Archive for November, 2007

The Anderson Herald Bulletin posted this article last night on the AFA-IN PAC billboard that calls attention to Rep. Terri Austin’s (D) failure to protect marriage last session. Aside from some factual errors, the article is a good thing to see coming from Rep. Austin’s district. Hopefully she will realize that the “facts” she based her decision on last year were really “opinions” that were based on a misunderstanding of the real facts.

According to the article:

“Who voted against protecting marriage?” reads the billboard. “Terri Austin.”

Austin, D-District 36, says the billboard is “unfortunate.” The head of the AFA’s Indiana branch says that the organization is focusing on her because prior to voting against the bill she came out against same-sex marriage.

“We put that up to remind people of how Rep. Austin voted,” said Micah Clark, head of AFA Indiana. “She may have to vote on that issue again, and we want people to know how she voted last time.”

But Austin stands by her vote. She is opposed to same-sex marriage, but voted against the bill because it may have put in jeopardy the rights of unwed domestic partners — specifically, in regard to domestic violence laws, and how employers provide insurance to employees who live in a domestic partnership.

“This amendment was not a one-issue amendment,” she said. “The second section and its wording was very controversial. Numerous legal scholars presented conflicting opinions about the meaning, the intent and the consequences of the wording.”

Oh, so the wording was controversial? The “legal scholars” who attacked SJR 7 attacked it on the basis that it would prevent same-sex couples from having the protection of domestic violence laws. The specter of this threat arose from some confusion in Ohio about the wording of that state’s constitutional amendment protecting marriage.

As it turns out, the Ohio amendment had wording that was different than the wording of SJR 7 (Strike One), the lower courts in which the confusion occurred were a small minority of Ohio courts that handled similar challenges (Strike Two), and the Ohio Supreme Court ultimately over road the lower courts and allowed the domestic violence protections to stand (Strike Three).

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On November 7th Rep. Mike Pence introduced legislation into the House that would deny federal Title X funds to abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood. Earlier this year it was Pence who led what has been called one of the biggest pro-life battles of this Congress when he introduced an amendment to an appropriations bill stripping Title X funds from Planned Parenthood.

The amendment was ultimately defeated but it provided a very definite and clear choice for newly elected and newly returning Democrats to prove that they were indeed pro-life. Of Indiana’s three “new” Democratic congressmen, two voted for the Pence amendment and one voted against. That one “no” vote came from Rep. Baron Hill (D), who has stated that he is pro-life and pro-choice and that he doesn’t support overturning Roe v. Wade. How he reached that conclusion is rather interesting and perhaps it can be best explained by assuming that Rep. Hill is a very political individual who follows this reasoning:

Elected Official speaking to Constituents: “Some of my friends are for this bill, some of my friends are against this bill. I stand by my friends.”

But to get back to the Pence bill, the measure will insure that no family planning agency that provides abortions will receive federal tax dollars through the Title X funding mechanism. Already there is a ban in place preventing family planning groups from using tax dollars to perform abortions, however, federal funds can be used for such things as office expenses and other overhead.

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Sir Hailstone of the The Digital Farmers blog is pointing out now that former Indianapolis City-County Council Candidate Bruce Henry, whose name this week has started being thrown around as a potential congressional candidate in the 7th District, is now being pressed to respond to the growing rumors.

Heard from several folks about the rumored potential candidacy of a black Republican candidate for the 7th Congressional District. So is he or isn’t he?

At a recent township GOP club meeting, after reviewing the canvass and revealing that Bruce Henry lost a few key precincts by the narrowest of margins, leading to his loss. As Mr. Henry recently required what would turn into a poorly timed foot operation, he could not walk neighborhoods as most Council candidates. Whether this led to his loss we will never know.

Others tried to pin down Bruce as to his future plans - “Go back to work at IMPD”. “Will you run for Council again?” - “Maybe”. “How about other offices?” - “You never know”.

One finally asked Bruce point blank “So what’s this you’re running for Congress?” - “I have no idea where that came from” as he said with a smile.

Hoosier Access and RepublicansRadio.com are teaming up together a second time for a radio feed this Saturday, December 1st at the South Bend Chocolate Company in Indianapolis on the Circle. We will be recording from 12-2pm (please note time change below). With the recent developments of what’s going in the 7th Congressional as well prep for the upcoming General Assembly, we certainly have plenty to talk about.

This is an open invitation to candidates who are running for office as well as to the bloggers out there and anyone else who wants to be a part of the discussion.

If you want to send in a question, you can either leave it in this post or email me at contact@hoosieraccess.com. The feed will be heard on Republicansradio.com. Check it out!

Update - Due to scheduling conflicts, we are moving the time to start to 4:30pm and going to 6:30pm.

Update #2 - On Saturday we will have a special segment featuring Ryan McCann of Veritas Rex and Bil Browning of the Bilerico Project participating in a Point/Counter-Point discussion on the issues facing the upcoming General Assembly as well as talking about the bet that they made. I’m looking forward to this one. It’s going to be fun!

Nice.

It turns out that Keith Kerr, retired Colonel., U.S. Army; retired Brigadier General, California National Reserve, who submitted a YouTube question about gays in the military, is actually a member of Hillary Clinton’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transexual Americans For Hillary Steering Committee. He’s also part of a film production crew trying overturn the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.

UPDATE: In the final seconds of the post-debate coverage, Anderson Cooper acknowledges that CNN messed this up and states that CNN did not know that Kerr has a position within the Clinton campaign and that had they known, they would have disclosed the association.

Open thread.

Did you watch the debate?

Who do you think won?

Who do you like or dislike?

Jim Shella reports that Democrats are looking to fill approximately a hundred empty precinct committee positions in Marion County.

Those positions would be able to vote in a caucus to select a Democrat to go on the special election ballot should Julia Carson pass away.

If I had to place odds on who they are putting into those precinct committee positions, I would guess the selections will make the coming caucus… shall we say… less competitive than it might otherwise be.

And with Marion County Democrats skirmishing as a part of a deepening civil war, a rigged caucus (or a caucus seen by the losers as rigged) can only make things worse.

Republicans, interestingly, have a similar number of vacancies.

I am sure that Tom John has his own favorite candidate to put up for the 7th District, too.
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The teachers unions dislike the Governor’s property tax reform plan?

I am shocked. Shocked, I say.

From the Courier-Journal:

INDIANAPOLIS — The state teachers’ union urged lawmakers yesterday not to shift funding for school operating costs from property taxes, saying that revenue is stable and protects education during economic downturns.

Leaders of the Indiana State Teachers Association said a tax plan offered by Gov. Mitch Daniels and introduced in the General Assembly could jeopardize school programs.

“We believe real property-tax relief can occur and, at the same time, adequate funding for public schools can be maintained,” said the association’s president, Nate Schnellenberger.

The governor’s plan eliminates property-tax levies that are dedicated to the school general fund and school transportation fund and moves those costs into the state budget to help reduce property-tax bills. The plan does the same with child-welfare costs.

The state would increase the sales tax by a percentage point — to 7 percent from 6 percent — to help pay those costs.

Already, the state pays for 85 percent of school operating costs, with the remaining 15 percent paid by real estate owners through property taxes. Daniels’ plan would eliminate that remainder.

So, um, why weren’t they complaining about this when that 85% slipped away from them?

Why is that remaining 15% so important?

Association leaders said that because the sales and income taxes that fund the state budget are more susceptible to recession, eliminating the share of school costs paid by property taxes could pose a problem. In tight times in the past, lawmakers have let schools generate more funds from property taxes to make up for shortfalls in state revenue.

Translation: In the past, the state has allowed property taxes to skyrocket during economic downturns, making those economic downturns worse.

He said the state could achieve similar savings for homeowners by taking over half the cost of school construction, which is currently paid entirely by property owners.

Translation: Please pay for new school construction. That’s more important than doing anything to fix property taxes or provide better education for children. Heck, pick up half of the cost of school construction, so that we can double what we are spending on school construction *cough* designer school architects like Jim Schellinger *cough* and you’ll kindly pick up the new portion of the tab.

Thanks, but no thanks. Indiana needs to spend more on teaching students, and less on constructing these fancy designer schools.
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Apparently the Grinch is on the loose again.  In Porter County local officials still have not gotten property tax bills to residents.  After several snags the latest projected tax payment due date is December 21st.  Merry Christmas!

Porter County isn’t the only county with late tax bills.  Neighboring LaPorte county has also failed to mail its tax bills to citizens.

According to some officials, citizens can begin paying their taxes now even though they’ve not gotten a bill.  It’s my guess that local officials would love to have some revenue coming in to offset the money they are having to barrow to carry them through until they start getting tax money.

If you want to buy the Dr. Seuss book as a Christmas present for your local officials you can do that here.

Congressional Quarterly Politics did a round-up of key Mid-West congressional races today and here is what they had to say about Indiana:

Democrat Favored:

Indiana 2 — Joe Donnelly , D

2006: Donnelly 54%, Rep. Chris Chocola (R) 46%

Donnelly ousted Chocola from this GOP-leaning seat, which stretches from South Bend to Kokomo, after losing to him in 2004. And so far Donnelly’s amassed one of the least-liberal voting records among his party’s freshmen. Republicans will be unable to capitalize on presidential coattails unless they find a candidate; two would-be challengers have terminated short-lived bids.

Indiana 8 — Brad Ellsworth , D

2006: Ellsworth 61%, Rep. John Hostettler (R) 39%

Ellsworth leans to the right on social and fiscal policy, and that — along with experience as a county sheriff and his telegenic appearance — helped him defeat six-term Republican Hostettler by an outsize margin. But Ellsworth is still a Democrat, and the state’s southwestern corner, from Terre Haute to Evansville, usually exhibits strong GOP tendencies. Republican Greg Goode, a former House aide, is running.

Leans Democrat:

 Indiana 7 — Julia Carson , D

2006: Carson 54%, Eric Dickerson (R) 46%

Indianapolis is decidedly Democratic, but Carson has had health problems and hasn’t voted in the House since Sept. 20; a series of underwhelming electoral showings by Carson — she’s never topped 60 percent in six wins — and the defeat of Democratic Mayor Bart Peterson this month keep this district on the watch list. Wayne Harmon, a Marine Corps veteran, and state Rep. Jon Elrod want to be the Republican challenger. 

Indiana 9 — Baron P. Hill , D

2006: Hill 50%, Rep. Mike Sodrel (R) 46%

The state’s southeastern corner has seen nothing but Hill vs. Sodrel since 2002, with Hill winning twice (as the incumbent in 2002 and the challenger in 2006). After wavering for months, Sodrel announced in October that he’s in for Round 4. GOP strategists hope the presidential election, which almost certainly will favor the GOP nominee in this part of the state, will boost Sodrel in 2008 as it did in 2004. (Bush, his popularity sagging in so many parts of the country, has made two trips to the district this year.) Democrats say Hill has proved he knows how to win this matchup.

In looking at these opinions keep in mind that this is the view from 30,000 feet and in each case the incumbent is a Democrat.  Incumbents generally have a natural advantage and any early review of a race is probably going to favor them. 

One of the districts I’m very concerned about is the 2nd.  Donnelly has played very carefully and without any challenger emerging on the Republican side he will probably win a second term.  In each of the other districts the races could be getting very hot with the Hill vs. Sodrel race being of special interest because of it’s historical 4th match-up status.

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — A judge today ordered a recount in the Terre Haute mayor’s race, which was decided by 107 votes.

Vigo Superior Court Judge David Bolk ordered all the ballots cast in all city precincts to be recounted. He also ordered ballots and electronic voting systems used in the Nov. 6 election to be impounded.

Democratic Mayor Kevin Burke had asked for a recount shortly after he lost to Republican Duke Bennett.

Bennett’s attorney, James Bopp Jr., asked the judge Monday to dismiss the recount petition because it did not include Bennett’s full name as it appeared on the ballot.

Bennett appeared on the election’s sample ballot as “Duke A. Bennett.”

Bennett defeated Burke by 107 votes among some 12,000 cast in the Nov. 6 election.

Source: IndyStar

Chris Cillizza from the Washington Post’s Blog “The Fix” further analyzes the Indianapolis Star/WTHR poll:

A new poll out of Indiana should give hope to Democrats who believe Bush’s eight-year tenure and the continued unpopularity of the war in Iraq has fundamentally altered the partisan composition of the country.

The survey, which was conducted by highly regarded Iowa-based pollster J. Ann Selzer, showed broad dissatisfaction with the direction of the country and the state as well as with the current President and Indiana’s Republican governor.

Just 20 percent of the sample said the nation was headed in the right direction while 74 percent said it was off on the wrong track; the numbers were only slightly more optimistic when it came to Indiana with 35 percent saying the state was moving in the right direction and 57 percent believing it was off on the wrong track.

More: The Fix

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette published this piece today with comments from Carson’s Republican colleagues.

Governor Mitch Daniels:

Gov. Mitch Daniels called Rep. Julia Carson, D-7th, “a pioneer. This is a legend we’re talking about, a great woman. Quite apart from her contributions to public service, just a great person.”

Congressman Mike Pence:

Rep. Mike Pence, R-6th, called Carson “a worthy opponent and a fierce advocate for the interests of her district.”

He said she was also an “example of Christian kindness even toward those with whom she disagreed. Julia Carson is always the same: a champion for her cause on the floor of the House and a friend on the stroll back to our offices after the debate was over.”

Pence said he and Carson often disagreed on issues, but “I cherish the times that we worked together on issues ranging from voting rights to the cause of ending prison recidivism. In opposition or agreement, her faith is always evident. Even during the challenging times of the past few years, she was never heard to complain or indulge in self-pity. Whenever I, or anyone, would ask about her condition, she would give the same reply, ‘I’m blessed by the best!’ ”

Congressman Mark Souder:

Rep. Mark Souder, R-3rd, who entered Congress two years before Carson’s 1996 election, said she will be missed on Capitol Hill.

“Julia’s relatively quiet style was underestimated outside her congressional district, but she was a force in her own way. I’ve always found her to be kind, compassionate and cooperative. Whenever I saw her around the Capitol, she was always friendly and warm.”

Congressman Dan Burton:

Rep. Dan Burton, R-5th, whose district abuts Carson’s, said that even though they are from different political parties, “I have always enjoyed working with Julia to serve central Indiana, and I hold her in high regard. She is a kind, wonderful woman.”

Senator Dick Lugar:

“Eight years ago, Julia Carson and I worked together on successful legislation to expand access to the then-underused and not well known Children’s Health Insurance Program,” said Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind.

He said the comments Carson made at that time “exemplified her typical compassion for the most disadvantaged and vulnerable of our community: ‘Money alone will not solve America’s health care challenges. We must maximize our existing resources by being more creative and aggressive in our outreach efforts and making it easier for families to tap into these benefits. We all know that children who do not get routine, preventative health care will not reach their full potential. We simply cannot afford to put our children at that disadvantage.’ Hoosiers deeply appreciate her remarkable advocacy.”