Letters to the Editor 01-13-2004
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- Puzzling Budget - Help Otis - Farm Runoff - Marriage Concerns - Lots Of Millers - Purpose Of The Military Is To Protect Our Way Of Life
Puzzling Budget
Editor, Times-Union:One of the first educational toys given to children is a jigsaw puzzle. The game teaches us how to assess each piece as to how it fits in the completed picture This is a skill we learn at a very young age, yet we use it frequently throughout our adult lives.
The puzzle concept is a metaphor for Indiana's fiscal condition and leadership. Nearly every day, we find another piece that clues us in on the bigger picture. As chairman of the Senate Finance Budget Subcommittee, I have a pretty good idea of how that puzzle looks when all the pieces are put together. Now, I am interested in what citizens see when they're given all the facts.
n The optimism some had for a budget surplus at the end of fiscal year 2004 is fading. The State Budget Agency has estimated the surplus at the end of FY 2005 to be $516 million. However, the state is $100 million short for property tax replacement credits. Medicaid is still $100 million in the red. Last year the State Budget Agency announced a $153.9 million revenue shortfall in FY 2004 after the state collected $13.6 million less in December than was expected.
n Our revenues are down because people are not working. The current administration has had more than seven years to provide leadership in economic development and jobs. In fact, it is one of the official duties of the lieutenant governor to do so. Yet Indiana continues to fare worse than almost all other states in the nation when it comes to job creation.
n The Indianapolis Star reported on Jan. 8 that "for the third consecutive year, a record number of people in southern and central Indiana filed for bankruptcy."
n The first item on the administration's agenda this year is to raid the pension stabilization fund to pay for a statewide full-day kindergarten program that, in 1999, was estimated to cost $111 million per year. The administration also wants to change our constitution in order to utilize the Common School Fund, which was designed to pay for school buildings and projects. While early education is extremely important, it is dangerous to pay for what would be a permanent program with a shaky funding mechanism.
n Taxpayers expect state officials to be prudent with their money. In years past, when a budget outweighed the state's income, the administration made cuts to non-essential services, rather than raise taxes. We have not seen that kind of leadership thus far.
The puzzle pieces we hold today do not make a pleasant picture. I see a lack of vision, forethought and leadership from the top. I see misplaced priorities and band-aid solutions on deep financial wounds. I see Hoosiers who want to work but have been neglected.
Bold leadership for economic development is what we need most of all. If employers are attracted to Indiana, more Hoosiers will have jobs. Fewer people will need state assistance. The quality of life in our communities will improve, and we will be on our way to a healthy economy.
And that, my friends, is a puzzle I can't wait to see completed.
State Senator Robert Meeks
Senate Finance Budget Subcommittee Chairman
LaGrange
Help Otis
Editor, Times-Union:I'm writing you this letter concerning "Otis." This man is a very sick man.
My brother was very sick also - he got 10 years in prison for being a habitual traffic violator. He lost his life there. He also was not offered any kind of treatment. He was 26 years old, too young to die, but don't you see it's all about money in this county.
See, every time they bust him ("Otis") the county makes probably $165 fine and $200 alcohol counter measure fee, plus everybody down there gets their laugh for the day. If you ask me, we should have more treatment centers for teens and adults instead of a brand new jail. That's just my opinion and I'm allowed to have one.
Please pray for "Otis" for he has a fatal and progressive disease and he doesn't have to die.
Sonja Roberts
Warsaw
Farm Runoff
Editor, Times-Union:I'm writing in response to the recent series of articles on Hoosier farms, particularly hog farms and their impact on Indiana's waterways. The Associated Press reporter, Rick Callahan, suggests that pork producers and their livestock operations are destroying our state's waterways because the Indiana Department of Environmental Management doesn't regulate the livestock industry enough.
It's easy for reporters and people who don't have the facts to place blame with others. That's traditionally what's happened with Indiana livestock producers, particularly pork producers, when it comes to discussing the state's water issues. Because our industry has been operating with specific rules and regulations since the early '70s, we seem to be the poster child for all that is wrong with the state's waterways. No one seems to do a series of articles on the impact of unregulated, outdated homeowner septic systems spewing human waste directly into our waterways. According to the Indiana Department of Health, of the approximately 800,000 septic systems, 200,000 do not meet current code. If pork producers released the amount of waste like Indianapolis does into the White River, or other local communities through combined sewer overflows, the state would run them out of business.
Indiana's confined feeding livestock operations have been regulated since 1971. Under current state laws and rules, livestock operations (over a certain size determined by IDEM) must have a permit from IDEM in order to operate in this state. Along with this permit, livestock producers have specific construction criteria for their buildings, prepare manure management plans for IDEM and emergency contingency plans in case of a manure spill. This month the state and the EPA will institute another set of more stringent rules which even further regulates today's larger livestock operations.
Pork producers operate under a zero discharge rule which means we cannot discharge, unlike your local municipality, which releases human waste into the state waterways on a regular basis. Section 319 of the Clean Water Act says it is against the law for any discharge from a pork operation to find its way into groundwater, streams, lakes or rivers. Those who do so are subject to heavy fines. Mr. Callahan states that IDEM has never imposed the maximum daily fine ($25,000) in a livestock incident, however the recent ruling on the Polhmann operation near Crawfordsville resulted in a $434,000 settlement against the owner.
Indiana pork producers are honest, hardworking farm families whose contribution to our local communities has helped make Indiana a good place to live and raise a family. Let's be careful we don't destroy their livelihood with misleading stories that make readers believe pork producers are more a threat to our waterways than those who live in Indiana's cities and towns.
Terry Fleck
Executive Vice President
Indiana Pork Advocacy Coalition
via e-mail
Marriage Concerns
Editor, Times-Union:I am deeply concerned over efforts of homosexuals to gain the so-called "right to marry." I have learned recently that homosexual activists actually have a hidden agenda in their effort to gain legal status for same-sex relationships: They want to destroy the concept of marriage altogether!
The Traditional Values Coalition has recently published a report that quotes homosexual activists about this real agenda. One of them is Michelangelo Signorile, who says that homosexuals should "fight for same-sex marriage and its benefits and then, once granted, redefine the institution of marriage completely."
TVC also quotes from the "1972 Gay Rights Platform Demands" where homosexuals demand "Repeal of all legislative provisions that restrict the sex or number of persons entering into a marriage unit." In other words, homosexuals want to legalize polygamy and polyamory (group sex) as "families."
The TVC report is available on its Web site at: http://traditionalvalues.org/article.php?sid
Meredith Sensibaugh
Warsaw
via e-mail
Lots Of Millers
Editor, Times-Union:I just read the article in yesterday's paper about surnames, by Jo Ann Byers of the library. I have no doubt every statement made is a fact, however it made me think.
A college professor told us in the early '50s that Miller, not Jones or Smith, was the most common name then in the United States. Since that time I have often picked up phone books and counted Smiths and Millers.
While in some parts of the country Smith is leader by far, in our state it seems to be Miller. In the yellow and black Kosciusko County phone book that includes all of Kosciusko County and then some, the actual count is: Smiths, 297, and Millers, 368. I checked the North Manchester/Wabash/Peru phone book and found 267 Smiths and 321 Millers. In Bourbon/Argos/Nappanee it is 49 Smiths and 179 Millers!
So, read about Captain John Smith, research your own name and count in phone books in various cities you visit.
Jean Neher
North Manchester
Purpose Of The Military Is To Protect Our Way Of Life
Editor's Note: The following was submitted by Sgt. Neil Tusing, Camp Pendleton, Calif., while he was home on leave.*****
I am responding to Bryan A. Ciula's letter ("Bush the Villain") published on 23 Dec. I'm sure Mr. Ciula put a lot of hard work into his delusive tale, but there are a few points he tried to make that don't quite hit their mark.
The definition of terrorism found in Webster's Dictionary is as follows: "terrorizing; use of terror and violence to intimidate, subjugate, etc., especially as a political weapon or policy." As you can see, nowhere in this definition does it state terrorism only being applied to the United States. You say there is no link between Saddam and organized terrorism, however, they are one and the same. You probably didn't feel the effect of Saddam's dictatorship, but the Iraqi people did. They have suffered for many years under this tyrant. Something had to be done and we were able.
No one likes war. Many strongly opposed and protested this war. Good. That's your right, and by all means please continue to exercise that right. However, let us not forget how you became so fortunate as to have such a right ... war. There are many "organizations" in the world that hate our way of life and would do anything to put a stop to it. Our government attempts to keep our way of life as safe as possible. So just because you don't see the reason behind military action in another country, it doesn't mean it's not needed.
The purpose of the military is to protect our way of life as Americans and in this particular situation, it was decided military action was needed. By joining the service, young men and women from around the country make the choice of defending their freedoms at all costs, even if it means death. Death is a reality of war. So you might want to reconsider your comment on people supporting the president because it's not their kid coming back in a body bag. I know families who have lost loved ones to war, and they still support our president because they are smart enough to know their child, sibling or spouse died fighting for something they believed in.
As far as the comments made from returning service members stating, "It's all about the oil," well, that's all a matter of opinion. First off, many of the people making these comments are the soldiers that have been an occupational force in Iraq, not the Marines that fought the war. There's an expression in the Marine Corps that goes as follows: "Don't worry about things out of your pay grade." The reasons for why we went to war are, in fact, out of their pay grade. However, the people in the service are still human. They will have opinions just like most of you reading this and yes, they might be shallow enough to think this event could have only been an act for monetary gain. Since service members' opinions are so valuable to you, I'll tell you my opinion on what this war was about so the next time you decide to publish a letter it'll at least have an opportunity to have some sort of educated basis.
This war was about freedom and liberation of a suppressed population. I was among the first groups to cross over the lines into Iraq. My job over there was a machine gunner for the First Marine Division. I saw the people of Iraq run to the streets as we drove by - waving their hands, blowing kisses, cheering, tears running down their faces because they knew the Marines were there and that meant all their suffering would soon be over. You probably didn't see a lot of that on the news, though.
Instead what you probably saw and heard was all the drama of food shortages and low morale, all the death, and anything else that would gain attention and sell the media's product. There are your organizations with the monetary gain. Had they shown all the celebration, people not unlike yourself would automatically interpret it as propaganda and dismiss it instantly, simply because this war couldn't possibly be a good thing.
In the end you'll continue to believe what you want to believe no matter who tells you what, and you're not alone with those thoughts. Once again that's your right, which was fought for many years ago and has been fought for many times since. I'm tired of reading these letters of regurgitated opinions that seem to come from too much media. If you're not directly connected to the military via family or close friends, don't complain for them. Anyone who is in the military made the choice to enlist knowing deployment and/or war was a possibility.
Finally, think about all aspects of a situation before you write a letter to the editor trashing our president, who is at least ridding the world of some evil instead of playing with cigars. Maybe instead of writing a letter that is nothing short of pointless complaining, take an active role in something you believe in. You made reference to President Bush's great efforts to trash our environment and resource and I'm assuming you're speaking of the oil industry. Here's what you can do: never get in another car and buy a bicycle. Have fun in the snow.
Sgt. Neil Tusing
United States Marine Corps
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- Puzzling Budget - Help Otis - Farm Runoff - Marriage Concerns - Lots Of Millers - Purpose Of The Military Is To Protect Our Way Of Life
Puzzling Budget
Editor, Times-Union:One of the first educational toys given to children is a jigsaw puzzle. The game teaches us how to assess each piece as to how it fits in the completed picture This is a skill we learn at a very young age, yet we use it frequently throughout our adult lives.
The puzzle concept is a metaphor for Indiana's fiscal condition and leadership. Nearly every day, we find another piece that clues us in on the bigger picture. As chairman of the Senate Finance Budget Subcommittee, I have a pretty good idea of how that puzzle looks when all the pieces are put together. Now, I am interested in what citizens see when they're given all the facts.
n The optimism some had for a budget surplus at the end of fiscal year 2004 is fading. The State Budget Agency has estimated the surplus at the end of FY 2005 to be $516 million. However, the state is $100 million short for property tax replacement credits. Medicaid is still $100 million in the red. Last year the State Budget Agency announced a $153.9 million revenue shortfall in FY 2004 after the state collected $13.6 million less in December than was expected.
n Our revenues are down because people are not working. The current administration has had more than seven years to provide leadership in economic development and jobs. In fact, it is one of the official duties of the lieutenant governor to do so. Yet Indiana continues to fare worse than almost all other states in the nation when it comes to job creation.
n The Indianapolis Star reported on Jan. 8 that "for the third consecutive year, a record number of people in southern and central Indiana filed for bankruptcy."
n The first item on the administration's agenda this year is to raid the pension stabilization fund to pay for a statewide full-day kindergarten program that, in 1999, was estimated to cost $111 million per year. The administration also wants to change our constitution in order to utilize the Common School Fund, which was designed to pay for school buildings and projects. While early education is extremely important, it is dangerous to pay for what would be a permanent program with a shaky funding mechanism.
n Taxpayers expect state officials to be prudent with their money. In years past, when a budget outweighed the state's income, the administration made cuts to non-essential services, rather than raise taxes. We have not seen that kind of leadership thus far.
The puzzle pieces we hold today do not make a pleasant picture. I see a lack of vision, forethought and leadership from the top. I see misplaced priorities and band-aid solutions on deep financial wounds. I see Hoosiers who want to work but have been neglected.
Bold leadership for economic development is what we need most of all. If employers are attracted to Indiana, more Hoosiers will have jobs. Fewer people will need state assistance. The quality of life in our communities will improve, and we will be on our way to a healthy economy.
And that, my friends, is a puzzle I can't wait to see completed.
State Senator Robert Meeks
Senate Finance Budget Subcommittee Chairman
LaGrange
Help Otis
Editor, Times-Union:I'm writing you this letter concerning "Otis." This man is a very sick man.
My brother was very sick also - he got 10 years in prison for being a habitual traffic violator. He lost his life there. He also was not offered any kind of treatment. He was 26 years old, too young to die, but don't you see it's all about money in this county.
See, every time they bust him ("Otis") the county makes probably $165 fine and $200 alcohol counter measure fee, plus everybody down there gets their laugh for the day. If you ask me, we should have more treatment centers for teens and adults instead of a brand new jail. That's just my opinion and I'm allowed to have one.
Please pray for "Otis" for he has a fatal and progressive disease and he doesn't have to die.
Sonja Roberts
Warsaw
Farm Runoff
Editor, Times-Union:I'm writing in response to the recent series of articles on Hoosier farms, particularly hog farms and their impact on Indiana's waterways. The Associated Press reporter, Rick Callahan, suggests that pork producers and their livestock operations are destroying our state's waterways because the Indiana Department of Environmental Management doesn't regulate the livestock industry enough.
It's easy for reporters and people who don't have the facts to place blame with others. That's traditionally what's happened with Indiana livestock producers, particularly pork producers, when it comes to discussing the state's water issues. Because our industry has been operating with specific rules and regulations since the early '70s, we seem to be the poster child for all that is wrong with the state's waterways. No one seems to do a series of articles on the impact of unregulated, outdated homeowner septic systems spewing human waste directly into our waterways. According to the Indiana Department of Health, of the approximately 800,000 septic systems, 200,000 do not meet current code. If pork producers released the amount of waste like Indianapolis does into the White River, or other local communities through combined sewer overflows, the state would run them out of business.
Indiana's confined feeding livestock operations have been regulated since 1971. Under current state laws and rules, livestock operations (over a certain size determined by IDEM) must have a permit from IDEM in order to operate in this state. Along with this permit, livestock producers have specific construction criteria for their buildings, prepare manure management plans for IDEM and emergency contingency plans in case of a manure spill. This month the state and the EPA will institute another set of more stringent rules which even further regulates today's larger livestock operations.
Pork producers operate under a zero discharge rule which means we cannot discharge, unlike your local municipality, which releases human waste into the state waterways on a regular basis. Section 319 of the Clean Water Act says it is against the law for any discharge from a pork operation to find its way into groundwater, streams, lakes or rivers. Those who do so are subject to heavy fines. Mr. Callahan states that IDEM has never imposed the maximum daily fine ($25,000) in a livestock incident, however the recent ruling on the Polhmann operation near Crawfordsville resulted in a $434,000 settlement against the owner.
Indiana pork producers are honest, hardworking farm families whose contribution to our local communities has helped make Indiana a good place to live and raise a family. Let's be careful we don't destroy their livelihood with misleading stories that make readers believe pork producers are more a threat to our waterways than those who live in Indiana's cities and towns.
Terry Fleck
Executive Vice President
Indiana Pork Advocacy Coalition
via e-mail
Marriage Concerns
Editor, Times-Union:I am deeply concerned over efforts of homosexuals to gain the so-called "right to marry." I have learned recently that homosexual activists actually have a hidden agenda in their effort to gain legal status for same-sex relationships: They want to destroy the concept of marriage altogether!
The Traditional Values Coalition has recently published a report that quotes homosexual activists about this real agenda. One of them is Michelangelo Signorile, who says that homosexuals should "fight for same-sex marriage and its benefits and then, once granted, redefine the institution of marriage completely."
TVC also quotes from the "1972 Gay Rights Platform Demands" where homosexuals demand "Repeal of all legislative provisions that restrict the sex or number of persons entering into a marriage unit." In other words, homosexuals want to legalize polygamy and polyamory (group sex) as "families."
The TVC report is available on its Web site at: http://traditionalvalues.org/article.php?sid
Meredith Sensibaugh
Warsaw
via e-mail
Lots Of Millers
Editor, Times-Union:I just read the article in yesterday's paper about surnames, by Jo Ann Byers of the library. I have no doubt every statement made is a fact, however it made me think.
A college professor told us in the early '50s that Miller, not Jones or Smith, was the most common name then in the United States. Since that time I have often picked up phone books and counted Smiths and Millers.
While in some parts of the country Smith is leader by far, in our state it seems to be Miller. In the yellow and black Kosciusko County phone book that includes all of Kosciusko County and then some, the actual count is: Smiths, 297, and Millers, 368. I checked the North Manchester/Wabash/Peru phone book and found 267 Smiths and 321 Millers. In Bourbon/Argos/Nappanee it is 49 Smiths and 179 Millers!
So, read about Captain John Smith, research your own name and count in phone books in various cities you visit.
Jean Neher
North Manchester
Purpose Of The Military Is To Protect Our Way Of Life
Editor's Note: The following was submitted by Sgt. Neil Tusing, Camp Pendleton, Calif., while he was home on leave.*****
I am responding to Bryan A. Ciula's letter ("Bush the Villain") published on 23 Dec. I'm sure Mr. Ciula put a lot of hard work into his delusive tale, but there are a few points he tried to make that don't quite hit their mark.
The definition of terrorism found in Webster's Dictionary is as follows: "terrorizing; use of terror and violence to intimidate, subjugate, etc., especially as a political weapon or policy." As you can see, nowhere in this definition does it state terrorism only being applied to the United States. You say there is no link between Saddam and organized terrorism, however, they are one and the same. You probably didn't feel the effect of Saddam's dictatorship, but the Iraqi people did. They have suffered for many years under this tyrant. Something had to be done and we were able.
No one likes war. Many strongly opposed and protested this war. Good. That's your right, and by all means please continue to exercise that right. However, let us not forget how you became so fortunate as to have such a right ... war. There are many "organizations" in the world that hate our way of life and would do anything to put a stop to it. Our government attempts to keep our way of life as safe as possible. So just because you don't see the reason behind military action in another country, it doesn't mean it's not needed.
The purpose of the military is to protect our way of life as Americans and in this particular situation, it was decided military action was needed. By joining the service, young men and women from around the country make the choice of defending their freedoms at all costs, even if it means death. Death is a reality of war. So you might want to reconsider your comment on people supporting the president because it's not their kid coming back in a body bag. I know families who have lost loved ones to war, and they still support our president because they are smart enough to know their child, sibling or spouse died fighting for something they believed in.
As far as the comments made from returning service members stating, "It's all about the oil," well, that's all a matter of opinion. First off, many of the people making these comments are the soldiers that have been an occupational force in Iraq, not the Marines that fought the war. There's an expression in the Marine Corps that goes as follows: "Don't worry about things out of your pay grade." The reasons for why we went to war are, in fact, out of their pay grade. However, the people in the service are still human. They will have opinions just like most of you reading this and yes, they might be shallow enough to think this event could have only been an act for monetary gain. Since service members' opinions are so valuable to you, I'll tell you my opinion on what this war was about so the next time you decide to publish a letter it'll at least have an opportunity to have some sort of educated basis.
This war was about freedom and liberation of a suppressed population. I was among the first groups to cross over the lines into Iraq. My job over there was a machine gunner for the First Marine Division. I saw the people of Iraq run to the streets as we drove by - waving their hands, blowing kisses, cheering, tears running down their faces because they knew the Marines were there and that meant all their suffering would soon be over. You probably didn't see a lot of that on the news, though.
Instead what you probably saw and heard was all the drama of food shortages and low morale, all the death, and anything else that would gain attention and sell the media's product. There are your organizations with the monetary gain. Had they shown all the celebration, people not unlike yourself would automatically interpret it as propaganda and dismiss it instantly, simply because this war couldn't possibly be a good thing.
In the end you'll continue to believe what you want to believe no matter who tells you what, and you're not alone with those thoughts. Once again that's your right, which was fought for many years ago and has been fought for many times since. I'm tired of reading these letters of regurgitated opinions that seem to come from too much media. If you're not directly connected to the military via family or close friends, don't complain for them. Anyone who is in the military made the choice to enlist knowing deployment and/or war was a possibility.
Finally, think about all aspects of a situation before you write a letter to the editor trashing our president, who is at least ridding the world of some evil instead of playing with cigars. Maybe instead of writing a letter that is nothing short of pointless complaining, take an active role in something you believe in. You made reference to President Bush's great efforts to trash our environment and resource and I'm assuming you're speaking of the oil industry. Here's what you can do: never get in another car and buy a bicycle. Have fun in the snow.
Sgt. Neil Tusing
United States Marine Corps
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