Archive for August 6th, 2008

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Campaign finance reform in Indiana
Date: Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:21:54 -0400
From: Scott Tibbs <tibbs1973@yahoo.com>
To: H61@IN.gov

Representative Pierce,

I read with concern in the Indianapolis Star that public financing has been proposed in Indiana, with the possibility of strict limits of campaign contributions. I think this is a bad idea and encourage you not to support this.

The first and most obvious problem with contribution limits is that it is a disadvantage to minor parties such as the Libertarian and Green parties. Enough Indiana voters have voted for the Libertarian candidate for Secretary of State over the past few elections to give the Libertarian party an automatic spot on the Indiana ballot, and minor parties serve a valuable purpose by holding the primary two parties accountable and giving the parties a political incentive to stand by their principles.

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Governor Daniels spoke to a the Indianapolis Rotary Club yesterday and announced his “Taxpayer Protection Agenda” which is a two-step proposal which is to further strengthen Indiana’s protection of taxpayers.

In short this is what he’s proposing:

First, the governor called for final legislative passage of a constitutional amendment to make permanent the caps on property taxes contained in the landmark tax cut bill approved during the 2008 session of the Indiana General Assembly.

The second proposal, the Automatic Taxpayer Refund, would ensure that any tax revenues beyond those needed to maintain a balanced budget and adequate rainy day reserves be sent back to taxpayers in the form of a refund.

Audio of the Governor’s speech can be heard below.

 

 Governor announces taxpayer protection agenda: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Baron Hill is holding a town hall on Thursday evening in Seymour.

Hill to Hold Town Hall Meeting in

Seymour Thursday

(Washington, DC) -

WHO: Congressman Baron Hill and interested members of the community.

WHAT: Congressman Baron Hill will give a brief update of legislative action in Congress, and then open it up to questions from the audience.

WHEN: Thursday, August 7, 2008, 6:00 – 7:00 p.m. (EDT).

WHERE: Seymour City Hall
Room 301
309 N. Chestnut St.
Seymour, IN.

*Press encouraged to attend this event. Only accredited media will be permitted to record the event.

It’s open to the public and it’s in a public building, but the public won’t be able to record the event.

It isn’t clear to me how Baron could stop someone from recording the event if they tried; it is a public event in a public place.

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Press Release from Bob Heaton for State Representative:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, August 6, 2008

INCUMBENT USES TAXPAYER DOLLARS FOR SELF-PROMOTION

Terre Haute – It has recently been discovered that incumbent State Representative Vern Tincher has used taxpayer dollars to aide his campaign. Just last week, a well produced mail piece praising Tincher’s record on illegal immigration control was sent to voters in House District 46. The mail piece was paid by the Indiana House of Representatives and included an Indianapolis return address.

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Another day, another pack of rumors and fawning speculations about the Obamassiah and Birch’s Boy.

Even Bayh himself has started to pour cold water on the whole thing.

And for good reason.

There won’t be a vice presidential pick today, so the Obasm-giddy chattering classes will face an inevitable let-down. Better to minimize that as much as possible, if you’re a VP hopeful and don’t want to lose the expectations game, right?

Let me stick my neck out, as the proverbial saying goes, and predict that Evan Bayh will not be announced as Barack Obama’s running mate on today.

How do I know for certain?

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