Today word came out that the House GOP Conference has just adopted a complete earmark ban for the rest of the year in order to curb spending and hold the Democrats accountable.

Here are what some members of the Republican Study Committee are saying, with two of them being a part of the Indiana Delegation.

Rep. Dan Burton (IN-5)

Because of the irresponsible spending and public outrage over largess in Congress, I have sworn to not request, and to vote against, earmarks since 2007.  Until today, I was one of just thirty-two members of Congress to take that pledge.  Today, with the entire conference of House Republicans adopting our ban on all earmarks, we have sent a clear message to the American people that we are serious about cutting spending, and serious about an ethical appropriations process in Congress

Rep. Mike Pence (IN-6)

No doubt earmarks are being talked about in a different way by the democratic majority. Democrats were cutting “backroom deals” to persuade reluctant House Democrats to vote for the president’s proposal, and said “the American people want us to change business as usual.

Rep. Eric Cantor (VA-7)

Democrats’ promises to clean up Washington politics “is being broken every day.”

Rep. John Boehner (OH-8)

For millions of Americans, the earmark process in Congress has become a symbol of a broken Washington, Today House Republicans took an important step toward showing the American people we’re serious about reform by adopting an immediate, unilateral ban on all earmarks.

You can read the full article here from The Daily Caller and here is the list of t the 32 members in the Republican Study Committee that signed unto this total earmark ban.

Read more after the leap

Bud Bernitt, who is running for Congress in the Eighth District, issued the following press release yesterday:

Roads bring jobs, and that is why I am challenging my Democratic opponent to sign a pledge to support the extension of Interstate 69 from Evansville to Indianapolis. Voters have made it clear to me: Build Interstate 69. Now.

The economy is performing poorly and unemployment in the United States is 9.7%. The right medicine for the Eighth is I-69, and that is why I plan to talk up Interstate 69 throughout this entire race and right on through November.

(Read more after the leap)

As if the campaign hasn’t seen enough blasts from the past comes this from the Indy Star:

The most contentious part of the debate came when, in his closing remarks, Coats called out Hostettler for his answer on a previous question, in which he criticized former President George W.Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq.

Hostettler stressed the lack of intelligence to justify that weapons of mass destruction existed under Sadaam Hussein and reminded those in the room he voted against the Iraq war, but backed efforts in Afghanistan, because of the direct link to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

“I started as ambassador (to Germany) two days after 9/11 …

“John, you and I need to have a good debate about Iraq and about weapons of mass destruction, because I fundamentally disagree with you in terms of why we went in there,” Coats told Hostettler. “I started every day in Germany with collection of intelligence from the U.S., German, French, British and even countries that didn’t support us. The evidence that was before us.”

Hostettler countered that it wasn’t and cited Bush’s statement that if he could have one “do-over” of his presidency, it’s that he could have “changed the intelligence” he had about Iraq.

George W. Bush quit trying to make the case for the invasion of Iraq several years ago, so why is Dan Coats trying to make an issue out of it now?

Does he expect Hoosier primary voters to punish John Hostettler today for coming to a judgment that happened to be correct eight years ago (as much as it was unpopular at the time)?

And would not Coats looking to the past to criticize Hostettler for past votes open the door for Hostettler and the other candidates to criticize Coats for past votes he has made (some of which happen to be hugely unpopular with certain elements of the Republican primary electorate)?

Maybe Hostettler brought up Iraq and baited Coats; the article isn’t clear on that and I didn’t attend the debate to be able to say. But if Hostettler brought it up, he might as well have been playing Br’er Rabbit begging not to be thrown into the Briar Patch.

Or within the margin of error and thus effectively tied.

From The Hill:

Former Sen. Dan Coats (R) is in a statistical tie with Rep. Brad Ellsworth (D) in a hypothetical match-up in this fall’s Indiana Senate race, according to a Daily Kos poll set to be released Monday.

Coats is considered the GOP establishment’s top choice to replace Sen. Evan Bayh (D) and Ellsworth emerged as the main Democratic contender after Rep. Baron Hill (D) said he will not seek the Democratic nod on Saturday.

The Daily Kos/Research 2000 poll was sent around Sunday by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). It showed Coats leading Ellsworth 37 percent to 36 percent with 27 percent undecided among all those surveyed, but the poll has a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

On the other hand, ex-Rep. John Hostettler (R), who is one of five GOPers seeking the nomination, leads Ellsworth 40 percent to 24 percent with 26 percent undecided.

The surveyed polled 600 likely voters in Indiana from Feb. 22-24. The party breakdown of the 600 likely voters is 41 percent Republican, 36 percent Democrat and 23 percent Independent.

Even though Hostettler looks more attractive than Coats in the poll, it was taken before Hill ruled himself out of the race and has a high-number of undecided voters, meaning that the results are still up in the air.

I look forward to seeing the internals of this poll when it comes out tomorrow.

My initial observation is that this poll fits into my evolving theory that Coats is weak against Ellsworth because of Coats’ moderate (some would say liberal) voting record on things like judges and gun control, and his (almost proudly-touted) Washington insider status.

Of course, at the same time, this result is at odds with a recent Rasmussen poll. It is, after all, a lefty poll. But then why would Hostettler lead? The internals should be interesting.

From RedState:

At a time when others in the race for the Indiana Senate seat are struggling to get traction outside the sacred halls of the DC GOP establishment, Marlin Stutzman keeps making waves.

He has endorsed the Jim DeMint proposal on financial reform, which calls for a balanced budget and a moratorium on earmarks. In the Indiana Senate, Stutzman endorsed a bill that would have required the legislature not spend as much revenue as came in the door. This goes even further and it is nice to see him align himself publicly to DeMint.

At the same time, he’s picked up a big list of endorsers from the Indiana Senate. 23 Senators came out and lined up behind him. They are:

David Long, Ft. Wayne; Carlin Yoder, Middlebury; R. Michael Young, Indianapolis; Travis Holdman, Markel; Mike Delph, Carmel; Brent Steele, Bedford; James W. Merritt Jr., Indianapolis; Phil Boots, Crawfordsville; Scott Schneider, Indianapolis; Brent Waltz, Greenwood; Randy Head, Logansport; Jean Leising, Oldenburg; Greg Walker, Columbus; Joe Zakas, Granger; Ron Alting, Lafayette; John Waterman, Shelburn; Brandt Hershman, Monticello; Ed Charbonneau, Valparaiso; Allen Paul, Richmond; Ryan Mishler, Bremen; Johnny Nugent, Lawrenceburg; Connie Lawson, Danville; Luke Kenley, Noblesville.

For those of you that don’t know about the Indiana State Senate, it has 50 seats.

33 of them (a huge majority) are held by Republicans.

So to put that in perspective, Marlin Stutzman just picked up enough endorsements from the State Senate to be the leader of the Republican caucus.

(Read more after the leap)

From Erickson over on RedState:

For my part, I decided last night I’m going to go with State Senator Marlin Stutzman. He need new, young, conservatives in Washington — fresh faces, fresh voices, and fresh ideas based on time tested principles. Marlin Stutzman fits the bill. I’m going to send him some money today.

From NPR:

Shortly after the news arrived that Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) was retiring at the end of the year — ending, perhaps forever, the Kennedy dynasty in Congress — we got word of another potential family dynasty: The Quayles!

Ben Quayle, the 33-year old son of former Vice President Dan Quayle, says he is running to succeed Rep. John Shadegg, an Arizona Republican who is not seeking re-election. The younger Quayle says he is running to “clean up the mess made by the politicians in Washington.” It was Dan Quayle who first made the announcement, this morning on Fox News.

Dan Quayle served in the House from Indiana for two terms before ousting Sen. Birch Bayh (D) in 1980. Eight years later he was elected VP under George Bush.

Hmm, sounds like there are Bayh and Bush dynasties too?

After the ticket was defeated in 1992, the family moved to Arizona.

Ben Quayle will not be able to get the GOP nomination uncontested. Others said to be interested in running are former state Sens. Pam Gorman & Jim Waring, ex-state Rep. Sam Crump and Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker.

Of course, NPR is forgetting another candidacy by someone in the Quayle Dynasty (albeit a distant branch), namely that of Todd Young of Carmel.

It occurs to me that Uncle Dan won’t be doing any fundraisers for Todd Young any time soon. The next time Dan Quayle is in Indiana, it won’t be to raise money for the imploding campaign of his niece’s husband.

If he comes back to Indiana at all, it will probably be to raise money for his son (who will probably be a much better candidate than Quayle’s nephew-in-law anyway).

All the work of a small group of people seeking the blessing of the Marion County Republican faithful is coming to a climax today. There is one countywide office, and the most contentious, going to a vote of Precinct Committeemen and Ward Chairmen. That is the Marion County Sheriff. Bart McAtee is seeking the party’s support, but is looked upon negatively by party faithful over his past support of Democrat Sheriff Frank Anderson. Steve Davis, the 2006 candidate for Sheriff, and IMPD Sargent Dennis Fishburn (father of IMPD patrolman Jason Fishburn) are also seeking the party’s support in the primary. Tim Motsinger was the early front runner for Marion County Sheriff but had to exit the race when his finance chairman, Tim Durham, befell upon legal problems unrelated to the election. The 7th Congressional District is also going before the PC’s today that represent the 7th CD. There are a couple township offices that will go to a vote of the respective township PC’s. The early favorite is Carlos May, a young hispanic American who previously worked for the Mayor Ballard administration.

Here’s the list as we know them:

Marion County Sheriff – Steve Davis, Dennis Fishburn, and Bart McAtee

7th Congressional District – Carlos May, Rafael Ramirez (Note: Dr. Marvin Scott is on the ballot but bypassed slating).

The Perry Township Constable and Lawrence Township Trustee are also seeking the party’s endorsement for their respective townships

NOTE: The open Indianapolis City-County Council seat is NOT being voted upon today. That is tentatively scheduled for March 1st at a venue to be chosen at a later time.

Hoosier Access will be here to bring you the results as they happen. The Convention is expected to begin around 8 AM.

You call follow @HoosierAccess on Twitter also.

(Read below the fold for results)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Local Activist Files For Open City-County Council Seat

Local conservative activist Michael Jezierski filed a letter of intent with the Marion County Republican Central Committee to officially declare his candidacy to fill the open At-Large City-County Council seat at an upcoming county wide caucus. The At-Large seat, which represents all of Marion County, was made vacant by the sudden resignation of Councilor Kent Smith.

“I have been a tireless worker and supporter of our elected officials at the city and county level over the last several years. From my time volunteering on Mayor Ballard’s and the rest of the Republican teams victories in 2007, I have been committed to the Republican vision for Indianapolis” said Mr. Jezierski. “Currently, I believe Mayor Ballard is moving Indianapolis in the right direction and as a Councilor, I will commit to working with my fellow Councilors to ensure the continued improvement and progress of the city that began in January of 2008.”

“I am in agreement with Mayor Ballard that public safety is the number one priority for Indianapolis. Giving our public safety officials the support they need, will lead to an improved quality of life and a climate that promotes job growth in a difficult economic climate.”

Mr. Jezierski, 40, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). He presently is an IT Professional for a manufacturing company based in Warren Township and resides in Lawrence Township. He is a licensed Amateur Radio Operator and a Life Member of the American Radio Relay League. He is also a member of the National Rifle Association, and ABATE of Indiana.

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A message in the email bag from the Sodrel campaign:

A message from our good friend Mike Pence

I am pleased and honored to be in the Ninth Congressional District this Saturday with my good friend Mike Sodrel. I would be honored if you join us for a very important announcement at 10:45am at the Clark County GOP Headquarters in Jeffersonville (2946 E. 10th Street B5 behind the Jeffersonville License Branch).

Please also join us at 12:00pm noon afterward at The Grand in New Albany (138 East Market Street) for a luncheon. Please see the link below to RSVP or you may call the Sodrel office to RSVP for the luncheon event, the office number is 812-282-2002.

We are at a crucial time in our nation’s history. We need strong conservative leaders in Washington, D.C. House Republicans are fighting hard to keep our liberty intact and we need Mike Sodrel’s help.

Mike shares our conservative values and understands that we are engaged in the biggest fight for freedom and liberty that our country has seen in a long time. We need someone who can hit the ground running in the battle to preserve our Constitutional rights and conservative principles. Mike Sodrel has proven his ability to win the 9th District Congressional seat.

This year when Republicans will do well nationally, Sodrel will win again!

I need your help to stop the Obama-Pelosi-Reid one-party rule of our federal government. I need your help to elect Mike Sodrel back to Congress. Will you please join us on Saturday so I can talk to you about electing my good friend and patriot, Mike Sodrel?

The future of our country is at stake in this election.

Sincerely,
Congressman Mike Pence