The fight over panhandling is over — at least in the chambers of the City-County Council.  Monday night, the council voted 15 – 13 in favor of tougher rules regarding solicitation near busy intersections.

Before the vote, Democrat Angela Mansfield said approval would be “begging — and I mean begging” for lawsuits opposing the new ordinance.  Many of the opponents complained that the change is unconstitutional and discriminatory.  And, Mansfield said, the change will be a waste of money.  “We should focus our limited resources of enforcement on the existing ordinances,” she said, ”because to amend our ordinance as this proposal does will do absolutely nothing — nothing — to enhance public safety.”

Republican Mike McQuillen, who introduced the proposal, rejected such arguments.  He said police officers would no longer need to watch for aggressive panhandling to take action.  Anyone in the “danger zone” will violate the ordinance.   He said the change would not discriminate because “panhandlers and homeless are not the same thing.”  Instead, he said “this measure is about fairness as someone standing in the median or who’s close to a traffic signal is creating a public safety nuisance despite their age or their race or their income level.”

Sure, it’s supposed to be warm, today.  But, in my inbox this morning, I find two signs of changing seasons:

1. The City of Indianapolis is publicizing upgrades to the snow plow fleet.

2. Auditions for a popular talent show have been scheduled.  Downtown promoters want to find performers for the Circle of Lights.  They’re already thinking of the holiday season!

If you’re interested, auditions will be held on Saturday, September 26 — 9 to 11:30 — at the Electrical Training Institute.  Another session will be on October 1, from 4 until 8pm, at the IBEW Hall on North Meridian, downtown.

We’re waiting for video to come back from a town hall meeting in New Castle.  It’s no surprise that the host, Congressman Mike Pence, expects health care to be the hot topic.  So, until we get to see what happened there, I’m reviewing notes from Senator Evan Bayh’s discussion of the health care debate, yesterday.

The Senator acknowledged the “strong opinions” we’ve seen expressed in so many of the stories about the reform debate.  He said he’d be “a little upset, too”, if he thought some of the controversial proposals would become law.  But, he said, “some of the bills that have been voted on in Congress simply aren’t going to get done.”  He said there will be no “death board” leading to euthanizing senior citizens.  No insurance mandate for small businesses.  And, no tax increase “for the most successful people.”

Bayh said he hoped to offer “a little reassurance” as he encouraged people to reserve judgment about the proposals under discussion.  Obviously, he’s seen the angry voters at some of the meetings.  He said he’d prefer to see the meetings conducted in a respectful way that does not silence people with differing opinions.  He also seemed willing to look beyond the disrupted meetings.   He said ”it really doesn’t matter whether these are organized protests or authentic, natural protests.  What matters is, at the end of the day, we deliver a result that will work for the American people.”

Here’s what Bayh believes will work — or what he wants from health care reform.  He wants more security and stability for people who have health care — so they won’t lose coverage, if they get sick.  He wants a plan that keeps costs down, “so it’s more affordable.”  And, he wants a plan that doesn’t add to the deficit.  ”If we enact a law that does those three things,” Bayh said, “this will be a success regardless of whether these activities were orchestrated or not.”

Mayor Greg Ballard admitted embarrassment during his budget proposal, last night.  It came as he reported the city has no plans to raise the salaries of non-union employees in 2010.  That pledge will not apply to one group of people.  They are the roughly 300 city and county workers currently being paid below the poverty level.  Mayor Ballard says, under his plan, their pay will be elevated to “a livable wage.”  The boost is likely to add $375,000 to the $1.2 billion budget.

Serious golfers don’t need much motivation to get on the course — any course.  So, if you’re a devotee of the game or just a duffer (like me), you’re invited to the Golf4Giving event to help the Salvation Army. 

If you need a little more than an invitation, consider this.  The Salvation Army says, with the economy struggling as it is, requests for assistance are up about 18% in the Indianapolis area.  So, anything you do to help will be appreciated.

I’m eager to follow the progress of the Abe Lincoln exhibit at the Indiana State Museum.  We’re able to present only a fraction of it, here.  I learned a lot in the hour or so I spent following Dale Ogden through our glimpse at the collection.  I’m told Dale knows Indiana lore in the same way Donald Davidson knows Speedway history.  So,it was a treat listening to Dale’s descriptions of the items he uncovered for us.

Something I hadn’t expected came as Dale showed us a toy that once belonged to Tad Lincoln.  (It’s in the story above.)  Ogden said “Lincoln was a notoriously indulgent father.  His boys pretty much had the run of the place.”  Ogden said people usually think of Lincoln as “the Great Emancipator” or “the Savior of the Union.”  But, “Father of spoiled children is not usually one of the nicknames that come readily to mind.”

Tickets to see the Lincoln go in sale November.  The exhibition opens in February.

“Usually, government interference prolongs the problem.” 

That’s one of the conclusions of David James of James Investment Research in Xenia, Ohio.  He was interviewed on a financial news podcast I listen to.  James told the interviewer government spending tends to be very inefficient.  “We went back to the 1940’s,” he said, “and our data shows that it takes over $7 of government spending to have the same economic impact” as $1 spent by the rest of us.

After hearing that, I went to the JIR web site to find a little more information.  The report Mr. James mentioned concluded that ”only $60 billion of the authorized $787 billion has been spent, a mere pittance in a $14 trillion economy.  In addition, a lot of money is being wasted on pet projects, or will go to cover state funding shortfalls.  Furthermore, in a major blow to stimulus spending, consumer savings increased by $161 billion last month, almost three times the stimulus payments.”

James also noted the “feeding frenzy” in the Cash for Clunkers program.  He told the interviewer it may just take “future sales from future months.”  And, while he’s glad to see the boost in business, it does not mean “this is the start of a great new economy.”

I’ll begin by crediting the Herald-Times of Bloomington for this.  I’d never heard of something that appeared in a recent H-T “tweet”.  It reported Monroe County’s plans for a smoke-free county fair!  After seeing that, I had to make a few calls of my own.

State Representative Peggy Welch is a member of the county’s Fair Board.  Since she’s also a cancer nurse, Welch told me she wants to do “anything we can do to decrease exposure” to second-hand smoke and the act of smoking, in general.  That’s especially important to her for a family event such as the fair.  So, she submitted the smoke-free proposal and it passed.

Representative Welch says that does not mean fair-goers will see “cigarette police.”  Obviously, the fair can’t enforce it.  But, the Fair Board can encourage smoke-free behavior.  Welch says, when the Monroe County Fair opens on Saturday, visitors will see signs with a positive message and advice about how to quit smoking.

Monroe County has been a leader in other smoke-free campaigns.  But, not in this case.  Ten Indiana county fairs were smoke-free in 2008.  This year, counting Monroe, 16 are smoke-free: Bartholomew, Boone, Brown, Fountain, Howard, Huntington, Marion, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Perry, Pike, Union, Warren, Wayne, and Whitley.

“Investing in a Bankrupt Company: A High Risk Venture”.  That’s the headline of this release — an “alert” — from the SEC and FINRA.  The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority want investors to be aware of the differences between old GM stock and new GM stock.

I asked financial expert Peter Dunn what he makes of the release.  “This would never have been an issue years ago,” he said.  But, in the current financial climate, “amateur” investors are taking “unprecedented amounts of risk … Speculative investing has not been slowed down by this recession.  In fact, it has increased.  People are buying thousands of shares of “penny stocks” with the hope that the market recovers.”

Dunn also describes the release as a way for the SEC and FINRA “to convince us that they are protecting us.  In my opinion, too little too late.”

Today, conservative Democrats in the U.S. House say they see some progress in the push toward health care reform.   Those Democrats — and their colleagues in the Senate — side with Republicans who say this campaign is moving too fast for such a complicated and expensive bill.

That echoes the sentiments of Indiana Senator Richard Lugar when he visited WISH-TV, recently.  He told me the bill “clearly is being rushed.”  He said Americans are anxious.  They have health care and they’re afraid their care will be diminished as a result of reform.

“Health care was meant to, sort of, wind down expenses while bringing greater coverage.  But, it is hugely expensive.  So, therefore, you get the controversy: should we soak the rich?  Should we tax people who already have insurance and who are getting a little bit of something from their employer?  You know, where do you get the money?”

Congressman Jim Cooper, a Democrat from Tennessee, offered a suggestion on PBS, last night.  He told The News Hour “we’re estimated to waste about $700 billion a year in payments that not only don’t improve our health but actually sometimes harm our health.”  So, Cooper said, “we need to get all the payment from savings from the current system.”

Senator Lugar finds a parallel in the debate over the cap-and-trade debate for climate change.  “Both are running into huge problems,” he said, “because they have huge expenses, however you look at it.”