A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

Masson's Blog

IN-08: Ellsworth announces “Hoosier Military Bill of Rights”

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Austin Arceo, writing for the Terre Haute Tribune Star, has a story on 8th District Congressional candidate Brad Ellsworth’s announcement of his proposal for a “Hoosier Military Bill of Rights” for soldiers. The platform includes:

  • An increase in armor and protection of solidiers in combat;
  • An increase in educational pay and healthcare benefits for soldiers and veterans;
  • Incentives to employers to make up the pay gap experienced by National Guard soldiers who leave their job to serve;
  • Funding and expanding veterans’ health care services.

He believes these items can be accomplished without a tax increase but rather with a shifting of how we prioritize tax dollars.

Incumbent John Hostettler responded to Ellsworth’s proposal by criticizing California Democrat Nancy Pelosi. That’s a little like responding to terrorist acts of Saudis and Egyptians based in Afghanistan by attacking Iraq. Crazy, I know.

State trails project

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The Indy Star has more on Gov. Daniels plan to spend $20 million next year (up from $10 million last year apparently) on biking and hiking trails.

I guess I’m surprised that there was $10 million is last year’s budget. I have absolutely no idea what all goes into trail development. Would land acquisition be a major part of the cost?

In any event, this seems to be a positive use of Indiana’s money. Hopefully it will help to combat the fattening of Indiana and potentially strengthen our communities as a public square of sorts if it encourages citizens to talk to one another.

According to a sidebar in the Star’s story:

The plans for biking/hiking trails, drafted Wednesday by some 300 trail advocates from throughout Indiana, will now be honed and prioritized by Department of Natural Resources staffers. The DNR will post the plan on its Web site by June 10. The following week, the DNR will begin holding regional meetings for citizens from across the state to comment.

Update: Thanks to Marty for the link, here is the 2006 Indiana Trails Plan. The plan sets forth the goal of having an easily accessible trail opportunity within 15 minutes or 7.5 miles of all Indiana residents and encouraging partnership of federal, state, local and private resources to build a statewide trail network. Some of the action items include:

  • Improving the acquisition process of former railroad corridors;
  • Advocating that trails be included in future land use planning, including renegotiation of road right-of-ways and bridge developments;
  • Advocating that developers be required to set aside land for trails;
  • Educating the public about the health benefits of trail use;
    Installing signs that interpret natural, historical, and cultural features of trails.

King of Coingate pleads guilty

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Speaking of Ohio Republicans, the Toledo Blade is reporting:

Former GOP fund-raiser Tom Noe admitted today that he used politicians, former aides to Gov. Bob Taft, coworkers, and friends to illegally pour thousands of dollars into the effort to reelect President Bush.

Noe entered a guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge David Katz in Toledo to all three felony charges he faced for violating federal campaign finance law. Appearing with his sister and brother-in-law and three attorneys, Noe was calm and responsive to Judge Katz’ questions during the 47-minute hearing.

. . .

John Pearson, an assistant U.S. Attorney in the public integrity section of the Justice Department, said he would seek an even harsher penalty for Noe because of the “potential loss of public faith in the presidential race.”

Noe, 51, was indicted in October on three charges related to the funneling of more then $45,000 into the Bush campaign at a $2,000-a-seat fund-raiser in Columbus in October, 2003. The Bush campaign later named Noe a “Pioneer” for raising at least $100,000 overall.

Some folks might recall that George Bush’s slim margin in Ohio was the key to his narrow victory over John Kerry in 2004.

Dominionism

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We’ve had some discussions about what label ought best to be applied to those segments of Christianity that are more about welding their brand of Christianity to the machinery of government than about trying to conduct their own lives as Jesus taught.

Llamajockey introduced me to the term Dominionism. According to the Wikipedia entry linked above:

Dominionism is a trend in Protestant Christian evangelicalism and fundamentalism, primarily though not exclusively in the United States, that seeks to establish specific political policies based on religious beliefs. It is most often used to describe politically active conservative Christians with a specific agenda.

Apparently the term has more currency than I thought. I saw it used over at Shakespeare’s Sister by poster Paul the Spud in his post about the new video game offering from mega-church pastor and author of “The Purpose Driven Life,” Rick Warren.

The video game is described as follows:

Imagine: you are a foot soldier in a paramilitary group whose purpose is to remake America as a Christian theocracy, and establish its worldly vision of the dominion of Christ over all aspects of life. You are issued high-tech military weaponry, and instructed to engage the infidel on the streets of New York City. You are on a mission – both a religious mission and a military mission — to convert or kill Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, gays, and anyone who advocates the separation of church and state – especially moderate, mainstream Christians.
. . .
The game, slated for release by October 2006 in advance of the Christmas shopping rush, has been previewed at video game exhibitions, and reviewed by major newspapers and magazines. But until now, no fan or critic has pointed out the controversial game’s connection to Mr. Warren or his dominionist agenda.

On the other hand, the game apparently lets you switch sides and fight for the army of the AntiChrist. So, as a secular humanist, I might be obligated to check it out.

He doesn’t live here anymore

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Not at all related to Indiana, but the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a rather amusing editorial hammering on the fact that Senator Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum doesn’t live in Pennsylvania any more.

Before every election, the Post-Gazette routinely sends letters to the candidates seeking material for the Voters Guide. Back in March, as part of that process for the primary, the newspaper sent a letter to Rick Santorum at his home address, at least the one that he claims. Back from Penn Hills came the letter with a sticker from the U.S. Postal Service checked as “Not Deliverable As Addressed — Unable To Forward.”

That is all you need to know about the nasty dispute between the Republican Sen. Santorum and his Democratic opponent, Bob Casey Jr., in the November election. The whole thing is rooted in one inconvenient fact for Sen. Santorum: He doesn’t live here anymore.

The editorial repeats the sentence “He doesn’t live here anymore” at least 4 times.

Daniels announces doubling of trail funding

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I’m generally suspicious of our good Governor’s numbers, but here is some good news, if true. He says that funding for the state’s recreation trails will soon double from $10 million/year to $20 million/year.

“The state will take the lead, but local communities and private organizations must play a large role if we’re to take a real leap forward and create the kind of trails network that really sets Indiana apart,” Daniels said. “We’ll favor cooperative projects among communities that will link local trails into long continuous routes.”

Sounds like a good plan.

IN-08: Boehner raises money for Hostettler

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Mara Lee, writing for the Evansville Courier Press, has an article on House Majority Leader John Boehner’s visit to Evansville to play golf and speak to raise money for John Hostettler.

Boehner took his leadership position in the wake of the DeLay corruption scandal because the House Republicans realized that nothing gets rid of the stink of corruption like an Ohio Republican. Boehner famously distributed checks from tobacco political action committees to members of Congress on the floor of the House of Representatives.

According to the Courier Press article, the Hostettler campaign office had no comment about the Boehner fund raiser.

Welfare benefits privatization

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Niki Kelly, writing for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, has an article on the latest development in FSSA’s so far ill-fated efforts to privatize the eligibility management system for deciding who is entitled to welfare benefits. Gov. Daniels wants to be personally involved with the decision. Typically, contracting decisions don’t go that far up into the executive branch bureaucracy. Instead such decisions are made by the contracting agency and the Dept. of Administration.

In this case the Governor has established an “interagency team” whose members include Deputy Chief of Staff, Earl Goode; Dept. of Administration Commissioner Carrie Henderson, Nate Feltman general counsel and chief of staff for the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, Karl Browning of the Office of Technology; State Budget Director Chuck Schalliol; and Debra Minot, director of the State Personnel Department.

The problem with the FSSA privatization so far is that there are only, apparently, two companies willing/able to provide the services. One (ACS) is tainted by conflict of interest involving Mitch Roob who worked for them for 4 years. The other (Accenture) performed poorly when it received a similar contract in Texas.

FSSA has historically been poorly run and a big sink of money. Part of that, I think, has to do with the fact that the agency exists to spend money on something nobody is terribly excited about — the needs of the poor. Partially as a consequence of that, the agency was never well designed. My understanding is that it was cobbled together out of several existing agencies that provided social services of one sort or another and the enacting legislation provided a relatively short duration for the overarching agency (but not the sub-departments of the agency). In any event, the agency is poorly designed and spends money we’d rather not spend, so it has a huge target on its back, and for the most part rightfully so.

But the zeal of the Daniels administration for privatization is an article of faith, not to be shaken by evidence that the private sector is, at times, less efficient than government. So, I expect this privatization to proceed, no matter how many layers of window dressing committee review Governor Daniels puts between here and the inevitable and regardless of whether the private company will be less effective at accurately determining who is entitled to benefits and who is not.

More on possible Lafayette Federal District Court closure

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The following is the text of Lafayette attorney and Chapter 13 trustee, David Rosenthal’s letter to a number of area elected officials opposing and urging opposition of the potential closure of the federal building in Lafayette which is the seat of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, Hammond Division at Lafayette as well as the United States Bankruptcy Court in Lafayette Indiana.

I am the Trustee in the US Bankruptcy Court in Lafayette IN and was advised the Lafayette Federal Building may be closed. This possible closure comes after a recent renovation of the building to accommodate the US Bankruptcy Court which in 2005 served approximately 8,000 citizens and their dependants from Tippecanoe, Carroll, White, Benton, Jasper, Warren and Newton Counties which combined has a population of over 300,000. Besides the Bankruptcy Court, the Federal Building also serves the needs of the area in matters of civil and criminal litigation in the US District Court, the Post Office, the US Probation Department and the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Access to federal services for the area is provided by the beautiful and renovated Federal Building which is a vital and important symbol of America and represents the services provided by our federal government. If the Federal Building is closed, the nearest Federal Building is in Hammond or South Bend, both 2 hours from Lafayette. Besides the importance of the Federal Building set forth above, the difficulty of traveling to either city would be a severe impediment to our citizen’s access to the federal justice system and governmental services now readily available in Lafayette IN.

As importantly, the Federal Building is an architectural gem both externally and internally and as situated in downtown Lafayette is critical to the civic vitality of the area served. lafayette and its surrounding counties has a unique population, a mixture of rural and urban well served by its Federal Building. To require the population to travel to a Federal Building in distant cities, many of the citizens have never traveled to or know, would cause considerable anxiety and discomfort. Further, the Federal Building was beautifully renovated in 2003 at a considerable expense to the Federal Government and which renovation furthers the efficient use of internal space.

To consider closure of our Federal Building is an affront to the citizens of Lafayette and its surrounding counties. Rather than close the Federal Building, the area serviced should be expanded to include Clinton, Montgomery, Fountain, Cass, and Pulaski County, all with similar population characteristics and who travel to Lafayette for work, professional services, cultural and entertainment activities, educational programs at Purdue University and shopping. Lafayette is the center of the 11 counties, NOT Hammond or South Bend.

As stated above, I request that you oppose the closure of the Charles Halleck Federal Building at 300 Ferry Street, Lafayette IN and consider expansion of the population it serves.

In addition to being sent to the Tippecanoe County Bar Association, the letter was distributed to Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski, West Lafayette Mayor Jan Mills, Senators Lugar and Bayh, U.S. Representative Steve Buyer, State Representatives Sheila Klinker and Tim Brown, State Senators Ron Alting and Brandt Hershman, and Governor Daniels.

IN-02: Chocola wins “Crony of the Week” award

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James Wensits has an article in yesterday’s South Bend Tribune on the Second District race between incumbent Republican Chris Chocola and Democratic challenger Joe Donnelly. A Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called that race a very important race and said that the DCCC believes that Chocola is in trouble.

The organization named Chocola as the recipient of its “GOP Crony of the Week” award.

According to Van Hollen, Chocola has consistently voted to put the interests of “big oil” ahead of those of his constituents.

In particular, Van Hollen cited last year’s energy bill which, he said, provided billions in subsidies to the oil and gas industry at a time when prices were rising.

According to Van Hollen, Chocola opposed an amendment to the energy bill that would have removed $500 million over 10 years to fund an “Ultra-Deep Water and Unconventional R&D” program, which grants subsidies to oil companies that engage in deep water drilling.

Chocola called the DCCC pronouncement a “partisan attack,” which, of course, it is. But, all the same, that doesn’t make it untrue. Chocola defended his energy policy record by, among other things, noting that on Thursday he voted in favor of drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

Way to stand up to Big Oil, Chris. That’ll show ’em.