Northwest Indiana Politics

Good morning - Politics in Northwest Indiana

noreply@blogger.com (briefs) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:41:00 +0000

Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies. - Groucho Marx

An early look at 2010 - Porter County Elections

noreply@blogger.com (briefs) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:03:00 +0000

Let's talk about elections in 2010, who's running, who's in trouble, who's a lock to be re-elected?

2010 will feature county level elections for a portion of commissioners and council seats, some of the county elected "skill" positions (an NFL term) and township government. We will also have the chance to vote on all our Indiana House seats, and a portion of our Senate seats. Remember that due to the constitutional census in 2010, the House seats become a pretty big deal as they apply to apportionment and redistricting at every level of government.

In Porter County we will vote on:

Auditor - current incumbent Jim Kopp (D) ... Vicki Urbanik (D) has announced for auditor ... I don't believe incumbent has announced yet and I haven't hear of anyone even looking on the Republican side yet (you'll see a trend real soon)
Assessor - incumbent John Scott (D) not sure he's running again. Maureen Wendrickx (D) current Portage township assessor has announced. No one on Republican side yet.
Sheriff - incumbent David Lain (website for Lain) (D). No one on Republican side.
Surveyor incumbent Kevin D. Breitzke (R)
Coroner incumbent Victoria Deppe (D)
Recorder incumbent Linda Trinkler (R) Jon Voelz (D) has announced
Clerk - incumbent Pam Fish(D) Ditto on Republicans no one so far.
Center District Commissioner - incumbent Bob Harper (D) No Republican announced.
All four District Council seats - incumbents Mike Bucko (although this seat will move to another democrat in January when Mike becomes Treasurer) anyone know who the heir apparent is? , Rita Stevenson (D), Karen Conover (R), and Bob Poporad (D)
All townships trustees - here's the incumbents Ed Moralis (Porter) Joyce Webster (Portage) Anthony Pampalone (Union) and Chuck Conover (Center) Russell Franzman (Boone) Janice Meyers (Jackson) Margaret Ruge (Liberty) Richard Schultz (Morgan) Nancy Kolassa (Pine) Jean Oehlman (Pleasant) Lynn Ross (Washington) Suzanne Philbrick (Westchester). I am not aware of challengers yet, so send me names if you know people who have announced for these seats.
State Representative incumbents Ed Soliday-District 4 (R) Chuck Moseley-District 10(D) Charlie Brown - District 3(D) Shelli Vandenburgh (website) - District 19 (D)
State Senate incumbent Karen Tallian - District 4 (D) no one on Republican side yet.
Indiana Sec of State - incumbent cannot run again Charlie White (R) has announced, remember that this race does not go to a primary, instead like last year's Attorney General it goes to each party's convention in the late spring. Charlie looks to have the Republican side wrapped up.
Indiana State Treasurer - incumbent Richard Mourdock (R)
Indiana State Auditor - incumbent Tim Berry (R)
US Rep incumbent Pete Visclosky (D - 1st) Mark Leyva (R) is running and Jayson Williams (R) has said he's running ... although I've argued the point Dan Dumezich has not agreed to run for this seat.
US Rep incumbent Joe Donnelly (D - 2nd) Jackie Walorski (R) has announced an exploratory committee
US Senate incumbent Evan Bayh (D) with Marlin Stutzman (R) announced ... local politically active Dan Dumezich looked at running and decided against this race.

Who are you hearing will run? Who are you hoping will announce a run? Did you notice the not so happy trend, frankly the Republicans have yet to announce a single local candidate in Porter County. Hmmm

The elections of 2010 should be quite interesting indeed. Note: I may have included a few skills seats too many, please let me know so i can clean up this list, also give me any links to website, twitter profiles, and facebook profiles for candidates, incumbents and potential challengers.

Why Conservatives Should Have Supported Maine Gay Marriage

mattersofopinion@yahoo.com (Travis Gearhart) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:26:00 +0000

The political divide over the issue of gay marriage is…disheartening, to say the least. As a conservative who really doesn’t take offense or particularly care about this issue, I find myself talking about gay marriage both on my show and in political conversation much more often than I feel I should or even care to. First of all, I’m in favor of gay marriage: IF it is passed on a state by state level. My reasoning, you ask? While I certainly don’t want to equate homosexuality to sexual exploitation of minors, the sad fact is that if an amendment is added to the constitution, groups like the North American Man Boy Love Association (more commonly referred to as NAMBLA) will try everything they can to secure their own rights by using the gay marriage amendment as a precedent. If you don’t believe me, all you have to do is use Roe v. Wade as a case study. However you feel about abortion, nothing in the Constitution specifies one way or the other the founding fathers’ beliefs on the subject. Therefore, the lawyers literally threw every amendment at the Supreme Court until one stuck, and somehow the Supreme Court found that our freedom of speech is in the same category as abortion. The lawyers admit to this fact, and the statements are found in Roe V. Wade: The Abortion Rights Controversy in American History (Landmark Law Cases and American Society) by N. E. H. Hull and Peter Charles Hoffer. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Come on, Travis! That’ll never happen! And perhaps it wouldn’t immediately, or even in the future. However by opening that Pandora’s Box just a hair, I worry about a future where a 40 year old man can have a sexual relationship with a 13 year old boy, and with lawyers getting better and better at manipulating the law I don’t want that box opened at all.

However, I am straying from my thesis. Last week, Maine had the opportunity to be the first state to pass gay marriage at the ballot box. The initiative lost, however narrowly, and anti-gay marriage conservatives rejoiced. I don’t know off hand the amount of money that was raised to campaign against this initiative, but I can imagine it was substantial. While religious conservatives who don’t believe in gay marriage as a matter of faith were celebrating, more moderate conservatives (at least on this subject) are now becoming worried. If some states, especially the more liberal ones like Maine and Vermont, don’t pass this, we may see politicians trying to jam legislature through on a national level not only to appease gay rights groups and other liberals, but because they truly feel that they are doing the right thing. If history is anything else, it is an example of what a government with one party in the majority, whether it’s Democrat or Republican, will do. When the federal income tax was struck down by the Supreme Court with a 5-4 decision, the states simply added the Sixteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1913 in order to impose the tax. Democrats are less likely to believe in states’ rights as an answer, and with a liberal Democratic majority I don’t foresee too many more failed initiatives before they decide to go around the Supreme Court by means of an amendment.

I understand the view of some religious people that gay marriage is wrong, and I respect that view even if I disagree with it. I don’t consider these people bigots, and by all means it is their right to voice their own concerns. But to those conservative and libertarian folks out there that share my own viewpoint (this includes Dick Cheney, who has a lesbian daughter), I hope that you will all be a little more vocal the next time that a ballot initiative like this comes around. And more than that, I hope you all realize the consequences of voting against initiatives you claim to support just to make a point.

Originally written for the IUN Phoenix, cross posted at www.kracy.com and linked at www.mattersofopinion.net

RTA referendum fails big

noreply@blogger.com (briefs) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:52:00 +0000

Northwest Indiana Comical Politics - suggests that the RDA is in trouble now too

By a landslide margin of 12,255 to 3,122 voters in Porter County decided they would not participate in a Regional Transportation Authority. I said a whole lot of times here on this site, the budget bill with the RTA language was a total mess, poorly worded and impossible to actually form.

The good news is that voters, at least 15 percent of them, cared enough to vote in an election that featured not a single candidate. Kudos to Democrat Commissioner Bob Harper and his coalition of the Republican Liberty Caucus and the Northwest Indiana Patriots who did a lot of his online and activist work for him.

Should Gary and Merrillville look to merge?

noreply@blogger.com (briefs) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:07:00 +0000

On this sunny autumn day in Northwest Indiana, residents of Porter and St Joseph counties are voting in the RTA referendum to form a regional transportation authority, which may then impose an income tax of .25% to begin merging and funding transportation solutions for the region. Lake and LaPorte counties are disregarding the law and have decided not to stage the vote, with lots of legal and court battles impending due to these decisions.

Although opponents of the RTA were out early, and some 1,000 voters have early voted in Porter County prior to today, proponents are still predicting a narrow victory due to labor union support of the RTA for jobs creation. It will be an interesting election tally.

In seemingly unrelated news, although regionalism is at the core, an interesting opinion piece in the Times today titled "Merge Gary and Merrillville" from a Gary Indiana resident. I don't know the long term politics of Gary and Merrillville but can only assume that many Merrillville residents will be against the concept. In my opinion though, this is just another testimony supporting Governor Daniels' concept of limiting the size and scope of local government through the much maligned 1/2/3 tax caps.

When local government is restricted from imposing 5 or 6 or even 7 percent property tax rates on property owners, government is forced to get smaller or find new money in user fees. User fees will be either fairer, or in their transparency easier for voters to find objectionable. Property taxes are for the most part a giant melting pot of cash where voters have a hard time deciphering where the money goes. Kudos to the Governor once again for forcing even Lake County to look at efficiencies and possible consolidations.

Matters of Opinion RTA Special!

mattersofopinion@yahoo.com (Travis Gearhart) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:55:00 +0000

Matters of Opinion RTA Special!

Yes, yet another SPECIAL Matters of Opinion production. While I have already declared myself neutral on the idea, I decided that I wanted to do an episode on the Regional Transit Authority Referendum Vote which is November 3rd here in Porter County. Whatever your opinions on the RTA, get out and vote (it’s the American way, after all). While the majority of the conversation is from a pro-RTA point of view, I play devils advocate with what limited knowledge that I have. However, I encourage everybody to listen to the show and post your comments and concerns. Robert Ordway, head of the Citizens for Northwest Indiana PAC joins me in this discussion, and has promised to keep an eye on the comment section to address concerns and debate. Unfortunately this is the best way that I could come up with to have a true debate on this subject. I attempted to get a couple of different opinions on the show to have a live “on-air” debate, however because this was put together fairly quickly (yesterday) understandably the anti-RTA side of the argument was busy. For the record, they did not decline the debate. I do hope that they feel free to participate in this debate through the comment section, and once again I hope everybody listens/reads both sides of the argument and judge for themselves. There was an issue with volume control, so the recording has a little more static than I’m happy with, but bear with me, please. Happy listening!

Cash For Clunkers Yet Again Under Scrutiny

mattersofopinion@yahoo.com (Travis Gearhart) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:53:00 +0000

“The Obama administration on Thursday lashed out at a prominent critic of its Cash for Clunkers program, arguing that the popular trade-in initiative helped give the auto industry and the economy a much needed boost in the past few months.

In a blog post on whitehouse.gov, the administration argued that a report on Clunkers by automotive Web site Edmunds.com “doesn’t withstand even basic scrutiny” and is based on “implausible assumptions.”

On Wednesday, Edmunds.com released a study that argued Cash for Clunkers did not have a great impact on the auto industry. The report said that 690,000 new vehicles were sold under the program last summer, but that only 125,000 of them would not have been sold without the Clunkers rebates.” David Goldman, CNNMoney.com staff writer

Sorry to repost so much of the original article (I try not to do that) but I thought this summed up the point better than I could articulate it. What is even more interesting, however, is the point that is made later in the article, where the White House makes the claim that 1.7% of the 3.5% growth rate in the third quarter is because of the “Cash for Clunker” program. Really!? You mean…people didn’t really want to buy cars (or for that matter couldn’t afford to), however because the automobile industry was one of the “Chosen Ones”, they were artificially propped up? Using tax payers money, at that?! Well, I’m happy that the White House will admit to it.

The “Cash for Clunkers” program has, however, seeped through other industries. For example, the Post-Tribune reported yesterday that Arcelor-Mittal, one of the steel producing “giants”, reported a pretty decent profit for the last quarter. This may have worked to float these industries along for another 6 months or so, but I won’t count my chickens before the proverbial eggs hatch(or another year or so of positive numbers come my way).

Cross posted at www.ktracy.com and linked at www.mattersofopinion.net

End Of Life Counseling Worms It’s Way Into Bill

mattersofopinion@yahoo.com (Travis Gearhart) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:51:00 +0000

End of life counseling has managed to make it’s way into the health care bill, and we will more than likely hear about things like “death panels” in the near future. Now, don’t get me wrong, I disagree with the idea that the government pays for such things on an ideological level, however as I’ve said on my show, the whole “death panels” thing has been a little overblown. The idea behind end of life counseling is that it ”allows Medicare to pay for voluntary counseling to help beneficiaries deal with the complex and painful decisions families face when a loved one is approaching death.” (AP, Yahoo! News) Do I think that this is a decision that should strictly be between family members? Yes. Do I think that it is equatable to “death panels”? No.

I also don’t think that this is something that we, as tax payers, should be paying for. I couldn’t even guess what the costs would be, but at this time Medicare is damn near broke and the extra expenses that this will add to the program won’t do anything to help that. Now, as far as “death panels” go, this is where I will agree.

A public option is really just a first step to bringing about a single payer system. Liberal Democrats (most notably Harry Reid) have actually ADMITTED this fact. If a single payer system were to be implemented, that is when I’ll begin jumping on the “death panel” band wagon, because at that point our country (which is already heavily in debt) would be dead broke. The medical field would be forced to ration care and make decisions regarding who would receive the care and who wouldn’t. How long would it take before the “public option” became a “single payer system”? It’s anyone’s guess. I’d hope it wasn’t in my or my sons’ lifetime, but who knows.

However by jumping the gun and screaming “death panel” at the top of our parties collective lung hurts us in the short term. It presents us as kooks and nut jobs and doesn’t help our public image. At a time when the party needs to regroup and prove ourselves on an intellectual level, things like this dampen that image and places our brand into a negative light. There are a hundred different reasons to oppose this health care bill (and I certainly hope it doesn’t pass) however using the “death panel” analogy doesn’t help this cause.

Cross posted at www.ktracy.com and linked at www.mattersofopinion.net

Bullet Fired At Lou Dobbs’ Home: Keep the Political Battles Where They Belong, Please

mattersofopinion@yahoo.com (Travis Gearhart) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:49:00 +0000

Earlier this month a bullet was fired at Lou Dobbs’ home in New Jersey. Earlier this year, an abortion doctor (George Tiller) was killed while attending church. Rush Limbaugh was stopped from making a profitable investment in the St.Louis Rams because of false accusations regarding racist comments. And there have been a couple arrests regarding plots to assasinate President Obama.

Listen up, everybody, Left, Right, and moderate: KNOCK IT OFF!

If there is something that you disagree with, killing, attempting to kill, or hurting the individual financially is not the answer. To paraphrase the above mentioned Rush Limbaugh, Republicans and Democrats are not equatable to “bloods vs. crips”. This is not gang war fare. The colors red and blue, while on the streets of LA may be gang colors, DOESN’T MEAN that we should be taking pot shots at each other.

I mean, come on! Do I really have to be even typing this post? Has politics really stooped to such a low? On this subject, even Kevin and I are not immune to such child like attacks, although to date these attacks have only been verbal. Please, everyone, before you begin loading guns or making remarkable personal attacks, take a deep breath, think for a minute, and then pound your head into a wall. Will that help? Maybe not. But if you happen to take my advice be sure to put it up on YouTube.

Cross posted at www.ktracy.com and linked at www.mattersofopinion.net

So does that make Bernanke a “Pimp”?

mattersofopinion@yahoo.com (Travis Gearhart) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:47:00 +0000

“Rep. Alan Grayson hurled an insult at Linda Robertson last month on the “Alex Jones Show,” a syndicated talk radio program, while discussing the Fed’s resistance to stronger congressional oversight. Robertson is a former top Enron lobbyist and Clinton administration adviser who was hired by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke this summer to help with congressional relations,” from wusa.com.

This, my friends, is hilarious. First of all, where else would a comment like that come from other than that nut job Alex Jones’ show? While I certainly wouldn’t have made a (stupid) comment like this, I have to say that when talking about lobbyists in general using the term “whore” isn’t that off of a definition. The politician “lays down” their ideological beliefs and campaign promises in exchange for money or other “services” (services being special trips and vacations, get your mind out of the gutter!) So it’s not that the description is what bothers me, its the fact that a CONGRESSMAN is doing the describing.

If this comment were made by some talking head or blogger, that’s one thing. This is an elected official and behaviour of this sort is unacceptable. Now, Grayson is known for using theatrics and shooting his mouth off (for example, did you all know that Republicans want us all to “die quickly”?) however to use a derogatory term like “whore” when talking about a woman who is an advisor to Fed Chairman Bernanke is over the line.

In my opinion, Congress should follow the precedent that they have established when dealing with these sorts of inappropriate outburst’s: they should treat Grayson EXACTLY the way that they treated Joe Wilson. They should ask him to apologize to Ms. Robertson, and when he does…berate him and make him apologize again. Then, treat him like crap for expressing his opinion. Now, I know what you all are thinking: Wilson yelled out at the President during an address to Congress, not really the same sort of deal. And in a sense, I agree. However, yelling out “you lie” and calling a young lady a whore…even though the setting was different, the severity of the comment helps to put the two statements on an even keel.

My question is this: just how much about whores do you know, Rep. Grayson?

Cross posted at www.ktracy.com and linked at www.mattersofopinion.net

3rd busiest week on NWIP

noreply@blogger.com (briefs) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:33:00 +0000

For those that are regular readers, thanks again. We have just completed our 3rd busiest, most active, week since our inception as a political forum here in Northwest Indiana.

The other two higher ranking weeks were: the week I suggested Sarah Palin would be Vice Presidential candidate about 6 months before John McCain agreed ... and the week we were linked to by Instapundit and got 22,000 hits in less than 5 days.

Thanks to all of you, and most especially our new readers who are engaging in the debates that will frame our future as a region. Now, there was some limited argument early last week about this site being gossipy or having few if any readers ... I'll readily admit that the Times and Post get more daily visitors ... but sure someday we'd love to have those thousands of visitors daily engaged in these vital political debates.

Time for regional tourism collaboration

noreply@blogger.com (briefs) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:23:00 +0000

I know that many of our readers are against any kind of regional effort. We have argued now for months about the RDA (Regional Development Authority) and the RTA (Regional Transportation Authority) and whether NIRPC (Planning Commission) and the RBA (Bus Authority) and NICD (basically the South Shore) are working efficiently and in our best interests.

Now comes a proposal, floated last year by some Porter County tourism board members, that the boards of Lake and LaPorte and Porter counties meet to look at combining forces into one powerhouse tourism board for the region. There is no doubt that the staff of Porter County's board would fight this effort. And of course the current county council in Porter County is aligned against any regional effort, even if it saved money, they've even ordered the tourism board to give tourism dollars to some county facilities to help balance their tight budget.

So, I'll ask what the Times asks: should we look at possible collaboration, or throw this the way of all regional efforts and walk away?

Reporter to run for County Auditor

noreply@blogger.com (briefs) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:48:00 +0000

Chesterton Tribune writer, Vicki Urbanik, announced yesterday she will seek the office of Porter County Auditor as a Democrat, attempting to replace current Auditor James Kopp.

Kopp has not announced his intentions yet for the politically charged seat, bereft with calls for replacement due to property tax bills being almost a year behind.

Republicans have not announced anyone as of yet.

St Joe County Republicans on RTA referendum

noreply@blogger.com (briefs) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:04:00 +0000

Much discussed here on this site over the last couple weeks, yesterday members of the Republican party in St. Joe County came out officially against a new tax and the RTA referendum:

The blitz, to include dozens of billboards and radio ads as well as a Web site (www.southshoretax. org), is part of a strategic push by the St. Joseph County Republican Party to raise awareness of the referendum and its potential impact.

If St. Joseph County voters decide to join the proposed RTD, residents would be taxed up to 0.25 percent on their income to fund its operation.

"What very much concerns me is that we are a week away from an election that could raise the income taxes of residents in St. Joseph County, and no one seems to be aware of it," county commissioner Andrew Kostielney, one of several Republican officeholders present at Monday's announcement, said.

Much of the concern appears to be not only a new tax, but also the possible implications of a new tax on St. Joseph county residents that may benefit Porter and Lake County more than anyone else.

Rep Soliday says Porter County may control RTA

noreply@blogger.com (briefs) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:37:00 +0000

I missed this article this morning and was just sent a note to check it out:

Election unlikely to determine outcome of RTD/RTA (via the Times)

Representative Soliday makes an interesting possible case wherein Porter County as one of the only counties to abide by the state law mandating this referendum may end up with 4 of the 7 seats if the referendum were to pass. For those arguing against the RTA merely because they don't want Lake County to have control ... this may be an argument for voting "YES"

For those worried that any income tax is a bad thing, this article suggests we may be paying in some form or another anyway ... perhaps this is the best version allowing Porter County regional control of the other three counties.

Porter County GOP gets criticism

noreply@blogger.com (briefs) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:08:00 +0000

Since I know that many of you just don't have the time to read RSS feeds from multiple local blogs, and may have missed some of the backlash from the Porter County GOP meeting last week, I will post just a taste with some links:

The NWI Patriots, who were invited to join the GOP meeting last week as members of the Porter County Republican Facebook page, did attend and at least one author was quite upset with the way things progressed. Calling the local GOP, on the Road to NoWhere, and poking fun at plans for Lincoln Day Dinners and parade floats.

It was a disappointment but not a waste of time. We learned that the Porter County GOP has no official position on the RTA referendum and it doesn’t consider the institution of a governmental body, to be composed of unelected appointees with the authority to impose additional income taxes, to be a political issue. Its committee members have no clue about the most pressing local issue facing County residents, they say. Indeed, it has no official guiding principles that it uses to determine its positions on issues, a question that was asked repeatedly in different forms but remained unanswered. A question for the next time: does the Porter County GOP have an opinion on not having an opinion? Perhaps we’ll get an answer to that. We learned that infighting and juvenile outbursts are no respecters of political label.

Sweet Liberty, a brand new blog took the second attack with the more direct approach, Porter County GOP in shambles.

Now we have some regular readers and authors here on this site who I'm sure will provide some background and perhaps even another version of the story. But my own opinion is that the activists may have missed the entire point of being invited in the first place. The GOP does not have a position on this referendum, at least that's the reports from the meeting, but they did go out of their way to invite activists who they knew were fighting it. Inclusive engagement would seem worthy of some applaud.

The RTA referendum will fail miserably, and frankly most people in Porter County don't even know about it, and won't be voting. Watch for less than 10% voter turnout, an obvious sign that citizens just don't care right now ... they'd much prefer to see the economy start to claw its way back and employers start hiring again.

Our 1000th Post

noreply@blogger.com (briefs) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 18:07:00 +0000

I just noticed, that we hit the 1,000th post today. After roughly 60,000 visitors and some 1,300 RSS subscriptions daily, we seem to be running along at about a post a day.

Let me reiterate an often repeated mantra here on this blog, I would like to have more regular writers, from different points of view. If you want to write, leave a comment with your email and I'll send along an official invitation/login to join our contributing editors list.

Background for a Letter of Correction to the Recent Harper Letter of Half Truths

noreply@blogger.com (The Dark Knight) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:47:00 +0000

Dear Friends,

Recently, you received a letter from Commissioner Robert Harper listing a number of his beliefs with regard to the upcoming referendum to create a Regional Transportation District, which he erroneously calls a Regional Transportation Authority (RTA).

First, we must remember that among Mr. Harper’s many roles is that of criminal defense attorney. In that role, his first and foremost objective is to create doubt. He really does not need to prove anything to get his client off. He just needs to create doubt in the mind of a jury. This is the tactic he has applied in his recent letter, Internet musings, and throughout his government service.

He states he “…believes that we need to provide public transportation for our senior citizens as well as those that require on-demand rides. Moreover, he believes we are obligated to provide buses for people to get to and from work when there is great enough need to justify it.”

If he really believes what he says, has he ever, publicly addressed:

1. How he would pay for these systems without raising taxes?

2. How he would manage them and coordinate schedules?

3. What measures he would use to determine when there is enough need to move forward?

4. His ability to willingly work toward solutions to these questions with other units of government?

Or, has he constantly undermined and spread doubt about the ideas of others?

Actually, Mr. Harper is quite famous for creating factoids instead of researching facts. (A factoid is a speculation or assumption that is repeated or reported so often that it becomes accepted as fact when it is in actuality erroneous information.) Let’s examine the factoids set forth in his recent letter.

Harper Factoid #1:

“The legislation creates no less than five new separate regulatory boards.”

Truth:

In the legislation, two boards are re-organized not “created.” The Regional Bus Authority, which governs buses, and the NICTD, which governs the South Shore, are reorganized to have only elected officials as voting members. A third board is established, the Regional Transportation District (RTD), which is made up of members of the train and bus boards designed to resolve disputes, coordinate schedules and accomplish long range planning and funding. Three current bus boards are eliminated.

The remaining two entities are advisory committees with absolutely NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY whatsoever. Members of these committees are riders, handicapped persons, and labor union representatives giving input to the train and bus boards. Do you find it somewhat curious that Mr. Harper calls that arrangement for formal input from users a bureaucracy?

Actually no giant bureaucracy is created, as Mr. Harper’s fantasies would have us believe, the current bureaucracy is made smaller, more efficient, more inter-active, and more accountable reporting not only to the taxpayers, but also to the state legislative budget committee and the governor.

Harper Factoid #2

“The board that can pass the tax will be made up of elected officials from various counties. Because on the board are members from several counties, people will not be able to clearly retaliate at the polls if taxes are passed again and again. It will be hard to show your displeasure at election time.”

Truth:

The NICTD board is currently and has for many years been made up of appointed and elected members from multiple counties where there is little or no accountability to the voters. The current Regional Bus Authority is made up of all appointed members. The legislation requires voting members of the managing boards to be elected to create greater accountability to the taxpayers. Is Mr. Harper afraid of more direct accountability? What is his suggestion for better governance or is he once again just trying to create doubt in the mind of public opinion so he can show everyone that he is in charge in Porter County?

Harper Factoid #3 (ABSOLUTE DELIBERATE DECEPTION)

Mr. Harper rambles about the amount of money the Lake County municipalities receive from gambling revenue and that supporters say the bus systems need help. He says, “With all this money, how can the citizens of Porter County be asked to help support these systems?”

Truth:

THE CITIZENS OF PORTER COUNTY ARE NOT BEING ASKED TO SUPPORT THE BUS SYSTEMS OF LAKE COUNTY!!!! Mr. Harper should be well aware that the legislation is clear in building a fence around each county’s transportation tax dollars and using them proportionately to each county’s use. The law says “…the board shall allocate the capital costs according to a formula established by the board that REFLECTS THE BENEFIT RECEIVED BY THE COUNTY FROM THE CAPITAL COSTS IN FACILITATING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.” “The annual OPERATING EXPENSES …to be allocated to each member county ...using the total number of passengers and miles traveled by individuals using public transportation within each member county…”

Harper Factoid #4

“The only reason Porter County is in the bus service area at all is due to the bus lines that have been started in Valparaiso.”

Truth:

The Regional Transportation District concept is focused on relieving congestion and addressing the future transportation needs of Northwest Indiana. Porter County is the 9^th largest and 5^th most rapidly growing county in the state from 2000 to 2008 census data. Porter County has one of the most rapidly growing senior citizen populations in the state. Traffic on our major thoroughfares is projected to increase exponentially in the next 20 years. Whether Mr. Harper likes to admit it or not Porter County citizens are and will be closely tied to jobs, shopping and medical care in Lake County and Illinois for a long time.

The future mass transportation needs of Porter County are much larger than the present Valparaiso system. While Valparaiso has made some attempt to address the issue of future mass transit needs, the system is in its infancy and Portage has only begun to think about its future transportation needs. Mr. Harper has attacked the Valparaiso effort since its inception. <>

Harper Factoid #5

“Although the tax is starting out at 0.25%, you can rest assured it will grow.” “...No one has stopped to figure out just how much this will cost and they are beginning with a small tax that will not be nearly enough.”

Truth

Some basic numbers are as follows: The additional dollars needed for the local match to extend the South Shore was calculated at $300M, the bond payments on that amount are between $24M and $30M depending on the market. The latest estimate for a local match to consolidate the three Lake County bus systems and operate basic service is approximately $12M. A 0.25 income tax would pay for that and significantly more.

The operating subsidy for the South Shore comes from state sales tax, not from local taxes. As the economy and incomes grow the revenue from 0.25% tax yield would increase without raising the tax rate to meet future needs. The State legislature would need to approve any income tax increase above 0.25%, as would the RTD. <>

South Shore management has demonstrated that their cost estimates for the proposed extension are not yet stable after four years of work. Better oversight and accountability are essential before any extension can be contemplated further.

Mr. Harper seems to be saying that he is the only one in the state smart enough to analyze the cost of mass transit!!!! What evidence does he present to substantiate such a claim? How does he know that no one has figured out what anything will cost? He has consistently used questionable techniques to rationalize and over simplify his unsubstantiated fears. He attacks every study as inadequate, yet has no transportation, finance or management experience to claim any expertise in the area of public transportation

Harper Factoid #6

“If the referendum is passed as well as the resulting tax, it will be the third income tax that Porter County will have had within the last 10 years, If we have had three in ten years, what will the local income tax be in thirty years? County income taxes that were supposed to be kept at 1% have grown and grown throughout the state…”

Truth

First, the tax is not automatic with the passing of the referendum. An income tax of 0.25% or less MAY be passed by a board made up of county commissioners, county council members and mayors most of whom have never voted for a tax increase before. Second, the RTD is required by law to create a master transportation plan for the district and allocate costs by county proportionate to use before passing any tax.

Once again criminal defense attorney Harper plays fast and loose with the truth to create doubt. When he says County income taxes were supposed to be kept to 1%, one must ask, “Where is that written?” The truth is the legislature has provided tools for local government to reduce the burden of property taxes on small business and those on fixed income as the cost of local government in Indiana has grown twice as rapidly as state government.

Some facts found in any entry-level economics textbook, income taxes place a greater burden on those who have growing incomes and property taxes will rise with the cost of government independent of any change, positive or negative, in the taxpayer’s income.

In nearby Jasper County, officials had the courage take responsibility and be accountable to their constituents passing 3% income tax because they decided to redistribute the cost of local government from those least able to pay to those most able to pay, while Mr. Harper, in his current position in Porter County government, has blocked the use any tool that could make him accountable for the cost of local government. He and his friends are in a pitched battle to remove the Porter County property tax relief associated with the RDA legislation. As a high-income criminal defense attorney, Mr. Harper seems very motivated to keep property taxes high and income taxes low.

In summary

Mr. Harper and his small group of followers have conducted an all out war against any attempt to create jobs, rebuild our economy, or improve our basic infrastructure in a futile, nostalgic attempt to keep Porter County the way it was before he moved here from Lake County. He has consistently tried to divert people’s attention from dealing with the inevitable growth of our county due to its strategic location at the tip of Lake Michigan and close proximity to the third largest economy in the nation, through exaggeration and fear mongering.

The real issue in the referendum of November 3 is whether you think it is time to create the planning and accountability systems that are necessary to meet our future transportation needs or whether you would rather wait until we have a greater economic and congestion crisis, slapping something together at the last minute.

We urge you to ignore the fear tactics of Mr. Harper and vote YES on November 3 with a hope for creating future jobs, a better economy, and greater mobility for the citizens of our county through accountability, cooperation and planning.

In Regards to In-Fighting...

mattersofopinion@yahoo.com (Travis Gearhart) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 06:39:00 +0000

I’ve done my best to stay out of this lengthy debate (if you are reading this at ktracy.com visit Northwest Indiana Politics for further background information) however one of the last comments pretty much forced me into it.

For anybody that has read any of my pieces about the RTA or the RDA or the MMA or the TNT (you all get my gist) I’m fairly open-minded. I’m caught because there are two very good cases brought up about the triple capital letter thingies, and instead of interjecting my opinion into a topic that I know very little about (or personally care that much about), I’ve left it to those that felt strongly one way or the other to duke out this battle (I’ve been fighting my own, as many of you know, with my piece on unions). Ideologically, I agree with my NWIP friends: I hate taxes, and I hate them a lot. However, I also recognize that certain needs must be met by a communities government, and on top of that particular barb wire fence is where I rest.
So like I said, I’m neutral to the idea and am still deciding exactly how I’m going to vote. With that said, this particular comment by Leyva: “I am sorry that the people in this blog and that are associated with this blog hates the TEA movement,” caught my attention. If you will look at the top of Northwest Indiana Politics blog (I’ll give you all a moment) you will see these words: “The views expressed are those of each author, not necessarily the editors.” JUST because some guy pretending to be the wizard of OZ gives some criticism (criticism that could have been put/received in a much much more constructive tone) doesn’t mean that everybody that writes or is associated with these blogs are “conspiring” together. I have no personal problems with Leyva, Bonnie, Faith, Steve, Chris, Kevin…or anybody else on either of these two sites, and I can guarantee that there is not one person in this list that I agree 100% with on EVERYTHING. For example, I am involved with NWIP (not as much recently because of my personal undecidedness) and am still supportive, and it wouldn’t be right of me to assume that because there are certain factions of RLC members across the country that believe that 9/11 is an inside job and there are RLC members affiliated with NWIP that NWIP therefore believes in conspiracy mumbo-jumbo.

WITH THAT SAID. This kind of crap is the only thing that will allow liberal Democrats to continue to hold seats nationally and will allow liberals to infiltrate the seats of Northwest Indiana (even more so than they already are). While I have stated the Mr. OZ should have been much more civil in tone about his criticisms, on that same note, with all due respect, those that are willing to put their name out there on such a large level should be prepared to handle those criticisms in a way that doesn’t reflect badly on that individual. For example, after the article that was done by Jerry Davich on my piece about unions, the amount of angry hate mail was enormous (and hilarious, but that’s a whole ’nother story), and it was everything I could do to keep from name calling and ranting; because I still believe in that old adage of “You attract more flies with honey.” Yes, its unfortunate that people can’t talk about these things civilly, but that’s why mother always said don’t talk about religion and politics. Yes, I know that NWIP isn’t about one party or the other and isn’t interested in endorsing candidates, but regardless it still boils into the political soup just the same.

I think everybody needs to take a huge breath and realize that if a group of (generally) conservative people can’t even talk civilly amongst each other without making accusations and personal attacks, then we’re screwed when it comes time for people to step up to the polls.

Cross posted at www.ktracy.com and linked at www.mattersofopinion.net

Lake County getting serious about consolidation

noreply@blogger.com (briefs) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:41:00 +0000

Update - 11 towns in Lake County meeting to explore sharing resources ... Kudos to Lake County again for starting the process.

At least that's the talk so far:

A serious look by the Lake County Commissioners at eliminating satellite court houses in north county locations, has political flack flying all over.

How about merging the Crown Point and Merrillville Chambers of Commerce? With some suggesting that prior leadership was standing in the way of possible efficiencies, this regional effort has some momentum.

Some other possible mergers/consolidations that I think should be considered:

Chesterton, Burns Harbor, and Porter should look at forming a combined City of Duneland
NIRPC and the RDA should look at combining operations, paring back the number of politicians using NIRPC as a pulpit, and letting them maximize our investments in job creation and planning for the future.
NICTD (South Shore) should raise fares to become self-supporting, and then take a close look at privatization or even a merger/privatization with the Gary Airport.
Once again a merger of the regional tourism boards is a layup shot, it just plain makes sense. If the current leadership needs to be replaced, similar to the chambers in Lake County being held back by leadership, then make it happen.
Portage and the Portage township seem like an easy case for creating a fire territory so that the residents of Portage township would have full-time firefighters instead of volunteers.
And lastly, since this list will probably tick off everyone, another strong case for totally eliminating the 12 townships in Porter County. Cemeteries are better owned and managed by private businesses. Parks are better operated by cities and towns. Poor relief can and should be handled more consistently on a countywide basis. Fire can, and in the case of Center Township is being handled better in a relationship with a full time department. There's nothing left for the township trustee.

Sadly, this post won't get nearly the response and thought provocation as the ones featuring grass roots organizations arguing with party elites, or "tin foil" hat wearers arguing with people in the real world trenches ... sad.

NW Indiana Patriots - Tea Party respond

noreply@blogger.com (briefs) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:58:00 +0000

The Northwest Indiana Patriots Mission Statement is the basis of our actions: To restore limited government, fiscal responsibility and accountable representation through citizen activism and education, in order to preserve the Constitution of the United States of America.

One blogger posting as "Oscar Zoroaster Et Cetera" takes exception to our efforts here Northwest Indiana Politics: Tea Party Attendance Dies as NWIPs Focus on RTA Mr. Z's tone deaf pronouncements make it sound as if he could be affiliated with the local political party Running through an incoherent maze is more easily done by starting at the finish, so we'll go through Mr. Z's post from the bottom up.

He asks, "On Thursday, a handful of NWIP representatives are going to come to a Republican Party meeting in Kouts to protest the RTA and see where party insiders stand. Is this really productive? What exactly are they hoping to prove?"

We did attend that meeting, and it was productive. Not being there to "prove" anything, we wanted to find out what the local GOP's stance on the RTA is. What we found was they have none.

The local GOP, like Mr. Z, "don't care enough about" the creation of an extra-govermental body with the power to levy taxes on us. A body who has the deck stacked in its favor by local and state politicians to insure its creation. Why isn't the local GOP "throwing a hissy fit" over this? That's rhetorical - the Republican party has shown it is just as enamored with expansive, intrusive and tax-drunk government as the other side of the aisle, an aisle that gets narrower daily.

We are on the street every single day informing our fellow citizens about the referendum on November 3, and people are responding. Some go in and vote right then and there. Others take signs and inform others. This is what's called grassroots activism, Mr. Z - your top-down focus illustrates just what is wrong with today's political culture.

Power should reside with the people, and that starts at the local level. Local government can be just as tyrannical and oppressive as a federal behemoth. If Mr. Z is truly as concerned with the national Tea Party movement as he claims to be, he would know that involvement in local government is mainstream Tea Party policy.

It is Mr. Z's opinion that we should "tell our elected leaders to vote NO on the President's proposed healthcare reform plan." We have, Mr. Z, and we, along with the millions of other Tea Partiers this summer, stopped the lightning passage of that healthcare takeover. Doing what the GOP was impotent to do, the healthcare reform debate is now center stage on the national scene. Had we left it to the Republicans, we'd all already be cogs in the exchange, on the path to single-payer socialized healthcare.

And what does this say of the local GOP's assessment skills? Who should we convince to vote no on the healthcare takeover, Mr. Z? Are you referring to elected officials like Pete "Do What the Local Unions Say" Visclosky? We've attended meetings with Mr. Visclosky, and trust us, he's not listening.

We and our members continue to write letters, send faxes and make phone calls to our officials to reaffirm our opposition to socialized medicine. But there are other battles to be fought, and we must fight them on the local level especially.

So, the local GOP doesn't like what we're doing? Good. They seem to think that they should reap the rewards of America's disgust with gargantuan government. Well, our memories are not that short, Mr. Z. We recall that the Republican-controlled Congress earlier this decade grew government faster than any before it, paving the way for today's runaway House, Senate and administration.

Thank you, Mr. Z. It's nice to be noticed.

Faith Jones-Founder and Organizer
Bonnie Kuzminski - Organizer

Lake County GOP Vice Chair announces

noreply@blogger.com (briefs) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:16:00 +0000

Press Release from Kim Krull - current Lake County GOP Vice Chair:
Will Continue Work Towards Vibrant Two-Party System

Lake County native and long-time Republican and community activist Kim Krull announced her candidacy for the position of Chairman of the Lake County Republican Party in a letter to precinct committeemen and vice committeemen today.

“I intend to continue our path towards a strong and vibrant two-party system in Lake County. Government is not about one person or one party; it is about ensuring that all voices are represented by qualified and dedicated individuals serving the best interests of their constituents. John Curley was committed that vision, and so am I,” Krull said.

To meet this goal, Krull plans utilize her experience in politics and local community organizations to encourage the involvement of young people in the Republican Party through activities and programs for high school and college students as well as establishing a minority outreach program to increase awareness of the Republican Party in Lake County.

Upon assuming the position of Vice Chair of the county GOP since March, Krull took the lead in increasing the avenues for communication amongst members and the public through the successful launch of a new website, increased visibility in the local press and establishing a presence for the county party on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. She also actively solicited new members and donors to the party and implemented standing committees on fundraising, membership and communications to encourage involvement and active participation by existing members.

Krull was previously Chair of the Crown Point Republicans and is a member of the Midlake Republican Women’s Club. In addition to her active political involvement, Krull has long been a leader in our local community. She has served on the executive board of the Crown Point Chamber of Commerce, as President of the Lake County Liquor Board and is an alumnus of Leadership Northwest Indiana.

Krull added, “At the end of the day this isn’t just about building the Republican Party in Lake County, but also about active participation in our community and making our home a better place to live, work and raise a family.”

Kim Krull is a graduate of Highland High School and Purdue University – Calumet and has been a registered nurse for 25 years. She is the mother of two grown sons and resides in Crown Point.

The position became vacant upon the death of John Curley who served as Chairman of the county party since 2003 and was elected to full terms in 2006 and 2009. The election will take place on October 31, 2009, at 9:00 a.m. at the St. Elijah Serbian-American Hall in Merrillville, Indiana.

Tea Party Attendance Dies as NWIPs Focus on RTA

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:10:00 +0000

I want everyone to see a list of recent NWIP "Meetups" and the showing they've had.

Oct. 7 - RTA Referendum
8 people attended

Oct. 12 - Get out the Vote on RTA
3 people attended

Oct. 13 - Get out the Vote on RTA
4 people attended

Oct. 14 - Get out the Vote on RTA
2 people attended

Oct. 15 - Get out the Vote on RTA
3 people attended

Oct. 16 - Get out the Vote on RTA
5 people attended

Oct. 16 - RTA Sign making party
2 people attended

Oct. 17 - LaPorte TEA Party
19 people attended
(To be fair, I was told this event had 30-35 people)

Oct. 19 - Get out the RTA vote
1 person attended

Needless to say, these turnouts are a disgrace to the national Tea Party movement and the organizers have no one to blame but themselves and what ever morons told them to hold daily meet ups to convince people to vote "No" on the RTA referendum next month.

Think about it for a moment. A disastrous Goliath of Socialism (the Obamacare reform plan) just got out of committee and is being debated on the Senate Floor. If this thing passes, every American is going to be hurt, our currency isn't going to be worth toilet paper, and there's going to be yet another mismanaged entitlement program placed on the shoulders of our next generation.

And the Tea Party Patriots of Northwest Indiana are throwing a hissy fit over a 0.25% income tax hike to pay for public transportation at the most local levels of government. We're talking about 25 cents out of every $100 you earn going to a regionally managed organization aiming to improve our local infrastructure.

I don't mean to defend the RTA. I don't care enough about it to do so. All I'm doing is illustrating the contrast between the significance of Socialized Healthcare Reform and the establishment of the RTA.

SOLUTION!

I hate when bloggers complain about problems and don't tell anyone how to solve them.

If I were an organizer within the NWIP organization, I'd immediately STOP all of these 1-3 people events on the RTA. Doing that has cost NWIPs a LOT of political credibility.

Instead, host large rallies of 200+ people in Valpo again and tell our elected leaders to vote NO on the President's proposed healthcare reform plan. And because you're obviously not supporters of the RTA, hand out fliers telling people to vote "NO" on the referendum coming up in November.

I could organize a Meetup based on the importance of using paper bags over plastic, but if nobody cares about the issue, nobody is going to show up. And that's what's happening with the NWIPs.

I've lost a lot of confidence in this group's leadership in recent months and their latest Tea Party in Valpo was an utter disaster where they had virtually no local speakers and had a tin-foil hat man open the event with a 1 hour speech selling his book and telling people there was no such thing as a good politician. There was some deliciously ironic humor that followed this. As after this guy spoke, he was followed by a US Senate candidate (Republican, big surprise) named Richard Behney, who is just about as qualified to be a US Senator as Mark Leyva is to be a US Representative.

I don't know what's happening behind the scenes with the NWIPs, but whatever it is, it's caused the group to absolutely implode.

On Thursday, a handful of NWIP representatives are going to come to a Republican Party meeting in Kouts to protest the RTA and see where party insiders stand. Is this really productive? What exactly are they hoping to prove?

All that they're going to accomplish at Thursday's meeting is the further alienation of their already dwindling membership.

Be Sure To Pick Up the Post Tribune on 10/21/09

mattersofopinion@yahoo.com (Travis Gearhart) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:04:00 +0000

As I mentioned at the end of a post a day or two ago, Jerry Davich is doing a piece on my article about why USW workers should really be voting Republican. That piece is going to be in tomorrows Post Tribune.
I answered a few questions from him via email, and he has a USW representative giving the counter argument. If you live in the Northwest Indiana region, be sure to pick up a copy of the paper and write in and tell them just how great this Travis Gearhart guy is and thank Jerry for writing an amazing piece (as I’m sure it will be).
With that said, I’m assuming that there are going to be a lot of pro-union Democratic leaders that will have their fair share of criticism about the piece, and I encourage any of you out there to use this forum as a place to voice your criticism (politely, of course). I will be more than happy to answer each individuals thoughts on this subject with my own opinion as a conservative union worker.

Also, I may have another friend in the Post Tribune soon. In the next couple of weeks I am going to be doing a show with my co-worker Greg, our pit foreman Dell, and Dells friend and Post Tribune column writer Rev. Raymond C. Dix Jr. I am excited to have the Rev. on the show (if he ends up being able to make it out) and look forward to the great debate that I’m sure will entail from the collection of these bright minds.

Cross posted at http://www.ktracy.com/ and linked at http://www.mattersofopinion.net/

“Only the Dead Have Seen the End of War”-Plato

mattersofopinion@yahoo.com (Travis Gearhart) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:02:00 +0000

The military made the decision today to end the ban on publicizing fatal war photos, and is getting nods from those on both sides of the aisle. “I am relieved that this short-lived attempt to control the media and the public’s right to know has come to an end,” Louise M. Slaughter, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, said (and if your like me you found it ironic that the quote on this issue came from a woman whose last name was “Slaughter”). Mike Pence, from our own great state of Indiana, said “the public needs to see the unvarnished story from Afghanistan, as it has in past wars.”

And I agree with both of them on this point. This decision follows a decision earlier this year to allow photos like you see above to be used in the media. I support both decisions, because it honestly didn’t make any sense to me. Part of the problem, in my opinion, with the low approval rates concerning the Afghan and Iraq wars is that so many people became unattached from what was going on. When there is a paragraph in the newspaper reading 4 or 5 or 10 soldiers died, there should be a picture not only to give the fallen hero the acknowledgment and respect that he/she deserves, but to make all of us remember exactly what our boys are going through over there. There hasn’t been much bi-partisan workings with this administration and Congress, but when there is it is important to recognize bi-partisanship for what it is: the two parties working together for a good reason.

Cross posted at www.ktracy.com and linked at www.mattersofopinion.net