A Culture of Lies

Why is it that the local officials have such a history of overblowing their so called economic development results and their alleged pet projects that end up being nothing but empty promises. Are these people incompetent? Or are they lying to the general public despite their attempts to feign ignorance to the true situation? How many more paying jobs have to be lost in Washington County before our local elected officials and their boards finally look into getting something meaningful accomplished? How many plants and business have to close due to lack of sales and revenue before these individuals do something productive?

Why don't these county officials realize that they are not only losing jobs and local business but also losing a great deal of tax revenue from constructive development and not the few low wage jobs where at least 40 percent of the people in the county have to leave the county to find employment?

One has to wonder if the people in charge of these so-called development efforts are out of touch, incompetent, or exactly what seems to be the problem. Or is it just that many of the local businesses don't want local jobs and industry to expand to protect their low wage businesses and obviously their profits. It is about the same fallacy as having chicken houses as creating local businesses when instead the county needs employers of 25 to 100 people in each town and to develop and bring a decent level of prosperity to the people. Perhaps not millionaire status, but instead where poverty isn't the rule like it is currently being forced on the population.

Some critics would say this is unfounded but it is obvious that Salem has a 40 year history of promising big things, but providing little in the way of results. Look at the alleged economic development projects that have fallen though over the years. Is it by incompetence, ignorance, and blatant stupidity? Or is it due to the fact that there is a well founded idea among many around the community that the local propagandists for low wage business aren't too high on bringing in businesses that would compete for workers, and bring some level of competitive wages and healthy economic development. While instead covering up for their friends and local low wage employers.

Real Economic Development

Washington County, Indiana needs real economic development very soon. Instead of bringing in a couple of burger flipping, grocery store jobs, the city needs a true economic revitalization. Note to the local county officials and local businesses, $7 an hour jobs aren't going to cut it no matter how low you get the standard of living. Instead, what is being created is poverty, despair, unemployment, hopelessness, and a culture of incompetence. Why is it that Salem, Indiana wants to promote this for the remaining youth and future generations. Why does the city and local officials lack a vision and the common sense to complete the necessary tasks and improve the economic livelihood of the community. I wonder who is going to pay their Social Securty and retirement benefits based on low wage jobs.

Also, who is going to pay the taxes for local infrastructure improvements as well as the already burdening property taxes which are being used in many cases on overpriced school buildings that do not educate the children any better. Why hasn't anyone in the community really focused on any and all of these issues. Why are they blind to the facts? Or is it so that they can pander to the local small business community that doesn't want the community as a whole to benefit from REAL economic development.

To hear the local economic development officials and the commissioners and council, one would think that they are totally clueless to sustaining real economic development. Not through building fast food restaurants and low wage jobs but lasting jobs, true economic development and jobs that pay good wages. Somehow having local workers working for 6.75 an hour isn't true economic development but rather a race to the bottom and nothing more than slave labor. A true modern day form of wage slavery and chattel slavery. Not only practiced by many local employers but also multinational corporations many of whom are based in the Midwest and some owned by multimillionaires while the common people scratch and struggle for the scraps.

Poverty AND Slave Wages

Slave Wages in Washington County When our local officials and managers talk, it sounds as if one is passing gas and in fact that is what they are doing. Have these people ever had the intelligence to give a candid and honest assessment of what this community and its local organizations have going for it. Have these people ever spent time outside of this community and wondered what assets can be used for community wide improvement? Or is it a case of small minds leading everyone else down the wrong path? So instead of perpetuating the economic vibrancy of a community it is better to create low wage jobs and lack economic improvement? Why is it that 20 percent of the youth in Washington County, Indiana live under the poverty level? Why is it that for a family of four the poverty level is slightly below 20,000 dollars per year when that is a very low figure? Why hasn't the city produced more in the way of tangible economic and educational opportunities for its citizens. Is this all that we can do as a community to impove the lives and well-being of the citizenry? Or is it another symptom of 30 years of failure and a lack of vision in this area? 30 years of industrial decline and increasing debt obligations. 30 years of lacking proper planning and development procedures. Lacking results and concrete plans to improve the community through education and jobs. Yet, when we hear these education advocates we never seem to hear how we are going to improve the education system and the curriculum. Instead, it is focused on generating a new building and constructing new facilitiies. Which hardly improves the school but rather puts ill-educated students in a new building. Why has the educational hierarchy failed in this where so many kids have to take remedial classes in a wide variety of subjects. Where is our local officials in producing substantial economic gains and improvement in incomes, job stability, and the like. Creating low wage burger flipping and retail jobs is not the way to the future but a return to leaner times. Not an Army inspired saying of "Be All you can be" but rather a return to economic slavery and despondency. Instead of promoting self sufficiency and hard work, it promotes economic dependency and a lack of ambition and constructing the conditions that promote economic empowerment. Why is it that our local officials lack understand and education to see where these trends are going?

The Local Good Ole Boy System

The leaders and community elites have failed the people of Washington County, Indiana and the people of the general community. They have done this through their arrogance, greed, and corrupt practices. For a little background information, perhaps see how many ethics violations have occurred in county government over the past few years. That is just the reported ethics violations that have been pursued. Isn't nepotism a case of corruption and ethics violations? Isn't it a patronage system where the good old boy mantra of ripping off the public to get a few backs scratched a ethics violation? How about the fact that for years the public officials in concert with local low wage businesses have conspired to keep wages low, employment opportunities scarce, and the REAL prospect of ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT away for the average taxpayer and citizen. All to protect their small business buddies sitting in their smoke filled rooms not unlike the political bosses of yesteryear. Think it doesn't happen? Then why does Washington County, Indiana have some of the highest rates of POVERTY and CHILD POVERTY in the whole state of Indiana? Gee, does one think that all of the employers and their low wage service jobs are a part of the issue. Or the lack of business that actually pays its workers a wage on which they can truly live. Do the commissioners, council, and political prostitutes ever visit their constituency or do they instead live in their Life of Riley world where everything is fine and all is good just for them and their cronies. Why is it that the average family income in Salem, Indiana in Washington County at least 14,000 dollars below the state level of income across the entire state of Indiana. Because of a lousy local job market where there are few paying jobs because the local small business often finds ways to screw their employees. To top this all off, the state grants tax incentives to these low wage corporations for worker training. Which is a job of the corporation, not the STATE. Why is it that our elected officials haven't caught onto this scam? One manufacturer if not more in Salem receives grants from the State of Indiana so they can pay their low wage slaves something on the order of 7 to 8 dollars an hour. Now why does a multi million dollar corporation need a tax incentive to create low wage jobs. If they are going to create them anyway, then why should this parts manufacturer get one cent from the public treasury. To hear these factory managers around Salem, many of whom are ill-educated fools despite their alleged schooling, its totally preposterous that the AMERICAN PEOPLE. should allow their PUBLIC TREASURY to be robbed all for multinational corporations and their ilk. These are the same people that are using SLAVE LABOR in Communist China at a quarter an hour while they mark up the prices here in America. One local outfit has the audacity to tell the women in their plant of how good they are being treated and how good their employer is despite the average wage being 8 dollars an hour. Meanwhile, these morally corrupt and debased corporate clowns are trying to tell these women, oh how great it is while the owner of the company not only owns two local manufacturing plants but also involved in a accounting firm in the Louisville Metro area. These local business leaders and their cronies will not stop their systematic destruction of the American workforce until We THE People step up and by force of law make these people do right. They won't do right because they want to be nice or considerate. They won't do right because they are Christians who actually live as they are supposed to. They won't do right because they believe in liberty, human rights, and basic decency. The only time they will do right is when WE THE PEOPLE force these corrupt purveyors of corporate corruption to abide by our laws and our standards. Which brings us back to the fact that OUR local government and officials are largely bought off and in bed with those that do what they want whenever they want. Exactly where do these small town bosses think that they get their tax monies from, and from whom? Well, it appears to me that WE THE PEOPLE give them a job in order to enforce the laws and perform public service. We do not and should not allow these political cronies and their business establishment to continue to bring our country down to THIRD WORLD status just to kowtow to the wishes of the corporate masters. If American and Multinational Corporations have their way, then all Americans will face a lowering of their standard of living and the destruction of our REPUBLIC. Our nation is a Constitutional Republic with the democratic right to vote for our elected representatives. It is not a pure democracy or in any way shape or form affiliated with the Democratic party or any other political party. Our leaders are elected by WE THE PEOPLE and for them to do the jobs we elect them to do. Not only are the beholden to uphold the United States Constitution but also what laws we have as Americans to maintain domestic order and tranquility. Not to be the political puppets of some corporate entity. Thanks for your reading and more comments coming soon.

A Crisis of Leadership

Why isn't the community focusing on economic development on a much larger scale than focusing on small businesses that pay less than standard wages? If one wants to start a small business, there is always the SBA programs offered by the government. However, it seems that local officials are more interested in figuring out how to get a 200,000 training grant that will be wasted,mismanaged, and in someones pocket. Meanwhile, there won't be nothing to show for this effort. Just more low wage jobs, more training for perpetually employed burger flippers, and fewer living wage jobs.

Real economic development means creating and enticing real companies providing real living wage jobs and not some low wage service outfit that pays 8 dollars an hour. Why doesn't our public servants go work for 8 bucks an hour and see how it feels? Why don't all the community do gooders that brag about their measly accomplishments such as planting flowers go work for 8 an hour. I would suspect that due to their being placed near some of the good ole boys that you can expect they won't.

It's always amazing to hear these people proclaiming their love for leadership but providing little leadership to speak of. Referring to your local population as nothing more than slaves and outcasts of the caste system isn't leadership. Leadership is setting the example for others to follow, not hollow promises, planting a couple of trees, and patting yourself on your back. However, in their liberal feel good society, I'm sure that it is something for those so called leaders to feel proud of.

At least if you have the arrogance to look down on the local citizenry as nothing but a bunch of rabble, at least make sure that you accomplished something first other than living off of the old mans money.