That's some bad gas.....

A lot of attention is being given to the proposal of suspending the sales tax on gasoline. As a Libertarian, the idea that the taxpayers might receive a little relief is a welcome idea, but before we start any celebrations, we need to examine all of the issue.

Indiana has the 15th highest gasoline taxes in the nation, and the 5th highest diesel taxes. This is before you add on the 6% sales tax, inspection fee and diesel surcharge. Couple this with staggering property taxes, income taxes, payroll taxes, etc., and you have to wonder just how much a sales tax suspension on gasoline that would save most Hoosier families about $3.00 a week would really help.

The real problem isn’t a 6% sales tax on gasoline. The real problem is governments’ insatiable need to spend money. Hoosiers work nearly 5 months of every year just to pay their tax burden, and neither the Republicans nor Democrats seem to be overly concerned with that. They shuffle taxes from businesses to homes to farms and then back to businesses, depending on the election cycle. They pass the blame back and forth between state and local governments, seemingly oblivious to the fact that the money they are spending ultimately can come from only one place, the taxpayer.

The real answer is not just temporarily suspending the sales tax on gasoline. The real answer is to return government to proper place, which is providing essential services to its citizens with the prudent use of our tax dollars. That means using our road taxes on Hoosier roads, instead of sending them off to Washington so they can be used to build horse trails in Virginia. It means using the tax dollars taken for education on education, not on entertainment.

While the Republicans and Democrats argue about whether or not to save your family $3.00 a week, remember that the Libertarian Party is out there advancing the idea of fiscal responsibility and limited government that the other parties have so obviously abandoned.

To the fourth generation...

Four generations of my family helped out with the Jubilee Day Parade in Hagerstown. I'm not sure how the election is going to turn out, but I sure felt like a winner with this bunch of family and friends.
And I can't resist when I get an opportunity when I get a chance to show off my grand-daughters Audry and Hannah.

Hey! Dawson Pope...

The first carpenter I ever worked for was Dawson Pope. When I drifted home from Bloomington in 1971, I helped him remodel my uncle's insurance office in Hagerstown. I hired in at $1.65 per hour, but after my skills increased a little, I decided I needed a raise. I asked for $5.00. I settled for $2.00.

It's not that I didn't think I was worth $5.00. But I did need the job. And $2.00 was better than $1.65. And at least I was moving in the right direction.

But I didn't give up on the dream that someday I might earn $5.00 an hour. I still haven't.

I think running for office as a Libertarian can have the same effect. We may not get everything we want right away, but at least we can get things moving in the right direction. And that's better than the direction we're moving now. And I'm not one for giving up.

Right, Dawson?

I guess it doesn't hurt to ask....

You meet a lot of interesting people when you operate a political booth. Last week at the Mooreland Fair, an elderly gentleman stopped by and said that he would vote for me if I would promise him one thing. He wanted me to try to get free eye care and dental care for senior citizens.

I explained that if we did that, it wouldn't really be free, that someone else would just be paying for it, probably his grandchildren. I then gave him a brief explanation on my thoughts on medical savings accounts and health insurance options that would result in fairer results for all involved.

He looked at me for a second, and then replied, "Oh, what the hell. I'll vote for you anyway. I'm sure not gonna vote for those other #&*)(!@#!!!!!

Now there's a ringing endorsement!!!!

Just waiting for the right time...

At our Libertarian booth at the Mooreland Fair last week, we, as always, provided the opportunity for people to register to vote. In 2004 we registered over 70 voters in Wayne County.

This year a man stopped by the booth and asked to register. He was 67 years old, and had never been registered. He explained that he had never had anyone to vote for before, but that he was going to register so that he could vote for us.

Good things come to those who wait.

More from Mooreland..

The Mooreland Free Fair has been called the "Biggest Little Fair in Indiana". While I don't know for sure if it's the biggest, I do know it draws some amazing crowds. And it's mostly just people coming to see other people that they might not have seen since last year's fair. Or before.

I was thrilled when someone I hadn't seen for over 40 years stopped by the Libertarian booth and identified himself. Bobby Sears and I were good friends back at Millville Grade School, but we had been out of touch since the 6th Grade, when consolidations sent us to different junior highs.

Friends we were, but there was one point of contention that always seemed to culminate in an argument or a wrestling match. Bobby's father was a salesman for Moorman's Feed, which several of the local farmers used for their livestock. The Bell's, however, were staunch and faithful Purina Chow users, and many a recess was spent sharing taunts and jeers about which company made the best gilt supplement.

If the truth was told, I doubt that there was a nickel's worth of difference in the feeds, but we were honor bound to defend and support the choices our fathers had made. Kind of like the workers over at the Republican and Democrat booths.

Trash talk....

The scary thing about this letter in the Indianapolis Star is that it was written by a real person who really believes that the government should be allowed to use whatever means it deems necessary to bring about compliance by it's citizens.

The State Chair of the Libertarian Party of Indiana, Mark Rutherford, pointed out in his blog why it is important to be a Libertarian. Don't think for a minute that the loss of liberty that has happened in other countries can't happen here.

We should be fighting tooth and nail to defend our freedom, instead of asking the government to take it from us, especially when those in power are so eager to oblige.

What a novel idea...

The August 6th editorial in the Muncie-Star Press, Governments simple task-trim spending, suggests that government needs to find ways to reduce it's cost of operation. What a novel idea! I wonder why nobody ever thought of that before?

When Cheryl Heacox and I ran for Wayne County Commissioner in 2004, part of our platform suggested that every department of government could find ways to trim 5 or 10% out of it's budget. The Richmond Palladium-Item blasted us for not having an understanding of how government worked.

Then, when the City of Richmond, with it's Democratic Mayor, faced budget shortfalls, the Pal-Item called for 10% budget cuts across the board. I guess it has a lot to do with who makes the suggestion.

I don't really care who makes the suggestion. But when we get a Democrat newspaper and a Republican newspaper calling for reducing the cost of government, then maybe the time for some Libertarian ideas has arrived.