Liedtky

By Ryan Liedtky, Originally published in the South Bend Tribune. 
 
When it comes to health care, or any of a number of other issues regarding government, we tend to pervert ourselves with simple notions on all sides.
 
On one side we have the common minimalist approach, which makes sense.
 
On the other side, we have the common socialist approach, which also makes sense.
 

On November 3rd, St. Joseph County will hold a referendum to determine whether St. Joe will enter into the Northern Indiana Regional Transportation District. The vote on the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) would mean an increase in the County Option Income Tax (COIT) by 0.25%.

While the amount does not seem excessively high, it represents a slippery slope that we can avoid. The RTA would potentially encompass the four counties in Northwest Indiana -- St. Joseph, La Porte, Porter and Lake. Tax dollars would be used to support the Gary Regional Airport, expansion of the South Short Rail, and increased bus service between metropolitan pockets of these four counties. There is no foreseeable benefit to most residents of these counties.

The Indiana General Assembly attached to the state budget a requirement that St. Joseph, La Porte, Lake, and Porter counties vote on whether or not to create a Regional Transportation District, and that if only 2 of the counties agreed, the district would be created. The vote is to be held on November 3rd.

I have several problems with the state government doing this, but let’s break it down a little, because it’s already convoluted enough as it is.

By Ryan Liedtky, Originally published in the South Bend Tribune.

When it comes to health care, or any of a number of other issues regarding government, we tend to pervert ourselves with simple notions on all sides.

On one side we have the common minimalist approach, which makes sense.

On the other side, we have the common socialist approach, which also makes sense.

The problem is that both sides reduce the argument to such simple notions that it cannot be refuted, except, sadly, by reality.

With health care we must be idiots if we think a socialist plan is free. It is not. It costs money, coming from the taxpayers, and specifically the rich (who happen to be the ones providing jobs). A prime example of how this is not free can be found in European nations that put this plan into use.

There are a few realities that often go overlooked.

It’s nice to have state blogs to address state-specific issues. We find that in Doug Masson’s A Citizen’s Guide to Indiana.

From Delphi schools needing repair work to Georgetown, IN’s bankruptcy consideration, state and local issues are covered providing cited sources, facts, and opinions with more questions than answers. The answers, apparently, are yours to give and not to be told.

This proves, to me, to be a powerful selling point of the blog as it seeks to empower the people with thought, rather than dumbing the population with supposed answers.

LPIN District Committee 2 Press Release:

SOUTH BEND, IN -- On July 24th, the national minimum wage will increase to $7.25 per hour. While many are applauding this as they will receive higher wages, the 2nd District Rep. to the Libertarian Party of Indiana, Ryan Liedtky, has issued a warning about the possible negative impacts such a raise could pose.

The increase could raise wages for one in ten workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute, as well as pumping over $5 billion into the economy. “But this will raise inflation, too,” Liedtky said, “which will have a toll that is not being calculated into the equation by most who look at the situation superficially.”

Sometimes you just need that voice of reason. Political blogs in many cases pollute the minds of the masses, feeding false information, or lazily hashed out opinions that offer no logical explanation for the conclusions they draw. With Bloggie Style, I have sought to ensure that I do not review “blogs without purpose”. If the information isn’t relevant, researched, and logical, I will not promote, even if negatively.

Sometimes you find blogs that tend to be a step above the best of the best. We’ve seen that in this feature with Andy Horning’s We Declare, and Rex Bell’s Bell Curve. So it cannot be any surprise that I have found another blog that seems to reach above and beyond even a talented and well thought out blog.

By keeping some of the posts short, and others longer with great detail and organized thought processes, one can follow rather easily Sean Shepard’s On Politics and Policy. Yet beyond even that we find that the posts are timely, and provide intelligent questions, which ultimately force the reader to think.

As is often the case, political labels get confused over time. Naumann’s Foundation for Liberty seeks to correct the misidentification of liberalism, by explaining it’s connection to freedom.

In Liberal Confusion, the site’s blog seeks to explain that the word liberal truly means “free”, and that social freedom cannot come without economic freedom as well. The Foundation for Liberty also seeks to differentiate liberalism from conservatism and socialism, explaining conservative political parties are often invariably linked to specific religious organizations, and socialism is the imposition of one doctrine of beliefs upon all citizens of the nation (essentially stating that conservatism and socialism are one in the same, differing only in that one is run by religion and the other in the absence of religion).