Disqus - Latest Comments for kevintracy

Re: Northwest Indiana Politics: Churches under attack, or fair separation?

kevintracy — Sat, 07 Dec 2013 10:05:24 -0000

Sorry for chiming in late. The problem is that there are some religious orders, especially in the Catholic Church and outside the Christian faith tradition that shun material possession and advocate for poverty among its clergy. If they're not collecting income and living entirely off the fruit of their faith, owning a home is going to be impossible, forcing them to rent. And when they retire, they often won't qualify for social security (partly for the conscientious objection Jeff mentioned), leaving them pretty homeless when they can't do the clergy thing anymore.

As sad as it is that this guy is living in a 1 million dollar home and using the money for his personal purposes, changing the entire tax code because of a handful of bad people would hurt a lot of many more very holy people. Ultimately, if the people of this congregation love their pastor so much that they're willing to treat him with such luxuries, that's their religious preference.
This actually isn't the first time this debate has taken place. A few years ago, it was revealed that the President of the Mormon church was living in a 24,000 sq/ft 1.2 million dollar home in Utah. He also owns a second home worth close to $400,000. It was ultimately decided that the property was to be exempt from property taxes.

If the flock will give it to them, let them have it.

Re: UConn Losing to Notre Dame Shows Flaw in Single-Elimination Tournament

kevintracy — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 00:14:47 -0000

I was thrilled watching ND beat UConn. However, in the interest of fairness, I think you're right. There really should be at least a Best of 3 series for every match up. Again, as a Notre Dame fan, I loved it. However, if your interest is in seeing the best teams move forward, single elimination doesn't cut it.

On the other hand, double elimination or any other fix will potentially complicate the bracket process, which is a multi-million dollar economic engine. You're also talking about extending the season considerably more than most higher end schools simply wouldn't be able to tolerate academically. Plus, as SpinMax said, you can't take a night off and still hope to win now.

Congratulations to the Notre Dame women for making it to the national championship! I can't wait to watch!

Re: Teabagger Turned Senator!? Richard Behney Throws Hat in U.S. Senate Race.

kevintracy — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 22:01:32 -0000

That's why I used that Loony Toons analogy. Nothing personal against you, but that tunnel looks pretty darn convincing. If Bayh was vulnerable, whoever wins the nomination will need help from national that national has already said they won't provide in Indiana. That's why it's important for us to rally behind our candidates... if Bayh implodes, we'll need every advantage we can get to win.

Re: Teabagger Turned Senator!? Richard Behney Throws Hat in U.S. Senate Race.

kevintracy — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 19:46:26 -0000

I might as well weigh in on this. This situation reminds me a lot of the old Loony Toons skit where Bugs Bunny would paint a tunnel on the side of a mountain and Elmer Fudd would go running straight into it at full speed. Evan Bayh is the mountain, his opponents are Elmer Fudd. It looks REALLY easy to get through Bayh and win this seat. Afterall, he's a Democratic Senator in a conservative state (the illusion of the tunnel). The fact that there won't be a lot of money put into this race and the NRSC (cowards) has already said they won't get involved - meaning the candidate is going to be largely on his own financially and with professional support. Mixed with Bayh's still strong reputation and enormous war chest, it's a legitimate Fudd v. Mountain confrontation in the making.

With that said, we still have a responsibility to help out whoever wins. I've spoken briefly to both Stutzman and Behney and, to date, have nothing terrible to say about either one. Both appear to be men who, in the event of a political miracle, would make solid conservatives in the US Senate.

Those of you who know me know that I'm NOT a fan of Reagan's 11th Commandment (Thou Shalt Not Attack Other Republicans). However, it has merit in this case. If the race stays between Behney and Stutzman, we ought to be discussing which one is better able to lead us to victory: not which one is most likely to lead us to defeat, because for all practical purposes - we're pretty much guaranteed defeat no matter what.

So let's do what we can to build up leaders instead of tearing them down.

Re: Facebook Status Update Sparks Debate Between RLC and Moderates—What Do You Think, PCP?

kevintracy — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 13:53:05 -0000

I find myself agreeing with you (Chris) on almost everything here. You can tell you're the one who went to law school. I'd love to see a debate!