Gun Nuts Media

But with a twist – and the twist being that the editorial isn’t anti-gun. I know, I’m just as surprised as you are, in fact I damn near fell out of my chair when I read this.

One of the things that makes a gun so unforgiving is that, as a tool, it has no conscience. Unable to operate itself or pull its own trigger, a gun is as safe or dangerous as the person holding it. An unfortunate reality of gun ownership is that when these tools are mishandled, accidents occur — generally to tragic results.

I’m honestly not used to writing about editorials that are intelligent, well written, and express opinions with which I agree. Honestly, I’m writing about this specifically because I wanted to point it out and express my appreciation and surprise that a newspaper (any newspaper) would publish an editorial with such shocking comments as this:

Some gun owners prefer to keep their firearms loaded and within easy reach, just in case an intruder makes an unwelcome appearance in the dead of night. While the right to bear arms is affirmed by the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, gun ownership also brings with it the legal and moral duty to ensure that children are denied access to firearms. Any rules set for gun owners’ children also should apply to their friends and to untrained adults who visit the home.

The article concludes by telling readers that the local PD offers free gunlocks for safely storing firearms, as well as exhorting parents to take the time to address the issue of proper gun safety with their children.

Constitutional rights, responsible gun safety, and intelligent advice from a newspaper? The Duke would approve.
–

and the taxpayers suffer for it. I suppose I could have titled this entry with “Business as usual in Marion County”, however there is some good news. Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) has ordered that Marion County reassess the property tax bills being charged for 2007; he also said that homeowners will only have to pay what they previously paid in 2006 until the reassessment is complete.

This comes as somewhat of a mixed blessing to Marion County property owners, because some people actually did see their bills go down this year. The question is open as to whether they’d have to pay the higher 2006 amount or the lower 2007 amount. Additionally, as much as I like Daniels’ stopgap measure, there are two issues that it doesn’t address: 1) That a lot of homeowners in the area pay their property taxes through their mortgage, and 2) that freezing the tax payments doesn’t address the underlying issue of general incompetence that various township assessors displayed.

A brief perusal of the records/articles available indicates that the real reason that the average property taxes increased for Marion County homeowners is quite simply because the assessors did a lousy job.

About 72 percent of commercial and industrial parcels, 90 percent of commercial vacant land and 78 percent of industrial vacant land had no change in assessed value from 2005 to 2006, the state survey found.

If you’re at all familiar with Marion County’s “plan for the future”, this is pretty much right in line with the overall goal – keep/attract business to the County, and drive up property values in certain areas to attract more desirable development.

A lot of people don’t think that the tax freeze is going to help them in the long run. They’re right, because as I said, it doesn’t address the underlying issue in all of this. That issue being that your elected representatives are not watching out for your best interests. You want a better tax bill in 2008 and going forward? Vote Bart Peterson and his cronies out of office.
–

From Sebastian, I find that Philly is getting ready to “fire up” (haha – ed.) their own little smoking ban. Personally, I despise smoking bans. Moving on, you’ve probably heard about New York’s ban on trans fats, in related news King County in Washington State is considering a similar ban. I also do not like bans on trans fats.

I was having this discussion the other day with Mrs. Ahab about the government’s propensity for banning things that they think are bad for me. The obvious targets are smoking, meat, and then…what next? Drugs are already illegal, so we can’t outlaw that. I posited the theory that we’re heading towards another prohibition. I mean, think about it. Everyone knows that drinking isn’t really good for you.

Now, I don’t think that they’d be dumb enough to flat ban the consumption of alcohol again, namely because it worked so well last time, but I do think that we’ll begin to see creeping restrictions on when and where you can consume alcohol. Of course, it will be silly stuff like “Drinking in plain sight of a minor” or some other regulation.

And you know what? I used to be a smoker. I loved smoking. With exception of the part where I knew that smoking would shorten my life expectancy, I really enjoyed smoking. But I quit, because I knew that it was bad for me. But for years, I did it anyway. I did it because I enjoyed it, and at the time, the benefits outweighed the risks. When you’re 20 and single, cancer when you’re 60 is a LOOOOOONG time away.

I’m in a rather ornery mood today. I guess I’m just tired of day after day reading about the government deciding what’s in my best interests. I am a grown-ass, semi-muscular adult, I am perfectly capable of reading the relative health benefits of something and deciding if I want to do that.

Despite its puny size, the Traeger .22 Magnum pellet grill is working out just fine. More steaks were done last night, this time with a much improved cut of meat and a accurate timing system. The steaks were rubbed with just a bit of salt and a bit of pepper, then grilled to a literally perfect medium-rare. After the grilling, they got another 45 seconds or so back under the lid of the grill to a butter/red pepper mix across the top. Needless to say, it was pretty much perfect.

Toss in a little corn as a side dish and the ’01 Cab/Merlot blend that I had just a little bit left of and it was the perfect meal. Top it off with an after dinner martini, and you could say I had a pretty good night.
–

The Big Story in local politics right now is how property taxes in Marion County have increased dramatically, up to quadrupling for homeowners in certain areas. It’s gotten to the point where people are protesting outside the Governor’s Mansion (more on that later), and that the outrage about egregious taxation is so high that the City/County Government put off a vote about raising Marion County income tax, essentially due to pressure from the taxpayers.

Now, a lot of people are pissed off. So pissed off, that they’re protesting outside the Governor’s mansion, as I mentioned above. For the record, if you blame the governor for an increase in property taxes in Marion County, you are an idiot. It’s pretty much that simple. The Governor doesn’t really have a damn thing to do with your property taxes. However, if you are looking for someone to blame for your tax issues, you don’t have any further to look that Mr. Mayor of Indianapolis, Bart Peterson.

Although the mayor promises imminent property tax relief, he still plans to increase income tax to help fund the crime fighting initiative.

“This property tax storm will pass. We will get this resolved, I believe, if the legislature has the will to do it and if everybody comes together and works together. When that passes, we’ll still have the same challenges we had before. We have to fight crime in this city, and that’s one thing I will not back down on.”

He goes on to say that he just want to pay the pensions of police officers and firefighters in the Indianapolis. I am completely okay with that. However, instead of taxing the bejesus out of your constituency, perhaps you ought to consider cutting some of the pork from your budget first. Just a thought.

There are a lot of issues at play in the property tax increase. A lot of people are blaming the new stadium that the Colts are having built, and that’s partly correct. However, the story behind the curtain that no one is really talking about is exactly whose taxes are being raised. Indianapolis is in the process of remaking its image – and if you’ve ever driven around Indy you’d be impressed with the Downtown area, and with some of the other areas. However, one of the places where property taxes have increased the most is in low income areas.

That’s right, the Democratic administration that most of the low-income homeowners voted for…has raised their taxes. Why do you think that is? You don’t think that it would have anything to do with the fact that the land that is currently occupied by dilapidated low income homes is worth a shitload of money…a shitload of money that the City/County would love to get from someone with a bit more income than the aforementioned low-income homeowners.

So, if you’re in Marion County, and your property taxes went up, allow me to make a suggestion. I understand that you’re pissed. This is an election year in Indiana. If you’re really upset about the way your property taxes have increased, and if you’re upset about the Mayor’s plans to increase your income tax instead of cutting pork from the budget – this November is your chance to say something about it.

You can vote Bart, and this entire administration out of office. The City/County government has demonstrated time and time again that it’s only interested in paying lip service to the citizens of Marion County, especially to the low income residents of Marion County. Like I said, if you really want to make a statement about property taxes in Marion County, make that statement with your vote in November. It is clearly time for Bart Peterson to go.
–