FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MAYOR BALLARD HAD PROMISED SUPPORTERS THAT HE WOULDN’T RUN AGAIN
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – The Libertarian Party of Marion County (LPMC) is surprised to hear that Mayor Ballard will be making a campaign announcement on Saturday, since all signs point to the suggestion that he will be a candidate for Mayor again in 2011. As per his campaign promise back in 2007, then-candidate Greg Ballard informed the public that he would not run for re-election if he did not cut the budget by at least 10% by the third year (not including public safety). A quick comparison of the 2008 budget with the just-passed 2011 budget finds no such budget cut.
(See the :55 Second Mark)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMhyJRjK1ps[/youtube]
“I am very surprised that Ballard decided against honoring his campaign promise not to run again if he wasn’t able to cut the budget by 10%,” stated Timothy Maguire, LPMC Chairman, “especially since the budget cuts necessary would have been so easy to make. Even without the benefit of a full time team of lawyers and accountants, we were able to find at least $65 million that could have been cut off the top of the 2011 budget.”
“When I ran as part of the 2007 GOP campaign team,” commented At-Large City-County Councillor Ed Coleman (L), “it was because I and other small government advocates believed Greg Ballard’s promise to reform government and reduce the spending. It was broken promises like this that prompted me to abandon the failed Republican Party and its bloated-government policies. I urge Indianapolis citizens to join with me in supporting candidates from the Libertarian Party, the only party left that still advocates smaller government, less spending and lower taxes.”
“Our only regret is that the Mayor decided that the government budget was more important that taxpayer’s pocketbooks, or his own campaign promises,” said Maguire. “Many of us were hopeful that the Republicans were serious this time about the small government policies they usually just pay lip service to. Alas, this just proves once again that there will be only one party of the ballot this year speaking for the voice of the people: the Libertarian Party.”
The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the United States, and is the only non-major party with ballot access in the state of Indiana. Libertarians believe in a small non-intrusive government that is financially responsible, administratively competent and socially tolerant.
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Below is review of the budget prepared by the Libertarian Party:
During our process of reviewing the proposed 2011 Indianapolis/Marion County budget, the Libertarian Party came up with a simplified summary, designed to help the average citizen learn more about how the City operates. Where does the city get its money? How do they spend it?
Did you know?
•The budget for 2011 is proposed to be over $1.1 billion – almost $1300 per resident
•This is a 2% decrease from 2010, but a 1% increase over 2008 levels
•56% of funding comes from taxes while 20% comes from Federal and State sources (mostly grants)
•36% of the budget is spent on Public Safety
•15% of the budget is spent on paying back debt (compared to about 5% of the Federal budget)
Read more of our budget review here.
LPMC Contact: Timothy Maguire, LPMC Chairman, 317.372.6436 or chair@indylp.org
LPMC Website: www.indylp.org