Interesting Domain Name Registrations

Those familiar with domain name registration know about WHOIS, where one can query any web address and find out who the registered owner is.

I got to wondering, and found a couple of interesting web addresses that have been registered, but which do not have websites attached to them - yet.

HogsettforMayor.com is registered to Ross Wells, who LinkedIn shows works in Government Affairs for Frost, Brown, Todd here in Indy.  It was created on August 15, 2012.  Unless renewed, it is set to expire on August 15, 2014.

DeLaneyforMayor.com is held by Domains by Proxy, which provides private registration of domain names so that the true owner's name and contact information is not readily available.  The domain name was created on November 18, 2013.  DeLaney's Indiana House campaign site, EdDeLaney.org, is registered to a Denver Abernathy at Promethius Consulting, an IT and website design service company here in Indy.   That domain name was registered back in 2008, renewed for only a couple of months on November 25, 2013, and is currently set to expire on February 28, 2014.

ShortforMayor.com is held by Frank Short of Short Strategy Group.  It was created on November 15, 2013.  This registration, unless renewed, will expire on November 15, 2018.

Coincidences?

Ameriplex Donates 50 Acres To Land Trust

Holladay Properties, owners and developers of the AmeriPlex Industrial Park situated in Decatur Township, has donated 50 acres of land to the Central Indiana Land Trust.  The Land is mostly wooded and Flynn creek runs through two of the three parcels.

Most of this property runs along the north side of Flynn Road.  This donation will serve to keep this land as a lovely public Preserve to buffer the residents of 'old' Camby from the whirl of the industrial Park.

In their press release, Cliff Chapman, interim director of the Land Trust, says "This is one of the most valuable gifts of land to a land trust in Indiana's history."  The land is valued at $4.3 million, but Chapman attaches value from the endangered bat species that thrive in the area.  The Land Trust "will enhance the area with plantings of native trees and shrubs, as well as other restoration work that will encourage Indiana bats and other wildlife to use the property.  To support these efforts, Holladay also is donating $125,000 for a stewardship fund."

This is an outstanding development.  The community has long wanted a park use on this property, and the donation to the Land Trust will ensure it will be a nature preserve for the enjoyment of generations to come.

Pretzel Logic

If two adults love each other, they should be able to wed, and thereby obtain all of the legal benefits and obligations of any other married couple.  I truly do not understand why we even have to have a discussion about it.

Here in Indiana, however, we aren't talking about legalizing wedlock for same-sex couples. 

We aren't even talking about banning same sex marriage, since that is already the law.

No, Indiana has set the wayback machine to Neanderthal days, and is 'debating' enshrining the ban on same sex marriage in the State Constitution.

Yesterday the Indiana House Judiciary Committee took testimony regarding a bill that would require a referendum to decide if the Constitution should be amended.

We heard from a number of people how their Jesus Christ and their Yahweh required this bigotry against same sex couples as a core principle of their religion.  It was as if their religion would collapse if this bigotry was not enforced by Constitutional amendment.

I suspect that these same folks would be appalled if a group of Muslims were trying to enact sharia law into the Indiana Constitution.

It is the same reaction I have to their attempt to enshrine their personal religious beliefs in that same Constitution.  I find their attempt abhorrent, appalling, and against the founding principles of our nation.

For all the world they sound like the aggrieved parties; that somehow they suffer from the intolerance of others who do not share their intolerance of gays and lesbians.  Their pretzel logic draws a direct consequence to their ability to practice their religion from the lack of a Constitutional ban on same sex marriage.

I've said it before, if you don't like same sex marriage, don't do it.

Among America's founding principles is that the rights of a minority should not be abridged by the whim of a majority.  As the Eric Millers of this world see the majority opinion shifting away from their bigotry, they push ever harder to make their societal view legally unchallengeable.  They are willing to cast about outrageous lies to create a climate of fear against the marriage of gay or lesbian couples.

We cannot let Miller and his ilk succeed.  One amendment proponent testified yesterday that life is too short.  Yes, it is.  It is too short for real people who live now, and who simple want to be able to say 'I love you' and 'I do'.  Why is that so hard to deal with?

Property Tax Relief - How the City/County Has Faired

I don't usually 'do' twitter.  I'm on a steep learning curve yet in that realm.  Not to mention how I'm not prepared for such short notes.  But an exchange between Matt Stone of IndyStudent blog 'fame', and Matt Tully of IndyStar 'fame' (and another man I don't know but very likely has his own arena of 'fame') caught my attention.

Tully was claiming that the 'small' tax increases since the property tax caps were instituted did not make up for the lost revenue.  Stone disagreed.

Stone is correct.  The short view is simple enough.  The state took over more than $100 million in City/County obligations - Family and Childrens Services and pre-1970 police and fire pensions.  The former was $99.6 M in 2007 and $107.5 M in 2008.  I could not find numbers for the latter.

The tax caps give relief to the taxpayers.  But, any taxpayer relief is equal to tax revenue that cannot be collected - referred to as 'circuit breaker' penalties.  The City/County did not see any circuit breaker reduction in its property tax collections until 2009.  That year the City/County collected $278 M in property taxes AFTER subtracting $26 M in circuit breaker penalties.  The circuit breaker penalty has steadily grown, but so too has the net property tax revenue actually collected by the City/County.  For 2014 it its expected that this unit of government will collect $306 M in property taxes AFTER subtracting $55 M in circuit breaker penalties.

This was not the only thing happening during this time.  Let us not forget the reason Ballard was elected Mayor in the first place was because then Mayor Peterson raised income taxes for a new 'public safety tax'.  The reason for this tax was to cover the pension obligation.  Once Ballard was inaugurated, his fellow Republicans in the State Legislature agreed to take that pension problem off his hands - freeing up some $74 M in 2008.  Total income tax revenues to the City/County have fluctuated mildly since then, running from $247 M in 2009 to $239 expected in 2014 - not much difference in the scheme of things. 

With the Great Recession ebbing, income tax receipts and property tax receipts should be climbing once again as we move forward from here.

So, before you swallow the City's PR machine's woe-is-me, tax-caps-are-so-bad, line of bull, check out the real numbers.

Standard & Poor's Statement on Indy Bond Ratings

From Standard & Poor's website, this statement on their drop in rating for various Indianapolis bonds.  Please note the emphasis in red is mine:

CHICAGO (Standard & Poor's) Dec. 17, 2013--Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said said that it lowered its issuer credit rating (ICR) to 'AA' from 'AAA' on Indianapolis, Ind., based on our recently released local general obligation (GO) criteria. At the same time, Standard & Poor's lowered its ratings on the city's GO and ad-valorem property tax-backed debt to 'AA' from 'AAA', certificates of participation (COPs) to 'AA-' from 'AA+', and moral obligation-backed debt to 'A' from 'AA'. The outlook on all debt is stable. The 'AA' ratings are based on ad-valorem property tax pledges, subject to state circuit-breaker legislation. The 'AA-' rating on the COPs reflects annual appropriation risk, and the 'A' rating on the moral obligation debt is based on the city's moral obligation pledge to replenish debt service reserve funds, if needed, subject to council appropriation. Standard & Poor's also lowered its long-term rating to 'AA-' from 'AA' on certain moral obligation debt, reflecting the rating on the insurance provider (Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp.) now being higher than the underlying rating. "The 'AA' rating and stable outlook reflect our assessment of Indianapolis' very strong budget flexibility and liquidity," said Standard & Poor' credit analyst John Sauter, "along with its strong management." Another supporting factor is its adequate economy. Offsetting factors include the city's:

Weak budgetary performance, factoring in forecasted deficits for fiscal years 2013 and 2014; and

Weak debt and contingent liabilities position, mostly reflecting high direct debt.  

"We do not anticipate any of the positive factors wavering within the two-year outlook period," added Mr. Sauter.  

Rating improvement is likely contingent on an improved management score and more balanced budgetary performance in the near term (compared to projections), particularly given we do not anticipate the debt and contingent liability assessment or economy assessment to improve in the near term. Should the management and budgetary performance assessments improve, a higher rating would be likely.

Hmm.  "mostly reflecting high direct debt".  The Ballard administration will be adding more and more debt as fast as it can and as much as it can before they are out of office.  Maybe its time the Council reflect on this high debt load and make Ballard pay off some before he hands the next generation more.

Council ROC Review Committee Includes District Councillor and Original Lease Proposal Co-Author, Ben Hunter

The Council has taken on the task of investigating the lease agreement for the Regional Operations Center.  Unfortunately, they include on the ten member committee, Councillor Ben Hunter, a co-author of the Council Proposal that authorized the lease and the home Councillor of the ROC itself.

The others appointed are: Councillors Freeman, Gray, Hickman, Mansfield, Miller, Osili, Pfisterer, Sandlin and Simpson.

The announcement, put out on behalf of the Council and listing Simpson as the media contact is as follows:

Indianapolis– On Monday, October 14, 2013, the City-County Council unanimously passed a resolution establishing a special investigating committee regarding the lease for the Regional Operations Center (ROC), located at 401 North Shadeland Avenue (the old Eastgate Consumer Mall facility), entered into by the Department of Public Safety (DPS).  Council Resolution No. 63, 2013 (Proposal No. 332, 2013) calls for an investigation to be conducted examining why DPS entered into an allegedly unfavorable long-term lease, whether or not the information provided to the Council with regard to the lease was complete and accurate, whether there are other such leases with unfavorable terms entered into by DPS or other departments and agencies, and whether the City has made other formal or informal commitments relating to the ROC lease that have not yet been disclosed. 

Earlier this year, it came to the Council’s attention that the Office of Corporation Counsel and the City Controller both allegedly refused to sign the original lease, which contains many unusual provisions that are highly unfavorable to the City.  The current Director of DPS, Troy Riggs, recently ordered the evacuation of the facility due to allegedly unsafe conditions, and there are reports that the drawings of the facility originally submitted to the Council are substantially different from the facility the owner was told to build, and that DPS may have entered into additional “confidential agreements” with the owners. 

Following passage of the resolution, the Council appointed a ten-member bi-partisan committee made up of the following members of the Council:  Aaron Freeman, Monroe Gray, Jr., Pamela Hickman, Benjamin Hunter, Angela Mansfield, Jeff Miller, Vop Osili, Marilyn Pfisterer, Jack Sandlin, and Joseph Simpson.  Councillor Joseph Simpson, who was designated by the President of the Council to serve as committee chair, stated, “This committee process provides an opportunity to gain a clearer understanding about how the ROC lease was put into place; and, more importantly, to understand how City business practices and related legislative policies can be strengthened to avoid a similar situation in the future.” 

The committee will hold its first meeting on Monday, November 4, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. in Room 260 on the second floor of the City-County Building, 200 E. Washington Street. 

Republican Lunatic Zealots Damage America

A few dozen Republican lunatic zealots, enabled and abetted by many more pseudo-sane Republicans, damaged America's reputation, its economy, and its borrowing power over the last 16 days of their insane acting out.

The fact that they put the pin back in the grenade at the very last moment does NOT make it alright.  They must be held accountable.

Hundreds of thousands of federal employees were unemployed for over two weeks.  About 4 million more worked without pay for the duration.  While all are expected to receive compensation at some point, this is no way to make a statement about fiscal responsibility.

Jobs in the private sector, especially ones dependent upon federal employee spending, grants, or keeping government sites open, were also lost.  Small businesses were damaged, without anticipated Small Business Administration loans coming through.  Large businesses, whose third quarter earnings data are now coming out, are pulling back on their fourth quarter expectations.  Regular families will think twice about their holiday spending.  Consumer confidence is down.
 
Interest rates on T-bills due around the time of the new deadlines of January 15 and February 7 are already spiking, as prudent investors recognize the risk that these lunatic zealots will hold the USA and its full faith and credit hostage yet again.

According to Standard & Poors, the shutdown cost the US economy $24 BILLION and cut growth in the next quarter by at least 0.6 %.

President Obama and the Democrats held firm - for the first time in recent memory - denying the hostage takers any payment.  Whether or not this will be enough to keep them from trying it again waits to be seen.

Speaker Boehner's performance was instrumental to the lunatic zealots' prolonged influence.   He was clearly erratic in the last couple of days, trying to torpedo an emerging Senate bill with an on-again-off-again-back-on-again-back-off-again proposal to come from the House.

Minority Leader McConnell was gifted a $2.9 BILLION appropriation for Kentucky hidden in the bill that passed both Chambers last night.

The Senate voted 83-16 to fund the government to January 15 and raise the debt ceiling to February 7.  You can check how your Senators voted here.  The House voted 285-144 on the bill.  You can check how your Representative voted here.  For Indiana, both Senators Coats (R) and Donnelly (D) and Representatives Visclosky (D), Carson (D), Brooks (R), and Young (R) voted in favor.  Representatives, all Republican, Walsorski, Stutzman, Rokita, Messer, and Buschon voted against.

If you know a lunatic zealot, you don't give them the keys to your car, much less the keys to your gun safe.  The Republicans in Congress must take away the keys from those in their caucus who would take aim on the economy of the US and the world again.  Voters need to step up and unseat the lunatic zealots and replace them with sane public servants when next they are up for election.  Otherwise, there is no telling how much more damage these people are willing to inflict upon us all.