The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1447470
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, Feburar y 2, 2022 D-5 for "sectarian instruction or religious worship" don't qual- ify, per Biden. This despite govern- ment data indicating about one-quarter of parents par- ticipating in child care send their child to a church-relat- ed facility. The bottom line is that, once again, what Democrats really want, this time in the name of child care, is the gov- ernment-funded progressive takeover of our lives. The multibillion-dollar Democrat universal pre-K pro- gram should meet the same fate as the Build Back Better legislation of which it was a part. It should be stopped. Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." de- try streets." Shellenberger's argues progres- Shel- when he jus- those de- locks people over- like- than many misdemean- 950 jailed. divert go to treatment break conse- front of oth- an ar- paperwork re- broken incarcer- vot- people. disaster." for Francis- that "homeless." mental- life light will in- said because it she treat don't and shel- homeless progressive everyone costs apartment in vid- cost of for Califor- discour- there's a rental live Shellenberger. plac- don't scenes in open neighbor- func- peo- should The right to out- "We them directly be- freedom," he right park." for prob- he progres- the responsibili- Francisco even their Francis- declared crim- city! " protesters Breed budget be enforce- Letter to the Editor Inflation alert ment ... and less tolerant of all the bull that has destroyed our city." Progressive ideas almost always end badly. John Stossel is creator of Stossel TV and author of "Give Me a Break: How I Ex- posed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media." tradition—how those words have come to be used before and after, precedent, the pur- pose of the statute—the stat- utory phrase in question, and the consequences. … I think we all have those six tools, … but I think some of us empha- size the first four and try to avoid the last two. And they think that in doing that, it's less likely that you'll get sub- jective. I don't think that. I think you have to emphasize in many of these cases the last two, purpose and conse- quence, and I think there are ways of doing that which are honest … And I think that is just as likely to be objective as to rely solely on the first four. … I think emphasizing the lat- ter is more likely to keep the judge in touch with the leg- islature in a statutory case, which is in turn in touch with the people, and that is an ap- propriate thing in a democ- racy. Suffice it to say, Scalia dis- agreed with Breyer, arguing that the problem with this purpose-and-consequence approach is that it "invite[s] subjective judgment." Although Breyer's opin- ions lack the wit and sheer lit- erary brilliance of Scalia's or Kagan's, he has written sever- al significant decisions during his tenure on the court. Last term, Breyer wrote the majority opinion in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L., upholding the First Amend- ment rights of a disgruntled student who was punished by her school after express- ing her displeasure, in a vul- gar fashion, in an off-cam- pus Snapchat posting about her not having been select- ed for the varsity cheerlead- ing squad. In 2014, Breyer wrote the majority opinion in Nation- al Labor Relations Board v. Noel Canning, in which the court invalidated President Barack Obama's recess ap- pointments to the National La- bor Relations Board after con- cluding that the Senate, which was conducting pro forma ses- sions by unanimous consent, was not in formal recess. In abortion cases, he wrote the plurality opinion in June Medical Services v. Russo, in which the court held a Loui- siana law requiring that doc- tors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital to be un- constitutional, and the ma- jority opinion in Stenberg v. Carhart, in which the court struck down Nebraska's ban on partial-birth abortions (an opinion that was substantial- ly modified by the court's sub- sequent opinion in Gonzales v. Carhart, in which the court upheld the federal ban on par- tial-birth abortions). And Breyer has been pas- sionate in his dogged opposi- tion to the death penalty, as perhaps best exemplified by his lengthy dissent in Glos- sip v. Gross in which he ex- pressed his view—repeat- ed many times since then— that it is "highly likely" that the death penalty is unconsti- tutional. For the past several years, and very much to his cred- it, Breyer has decried the in- creasing politicization of the Supreme Court, not by its members but by the media and the politicians who pub- licly ply the notion that a jus- tice always will vote the way the president who appointed him or her would expect. "A president who thinks the judge is always going to decide his way is really un- der some cloud of delusion," Breyer said during a discus- sion at the Nexus Institute last October. He often cited President Theodore Roosevelt's appoint- ment of Justice Oliver Wen- dell Holmes, whom the pres- ident assumed would back his attempts at trust-bust- ing. Holmes' rulings against the president's position made Roosevelt furious. There are, of course, many instances of this phenomenon. In a speech at Harvard Law School last year, previewing themes he would explore in his new book "The Authority of the Court and the Peril of Politics," Breyer said: The Senate confirmation process has changed over the past two decades. It has be- come more partisan. Senators more often divide along par- ty lines, and often describe a nominee as too liberal or too conservative. And what they say to the press, and to their constituents, reinforces the view that politics, not legal merit, drives Supreme Court decisions. I think, or fear, these are more than straws in the wind. They will rein- force in minds that the Su- preme Court justices are pri- marily political officials or ju- nior league politicians, rath- er than jurists. They can believe that the differences among judges reflect not pol- itics, but jurisprudential dif- ferences, but that is not what the public thinks. At least not most of them. He added: "If the public sees judges as 'politicians in robes,' its confidence in the courts, and in the rule of law itself, can only diminish, di- minishing the Court's power, including its power to act as a 'check' on other branches" of government. It seems that many who have been urging—begging, really—Breyer to retire do not share these sentiments, but we can only hope that the public retains confidence in the independence of the ju- diciary. Breyer has not stepped down yet. As this article should make clear, I disagree with many of his views on le- gal issues. However, courte- ousness and decorum being in distressingly short supply these days, I would like to thank Justice Stephen Brey- er for his years of public ser- vice and wish him well in his retirement. John is Vice President for the Institute for Constitution- al Government and Director of the Meese Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. BREYER Continued from page 4 Court Report FELONY Pike County Circuit Court Jason W. Potts charged with count I vicarious Sexual Gratification, victims under 14 years of age, a level 4 felony, count II child solicitation, a level 5 felo- ny, count III child solicitation, a level 5 felony, count IV possession of child por- nography, a level 6 felony, and count V possession of child pornography, a lev- el 6 felony. Casey D. Ashby charged with count I domestic battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, a level 6 felony, count II bat- tery resulting in moderate bodily injury, a level 6 felony, count III possession of Methamphetamine, a level 6 felony, count IV unlawful possession of syringe, a level 6 felony, and count V invasion of privacy. Jeremiah Hinsey charged with count I domestic battery resulting in moderate bodily injury, a level 6 felony, count II bat- tery resulting in moderate bodily injury. Jimmy G. Ahrndt charged with count I failure to register as a sex or violent of- fender, a level 6 felony. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANORS Pike County Circuit Court Michael W. Robling charged with op- erating a vehicle with an ACE at least .08 but less than .15. Jacob Western charged with posses- sion of marijuana. Bria N. Murry charged with posses- sion of marijuana. Samantha L. Ambrose charged with possession of marijuana. CIVIL Pike County Circuit Court OneMain Financial Group, LLC sues Phillip Barrett, JR on complaint. Discover Bank C/O Discover Prod- ucts, Inc. sues Brenda Shutters on com- plaint. German American Bank sues Hunter McKinney on complaint. Richard Dobbyn, Linda Dobbyn sues Robert Marks, American Family Connect Property and Casualty Insurance Compa- ny on complaint. Lawrence T. Masterson sues Gerald K. Kleinhenz, Jr., Indiana Farm Bureau In- surance, Koetter & Smith Logistics, LLC et al on complaint. SMALL CLAIMS Pike County Circuit Court Pike County School Corporation sues Rachel Sanders on complaint. John R. Hess, Beth A. Hess sues Wade Electric on complaint. INFRACTIONS Pike County Circuit Court Damien R. Meinhart charged with speeding. Michelle K. Wiertel charged with speeding. Gary L. Cook charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Irisdiana Lopez charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Carlos D. Munguia Chirinos charged with speeding John E. Wilkison, Jr. charged with speeding. Michael C. England charged with speeding. Todd A. Howard charged with driving while suspended. Thomas E. McBride charged with speeding Logan A. Reel charged with speeding. Lindsey B. Taylor charged with speed- ing. Sander M. Kinsall charged with speed- ing, exceeding 55 mph. Caden T. Leistner charged with speed- ing. Andrew J. Stolz charged with speed- ing. Donald Priest charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Vincent Love charged with speeding Charles D. Street charged with speed- ing. Shannon L. Lee charged with speed- ing, exceeding 55 mph. G. F. Wetzel charged with speeding. Steven A. Allen charged with speed- ing, exceeding 55 mph. Jascinda L. Cross charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Jimmy L. Griner charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Brian R. Woods charged with speed- ing. Jayln R. Nelson charged with speed- ing, exceeding 55 mph. Zachary Jack Hodgkinson charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Shannan J. Carrico charged with speeding. Brenda K. Demoss charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Richard N. Phillips charged with speeding. Mark H. Miller, II charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Bradford Lee Rinard charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Christopher Jayson Jones charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Nathaniel Robert Sims charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Stephen Douglas Stewart charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Ethan W. Eckert charged with speed- ing. Alexis Renae Pflug charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Erich Joseph Von Lutterbach charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Kenzie Marie Jones charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Shawn P. Miller charged with speed- ing. Uriel Mora-Cruz charged with diving while suspended. James E. Davis charged with speeding, exceeding 55 mph. Andrew M. Roedel charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Kelsey R. Lemond charged with speed- ing, exceeding 55 mph. Alexander W. King charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Tristan J. Smith charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. ington but a pandemic of spending. In my new book, "Govzilla," I document the relentless historical growth of government in America. We were supposed to have limited government but now we have limitless govern- ment. In just his first year, the spending proposed un- der Biden exceeds what was spent on all the wars we have fought, the building of the in- tercontinental railroad, the interstate highway system and the moon landing. The spending monster Govzilla is devouring our economy and our freedoms. At least Reagan tried to fight back against the tyranny of big government — some- times successfully, some- times not. His warning when he ran for president in 1980 was as prescient now as it was then: "A government big enough to give you every- thing you want is big enough to take everything you have." Meanwhile, Biden says that his trillions of dollars in spending "are free — they will cost nothing." Actually, the costs are incalculable. Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at Freedom Works. He is also author of the new book: "Govzilla: How The Relentless Growth of Government Is De- vouring Our Economy." Dear Rusty: I'm 60 years of age and wonder if I will have any Social Security retirement benefits. A fter all, I did pur- chase them. Signed: Uncertain. Dear Uncertain: Your eligibility for Social Security benefits depends upon your lifetime earnings history from work, from which Social Security FICA taxes were withheld. If you have worked, contributed to SS while working, and have earned at least 40 "quarters" of credit, you will be enti- tled to Social Security benefits. You can earn up to four credits each year by earning a specific amount of mon- ey, which means you must have worked for about 10 years contributing to Social Security in order to be eligible for Social Security benefits. For 2022, you will get four credits if you earn at least $ 6,040 (the amount needed per credit varies by year). The amount of benefit you will get depends upon your av- erage monthly earnings (adjusted for in- flation) over the highest-earning 35 years of your lifetime. The higher your annual earnings (from which FICA tax was withheld), the more your SS benefit will be. But you must have worked, earned and contributed to SS for at least 35 years to get your max- imum benefit. SS always uses 35 years of earnings to compute your benefit and if you have fewer, they will put $ 0 earn- ings in some years to make it 35. They will use the monthly aver- age of those 35 years to de- termine your primary ben- efit (known as your "Pri- mary Insurance Amount" or "PIA" which is what you get at your full retirement age (FR A). You cannot collect your personal SS retirement benefit until you are at least 62 years old, but if you claim at that age your benefit will be permanently reduced by 30 percent. You can only get your full SS benefit by waiting until your full retire- ment age (age 67 for you) to claim your Social Security. Claiming any earlier means a smaller benefit, but you can al- so delay longer and earn Delayed Retire- ment Credits (DRCs) up to age 70, when your maximum benefit would be 24 per- cent more than it would be at your FR A. You have an eight-year window to claim your Social Security, and when you claim within that window determines how much of your primary SS benefit you will get. If you claim before your FR A and you continue to work, Social Security places a limit on how much you can earn before they take away some of your benefits. For example, someone who claims at age 63 in 2022 would have an annual earnings limit of $19,560, and if that were exceeded SS would take away benefits equal to $1 for every $2 over the limit (a monthly limit may be im- posed if you claim mid-year). The earnings limit ap- plies until FR A is reached, after which there is no lon- ger a limit to how much can be earned. The easiest way to deter- mine your eligibility for So- cial Security benefits and how much that benefit would be at different ages is to obtain a Statement of Estimated Bene- fits from the Social Security Administra- tion. You can request that by calling SS at 1.800.772.1213, but you can also get it yourself by creating your personal "my Social Security" online account at www. ssa.gov/myaccount. Once you have creat- ed your personal online account you can see your lifetime record of earnings and download your Statement of Estimated Benefits to understand whether you are entitled to Social Security benefits and, if so, how much your benefit will be if claimed at various ages. To submit a question, visit website (amacfoundation.org/programs/so- cial-security-advisory) or email: ssadvi- sor@amacfoundation.org. Will I have any Social Security benefits? Social Security Matters VIRUS Continued from page 4 SICK CITY Continued from page 4 PRE-K Continued from page 4 To the Editor: Your property taxes are going up be- cause your assessment went up and the rate went up unless you are a farmer. In my case and yours, if you are on county water service your water bill went up 14 percent. If your wife uses Tide it went up eight percent. Gasoline is already up $1 a gallon. Medicare raised your rate. In my case my supplement went up for the wife and me. Soft drinks which were $5 a case of 24 a few years ago are advertised for $4 for 12 cans. OSB board, used in home building, just a few weeks ago was $19 per sheet. Now it is $ 34 per sheet. You probably have your own list. If you read the paper this week you are aware that the taxpayers (that is you) are going to be on the hook for a new ambu- lance since another engine has given up the ghost. The cost for a new one is quot- ed at $ 325,000. You might recall, Martin County pays their contractor $250,000, a year and has for the last twelve years, and will pay $250,000 for 2022 and $250,000 for 2023. The operator of the service provided to Martin County pays $50,000 for their ve- hicles and furnishes them as needed for their service. They also don't have the cost of a four-wheel drive truck. They al- so don't have an over-built ambulance barn. What you may also recall is the Com- missioners and County Council approve more than $1,000,000 in the budget for county ambulance service, actually clos- er to $1,250,000. Some time ago one Pike County Com- missioner stated that the service Martin County gets is sub-par and EMTs don't have proper uniforms, and didn't make their calls. I went to a Martin County Commission- ers meeting to find out, and was informed they were quite happy with the service and it only costs the taxpayer $250,000 yearly. By now you have probably figured that the elected official you voted for have wasted more than $12,000,000 of your hard-earned money, and if things stay the same they will waste another $1,000,000 in 2023. You probably know your Councilmen and Commissioners by name. If you are concerned for your tax dollars, now is a good time to let them know how you feel. Jim Johns