Archive for December 18th, 2007

Jim Tomes with the 2nd Amendment Patriots in southwest Indiana sent the following email today regarding legislation to watch in the upcoming session of the Indiana General Assembly. Gun owners should pay attention and communicate with their legislators often about the below bills and issues.

The proposed bills in this Indiana General Assembly are starting to stack up.

It’s going to be a short session and after talking with several of our legislators it’s a sure bet that property tax reform is going to be the dominating issue.

Reading the news reports it also looks like it’s going to be very contentious. But, that’s still not stopping from legislators filing bills for a whole spectrum of issues.

I keep getting asked if we have a chance of getting any of our pro gun bills to the Governor’s desk. Well the answer is yes, but, it all depends if we can get enough gun owners in this state to come alive to make it happen.

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Congressional leadership is ready to wrap it up for the year, but business isn’t finished and that’s causing something of a stir on Capitol Hill. On December 17th the House voted on a resolution to adjourn the session before Christmas. However, the unfinished business of AMT relief is holding things up. The Senate and House have passed bills that would keep middle class families from getting hit by the Alternative Minimum Tax next year, but the Senate version doesn’t include a way to offset the predicted loss of revenue.

The attempt to pass a resolution adjourning for the year failed because some House Democrats voted against their leadership and voted to stay and finish the job.

The gripe that some House Democrats have is that if they vote on and pass a Senate version of the AMT relief bill, they will break the pay-as-you-go rules instituted by the new majority at the start of the session. By not offsetting the tax relief with either new taxes (as Blue Dog Democrats want) or spending cuts (which would be the wiser course of action), the Democrats will break a promise that they made to the American people: we will be fiscally responsible by instituting a rule that requires us to pay for what we are buying.

All three of Indiana’s Blue Dog Democrats voted in favor of adjourning before Christmas even if it means not covering the cost of AMT relief either through tax increases or spending decreases. Baron Hill, Joe Donnelly, and Brad Ellsworth voted in lockstep with Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer to violate their promises to constituents. That’s the same kind of rubber stamping each of these congressmen accused their opponents of doing.

In 2006 the American people elected a Democratic majority that promised to be fiscally responsible. Now the Democratic Congress is proving that they can’t control spending. Middle class families need to be protected from the AMT, and Congress needs to take a long hard look at its spending priorities.

From Mitch Harper at Fort Wayne Observed:

Click here to listen to the second part of Don Clemmer’s story on the Fort Wayne blogosphere which was first broadcast on Northeast Indiana Public Radio.

From NIPR’s introduction:

In part one of our two part series exploring Fort Wayne’s blogosphere we learned that Fort Wayne actually has one of the strongest blogospheres in the country. In part two, local bloggers discuss blog behavior, politics and the media.

New Generation Radio’s Don Clemmer reports for Northeast Indiana Public Radio.

Way to go Fort Wayne!

Poor Lonnell “King Ro” Conley. He just can’t catch a break. After garnering the fewest amount of votes between the Republican and Democrat At-Large Candidates for the Indianapolis City-County Council as an incumbent in the recent municipal election, his own Democrat party gives him the shaft and denies him the opportunity to take over the State Representative seat left open by the retirement of Mae Dickinson.

According to Abdul:

Labor leader John Bartlett will take over the Indiana House seat being vacated by Mae Dickinson. Dickinson resigned on December 7, saying she wants to spend more time with her family. She had been in the legislature since 1991. Bartlett overwhelmingly beat outgoing City-Council member “King Ro” Conley. According to party insiders, many of the precinct committeemen wanted someone other than Conley saying it was time for the party to go forward.

Don’t worry King Ro, there’s always that open congressional seat you could go for.

Democrats on the Indianapolis City-County Council failed to pass two controversial pieces of legislation designed to put incoming Republican majority in a fiscal bind heading into next year.

According to the Star:

The City-County Council on Monday rejected a resolution to rescind an income tax increase it passed this summer and another prohibiting labor-led work stoppages at a Downtown hotel project.

With several Democrats absent from the meeting, neither measure garnered the 15 votes necessary to pass. Failed resolutions do not carry over to the next meeting.

Of course, Democrats couldn’t easily hide their disdain for being kicked out of control and were actively seeking to take it out on those who opposed the tax hike:

Councilwoman Jackie Nytes, a Democrat, said the measure is meant to “put the burden back on those so quick to criticize earlier.”

In the end though, both measures failed and the Monroe Grey era of leadership goes out with a whimper.

To read more about the lackluster conclusion of the Democrats brief four year control of the council, check out Abdul’s blog for full coverage.

Say it ain’t so! This from Micah Clark’s American Family Association of Indiana E-newsletter today:

Coming to a Northeastern Hoosier City Near You

One of the few areas of the state that the predatory gambling industry has not yet invaded is Northeast Indiana. That may change with the 2008 legislative session. According to recent news reports, Senator Robert Meeks from LaGrange is going to file a bill that would allow a Gary casino to move from Lake Michigan to a lake in northeastern Indiana’s Steuben County. Meeks was approached by Don Barden, who owns two side-by-side Majestic Star casinos in Gary, about the possibility of relocating one of his licenses. We will let you know when the bill is filed and assigned to a committee.

You can reach State Senator Robert Meeks at 317.232.9400.

Update:  More from the Indy Star here. 

That seems to be the thinking coming from some in LaPorte County government. I dropped into a LaPorte County Council meeting last night and was intrigued when I saw that an emergency appropriation request came up toward the end of the meeting. Apparently a county computer that handles county “business cards and speeding tickets” had broken down. The office was seeking to buy another computer but needed an appropriation of $3,700.00 in order to by a new Apple Mac computer to do the job.

Only one councilman sought to learn more about the situation. He raised the question of whether or not the old computer could be repaired and was told that it could not be. That may be the case, and maybe they even need an Apple to do the job right, but for that size of an appropriation you would think there should be some requirement that the office present in person its need to the council and be open to taking any questions from the councilmen regarding such a relatively large appropriation outside the office’s annual budget.

According the NWI Times, Rep. Visclosky is shooting to get $58 million for his district.  Seeing that House Democrats and Senate Democrats aren’t working very well these days* and that the President isn’t bending over backwards to accommodate the Democratic leadership’s spending habits, we’ll see how much actually gets to The Region.

*According to the Wall Street Journal, House Appropriations Committee Chair David Obey (D-WI) has said “I can tell you when bills move and you can tell me when the Senate will sell us out.”   The Farm Bill and AMT relief are two issues that split Senate Democrats from House Democrats.

While this had nothing to do with politics, some of us around here are sports fans. I thought I would pass this bit of information along to those of you who are in the 1070 WIBC listening area. Many of you may know that WIBC is now moving to 93.1FM, and the new ESPN 1070-The Fan will take to the airwaves in early January. While, I don’t believe this is public information via WIBC’s website just yet- via another source (below the fold) one of their afternoon local sports shows will feature Indianapolis Star columnist Bob Kravitz and Eddie White.

 This will definitely make for some interesting radio.

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