See checks and balances do work but only when the Speaker pisses off over half the House

A deeply divided U.S. House has narrowly rejected a massive taxpayer bailout of the troubled financial sector. President Bush pushed hard for the roughly 700-billion dollar bailout, warning that there could be dire consequences for the national economy without it. Though there was considerable crossover in the votes, most Democrats voted for it, while most Republicans voted against it. The Dow responded by dropping like a stone, losing more than 600 points at one point.

Stay with Newstalk 1190 WOWO for the latest developments

Ironically Republican incumbent Representative Mark "my small town values" Souder who has so much experience in Congress that he decided not to stand up and represent his constituents in his legacy vote regarding the Administration's welfare benefits package for corporations, and instead tried to structure his argument for the legislation as inevitable and capitulate by marking the legislation as "put(ting) a finger in the dike".

Sorry Mark, a dike doesn't cost 250-700 billion dollars to build, or repair.

Monday he called it "a bold bill that will help keep the crisis in our financial system from spreading throughout our economy." Souder said he was concerned abut the effect of the economic turmoil on northeast Indiana jobs. If jobs leave the area, he said, "they won't come back. We have more at risk than other areas." Souder said his office has been flooded by calls from constituents who oppose the bailout and said a "yes" vote is unpopular with voters. "Sometimes you got to gut it out," he said. "I don't like it," Souder said of the bill. "I tried to delay it" to allow for more discussion. Last week Souder said he was leaning toward voting against the bill, but Monday he said the revised legislation was better than Paulson proposed last week.

Mr. Souder, if citizens get frustrated enough, they might just have the guts to send you back home for good.

Here is a breakdown of the vote: There are 435 members in the House of Representatives in the United States Congress. The EESA 08 was defeated 205-228 (note that is more than half against); 65 Republicans and 140 Democrats who voted "yes"; 95 Democrats and 133 Republicans voted "no". There were one or two Representatives missing from the vote.

WOWO NEWS UPDATE 6pm:
6 out of 9 Representatives from Indiana voted against the EESA.
The DOW has closed @ 777 pointes down today in response to the vote.

To Watch It Unfold Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D) Ohio | Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D) California Speech
After The Vote Rep. Barney Frank (D) Massachusetts | The Republican House Leadership
Source: TowleRoad

FURTHER READING:
Fort Wayne Politics | Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (pdf) |
Souder bucks GOP on bailout | Fort Wayne News | Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D) California speech text

TO SEND MARK SOUDER HOME LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS
LIBERTARIAN WILLIAM LARSEN WEBSITE | BLOG | PLATFORM | SOCIAL SECURITY |

Tomorrows Guest Is Andrew Horning Candidate for Governor of Indiana

"....I live in a little town called Freedom, Indiana....
I've lived like a regular life, I have had bad years.
I've had my own business.
I'm trying to raise a family on a little farm. We've got a goat.
We have some of the same problems everyone else does,
well it's not just the goat.
The biggest problem we have is...politicians.
These guys know where I live; they wont leave me alone...."

Libertarian Andrew Horning,
Candidate For Governor of Indiana
Closing Debate Remarks
16 September 2008 Merrillville, Indiana

If you missed the Indiana Debate Commission's first of three presentations last night take an hour to watch as Libertarian candidate Andrew Horning (Blog: We Declare) hands incumbent Republican Mitchell Daniels and former Under Secretary of Agriculture and 4th District Federal Representative Democrat hopeful Jill Long Thompson their towels and tells them to go home. Tomorrow you will have an opportunity to ask Mr. Horning your questions live and local as he will be the guest this month on our live hour long call- in show Libertarians At Large, with our host Doug Horner from 7-8 p.m. on Comcast 57 and Verizon 27.

If you want to follow this historic tradition of bringing new ideas to the marketplace and allowing the citizens to decide their future of this great State, or just enjoy the humor of political bantering, the Indiana Debate Commission's two remaining debates continue on the Tuesday 23rd of September in Jasper, Indiana as a Town Hall format. The third will be held on Tuesday the 14th of October in Bloomington, Indiana.

As a reminder, and part of LPACs public service also, Monday the 6th of October is the deadline to register to vote and be counted amongst those who choose to make their voices be heard for the future of our County, State, and Nation. You may register to vote locally by visiting the Allen County Election Board or to verify with the State, via the world wide web.

We have a representative democracy for a reason. If you don't vote you don't get represented.

Libertarians At Large airs on channels Comcast 57 and Verizon 27, from 7-8 p.m., every third Thursday of the month. Tune in tomorrow night as this month's guest will be Libertarian, Andrew Horning, candidate for Governor of Indiana, this November 4th. Call in to ask questions or just let us know you are listening. Contribute to the conversation.

As always the Libertarian Party of Allen County would like to thank Access Fort Wayne and The Allen County Public Library for providing us these opportunities to serve the public and promote the discussion at all levels of government about what is best for the future of of our communities, state, and nation.

EDITOR'S NOTE: CLICK HERE TO VIEW ALL LIBERTARIAN CANDIDATES THIS YEAR.

Local Democrats pandering @ Festival a violation of the Organization's rules

This is a continuation from a post on my personal blog.

I do want to issue a challenge though to THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF ALLEN COUNTY though. In their recent post Deb Monroe stated

"Several candidates will be greeting citizens along the parade route prior to the start of Saturday's Three Rivers Parade. If you would like to walk with or for them, please respond here!"

The TRF is a non partisan event and does not allow political parties to be brandished during TRF events. While the sidewalks may be fair game, I am still crying foul for certain candidates going ahead of the National City Parade on the same route and harassing the citizens and visitors with campaign materials. This is a clear violation of spirit behind the TRF Rules and Practices and the nature of The Festival itself. They came to see a parade not a politician.

While the LPAC members believe that we as a viable community organization and a valid voice for the people, should be able to both a. march in the parade and b. have a booth to distribute information. We have abided by the TRF request to remain outside of The Festival's events. If the candidates do go through with this, I hope that Shannon White will consider pressing criminal trespass and civil rights violations against each of the candidates participating in this indirect violation of Freedom of Association of Festival attendees today.

Local Politics Part One: Your Questions, Some Answers, and Snarky Commentary

Is it unethical for a Libertarian to vote in a closed primary state like Indiana?

That is technically improper as the two major parties absorb their membership roles based on whom votes under which party. However there are two mitigating circumstances which one must consider before choosing to refrain from a primary vote.

According to the basic concepts of Libertarian ideology, the movement, and the bylaws of the Party, you can be a member of more than one political party and still be a Libertarian. Republicans and Democrats might have an coronary over that practice but we still welcome them with open arms to consider our new paradigm of doing things instead of just dealing with politics as usual and the constant pressure of choosing the lesser of two evils. For Example, POTUSA candidate Dr. Ron Paul is both a Republican and a Libertarian.

In addition there is a issue of tradition of practice usurping application of the law, IC 3-10-1-6.

For instance, in the last gubernatorial primary election four years ago, the citizens of Indiana made a decision of their conscience to vote in the Republican primary assuring that Eric "no gay marriage or bust" Miller and his religious zealot cronies didn't come to power by voting for his opponent, Mitch "sell off the state to the highest bidder" Daniels. Did they make the right decision? At the time, an emphatic "Yes!".

In local politics, the practice of bouncing voters between parties is more celebrated publicly and encouraged regularly by both major parties and candidates. There was the old controversy when Graham "build it and they will pay us back in a century" Richards ran against Linda "my family deserves more power" Buskirk whom beat out (stole from) the better candidate of Joseph "reiff of the shire" Squadrito in the primary. There was an active move by Republicans to adamantly vote for Richards over Buskirk whom most felt was a (fill in the blanks, 3 words) and the Party's favorite or enthroned candidate. Was it the right decision? At the time, a fortunate "Yes".

But why did you have to reelect him again in the form of Tom "did you forget to raise the tax levies again" Henry? Oh that's right, the Republicans cant put up a decent candidate or stand behind the one the people choose over their poster child, whom is also up for reelection this year in the other elected executive office he holds currently. Which brings us finally to the example of last years community/civil elections which caused the current state of affairs as far as politics in Allen County goes.

As I like to call it, The Kelty Konundrum, since there are so many issues both legally, politically, and morally, was the hay bale that finally broke the elephants back and showed the fat and the wrinkles for what they are, a broken schismatic political association with a bunch of people fighting for power in a social society rather than serving the citizens of Allen County based on committed ideals and realistic plans of action (please note: the previous statement doesn't apply to all party members just the ones putting their heads up their own and each other's posteriors). It will be interesting to see if the Squirrel Society or the Ron Paul Revolution Groups can pull of a coup d'ta with the Precinct Committee Chairs and Delegates to the either the Allen County or State Conventions of the Republican Party.

What is the current state of affairs in Allen County politics?

The Republican Party of Allen County is broke and shortly to be evicted from its lavish office that was renovated several years ago to be a "lasting testimony" to its Chair's leadership (turn and cough three times) and vision for the future. The Democratic Party of Allen County while gaining so much in the Common Council race last year also is having its share of bad leadership activities and may have opened itself up to campaign finance fraud as reported by local CPA and LPAC's 3rd previous Chair, Mike Sylvester, @ Fort Wayne Politics.

We are not immune from controversy either.

LPAC at the beginning part of this year lost two of its previous Chairpersons to the "dark side", and we had a few CFA forms get filed late last year. It has been a slow but steady transition of power. Because we had the mechanisms in place via our bylaws, some damn good common sense amongst the officers that are currently in charge, and a committed core membership, we were able to succeed in the transition.

We are in the process of posturing LPAC for a full slate of activities in and around the local community and a county wide outreach for this election cycle and into the years that follow. We are not just asking for your vote this fall. We are offering a viable alternative to having to choose between the lesser of two evils. We are asking everyone to help us bring a vision of a different way of doing business throughout all of Allen County's political landscape for years to come. Thank you!