Archive for the “Politics” Category

But if you read the fluff piece in today’s Politico, one would think so.

Last year, Sen. Dick Lugar was the tea party’s top target — a 35-year veteran who lives in Washington, strays from conservative orthodoxy and even criticized the right-wing movement in the wake of the 2010 elections.

But last week, Lugar was the tea party’s dining companion.

For more than two hours at a restaurant in Carmel, Ind., Lugar sat face to face with the head of one of Indiana’s largest tea party chapters, speaking at length about campaign politics, the senator’s voting record and some of his comments that have irked the movement. Lugar listened patiently and said he’d do more outreach, as he ate his eggs Benedict and peppermint ice cream.

“I was surprised,” said 62-year-old Chuck Ford, president of the Tea Party of Hamilton County. “I don’t usually dine with senators and congressmen.”

At least not in public he doesn’t. The fact is, the Hamilton County TEA Party leader supports  Senator Lugar. Ford recently ousted his vice president, who had expressed a dislike for reelecting Lugar. In an interview with AWB, the ousted VP stated, “Lugar gives Ford tingles up his leg.”

Late last year, when Hoosiers for a Conservative Senate, (HFCS) held their convention to declare support for Richard Mourdock, the Hamilton County TEA Party, (HTP) decided to hold a competing event.  Lugar did not attend the event but his spokesman and campaign coordinator David Wilke attended as Lugar’s representative. While Ford has denied to me his group is supported by the Republican party, the Hamilton County Young  Republicans donated $500 to the event. The Young Republicans generally march in lockstep with the state party. (read:support Lugar)

Ford’s group could not attend the HFCS convention due to their 501c3 status, however, they were invited to attend the rally afterwards, which was represented by the majority of Indiana TEA Parties. The time of the rally would not have impeded on their event, but they chose to not stand in solidarity and were no-shows.

By all impressions, this is not a TEA Party group. It’s merely a bunch of hacks parading to be a TEA Party group to make it appear as if Lugar has some TEA Party support. It should be noted that Mr. Ford at one time was a member of the Indiana State Teacher’s Association, (union), and negotiated union contracts on its behalf.

Back to Wilke for a moment. The 1940 Republican presidential nominee was Wendell Willkie, David’s grandfather.

From the blog, Welcome to my TEA Party.

Willkie was cozy with Democrats.  He joined with Eleanor Roosevelt to form Freedom House and was a delegate to two Democratic national conventions.

A Wilsonian Internationalist who promoted world government, Willkie wrote the book “One World.”  He supported Roosevelt’s controversial New Deal.

Late in his career, Willkie joined the New Liberal Party and attempted to push its agenda nationally.  Senator Lugar was a member of a liberal think tank, the Roosevelt Institute’s Campus Network.  And proving that he’s no statesman, he recently resigned under pressure from the Tea Party.<

So, while Ford states, “I don’t usually dine with senators and congressmen,”  according to another HTP member I spoke with, Mr. Ford has regular breakfast meetings with Lugar’s closest adviser, David Wilke.

Imagine that.

Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, and his opponent, Richard Mourdock, will both speak at this year’s Allen County Lincoln Day Dinner, which will be held shortly before the May primary.  That begs the question:

A tweet from Indiana State Senator Mike Delph at 10:15 this morning. “Congressman Burton is announcing his retirement on the Statehouse floor at 10:30am, where it all started.”

Burton represents Indiana’s 5th congressional district. There are several vying for the slot, including former congressman and Kendallville native David McIntosh, attorney Jack Lugar, (Senator Dick Lugar’s son),  Susan Brooks, a former U.S. attorney and Fort Wayne native, and former Marion County Coroner John McGoff, who came close to defeating Burton two years ago.

The 5th District presently includes Huntington County, which joins the 3rd District for the next 10 years beginning with the 2012 elections.

The German term above has historic significance, hit the link at the end of this paragraph if you do not know why.

Fort Wayne / South Bend’s Bishop Kevin Rhoades  — and all of the Bishops of the United States – find themselves in a culture war with the Obama administration in 2012.  Sometimes you run to the front, sometimes the front advances upon you. 

Find here a column in the local newspaper reflecting on the recent march for life in the Fort (see picture below) and the test that has now come to the Catholic Church in the United States. 

The column contains quotes from three US Bishops that would have been considered quite radical just a few months ago.  Read ‘em and muster for battle.

Kulturkampf has come to us, with Kathleen Sebelius and Barack Obama driving the tanks in the general’s ranks.  Definition here:  http://www.archangelinstitute.org/americas-political-class-intensifies-the-kulturkampf/

The paid union protesters had little effect on the outcome of the Indiana House vote on right-to-work. It passed union 54-44. The bill had passed the Senate last Friday 28-22.

Indiana becomes the 23rd state to ban unions from collecting union dues from non-union workers.  Governor Daniels will likely have the bill in his hands, and signed, prior to the Super Bowl.

So much for the OWS and union protests that were planned for the Super Bowl, eh?

Watch this video, it’s priceless.

Suck it up Tom Henry. Oh, and here’s some facts for you. Read the rest of this entry »

By Micah Clark

Rep. Bauer and The Mother of All Hypocrisies

It is not my intent to weigh in on the “right to work” issue, but the high drama is hard to leave out of any discussion of what is happening at your state capitol.

Last night, House Democrats walked out for the third time this session. This action holds up the process and reminds everyone of their five-week trip to a Comfort Inn in Illinois last year. That departure killed numerous bills including a 2011 right to work proposal.

Late last week, House Democrats threw out a new notion that could stall right to work for a while.Rep. Pat Bauer wants right to work to be a referendum issue rather than a legislative one. However,the irony of this proposal is remarkable. Former Speaker of the House, Pat Bauer, single-handedly blocked Marriage Protection referendums for more than six years. If he were Speaker today, he’d still be blocking a people’s vote on marriage protection.  Read the rest of this entry »

As a former card carrying member of the Christian Right (who was once in good standing) I have an educated opinion on a clandestine open meeting of the leadership of that subculture.  That meeting took place over the weekend in Texas. 

This gathering of mostly Evangelical, political activist firepower sent a few strong messages across the fruited plain.

First and foremost, they sent a message to Rick Perry to immediately suspend his campaign for president.  Secondarily they sent a message to their compatriots to all back Rick Santorum for president, at least in the upcoming South Carolina race.  Thirdly, they sent a message to those advancing federalism ala Ron Paul’s principled libertarianism as a cure to America’s ills.  That former message is “fahgettaboutit.”

The call to rethink the embrace of big government solutions to every social ill — a GOP political pattern that began with the Rockefeller Republicans in 1964 — has been answered.   Read the rest of this entry »

Here we go again. Indiana house dumbocrats House have taken cover in a judiciary consultation room, denying a quorum to do business on day one of the 2012 legislative session.

Pat “the Toupée” Bauer is hinting at another walkout over the GOP proposal that would make Indiana the 23rd state to bar unions from mandating that non-union workers pay union fees.

What a bunch of pissants.

Lugar is desperate . A few hours ago they created a fake Twitter account pretending to be Hoosiers For a Conservative Senate. They follow 4 other Twitter accounts, 3 of them from the media. One of their first Tweets:

Both Greg Fettig and Monica Boyer have confirmed this is not their account. It seems Lugar’s people will do just about anything.  Stay classy.

By Micah Clark via AWB

Take Action Now before the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners passes this ill-conceived ordinance on Tuesday!

On November 28th, the Evansville City Council rushed through an ordinance that grants special legal protection on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity with very little consideration of the implications of its actions. The Council listened to the demands of homosexual behavior advocates even though very few cities in Indiana have ordinances protecting cross-dressing, homosexual behavior or the actions of those with gender identity disorders. Many cities have rejected these ordinances when it became clear what threats the special legal protections actually pose to our freedoms.

Advocates of homosexual behavior are now pushing the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners to rush through a countywide ordinance granting special rights for those engaging in homosexual behavior and seek to compel citizens like you to violate your sincerely held religious beliefs in support of their actions.

In fact, this ordinance discriminates against you. It could target your pastor, your church, faith-based charities, organizations like the Salvation Army, Catholic Charities and the Boy Scouts, or anyone who does not embrace the homosexual agenda. Ordinances like the one just passed in Evansville have often been used in this heavy-handed manner, even here in the heartland of America.

The nation’s largest religious liberty legal organization, the Alliance Defense Fund has now had time to review this new ordinance and has identified many problems and concerns.

Under this proposed ordinance to be voted on December 20:

• Churches and other organizations may be prevented from leasing a public facility like a park or larger venues for an event unless it had adopted policies which may contradict the church’s religious teachings on sexual matters. 
• Any facility used by the public may be forced to host events that promote homosexual behavior. For example, a church could be forced to permit its facility to be used by a same-sex couple who obtained a civil union in Illinois or were “married” in another state and seek to have a local reception. 
• Any business that offers a “family” discount or membership may be forced to extend that same benefit to same-sex couples. 
• Homeless shelters, missions, housing facilities and even college dormitories may be prohibited from being segregated by sex and could be forced to permit same-sex couples to share a room or bed.

The fact is this “politically correct” ordinance actually discriminates against people of faith or anyone who has concerns about the risky nature of homosexual behaviors or simply does not want to see marriage between a man and a woman undermined by city and county government.

TAKE ACTION

Send the Vanderburgh County Commissioners an email urging them to reconsider passage of this extreme and unnecessary ordinance.

Attend and voice your objection to this ordinance at the Commissioner’s meeting next Tueday evening, December 20, at 5:00p.m. in room 301 of the Civic Center.