Posts tagged as "politics" - Chris Hardie

Politicians in Washington D.C. sometimes make the issue of whether or not we raise the U.S. debt ceiling sound like an essential and complex challenge, one that only their particular brand of political maneuvering, posturing and compromise can rise to meet.  But from what I can tell, there's actually some fairly simple financial math involved, and the implications for the state of our nation are fairly straightforward. But more importantly, the conversation about raising the debt ceiling is the wrong...

I'm fortunate to have had time to read some actual books cover-to-cover in the last few weeks.  Other than some novels that made for decent beach reading, a notable theme of business, communication and politics emerged.  A few reviews are below; I've linked to an online purchase option, but please consider buying from your local bookseller or visiting your local library first. Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin Published in 2010, Game Change recounts the stories of the 2008...

Now that we're a few days out from the primary election win, I thought I would share some reflections and analysis of the election.  Some of these may be obvious, especially to political veterans, but it's helpful for me to put them out there and see what other comments and analysis comes up. On the election day results themselves: Name recognition REALLY matters.Many of the voters who I've talked to before, on and after election day have invested minimal amounts of time really getting...

In today's primary election, the citizens of Richmond made a choice about who they want to help shape the future of this community in the coming years. I'm grateful that in that process, voters have chosen me to continue on to the general election in the Fall as a candidate for City Council At-Large! Some highlights from the unofficial results: 14.46% of Richmond's registered voters voted 54.92% of those voting chose a Democratic ballot over a Republican ballot 791 of those voted for me to be one of the three...

Today is election day in Richmond!  I hope that if you haven't already voted, you take the time to cast your vote at one of the three convenient voting centers in town, before 6 PM.  I'll be posting updates about the day on my Twitter and Facebook accounts and to subscribers of my mailing list.  The Palladium-Item is hosting a live chat all day long and you can tweet your comments/questions by including the hashtag #richmondvotes. If you'd like to join me as the results come in tonight, I'll...

The Commissioners of Wayne County, Indiana are currently evaluating whether or not to institute a wheel tax (formally known as a "Local Option Highway User Tax"), as allowed for by Indiana's General Assembly since 1980.  It would charge an annual fee to residents registering vehicles in the County, $25 for cars and other small vehicles, $40 for large trucks, RVs, buses, etc.  A few thoughts on this proposal and how we got here: First, the tax is being presented by the Commissioners as a suddenly...

Scraps of paper floating around my car with addresses scrawled on them for delivering yard signs and brochures. Notes and programs from "must attend" (for a candidate, anyway) governmental and organizational meetings that seem to happen daily now, scattered across my desk. People giving me warm "congratulations!" and me still not being sure if it's because I'm running for office or getting married or hired a new staff member at work or because I just did a nice parking job.  "Thank you, I'm very...

Today I spent some time with a few campaign volunteers going door to door in a neighborhood in Richmond to talk about my candidacy and to listen to what's on the minds of Richmond residents. So far, this has been one of my favorite parts of running for office! It's easy to get caught up in the immediate (and sometimes misleading) feedback that comes with various kinds of digital promotion to groups of online contacts, so there's something grounding and balancing about being face to face with one person...

As someone campaigning under the banner of bringing a fresh perspective and new voice to Richmond's City Council, it feels important to acknowledge one key way in which I would not be bringing anything voters haven't seen before: I'd be yet another privileged white male in a position of influence. Of course, there's nothing wrong with being Caucasian or being male. But as a government body designed to represent the interests of the entire community, the Richmond City Council has historically...

As much as I enjoy Barack Obama's oratory style and presence, there were few things in last night's State of the Union speech that stood out to me as any kind of departure from the typical talking points of this event, which are usually: we should stop doing some stuff that's not good for the country we should do more of the things that are good for the country there are some special guests here whose personal stories will make you cry everything will be great, you'll see USA is #1 YEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! It...