Health Department.  And if they really don't know that they are lying, then they are just not smart enough to comment on public affairs.  (This is analogous to Dennis Miller's comment that if we are to believe Hillary Clinton that she really didn't know about Bill's extra-marital affairs, then she is just not smart enough to be president.)  The Good Government Initiative specifically recommended NOT doing away with the Hammond, East Chicago, and Gary Health Departments because their unique services were needed and could not be duplicated by the County with any net savings to the citizens.  What is it about "NOT" that these mastodons don't understand?  Baby Mac did not reduce the cost of government he only shifted its cost to all the citizens of Lake County. This is clearly shown in the 11/22/07 article that talks about Lake County creating a satellite office in Hammond.  And why is a satellite office in Hammond needed?  According to Baby Mac, it is because "a local office is needed for low-income, uninsured residents who cannot afford to travel to Crown Point for inoculations or health records."

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE COUNTY COUNCIL WANTS TO DO WITH THE LAKE COUNTY INCOME TAX.  TAX ALL LAKE COUNTY CITIZENS -- SEND THE MONEY TO THE NORTHERN PART OF LAKE COUNTY -- TO PAY FOR THE THIEVERY AND INCOMPETENCE OF BABY MAC IN HAMMOND AND HIS FELLOW COHORTS IN GARY AND EAST CHICAGO.

Dan Repay for County Commissioner?

Dan Repay for Lake County Commissioner?   Say it isn't so.   

This blog called the bait and switch scheme by Repay and his "boss" Baby Mac in previous blogs here, here, and here. These previous blogs argued that Repay and Baby Mac were cooking-up this scheme starting before the Hammond City Council primary.  That means, Repay knowingly and willingly lied to the voters, the citizens of Hammond, during the primary and again during the general election.  He has always known he has no intention of serving on Hammond's City Council in the new term because it is rumored that his blushing bride hates Hammond and this earns him a "get out of Hammond" card.

Their lackey Steve Fowler made all kinds of claims about his knowledge of Repay and how everything I said was not true.  Gosh, could Fowler -- nondescript Mayoral flunkie -- be peddling untruths (otherwise called lies)?  If so, maybe it is just all part of his training under Baby Mac. 

The problem Dan Repay now faces is that, as everyone but him knows, Baby Mac cannot deliver.  Baby Mac, with a $400,000 campaign war chest, could not muster a landslide against the $2,600 campaign an old man in a wheelchair.  No, if Repay is to have a chance at winning Lake County Commissioner, then Baby Mac is going to have to ensure that Repay has no opposition.  How might Baby Mac attempt to do that?  Enter stage right, Daddy Mac and his billionaire friend.  It is the only way Repay can win. 

Cantrell, Patronage, and Election Fixing

The buffoons at The Times newspaper published a story, that they made sure to "hold" until after the election so as to ensure the re-election of Baby Mac to Mayor of Hammond.  The story is of how Baby Mac's super-qualified wife (as evidenced by the number of high-profile law firms seeking to employ her) decided that she would forgo getting a job based on merit but decided that it was better to gain money and influence from the daughter of her husband's former political-consultant Robert Cantrell.  (If it's not too much to ask, maybe Judge Cantrell can make Mrs. Baby Mac's cover letter and resume -- you know -- the one she must have submitted when applying for a job -- available for all to see.  Shouldn't be too hard to produce, now should it.  And while Judge Julie is at it, maybe she can produce the job advertisement because I'm just absolutely sure there was an actual job search conducted.)  That's right, the federally indicted Cantrell -- the one who, according to previous Times news articles, illegally obtained medical insurance for both Julie and John (otherwise called, Bob Cantrell's children).  When it comes to criminal and fraudulent behavior, I think it's safe to say that the apples didn't fall far from the tree. 

There is no doubt that if the story of illegal patronage of Mrs. Baby Mac by the medical defrauding judge had come out in the newspaper before the election, Mr. and Mrs. Baby Mac could have been reduced to kicking their dog back under their house porch waiting for David Hamm to come save it.  What would have been intriguing to see is -- if Baby Mac had lost the election -- would both he and the Mrs. still have been able to keep their "patronage" jobs at Purdue Calumet, which under Cohen has turned into just another Northwest Indiana political patronage cesspool where all the Democratic Hammond politicos go to earn a little extra spending money and give themselves "academic" credentials that look good on the political resume?

Baby Mac Sent Back to the Nursery

The local elections -- the ones for mayors, city and town councils and clerk-treasurers -- are now completed in Indiana.  The results are not surprising. 

Indianapolis returned to sanity and returned the mayorship and City/County council back to the Republicans.  Greg Ballard is the new Mayor and Bart Peterson's political career is over; it actually never started.  I had always argued that his career would never "take" even as there was "chatter" he might run for Governor.  The voters spoke.  He is in retirement. 

As I have mentioned before, the Democratic Party had called on Martin Jischke, the former President of Purdue University to run against the current Governor Mitch Daniels.  With Peterson's career "officially" over, now Jischke is one of the only candidates -- if not the only -- the Democrats might have to offer.  If not for Governor, then they could run him in the next U.S. Senate race -- but the Democrats first choice is to run him for Governor.  Why do you think Jischke was spending all that public university money on advertising himself during his last two to three months as President of Purdue?  It even became more obvious, when, last week U. S. Congressman Pete Viclosky sent out a free mailing to everyone in the first Congressional District with the two of them together smiling like old Washington D.C. buddies.  Can anyone spell "retirement" -- it is looking a lot like it is spelled p-o-l-i-t-i-c-s. 

The Democrats lost because they had no reasonable and competent plan to deal with the property tax problem in Indiana and the spiraling government costs that drives it.  The increased costs of government at the local level is at the feet of the Democrats.  This is a constant.  Just look at NWI.  Governor Mitch Daniels at least came up with a plan that is problematic but competent.  Something that the Democrats keep on avoiding like the plague.  The consequence is the election that one sees. 

Now it is fair to say that Indianapolis was a reasonable race; it was competitive.  Although the incumbent lost, at least the challenger had a campaign and money and support from the Republican State Committee.  Although Bart Peterson's political career is over, he at least was not a buffoon and a thief.

Now that cannot be said for NWI.  It is still one of the mysteries of life why anyone votes for a Democrat in Lake County -- existence here is, politically, in the stone-age.  But a great miracle did occur.  The best funded campaign of an incumbent young energetic Mayor was thrown into a stupor by a handicapped, wheelchair bound, broke campaign of a retired Republican banker.  Baby Mac, commonly referred to as Tom McDermott, Jr. won by only four hundred votes out of ten thousand even though he had one of the best funded campaigns in the State.  The voters recognized that he was truly an incompetent buffoon as has been pointed out consistently in these blogs.  The only people who did not see it are the blind buffoons at The Times Newspaper.

Munster Needs to Stay Independent; No Democrats Allowed

I just received the usual campaign literature from the Democratic Party of Munster trying to make a case for why a citizen of Munster, Indiana should vote for a Democrat.  Since the campaign literature lumped all the Democratic candidates together as a group and gave their platform as one united front that is how they will be treated. 

One essentially votes for all Democrats in Munster; or for none.

My first question is why would anyone vote for a Democrat in Lake County, Indiana?  The question arises because it is universally recognized that the Democratic Party in Lake County is a verifiable criminal enterprise.  It currently has over forty members heading for jail and an unknown number who have pilfered, stolen, abused their power, or are just plain incompetent.  It is nearly impossible to find a Democrat who has not destroyed whatever he or she has touched (of course, Michael Griffin is one of the lone exceptions, which proves the rule).

Every political entity that has Democrats in political control is in the dregs of the world.  Here are just a few examples: Gary, East Chicago, Hammond, Lake County Government, etc.  I challenge anyone to name an exception in NWI. 

The one exception to the Democratic disaster that is occurring is Munster, Indiana.  It is the one place in NWI with great schools, great homes, low crime, improving real estate, parks, adult education, -- essentially a town that everyone wants to move to.  Even the people living in the gated community of Briar Ridge are only willing to pay that kind of money because they are next door to Munster.  All the doctors, lawyers, and indian chiefs live in Munster.  You can sell and rent housing in Munster generally without problems.

How do you get such an exception in Lake County?  Oh, I know, there are no Democrats in office.

Any Democrat in Munster is tied at the hip to the Democratic Party of Lake County.  For those who do not know, the head of this political party is Rudy Clay, the current Mayor of Gary.  Over forty felons are or have gone to jail for crimes against the public trust, i.e. politicians, and all of them are Democrats.  A convicted Democrat, Will Smith, waiting to go to jail, currently continues to serve on the Lake County Council with the support of the Democratic Party of Lake County.

The problem that Munster faces in the future is singularly focused: to keep the Democratic charlatans and thieves out of the town.  I am not going to address Gary and East Chicago and their negative impact on the region.  With the Democratic Party in charge there, I have come to the conclusion that nothing short of a Lake Michigan hurricane will make any difference.  What Munster has to do is to not build bridges to Hammond, which is its biggest threat.  You know what they say, "good fences make good neighbors."

The Munster Democratic Party DID NOT disown -- putting a fence between Hammond and Munster -- Hammond Democrats.  That they did not do so is a serious problem.  Some of the biggest Democratic thieves reside there.  If you want to see what Munster will look like if the Hammond Democratic thieves cross into Munster then all you have to do is take a quick look at its single-family real estate stock.  Using www.gniarmls.com -- and searching for all of Hammond (North, South, and Hessville), there are only 3 houses for sale in Hammond over $300,000 in a city of over 80,000 people.  Between $200-300,000 there are only five homes for sale; between $150-200,000 there are only 28 for sale.  All the rest are in the dumps, following the Gary/East Chicago pricing model -- junk/garbage housing to go with the junk/garbage City government, to go with a junk/garbage school system. 

The City Government of Hammond is Tom McDermott, Jr. That is who the Democratic Party of Munster needs to publicly disown before they can be taken seriously.  Otherwise, they are the bridge to the charlatans of Hammond. 

Tom McDermott, Jr. represents all that is wrong with the Democratic Party of Lake County.  It has never been reported, legal or not, the money that his family is making from deals in the City.  He calls himself a Democrat and yet destroys (only) the City Health Department and the Legal Clinic.  The very services that help the people of lower means.  Then he LIES about reducing City services by transferring the garbage service, people and all, to the Hammond Sanitary District, which increases the cost to the tax payers.  Finally, as all Democratic Party members believe, he transfers the cost of everything he mis-manages to all the Lake County residents.  Read my lips -- here comes the local county income tax -- all to feed the Democratic Party of Lake County in Hammond, Gary, and East Chicago.  What did the rest of us do to deserve this?

By the way, I would sincerely argue that if there is going to be a County Income Tax then the gambling boat revenues in Lake County must be proportionally divided among ALL the towns and cities of Lake County in accordance with their population.  Gary, Hammond, and East Chicago no longer qualify for this unique revenue source.  Just like the income tax, it belongs to everyone.

The Munster Democrats talk about independence -- but independence from what or from whom?  Disown McDermott first, and then Munster Democrats might -- and I mean might -- be worthy of a hearing.  Otherwise, without disowning the criminal bridge from Munster to Hammond (McDermott Jr. and his band of criminal cronies) we will all go down together. 

The Munster Democrats talk about fiscal responsibility and accountability, but show me where Democrats have ever achieved that in Lake County?  Then they mention "business growth."  Under the Democratic Party of Lake County, there never has been any.  Lake County is a net loss. 

The reality is that the Munster Democratic Party is a wolf is sheep's clothing.  That is the true threat to the stability and future of Munster, Indiana.  If any of them get in; it is the beginning of an infection that is incurable and the northern part of Lake County is the verifiable and known result. 

Do not confuse Lake County Democrats with the national Democratic Party.  The Democratic Party here is a primitive tribal system of over 100 years ago.  I must admit it is as fascinating a fossil as it is a dangerous virus in NWI.