Archive for July, 2008

Linda Pence has built her campaign to be Indiana’s next attorney general on her supposed skills as a lawyer and, most recently, on her claims that she will fight corruption more vigorously than Steve Carter has or Greg Zoeller will.

Her skills as a lawyer were not enough to save her client from having to make a $625,000 settlement with Carter’s AG office; it would seem that she is not a better lawyer than Zoeller (Steve Carter’s chief deputy) after all.

Her protestations that she will fight corruption sort of ring hollow when compared to how she tried to hide from Hoosiers her work for a codefendant in the East Chicago sidewalks for votes RICO case, the most notable corruption case in Indiana this decade.

Then she went to the Chicago offices of Greenberg Traurig, the former law firm of a certain convicted corrupt lobbyist by the name of Jack Abramoff, to raise money for her election campaign.

Pence then went on to say that she could not talk about the East Chicago RICO case, because of attorney-client privilege. It turned out that her client waived attorney-client privilege as a part of its settlement with the AG’s office.

Linda Pence has even put forward some rather comical quotes.

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Saturday morning I got the chance to participate in a motorcycle ride with none other than Governor Mitch Daniels. The Governor arrived on his Harley, and when he arrived he took a few minutes to look at the other bikes at the rally point. There was about 20 or so bikes for the first leg of the trip - going from 79th & Fall Creek to Cicero via Lapel. Nice ride on a Saturday morning, through the Indiana country. Ahhhhh….. Just a bunch of guys out for a ride.

[More Below The Fold]

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You’ve no doubt heard the radio ads from Texas Oilman T. Boone Pickens claiming we need to change our energy policy away from oil. Pickens has invested his own money into over 600 windmills for peak power generation.

Now,  Pickens is making the case to fuel vehicles with natural gas calling it a clean burning fuel. Pickens is calling on Congress to mandate Government vehicles as well as company fleets to use natural gas burning vehicles in new vehicle purchases going forward. Privately owned vehicles will not fall into this requirement.

(The hearing will be broadcast at Josh in theBox as I’ve been having trouble getting it to load on wordpress)

The hearing is scheduled to start at 1:00. The first panel will include:

Michael A. Brairton, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Department of Energy
Dr. William A. Ellingson, Ph.D, former Principal Scientist, the Argonne National Laboratory
Maggie McShane, American Petroleum Institute

Panel two will be:

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz, Host of “Abdul in the Mornings” on Newstalk 1430 AM WXNT, Indianapolis
Jim Shella, Host of “Indiana Week in Review” and Political Reporter WISH-TV, Indianapolis
Joshua Gillespie, Blogger and Founder of “Hoosier Access”, a political and cultural blog in Indianapolis

From the opinion page of Terre Haute’s Tribune-Star comes this delightful letter:

Dem candidate a disappointment

I am disappointed with Jill Long-Thompson’s campaign games. While Indiana’s economic situation is clearly an important political issue, she fails to list her positions on social issues like abortion and gay marriage on her Web site.

Could it be because she wants to avoid advertising that large portions of her campaign funding come from Emily’s List, an organization that supports candidates who favor abortion-friendly policies?

Thompson’s runningmate, Dennie Oxley, has been called pro-life and voted in favor of an amendment to define marriage as between a man and a woman. He should be ashamed of himself, having compromised his own values to jump onto the ticket of a candidate who refuses to stand against gay marriage and who will be looking for ways to return the monetary favors from Emily’s List in the form of pro-abortion political action.

— Carly Robbins, Terre Haute

It’s an interesting point. Nowhere on Long Thompson’s website does it say a word about her positions on various social or traditional values issues.

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It just so happens that your friendly neighborhood HA Director will be a panelist at this event. I’m also working on being able to broadcast this hearing live via webcam.

Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN-5) announced this week that he would be holding a District Hearing on Energy. He has invited a number of energy experts, community leaders and media personalities to discuss the current energy crisis and how we can work to solve these problems in both the short and long term. The conference is open to the public and is scheduled for Monday, July 28 at 1 p.m.

Burton stated, “With energy prices as out-of-control as they are, I thought Hoosiers needed the chance to not only talk about the current energy crisis, but also to address potential solutions. Congress has failed in making any strides toward real energy relief for the American people the past few months and I hope that this hearing will not only inform people about the current problems and how to deal with them, but also spur them to pressure all their public officials to take meaningful, positive steps toward real energy reform in our country.”

(See more details and how to attend if you’re a blogger who is interested in attending below the fold) (more…)

Knowledge of Linda Pence’s involvement in the East Chicago RICO case (about which I have blogged much in the past), has now become so widespread that virtually any article mentioning the case now seems to invariably mention her and her involvement (something she tried to hide from Hoosier voters, no less).

With her record of not being open and forthright with Hoosiers, with voters up north constantly reminded of her ties to the biggest corruption case in Indiana history, with Zoeller’s name carrying huge weight and stature in the south, and with central Indiana a reliably Republican fortress for Mitch and other GOP candidates, what chance does Linda Pence really have?

From the Post-Tribune:

HAMMOND — Former East Chicago City Councilman Frank Kollintzas, whom authorities believe fled to Greece three years ago to avoid a 12-year prison sentence, still should have to pay back his share of the $24 million he owes city taxpayers, state Attorney General Steve Carter said.

Carter four years ago filed a civil racketeering lawsuit against Kollintzas, former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick and numerous others in connection with their roles in a paving-for-votes scheme that resulted in the criminal conviction of a dozen city officials. As Carter’s term in office winds down, and with no trial date yet set, the state has reached settlements with several defendants.

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Posted in Elections, Indiana Politics | No Comments » | Read more..

(H/T Dan Burton’s Twitter feed)

Tomorrow is the annual St. Joseph County GOP Family Barbeque and according to the press release they sent out, they’re going to have a pretty powerful line-up of guests.  Leading the list is 2nd Congressional district candidate Luke Puckett and Attorney General candidate Greg Zoeller.  The Governor’s campaign RV1 is also scheduled to be there.  Come on out and join us (yes, I’ll be there) for some good food and fun.  If you’ve never had a chance to sign the RV (if you’ve not signed the RV its your own fault because it has been all over the state) now’s your chance to do so!

 South Bend-Saturday, July 26th at Clay Park the GOP SJC will hold their annual Family BBQ from 4:00-8:00pm. There will be lots of fun filled activities for all ages.

There will be lots of food and fun! Kids games include bounce house, elephant hoop, and more. You can also tour Mitch Daniel’s campaign RV.

St. Joseph County Republicans have challenged the Elkhart County Republicans to a game of softball.

Tickets are $5/person and they can be purchased at the event.

Candidates expected to attend include: Luke Puckett, Dave Miller, Jackie Walorski, Dale DeVon, Dan Herbster, Kevin Mitschelen, Tim Neese, James Philson, Myer Blatt, Chris Adamo, Richard Ziegler, Mark Root, Wayne Curry, and Tom Florkowski.

Clay Park is located off of Laurel and Brick Road.

Special guest appearance: Candidate for Attorney General, Greg Zoeller.

This event is open to the public.

From the NWI Times:

The two candidates for Indiana attorney general are sparring over the role a public construction contractor could play in the upcoming racketeering trial against former East Chicago city officials.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Greg Zoeller, whose office is prosecuting the civil case, said employees of the contractor will play a “critical” role in the trial — which could mean company officials probably will want their attorney, Linda Pence, at their side during the case.

Pence is the Democratic candidate for attorney general, and Zoeller is the Republican candidate. The election is in November, and a trial date for the case has not yet been set.

“If you’ve been involved in a specific case … you can’t represent both sides,” Zoeller said.

(Read more below the fold) (more…)

Posted in Attorney General Race, Elections, Greg Zoeller, Indiana Politics, Linda Pence, Shady Democrat Doings | 3 Comments » | Read more..

TheHill.com - Obama takes advantage in field offices: “In states where both campaigns have announced field offices that they’ve opened or plan to open, Obama has a definite advantage. In Ohio, Obama will have 18 offices open by the end of this week, while Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.) has eight. In Virginia, Obama has opened 20 while McCain has opened six.

In Missouri, Obama has plans for 30 offices while McCain is aiming to have 10, the Kansas City Star reported.
While Obama has 50 staffers already in the Show Me State with plans to hire 150 altogether, McCain had only a handful with hopes of hiring 50 workers.”

This is news? Are you kidding me?

My point is can anyone remember the last time a GOP POTUS Campaign had more offices or staff than a Democrat’s?