Archive for April, 2008

American Family Association of Indiana’s Micah Clark wrote the below for today’s weekly AFAIN email.

Governor Tells Audience to “Get Over” Ronald Reagan

    In case you missed this, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels made some comments late last week in a speech to conservative activists that has been the buzz of several talk radio shows and Internet blogs.  According to some reports, the Governor said that it was “time to let Ronald Reagan go.”    Noting that President Reagan’s economic policies were good, he told the audience, “we need to look towards the future rather than staying in the past.”  The Governor then asked the audience to rally behind Senator John McCain and pointed out some of the ideological flaws of Senator Obama’s proposals.

    It is a little unclear what the Governor meant by leaving Reagan behind.  Some, like Congressman Mike Pence who were at the speech, have interpreted the Governor to say that Reagan the man is in the past, his principles live on and we need to focus on them.  Others, like radio show hosts Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham have seen the Governor’s comments as typical of “establishment” Republicans who are not as conservative as the former president and therein tire of comparisons of Republican candidates to Ronald Reagan.

    My take is that what the Governor intended to say was not that important.  After all, Governor Daniels worked for President Reagan and by all accounts held him in high regard even though some could argue that he has not always governed as a conservative, particularly a social conservative.  This small controversy is a bigger reminder that the problem encountered by the GOP over the last few years is precisely because too many in the party have “gotten over” Reagan’s ideals.  That problem was most clearly demonstrated by a Congress that drifted away from conservative principles, spent money recklessly and lost the confidence of voters in 2006.

It’s not quite the monthly meeting for the City County Council is it? But in your short time as Congressman, you’ve managed to vote for a tax increase as well as started down the slippery slope of breaking campaign promises, one which was not to miss one congressional vote. And you haven’t even been a congressman for two whole months yet! Seems as if you’ve fit right in the Democrat majority.

When he was running for Congress in the special election, Andre Carson promised voters in Indianapolis that he would never miss a vote. Apparently, it’s taken just over a month to break that pledge.

According to the Clerk of the House of Representatives, Andre Carson was one of those who did not vote on HR 2634, a bill sponsored by Maxine Waters from California. This was a debt-relief bill directed at low-income nations that owe the United States money.

And debt relief is a big issue with Democrats too Andre. So what’s the excuse for breaking your promise?

(Hat Tip to Blue Indiana [who knew?] and to the Hoosiers for Fair Taxation the picture was also on the HFFT website)

Note - Wilson does try to explain it away in the Blue Indiana post, but as Vox Populi notes, and I agree, “I trust the Clerk of the House a lot more than [his] “I just talked to” crap.”

General Pelosi marched across the nation in 2006 touching on the nerve millions of Americans who were tired of paying high gas prices. Democrats, she said, were the ones with the plan to curb gas prices. Now, AAA is reporting that gas prices have on average topped out at $3.50 a gallon nationally. Obviously, in some places it’s higher. Such as, here in Indiana:

Indiana set a new record for gas prices today.

Overnight, the average price for a gallon of self-serve unleaded rose from $3.47 to $3.552, breaking the previous all-time high of $3.536 set May 26. AAA’s Web site updated totals earlier this morning.
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In Indianapolis, the average price jumped a dime, from $3.424 to $3.528. The city is now a penny shy of its all-time high, also established May 26.

Fort Wayne, Gary, Terre Haute and South Bend all saw all-time highs today. Gary leads the state with a $3.624 average.

(From the Indy Star)

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Get ready for the next 2 weeks!

Just in case you forgot, the Pennsylvania primary is today.  Hillary is predicted to win, though her margin may not be what she expected even just three weeks ago.  So here’s my question(s) to you faithful Hoosier Access readers.  After today’s primary, Indiana’s primary becomes what it has always hoped it would become; one that matters in the national perspective.  So does Hillary need to win big (by more than 10%) to have serious momentum heading into Indiana?  Does a close race increase even further Obama’s presence here in Indiana?  Have we all tired of the commercials that seem to come one right after the other?

What do you guys and gals think?

Just got word from Chris Spangle that, friend of Hoosier Access, Abdul Hakim-Shabazz will be be having Tony “I speak to neo-Nazi groups” Zirkle on Abdul in the Morning as a guest at 8:10am tomorrow morning. This is not something you will want to miss. I know I can’t wait to hear what kind of questions will be asked. Not that he may ask them, but leave some questions here for Abdul to ask Tony Zirkle. Then listen in to see if he does ask them. This could be fun.

Abdul, you better have a podcast of that interview up soon after for those out of listening range!

Much has been made of Tony Zirkle’s speech to a neo-Nazi group in Chicago and deservedly so. Now video has surfaced of that speech. He sticks to his campaign rhetoric on the evils of pornography and at times plays to the irrational fears and beliefs of this group. I can only echo Brian’s sentiments that this was a despicable moment in Zirkle’s campaign.

It should be noted that no one affiliated with Hoosier Access supports Zirkle’s comments to this group. We find what he did to be reprehensible. We are only passing this along so you know what was said. Again, we do not condone any of these actions taken by Tony Zirkle. (Just wanted to set the record straight.)

(See the video below the fold) (more…)

From WIBC comes a look at the impact in Indiana, post-primary, of the presidential race (particularly looking at the contentious 9th District race):

The Democratic nominee could have the biggest Indiana influence in the hotly contested 9th Congressional District - where Democrat Baron Hill and Republican Mike Sodrel are likely to face each other for the fourth consecutive election.

Sodrel won the seat in 2004 as President Bush carried the district in a landslide but lost it during the 2006 Bush backlash. Sodrel says, though, that he doesn’t agree with those who believe a Clinton nomination would bring out conservatives in droves to vote against her.

“I tend to believe that there’s not much difference,” Sodrel said. “I know a lot of people would argue that position, but I just don’t think there’s a lot of difference in which candidate is nominated on the Democratic side.”

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Posted in Baron Hill, Congress, Elections, Mike Sodrel, Presidential Politics | 1 Comment » | Read more..

Last of the four new ads being released by the Daniels campaign.

It appears the cats are away in 2008 and the ‘Rats are playing. According to an article on Polis Politics, there is still a lack of a quorum at the Federal Election Commission. The lack of a quorum is in part because of parliamentary procedure carried out by … wait for it … BARACK OBAMA! It appears the public financing funds (you know that $3 from your 1040 form every year which I personally check “NO” to…) are held in limbo and Sen. McCain may not have access to those funds without a quorum at the FEC.

Meanwhile Democrat candidates seem free to flaunt federal campaign finance law and no penalty will result, even when presented with clear evidence by hardworking folks like Jacob Perry.

Interesting blog post of the day -

Disenfranchised American, one of Fort Wayne’s finer blogs, posted this story a week ago about the 3rd Congressional democrats giving their J. Edward Roush “Lifetime Service Award” to Charlie Belch, a Fort Wayne Democrat who apparently had a bit of a corrupt business background and had his insurance license yanked in Florida and Indiana.  Interesting …

One of the three candidates vying for the Republican nomination in the 2nd Congressional District is Tony Zirkle, an attorney, perennial candidate, and holder of odd and strange views. Zirkle has already made a name for himself this cycle by advocating for nationwide racial segregation. Now, though, he has done something that is even worse than his inappropriate racial statements.

On Sunday, Zirkle spoke to a crowd of nearly 60 neo-Nazis/white supremacists gathered in Chicago to commemorate Hitler’s birthday. The fact that Tony Zirkle, a candidate for United States Congress, would honor a gathering of neo-Nazis who believe one of the most evil men the world has ever known was in fact a great leader, is utterly despicable and beyond the pale. Tony Zirkle has disgraced himself.

Here is a photo of Zirkle speaking to the gathering:

Click here to view more photos of the event (Zirkle is seen in most of them).