General Archives - Page 185 of 253 - A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

Speaking of a Street Fighting Man

January 2, 2008 by Doug Masson 6 Comments

I mentioned the Rolling Stones’ “Street Fighting Man” in reference to Anderson’s mayor’s refusal to step down. Plate o’ shrimp – that street fighting imagery came up again today in Dan Balz’s Washington Post blog entry about John Edwards.

Nice clothes aside, Edwards has turned street-fighter for the final stretch run. His message can be boiled down to a single word — “Fight!” — which he repeats over and over and over and over again: Fight. Fight. Fight. Fight.

Edwards has rolled out anecdotes he never used in the past to make it all the more personal. They conjure up images that hardly square with his slight frame and good looks. He was, as he now explains, a brawler as a kid, taking on bullies the way he later took on corporations and insurance companies as a trail lawyer.

“Like many of you, I had to fight to survive,” he told an audience of nearly a thousand people on Saturday night. “I mean really. Literally.”

He describes the southern mill town where he grew up as a tough little place and tells the story of getting into a fight one day with an older boy. “Got my butt kicked,” he says. When he got home, his father offered a stern lesson in life.

“I don’t ever want to hear, son, about you starting a fight,” he says his father told him. “But you listen to me and listen to me clearly. I don’t want to ever hear that you walked away from one. Because if you’re not willing to stand up for yourself and if you’re not willing to fight, no one will stand up for you.”

The enemy he sees is corporate America and corporate greed. His message seeks not to unite America but to finish what he describes as “an epic struggle” against forces that are, literally, killing America — destroying jobs, holding down wages, putting ordinary Americans out of work or denying them medical care.

I really enjoy the advice from Edwards’ dad — don’t ever start a fight, but make sure you finish them. That was the problem in Iraq – we started that one which makes it impossible to finish. If your goal is just to beat the hell out of the guy who picked a fight with you, that’s pretty easy if you’re strong enough. In Iraq, our goals were never very well defined — depose Hussein, get rid of WMDs – fine. Mission Accomplished. And yet, we’re still there. Create democracy in the Middle East — um, no thanks.

Does the greed of a few constitute an assault on the majority of citizens? I don’t know. It’s probably worth at least talking about. Certainly things seem to be getting harder for the middle class over the past few decades. Most families need two incomes to get by, it seems. I don’t think that was always the case.

Oh, but Edwards is rich and has nice hair. Clearly he shouldn’t be talking about these things.

Toll Road

January 2, 2008 by Doug Masson 16 Comments

This past Saturday night, I got to observe first hand one way in which the privatized Toll Road is attempting to save money – fewer employees at toll booths. On I-80/90, headed eastbound at the Ohio gate at about 11:00 p.m. on a Saturday night, I waited approximately 5 minutes to pay. It’s not like I had a free market decision I could make. I was stuck, and I got charged the same no matter how long I waited. Five minutes every year or two is a small indignity for me. But, to some extent, it puts the lie to the idea that the Toll Road is going to turn a profit through some kind of business magic. Instead, the new owners will just provide crappy service to its captive consumers — consumers who used to be citizens.

Security Theater

January 2, 2008 by Doug Masson 11 Comments

You know all those time-wasting stupid human tricks you have to perform in the airport? Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

A team at the Harvard School of Public Health could not find any studies showing whether the time-consuming process of X-raying carry-on luggage prevents hijackings or attacks.

They also found no evidence to suggest that making passengers take off their shoes and confiscating small items prevented any incidents.

TSA’s response:

“Even without clear evidence of the accuracy of testing, the Transportation Security Administration defended its measures by reporting that more than 13 million prohibited items were intercepted in one year,” the researchers added. “Most of these illegal items were lighters.”

That’d be neat if their purpose was to confiscate stuff. Maybe if they prohibited more stuff, they could intercept more stuff. Intercept . . . the fluffy pillows!

Sen. Weatherwax to step down

January 2, 2008 by Doug Masson 3 Comments

Another state legislative seat is opening up. Senator Tom Weatherwax will not be seeking re-election.

State Sen. Thomas K. Weatherwax announced Monday that he would not seek re-election in November, ending a 24-year career in the General Assembly.

The Logansport Republican, elected to the Indiana House in 1984 and the Senate in 1988, said he wanted to spend more time concentrating on his private life and family and less time on public policy and politics.

“I have been blessed with productive careers both in and out of politics,” Weatherwax said. “But for a citizen legislator, a father and grandfather, there comes a time when a person wants to focus on family and pass the baton to another public servant willing to continue the good fight.”

Senate staffers said Weatherwax has served on and chaired more committees than any senator in recorded state history.
Weatherwax, whose District 18 consists of all or parts of Cass, Fulton, Kosciusko, Miami, Pulaski and Wabash counties, said he will continue to seek further property tax reforms, job creating measures and school improvements during the 2008 General Assembly.

I’m having a lot of trouble remembering all of the seats that will be up for grabs come November 2008. It seems like well above average. Perhaps the number of legislators not worried about re-election will give the legislature more freedom this session.

Ex-Anderson mayor refuses to relinquish power

January 2, 2008 by Doug Masson 6 Comments

Ousted Anderson mayor, Kevin Smith, refuses to relinquish power after having lost the most recent mayoral election. He is citing his own challenge to elected mayor, Kris Ockomon’s residency as a basis for serving beyond his elected term.

Look, pal. Unless you have a court order, get the hell out. This is a democracy. It only works when officials relinquish power voluntarily at the end of their terms. If you want to file a court challenge, fine. But unless and until you win an order extending your term, get out. We don’t need to turn into some third world country where leaders make up ad hoc excuses to stay in power.

Suddenly I’ve got the Stones, Street Fighting Man going through my head:

Everywhere I hear the sound of marching, charging feet, boy
cause summer’s here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy

SB 54 – Mandate Attorneys

January 2, 2008 by Doug Masson 1 Comment

Sen. Boots has introduced SB 54, an interesting bill about paying for mandate attorneys. From time to time, Judges will issue mandates – for example telling boards of county commissioners and county councils that the County needs to pay court staff more than other county employees. Often times this will lead to a legal fight between the county government and the judge. Adding insult to injury when the Supreme Court upholds the prerogatives of its fellow judges over a competing branch of government is the fact that the county then has to foot the bill for the court’s private attorney.

Sen. Boots would change the second part of the equation. Instead of allowing the court to hire a private attorney to defend the mandate action, with the huge legal expenses that can sometimes entail, the Attorney General’s office would provide legal services to the court — in the same way the Attorney General defends judges and prosecutors when they get sued in their official capacities.

SB 60 – Faithless electors

January 2, 2008 by Doug Masson 1 Comment

Sen. Zakas has introduced SB 60 addressing the issue of faithless electors. This bill appears to implement a process to ensure that Presidential electors vote for the candidate the elector has promised to vote for. As I presume everybody knows by now, in Presidential elections, citizens do not get to vote for the Presidential candidate directly. Instead they vote for a slate of electors who will presumably cast electoral votes for the candidate who won the majority of popular votes in the state. My understanding is that some states have penalties for “faithless electors” and some do not — these are electors who vote for someone other than the candidate to whom they are pledged. Sen. Zakas’ bill would essentially void any faithless electoral vote cast and allow the remaining electors, presumably still faithful, to go find someone who will also vote the right way.

I’m not aware of this ever being a problem in Indiana.

SB 39 – Natural Resources Doctrine

January 2, 2008 by Doug Masson 3 Comments

Sen. Meeks has introduced SB 39 entitled “responsibility for implementing natural resource doctrine.” I’m not familiar with environmental law, but I suspect the law has something to do with the recent scandal involving DNR’s approval of allowing BP’s Whiting plant to dump more toxic waste into Lake Michigan.

Requires the department of natural resources (DNR) to implement the public trust doctrine with respect to public freshwater lakes. Requires the natural resources commission to adopt rules identifying at least one division in DNR to implement the public trust doctrine with respect to public freshwater lakes. Adds “wildlife” to the definition of “natural resources”.

Well, on further review, maybe this doesn’t have anything to do with BP’s Whiting dumping. Sen. Meeks bill amends IC 14-26-2 which concerns “public freshwater lakes” – the term is defined specifically to exclude Lake Michigan. IC 14-26-2 sets forth some “public rights” with respect to these lakes. My best guess is that nobody at DNR is particularly in charge of enforcing these public rights and, therefore, this statute, as implemented, is more or less worthless. Perhaps Sen. Meeks is trying to make sure that it’s somebody’s job to look out for these rights. Just a guess, though.

Update Looks like Sen. Meeks’ SB 41 involves public freshwater lakes as well

[tags]environmental law[/tags]

Wabash River Corridor – Lafayette Area

December 29, 2007 by Doug Masson 2 Comments

The Journal & Courier has a story about the Wabash River Enhancement Corporation, an organization devoted to planning for the river’s future in the area. The organization is raising money to develop a master plan through a study conducted by an independent firm with public input.

Health, recreation, education, economic development and environmental management will all be part of that master plan.

. . .

Part of that plan will be the approximately 450 acres the city owns along the riverfront from Riehle Plaza to Sagamore Parkway, Dennis said.

“We’re looking at park related ideas,” Carson said. “We’re still in the idea stage.”

Even though it’s long-term, this is still pretty exciting stuff for me. It seems like the river should be a major feature for Lafayette and West Lafayette. To me, it seems largely ignored at the moment. For all I know, though, this could be for good reason. Maybe the Wabash is just too mean and unpredictable for any kind of major development.

Right now, we have Riehle Plaza and the foot bridge over the river to West Lafayette. A fair distance west of the River, in West Lafayette, major development has taken place along what we call the Levy: a hotel, some restaurants, and shops. Closer to the river, there is a playground and a fair amount of park ground. On the west bank, aside from the plaza, there isn’t much to speak of — mainly just old development slapped up seemingly in spite of rather than because of the river. Along the river is a path that varies between paved and dirt and the quality of both varies considerably as well.

With no idea about environmental feasibility or impact, I have visions of open green space with good views of the river backed with restaurants and bars with open air seating. I’d like green spaces where people congregate, watch and get watched; where people exercise and play with music and general commotion in the background. Maybe get the Wabash cleaned up enough for safe swimming and light boating and whatnot. Maybe we could learn a trick or two from the Pearl Street mall area in Boulder, Colorado.

2007

December 28, 2007 by Doug Masson 4 Comments

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day always seems like a good time for reflection. But, reflecting on 2007, I’m finding it hard to get a sense of the year. It seems like it was *hard*. It’s a good bet I expended more energy. At work, we moved our offices, I shattered my previous billable hour totals, and I found myself exposed to a number of novel (to me) types of legal cases. At home, my two little kids got more active. I increased my ability to run from about 3 or 4 miles up to about 9 or 10 miles. And, for fun, I climbed some 14,000 foot mountains. No wonder I’m feeling a little wrung out just about now.

Here at the blog, I’ve entered something not too far shy of 900 blog posts. (All of the highest quality.) Some of the topics:

Even after looking back at all of that, I still don’t have a good feel for how the year was as a whole. I’m still here. My bills are all paid. My wife and kids are healthy and appear to still like me. I’ll chalk it up as a win.