Blue Indiana - Front Page

Evan Bayh: The Twelve Million Dollar Man

Thomas — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:40:23 GMT

The full report won't be out until tomorrow, but I've snagged a copy of the soon-to-be-public FEC filing from our favorite junior senator from the great state of Indiana.

You can check out a .pdf copy here.

The long and the short of it is that Senator Evan Bayh brought in an impressive $800,000 during the last quarter, and now boasts a warchest of over $12 million more than a year from election day.

His presumptive opponent, on the other hand, is busy hanging out with people who think we rode dinosaurs a few generations ago while sending out fundraising letters that make it sound as if he's living out his maritime fantasies.

Will there be a mutiny on board the HMS Wingnut? Who knows. But at this point there can be no denying that despite the annual rumblings from our Republican friends, Senator Bayh is enjoying great support and has comfortably settled in to the driver's seat heading into next year's election.

Could assessor elimination suit create problems for Chief Justice Shepard?

Thomas — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:30:27 GMT

Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard spoke at my law school last year, and the topic more or less revolved around his belief that elected judges should be protected from the highly politicized campaign technique whereby they are forced to stake out personal positions on key legal questions. To do so, he argued, would create needlessly complicated conflicts when those issues come before the court.

In the Q&A portion of the show, I asked the Chief Justice how he could reconcile his remarks with the fact that he was taking a very public stance on local government reform, a topic surely to end up before him on the court in the coming years. His response, while polite, was pleasantly noncommittal.

Which is why I'll be interested to see what happens if this case -- or one like it -- lands on the desks of the Indiana Supreme Court in the coming months.

The Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday agreed with an earlier trial court decision finding that the Indiana General Assembly had the legal right to eliminate township assessors in midterm.
Huntington Township Assessor Joan Stoffel sued Gov. Mitch Daniels, the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance, the state of Indiana and several local officials after legislators passed a law in 2008 eliminating most township assessors and transferring the duties to the county assessor.
She claimed she was constitutionally protected during her term, which was set to run through 2010. And Stoffel alleged that legislators interfered with her contract with her constituents as an elected official. In October 2008, a special judge granted a motion to dismiss the case, but Stoffel appealed.

Thoughts?

New, tighter regulations at BMV drawing critical attention

Thomas — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:20:22 GMT

Coming just one day before the announcement of a lawsuit alleging widespread voter registration violations on the part of state officials, the roll-out of strict identification requirements for state identification couldn't have come at a more inopportune time for state officials looking to breeze through the process.

This morning, the Star makes it clear that as these new regulations are enacted, more than a few sets of eyes will be watching.

Renewal applications will now be run through a database in Indianapolis to confirm identity. Civil libertarians, gun rights advocates and others are worried that Indiana eventually will take it a step further: tying into a national database that essentially will turn a state driver's license into a national ID card.
Before that step is made (it's not yet scheduled), the governor and the General Assembly should insist on a thorough public review of whether it's truly necessary.
As it stands, the BMV must work closely with organizations that aid the homeless, immigrants and older Hoosiers not only to explain details of the new requirements but also to ensure that any problems are addressed quickly.

Coupled with the draconian voter identification requirement in this state, this one-two punch could effectively make it impossible for low-income and homeless Hoosiers to participate in the democratic process. Keep an eye out for more criticism of the program as questions continue to arise as to whether the Daniels administration is willing to try and balance the need for security with the need to give equal access to all citizens of this state.

Prison escape quickly becoming national embarassment

Thomas — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:13:21 GMT

In an already bad week for the Guv, the prison escape in Northwestern Indiana seems to have captivated national attention for all the wrong reasons. The opening lines of this Star story tell you everything you need to know about how well state officials are spinning the breakout:

Prison officials know that three inmates escaped a maximum-security facility through tunnels under the Northern Indiana prison but have no idea how the men got to the tunnels.
On Monday, one of the three escapees was caught. However, two others remain fugitives, leaving people from Southern Michigan to Central Indiana uneasy about what will happen next.

I think the larger question regardless of what happens with the inmates will be how this escape occurred, and what precautions state officials are taking to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Governor Daniels has been tight-lipped about the whole ordeal, but I suppose problems such as this aren't too taxing on the mind when you are hundreds of miles away vacationing.

FSSA privatization draws heavy fire over the weekend

Thomas — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 14:06:42 GMT

On Sunday, Angela Mapes Turner of the Journal Gazette penned a startling report on the status of Indiana's troubled welfare services program. Two years after the "modernization" (read: privatization) of public assistance programs, the toll on some of the state's most vulnerable continues to mount.

The backlog of pending Medicaid applications has ballooned in counties where welfare is handled by private contractors. From May 2008 - after the most recent wave of counties joined the new system - to December 2008, pending cases increased 86 percent. In counties working under the old system, the backlog increased only 16 percent, according to a Journal Gazette analysis of state data.
And the contractors, led by IBM Corp., missed deadlines for processing Medicaid applications at twice the rate of counties that haven't joined the new system.
In December, nearly 60 percent of applications processed under the new system were overdue.

The picture painted my nearly every report over the last six months has been that of complete chaos, and state officials have only in the last few weeks been forced to admit that things aren't going according to plan. Speaking of plans, the Associated Press points out this morning that state officials don't appear to have one should things continue on their present path:

[FSSA chief Anne] Murphy told The Associated Press that her agency doesn't have a backup plan for running the welfare system that provides benefits to 1.2 million Indiana residents. Top state officials have started discussing what to do if the vendors' performance doesn't improve, but no plan has been made.
"We don't have a Plan B yet," Murphy said. "We're hopeful that they're going to make the changes and that there will be improvements."

They said failure wasn't an option, but it certainly looks like a possibility at this point.

Meanwhile, state newspapers are taking aim at Governor Mitch Daniels and FSSA leadership past and present. The work of the Journal Gazette editorial board isn't surprising -- they've been out in front of this debacle from the outset. A strong condemnation from the Star, though?

Because so many elderly, disabled, sick, hungry, impoverished Hoosiers have met with denial and delay in their quest for food stamps, Medicaid and aid to children under the new operation, elected officials, advocates and social institutions have found themselves cutting into their regular work to help them.
That's because state caseworkers in local communities, who traditionally played that role, have been de-emphasized in favor of a computer- and phone-based mode that has often proved frustrating even to savvy persons. It can be downright prohibitive to those with deficiencies in hearing, vision, education, mental capacity and transportation -- that is, many of the 1 million Hoosiers needing help. Lost and erroneous records are a frequent complaint.

While reports seem to be giving credit to Anne Murphy for talking openly about the countless problems plaguing the system, it's important to note that these problems aren't new, and Governor Daniels and Mitch Roob have some explaining to do about why they weren't working this publicly to address what looks more and more like a fatally flawed scheme every day.

Greg Ballard gets no love from Young Republicans

Thomas — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:47:10 GMT

Remember when Greg Ballard was the shining beacon of hope for the Republican Party of 2007?

How's that going? Let's check in at the Young Republican National Convention, which was in Indianapolis this year:

A bit after 9 o'clock, Mayor Greg Ballard and his wife walked into the bash. Ballard took the stage but struggled to win the attention of the twenty- and thirty-somethings.
"Shut up!" one fan yelled at the crowd as the mayor began to speak.
Nobody did. And for the most part, nobody, including me, could hear anything the mayor said. But I'm sure it was quite interesting.

Ouch.

Lawsuit targets voter registration failures

Thomas — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:09:15 GMT

This is far from breaking news, but yesterday afternoon a coalition of voting right advocacy groups filed a lawsuit alleging that state officials are in violation of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act. Specifically, they argue that the required offering of registration forms to those seeking public assistance is not taking place.

The advocacy groups say most states have programs for driver's license registration, but many ignore the public assistance requirement. For example, Project Vote reported that none of 21 people interviewed as they left Indiana public assistance offices last year had been given a voter registration application.
Even as more people signed up for food stamps in Indiana, voter registration applications from public assistance offices plunged to 105 in 2008 from 3,494 in 1996 , the suit said.

In states where legal action on this issue has been successful or led to reform, tens of thousands have been registered in the months following full compliance.

The effect of such a change in Indiana -- where unemployment has doubled over the last year -- goes without saying, and may go far to explain the reluctance of Mitch Daniels and Todd Rokita to engage this issue earlier.

Marlin Stutzman: Dragons, Dinosaurs, and Dinners, oh my!

Thomas — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:42:15 GMT

We've been talking lately about the will-he-or-won't-he-speak controversy over Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett's involvement with the Indiana Creation Evidence Expo, which will bring together "scientists" and evangelical Christian activists in the name of sending the public instruction of evolution the way of the dimetrodon.

Now, we have evidence that even if Bennett is a no-show, the wing-nut political constituency will be represented in the room.

That's right, it's everyone's favorite Republican candidate for US Senate, Marlin Stutzman. The presumptive GOP candidate is so gosh-darn excited about the event, he's hosting a dinner with fellow punchline State Rep. Cindy Noe.

Representative Noe is on the education committee in the House, for those who doubt the importance of keeping control of that body next year.

As if the website for this event wasn't enough, a quick look at some of the groups behind the operation reveal all you need to know about the scientific validity of these clowns. Take the Institute for Creation Research, which features a story at the moment entitled "Is there some truth to dragon myths?"

There are other reasons to doubt that dragon legends arose from fossil-based speculations. Tales of dragons are almost universal and were incorporated into the historical background of virtually every people group on every continent.3 How could so many different cultures conjure up such similar details in their dragon legends, unless their ancestors actually encountered them?
It would be easily explained if humans had actually seen living dinosaurs.

Uh...right.

In case you were wondering, another featured story is the incredibly relevant "Energy Bill Won't Solve Global Warming." All amidst a site that purports to fight against "bias" in the scientific process.

There is a huge community of Christian scientists who are more than able to fit their faith within the context of responsible scientific exploration, and then there are these folks.

Just like there is a huge community of politicians who are able to balance their personal beliefs with responsible representation, and then there is Marlin Stutzman.

Mike Pence drawing fire over federal funding

Thomas — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:20:50 GMT

For all the blustery condemnation thrown around whenever the word "earmark" comes up, it is important to remember that behind the moth mating spectacles is a huge body of legislative work that has helped local communities around the country. Gems such as the Indianapolis Children's Museum would simply not exist in their present form without federal funding, and that story is rarely told when the debate over spending projects heats up.

And that's the story local officials are trying to bring up by passing a resolution urging Rep. Mike Pence to abandon his anti-earmark pledge.

In a 6-3 vote, the council passed a non-binding resolution to that effect Monday.
"It's our money going back to the federal government," Democratic council member Sam Marshall said. "Why shouldn't we recoup some of that money?"
The resolution was specifically aimed at convincing Pence to help score federal aid through the transportation bill for local road and street projects.

Is the earmark process flawed? Surely. But Pence voted against reforming the process in 2007, and hasn't appeared all that willing to constructively participate in a discussion, what with such a great opportunity for grandstanding and all.

Americans for Mitch?

Thomas — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 19:14:58 GMT

I'm pretty sure that the only way the title of this website makes any sense is if "Americans" is now defined as "people who have at one time or another been paid by Mitch Daniels."

Killer mousepad, though.

Details of privatization failure are staggering

Thomas — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 13:58:57 GMT

With the Associated Press reporting yesterday that Governor Mitch Daniels has finally taken an interest in the failing privatization of Indiana's welfare services, people across the state are once again tuning into a fiasco that had fallen somewhat off the radar screen.

These numbers from this morning's Star report should serve as a wake-up call.

Nearly two years into the privatization of Indiana's welfare system, state officials are considering scrapping it amid widespread concerns that include the mishandling of nearly one in five food-stamp cases.
State welfare officials acknowledge that in about three-quarters of those cases, eligible Hoosiers are being denied aid they should be receiving.
[...]
In January 2007, before the IBM system was rolled out, the portion of food-stamp cases that were mishandled was 4.38 percent. By January 2009, that number had shot up to 18.2 percent.

As bad as these statistics are, it's important to remember one thing: they aren't new.

This program has been fatally flawed from the outset, and the recent decision by state officials to play bad cop shouldn't erase the two years of stonewalling they pursued leading up to yesterday.

The Courier & Press editorial board seems to be falling for their shtick:

A group of state lawmakers from Evansville has persisted in pressuring the state to do something about missing documents, slow approvals, and lost eligibility for Medicaid and food stamp clients. Democratic State Rep. Dennis Avery was quoted as saying Indiana should just cancel the contract and sue. Recently, Gov. Mitch Daniels increased pressure on contractors to get it right. According to the Associated Press, Texas canceled a similar arrangement in 2007.

Mitch Daniels may be playing it up for the press now, but he was nowhere to be found while thousands across the state struggled to make do under a broken system he pushed through the legislature. You can't have it both ways.

Tony Bennett was for teaching creationism before he was against it

Thomas — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:26:32 GMT

Doug Masson pointed out last week that Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at a conference that described itself as such:

We at Creation Evidence Expo seek to bring change within the public school system across the United States by providing overwhelming evidence that the Genesis account of Creation is the only viable and truthful explanation for the origin of man. Therefore, it should be considered as superior to Darwin's theory of evolution in explaining the existence of the universe and everything in it.

This was first reported by Indiana Education Insight, and Ed Feigenbaum followed up on the report in last week's edition of Indiana Legislative Insight.

After reading our account, Dr. Bennett contacted the event's organizer, the Rev. Frederick Boyd, to cancel his participation in the expo.

Bennett said he was "unaware of the extent to which creationism would be the theme of the gathering."

The name of the event, need I remind you, is the "Indiana Creation Evidence Expo."

For those still curious, the ICEE's website continues to tout Bennett as their keynote.

Sarah Palin on the "Department of Law"

Thomas — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:58:41 GMT

You can't even begin to make this stuff up:

As to whether another pursuit for national office, as when she joined Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in the race for the White House less than a year ago, would result in the same political blood sport, Palin said there was a difference between the White House and what she had experienced in Alaska. If she were in the White House, she said, the "department of law" would protect her from baseless ethical allegations.
"I think on a national level, your department of law there in the White House would look at some of the things that we've been charged with and automatically throw them out," she said.
There is no "Department of Law" at the White House.

Palin / Pence, 2012.

(h/t to DKos)

FSSA privatization to be canceled by this fall?

Thomas — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:13:48 GMT

After years of blindly defending the decision of Gov. Mitch Daniels and then-FSSA-now-IEDC chief Mitch Roob, it looks like the state may be preparing for a massive about-face. The Associated Press reports:

Family and Social Services Administration Secretary Anne Murphy says she asked lead vendor IBM Corp. to prepare a "corrective action plan" as part of a process that could result in canceling the 10-year deal if improvements don't occur by the end of September.

It is important to remember that Texas had a similar deal in the years preceding the Mitch & Mitch show's arrival in Indiana. They canceled the deal after countless complaints arose. Mitch Roob, who left a position as an executive at one of the IBM affiliates now working on the program, pinky-promised that nothing of the sort could happen here.

Whoops.

Tuesday News Round-up

Thomas — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:56:24 GMT

Here are some tidbits floating around this pleasant July morning.

Congrats to former Bloomington Mayor John Fernandez, who has been tapped for a top Commerce spot out in Washington.

Congressman Joe Donnelly visited Afghanistan, meeting with President Karzai and noting that conditions have improved since his last visit. Congressman Brad Ellsworth also made a trip.

In other news out of the 8th District, Ellsworth has been making the rounds, laying the groundwork for a debate over health care reform.

Certainly no fan of the Democratic leadership in the Indiana House, Tracy Warner of the Journal Gazette notes that the debate over school funding could turn into a rallying cry come next year's election.
Democrats simply could not be cast as the party who caused a state government shutdown, so enough of them supported the budget. But Democrats also positioned themselves as members of the party who unsuccessfully fought a Draconian budget that hurts schools.
The timing could end up helping Democrats - the most painful cuts in school spending will come not this year but in the school year beginning August 2010, three months before all 100 House seats are up for election.

What else is going on in the world?

Congressman Baron Hill getting praise for energy bill vote

Thomas — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:24:46 GMT

The explanations behind the individual votes made by Indiana's delegation on the recent energy reform bill are too lengthy and numerous to really justify the time, but there is no doubt that Congressman Hill has been the most aggressive in fighting back against the corporately-funded, doom-and-gloom talking points being pushed from the right.

In response, Americans United for Change has launched a new ad campaign in the 9th District, hoping to lend a hand to Hill as he looks to cut through the spin.

NWI evolving into hotbed of gubernatorial ambition?

Thomas — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:33:31 GMT

That's the message from the Times this morning, which looks at a trio of region politicos who are reportedly looking to stoke the rumor mill over their potential candidacies in 2012.

Lake County Sheriff Rogelio "Roy" Dominguez has been patrolling the Hoosier state in recent weeks in search of community leaders willing to talk to him about who should be the next governor.
[...]
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. has widened his horizons lately, too.
"Being a 40-year-old county chairman is interesting to people around the state, and doors are opening for me," he said.

Todd Rokita rounds out the three, who has long since stopped trying to hide the fact that he wants to run for something. Anything.

Rokita will likely have to contend with a bevy of Republican challengers, with Lt. Governor Becky Skillman the latest to bulk up her political team in preparation of a potential run.

Happy 4th of July

Thomas — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 13:27:34 GMT

I'm out in the wilderness, enjoying a weekend of familial bliss and pure Americana. Here's to hoping that your holiday weekend is wonderful -- despite likely being wet.

Regular scheduled programming will return tomorrow.

Mike Pence: Blast from the Past

Thomas — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:53:09 GMT

With Mike Pence seemingly convinced that he's going to personally save the Republican Party, it's worth remembering some of the reasons that the Republican Party was summarily rejected by voters last year.

Namely, Mike Pence.

With session finally over, eyes already turning to next year

Thomas — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:39:51 GMT

All of this excitement at the legislature, and we're not even in an election year.

Kind of makes you wonder what next year will be like, eh?

One hint of what's to come can be found in the statements made by Governor Mitch Daniels yesterday, as he seemed to lay the groundwork for a renewed fight over local government reform.

"I hope we make more forward progress next year," he said. "We'll be back with local government reform."
It wasn't clear whether Daniels would back the same proposals he pushed this year, many of which came under intense fire from legislators in both parties.
"We'll have to talk about exactly which aspects, and visit with proponents, visit with adversaries, see if we can find a way to move forward there," he said.

With portions of the Guv's plan consisting of consolidating rural school districts and dismantling traditional local government, it remains to be seen whether Daniels can improve on his horrid track record of marketing these reforms across the state. He faced just as much criticism from the right as anywhere else this year, and winning over rural conservatives may be the biggest hurdle of all.