Protest supporting immigrants coming to Fort Wayne, Indiana...

As incredible as it may sound it looks like a group of protestors will be marching in Fort Wayne this weekend to show support for ILLEGAL immigrants...

Mike in red

Per the News Sentinel:
Immigration debate sparks rally
Local Hispanic coalition sponsors Sunday gathering downtown to make voices heard on immigration proposals now in Congress.
They certainly have the right to protest as long as it is peaceful... This is America...

By Nicole Lee nlee@news-sentinel.com

Montesino: Illegal immigrants aren’t criminals (Of course they are criminals they entered the country illegally)
Max Montesino is not opposed to all laws that regulate immigration, but he is vehemently against any law that criminalizes the approximate 12 million undocumented people in the United States. (How can a bill criminalize something that is ILLEGAL. Can someone explain this to me)

A native of the Dominican Republic and the president of the Hispanic Leadership Coalition of Northeast Indiana, Montesino will be among thousands he expects to participate in an immigrants’ rights rally Sunday in downtown Fort Wayne. (Thousands, I doubt it)

The coalition, a local education and advocacy group, is organizing the rally to protest the Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005 – otherwise known as HR 4437 – a bill that passed last year in the House of Representatives and was sent in January to the Senate Judiciary Committee for review.

The legislation amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to make illegal immigrants’ presence in the U.S. a criminal violation. Current law states that those living illegally in the U.S. are only violating civil law. (The House finally passed a bill that I overall agree with; that is rare anymore...)
“This law penalizes immigrants,” Montesino said. “We need to strengthen our borders, but we don’t need to support ill-intended, wrong legislation against those who are making an economic contribution to society.

“It lumps together terrorists and immigrants, and that’s absolutely wrong.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee has made several modifications to HR 4437, and the bill now includes legislation that gives illegal immigrants an opportunity to remain in the U.S. under certain stipulations and ultimately become legal residents. (The Republican controlled Senate is going to pass an AMNESTY program. Then the House will AGREE to the amnesty bill, mark my words. The the Republicans will lose the 2006 election...)
The committee passed the amended law Monday and sent it to the full Senate for a vote.
“It is a fluid situation,” said Montesino. “We don’t know if there will be a vote (by today). We expect the best and encourage the Senate to take into account the contributions of immigrants to this country.” (I encourage the Senate to wake up and realize that they cannot allow 12 million illegal aliens become citizens; it is ABSURD)

Richard Lugar, R-Ind., is among those in the Senate who opposed the initial version of the bill, said Lugar spokesman Andy Fisher.
Included in the Senate modifications to the immigration bill is the “The Dream (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act,” legislation that Lugar co-sponsored in 2003.
It allows undocumented immigrant students who grew up in the U.S. and graduated high school here to qualify for “conditional lawful permanent resident” status for up to six years. During this period, if the student goes to college or joins the military, they could be eligible to become permanent residents.
“Many changes can be expected to be made to the legislation during the Senate floor debate,” Fisher said. “Sen. Lugar hopes the Senate will consider a consensus bill that updates immigration policy in a comprehensive way.” (Luger sure has changed over the 36 years he has been in The Senate...)
Montesino hopes this as well. He said he has received phone calls from local Hispanics, church groups and African immigrants in support of the immigrants’ rights rally, and he said event organizers are reaching out to the Burmese community as well.

“The immigration issue is very important and people should be concerned,” he said. “On Sunday, we will be either celebrating passage of a comprehensive immigration bill, or protesting the fact (the Senate) couldn’t pass it, or pushing to keep the discussions going.”
Immigration rally
When: 1:15 p.m. Sunday
Where: The rally will start at the corner of South Harrison and Dewald streets. Participants will march through Calhoun Street and end at the courthouse on the Berry Street side.
I wonder how many mexican flags they will carry?

MARK MY WORDS, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY WILL GRANT AMNESTY AND THEY WILL LOSE THE 2006 ELECTIONS... THEY WILL LOSE CONTROL OF AT LEAST ONE HOUSE OF CONGRESS...

William Larsen on Wind Power

Mr. Larsen is running against Mark Souder in the Republican Primary for Indiana's 3rd Congressional District. Mr. Larsen is often considered a "one issue" candidate by many local media sources. I have NO IDEA why they consider him a one issue candidate; but, they do.

Mr. Larsen has a broad platform and is extremely knowledgeable about many issues.

Please take a couple of minutes and check out an article he wrote about wind power. A link to his blog is below:
<http://wmlarsen.blogspot.com/2006/03/lets-do-it.html>

Lets hope the voters wake up and vote Mark Souder out of office...

Drug testing policy at SACS (Southwest Allen County Schools)

Three parents have asked me how I feel about the current drug testing policy at SACS. Since three people have asked me, I decided to post my opinion on my blog. That will enable people who will be voting for NACS School Board to make a more informed decision.

First of all, I am 100% in favor of SACS passing whatever rules they feel will help their school system. I feel that most school decisions should be made locally. We need to get politicians in both Indianapolis and Washington D.C. out of our schools.

The current SACS drug policy was implemented last year. The drug program only involves students. Students who participate in extracurricular or co-curricular activities must fill out some forms and are all added to a pool of students. Students who do NOT participate in extracurricular or co-curricular activities are not required to submit themselves to this pool of students. Teachers, coaches, administrators, and school district employees are NOT required to submit themselves to this pool.

Students are randomly selected from this pool and are drug tested.

I would not vote in favor of this program if it were proposed at NACS as outlined above. I do not feel it is fair for two reasons:

1. The prospective pool of students does not include the teachers, coaches, administrators,
employees, etc. Why not? If drugs are perceived to be a problem in SACS I would think we should drug test the above people BEFORE we drug test the students.

2. I think that all students should be included in the pool or no students should be included in the pool.

Mike Sylvester
Candidate for Northwest Allen County School Board.

Final version of my NACS yard signs...

Many Republicans now support amnesty in US Senate

I think there is a very good chance now that The Democrats take back several seats in BOTH the Senate and The House later this year...

I think The Republicans SHOULD be voted out of office.

Amnesty is wrong. I understand why The Democrats support amnesty... It is just part of their liberal mindset on social issues...

Reagon convinced us to give 3.5 million illegal aliens in 1986. This was supposed to fix the problem...

Due to government incompetence, both Democrat and Republican, we have NOT secured our borders...

Now we have AT LEAST 11 million illegal immigrants... They are protesting in the streets...

This is crazy...

What are The Republcians thinking?

Mike Sylvester

Rumor has it the Allen County Council is "slapping" Marla Irving in the face now

I have heard from ONE source that all seven members of The Allen County Council are hosting a fundraiser for Republican challenger Bill Brown... I wonder how Marla Irving feels about this?

I later noticed a post from Tracy Warner about this as well...

Wow...

Mike Sylvester

Another idea...

It looks like The Republican Senate is going to recommend Amnesty for 11 million illegal aliens. I told you they would...

Here is an idea; people keep saying that the illegal alien problem is so large that we have to grant amnesty. By that logic should we not legalize speeding in our automobiles?

Almost every American speeds on our roads and this actually does result in hundred of thousands of DEATHS.

But, since a majority of Americans do it we should make it legal and REFUND all past speeding penalties, right?

Mike Sylvester

Immigration protest turns violent in Munster Indiana

This article was written by Jerry Davich from nwitimes.com. A link to the story is below, PLEASE go and check it out!

<http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2006/03/26/news/top
_news/06b86321de0829538625713d0001758b.txt>

I think the next few weeks are going to be absolutely critical for The Republican Party and for America. It is incredible that 300,000 people marched in Chicago in support of illegal aliens last week and that 500,000 people marched in LA yesterday in support of illegal aliens...

The anti-Iraq war protests cannot come up with anywhere near this many people...

This topic will be one of the main topics in The Senate this week. I suggest you pay attention to it carefully. Here is what is going to happen:

The 2008 Presidential hopefuls are already posturing.
Bill Frist has come out backing a crackdown on illegal aliens.
Hillary Clinton and John McCain have already come out in favor of ANOTHER amnesty plan.

There will be a showdown on illegal immigration. There will be a lot of posturing and rhetoric that will have little meaning. This topic will split both The Republican Party and The Republican Base. I 100% feel that the vast majority of Republican voters are in favor of cracking down on illegal immigration.

The Republican Party will backstab them, again...

I think The Republican Party will once again COMPROMISE and FLIP FLOP on this issue.

My prediction is they will pass some VERY watered down legislation and not make a decision since it is an election year.

If they setup some new legislation it will not be enforced and it will be useless.

What do you think?

Mike Sylvester

Mark Souder betrays 3rd Congressional District on HR4437

Who does Mark Souder represent? He does not represent me or my family...

HR4437 is an immigration bill that passed the House of Representatives in December of 2005. This bill makes it a felony to enter The United States illegally. HR4437 is a necessary step in the battle to secure our borders.

Indiana has 9 Representatives. The extremely liberal Julia Carson voted AGAINST HR4437. I am not surprised that she would vote against the wishes of most Hoosiers...

The other Representative voting against HR4437 was our very own Liberal Republican, Mark Souder.

I have often heard of Mark Souder referred to as a Social Conservative; I have NEVER heard anyone call him a fiscal conservative.

Mark Souder voted against the Third Congressional District, AGAIN.

Can someone PLEASE tell me why you vote for Mark Souder. Please...

Mike Sylvester

ANOTHER example of why government does NOT work...

Recently the GAO (Government Accountability Office) decided to test the massive TSA (Transportation Security Agency) airport security system. This security system has created a lot of delays in an effort to make America "safe."

The GAO was able to smuggle bomb making materials onto 21 different planes. They were never caught by the TSA screeners.

We spent over 2.5 BILLION dollars on the TSA each year, and they did not succeed one single time...

Talk about a wasteful and inefficient government program...

What is the world coming to?

Our government cannot even oversee an agency that they keep telling us is vital to our security.

Lets hope that the voters wake up and vote for a lot of new officials...

Mike Sylvester

Republicans are wimps!

Our elected Republicans in Washington are wimps. They are 100% useless and could not balance my checkbook if they tried. They are completely useless...

Illegal immigration is a huge problem in this country. In 1986 Republican President Ronald Reagan pushed immigration reform through Congress. This legislation was hailed by both Republicans and Democrats as being the solution to all future immigration problems.

What did this legislation do you ask.

Well Ronald Reagan granted amnesty to all 3 million illegal aliens that resided in this country in 1986. As part of this package Mr. Reagan promised to seal our borders and crack down in illegal immigration. His plan was to punish Company's that hire illegal aliens.

This obviously never happened. It is something that both The Republicans and Democrats promised; and did not follow through on... They are incompetent...

Another broken promise...

The Republican base wants immigration reform and they want it badly. That being said, there are two groups in The Republican Party that do not want immigration reform...

The Roman Catholic Church is in favor of the illegal aliens... Part of the religious right is in favor of allowing people to consistently break our laws and reward them for it.

Many business interests are in favor of illegal immigrants as well. They like the cheap and illegal labor...

Many Libertarians favor illegal aliens. I am not one of them. I am sick and tired of pandering to felons... The solution is SIMPLE:

1. Pass laws punishing all businesses for employing illegal aliens. We need to invest money and we need to find and immediately deport all illegal aliens... If they cannot get a job they will not come to America. We need to levy LARGE fines against businesses who fail to ensure their employees are here legally.

2. The Federal government needs to immediately build a large wall and man it with troops. We need to 100% seal our borders. How on Earth can we fight a war on terror with a porous border.? It does not make sense.

3. We need to impose sanctions against Mexico. Mexico needs to help seal the Border at once.

4. Our legal system needs to investigate EVERY SINGLE convicted felon in the United States. If they are an illegal alien we need to deport them as soon as their time is served.

5. Once we have sealed our border and deported all of the illegal aliens then we should triple the rate of legal immigration we allow.

What is frustrating is that a MAJORITY of Americans want to get rid of the illegal aliens and our politicans are too spineless to do it.

We need some new politicians.

Let me make a prediction here for my Republican friends:

The modern day Republcain Party has all of the power in Washington; however, they do not have the spine to pass ANY meaningful immigration reform.

Who disagrees with me?

Mike Sylvester

Republican Study Committee's "Contract with America Renewed"

I like to listen to talk radio quite a bit. I really like Glen Beck; he is my favorite. I enjoy Michael Savage. I listen to Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity occasionally; but, I can only listen to them in small doses; they are both far too partisan for my tastes...

Limbaugh and Hannity have been blasting the Democrats for years about being tired, having no ideas, not fulfilling their promises, etc.

I wonder why they are not BLASTING The Republican Party over the Contract with America from 1994 or the newest version of The Contract with America?

The Republican Study Committee is a core group of conservatives that is supposed to advance conservative ideals. They have turned out to be a complete failure if you measure them in terms of growth of government over the last 12 years. The RSC is led by the capable Mike Pence from Indiana. Mark Souder is NOT a member of the RSC (Imagine that)...

I have posted a lot of comments about how the Republicans lied to America in the "Contract with America" that allowed them to sweep to power in 1994.

The RSC has issued a "Contract with America renewed" and it is pitiful...

Let me summarize it here: We promise to do all of those things that we promised to do in 1994 and failed to do! We really mean it this time.

DO THEY THINK WE ARE COMPLETELY STUPID?

Lets look at the renewed contract The RSC is proposing:

1. Balances the budget by 2011. Note in 1994 The Republicans promised to balance the budget as well. In the intervening 12 years our nation has not had a balanced budget even ONE year. There are two years they came close; however, they had to rob the Social Security Trust Fund so they could falsely claim to have balanced the budget.

2. Includes pro-growth tax policy. Note in 1994 they promised the same thing. They have implemented some pro-growth tax policy AND they have added THOUSANDS of pages to the tax code and made it more complex and they have ensured that it favors certain businesses over others...

3. Makes real reductions in discretionary spending. They made the exact same promise in 1994 and growth in these programs has EXPLODED under the Republicans...

4. Proposes 358 billion in reconciliation spending. This one is hard for them to backup at all. If they are going to really cut this much spending they should be able to balance the budget next year right?

5. Increases defense spending. They made this promise in 1994 and overall you would have to say they have kept this promise. I am very pro-military; but, we spend WAY TOO MUCH on our military today...

6. Reduces foreign aid by 31 billion over five years while ensuring support for Israel. They promised to decrease foreign aid in 1994 as well. They have not. Foreign aid has grown under the Republicans to record levels...

7. Significantly restructures Commerce, Energy, and Education. They promised the exact same thing in 1994. Since 1994 these programs have grown and have become even larger, even more inefficient, and received new powers. So what do they mean by re-structuring this time? Does it mean they are going to keep growing these programs? Maybe Bush will start a new program called "No nuclear power plant left behind..."

8. Proposes elimination of over 150 Federal Programs. They promised the same thing in 1994. There are FAR MORE government programs today then there were in 1994. Heck, The Republicans will not even cut funding to Amtrak, why should anyone believe they have the nerve to cut anything now? In the last five years The Republicans have had control of the entire government and they have not eliminated one Federal program. They sure have added a lot of programs though...

9. Includes budget process reforms (earmark reform, Constitutional line-item veto, and a federal sunset commission.) They promised to reform the budget process in 1994 and actually have made the budget process worse. We need to eliminate earmarks, require each bill to cover one area and one area only, and we need to prevent politicians from inserting language in the bill at the last minute without anyone's knowledge.

10. Proposes 392 billion in net deficit reduction. They promised to balance the budget in 1994. They are actually promising less this time... We have had several years of record high deficits under The Republicans...

11. Makes no changes to Social Security. They promised the same thing in 1994. This is one of the worst promises I have ever heard. Social Security is on a collision course with disaster. The longer we wait to fix it the worse off America will be. Where are the fiscal conservatives? We need them... They are not in the Republican Party or in the RSC that is for sure.

12. Block grants Medicaid. They promised the exact same thing in 1994.

13. Block grants most Federal Education Programs. They promised the same thing in 1994. We need to abolish the Federal Department of Education. The fifty States need to handle education and The Federal government needs to get OUT OF EDUCATION NOW.

14. Block grants WIA job training programs. They made the same promise in 1994.

15. Rescinds highway bill earmarks. They promised the exact same thing in 1994. The last Federal Highway Bill the Republicans passed broke all records for earmarks... They lie...

16. Caps Medicare growth at 5.4% annually. They of course promised the exact same thing in 1994. Does anyone think they kept this promise over the last 12 years? If you do, I have some land you can buy near a peaceful village called Tikrit...

17. Allows drilling in ANWR. The promised to allow drilling in ANWR in 1994. We still are not drilling in ANWR in 2006... What happened? Did they lie? They have a majority in BOTH Houses of Congress people...

18. Repeal the Davis Bacon Act. They promised to this in 1994 as well. It is still in effect.

19. Reforms agricultural production programs. They of course made the exact same promise in 1994. Since 1994 we spent even more money to subsidize farmers. If by reform they mean "spend even more money on" then they are doing what they promised.

There are some glaring omissions as well:

1. Nothing about immigration.
2. Nothing about term limits. 8 of the Republicans who promised to be in office for only 12 years are up for re-election in 2006... So much for that promise...

Wow. What has the Republican Party come to? The Republican Party is a Party of larger and larger government and broken promises...

Mike Sylvester

Allen County Republican Party "slaps Marla Irving in the face"

I used to be a Republican; however, the Republican Party left me when they became a Party that consistently represented larger and larger government.

Two Republican candidates have expressed frustration to me about the way that the Allen County Republican Party tends to favor incumbents over challengers. This is a common complaint that in some cases goes back several years. I tend to think that any political Party will have this problem, it is part of politics. I think that any Party should strive not to favor any one specific candidate when possible.

The Allen County Republican Party has always favored incumbents over challengers. I had some business downtown this morning and I drove by Republican headquarters. Campaign signs are always prominently displayed in the windows during the election season. Three candidates had two signs displayed; one facing each street at Republican headquarters.

The first were signs for Ken Fries. There is no incumbent in the sheriffs race; however, Ken Fries seems to have the support of the Allen County Republican Party so they decided to display his sign and not to display the signs of the other candidates.

The second was Mark Souder. Mark Souder is an incumbent so they have chosen to support him rather then his extremely qualified challenger Bill Larsen.

The last is a surprise and I imagine quite an insult to Marla Irving. Marla Irving is an incumbent County Commissioner and is facing a strong challenge from Bill Brown. Republican headquarters has broken with its past policy of supporting incumbents and has prominently displayed the signs of challenger Bill Brown.

I wonder what Marla Irving thinks?

Mike Sylvester
Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Allen County

How soon we forget their promises...

Many of our current City Councilmen (Especially the Republicans) ran on a platform that condemned annexation.

The proposed Carroll Road annexation received preliminary approval from The Fort Wayne City Council on March 21st. All five Republicans and all four Democrats voted for the resolution. Our Democratic Mayor supports this annexation as well. This proposed annexation will bring 4311 more residents into the grand City of Fort Wayne; whether they like it or not.

I attended the informational meetings The City of Fort Wayne held for the residents earlier this year. It was quickly apparent that a vast majority of the residents did not want to be annexed. The residents were proudly informed that every Mayor in the history of Fort Wayne has annexed at least one area. The residents were told and I quote “We are not annexing you to help your community; we are annexing you to help other areas of Fort Wayne.” The residents were further told and I quote “You should be proud to be annexed into Fort Wayne. There will be no benefit for you; however, your tax dollars will improve the entire community.”

The residents were told that Fort Wayne was aggressively pursuing the seizure of Aqua Indiana North’s assets with eminent domain and that this was a top priority. The residents were informed that 15% of the sewers operated by The City of Fort Wayne are located outside of the city limits. The residents were told that Dupont road will not be widened near the new Wal Mart for at least ten years. The residents were told to expect property tax increases of 35.3% if they reside in Perry Township and 38% of they reside in Washington Township.

I hope that these future Fort Wayne residents have a good memory and vote appropriately in 2007 for some new City Council representatives and for a new Mayor.

The Republicans and Democrats in Fort Wayne are very similar. They agree on every major issue and there is little, if any, disagreement about anything of importance. The only time they seem to disagree is during the elections when they are running for office and trying to show us how different they are. Our City Council and Mayor both support expanding Fort Wayne through annexation, believe that it is a good idea to seize private property with eminent domain when it suits them, and absolutely refuse to consolidate some services with Allen County to give the taxpayers a break on their property taxes.

I hope the voters send the “Republicrats” and the “Demopublicans” a message in the next several elections. It is time for a change in Fort Wayne.

Mike Sylvester
Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Allen County

RRRGroup

I keep seeing all kinds of references to Rich Reynolds and The RRRGroup. I always hear that he employs college or high school students and UFO's are often mentioned.

Who is he? What does he do?

Mike Sylvester

Food rant

I was reading the news and I read an article in which prisoners were complaining about the food they have to eat in prison.

IT IS NOW TIME FOR A RANT

I spent six years in The United States Navy on active duty. I was stationed on a nuclear subarine in Pearl Harbor. When we went to sea we would load our own food. Almost 100% of the food was canned and it was terrible. Navy cooks can screw up ANYTHING.

When you load your own food you get in a long line and you pass cans and boxes down the line and load them into the submarine. Often we would load beef that had the following label on it:

"USDA, not fit for human consumption"

Yep, the navy often bought food that was not considered suitable for human consumption. They bought it because it was cheaper... After one of the stores loads some of the crew members did some research. Guess who is allowed to buy this beef, The United States Military and places that use it to feed various animals...

Can this food be fed to prisoners in our prison system?

No.

What the heck...

Can someone please explain this to me?

Mike Sylvester

Coming soon to the OTHER side of yard signs in NACS

Coming soon to a yard near you in NACS!

Yard signs will be available soon. PLease contact me at Mike.Sylvester@Verizon.net if you either need signs or if you would like to help us setup yard signs!

Libertarian Party of Allen County, March 2006 meeting

I hope to see you at the meeting tomorrow night. We are meeting at the Laredo Restaurante and Cantina located at 7212 South Anthony Blvd. We will socialize at 7 PM and eat to our hearts content. The business meeting will begin at 8 PM.

You can find more by following this link: <http://www.angelfire.com/in4/lpac/calendar.html>

Mike Sylvester

Republican Party and 3rd Congressional District voters need to punish Mark Souder

William Larsen challenged Mark Souder to a debate three weeks ago. William Larsen has been patiently waiting for a reply from Mark Souder and his office. The silence has been both deafening and predictable. William Larsen got 28% of the Republican vote two years ago. He is a viable candidate and Mark Souder should debate him.

Mark Souder has broken several promises in the last twelve years:
1. Mark promised to serve a maximum of 12 years in office.
2. Mark promised to shrink the size of the Federal Government; instead Mark Souder has helped Government grow at the largest rates since the 1920's.
3. Mark promised to debate any opponent.

I suggest that everyone immediately contact Mark Souder's office, your local media sources, The Republican Party, and your friends and neighbors... This is an outrage and Mark Souder should be punished for it.

You can rest assured that I will speak at several American Legion Halls about this in the next few weeks if Mark Souder does not debate Mr. Larsen...

I hope The Republicans who read this blog take action. Mark Souder ducked out of his military service; it is appalling that he refuses to debate a Republican who served his country as Mr. Larsen did...

Bill Frist is another Big Government Republican

Does anyone who reads this blog think Bill Frist would be a small government conservative?

If you do, I have some land in Iraq you can buy CHEAP. It is near a quiet and quaint City known as Basra. It is a really nice place to start a business...

Who do you think is helping President Bush expand every Government Program and run up The Federal Debt and Deficit?

Bill Frist.

Good grief...

The Republican Party Barry Goldwater belonged to is gone and buried...

I am serious, we should put fiscal conservatives on the Endangered Species List and give them Federal protection...

School Board Campaign

This is the first time I have ever ran for public office. It has been interesting so far.

I have had two people contact me in the last week and offer to help me. One of them heard me speak about the race and decided to make copies of my fliers and distribute them to their friends! Another person has been discussing it with her neighbors and wants to have a meeting and invite several people over to discuss the campaign.

I need all the help I can get. I hope some of the regular readers of this blog decide to help me. Almost 100 people check this blog on a daily basis and most of them live in this area. I ask you for your help!

Here are some ways you can help me:

1. Money is the life blood of any political campaign. Please contribute to my campaign. Please make checks payable to "Taxpayers to elect Mike Sylvester" and mail them to:
Mike Sylvester
625 Windrift Lane
Fort Wayne, IN 46845

2. Please feel free to let anyone you know in NACS about my campaign for School Board. I need about 2500 votes to win May 2nd.

3. I will be doing a couple of literature drops in April when the weather is nice. I could use some help distributing information.

4. I need some people to join my campaign and help with various items. Please send me an email at Mike.Sylvester@Verizon.net and we can get started.

Expect to hear more in the next few weeks...

Mike Sylvester

I am sorry Graydon, I am sorry Kayla...

Unfortunately for our children The Republicans raised the debt ceiling (Again) along Party lines. The debt ceiling was raised to 8.97 trillion dollars; that is about $30,000 for EVERY man, woman, and child in America. This includes prisoners, the insane, children, the infirm, the disabled, etc...

When The Republicans swept to power they PROMISED to bring fiscal discipline back to America. The Federal debt was 4.75 trillion dollars. What happened?

The Republicans have drifted far to the left on spending issues. They passed the first expansion to the "Great Society" since the 1960's. They are flat out spending more then even the big government Democrats. The Republican Party is now consistently and shamelessly spending more money then the Party they displaced... The Republicans act more like SOCIALISTS... Remember when Clinton wanted to expand Government Health care? Now the Republicans have expanded it...

What the heck?

Do you remember all the promises about passing a balanced budget? The Republicans have conveniently forgotten...

Mark Souder stood up on his "High Horse" in 1994 and promised to cut spending. Now he is spending far faster then the entire United States Navy on a permanent drinking binge...

My God...

What a disgrace...

Live Libertarian shoot on Public Access

Thursday from 7 PM - 8 PM you need to watch Cable Channel 57. This is the first live shoot for the local Libertarian Public Access live call-in show.

You will be able to call in and ask questions.

Please do so!

Mike Sylvester

SACS is considering having a full time drug dog at Homestead High School

As many of you know drug policy is one issue where I differ from many other Libertarians.

Andrew has a great post about the drug dog that SACS is considering keeping at Homestead full time. Please check out his post at <http://just4therecordbooks.blogspot.com/>

There are 9 comments on this post so far; I expect some of you who are "more Libertarian" then I am on the drug issue to head on over and jump into the fray.

Angry White Boy is there...

You may be surprised by my comments on this issue on Andrew's blog!

Mike Sylvester

Family Picture

History of The Telephone Excise Tax

The Telephone Excise Tax is a great lesson we should teach all of our children about; we should also instruct all voters about this tax as well...

The Telephone Excise Tax was first instituted in 1898 to help fund The Spanish American War. The tax was a "temporary tax." It was a luxury tax designed to specifically tax the wealthy. The tax ran from 1898 - 1901.

The Telephone Excise Tax was re-instituted in 1917 to help fund World War One. It ran again from 1917 - 1924.

The Telephone Excise Tax was re-instituted a third time in 1932. In has been in effect ever since.

The Telephone Tax was originally portrayed as both a "Temporary Tax" and as a "luxury" tax.

We have been paying this "temporary tax" since continuously since 1932 and the rate keeps increasing. Telephones are no longer a luxury...

Here is a copy of my phone bill from January:
Residence Line $17.56
Voice Mail $6.95
Distinctive Ring (For fax) $4.25
Taxes $10.47

Here is a breakdown of the taxes:
Telecommunications Service Charge $.03
Federal Universal Service Fee $.67
911-County $.7
Interstate Access Charge $6.5
State Tax at 6% $1.7
Federal Excise Tax at 3% $.87

My total bill was $39.23, of that $10.47 was paid in various taxes. Almost 27% of my total phone bill was paid in taxes!

Please take the time to check out your phone bill. Let me know what you think!

Republicans and Bush IMPLODE

I have copied an article from USA today below. My comments are in red.

This article does a great job of illustrating how clueless The Republican Party has become on fiscal policy. Terrorists are NOT the largest threat to my kids (Kayla and Graydon); Republican fiscal insanity is...

Federal aid programs expand at record rate.
Dubya calls himself a "Compassionate Conservative." I call him a big spending Liberal...

By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY A sweeping expansion of social programs since 2000 has sparked a record increase in the number of Americans receiving federal government benefits such as college aid, food stamps and health care. A USA TODAY analysis of 25 major government programs found that enrollment increased an average of 17% in the programs from 2000 to 2005. The nation's population grew 5% during that time.
Isn't it interesting that The Republcians are signing more and more people up for these programs. I wonder if they are hoping they will vote Republican in future elections?

It was the largest five-year expansion of the federal safety net since the Great Society created programs such as Medicare and Medicaid in the 1960s. Spending on these social programs was $1.3 trillion in 2005, up an inflation-adjusted 22% since 2000 and accounting for more than half of federal spending. Enrollment growth was responsible for three-fourths of the spending increase, according to USA TODAY's analysis of federal enrollment and spending data. Higher benefits accounted for the rest.
The Republicans are spending MORE then HALF of the entire Federal Budget on social programs... Remember The Contract with America? The Republicans do not...

The biggest expansion: Medicaid, the health care program for the poor. It added 15 million beneficiaries over five years to become the nation's largest entitlement program.
Old people vote, enough said...

Not a factor: Social Security and Medicare. Those retirement programs will not see their enrollment explode until 79 million baby boomers start to become eligible for Social Security in 2008 and Medicare in 2011. Imagine what will happen then... Programs that grew over the past five years are aimed at the under-65 population, especially families earning less than $40,000 a year. For example, the number of mostly low-income college students receiving Pell grants rose 41% over five years to 5.3 million.
Goes along with Dubya's goal of spending more and more on Education. If it is broken let's spend more money on it...

Robert Greenstein, head of the liberal Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, says the growth in the number of people in many programs is due to a rise in the poverty rate from 11.3% in 2000 to 12.7% in 2004, the most recent year available. "It's certainly better that people falling into poverty can get Medicaid, but I'd prefer fewer poor people and employers not dropping medical coverage," he says.
The new drug benefit will no doubt cause more employers to remove health care for both employees and retirees. This will raise the costs of these programs even more.

Rep. Gil Gutknecht, a conservative Republican from Minnesota, says the number of people in entitlement programs should not be growing when unemployment is near a record low. "It's probably time to revisit food stamps and its goals and costs," says Gutknecht, chairman of the subcommittee that oversees food stamps. Food stamp enrollment climbed from 17.2 million in 2000 to 25.7 million in 2005.
Population growth was 5% in this time period and the growth in food stamps was almost 50%. And the best this "Republican" can say is we should revisit the program? How dumb are these Republicans?

USA TODAY found three major causes for soaring enrollment in government programs: Expanded eligibility: Congress has expanded eligibility for programs in ways that attracted little attention but added greatly to the scope and cost of programs. Congress added food stamp eligibility for 2.7 million people by ending a rule that disqualified people from receiving food stamps if they had a car or truck worth $4,650 or more. The change, one of a series of expansions in 2001 and 2002, was designed to make it easier for food stamp recipients to work.
Our Republicans at work...

Increased participation: The government has made applying for benefits easier, prompting more eligible people to get them. Forms have been shortened, office visits reduced and verification streamlined.
Welfare reform: 1996 overhaul pushed millions of people off cash assistance and into the workforce. Congress expanded eligibility for benefits to support people with low-wage jobs.
My kids are going to pay for this, and so are their kids, and on down the line.

Heritage Foundation

Please take a few minutes and read this "Web memo" from the Heritage Foundation. The Heritage is a CONSERVATIVE think tank.
<http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/wm1011.cfm>

This memo does a good job of discussing out of control Republican spending in Congress.

Another law abused in America

We need to change the laws that allow corporations to restructure in bankruptcy and we need to change them now.

It is 100% wrong that businesses keep filing bankruptcy and resturcturing. Some businesses have done this SEVERAL times in the last 20 years.

They are allowed to do some really criminal things in the process. They often award their top executives HUGE INCREASES in salary while they are laying off workers at the same time and breaking unions. That is wrong.

United Airlines is a great example. They are in bankruptcy, AGAIN. They have been there for three years. They are going to end up paying lawyers and consultants over 335 million in fees. At the same time they have rennegged on several of ther pension plans and given them to the government. So now guess who will pick up the tab for these pensions? Yep, we will end up paying it. Thanks United!

130,000 jobs my ...

Major Moves is an interesting bill that has drawn a lot of partisan politics. I have not had time to read the complete bill nor have I had the time to “crunch the numbers” and make an intelligent decision about the entire proposal.

Republicans and Democrats are tossing around statistics that 100% contradict each other. I can tell you one thing for sure; no taxpayer should even consider believing the statistics that either side is putting out.

There is one statistic that I have decided to investigate. INDOT, Mitch Daniels, and The Republicans are claiming that the toll road lease will create 130,000 jobs. That is a bald faced lie that anyone with a calculator can discount in about thirty seconds. Do they think we are stupid? If claims like this go unchallenged; we need to retrain all Hoosiers in mathematics.

Please get out a calculator and let’s “crunch the numbers!”

Let’s assume that The Indiana Government gets 3.85 Billion Dollars for the 75 year lease and that all of this money is immediately spent to create jobs.

Next let’s assume that 100% of the 3.85 billion dollars will immediately go to pay construction workers.

If you divide 3.85 billion dollars by 130,000 workers then you get $29,615 dollars per construction worker. This would pay 130,000 construction workers for about 5 months (Not 75 years). This is assuming that there is no government waste, no fraud, no theft, no corporate profits, no managers, no supervisors, no accountants, none of the money is siphoned off by the government or politicians, no lawyers are involved, etc. This does not leave room to purchase any construction materials. Using this scenario the money would all be spent in about five months.

Republicans should be embarrassed to be quoting these false statistics. Heck, if these Construction Projects really create 130,000 jobs let’s look at the effect it would have on Indiana’s unemployment rate for about five months. According to the Department of Labor Indiana had 153,900 unemployed workers and an unemployment rate of 4.7% in January of this year. If 130,000 construction jobs were created and filled by Hoosiers our unemployment rate would immediately drop to .7%. Who thinks that will happen?

If you believe that Major Moves will create 130,000 new jobs please contact me immediately. I have some land that I own in Iraq that you can buy cheap. This land will make you a millionaire in just a few months. It is a great long term investment and there is absolutely no risk to you. Please shoot me an email at Mike.Sylvester@Verizon.net.

Souder Presenting Distinguished Flying Cross Monday

I am going on a rant so stand by!

Mitch Harper has an informative post over at <http://indiana.typepad.com/fwob/> about Mark Souder entitled "Souder Presenting Distinguished Flying Cross Monday."

I cannot believe Mark Souder is going to be allowed to pin a medal on ANYONE.

I have as much respect for Mark Souder as I do for draft dodgers who cowered in Canada... In other words, none.

If our nation ever decides to hand medals out to draft dodgers who cower in Canada then I would think Mark Souder would be a good choice for awarding the medal!

Heck, I have more respect for Jimmy Carter, at least he served in The United States Navy before he became a "peacenik" and screwed up The Iran hostage crisis.

I am truly embarrassed that Mark Souder has been a Congressman in this district for 12 years. How on Earth does a Conscientious Objector who has since changed his mind and tried to portray himself as a military "hawk" keep getting re-elected in one of the most patriotic Congressional Districts in The United States?

It truly boggles the mind...

I sure hope Larsen can topple Souder in the Republican Primary. If not, I can always support Hayhurst against Souder. I do not agree with Hayhurst on many issues; but, he is a military veteran and a good person. Far more then I can say for Mark "Chicken-hawk" Souder.

I am so irritated with Mark Souder that if he wins the 2006 election I may well run against him in 2008 myself.

I would love to have a televised debate with Mark Souder and completely dismantle him on TV.

Who would like to watch that debate? I wonder if he would leave the stage crying? I wonder if I could keep my anger in check?

I HAVE NO RESPECT FOR MARK SOUDER.

Rant over.


Thanks for listening.

What do you think of Mark Souder?

Mark Souder is running for re-election this year. Many people like Mark Souder and many people detest Mark Souder.

I am one of the people who detest Mark Souder. In fact, the only other sitting politician I dislike more is Kennedy... Kennedy is a Senator from Massachussetts so there is little I can do about him...

I am going to list the things I both like and dislike about Mark Souder. PLEASE LIST THE THINGS YOU BOTH LIKE AND DISLIKE ABOUT MARK SOUDER IN THE COMMENTS SECTION.

Things I like about Mark Souder:
1. He does not raise money in off election years. Mark Souder runs for re-election the right way as far as fundraising.
2. Mark Souder says he is a social conservative and he actually votes as a social conservative. I am not a social conservative; but, I give him credit for voting the way he says he will on social issues.

Things I dis-like about Mark Souder:
1. Mark Souder "dodged" military service during Viet-Nam and claimed to be a Conscientious Objector. A C.O. is a person who does not believe in violence of any kind. While Mark Souder's peers were serving their country, Mark Souder dodged military service. Today, Mark Souder is no longer a C.O. He has changed his mind... He calls himself a pro-military hawk. I call him a "Chicken-Hawk." Mark Souder is a hypocrite on this issue and disgusts me as a military veteran.
2. Mark Souder ran on The Republican Contract with America. This "Contract" promised a return to fiscal repsonsibility. This has obviously not happened. Our deficits get larger every year and there is no plan to handle the looming crisis in Medicaire, Social Security, and our Pension plans. Mark Souder is NOT a fiscal conservative. He wants to cut taxes and INCREASE spending. This does not make sense.
3. Mark Souder is badly out of touch with his constituents. He actually believes that the most important issue in America is The War on Drugs. I could go to ANY High School in this area and buy any drug I want. We spend BILLIONS on dollars on the failed War on Drugs and what does Mark Souder want to do? He wants to SPEND MORE MONEY on The War on Drugs.
4. Mark Souder has a rating of only 57% from The National Taxpayers Union. The National Tax Payers Union is a conservative organization that I respect a great deal. Mark Souder has the second worst rating out of the seven Republiclan Congressmen from Indiana.
5. Mark Souder believed in term limits of 12 years when he first ran for office. In fact, Mark often said that he wanted to go to Washington to replace the "Washington Insiders" who had been in office too long. Now Mark Souder has become a Washington Insider and so he no longer believes in term limits. How sad.

I am looking forward to hearing what you think!

I am especially interested to hear what Mark Souder supporters think...

Are there ANY Mark Souder supporters out there?

Eminent Domain abuse in Fort Wayne continues

Unfortunately for private business owners Eminent Domain abuse continues in Fort Wayne.

The case between The City of Fort Wayne and Aqua Indiana North is currently being heard in The Indiana Supreme Court.

For those of you who have not been following the story The City of Fort Wayne is trying to seize a successful private utility company that serves about 8000 customers on the north side of Fort Wayne. Most of these customers have been annexed by Fort Wayne in the last couple of years. I am one of these customers.

I certainly do not think Fort Wayne can do a better job then Aqua Indiana North...

Since Fort Wayne annexed these people they then felt that they had a duty and obligation to forcibly seize Aqua Indiana North (A private company) because Fort Wayne claims that they can provide better and cheaper services.

I met in person with Tod Nitza from The City of Fort Wayne about 4 of months ago. He assured me that Fort Wayne would provide better services and that they would be the same in cost or cheaper. On January 1st of this year Fort Wayne increased its water rates 25%, so much for cheaper.

Interestingly enough, Paul Helmke, the man responsible for annexing most of the 8000 customers into The City is actually representing the private company against the City... Interesting...

Who thinks that Fort Wayne's constant abuse of eminent Domain will cause Business owners to want to move to Fort Wayne?

I do not...

If Fort Wayne wins this legal action guess who is next?

Aqua Indiana South located in Aboite. I will be able to hear Aboite residents screaming from my back yard when I am grilling hamburgers...

Michigan should fear Indiana, not India

I found this story on the Tax Foundation's website. It is worth your time!

The article is about jobs leaving Michagan for Indiana.

<http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/1379.html>

I was educated about uploading pictures today!

I met with another local Fort Wayne blogger today and she "educated" me about uploading pictures. Boy is it easy. I will most likely have to learn a little bit about photoshop or a similar program in the next few weeks.

Mike Kole Bumper Stickers are available!

I picked up my first batch of bumper stickers from Mike this last weekend.


Mike Kole is a Libertarian Candidate for Secretary of State. Mike runs a great blog over at <http://kolehardfacts.blogspot.com/>.

NACS School Board Update

I have now spoken to five neighborhood associations about my campaign for School Board. It has been fun and very enlightening.

This week I received a questionnaire from Allen County Right to Life. I have to admit I was quite surprised. I did not realize that they asked candidates for school board to fill out their forms.

I filled out their forms and I decided to sit down with Allen County Right to Life and discuss my stance on abortion. I wanted to make sure that I answered all seven of the questions to accurately reflect my veiws on abortion. I sat down with Cathie Humbarger this week. I met with her because I do not ever want to misrepresent myself.

Cathie was impressed that I took time out of my schedule just to make sure I answered all the questions per my views.

My stance on abortion has SLOWLY changed over the last twenty years. I think that the birth of my children has had the largest effect on my stance on abortion.

I have always thought that abortion should be legal, safe, and RARE. On a personal level my wife and I long ago decided that we would not decide to have an abortion. We were married in 1995 and it was the best day of my life. We decided that we wanted to have kids after five years. If we would have had a child before we wanted to there is no doubt that we would not have had an abortion. We currently have two children and do not want to have more. That being said, if my wife gets pregnant, we will have another child.

I 100% think that Roe v Wade should be overturned. It is NOT The Federal Government's job to dictate morality to the fifty states. I believe in State's rights...

I think that each of the fifty States should pass their own laws governing abortion. I think each state should have a statewide referendum and decide for itself...

Below is the questionnaire and how I filled it out.

Do you oppose school-based clinics that offer abortion counseling, abortion referrals, or access to so-called "emergency contraceptive" pills?
Yes
This was a no brainier for me. The schools should have NOTHING to do with decisions like this. This is the parents job.

Do you support legislation that makes it a crime for an adult counselor or teacher to transport a minor across state lines for an abortion without a parent's knowledge or consent.
Yes
This is another no brainier for me. Parents are responsible for their children when they are minors, period.

Do you support legislation requiring that fetal development curriculum be included in high school health education classes?
Yes
I had to talk to Cathie about exactly what this question meant. I am in favor of it as long as the education is 100% scientific and involves no religious or moral aspects. In other words, as long as it is just the facts.

Do you oppose Planned Parenthood's use of peer educators who are students trained and paid by Planned Parenthood to promote Planned Parenthood activities and events on campus.
Yes
I think all of these groups, both pro and anti-abortion should stay the "heck" off of school property.

Do you support teaching students that abstinence is the only certain way to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases?
Yes
I had to talk to Cathie about this one for quite awhile. I favor teaching BOTH abstinence and "safe sex" in the schools if sex education is to be taught. That being said, abstinence is the only way to 100% ensure that you do not get pregnant.

Do you oppose allowing Planned Parenthood representatives to make classroom presentations that promote premarital sex, contraceptive use, and alternative lifestyles such as homosexuality?
Yes
We need to keep all of these groups out of the schools. The schools need to emphasize reading, writing, and arithmetic. We need to get back to basics and leave parenting to parents.

Under which circumstances do you believe abortion should be legal?
To save the life of the mother, rape, and incest.
This issue should be determined by State law. Whatever law the State passed is the way abortion should be handled in that state.

Jeff Fraser has an interesting post on Major Moves over on his blog

Please check it out at:
<http://fortwayneinsight.blogspot.com/>

I left a long winded comment over there. I do not know enough about Major Moves to have a real strong opinion on it.

I can tell you this; INDOT is flat out lying that Major Moves will create 130,000 new jobs. This is a bald faced lie and someone should be fired over it. My current idea is the Republicans who are mindlessly trumpeting this lie all over Indiana.

Go over to jeff's blog and read my comment. Make sure you have a calculator out so you can follow my math...

Second Item in the Republican Contract with America

Item two was also supposed to be accomplished on the first day of this historic Congress.

"Select a major, independent auditing firm to conduct a comprehensive audit of Congress for waste. fraud, and abuse."

This was a major campaign promise of the Republicans in 1994. They did make a very feeble effort to have an audit performed in 1995. This audit never really materialized. Little of the waste, fraud, and abuse that was found was eliminated.

Waste, fraud, and abuse is rampant in Congress and EVERYONE in Washington DC knows it. We need to elect politicians who will really ELIMINATE waste, fraud and abuse...

So the score is:

Promises Kept 1
Promises Broken 1

An interesting observation on traffic and referrals

I occasionally look at where my blog traffic originates from. 3-4 weeks ago a significant amount of my blog traffic came from 2 local blogs; Fort Wayne Indiana etc and Fort Wayne Observed. Fort Wayne Observed was the larger of the two contributors to my traffic.

That has changed over the last couple of weeks. That may be partially due to the fact that I have not posted as many posts on Fort Wayne Observed in the last couple of weeks and I have posted a lot more comments on Fort Wayne Indiana, Etc.

My traffic is coming from a much wider variety of sites in the last few days. They are listed from largest to smallest:

Fort Wayne Indiana, etc.
Allen County Libertarian Party Website
Excape
A search for the name "Mike Sylvester"
Indiana Pundit
LPINSCR
Kole Hard Facts
Blog of The Enders
Just for the Record
Fort Wayne Observed
Fort Wayne Insight
Snidercon

Maybe I am spending too much time looking at traffic statistics?

Republican Contract with America #1

Eight items were promised on the first day by the Republican majority after the 1994 Congressional election.

The first item on this list is"Require all laws that apply to the rest of the country also apply equally to the Congress." This is an interesting campaign promise and one that was not particularly hard to keep either.

Realistically this promise has been kept in my opinion. Congress is part of the Federal Retirement System. They pay Social Security Taxes but are treated as Federal employees.

I certainly wish that Congress was part of the failing Social Security System like the rest of us; but, they are not. I think that if their retirement benefits were paid out by Social Security they would have more of a vested interest in fixing Social Security.

That being said, Congress has a comparable retirement system to many Federal workers. So, in my opinion, The Republicans have basically kept this promise. So the score is:

Promises Kept 1
Promises Broken 0

Northwest Allen County School Board race update

I have been working on my campaign:
I have 1000 Campaign Buttons on hand.
I have spoken to three neighborhood associations in person so far.
One neighborhood distributed 309 flyers for me.
I had some professional photos taken of my family and myself.
I have a written Campaign Plan.

If you want to get involved in my Campaign please contact me by email. You can reach me at Mike.Sylvester@Verizon.net. I need some more volunteers and I am getting ready to start raising money!

Mike Sylvester

I need a few good Republicans to make some comments!

I started this blog in July of 2005. I posted a long series of posts about The "Contract with America." I am re-reading, editing, and re-posting these posts over the next few days due to popular request. I hope many local Republicans will post some comments. I want to know how many of you agree with my take on the results of "The Contract with America!" I especially hope Andrew, AWB, Jeff Fraser, Bill Larsen and Mitch Harper partake!

In 1994 The Republican Party swept to power with an unprecedented political ploy. They made a "Contract with America." In this "Contract" they promised to do certain things. It turns out, they lied.

I was a devout Republican in 1994. I was deployed overseas on a nuclear submarine when the "Contract" came out. When I read it I was extremely excited. I mailed a contribution into the Republican Party in our next port visit. I thought that our politicians were finally going to straighten Washington out. I was wrong. The Republicans used the "Contract" as a political promise to get in power. Once they got in power, they became just like the politicians they replaced. The voters need to remember that and get rid of these politicians.

There are two portions of the "Contract." The first part of the "Contract" has a total of eight items that The Republicans promised to handle on the first day of the Republican majority. The second half of the "Contract" consists of ten items The Republicans promised to implement within the first hundred days.

Over ten years have passed since this "Contract" allowed The Republicans to take power in Congress. Each year the Republican majority has gotten larger and larger. There is no reason why the Republicans could not have passed all eighteen items over the last ten years. All eighteen items should be law. They are not! We will analyze all eighteen items over the next few days. Our very own Congressional Representative, Mark Souder, was elected on this platform. We will grade his progress on his promises. I want to know how you all feel about this "Contract!"

I especially want to know what local Republicans think about "The Contract with America."

Libertarian County Chairs Convention was a success

I spent most of Saturday at the annual "Libertarian County Chairs Convention" in Hamilton County.

This is an event that is used to focus on issues meaningful to County Chairs. The event was a lot of fun and I enjoyed attending. The night before Mike Kole hosted a small event at his house. Mike Kole is a great host and is a great Libertarian Candidate for Secretary of State.

The convention had two great speakers from Fort Wayne plus yours truly. Andy Downs from the Mike Downs center gave a half hour lecture on County Government that was very informative and interesting. Craig Ladwig of the Indiana Policy Review Group attended and gave a very interesting half hour brief on the media and changes he expects in the next few years.

I have several tax returns to prepare tonight before going to bed; so I have to go.

Fort Wayne Insight and Jeff Fraser

*EXCLUSIVE*

Possible censorship of a local Fort Wayne blog!

Jeff Fraser has been running a blog for about three weeks. He started this blog after his "Freedom of Speech" issues with NACS, since he had a lot of time on his hands.

Jeff has done some commenting on Carroll High School on his blog; but, he limited his commentary and kept it "clean." I have enjoyed reading Jeff's blog. I think we should encourage our young people to both think for themselves and to express their own opinions. I do not want to live in a nation of "sheeple."

Jeff has an extremely successful blog and he has managed to generate as many as 500 page views on some days. This is impressive and has given Jeff something to do since he was "booted" out of NACS for writing a "satire."

You can find a link to Jeff's Blog "Fort Wayne Insight" on my side bar or you can follow this link to his blog:
<http://fortwayneinsight.blogspot.com/>

I look at Jeff's blog daily. All of his comments about Carroll High School have been deleted... There is no explanation on his blog as to why he has deleted every comment about Carroll High School.

I can only think of one reason why he would delete all of these comments...

Since I am running for Northwest Allen County School Board I will be looking into this further...

I would think NACS would leave Jeff alone. They have already booted him out of school. They should not even consider trying to control his "Freedom of Speech" on the internet.

If you find out more about this please email me at Mike.Sylvester@Verizon.net or call me at 260-338-0833.

Mike Sylvester

Republicans Study Committee Top Ten issues for 2006

The RSC has come out with its top ten priorities for 2006. Many of these are items The Republicans promised in 1994.

Mike's comments in red.

RSC TOP TEN
1. Make the Tax Cuts Permanent, including the repeal of the marriage-tax penalty and the death tax and pass fundamental tax reform.
I am in favor of tax cuts AFTER we have our fiscal house in order. The Federal government is claiming we will have about a 400 Billion dollar budget deficit this year. Realize that the Budget deficit is actually over 700 Billion dollars. The real budget deficit is over 700 Billion dollars because our politicians are still stealing all the extra money that is still flowing into the Social Security system and they are spending it on other items.

I am certainly in favor of fundamental tax reform! I prefer The Flat Tax.

2. Pass Budget Process Reform, which includes budgeting for emergencies with a rainy day fund, instituting a sunset commission for federal programs, instituting a constitutional line-item veto, and making the budget resolution carry the force of law.
This is certainly a big deal and should have been done in 1994. I fully support this goal.

3. Pass another Deficit Reduction Bill in the form of budget reconciliation, to reign in autopilot spending, which has risen from 25% of all federal spending in 1963 to 54% today, and is expected to reach nearly 60% in 2014.
I am certainly in favor of this as well.

4. Pass Ethics Reform that requires transparency and earmark reform that permits Members of Congress to strike earmarks on the House floor.
This is certainly a must, should have happened in 1994.

5. Pass the Marriage Protection Amendment, to ensure that marriage, the union of a woman and a man as husband and wife, is not redefined by activist judges.
I tend to think that marriage should be between a man and a woman; however, it is NOT a Federal issue. The RSC should break out their copy of The Constitution. This issue should be determined by each of the fifty states. This promise is pandering to the Christian right... I am 100% against this since it violates The Constitution.

6. Pass a Balanced Budget Amendment to put our fiscal house in order.
This was specifically promised by The Republican Party in 1994. This is the largest reason that I am no longer a Republican. They lied in 1994...

To balance the Budget today would require an across the board cut in spending of 25%! That is how much The Republicans have spent!

The Republicans do not have the willpower as a Party to even cut 1% across the board...

I fully support a blanced Federal Budget. So do my kids...

7. Offset all emergency supplemental spending with spending reductions and offset all new programs with simultaneous, equivalent reductions in, or eliminations of, existing programs.
Of course I agree with this. They have been promising this since 1994.

8. Defend the Sanctity of Human Life, which includes banning all human cloning, passing the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, promoting ethical adult stem cell research, and preventing federal funding for destructive embryonic stem cell research.
Banning all human cloning? Please tell me where the Federal Government has any authority to do this. This should be left up the the fifty states.

The Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act, oh my. I am personally against abortion. That being said Roe v Wade should be overturned and each of the fifty states should make their own laws. Please, please, read The Consitution.

I am ok with Stem Cell research.

9. Pass Protections for Religious Freedom, such as the Pledge of Allegiance, the Ten Commandments, and religious expression in the public square.
I am in favor of some portions of this and against some portions. It depends on how it is done. This statement is to vague to comment on.

10. Pass legislation that stops the raid on the Social Security Trust Fund and allows Americans to own a Personal Social Security Account.
Remember back when they promised the Social Security Lock Box. It never happened. I agree with this point; but, they have promised it before and passed legislation about it before.

It is disappointing to see how far The Republican Party has shifted to the economic left since 1994. They have had the power to pass all of these items for a long time...