A Citizen's Guide to Indiana

Masson's Blog

Through the looking glass: The race to replace Garton

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Stop me if you’ve heard this one: a Flogger, a Libertarian, and a Conservative Democrat were running for office . . .

O.k., so we’re all still waiting for the punchline. But, Mary Beth Schneider has a story for the Indianapolis Star giving us the set up for the increasingly peculiar race to fill Bob Garton’s Senate seat. As you may recall, Greg “the Flogger” Walker unseated long-time Senate President pro tem, Bob Garton, largely with the assistance of hardcore pro-life groups upset that Garton didn’t make a priority of legislation designed to make it difficult or impossible for doctors to perform abortion procedures for their patients. Consequently, time ran out during the short session, and the legislation never received an up or down vote.

Enter “the Flogger.” Greg Walker pulled off the upset against Garton with the support of the pro-life groups, capitalizing in large part on Garton’s wishy-washy stance on health care for legislators. But, it turns out, that Walker had written a letter to the editor in 2003 suggesting public flogging as an appropriate punishment. He later defended his support of public flogging as a biblically based punishment.

Running against Walker is a prominent Democratic attorney from Columbus by the name of Terry Coriden. Among other things, Coriden paid $150 to attend a fundraiser for Gov. Mitch Daniels in Columbus which Republican candidate Greg Walker did not attend. Coriden wanted to send a message that he intends to work with the Governor if given the chance. Coriden also opposes abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, or to save the mother’s life. (Walker would not support legislation that contained exceptions for rape or incest.)

Add to the mix, a Libertarian candidate by the name of Ken Gividen who attained a fair amount of name recognition in his unsuccessful campaign for Governor in 2004. As I recall (and Mr. Gividen may very well be along shortly to correct me if I’m wrong), he has a very libertarian philosophy with respect to economic issues but not so much with respect to social issues. For example, he was opposed to a student newspaper publishing an article on the dangers of oral sex. Mr. Gividen is more likely to draw voters from the ranks of Republicans than from Democrats in the district.

Gividen, who ran for state Senate in 2002, receiving 3,350 votes to nearly 22,000 for Garton, argued that his small-government, lower-taxes views make him “more Republican than the Republican candidate” and a good fit for GOP voters — if, that is, Republicans can be persuaded to vote for a different party.

“I’m not so much running against Greg as I’m running against that Republican button on the voting machine,” Gividen said.
If elected, he said, he’d caucus with the Republicans and would even consider becoming one, if he got “the blessing of Libertarians.”

IN-04: Max Cleland to campaign for David Sanders

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Apparently Max Cleland will be in Indianapolis on September 25th to support the campaign of David Sanders against incumbent Steve Buyer. Cleland is a big draw, particularly for an ex-Senator from Georgia, because of the way in which he was defeated in his 2002 Senate race by Saxby Chambliss. Despite having left an arm and two legs in Viet Nam, he was attacked during the 2002 campaign by an ad featuring pictures of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden and questioning Cleland’s patriotism.

According to the Sanders’ campaign press release, Senator Cleland’s speech will begin at 9:30AM at the Adam’s Mark Hotel. He will also join Dr. Sanders for a rally at 11:30AM at Veterans Memorial Park in Brownsburg.

IN-03: Islamo-terror-fascists

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Reverent & Free came across a pro-Souder letter to the editor in the Fort Wayne News Sentinel (most of the post has to do with a pro-Hayhurst letter). The letter states:

“If you want to protect America and defeat Islamo-terror-fascists, vote Souder.”

Craig at R&F notes how perfect “Islamo-terror-fascists” is. It fairly screams the need of some citizens for an enemy. Just give us someone to fear and hate, then make us feel safe from those people. The description of the enemy lets us know that this isn’t reasoned fear we’re talking about. Reasoned fear would do a better job of articulating that certain groups of Islamic militants hate Americans and/or their government, and find it useful to use terrorist tactics against us. But, reasoned fear would also do a better job of putting the actual threat into perspective and, therefore, not be terribly useful as an electoral tool since one’s chances of being hurt or injured in a terrorist attack are miniscule in comparison to one’s chances of suffering a similar fate in an automobile accident.

No, the fear of “Islamo-terror-fascists” is an irrational fear. It conjures up legions of amorphous boogie-men comprised of our worst nightmares. The only thing worse, perhaps, would be “Commie Islamo-terror-fascists.” But, throwing the Communists into the mix is probably over the top. After all, Souder only needs a win, not a landslide. Besides, we probably don’t want to anger the Communist Chinese lest they decide to stop funding Souder’s & Co.’s deficit spending.

More press

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Call me vain, but I’m always a little tickled when I make it into the Journal Gazette’s Best of the Blogs editorial segment. They highlight this September 16, 2006 post, quoting the following:

The Associated Press has a story telling of a poll indicating that privatizing the Toll Road and adopting Daylight Saving Time are unpopular with Hoosiers.  …

I sort of hold these issues to a double standard. I think the popularity, or lack thereof, with respect to DST is more significant than the lack of support for Toll Road privatization. DST seems like the kind of issue perfectly suited to a straight up popularity contest. How we synchronize our clock to the sun is basically a lifestyle choice with few complex policy questions involved. …

The lack of public support for the Toll Road would concern me less if it were good public policy. But, it’s not. That’s just my opinion, of course, but I have my reasons. I’ve read the lease and thought it through a bit. At the end of the day, I think it’s bad public policy to increase taxes solely on the motorists of northern Indiana to pay for roads in the rest of the state. I could still be wrong, obviously, but we have no idea how much information the poll respondents had on this issue and, therefore, no idea how informed their opinions are.

Toll Road, DST unpopular

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The Associated Press has a story telling of a poll indicating that privatizing the Toll Road and adopting Daylight Saving Time are unpopular with Hoosiers.

DST was supported by only 44% of Hoosiers and opposed by 49% while the Toll Road privatization had only 39% support among Hoosiers with 55% disapproval.

I sort of hold these issues to a double standard. I think the popularity, or lack thereof, with respect to DST is more significant than the lack of support for Toll Road privatization. DST seems like the kind of issue perfectly suited to a straight up popularity contest. How we synchronize our clock to the sun is basically a lifestyle choice with few complex policy questions involved. The most important aspect of the choice is pleasing the greatest number of Hoosiers. A statewide referendum would be, in my opinion, an appropriate way of deciding how to deal with the DST issue.

The lack of public support for the Toll Road would concern me less if it were good public policy. But, it’s not. That’s just my opinion, of course, but I have my reasons. I’ve read the lease and thought it through a bit. At the end of the day, I think it’s bad public policy to increase taxes solely on the motorists of northern Indiana to pay for roads in the rest of the state. I could still be wrong, obviously, but we have no idea how much information the poll respondents had on this issue and, therefore, no idea how informed their opinions are.

Students unhappy with healthy foods

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Erin Smith, writing for the Lafayette Journal & Courier has an article entitled “Many students not stomaching state’s healthy food approach.” Might I just say: shocker.

The article concerns SB 111-2006 which, among other things, required schools to develop local wellness policies and imposed requirements attempting to improve the healthiness of food made available to students during school hours. (For prior discussion of SB 111-2006, see here and here.)

Harrison High School junior Hope Gerlach responded as follows:

“What they’re trying to do is almost backfiring on them,” Harrison High School junior Hope Gerlach said, noting that more students have resorted to bringing their lunches or purchasing snacks from an in-school store.

“They try to force healthy food on us (and) it’s too gross to eat, so people just go to the Trading Post and buy chocolate and Pop-Tarts.”

Schools and government can only go so far. But I think it is good policy to make eating healthy food the path of least resistance regardless of whether students think such food is “gross” or whether they can get junk food elsewhere. Just make it easier to get healthy food, and if students go the extra mile to eat crap, then so be it. Children with poor dietary habits become obese, diabetic adults, increasing our health care costs and poverty rates. So, I think it’s worth the effort to at least make good food easily available in our schools and perhaps make junk food a little harder to get.

Proposed amendment to protect trust fund

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Senators Richard Bray (R-Martinsville) and Mike Delph (R-Carmel) have an interesting proposal. They want to adopt a Constitutional Amendment that protects the “Major Moves” trust fund — the $500 million squirreled away with a provision that it’s not supposed to be spent before a certain time. The Senators don’t trust themselves with the money, so they want to take it out of their hands with a Constitutional Amendment. Certainly, their fear is justified. The General Assembly has a habit of reaching for money wherever they can instead of raising taxes when money gets tight.

Senator Vi Simpson (D-Bloomington) characterizes the proposal as “silly.” Simpson is a good Senator and I usually respect her opinion, but, even if there are good policy reasons not to pass this kind of amendment, I wouldn’t go anywhere near as far as calling it silly. A Constitution is supposed to be made up of broad provisions, and I can see not wanting to muck up the Constitution with this kind of particularized legislation. I can also see wanting to demand accountability from the General Assembly and have them take it upon themselves to spend wisely without using the Constitution as a crutch. But, those arguments notwithstanding, I wouldn’t call the proposal silly.

IN-03: Souder’s smear campaign

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Sylvia Smith had an article in the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette on Sunday that discussed the three most competitive Indiana Congressional races (IN-02, IN-08, and IN-09) and the potential that those races may decide control of the U.S. House of Representatives. But she also discussed the race in IN-03 which is up in the Fort Wayne region where Dr. Tom Hayhurst is challenging incumbent Mark Souder.

Souder started going negative against Hayhurst early and often:

Souder began airing radio commercials immediately after the May primary and hasn’t let up. One, for instance, scoffs at Democratic opponent Tom Hayhurst for being rich, retired and interested in a full-time public service job.

In it, Souder says four Republican physicians were elected to Congress in 1994 to make changes in the federal approach to health care, not to “do some public service at the end of their medical careers.” He describes Hayhurst, as “a wealthy, retired doctor worth up to $15 million who thinks being a congressman for a few years would be interesting. But being a congressman, if you want to get things done, is hard work. It’s not something you retire into.”

As one reader pointed out, “For a guy who has accomplished next to nothing in his 12 years of office this is really rich. For a guy who promised to leave office after 6 terms to go after someone “who thinks being a congressman for a few years would be interesting” is grotesque.”

I’d really like to see some poll numbers on the Hayhurst/Souder race. I’m just guessing, but my suspicion is that Souder isn’t as comfortably ahead as most of us would probably assume. Hayhurst is a credible opponent, Souder is flagrantly breaking promises, and the political winds are adverse to the GOP. Still, I’ve heard that IN-03 is the kind of place where a chimp with an “R” next to his name would probably beat out Jesus if he was running as a Democrat.

Legislative Prayer

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(Via Indiana Law Blog) The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in the case of Hinrichs v. Bosma (in his official capacity as Speaker of the House of Representatives) on Thursday, September 7 at 10:30 a.m. in Chicago. The appellate materials are available here, including briefs from the parties and amici briefs from the American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, Advance America, the Indiana Family Institute, and the “Liberty” Counsel. The issue, as readers might recall, is whether the Speaker of the House of Representatives can exercise his authority over access to the Speaker’s podium during session to allow sectarian prayer, such as a revival-style singing and clapping rendition of “Just a little walk with Jesus”  as official business of the Indiana House of Representatives. The District Court for the Southern District of Indiana ruled that the government’s ability to engage in such public speech was limited and that the Constitution’s limitation on the government prohibited this activity. Speaker Bosma has appealed the decision.

According to a story in the Indianapolis Star by Mary Beth Schneider, the appeal is currently being paid for by taxpayers, but Speaker Bosma is appealing to “the public” to defray expenses in excess of $67,000 paid to a Washington, D.C. law firm. Taking Down Words suggests that this issue will play into the GOP “WedgeWhack” strategy wherein Republican strategists seek to distract voters from bread-and-butter issues with emotionally charged wedge issues.

Healthcare and poverty in Indiana

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Katie Harp has an article in the Princeton Daily Clarion on the subject of the need for affordable healthcare for Hoosiers. Meanwhile, Taking Down Words has a link to a story by Tim Evans in the Indy Star reporting that more Hoosiers are living in poverty. (Update The longer story by Mr. Evans is here.

According to the Clarion article, Hoosiers have the highest rate of “medical bankruptcies” per capita in the nation. How they determine what constitutes a “medical bankruptcy” versus other kinds, I’m not sure since the federal bankruptcy law doesn’t really categorize causation of the bankruptcy, but presumably somebody has sifted through bankruptcy petitions and analyzed what portion of the scheduled debts are related to medical expenses. Something like 9-14% of Hoosiers are uninsured.

According to the article, insurance providers have to subsidize the uninsured and, therefore, $950 of a family’s annual insurance premium is used to pay for uninsured residents. I’m curious about how this subsidy works — is there some kind of mandated uninsured subsidy fund that insurance companies have to kick in to or is there some other kind of mechanism at work? To receive Medicaid, a family of 4 has to have an income of less than $20,000. So, presumably the uninsured we’re talking about are families that make more than $20,000 per year, but not enough to afford medical insurance.  This article also cites less than favorable economic conditions. Between 2000 and 2004, Indiana lost 138,000 jobs and food stamps and TANF more than doubled in the last 5 years.

This ties into the Tim Evans report. The number of Hoosiers living below the federal poverty level in 2005 increased to 12.2%, up from 10.8% in 2004 and up from 9.5% in 2000. And even that doesn’t really tell the story. The poverty guidelines are outdated and unrealistic. According to Lisa Travis, advocacy and education coordinator for the Indiana Institute for Working Families, A person needs to earn nearly 200 percent of the poverty level just to make ends meet in Indiana.

The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. Stop the presses.

I almost forgot to mention Troy “I’ll never vote for it” Woodruff’s solution to the problem of uninsured and underinsured Hoosiers.

Also not helping the situation, Hoosiers have some of the worst health habits in the nation, Labrecque said. Indiana ranks second in the number of smokers and ninth in obesity.

State Rep. Troy Woodruff said these reasons prompted him to ask the FSSA to conduct a public forum in Princeton.

“Southern Indiana has a lot of smokers and a lot of children who take a lot of medicine,” he said. “We need to take personal responsibility for ourselves and start thinking about lifestyle changes that can lead to solutions.”

I’m all for living healthy and unhealthy habits certainly contribute to healthcare costs, but if Woodruff’s approach to the healthcare situation in Indiana relies primarily on telling people that they’re fat, lazy nicotine addicts with hypochondriac children who ought to shape up, then the voters of southern Indiana have yet another reason to throw him out on his ear.