Daltonsbriefs › Comments

oh my, connecting digg to my facebook profile just got me a ton of new digg friends (all emailed to me ... 102 .... 103 ... still counting. Not sure I wanted to get all those emails this morning. Should be an option to not be notified when you're getting over 100 new friends at once - Daltonsbriefs

"Big Freezer, I believe that the Town of Porter would be open to such discussions since they are pretty solid conservatives and appear to be willing to look at consolidation if it makes government more efficient or smaller and less intrusive. My gut says that it's Chesterton which is holding up any and all such conversations ... and that it may not even be the elected officials doing so ... but more likely the town's attorney who appears to rule with an iron unelected fist. Glad to be told I'm wrong, are there any Chesterton town council members willing to step into a leadership role?" - Daltonsbriefs

Say it isn't so, the government is meddling with a private company to favor their own messed up postal service? - Daltonsbriefs

We're listening, what can we do for you? - Daltonsbriefs

listening? it's a start - Daltonsbriefs

"Alright you two, is this argument going anywhere? We've all agreed a social conservative and a libertarian conservative are going to be separate on a few issues ... but team mates on everything else. None of that required allusions to short moustached German dead guys, or personal attacks, or detailed analysis of municipal plumbing capacity. Let's agree that the argument got off track and move on to unseating corrupt and/or inept politicians who can't stand the light of day." - Daltonsbriefs

"Can you give us a link to that database? That would be a very useful tool, far too many voters get to the booth still unaware of who's running, what they stand for, what the issues are, and what the jobs even pertain to." - Daltonsbriefs

"Thanks for the link Meaghan, but I think we better only list people who have officially announced exploratory or full fledged candidacy. I'll be glad to send Kevin a note to see if he's taking a serious look at running against Pete though." - Daltonsbriefs

"Again, let me re-iterate a statement I've made a whole bunch of times on this site. Conservatism is a pretty wide number of niche groups. Travis you would find yourself in welcome company with most conservatives when it comes to fiscal issues. But on social issues, you have a touch of libertarian. There are a lot of people like you. I actually find it uncomfortable to think in terms of the government mandating actions by doctors and patients, even though abortion is quite awful, I'm not sure that the government is the right arbiter. So i know where you are coming from. But, be careful, there are solid social conservatives who care deeply about pro-life, pro-gun, and traditional definitions of family." - Daltonsbriefs

"thanks pundit, I think Vicki is running as a Democrat correct? As a general announcement, if you have links to candidates' sites or facebook fan pages, I'll try to start adding those too. Eventually would like to have all the candidates listed, with links to their pages, so that those who aren't political addicts can find information and contacts. Anyone have a great page for State Rep and Senate maps so people can even figure out who their rep is?" - Daltonsbriefs

"I have asked Republican Party Chairperson Joyce Webster for a statement on yesterday's vote. Will post once I receive. Should probably send a note to Democrat Chair Chidester too, although he never responds to requests." - Daltonsbriefs

"So Pete would you prefer the bed tax go away completely, or be redirected to economic development, or be used in a regional effort to market NW Indiana? Those are the three proposals I've heard recently." - Daltonsbriefs

"Now now, of all the posts for you to question our editorial policies this one is your least favorable argument. Someone takes Commissioner Harper's positions and one by one gives another side to the debate, that's exactly what I wanted this site to accomplish. Long winded posts copied from other national blogs on the relative merits of the Federal Reserve or Gay Marriage are boring, I'm glad to see active participation by the RLC, Democrats, Union Members, elected officials, tea partiers, patriots, Republicans, and even that dreaded Valpo crowd. I have edited posts featuring foul language, and will continue to do so because my kids read this site. I have no problem with anonymous posters, and of course I know who everyone is, and continue to protect those identities. When someone wants to "out" themselves that's their decision, not mine. I personally post in my own name every time. Cross posting is not only allowed it is encouraged, so that we can all find other great sites. Lastly,..." - Daltonsbriefs

"I like some of the other commenters above, have thoroughly enjoyed finding some new great blogs to add to my daily RSS consumption. I'm sure the vote fraud was frustrating for your team, but as you mentioned the voting was really created as an incentive to get more blogs nominated so we could all check them out. In my mind a huge success." - Daltonsbriefs

"thanks Kevin, and thanks for your links, support, and activism on behalf of local political issues." - Daltonsbriefs

"Thanks Rob, we orginally started out as merely Porter County Politics, and then political issues and candidates became more regional in scope and we widened our name to Northwest Indiana Politics. I too am hoping for more readers, commenters, and even authors from the surrounding counties as we move into the highly contentious election cycle of 2010." - Daltonsbriefs

"Bonnie, beware the tendency to litmus test conservatives with your favorite definition. Some conservatives are pro-life, some believe the government should stay out of everything including the doctors office. Some conservatives are anti-tax, others believe that flat taxes or consumption taxes should be created to eliminate property taxes and income taxes. Some conservatives are for regional consolidation to make government more efficient, others would move all government to township level under the theory that it is closest to the people. Some conservatives are for economic development and the use of tax abatements, others believe this favors the out of towner and is a disadvantage to the local business. Some conservatives would prefer keeping Gary a nitemare and separate from the rest of us, others would suggest that as Gary goes so goes the entire region. See how complex conservatism can be when one litmus test is propounded as as the "only" true and right position? One hard thing..." - Daltonsbriefs

"Thanks for commenting here as well Faith. I must have missed the comment where Kevin Tracy was maligned or referred to as more than one of your speakers. Kevin's political/issues site is probably the most active blog in NW Indiana, and has been constantly under attack from democrats and socialists and worse. There was even a rumor and facebook group recently that suggested he may step up and take on Rep. Pete Visclosky himself. I have posted your official response as a separate post and am glad to hear that the GOP meeting went well last nite. As I've talked to Republicans over the last couple weeks I've heard a lot of mixed feelings about Porter County and its direction. First, they like you really don't want another new tax. Basically as conservatives we would prefer to stay away from new taxes. This referendum will ill timed, costing us $120,000 just to perform, and will fail. Second, though they are pretty frustrated with the current leadership of our county. We've lost a ton of..." - Daltonsbriefs

"Thanks for commenting here as well Faith. I must have missed the comment where Kevin Tracy was maligned or referred to as more than one of your speakers. Kevin's political/issues site is probably the most active blog in NW Indiana, and has been constantly under attack from democrats and socialists and worse. There was even a rumor and facebook group recently that suggested he may step... more... - Daltonsbriefs

"Joe, in the interest of transparency, in the last 25 hours we had 318 unique visitors, most of whom read at least two posts on different pages. No, this site is not the Times or Post, but we do enjoy the daily interaction of 100's of local politically active individuals. Please feel free to continue the debate, just wanted to defend ourselves since you were happy to use our platform to attack us. I should ask Kevin what kind of traffic he had in the last 24 hours." - Daltonsbriefs

"Oscar, let me be the first to say "WOW" to that post. I am sure there are members of the NW Indiana Patriots or even the Republican Liberty Caucus who will have a different perspective on these events and strategies, and I hope they take the opportunity to express themselves here. As for Thursdays GOP meeting, I believe Chairman Webster is looking forward to all attendees coming and working together on the her priorities for next year ... like winning the Indiana House, and fixing the audit/assessor mess that our county Democrats have allowed to fester too long. If discussion of the RTA is part of that strategy, then fine, but if Commissioner Harper's talking points are foisted too firmly above heads to work together as a team for his removal ... then we will know where everyone stands." - Daltonsbriefs

vote for NW Indiana POlitics - Daltonsbriefs

"Andrew, thanks for asking. I am in agreement with Todd Rokita on redistricting, and have been since the day he released his proposal. An interesting side note, I'm not going so far as to endorse or formally support Mr. Rokita for Governor, in that I really like Becky Skillman as well .. so my support of his proposal is not linked to future political gain for me or he. I like the proposal of having two rep seats exactly matched inside every one Senate seat. I like the proposal of disregarding political voting tendencies and just using existing boundaries and population I would go so far, and many political insiders would suggest I'm naive, that the numbers should not even include voting turnout, but only adult population. With an effort to make each district the same size. I realize that some districts will grow enormously over 10 years, and that frankly is the reason for redistricting, not voting patterns. I wrote on this a few weeks ago, maybe even a month ago, what really stings me..." - Daltonsbriefs

Notice me, for the right reasons - Daltonsbriefs

"I'd much prefer to see Rep Pence working the nation, raising his name and ultimately becoming Speaker of the House ... than the other option wherein he returns to run for Governor. IMHO" - Daltonsbriefs

I like where this site seems to be heading, direct quotes on insurance in the very local Northwest Indiana real estate market - Daltonsbriefs

"travis, thanks for posting. One possible clarification if you don't mind: The RDA tax is already being collected, with $3.5 million going to the RDA for job creation projects, Gary Airport projects, lakeshore cleanup ... and possibly even transportation. The remainder (which I believe is more than $8 million) goes to reducing property taxes. Now that tax is a totally different issue than the RTA referendum and potential tax that is being considered in November. I think that Porter County citizens are getting a little acronym confused and may be thinking the two are the same thing. They are not. The RDA already exists and the current Porter County council is attempting to pull out, causing quite a bit of legal costs. The RTA does not exist and may never exist if the referendum is shot down. I don't think the referendum will pass, I think many residents are against any new taxes and especially taxes expressly set aside for rail or bus transportation. Thus once the referendum fails, we..." - Daltonsbriefs

If you have an extra invite to hand out, I'd appreciate one. - Daltonsbriefs

If you have an extra invite to hand out, I'd appreciate one. - Daltonsbriefs

"On tourism, I think the lion's share of the Inn taxes collected come from Valparaiso and Portage. Therefore one line of reasoning would suggest any refunds from elimination of overhead in a regional merger should be returned the communities of origin. Sure, if Duneland could start developing Hotels to maximize tourism along the beachfront then that would change quite a bit ... but so far I think the environmentalists have thrown their bodies in front of that potential economic development bus." - Daltonsbriefs

"Streeter, you have more historical perspective than I, but I have heard leaders in Porter suggest they would be open ... as an outsider to the Region, I can't tell you how odd it is to have Porter and Chesterton basically sharing the same location and trying to stay separate. It would seem the cost savings in staff alone would make it worthwhile. I'd have to do some digging into the thought on Burns having a great tax base, with the business taxes now capped at 3% that may be less of a benefit than it was in the past when we could tax the mills into oblivion. Now, on Valpo and Portage choosing the head of tourism, great point, the new City of Duneland should share in that choice. The lakefront is an embarrassment so any effort to clean it up, redevelop it, even letting large portions return to marshland should be supported by everyone in the County. IMHO" - Daltonsbriefs

"Hey Pete, aren't you named Fat Pete as a shot at Pete Visclosky, the guy who is pushing the marquette plan so hard? Aren't the "real" conservatives against even federal money being used to reclaim the beaches and lakeshore because if we didn't take the money then our federal taxes would go down? Hmmm. It sounds like you're mellowing in your old age Pete. Now you want a better lakeshore even though businesses will never pay to clean up their own messes?" - Daltonsbriefs