Archive for the ‘Elections’ Category

Reading an AP article on Yahoo, the Democrats have proposed a .5% tax rate increase on some taxpayers. This is only the tip of the iceberg, as evidenced by the first Clinton Administration when the Democrat Congress at the time passed a hefty tax increase. The upcoming Congress will already raise taxes if the Democrats are in control by not renewing the “Bush Tax Cuts”. It’s a built in tax increase that is already forthcoming. The Democrats already claim the economy is in recession, so they being typical liberal Democrats put their misguided thinking caps on and attempt to tax the nation into prosperity. Not like that’s ever worked before but hey it makes for good sound bites on Countdown with Keith Overbite.

If you’re wondering what “CHANGE” is all about, sounds like “CHANGE” of jacking up tax rates will be the first order of business in a Democrat administration whether it’s Hillary’s third term as President or B. Hussein Obama’s.

But you’re not going to miss it.

Although the majority of 2nd District Democrats cast their vote for presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, today Rep. Joe Donnelly (D-IN02) announced that as a Democratic party super-delegate he would be supporting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Rep. Donnelly made his announcement via a press release from his official congressional office. Although Donnelly has been emphasizing lately in the local press that he is only interested in working on district issues while he’s in Washington, apparently he’s very much interested in fulfilling party obligations while on taxpayer time. Also of interest is the fact that Donnelly chose to endorse Sen. Obama only after he received $7,500 in campaign contributions from the Hope Fund PAC run by Obama.

Donnelly cited Obama’s ability to build “bipartisan majorities” and his work for affordable health care as some of the reasons behind his endorsement. It does appear that Sen. Obama will have a difficult task building bipartisan majorities since he was rated as the most liberal member of the United States Senate by National Journal and has received accolades from some of the most liberal groups in American politics.

Joe Donnelly’s support for Sen. Obama’s nationalized health care proposal illustrates the choice that 2nd District voters will face this fall. Canada, Germany, and other nations have nationalized their health care systems with disastrous results. The only people who win in a government controlled health care system are the bureaucrats.  Standing in contrast to these proven policies of failure is Luke Puckett, the Republican candidate running against Joe Donnelly.  Puckett is advocating for a market based solution to the rising cost of health care, a solution that puts consumers first and unleashes the ingenuity of the American people in a way that Barack Obama and Joe Donnelly seem to fear.

Recorded the night of May 6th from Congressman Dan Burton’s victory party. First Congressman Burton addresses the crowd then sits down with Josh and Adam for a short interview.

The remaining segments of Hoosier Access Radio, including the infamous Weird Pro Blogger Hour episodes are going onto iTunes. We apologize in advance for some of the audio quality - we thought we found a perfect place that was quieter for recording. That turned out not to be the case. On top of that we found cellular laptop cards don’t work there. “Internet - Lost!” to paraphrase an at&t wireless commercial.

UPDATE: A couple segments of the recent Saturday podcast recorded at the Ft. Harrison VFW are now posted to iTunes.

 

 Congressman Dan Burton [15:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Assuming, of course, that he can get reelected.

After all, he needs them to do volunteer work for his reelection campaign.

It would be too much for them to ask for Baron to do anything about the environment until after they have gotten him reelected (at which point, he won’t be able to do it then either because he’ll need to be reelected in another two years; catch-22).

They must do Baron’s bidding first; then he’ll figure out how to avoid doing what they elected him to do.

It’s his usual modus operandi.

From the News & Tribune:

Hill sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which he said has plans to move forward with environmental issues after the November election.

“We’re probably not going to do anything this year on global warming. After the next Congress is elected, starting in January, we’re going to work on a bill addressing the issue of global warming,” Hill said.

Yet Sitko feels each day that passes is a loss that impacts the environment, therefore the organization went ahead with the three billboards, two of which are along Interstate 65.

One is located between Jeffersonville and Clarksville near Interstate 265 and the other between Seymour and Columbus on I-65. There is also a billboard along Ind. 50 near North Vernon.

“We need to protect Hoosier farmers and families right now,” Sitko said. “Indiana is already effected by global warming with longer and more intense heat waves and droughts that are causing Hoosier farmers millions in expensive irrigation.”

And you can’t help but wonder about this particular bit:

“The time has come for Southern Indiana to take a strong look at Rep. Hill’s record,” Sitko said. “While the public is calling for action on global warming, Hill is bucking his party’s leadership and siding with those in Congress that are intent on denying the inevitable.”

Hill said he finds Greenpeace’s stance “puzzling,” saying it was his understanding the organization was satisfied with the final passage of the fuel economy target bill last year.

Hill added he is on the cusp of securing endorsements from several economic organizations in his bid to return to Congress in November, including the League of Conservation and the Sierra Club.

That sort of feigned ignorance on the part of Baron sounds an awful lot like his denial of ever having promised his own party’s county chairmen that he wouldn’t make a superdelegate endorsement until after the primary.

You know the one; the time when he called the Democratic county chairman of his own county a liar for merely quoting Baron’s promise.

That’s the thing about telling lies and breaking promises.

Sooner or later, they catch up with you.

It looks like this is another set of lies and broken promises that is catching up with Baron Hill.

Also, I think it’s a bit of a stretch to call the League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club “economic organizations,” but it is the News & Tribune.
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What a mess the Democrats are in right now. Hillary was supposed to win Indiana by a large enough total so that that nagging voice to concede in her head (i.e. the DNC) would go away and she could continue to campaign for president. And “Diamond Jim” Schellinger “Rocks!” was supposed to win the gubernatorial primary and make JLT go gently into that good night. Well, neither happened. Now post Indiana primary, Hillary is furthering her self induced national embarrassment by issuing racially insensitive remarks to USA Today, and the state Democrats are stuck with a candidate for governor who is broke and no one in the party structure even wanted running, much less winning.

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                               The Indiana State Chamber PAC might be the biggest winner of all on Election Night. After wading into several tough primary fights across the state, they emerged with a perfect election with victories for every one of their endorsed candidates. Within hours, not days, of the close of Election Day at 6pm on Tuesday, they released this informative guide to the Election results of important legislative races from across the state. Their victories include an unprecedented 70% victory for Wes Culver in House District 49 as well as 15 other high profile races in Indiana. It doesn’t get better than that.

Lest we think that there would be a lag between the primary and the race for the Governor’s mansion…

I saw this tonight on TV. Thoughts? I think it does a nice job laying out the positives from the first term.

YouTube Direct 

The Indy Star reports:

Jim Schellinger, the Indianapolis architect who fought a campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor to a razor-thin finish last night, conceded the race to Jill Long Thompson this afternoon.

“Jim Schellinger just phoned Jill to concede,” Thompson communications director Jeff Harris said.

With all but two precincts counted out of 5,230 precincts across the state, Long Thompson led by 7,102 votes, according to unofficial figures from The Associated Press, which earlier declared her the winner.

Which allows me to use this again!

YouTube Direct 

The incompetence of Beth White never ceases to amaze me. Just received an email that explained the Marion County GOP Chairman “lost” his Precinct Committeeman spot because the Clerk put him on the wrong precinct ballot. No worries because he could always appoint himself to any random open PC position anyway. But its the principle of it all - if she can’t get a PC position right, what makes anyone think she isn’t going to screw up something a little more important.

Never mind we had precincts not open up until late afternoon or not at all in May 2007.
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Jonathan Martin of Politico.com is reporting some interesting political news to Hoosiers:

Another entrant for 2012/2016?

Here’s a new one: Rep. Mike Pence (IN).

Upside: Evangelical, fiscal conservative, good with the media (he’s a former talk show host)
Downside: He’s a fairly junior member of the House and is virtually unknown beyond conservative circles in DC and voters in his eastern Indiana district.

But he seems at least curious about the national stage. Why else would he keynote the South Carolina GOP’s Silver Elephant fundraising gala later this month?

If he does eventually make a run, he’ll already have a toehold in the Palmetto State. Tim Cameron notes that his direct mail consultant is South Carolina-based Starboard Communications.

Congressman Pence would certainly make an interesting choice. His name has even been tossed around during this presidential cycle as potential Veep pick.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Mike Pence not too long after Hoosier Access first launched last August at the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference. Knowing the “Hoosier Hysteria” would be hog wild for a Pence candidacy, I prodded him about any potential higher political endeavors he might pursue. Check it out after the leap. (more…)

I found the analysis below of the 5th CD race quite interesting:

The Crossover voting hurt Dan Burton more than John McGoff. Internal polling showed a 20-25 point victory on Election Day (also verified by polling done by a third part- Howey). Voter ID calls in the last 4 days showed undecideds going 60-40 for Burton. So what happened? Conservative primary voters who would have voted for Dan Burton instead participated in Operation Chaos. They won’t do that in 2010.

McGoff didn’t eat into Burton’s victories outside of Indy metro. Dan delivered 3 to 1 margins outside of Marion and Hamilton counties. This has always been Burton’s base (he lost Marion County in his last major challenge). He’s always performed well in the traditional Republican areas in the other 9 counties in the district. McGoff didn’t budge numbers there despite considerable effort (and some nasty mail in the last week).

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

Baron Hill carried less than 70% of the votes cast in the 9th District Democratic primary, a record low for him. He carried only 60% of the vote in Bloomington.

These figures exclude undervotes, where people left the ballot blank rather than vote for Baron or any of his challengers. In Harrison County, there over a thousand Democrat undervotes in the Congressional race.

In all, more than one Democratic primary voter in three voted against Baron Hill, or at least declined via undervote to vote for him (in terms of undervotes). The bedrock of the Democratic Party in the 9th District has been betrayed. Baron’s base may be in Bloomington now, but the rest of the district has gone in a different direction from him.

Hillary Clinton carried the 9th District by better than 63%. The only county in the district that Obama carried was Monroe. Most counties in the 9th (including my own, Harrison) gave Hillary Clinton margins upward of 70%.

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