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06-15-2012, 02:03 AM   #1
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A peculiar (?) supreme court decision (Armour v. City of Indianapolis)

QuoteQuote:
...
The city gave the 180 property owners affected a choice of how to pay the $9,278 assessment: in a lump sum, or over time with interest. Most chose to pay over 10, 20 or 30 years. Three dozen paid up front, and the city then played them for suckers, announcing a year later that it was changing the way it financed sewer improvements and would issue bonds to cover most of the cost. It would forgive the indebtedness of the installment-payers. But the city refused to give the full-payers any of the refund they demanded.

The full-payers then did what any red-blooded American would do in such a galling circumstance: sue. Their theory was that the city had violated their constitutional right to equal protection. ... When the Indiana Supreme Court ruled against the unhappy homeowners, the homeowners appealed to the United States Supreme Court, where they met the same fate.

Writing for the 6-to-3 majority, Justice Stephen G. Breyer explained that all that was at stake was an economic regulation, to which the court gives the lowest level of scrutiny. “As long as the city’s distinction has a rational basis, that distinction does not violate the Equal Protection Clause,” Justice Breyer said.

Indianapolis had defended its action on the ground of administrative convenience. Processing refunds would have been a hassle, Indianapolis had said, arguing further that refunds for this group of homeowners would have encouraged property owners similarly affected by the policy change throughout the city to demand refunds, too.
...
When Enough Is Enough - NYTimes.com

06-15-2012, 04:45 AM   #2
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I can't get too worked up about this. Whether it is the public or private sector, things change all the time which make decisions seem like a bad one. You buy a product, and tomorrow it goes on sale. You sell your stock in 1996 and pay tax as ordinary income, but if you had held it until 1997, you would have gotten capital gains treatment. This type of thinking keeps us from doing anything about the mortgage issue, because we are too afraid someone who didn't pay their rapacious, sub-prime mortgage will benefit. Making what looks in hindsight to be a bad decision is not what Equal Protection is about.
06-15-2012, 06:11 AM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by GeneV Quote
I can't get too worked up about this. Whether it is the public or private sector, things change all the time which make decisions seem like a bad one. You buy a product, and tomorrow it goes on sale. You sell your stock in 1996 and pay tax as ordinary income, but if you had held it until 1997, you would have gotten capital gains treatment. This type of thinking keeps us from doing anything about the mortgage issue, because we are too afraid someone who didn't pay their rapacious, sub-prime mortgage will benefit. Making what looks in hindsight to be a bad decision is not what Equal Protection is about.
also in a sense they were all treated equal (nobody got a "refund" of any payment, partial or full)


Except it is also a "morality play" for government.. Since they were going to do what probably should have been done in the first place a just gov. would have paid back ALL paid in funds.

Granted that is not how capitalism would work but it is the way a gov. should work in my mind...

Tying the article back to the "mortgage mess" and using the same morality stick.. it is a lot like the problem of the Fed clearing bad paper at the owner level while 'good payers' or fully paid mortgage consumers get nada..while "bad people" get a free home.
W/ the Fed that could be partially mitigated by a "mortgage holiday" where the value of your mortgage payment is used as a tax deduction. As to fully paid players you could use property tax as a Fed tax deduction..

Fair.. err no but fairer........BUT what makes it EVEN MORE fair is that the local economy (and property values) improves and "floats all boats"..

In the light of that idea, the least the state could have done is a partial return for all that paid something in.

Of course giving someone part makes them wonder why you can't give them all..........
06-15-2012, 03:30 PM   #4
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"Administrative convenience" That really is a mendacious argument, and I say that as a retired public sector employee. Surely the City of Indianapolis could have turned up $111,336.00 to reimburse those householders who chose to pay in full. This is the sort of CRAP which fuels the Tea Party and the Right Wing Nuts to inveigh against ALL government. What sort of idiots are running Indianapolis?

Oops, probably the same sort who are running the state of Georgia. Grrrrrr.....

06-15-2012, 04:06 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by grhazelton Quote
"Administrative convenience" That really is a mendacious argument, and I say that as a retired public sector employee. Surely the City of Indianapolis could have turned up $111,336.00 to reimburse those householders who chose to pay in full. This is the sort of CRAP which fuels the Tea Party and the Right Wing Nuts to inveigh against ALL government. What sort of idiots are running Indianapolis?

Oops, probably the same sort who are running the state of Georgia. Grrrrrr.....
QuoteQuote:
Mayor's Biography

On November 6, 2007 Gregory A. Ballard was elected as the 48th Mayor of Indianapolis.

A native Hoosier, Mayor Ballard was raised on the east side of Indianapolis and a proud graduate of Cathedral High School.

After earning his undergraduate degree in Economics from Indiana University, Mayor Ballard entered the United States Marine Corps. During his time in the Marines, he served in the Persian Gulf War and upon his retirement, was awarded the Legion of Merit. He retired as a Lieutenant Colonel after 23 years service.

After leaving the Marine Corps, Mayor Ballard successfully transitioned to the corporate world. He worked for several years as North American Operations Manager for Bayer in Indianapolis. He also is the author of The Ballard Rules: Small Unit Leadership.

Mayor Ballard has been active in the community, serving as a tutor and an Advisory Board Member for the Lilly Boys and Girls Club, as a contributing editor to both the Indiana Minority Business Magazine and the Indiana Parenting Magazine, and as founder of the Indianapolis Writers Group.

Mayor Ballard resides in Pike Township with Winnie, his wife of 27 years. Their son, Greg, Jr. and daughter, Erica, are both graduates from Indiana University. Mayor Ballard is proud that despite the many places they lived throughout their military childhoods, his family still considers Indianapolis their hometown.
Well a corporate shill...
06-15-2012, 10:58 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by jeffkrol Quote
Well a corporate shill...
The company that brought to the world...

Spam spam spam spam spam.....


Bloody Vikings.
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