Dennie Oxley “No Comment at this time”

H/T to Frugal Hoosiers

The Fugitive a Fugitive No More

As was reported this morning, former State Rep (but in his drunken mind a current state rep) and former LG candidate Dennie Oxley has turned himself in.

Via the Indy Star:

A deputy cuffed a former state legislator this morning in a courtroom after he surrendered on a warrant to face charges arising from a drunken incident.

Dennie Oxley II will be held today until he posts a $500 cash bond on charges of impersonation of a public servant and public intoxication. Prosecutors filed the charges Wednesday on accusations that a drunken Oxley, 38, avoided arrest early Friday at a Downtown Indianapolis gas station by claiming to be a legislator working in the special session, a status that would give him limited immunity under the Indiana Constitution.

Oxley, who lives in English, Ind., turned himself in at the City-County Building about 8 a.m. at the Failure to Appear office, despite an earlier arrangement with prosecutors to surrender Wednesday at the Arrestee Processing Center.

Rick Kammen, Oxley’s attorney, told Marion Superior Court Pro-Tem Judge Steve Allen during a hearing this morning that he took responsibility for miscommunication Wednesday.

Kammen changed the plan after learning that media outlets were waiting for Oxley outside the APC, he said, and “my goal was to avoid unnecessary publicity.”

Allen set the $500 bond, then ordered that Oxley be taken into custody at the request of David Wyser, the prosecutor’s chief trial deputy, who said Oxley shouldn’t receive any special treatment.

But Allen denied Wyser’s request that Oxley be sent to jail without bond until a special prosecutor handling Oxley’s pending drunken driving case in Crawford County could decide whether to seek a revocation of his bond there. Those charges stem from an incident in February.

When Indianapolis police arrived at the Citgo station about 1 a.m. Friday, Oxley was walking away, carrying a pair of high-heeled shoes that belonged to a 21-year-old woman who had been working in the legislative session. She lay facedown on the ground at the station, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Police released Oxley to the custody of a friend amid the confusion about his legislative status. The Democrat left his Indiana House seat last year to run for lieutenant governor on Jill Long Thompson’s losing ticket.

“There are two sides to every story,” Kammen said after the court hearing, but he declined to elaborate on his client’s account. “The public will definitely see that there is more than what has been reported.”

Fugitive Dennie Oxley’s Police Report

The story of Dennie Oxley, one time middling State Rep who recently was a “special advisor to Pat “the Hair” Bauer continues to ge worse.  According to Frugal Hoosiers, Oxley is currently on the lam, after an warrant was issued for his arrest this afternoon.  This was after Oxley had promised to turn himself in by 1:00 today.

But we have been able to get a copy of the police report along with his probable cause affidavit.

(Images are clickable)(Read the rest after the leap)

Mitch Daniels’ Special Session Wrap-Up

It’s worth it to watch it all, but just to warn you it’s a 27+ minute clip.

Winners and Losers

Abdul has a list.

Mitch, of course, comes out as the big winner. Remind the Democrats not to play chicken with the Governor ever again.

The Hair doesn’t have to feel all bad; Abdul says that he won on the unemployment insurance fund in the general session.

But then, if you have to count the biggest tax increase in history on Hoosier businesses as your only win, what kind of victory was that, really?

Statement by Indiana GOP Chairman On State Budget Passage

Fellow Republicans,

It took 175 days, a special session, numerous newspaper editorials, and the threat of a government shutdown, but Speaker Pat Bauer has finally freed his fellow Democrats and allowed them to vote on a state budget.  After finally passing both the Democrat-controlled House and the Republican-led Senate, the result is a responsible budget that protects taxpayers.

You may remember that prior to the start of the special session, Governor Daniels gave a televised statewide address in which he outlined five simple conditions he needed met in order to sign a budget: No tax increases; at least $1 billion left in state reserves; that legislators cut $1 for every $1 they spent beyond his proposed budget; that one time funds be spent for one time purposes; and that no gimmicks were used.

After weeks of grandstanding and foot dragging, House Democrats have finally joined with legislative Republicans to ensure those conditions were met.

This budget is good for Hoosiers for a variety of other reasons. Foremost, when you look around the country, you’ll see most states are looking at tax increases or massive cuts, including education. Indiana is doing neither, and that’s a credit to our governor and our Republican legislators.  In fact, not only are we increasing education funding, but the governor’s ‘education trigger’ has been preserved to drive more money to our schools if revenues are better than projected.

The budget also addresses many other issues that are important to Hoosier families, especially as far as the education of our children is concerned.  For instance, there are no caps on the growth of charter schools; money is provided for a scholarship tax credit that could help many low-income families send their children to non-public schools; and for the first time ever, Indiana is exploring the possibility of online schools that extend learning beyond the traditional walls of the classroom. These are the kinds of reforms that will aid Dr. Tony Bennett and his work on behalf of Hoosier kids.

None of this would have been possible without you.  We know that legislators heard your phone calls, read your letters to the editor, and saw your support for the Republicans’ responsible budget.  Thanks for all that you do, and for supporting our party.

Sincerely,

Murray Clark
Chairman
Indiana Republican Party

Al Franken Wins Court Decision. Democrats Reach 60 Votes in US Senate

Al Franken won his courtroom fight to become the newest senator from Minnesota today. Norm Coleman ceded the Senate race to the former SNL actor and Air America talk show host after the Minnesota Supreme Court decided in Franken’s favor. The Democrats officially have their bullet-proof majority to end Republican Senate filibusters by invoking cloture.

Just in time for the Senate Democrats as the first major item on their agenda after the holiday break is the Cap and Tax bill that narrowly passed the House last Friday.

Bauer Blinks: Budget to Get Vote Today

Yesterday afternoon, it seemed like the Senate would vote on the budget and the House would vote on it Wednesday.

This would probably have been unwise; the Senate approved a budget in April that the House had already defeated, so why should the Senate stick its neck out again? Fortunately, both chambers will vote today instead; David Long appears to be learning.

And it appears that Speaker Pat “The Hair” Bauer, faced with a government shutdown and near-universal condemnation of his obstructionist course in newspaper opinion pages across the state, has blinked.

Bauer’s obstruction appears to be at an end. A budget will go to the floor of the House for a vote.

It seems likely to pass; it has always been likely that the House would approve the Senate compromise budget (or something close to it) if the Speaker would only allow a vote.

From the Indy Star:

(Read more after the leap)

Int-Oxley-cated II, The Sequel: Interns & Impersonations & Fleeing the Scene, Oh My!

The saga of Dennie Ray Oxley II is nothing new to readers of this blog, but it continues to unfold in ways both amusing and tragic.

In the wee hours Friday morning, the Democrats’ former lieutenant governor candidate–drunk out of his gourd and his speech slurring–was found in the parking lot of a downtown Indianapolis gas station trying to run away from a passed-out House intern (or former intern?) who was shoeless and face down on the ground.

When approached about the girl–reported to be one Kristin Dowlut, apparently the niece of State Rep. David Niezgodski (D, South Bend)–by the gas station attendant Oxley declared in slurred speech that he “wasn’t going to touch her.”

When police arrived, Oxley tried to hide behind a nearby car.

When police discovered his cunning hiding place, he declared that he was a member of the state legislature–he isn’t–which was currently in special session and that he therefore couldn’t be arrested and had immunity granted by the state constitution. Oxley is currently a staffer for Speaker Pat “The Hair” Bauer.

It was also reported that he was carrying the intern’s shoes and did not know where he was or how he got there.

Officers, who called the incident in, apparently believed that young Oxley was his father (also Dennie Ray Oxley, who won his son’s seat back last November while the son ran for governor). They were instructed not to arrest Oxley on the mistaken belief that he was a legislator.

This is, to put it lightly, not an auspicious stop on the Dennie Ray Oxley II Image Rehabilitation Tour, which began when Oxley was the speaker at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner of the Harrison County Democrats back in April. Since then, the Democrats have moved on (just as of this week) to hunt for a new Secretary of State placeholder; hopefully this turn of events did not drive young Oxley to drink.

Earlier this year, in February, Oxley was arrested for a DUI in Crawford County. His blood alcohol level in that incident was twice the legal limit. It was initially reported that he had a passenger with him, something reflected in the charges. The passenger later disappeared; it was claimed that they were never there in the first place. It has also been rumored that the car Oxley was driving during that incident had state representative plates.

That incident was not the first of Oxley’s run-ins while drinking. Many were rumored to have occurred before and been swept under the rug by the Democrats’ good old boy network. Similarly, this is not the first rumor I have heard about Dennie Oxley having way too much to drink in Indianapolis, nor the first rumor I’ve heard about him cavorting with young House interns.

He doesn’t appear to have learned anything from the February incident, and has now dragged a poor young girl into a tangled web created by his drunken behavior. Over at Blue Indiana, a commenter lamented:

Why is this a surprise to anyone?

This is the way he behaved while in office. Thank God the Dem ticket didn’t win last year, even though I voted for it.

I don’t think the LG gets a police driver now, does (s)he?

He’s a clod and a social misfit. Always was, always will be.

Here are the various stories about second Oxley incident (including video… yes, video). An archive of posts about the Int-Oxley-cated saga follows at the end.

The Courier-Journal:

(Read more after the leap)

8 Republicans, 2 Hoosier Dems Pass Cap & Trade; “Never Have So Few Stolen So Much from So Many to Achieve So Little.”

Quote in the title from Vodkapundit.

Despite a valiant effort by John Boehner to use the expanded prerogatives of the Minority Leader position to filibuster the vote, Nancy Pelosi and the House of Representatives have passed cap and trade legislation.

Video of a particular highlight of Boehner’s effort is below.

The final margin for passage was 219 to 212.

Eight Republicans were the margin for the bill’s passage. Two Hoosier Democrats–Baron Hill and Andre Carson–also voted for it and provided invaluable assistance in putting this new national energy tax over the top. Even Pete Visclosky voted against it (its provisions will kill industry in his district).

In a curious quirk, Baron Hill voted against bringing the legislation to a vote before he voted to make it the law of the land. No doubt he will seek to use the contradictory votes to again confuse the 9th District electorate; somehow I think that they won’t be fooled this time.

FiveThirtyEight breaks down a low-ball estimate of the cost of the legislation by state; by their math Hoosier households will pay $211 more a year.

By the math of my local electric company–when asked by the local newspaper that used to be owned by Democratic Governor Frank O’Bannon–the average Hoosier electric bill will increase by $50 a month if this legislation becomes law. Bill proponents claim that this amount will be reduced by recent amendments, but I have seen nothing substantive to actually back up that assertion.

The most common amount cited is that of $3,100, produced from an academic study by MIT.

Power Line even has a map about which states will pay and which will benefit from the legislation. With two exceptions (Idaho and South Dakota), every state that will benefit from the legislation will be a blue state either on the west coast or in the northeast. Flyover country gets screwed.

Regardless of the range, the costs of this legislation are very real. You can figure the cost in the immediate amount that your electric bill will go up ($50 a month) or in the costs you will pay when prices for everything go up as producers and businesses are inevitably forced to pass taxes on to consumers ($3,100 by some estimates).

Eight Republicans voted for this monstrosity.

They are:

Mary Bono Mack [California 45]
Mike Castle [Delaware]
Mark Kirk [Illinois 10]
Leonard Lance [New Jersey 7]
Frank LoBiondo [New Jersey 2]
John McHugh [New York 23]
Dave Reichert [Washington 8]
Christopher Smith [New Jersey 4]

Three of the YEA Republicans came from New Jersey (Lance, LoBiondo, Smith).

Two came from likely 2010 Senate candidates (Castle and Kirk).

One came from Obama’s future Secretary of the Army (McHugh).

And two Republicans, Jeff Flake and John Sullivan, did not vote at all.

Forty-four brave Democrats, including three Indiana Democrats (Donnelly, Ellsworth, and Visclosky) opposed the legislation.

Had those Republicans had that sort of fortitude, this bill would have died in the House. Now it goes to the Senate, where it will hopefully meet its end.

Cap and Tax Passes House, Goes On To Senate. Hill and Carson vote AYE

The final vote just took place - Cap and Tax just passed the House by a 219-212 vote.

As soon as the tally is posted to house.gov the Indiana delegation votes will be posted here.

UPDATE:

Vote is posted HERE

Indiana’s Delegation:

1st - Visclosky (D) - NO
2nd - Donnelly (D) - NO
3rd - Souder (R) - NO
4th - Buyer (R) - NO
5th - Burton (R) - NO
6th - Pence (R) - NO
7th - Carson (D) - AYE
8th - Ellsworth (D) - NO
9th - Hill (D) - AYE

Early Votes on Cap and Tax

In the first vote of the day–which is to bring the Cap and Tax bill to the floor for a final vote–was 217-205 (11 no votes). In the Indiana delegation the votes were as follows:

Republicans:
Souder, Buyer, Burton, Pence — all “No”

Democrats:
Visclosky, Donnelly, Carson, Ellsworth — “Yes”
Hill — “No”

The Hill vote is interesting as he voted to get the bill out of committee.

The final vote is supposedly any time now.

UPDATE: Here is Rep. Pence’s floor speech today. I suggest that you do exactly what he suggests and contact your Representative.