Archive for July 24th, 2008

Well, what do you know, for once a Democrat City-County Councilor under investigation does the right thing.

According to the Indy Star:

A City-County Council member said today that he would give up his seat on an ethics committee after news he is being investigated for his ties to a bankrupt charity.

“I’m going to do the ethical thing and what I believe is the right thing to do and step down,” Paul Bateman, a Democrat, said this afternoon.

I won’t lie and say I’m not surprised. Because I am. But Paul Bateman did the right thing. Here’s hoping he sets an example for others on the council who are under investigation *cough* Doris Minton-McNeil *cough*.

Let’s see who is chosen to replace him on the Ethics Committee. That should be interesting.

UPDATE [by Mike]: The IndyStar is reporting the Ethics Committee met tonight and voted to censure Councilor Monroe “Sweet Pea” Gray before the full council. According to the article,  only Councilors Cain and Pfiesterer were present. Councilor Duke Oliver was not present, and of course Councilor Paul Bateman resigned from the committee. It ain’t over yet folks.

Ahhh, the Marion County Democrats. God’s gift to Marion County Republicans.

GOP CHAIR: PAUL BATEMAN SHOULD RESIGN FROM ETHICS COMMITTEE

John says Councillor under investigation has conflict of interest

INDIANAPOLIS-Marion County Republican Central Committee Chairman Tom John today called for City-County Councilor Paul Bateman (D-District 11) to recuse himself from the Council’s Investigative Committee on Ethics.

“Elected Officials who serve on Committees reviewing the actions of their peers must be free from ethical investigations themselves,” said John. “Since it has now become clear that Councilor Bateman is under such an investigation, it is improper for him to continue serving on the Investigative Committee on Ethics.”

Several news organizations have reported within the last week that Councilor Bateman is under investigation for his involvement in a charity that allegedly misappropriated millions of dollars in funds.

Here’s what I love. When almost 1 out of every 4 Democrats on the Indianapolis City-County Council are under investigation, it’s gotta be hard to find people to fill those Democrat spots on the ethics committee to keep it bi-partisan.

(Read more of the press release after the leap) (more…)

No, not Ghostbusters.  Tomorrow morning I will be calling into the Abdul in the Morning show from 8:30-9:00am on 1430 WXNT.  On the road, in the office, in front of your computer, make sure to tune in as Thomas Cook of Blue Indiana and I will be squaring off once again, but this time between cell towers instead of right next to each other.

Check it out and consider this your late Thursday morning open thread.

Wow, that’s a lot of neon!  I mean, really too much neon, even for an ’80’s video.

If you’ve not seen the latest edition of Indy South Magazine you really should. If you thought the media had a love affair with Barack Obama, wait until you see the campaign quality, no, make that better than campaign quality photo of Becky Skillman gracing the front cover. Actually the piece is not a news item about Lt. Gov. Skillman but instead a friendly story talking about her life, career, and family.

The story is a great look into the personal side of the most powerful woman in state government. (And if I have anything to do with it she’ll stay that way even after November.)

You can read the article here.

Remember when President Bush would do or sign anything his Republican congress sent his way? Remember, then, how he found his missing ink well to his veto pen when the Democrats took control of Congress in 2006? The following presser is a happy marriage of those two scenarios, while also pressing congress for more environmentally safe drilling.

BURTON TO BUSH: USE VETO TO LIFT DRILLING MORATORIUMS
Burton Urges Bush to Force Congress to Remain in Session if Drilling Moratoriums are Renewed

(Washington, D.C.) – In a letter sent today, Congressman Dan Burton [R-IN-05] asked President Bush to up the ante in the energy debate. With gas prices continuing to impose hardships on Americans, Burton has called on the President to veto any funding bills for Fiscal Year 2009 that contain provisions to renew the drilling ban on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) which is set to expire on September 30, 2008.

If Bush agrees with Burton, the message to Congress would be clear: either let the OCS moratorium expire, or stay here until the issue is debated and resolved on the House Floor. This would occur because, as in most Presidential election years, Congress is expected to pass a lump-sum funding bill, or a Continuing Resolution, for FY 2009. If the President refuses to sign that resolution because of drilling moratorium extensions, it could force the House and Senate to remain in Washington through the end of the year if they don’t agree to allow off-shore drilling.

(Read more after the leap) (more…)

I considered posting this to my “how to blog” site, but frankly the interesting question of political ads came to mind. First the background, Freakonomics blog writer predicts the next wave of google or yahoo advertising will allow the searcher to be paid a micro amount just for clicking through.

I’ve written a (long) academic article showing how compensated calling could be easily incorporated into the current “do not call” regs — so that you could even setwhatever price you wanted to listen to telemarketing calls. (I’ve also publishedOpEds on the idea here and here.) Instead of making an all-or-nothing choice about whether to block all telemarketing calls, a lot of consumers would prefer to set an intermediate price and just block those calls that aren’t willing to pay their price.

He goes on in the quote above to suggest that this could also work for telemarketing and beyond. Already following the possible conundrum?

We’re used to thinking of Paypal and Google checkout as micro-payment services,
but they can also become micro-compensation services. If you watch a commercial on Google TV, Google could credit your account.

Now, parlay that thought forward to political campaigns. If a political campaign were to sign up for this service. Would they be breaking the law disallowing a politician from offering money in exchange for a vote? Is the law antiquated and need to be changed? Would you click more ads in return for a small payment?

Cross Posted at Porter County Politics