Despite all of the economic stuff on here lately — and the hiatus to sit back and concentrate on matters in the real world — I am optimistic about the future.

To wit:

The markets may have turned a corner and buyers will start picking up bargains. If they don’t, it is only a matter of time before someone starts buying everything of value is is currently on sale. My retirement isn’t for another 25-30 years or so, so there’s plenty of time for the market to appreciate and for wealth to be built. And, I’m hoping for the best for those who are looking to retire in the near future.

My wife had a car that suffered a fault was covered by the factory warranty with $0 out of pocket. We were fairly loyal customers of Toyota before, but this will definitely earn them some money over the coming years when it comes time to purchase new vehicles. Having said that, we’re also going to get a Ford as well since I’m eligible for the “X” plan. (Disclaimer — I have a financial interest in seeing Ford and GM do well, so go out and buy a Ford or GM product right now!).

I saw Commissioner Gerry Scheub the other day canvassing the neighborhood and he spoke of fighting against new taxes. Any candidate who has fought the good fight against the 1% Lake County income tax and promises to keep on fighting against it has my vote. (Disclaimer — I split my ticket based on issues. When I was in Hobart, I always voted for Rep. Chet Dobis because he voted the right way on certain issues.) It’s a good day in Lake County when a Democrat’s main issue is trying to keep money in taxpayer’s pockets — and that Democrat has a proven track record of standing up against serious pressure to back down from his position.

Also, false voter registrations were caught before they had a chance to infect the system. Of course, I’m sure we’d all figure out there was something wrong if Jimmy Johns had voted 72 times from various polling places in Nov. (Disclaimer — I like Jimmy Johns’ Italian sub, the #5 Vito. I suggest voting for #5 when you go to JJ’s sandwich shop). Also, if the vote takes 12 hours to be counted at the satellite locations and 1 million plus new voters turn out, we’ll all know that a certain community organization has been busy filling out voter registrations. Like the primary and the Lake County vote count controversy, I’m sure it will get us on CNN and everyone knows any publicity is good publicity!

I’m glad to see John McCain saying that Barack Obama is a good guy and calming down some of the more fervent supporters who are ready to launch into Moveon.org-type strangeness. If eight years of Bush-hating has taught us anything, it’s the lesson that haters never win converts. If McCain is going to win, it will be on the merits of his ideas and an optimistic message. Going negative won’t win over the people who are just tuning in at this late date and just opens the door to counter-attacks. McCain realizes this and that’s another reason for optimism.

A new day will be here sooner than we know it and things should work out just fine, no matter what happens.

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John Byrne reports from the statehouse in his blog that Sen. Sue Landske has added an amendment to Senate Bill 20 that provides for three ways to distribute funds from a proposed Lake County income tax.

Under Sen. Sue Landske’s amendment to Senate Bill 20, Lake County will have the option to distribute money raised through an income tax in three ways: to keep the money in the municipality where it is raised, to apply all funds to the county property tax levy, or to distribute 60 percent of funds where they are raised and the other 40 percent based on municipalities’ populations.

It’s great to see the Post-Tribune has embraced blogging in 2008!

See more great Northwest Indiana blogs at nwiblogs.com.

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