Business

Manager of Anderson Airport Steps Down

kpaul.mallasch — Mon, 6 Oct 2008 12:09:52 -0700

ANDERSON, IN - Steve Darlington, Manager of the Anderson Municipal Airport, will step down from his responsibilities beginning Monday, October 6. Two unpaid volunteers will assume the day to day responsibilities of Airport management while a search for a new manager is conducted.

Darlington, who will remain employed at the airport as Maintenance Person, said, “Stepping back from the day to day management of the airport will allow me to enjoy more time with my family and friends. The airport is open all the time, which means this has been a seven day a week job for the last several years”. The Darlington family was the original fixed based operator and partner of the City of Anderson in the creation of the Anderson Municipal Airport in 1960. In 2001, the Board of Aviation Commissioners voted for airport staff to become personnel of the City of Anderson.

Mayor Ockomon stated that the change in leadership would accompany increased interest in development at the airport, “Anderson Municipal Airport is entering an era of real growth and development. The seeds for future development of Aero Park and the Anderson Airport were planted by the Darlington family. Anderson owes this family a debt of gratitude”. Mark Bennett, President of the Board of Aviation Commissioners thanked Mr. Darlington for his many years of service to the Anderson Municipal Airport, adding, “The airport has a bright future and it was started with the Darlington family, and most recently, Steve Darlington”.

Anderson Airport Support Group members and aviators Dave Keller and Ron Smith will share responsibilities of the vacant position on an interim basis until a permanent replacement is named. The Board of Aviation Commissioners will conduct an initial search commencing immediately and will present a variety of potential candidates to Mayor Ockomon. Ockomon will later make his recommendation to the Board for their approval. The Board of Aviation Commissioners meets on the second Tuesday of each month, at 4:30 pm in the airport’s board room.

Source: City of Anderson

Why the Bailout Is a Crock

kpaul.mallasch — Mon, 6 Oct 2008 07:55:39 -0700

By Bill Steigerwald

It’s not your fault you don’t know that the percentage of American home mortgages in foreclosure today is about 2.75 percent.

That shocking but true figure hasn’t been emphasized nearly enough by our favorite politicians and media sensationalists, who, as they usually do when real and imagined “national” crises appear, have managed to create the misleading impression that the current foreclosure mess affects every second or third American household.

Yes, the financial crisis is real. Yes, some homeowners and Main Street folk have behaved badly. Yes, the greedy, corrupt corporate and political rats on Wall Street and in Washington are largely responsible for the meltdown that will cost us and our grandtaxpayers untold hundreds of billions if not trillions of inflated dollars.

And yes, the near-quadrupling since 2005 of our annual mortgage foreclosure rate (historically about 0.7 percent) has ignited a banking and credit crisis that looks to be dragging the whole world into recession.

But there are two truths about the foreclosure mess that our beloved media -- especially the TV branch -- have done a lousy job of revealing to the masses.

One is that 97 percent of America's home mortgage loans are not in the process of being foreclosed.

The other is that the mortgage crisis is not spread evenly across America. It is concentrated in some very specific -- and some very predictable -- geographic and demographic places.

Perfect national statistics are hard to come by. But according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, as of Aug. 1, most new foreclosures were occurring disproportionately in eight states.

Four are the usual suspects -- Nevada, Florida, California and Arizona, boom states where regional housing bubbles were fueled by an irresponsible alliance of house-flippers, predatory lenders, fraudulent borrowers and notoriously politicized federal laws like the Community Reinvestment Act, which forces banks to give mortgages to poor people and even illegal immigrants who can’t afford or qualify for them.

Four other states -- Michigan, Rhode Island, Indiana and Ohio -- can blame tough economic slumps for their higher rates of new foreclosures. The remaining 42 states are actually below the average national foreclosure rate, which the MBA says is higher than at any time in the last 36 years.

The good folks at Foreclosure.com provide a current state-by-state listing of houses in various stages of financial doom. As of Thursday, its national count of homes already in foreclosure was 496,000. California’s number alone was about 175,000. Florida’s was 51,000, Nevada’s 22,000 and Ohio’s 10,037. Pennsylvania’s was a distant 2,879, West Virginia’s a humble 576 (no jokes, please) and Vermont’s was a saintly 97.

Those wildly divergent numbers are no surprise to Foreclosure.com’s spokesman Stephen Chip, who blames the media -- specifically the cable channels -- for making it seem our foreclosure spike is a result not of a relatively few bad actors but of the collective irresponsibility of American homeowners.

But maybe the average American is not such a dupe. Maybe, despite the East Coast media and political spin, most Americans know full well that they and their good neighbors are not the perpetrators of our scary financial meltdown. Maybe that's why so many Americans believe Washington's zillion-dollar bailout bill is such a crock.

Bill Steigerwald is a columnist at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. E-mail Bill at bsteigerwald@tribweb.com. ©Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, All Rights Reserved.

Wall Street is Not the Enemy

kpaul.mallasch — Wed, 1 Oct 2008 18:33:53 -0700

By Richard Mourdock

Free to Choose was the title that American Nobel Laureate and economist Dr. Milton Friedman gave to his landmark book in 1980 in which he illustrated the effectiveness of free market policies versus centralized economic planning by bureaucrats and politicians. Dr. Friedman did not live to see today’s economic crisis, but he clearly saw the gathering clouds that foretold it.

Today, our choice is to shrug off to our children a day of reckoning made inevitable by the encroachment of government on our economic system or to create a path that will enhance our position as the world’s foremost economic power. Those who suggest that the federal government, with taxpayer dollars, should bailout the private firms on Wall Street by providing hundreds of billions of dollars are offering a band-aid remedy, not a solution.

Politicians, who wish to throw money at the housing crisis, are attempting to cure a symptom not the chronic disease: our lagging economy and the loss of confidence in our markets. This is the problem we should be attacking. Mortgage failures will continue to occur if the health of the economy is not restored. The primary factor that will determine whether 5%, 25%, or 30% of “sub-prime mortgages” will default is the future strength of our economy. Increasing the size of American’s public debt by assuming a $700 billion liability is not the answer.

A more prudent legislative solution would focus on resolving the current problems of our economy, not just growing the size of government at the expense of the taxpayer. Such market-oriented proposals would create a government backed insurance fund for subprime debt which would restore confidence in the market. Lenders participating in such a program must agree to work with borrowers to restructure loans where possible, thus curbing default rates. Such lenders would also be required to do away with lavish “golden parachutes” given to CEO’s despite poor performance. In addition, so called “mark to market” accounting rules should be removed in order to stabilize market values.

The oldest cliché of Wall Street is: “there is always opportunity in chaos.” We should use the present crisis as an opportunity to move forward with common sense steps to truly make us competitive in the global economy. This crisis should not be used as an excuse to bring our financial sector under government control. Such common sense steps should include eliminating capital gains taxes, as well as the elimination of the “death-tax.” Billions of American dollars are currently sheltered overseas for the purpose of avoiding taxes. A bold step would be to offer a three year “tax holiday” to firms that bring their monies back within our borders, which would put those monies to work creating jobs and developing newer, more competitive technologies.

Individuals, who fear such cuts would eliminate vital revenues, need only to look at the tax cuts engineered by Presidents Kennedy and Reagan. Both increased revenues to the U.S. Treasury, because they spurred economic growth and reinvestment. It is an economical and historical fact that is indisputable and, if given a chance, would repeat itself.

Wall Street is not the enemy of taxpayers. Its problems with mortgages that often came about as a response to government mandates of “affordable housing for all” are understandable. Government’s role now should be to provide assistance in developing a plan that is not a bailout but a user funded insurance program with federal guarantees.

At this difficult time, we have before us two philosophical and practical options that will result in a generation of consequences. Either taxpayer funded bailouts as band-aid remedies or the healing of our economy by providing incentives to the private sector. We are, after all, free to choose.

Indiana State Treasurer Richard Mourdock

A Judgment Call or Two

kpaul.mallasch — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:24:30 -0700

By Martha Randolph Carr

Way back in the late 1980’s there was a similar banking scandal involving billions of taxpayer dollars, that time in the savings and loan industry. Eventually, scores of small thrift banks failed and the government ended up creating a special unit to buy up toxic debt and slowly over years salvage what they could and get rid of the rest.

The reason why it’s topical now isn’t just because the federal government is using a similar rescue model to bail out Wall Street but also because of presidential nominee, John McCain’s involvement both then and now.

Back then, the bank at the center, Lincoln Savings and Loan, was a subsidiary of American Continental Corporation and was owned by Charles H. Keating, Jr., a prominent real estate developer who was eventually found guilty of 73 counts of wire and bankruptcy fraud and sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in prison. He served only 50 months before the conviction was overturned on a technicality.

Wrapped up in the debacle were a series of unusual meetings two years before the collapse between banking regulators and five prominent US Senators, including John McCain. The meeting was at the behest of Keating who was calling in chits to get the regulators to back off of the ill-fated Lincoln. The regulators who were present would later say how much they were intimidated by the entire proceeding and Lincoln ended up with a little more time before eventually imploding.

The Senate Ethics Committee held hearings over 23 days in November of 1990 to investigate the meetings and the Keating Five, including McCain, as they came to be known. There was a good slap on the wrist passed out to all concerned and the taxpayers ended up with the billion dollar savings and loan hangover. Trading cards were briefly sold displaying Keating with each of the Senators.

During that time, it also came out that the Keating Five had accepted campaign contributions from Keating topping $300,000 with McCain receiving the lion’s share. McCain had also made at least nine trips with his family at Keating's expense at a cost of over $13,000. Not all of it was reimbursed by McCain until after Lincoln was in serious trouble. And in 1985, a year before the meeting between the regulators and US Senators, McCain’s wife Cindy and his father in law invested over $350,000 in a shopping mall development with Keating. None of it was in any way criminal, just a question of judgment.

Last week Senator John McCain suddenly awoke and realized he was key to solving the economic tsunami that still approaches. On Wednesday he announced that he was ‘rushing’ back to Washington to be a part of the very delicate negotiations and would have to back out of an appearance on Letterman’s show at the last minute. Then he stayed an extra day in New York anyway and kept his appointment with Katie Couric, angering Dave. In the middle of it he also said the first of only three debates between himself and Obama should be delayed until we are out of the financial woods.

Obama responded by saying that a President needs to be able to do more than one thing at a time. McCain changed his mind and showed up for the debate.

When he did finally arrive at the White House meeting being held to come up with a solution he quickly helped a small group of Republicans to briefly unravel the deal that had already been put together by leading Democrats and Republicans and his party’s leader, President Bush. Fortunately, the deal was repaired and will be presented to Congress this week. Again, all of it comes down to judgment, which is the most important quality of any good leader, particularly a US president in very complicated times where it will be necessary to juggle quite a few things at the same time.

Martha Randolph Carr’s latest book, A Place to Call Home, a memoir about the reemergence of U.S. orphanages is available wherever books are sold. If you’d like Martha to come and speak to your group visit: www.newvoicespeakers.com. Martha’s Big Adventure coming soon to World Talk Radio and Voice America. Email Martha at: Martha@caglecartoons.com or visit www.martharandolphcarr.com.

©2008 Martha Randolph Carr.

Hitting Bottom

kpaul.mallasch — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 20:31:13 -0700

By Martha Randolph Carr

This week the federal government finally recognized that propping up large institutions is a bad idea. Lehman Brothers was allowed to fail and is considering filing for bankruptcy protection as employees in the New York office begin to carry home their personal belongings.

That doesn’t mean the bad economic news is over just yet but at least now we are beginning to deal with the financial crisis instead of throwing taxpayer money at it. Merrill Lynch saw there would be no bail out if things worsened for them and is now in merger talks with Bank America. Others may follow as the week progresses.

The Federal Reserve will announce any adjustment to interest rates this week as well but don’t expect there to be any significant reaction from Wall Street. Financial markets worldwide are more anxiously awaiting the byzantine accounting by the large financial institutions to be pulled apart for inspection. This will reveal a more accurate picture of just how many bad real estate deals are wrapped up inside. The world markets realize that most of them will have to be written off and it will become possible to tell which companies will survive the economic bloodletting and which ones will not.

That will also give a better indication of whether or not we’re in a recession with economic growth momentarily slipping backwards or a depression with the value of commodities sliding down to a more permanent and lower baseline.

Unfortunately, the most likely discovery is that there is more widespread bad debt still being carried than is still being recognized. That could shake confidence even further and push us closer to depression.

With less that two months to go till the U.S. presidential elections the economy is sure to become a front-burner in the coming debates. Perhaps this big reality check will help all of us to focus on things like the economy, rising fuel prices and global warming and less on how marvelous it would be to legislate faith.

Once again, a loyalty test is being whipped out, but this time it’s surrounding God and Palin is being used as the pass or fail question. Supporting Palin is supposed to be a sign of whether or not we really put God first in our lives. McCain is barely mentioned these days and has managed to become an afterthought in the Republican candidacy for president.

But here’s another area where we aren’t looking at the truth behind all of the arm waving. Faith can’t be legislated or forced down the throats of anyone. The people who founded this country knew that and it’s one of the bigger reasons why they fled Europe and sought religious freedom.

And history has shown us often enough what happens when a country opens the door to allowing faith to legislate. There are always those who will use the opening to harm others based on some intrinsic quality such as race, religion or gender. It becomes more acceptable, even if only subtle at first, to turn someone down for a promotion or to buy a house in a certain neighborhood because they just aren’t the right kind of people.

But there is a really good rule of thumb when it comes to faith that we could use right now and particularly when we all arrive to vote this November.

Faith is a very simple doctrine that says we first come together as individuals who are intent on doing the right thing without expectations of others or of outcome. If we have to survey the crowd then trust in something bigger has been removed and so has faith. Then, manipulation is being employed out of fear to get a certain response. See, that’s the tricky thing about faith. If you have to pull it out as a means to identify friend or foe, it was never there in the first place.

The consequences of allowing elected officials to wave the religious banner as a rallying cry is that we all stopped working on what we could actually change – the economy – and are wasting a lot of time posturing instead. In November, vote for the candidate who trusted you enough to believe that freedom in America has a wider definition and take note that Barack Obama’s been standing out in front of his campaign all along and with solutions, not rigged loyalty tests.

Martha Randolph Carr’s latest book, A Place to Call Home, a memoir about the reemergence of U.S. orphanages is available wherever books are sold. If you’d like Martha to come and speak to your group visit: www.newvoicespeakers.com. Email Martha at: Martha@caglecartoons.com or visit www.martharandolphcarr.com.

©2008 Martha Randolph Carr.

Martha’s Big Adventure: Order Up!

kpaul.mallasch — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 03:37:06 -0700

By Martha Randolph Carr

By now, most of us are at least familiar with, The Secret, even if we roll our eyes whenever it’s mentioned. The aggravation seems to come from the misconception that the short film about creating the life you desire is telling people all they have to do is imagine what they want and it will magically pop into view.

It had a few more steps. The Secret formula was really, first become clear about what you desire, keep that thought, have faith in something bigger, and then as new opportunities arise, take them. It’s just that if a viewer was dead set against change, the part about taking action probably flew right by them. What they desired the most was to be left alone and voila, that’s what appeared before them.

I’ll tell you right upfront, very clearly, that if you desire positive change in your life it’s going to require you to get up and do a few things. That part about faith in something bigger will be there to help you along the way. However, that first step you take when you don’t yet have any proof is only going to happen when you finally make a different choice.

Really, the idea of living life by your own particular description has been around for awhile. The late Dr. Norman Vincent Peale was preaching that philosophy when he wrote the bestseller, The Power of Positive Thinking.

Peale was pointing out that a lot of us don’t get what we want because we prefer to put our focus on what we don’t like about our lives. If a compliment comes our way, we chastise the giver by telling them about the flaws in ourselves they apparently overlooked. Our conversation is littered with judgment and limitation and when we call a friend it’s to either complain or lament. We can’t build a better idea because we’re too stuck on the ones that don’t work. In other words, the only thing stopping us from moving in the direction of what we so badly want is once again, just us.

Notice, I didn’t say, get what we want, but instead, start down that path. That can be a much easier launch and adds in the notion that life is all about the journey, not any particular destination.

But in order to change some habits that aren’t serving us, a certain amount of reprogramming is going to be necessary.

A new tool that’s fast becoming a favorite is the Present Memory series from Melissa Zollo. Rather than a set of ideas that we then have to figure out how to incorporate into our lives, the CD series offers different meditations that can be used every day without eating up a lot of time or money. Zollo calls the method the Art of Intentional Creation, www.presentmemory.com and recommends people give it a try for 90 days straight and see what happens. Many people are finding that taking the time to start and end each day with calm and focus is helping them to live a better life. And, the more they’ve stayed focused on what they truly desire to see change, the more opportunities have arisen for them to take positive actions.

That seems so obvious but so does making a financial budget with a clear picture of where you are and where you want to be. Very few people do that either and yet still wonder why they have no money. Again, that part about actually doing something is very key to the success.

There are a few things I’d like to change in my own life that run the usual gamut. Buy a place in Manhattan, run an entire 5k, create an ample reserve, meet the right man and have a bestseller. Don’t roll your eyes, it’s my list. I’m willing to put my money where my mouth is and invest in the CD’s, put in the work for the last three months of this year and see what happens. I’ll report back occasionally along the way and let you know what happens. More adventures to follow.

Martha Randolph Carr’s latest book, A Place to Call Home, a memoir about the reemergence of U.S. orphanages is available wherever books are sold. If you’d like Martha or Melissa to come and speak to your group visit: www.newvoicespeakers.com. Email Martha at: Martha@caglecartoons.com or visit www.martharandolphcarr.com. Martha’s Big Adventure – Coming soon to World Talk Radio.

©2008 Martha Randolph Carr.

Taking the Pulse

kpaul.mallasch — Tue, 9 Sep 2008 00:05:59 -0700

By Martha Randolph Carr

This weekend the federal government took over the two mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It was a latent signal of what had become very obvious to most Americans already. We are in the beginning of an economic downturn that may not have hit bottom yet.

The upside to the government action is that a slightly clearer picture of just where we all stand will likely emerge. It was a federal audit that discovered Freddie Mac was not exactly as financially sound as they had said that lead to the dual takeover. Policy changes at Freddie Mac were allowing people who were behind on their mortgage payments an extra year and a half to recover. That allowed the lending giant to keep them on the plus side of the books instead of downgrading the loans to poor.

There is probably more bad news to come before the entire story is out. But, finally getting the whole truth, no matter how bad, is when things have a chance at turning around because then we know what our starting point is at last. No more false starts or unrealistic expectations.

It doesn’t mean that there won’t be hardships or belt-tightening for all of us but the element of denial starts to get peeled away.

However, as I’ve said before, where the economic bottom is, has yet to be determined. There are a few factors that are still coming together that make the old equations a little out-dated. Take the scenario of a homeowner in the suburbs who has a fixed-rate mortgage, decent credit and employment that’s covering the bills. But the job is almost an hour away in rush hour and all around his house are foreclosures driving down the value of his little quarter acre.

And, in his monthly budget the price of gas has risen to a place where just getting to work has meant giving up on most of the extras in his household. He’s not working to live anymore; he’s now living to work.

If the value of his home then slips far enough below what he still owes on the house it’s possible that it can start to look like economic sense to walk away from the house and the debt. It’s been done before by homeowners in California after earthquakes and lack of insurance left them with a cracked foundation and a large bill.

There are already several communities throughout Florida in particular where prices continue to fall to new lows. Top that off with the issues of the tax base in your community draining away while you lose neighbors to just hang out with or at least keep an eye out for you.

In the 1930’s there was an enormous migration caused by an economic downturn due to a lack of regulation in the stock market mixed with a dustbowl throughout the farming belt. The consequences were given their own name, The Great Depression and were seen as so dreaded plenty of federal regulation was put into place to try and prevent another one. That is until enough time went by and we all got tired of regulations and removed them with the promise that we’d behave this time.

This time gas prices and a lack of regulation in the housing market could be creating another migration as people look to start over anew. It’s another geographic fix that is stripping away entire communities because once again people were allowed to buy something on credit without the means to pay for it. It was probably a sign of the times when it became possible to buy a Big Mac with a credit card. Visa even had a recent commercial that lauded buying everything with a plastic card and depicted life grinding to a halt when the inconsiderate consumer tried to use cash. That’s how much we were enjoying the party without paying attention to the bill.

But now, because people are not only buying less overall, what they already consumed is not getting paid back and the effects will continue to roll backward through retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers. The takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is still just the beginning of this fable.

Martha Randolph Carr’s latest book, A Place to Call Home, a memoir about the reemergence of U.S. orphanages is available wherever books are sold. If you’d like Martha to come and speak to your group visit: www.newvoicespeakers.com. Email Martha at: Martha@caglecartoons.com or visit www.martharandolphcarr.com. Martha’s Big Adventure – Coming soon to World Talk Radio.

©2008 Martha Randolph Carr.

America the Spoiled

kpaul.mallasch — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:20:23 -0700

Bill Steigerwald

The arrival of $4-a-gallon gas may have been the best thing to happen to America in a long time.

It doesn't matter which usual suspect we should thank the most -- Big Oil, speculators, the weak dollar, war in the Middle East, growing demand from China and India or our dear politicians in Washington.

They all did their part to send the world oil price beyond $140 a barrel.

And so they all deserve our eternal thanks for helping to wake up Americans to the fact that for the last 30 years politicians of both parties have been writing backward federal energy policies that have made us dangerously dependent on foreign oil.

Average U.S. pump prices are now down to about $3.70 a gallon and probably headed much lower. But the debut of $4 gas was a political game-changer -- and a blessed one.

Political pressure by an outraged majority has forced House Shrieker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats to reverse themselves and at least pretend to be in favor of lifting the congressional ban on offshore drilling. Even Barack Obama has quasi-converted.

Though $4 gas has brought us beneficial political results, it has caused many Americans to do some silly and irrational things.

Millions apparently shortened or canceled their family driving vacations. Some even have cut their commuting distances by switching jobs or moving from the suburbs to the city. Others have dumped their gas-guzzlers for pricey hybrids that will end up costing them more in the long run than they'll ever save on gas.

They're all nuts.

Yes, gas at $4 is tough on some family budgets and slams those who drive 50,000 miles a year. But if you do the math, $4 gas is hardly a hardship for most citizens of the world's richest country.

The average U.S. driver racks up about 1,000 miles a month and the average car gets about 22 miles per gallon. That means the average motorist uses about 540 gallons of gas a year -- 45 gallons a month or about 11 gallons a week.

At $4, Mary Motorist spends $2,160 a year on gasoline -- about $42 a week. At $3 a gallon, which now looks like the bargain of a lifetime, her annual tab would be $1,620 -- about $31 a week.

Owners of mega-SUVs that get around 15 miles per gallon obviously are hurt most by $4 gas. They burn about 66 gallons per 1,000 miles. Today that's $264 a month, $66 a week and $3,432 a year for 12,000 miles.

But is anyone who can afford a $40,000 Ford Expedition really going to suffer because gas jumps to $4 a gallon from $3? He is paying an extra $66 a month this summer for gas -- a lousy $17 a week. Does it make sense to skip this year's 1,000-mile family vacation for $66?

Getting in a tizzy or changing your lifestyle because of $4 gas is even sillier if you drive a more fuel-efficient car.

At $4, a Honda Civic that gets 35 mpg will use 28 gallons and cost about $112 a month to go 1,000 miles. That's $28 a week. At $3 a gallon, it'd cost $84 per month -- or $7 less a week.

Seriously.

In a country where the average worker makes nearly $20 an hour, does having to spend an extra $7 or $11 or even $17 a week on gasoline really constitute a hardship?

Was $4 gas a genuine national gas crisis?

Did it justify all that media hysteria -- or Barack Obama's dumb pander to give drivers a $1,000 "emergency" rebate check?

Only if you are a spoiled American.

Bill Steigerwald is a columnist at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. E-mail Bill at steigerwald@caglecartoons.com. ©Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, All Rights Reserved.

Nestlé to Expand Operations in Anderson

kpaul.mallasch — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 15:40:55 -0700

ANDERSON, IN - Governor Mitch Daniels joined executives from Nestlé USA today to announce the company's plans to expand its 880,000 square-foot beverage production facility here, creating nearly 135 new jobs by 2011.

The company, which is on track to begin full production at the central Indiana facility later this year, will invest $200 million to add additional beverage production and distribution capacity at the 190-acre site located approximately 45 miles northeast of Indianapolis.

"Nestle is making an even bigger commitment to Anderson and to Indiana. The company had a resounding response from Hoosiers who want to work at the new Anderson plant, and now before it even opens, the company is choosing to invest again in the facility and create new jobs for Hoosiers," said Daniels.

The expansion comes two years after the company initially announced plans to site its $359 million Nestlé Nesquik Ready-to-Drink and Nestlé Coffee-mate Liquid manufacturing and distribution center in the Indiana city. As part of the latest expansion, the company will hire engineering staff, technical support specialists, production associates and warehouse staff.

"We're very excited to be expanding in Anderson," said Michael Strong, factory and facility manager, Nestlé Anderson. "We are deeply appreciative to the State of Indiana and the City of Anderson for working with us during the evaluation period and making this announcement possible."

The Anderson, Ind. facility is one of 51 manufacturing operations and six distribution centers the company operates in the United States. A subsidiary of Vevey, Switzerland-based Nestlé S.A., Nestlé USA employs more than 14,000 across the country.

The Indiana Economic Development Corporation offered Nestlé USA up to $1.325 million in performance-based tax credits and up to $50,000 in training grants based upon the company's job creation plans. The state will also fund improvements to roads serving the expanded facility, including the nearby I-69 interchange. The city of Anderson will provide the company with property tax abatement, construct two water towers to accommodate the increased demand from the facility and assist the company in recruiting new employees.

"The community is using its utility capacity and skilled workforce to fill the needs of today's high growth companies. We are thrilled with Nestlé's expansion and the jobs and investment it represents," said Anderson Mayor Kris Ockomon.

Nestle's decision to expand its beverage-making operation in central Indiana is the fourth major investment in the state by the company since July 2006. In August 2007, Nestle Waters North America announced plans to locate a new Nestle Pure Life brand water bottling operation in the central Indiana city of Greenwood, creating more than 60 new jobs. That announcement followed a June 2007 decision by the company to invest more than $30 million in its Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream® facility in Fort Wayne, creating 68 new jobs. In July 2006, Nestlé® announced its plans to build a combined production and distribution facility in Anderson for its Nestlé® Nesquik® Ready-to-Drink and Nestle® Coffee-Mate® products.

Source: Governor's Office Press Release

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Family Owned Pizza Cafe Growing

kpaul.mallasch — Wed, 14 May 2008 05:26:11 -0700

ANDERSON, IN - Tommy J's Pizza Cafe, which opened on December 7, 2007, is planning to expand this summer according to Ben T. Jewell, one of the owners.

The restaurant, located on 1000 W. 3rd, has started work on an outdoor eating area in front of the restaurant. Business has been good so far according to Jewell, who runs the pizza cafe with his brother, Terry Poole, and father, Tom Jewell.

They're expecting to get their liquor license any day now and plan to offer beer and wine with lunch or dinner.

Plans go beyond that as well, with the family wanting to offer wine tasting and live entertainment on the only street in Anderson that runs straight through the city from North to South.

Ben's interest in authentic italian food began while he was working at The Pepperoni Grill in Bloomfield, IN. His father had a location and when Ben expressed interest, they put a plan together and opened.

Asked how Tommy J's was different than other pizza places in town, Ben answered, "We're family owned and operated and we use all fresh ingredients. We try to keep it low key and simple, giving good, authentic Italian food."

The outside cafe consists of a couple tables and chairs at the moment, but Ben said plans are in the works to construct a three foot fence around the eating area to cut down on the noise from traffic some while still allowing patrons to see through.

Also new this summer is ice cream on the menu.

According to Ben business has been great so far for them, with a lot of repeat customers.

If you're on that side of town, he welcomed people to check them out for lunch or dinner.

AGAPE to Locate in Union Building in downtown Anderson

kpaul.mallasch — Thu, 1 May 2008 13:11:50 -0700

ANDERSON, IN - Mayor Kris Ockomon announced today the addition of a new business to Anderson’s local economy. The company, AGAPE, LLC, is a start up company that will immediately employ 75 people in the call center industry and intends to grow to 400 employees within one year.

Managing partner Jeff Rogers spoke of AGAPE’s site selection process, “AGAPE searched throughout the Midwest for a location to base our operations. We chose Anderson because of the positive business climate; Anderson has the combination we most needed, a large and capable workforce and the ready accessibility of fiber optic infrastructure.”

The Mayor’s office, Economic Development Department, and Anderson Municipal Light and Power have worked with AGAPE since February to assist in selection of their Anderson location. The City offered the extension of fiber optics to the new location at a cost of three thousand dollars. Linda Dawson, Executive Director of Economic and Community Development for the City of Anderson, commented, “In respect to return on investment, the City’s financial investment in this project will be recovered in the first minutes of AGAPE’s presence in Anderson.”

AGAPE has chosen to locate in downtown’s historic Union Building, a Sullivanesque, terra cotta building constructed in 1902. The building was purchased by Albert Golukhov in 2006. Golukhov has invested two million dollars in renovations since that time. Jeanne Clarkson, property manager for the Union Building, stated, “The Union Building is under-going a multimillion dollar renovation, creating over 30,000 SF of additional Class A office space with the latest in state of the art amenities and services available to current and potential tenants. We are marketing locally, nationally and internationally for new businesses to relocate to Anderson.”

“The fact that AGAPE chose not just to locate in Anderson, but in downtown Anderson, is great news for our citizens, and our other downtown businesses. Adding 75 new downtown workers—growing to 400 new downtown workers within a year—will have an overwhelmingly positive impact for retail and commercial businesses and even downtown events,” added Mayor Kris Ockomon.

Positions will pay an average of $10 per hour. AGAPE plans to begin hiring immediately. If interested in employment with AGAPE, please direct an email to Apply@AGAPEcomUSA.com or check www.AGAPEIndiana.com after May 15.

Source: City of Anderson Press Release

Senate Democrats: Indiana should lead states in ending pay inequity

kpaul.mallasch — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:08:16 -0700

Tuesday, April 22, is the national observance of Equal Pay Day, the day when individuals throughout the country recognize the wage gap between working women and men. Equal Pay Day is held annually in April to signify the point into a year that a woman must work to earn what a man made the previous year.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women who work full-time, year-round earn 77 cents for every dollar earned by men – a gap of 23 cents. The gap is even greater for minority women as African American women earn 66 cents and Hispanic women earn 54 cents to every dollar earned by men nationally.

In Indiana, women’s pay falls below the national average with Hoosier women earning 72 cents for every dollar earned by men. The amount drops for college educated women in Indiana who make only 68 cents for every dollar. That ranks Indiana 50th in comparison to other states and Washington, D.C., and raises the question if the wage gap might be a contributing factor to Indiana’s brain drain. With a pay gap of 32 cents, why wouldn’t a female college graduate look to career opportunities in other states?

Pay inequity not only harms women, it harms families and communities through depressed living standards and higher poverty rates, particularly among female-headed households. Paying single working mothers as much as their male counterparts in comparable work would cut their poverty rates in half. American families lose more than $4,000 in annual wages from the inequity. Individually, American woman lose between $700,000 and $2 million in lifetime earnings from wage discrimination. This loss in wages also affects women as they go into retirement. According to the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement, women will go into retirement with at least $300,000 less in earnings than their male counterparts.

The first answer to this problem is for employers to examine and, if necessary, correct their pay practices to ensure that all employees performing comparable work are rewarded equally.

Second, women must stand up for equal pay. Knowing the labor market and industry salary averages can help women ensure that they are getting paid fairly. The Indiana Commission for Women (www.in.gov/icw) and the WAGE Project (www.wageproject.org) have many resources to help women research fair wages, relevant laws and what can be done about wage discrimination.

As with most changes, it would be preferable for the market to adapt itself and for employers to move toward equitable wages on their own initiative. However, legislation may be necessary. For employers who continue to pay women less, legal penalties or civil action may be the only remedies.

In the Indiana General Assembly, legislation that would expand on federal and state equal employment laws has been proposed for years. Unfortunately, those bills have not even gained a public hearing in the Senate Committee to which they were assigned. Legislation to close the wage gap deserves more serious consideration, and Hoosiers deserve the opportunity to speak to the need of such a measure.

We hope that the national observance of Equal Pay Day brings attention to this discrimination throughout the country. More importantly, we hope that Hoosiers step up to make Indiana an example for how fair, equitable pay for all workers can improve the quality of life for our citizens. The need is great, and the time is now. Women and their families cannot afford to wait!

Signed:

Jean Breaux - State Senator - Senate District 34
Earline Rogers - State Senator - Senate District 3
Connie Sipes - State Senator - Senate District 46
Sue Errington - State Senator - Senate District 26
Vi Simpson - Assistant Senate Democrat Leader - Senate District 40
Karen Tallian - State Senator - Senate District 4

Source: Senate Democrats

[AD] Warrior's Heart Summer Day Camp

kpaul.mallasch — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 13:50:05 -0700

Make your child a Summer Warrior!

Much more than day care

Choosing an activity for your children this summer just got a LOT easier. Instead of wasting the summer on video games and television, your child will reach new heights of fitness, focus, self discipline and respect. How can a "karate" class do all of this? Read further for more information. (If you have already heard enough and want to head straight to the Registration Page, just click HERE.)

How we work

We start by teaching new students about respect. They learn to respect the school (facility, teachers and staff), each other, their parents, and most importantly, themselves. That's lesson number one. Lesson number two is that respect means nothing unless they SHOW it. In martial arts we do that by honoring (or bowing - the meaning is something between a salute and a hand shake). At home they show respect by addressing parents as Sir or Ma'am. Now, we're not in the military here, but we think that parents are special enough people that they deserve to be shown respect, and this is how it starts.

Put Self-Confidence And Concentration At The Top Of Your Back-To-School List

It’s no secret that the school system today is lacking in important areas of education and is more dangerous than ever. That’s why millions of parents are adding martial arts to their children’s education. We specialize in helping children uncover their true potential and develop their self-confidence in the face of mounting peer pressure.

Carleton University, in a study reported in Psychology Today found that children in martial arts have:

a higher sense of self-esteem,

a higher level of social intelligence,

lower level of anxiety,

an increased sense of responsibility,

a decrease in the willingness to take foolish risks,

and were less likely to be radical.

Parents report their children in our school experience these five important benefits:

1. Our reward system improves children's self-esteem

Martial arts are not like team sports because the emphasis is on developing the individual's self-esteem not the team’s winning record. The belt system is the key. When kids earn their belts it gives them a great sense of accomplishment that really improves the way they feel about themselves.

2. Our program teaches children discipline

On of the things parents appreciate most about our classes is the improvement in their child’s self-discipline. We have a wonderful staff of patient instructors who love to work with children, but are also very clear about limits. We enforce good rules of behavior in class, and we expect the same good behavior at home and in school.

3. Our activities channel children's aggression

Many doctors actually prescribed schools like ours for treatment because of the positive outlet it gives the kids for all their energy.

4. Our confidence classes enhance children's self-esteem

We believe confidence is one of the most important things we can give kids. That’s why every class we teach has confidence-building drills included.

5. Our program teaches children essential self-defense skills

We teach practical, proven self-defense methods. We also teach the kids that the moves they learn in class will work, so they don’t go home and try them on their sister, the neighbor, or the dog.

If you’d like your children’s summer education to include self-confidence, self-control, focus and concentration, then click here now.

Get Started!

By the end of the summer, your child will be a yellow belt! She will be well on her path to black belt and making good choices that will follow her for her whole life. He will be starting to understand the concepts of self-defense that we teach, and will begin to apply those concepts in his daily life. The bottom line is that we give our students a standard of behavior to follow, and then make it very easy for them to do that. If you want to know more, feel free to write at Info@WarriorsHeartMA.com.

Our Martial Art Summer Day Camp runs the entire summer vacation. You have the option of joining and paying week to week, or paying for the entire summer at a discount. We are limiting enrollments, so be sure to get your reservations in now! To cover the initial investment of a uniform and t-shirt there is a $125 registration fee per new student.

Here are the payment plans:

	Normal Cost	Sign-up Special! Register by 4-30-2008 to Save! (Before 4/31/2008)
Week to Week	$125 per week	$112.50 per week (Save $137)
Week to Week Additional Siblings	$100 per week	$90 per week (Save $110)

Entire summer (11 weeks) Paid in full	$1100 (Save $275)	$990 (Save $385)
Entire Summer Paid in Full Additional Siblings	$880 (Save $220)	$792 (Save $308)

To reserve your child's spot in this exclusive and forward thinking Summer Day Camp right here in Muncie, please click HERE!

Info@WarriorsHeartMA.com
Copyright © 2008 Kuk Sool Won™ of Muncie. All rights reserved.
Revised: 04/14/08

Small Business Development Center to Open Sub-Center in Anderson

kpaul.mallasch — Wed, 9 Apr 2008 18:17:26 -0700

ANDERSON, IN - The City of Anderson announced funding support to open a sub-center of the East Central Indiana Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in the City Hall Building. This office will open on April 14, 2008.

The SBDC specializes in providing comprehensive, no cost counseling services to existing and prospective small businesses owners. Part of a statewide program with 11 service regions in the State of Indiana, the East Central Region will now have offices operating in Anderson, Muncie and Richmond. Since the beginning of 2008, the SBDC has met with forty-seven Anderson clients.

“Establishing a local office for the SBDC in Anderson is a crucial component of The City’s economic development efforts. The SBDC brings multiple levels of service to existing and new businesses that ensure a greater degree of success,” said Linda Dawson, executive director, Department of Economic Development with the City of Anderson. “The Department of Economic Development is excited to add another service which will complement our initiative to retain existing businesses and foster new business development."

The East Central Indiana SBDC serves 8 counties and operates through the cooperative support of the City of Anderson, City of Muncie, City of New Castle, Delaware County, Energize ECI, Gas City, Hartford City and Wayne County. The center is also funded through grants from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and the U.S. Small Business Administration. The program is hosted by Ivy Tech Community College, Region 6. The annual cost of the service to the City of Anderson will be $15,000, paid through food and beverage funding.

“The local commitment to developing this program and making it more accessible to clients has been astounding,” adds Rick Leibowitz, Regional Director of the SBDC program. “We have already developed a significant client base in the City of Anderson. This funding, along with the dedication of office space and administrative support, will help us enhance our level of service to the small businesses in the City of Anderson and Madison County. ”

About SBDC

The SBDC provides management assistance to current and prospective business owners, including a wealth of free and low cost information, management counseling, and educational services designed to support business owners and entrepreneurs. For information or to schedule a consultation, contact Rick Leibowitz at RLiebowitz@isbdc.org or call 765.648.6112

Source: City of Anderson Press Release

Highway 38 Sale (Noblesville to New Castle) Begins May 2

kpaul.mallasch — Wed, 2 Apr 2008 10:04:05 -0700

MADISON COUNTY, IN - The Highway 38 Sale goes from Noblesville to New Castle on State Road 38. Not only are there hundreds of roadside rummages, but many stores along the route open for sales. It takes place May 2-4.

In Pendleton, vendors also line the downtown area. If you'd like to get a booth, call Jessica Greene at 778-9898.

Down the road is the big sale at the Markleville Community Park. It averages about 40 vendors.

Local Betty Weist is heading it up again this year. Booths are $10 for the weekend. Call her at 533-3326.

Mayor Ockomon and Local Pastors Working Together on Unemployment

kpaul.mallasch — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:24:20 -0700

ANDERSON, IN - Mayor Kris Ockomon and the Anderson Pastor’s Alliance have joined forces in an effort to address unemployment. On Thursday, March 27, 2008, a job fair will be held from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church’s Fellowship Hall located at 1610 Sheridan. “It is important that our citizens are given every opportunity to find employment,” stated Mayor Kris Ockomon.

“Working with organizations like the Anderson Pastor’s Alliance provides strength and stability to our ongoing efforts toward reaching the unemployed,” he continued. “I am overjoyed that my administration can partner with our citizens to make a difference for those who live in Anderson,” said Mayor Ockomon.

The City of Anderson’s Transit System (CATS) will provide a shuttle from the Anderson Zion Baptist Church, 2008 Rev. J.T. Menifee Street to the Allen Chapel Fellowship Hall, every half hour to assist residents in the area who are without transportation.

Employers who have already registered to participate include: Averitt Express, Indiana Wesleyan, Wachovia Securities, Arbonne International, Hoosier Park Racing and Casino, The Geo Group, and the New Castle Correctional Facility. Additionally, Job Source will be present with job training and resume preparation information and the Community Action Partnership will offer job training and employment for those 55 years of age and older.

There will be representatives with jobs that may be done from the home, those offering employment in neighboring communities as well as job opportunities within the city. Because the City of Anderson and the Anderson Pastor’s Alliance embrace diversity, those from all walks of life are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity.

“The Anderson Pastor’s Alliance desired to be proactive in assisting local residents in finding employment and the city was a natural beginning point,” stated the Rev. Earlie Dixon, President of the Alliance. “We are proud to partner with the City of Anderson in sponsoring this job fair which will enable persons to apply for jobs, present their resumes, as well as secure information about future job opportunities,” shared Rev. Lenore G. Williams, the event coordinator. The Pastor’s Alliance, a diverse group of local pastors who meet the 2nd Mondays of each month, plan to make the job fair an annual event.

For additional job fair information, the public is asked to contact the Alliance’s Rev. Lenore G. Williams at (765) 642-3117.

Source: City of Anderson Press Release

Mark Your Calendar for Central Indiana Regional Job Fair

kpaul.mallasch — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 02:59:58 -0700

ANDERSON, IN - Are you seeking employment or want to increase your job-seeker skills? Then make sure that you mark your calendar for the WorkOne job fair that will take place on March 13th, 2008, 10am-3pm at the new multi-purpose church facility of Madison Park, in Anderson. Over thirty employers are committed and the list continues to grow. Break-out rooms are also available for career development workshops, such as building your resume and enhancing your interviewing skills. Workshops begin at 8:30am.

The City of Anderson is providing shuttle transportation from the downtown CATS terminal to the Madison Park event location on the hour, starting at 8:00am. “We want to give every citizen the opportunity to attend,” says Mayor Ockomon. The Mayor’s Courtesy Shuttle has the capacity to transport 23 citizens per trip and is handicap accessible. The departure and arrival schedule is as follows:

Departing CATS terminal:           8:00am   Arriving Madison Park: 8:20am

                                             9:00am                                     9:20am

                                               10:00am                                   10:20am

                                               11:00am                                   11:20am

                                               12:00pm                                   12:20pm

                                               1:00pm                                     1:20pm

                                               2:00pm                                     2:20pm

For more information on shuttle service, please contact CATS general manager, Merle Jones, at 765-648-6400.

The Central Indiana Job Fair is a joint effort of the Corporation for Economic Development, WorkOne Fishers, WorkOne Anderson, Chamber of Commerce for Anderson & Madison County, Pendleton Chamber of Commerce, City of Anderson, Mayor Kris Ockomon, State Senator Tim Lanane, State Representative Scott Reske, State Representative Terri Austin and Madison County Commissioners.

For more information about the Central Indiana Job Fair at Madison Park, contact Donna Lord, Program Coordinator, at donnalord@interlocal-association.org or call the Job Fair Hotline at 1-888-230-3137.

Madison Park is located at 6607 Providence Drive, Anderson Indiana, 46012.

Source: City of Anderson Press Release

Central Indiana Job Fair Opens Opportunities for Regional Employers

kpaul.mallasch — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:08:06 -0800

ANDERSON, IN - Raved as one of the best job fairs in the region, WorkOne in conjunction with the City of Anderson and many others, will sponsor the first Central Indiana Job Fair of 2008. The job fair will take place on March 13th, 2008, 10am-3pm at the new multi-purpose church facility of Madison Park, in Anderson. Openings are currently available for employers.

"I invite all regional employers seeking quality employees to attend the day's event," says Mayor Kris Ockomon. "The City of Anderson is ecstatic to be a sponsor of this year's first job fair," says Ockomon. "As development continues to move up the I69 corridor, Madison County residents are connected even closer to the growing regional job market." Mayor Ockomon and his staff will be on-site throughout the day to welcome guests and answer questions about Anderson, the Madison County seat.

"Madison Park's spacious facility gives us the advantage to comfortably host multiple employers," says Karen Pettigrew, Economic Development Specialist for the City of Anderson. "We are accommodating both large and small businesses," says Pettigrew. "We have several regional companies that have already committed and Madison Park's convenient location (right off of I69), makes it an easy drive." Break-out rooms are also available for private interviews and career development workshops.

Employers interested in attending the Central Indiana Job Fair at Madison Park, should contact Donna Lord, Program Coordinator, at donnalord@interlocal-association.org or by calling the Job Fair Hotline at 1-888-230-3137. WorkOne has an excellent reputation of hosting quality job fairs that connect prospective employees to the right employer. Madison Park is located at 6607 Providence Drive, Anderson, Indiana.

Source: City of Anderson Press Release

Independent Federal Credit Union Opens New Branch in Edgewood

kpaul.mallasch — Tue, 5 Feb 2008 12:28:23 -0800

ANDERSON, IN - On Wednesday, January 30th, Mayor Kris Ockomon and Edgewood Town Council President, Patricia Farran performed their first official ribbon cutting by helping Chairman of the Board, Mark Fetz, CEO, Norm Getts and Madison County Chamber President Keith Pitcher celebrate the grand opening of Independent Federal Credit Union's fourth Madison County location.

The newest addition to the Credit Union's full service branches is located at 3607 Nichol Avenue. Independent was originally founded as the credit union for Delco Remy employees in Anderson. Having been in business since 1946, it is Anderson's largest credit union.

The Credit Union recently acquired a community charter, allowing anyone who lives, works, worships or studies in Madison County the ability to become a member. Families of those eligible to join are also invited to become members.

Independent's new West Branch will be a full service location, with three drive-up lanes, a drive-up ATM, and full lobby service. They have three other locations: 1107 East 24th St, 2220 East 59th St. (behind Cracker Barrel), and Hartman Road at SR 9 North.

Independent Federal Credit Union offers a wide range of savings and checking products as well as all types of IRA and money market accounts. Loans available include auto loans, personal loans, credit cards and mortgages. They also have 9 ATM locations locally.

Independent Federal Credit Union is very active both financially and with volunteer hours in the community, supporting such groups as the Brooklyn Little League, Boy Scouts of America, the American Cancer Society, Relay for Life, The March of Dimes, Dove Harbor, Anderson Community Schools Foundation, Anderson University/ Purdue University at Anderson, Ivy Tech Community College and the Anderson Center for the Arts.

Source: City of Anderson Press Release

Economic Fallacies -- Interview with Thomas Sowell

kpaul.mallasch — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 21:42:59 -0800

By Bill Steigerwald

Economist and syndicated columnist Thomas Sowell says he has lost track of how many books he’s written on economics, history, social policy, ethnicity and the history of ideas. His latest, “Economic Facts and Fallacies,” adds to his admirable record of using plain language to pass along some of the dismal science’s often ignored, often twisted truths and basic principles to everyday readers.

Professor Sowell, 77, is the Rose and Milton Friedman Senior Fellow on Public Policy at the Hoover Institution on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. I talked to him by telephone on Thursday, Jan. 24.

Q: Do you have any wisdom to share with us about what the politicians should or shouldn’t be doing about our current economic troubles?

A: Well, they’re two fundamentally different questions. The first is, "Is there something that the government could do that might make things better?" The second is, "Is there anything the government is likely to do that will make things better?" The second question is much easier to answer: The answer is “No.”

Q: From what they’ve done so far, are you encouraged or frightened?

A: I think I’m stoically braced for whatever disaster they create.

Q: Why did you write this latest book and who is it written for?

A: It’s written, first of all, for the general public. It’s not written specifically for economists. Most economists know most of these things -- well, they know most of the principles; they don’t know most of the facts. It’s not meant to be a breakthrough on the frontiers of analytical knowledge. But it is meant to show how so many things that look one way are in fact diametrically the opposite when you take a closer look at them -- and especially if you look at them systematically instead of just in terms of what rhetoric sets off your emotions, which is what seems to be going on in both parties these days.

Q: What’s an example of an economic fallacy from your book?

A: One is the income gap between rich and poor. It’s maddening to me to keep hearing how the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer, and so on. The fundamental difference is the difference between talking about abstract statistical categories and talking about flesh-and-blood human beings. Since the book came out, for example, there’s been a study released by the Treasury Department based on income tax returns. There, they are talking about following the same human beings over a span of years, which is wholly different from following income brackets over a span of years, because in all the brackets more than half the people change in the course of a decade. So what happens to a bracket is an abstract question; what happens to the flesh-and-blood human beings is different.

For example, for the flesh-and-blood people who were in the bottom 20 percent of taxpayers in income in 1996, their average increase of income over the next decade was 91 percent -- so they almost doubled their incomes. Meanwhile, for the people in the top 1 percent -- presumably the rich who are getting richer -- their average income declined 26 percent. That's diametrically the opposite from what we’re hearing from nearly every newspaper and practically every political platform.

Q: Where do these fallacies come from?

A: Oh, God, there are so many of them. As I say in the first chapter of the book, I can only give a sample of the fallacies. For instance, I list several beliefs -- "except for the rich, the incomes of Americans have stagnated;" "the middle class is growing smaller;" "over the years, the poor have been getting poorer;" "corporate executives are overpaid at the expense of stockholders and consumers;" and so on.

I point out that you can find statistics that seem to support every one of those propositions, but you can also find other statistics -- and sometimes the same statistics looked at differently -- which cause the whole argument to collapse like a house of cards.

Q: What fallacy does the most damage to our whole society or economy?

A: I guess the single fallacy from which so many other fallacies derive is what I call in this book “the zero-sum fallacy" -- that is, the idea that what one person gains, someone else loses ... . A classic example is rent control. When you put in rent control, the tenants gain in the short run; the landlords lose in the short run; the builders lose in the short run. But of course the builders lose the least, because the same material and skills that are used in building apartment buildings are used in building office buildings and warehouses and all kinds of other structures; they lose very little. But when the supply of housing dries up, then the tenants are really in a bad way. So places that have rent control almost invariably have housing shortages.

Q: How does a basic knowledge of economics help someone see through these fallacies?

A: That really is what they would have to read the book to find out. The point is, you can demonstrate time and time again that the things that sound plausible just on the surface -- if you do give them just a little bit of systematic thought -- can suddenly change. One of the chapters is on male-female economic differences. I must say, when I was doing the research on this I was shocked to discover that there is a very significant income difference between young male doctors and young female doctors. I forget what the number is, but it’s not 1 or 2 percent. It was only when I dug into it that I discovered that young male doctors worked 500 hours a year more than young female doctors. Well, you know, if you work 500 hours more a year, you'd expect to get paid more!

Q: Is there any rule of thumb people could use to determine if they were being confronted with a fallacy?

A: Are you telling me that I should tell people they don’t really need to buy my book? (laughs) ... There are only eight chapters in my book. But after you’ve been through them you’ll be able to derive certain principles which you will suddenly realize apply to all kinds of other things that are not discussed in the book.

There are three questions that I think would destroy the left if people could ask them:

"What are the facts?"

"What are the consequences of what you are going to do?"

And "What is the trade-off?”

People talk as if you can just save the people whose homes are at risk, and that’s it. Well, if that was the case, why not save them? But at what price? We could ratify the Kyoto Treaty, but the question is "At what price and what benefits would there be to offset that price?" That’s the question that the politicians and the ideologues don’t want to ask. They don’t want to compare. They don’t want to weigh one thing against the other.

Bill Steigerwald is a columnist at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. E-mail Bill at steigerwald@caglecartoons.com. ©Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, All Rights Reserved.

Corrugated Industry Expanding in Anderson

kpaul.mallasch — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 19:34:14 -0800

ANDERSON, IN - MSI, a company that opened in 2006, is moving in a direction that will bring aspects of the corrugated industry and bulk powder fluidization to Anderson within two years.

MSI’s parent company is Mühlen Sohn GmbH of Blaustein, Germany. At present, MSI services and sells products in the United States that are manufactured in Germany. Those products include belts that are utilized on a corrugator that makes corrugated sheets, as well as Fluitex® Aeration fabrics that are utilized in the cement, and other industries, where bulk powders are pneumatically conveyed.

The first step in the company’s growth, said General Manager Dick Wohlberg, is its purchase this week of the building at 4640 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The goal is to manufacture MSI’s brands of corrugator belts and fluidizing fabrics in Anderson. This will require the installation of up to three looms within the next two to four years.

“MSI’s growth provides opportunity for an entirely new industry in Anderson,” said Wohlberg. “We already have in place in the United States a service and sales network, but the manufacture of these heavy fabrics in Anderson will require support businesses in the area. We hope those support businesses will locate in Anderson when the time comes.”

Wohlberg also thanked the city of Anderson’s outside salesman Greg Winkler for bringing together MSI and First Industrial Trust, owners of the building. “We have found this building at 4640 King Boulevard to be in a great location and there is room to expand,” he said. “Mr. Winkler and Mayor Kevin Smith have been extremely responsive to MSI’s business needs, whenever we have asked.”

MSI is actively involved in industrial development with I Power Energy Systems and the two companies will continue to work together to develop business for Anderson, Wohlberg said.

Source: City of Anderson