"Abe Lincoln said: Some stumps you can pull out of the ground, some stumps you can blow out of the field and some stumps you just have to plow around," Daniels said. "I am tired of plowing around Pat Bauer and his Democratic majority, and I want your help to move him out of there." Gov. Daniels
Cheers for the boldness of the quote above! Only in South Bend could an obstructionist like Pat Bauer be praised and propped up for over 40 years. Pat Bauer's record has demonstrated his loyalty to "his" party over sound judgment and the good will for the State of Indiana.
My question to the Governor and the Indy establishment: What does the Gov. mean?
The statements above seem straightforward. However, the Indiana Republican Party must face their fear of Mr. Bauer and fund a candidate to run against the man. Will they stick their neck(s) out on the possible long shot campaign and take on Mr. Bauer, or will they simply look at the numbers from the gerrymandered district and consider it a lost cause? I hope not.
Any candidate willing to put his/ her name on the line for any office deserves my respect. I might disagree with their position but the gruelling pace will consume the candidates entire family either in a negative or positive manner. However, the first road block that a candidate meets when he or she runs against the Majority Leader is the lack of any substantial help from the Republican Party establishment. Any candidate (in the past) running against Bauer finds cheers from fellow Republicans from Northern Indiana but the Republican establishment in Indy treats the man/woman like a leper. Oh, you get cheers and a nice slap on the back at a few public functions, however they never take you seriously. NEVER! I know- I speak with experience. I have the distinction of being in a select club of lepers.
Question: How do you defeat an Army? War 101 says that you find and take out as many generals as possible. To move the State of Indiana forward, Mr. Bauer must be forced into early retirement but it will take a concentrated effort by Republicans in Indy and around the whole State to accomplish the task. I'm looking forward to seeing Mr. Bauer's retirement and I will help anyone with the sheer guts take him on!
I am taking the Governor at his word. At this point I believe that he will campaign for representatives and candidates trying regain the majority in the Indiana House. However, the Governor must take on the "little general" by endorsing, speaking and making sure that funds are provided for the defeat of Mr.Bauer.
Will the Governor come up to the region and campaign for the candidate? Will he send anyone? I hope so! It looks like a shift in thought-it's long overdue and I want to thank the Gov. for his willingness to join this fight. A little late, but I'm glad he is on board.
__________________________________________
From the Indy Star--
Behind closed doors
Daniels has answers for the GOP
To win races, he says, party must think about everyday people
When Gov. Mitch Daniels spoke last weekend at the Indiana Republican Party's Fall Dinner, he had Texas on his mind.
Daniels gave his speech a day before flying to Texas for the Republican Governors Association to meet with GOP colleagues from across the country, gatherings from which he said he usually plays "hooky."
Daniels said he decided to attend this time, in part, to help his party answer some key questions.
"They want to know about a Republican Party that wins elections, which it hasn't done a lot of in too many places, and nationally, for a while," Daniels said. "So, I'll tell them what we think the answer is."
Then, the governor followed with this advice: "You start by making it absolutely apparent that everything you say and do, your first concern, is the everyday people of the place, or in our case the state, to which you are accountable. You are happy about the prosperous people, the people that come to dinners like this; you're proud of them. But you never, never, never lose sight of the central meaning of the American experience: that anybody from anywhere has a chance. In where you go, in what you say, in what you do and how you approach your duties, you seek to make it possible for people to do that."
Daniels said his Republican colleagues also need to begin practicing more positive politics.
"I'll say to them, in Indiana, we practice the politics of addition, not division. We look for ways to bring people together. We look for ways to minimize or soft-pedal those things about which we disagree. We stand up always for things that are central to us, but we don't demonize anybody and we don't succumb to the temptation to criticize anybody, certainly not their motives, not their background. We remember what Ronald Reagan taught us some years ago: We have no enemies, only opponents.
"But most of all, if you want to know why we've been winning elections in Indiana, it's because we are known for what we're for, not just for what we're against."
Choice words for Bauer
Daniels' speech at the Republican dinner did, however, have some red meat.When Gov. Mitch Daniels spoke last weekend at the Indiana Republican Party's Fall Dinner, he had Texas on his mind.
Daniels gave his speech a day before flying to Texas for the Republican Governors Association to meet with GOP colleagues from across the country, gatherings from which he said he usually plays "hooky."
Daniels said he decided to attend this time, in part, to help his party answer some key questions.
"They want to know about a Republican Party that wins elections, which it hasn't done a lot of in too many places, and nationally, for a while," Daniels said. "So, I'll tell them what we think the answer is."
Then, the governor followed with this advice: "You start by making it absolutely apparent that everything you say and do, your first concern, is the everyday people of the place, or in our case the state, to which you are accountable. You are happy about the prosperous people, the people that come to dinners like this; you're proud of them. But you never, never, never lose sight of the central meaning of the American experience: that anybody from anywhere has a chance. In where you go, in what you say, in what you do and how you approach your duties, you seek to make it possible for people to do that."
Daniels said his Republican colleagues also need to begin practicing more positive politics.
"I'll say to them, in Indiana, we practice the politics of addition, not division. We look for ways to bring people together. We look for ways to minimize or soft-pedal those things about which we disagree. We stand up always for things that are central to us, but we don't demonize anybody and we don't succumb to the temptation to criticize anybody, certainly not their motives, not their background. We remember what Ronald Reagan taught us some years ago: We have no enemies, only opponents.
"But most of all, if you want to know why we've been winning elections in Indiana, it's because we are known for what we're for, not just for what we're against."
Choice words for Bauer
Daniels' speech at the Republican dinner did, however, have some red meat.
He took a few jabs at House Speaker B. Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, and his recent proposal to reform the state's lobbying laws.
"It took five years, but our opponents finally, finally -- as I always knew they would -- are starting to get it," Daniels said. "That it doesn't always work real well to be 'no, no, no' and criticism, criticism, criticism and attack, attack, attack.
"You know I'm for it, it's overdue, but the proposals for ethical reform of the Indiana legislature that have just been put forward by our opposition, I think are a really good idea," Daniels continued, before drawing a loud round of applause and laughs with this line: "But I just got to say one thing: When Pat Bauer turns into a reformer, something has changed, right? Something is going on."
The governor then stressed the importance of Republicans regaining control of the House in next year's election, saying he will "do everything I can in the next year to see that that happens," before touting the high caliber of candidates the party has recruited to run for legislature.
"Abe Lincoln said: Some stumps you can pull out of the ground, some stumps you can blow out of the field and some stumps you just have to plow around," Daniels said. "I am tired of plowing around Pat Bauer and his Democratic majority, and I want your help to move him out of there."
About those Derby tickets
Sen. Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville, says he always wanted to pay his own way to the Kentucky Derby, and plans to reimburse the gambling company that paid his tab.
Recently, a lobbying report filed with the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission showed that Kenley -- chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee -- accepted tickets valued at $876.64 to the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks races from Centaur Inc., which operates Hoosier Park racino in Anderson.
At the time of the May derby in Louisville, the legislature was headed into a special session where casino and racino owners were hoping to win concessions.
When first asked by The Indianapolis Star about whether it had given him any pause to take the tickets from Centaur given the gambling issues facing the legislature, Kenley said no."I don't think that it created a problem," he said, noting that he had not allowed the gambling issues to move forward in the special session.
Last week, though, Kenley expanded on his account. Kenley said he had asked former State Rep. Matthew Whetstone, who now is a lobbyist with Krieg DeVault, if he knew where he could get tickets. That firm represents a riverboat casino. Kenley said he didn't know until he went to Louisville with his family that the tickets were from Centaur.
There, he said, he saw Whetstone and told him, "You need to make sure you let me know how much these tickets are."
He was told "not to worry about it," he said. But, Kenley said, he'd still planned on "getting this cleared up" and had thought he had until the end of this year to do so.
"It was a mistake on my part," he said, to not have reimbursed Centaur earlier. Now, he said, he'll do that.
Stimulating the nonexistent
The economic stimulus package not only created jobs, it also created congressional districts, according to the government Web site that tracks the spending.
Recovery.gov breaks down the money awarded and jobs created so far by congressional district. The site said that Indiana's nonexistent 10th congressional district has received $1,219,756, which resulted in eight jobs. The nonexistent 00th, 11th, 14th and 18th districts have also gotten funding, according to the site.
Republicans were among those having a field day with the inaccuracies.
"From the beginning, I said this program would be exposed to rampant waste, fraud and abuse," said Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind. "Now, as we see these magical numbers from the Obama administration, how can we ever be convinced that this money will be accounted for and given proper oversight? The answer is simply this: we can't."
States and other funding recipients had to report last month how they spent the funding they've received. Indiana's listing of congressional districts on the Web site has since been corrected.
In a blog posting on the White House Web site, G. Edward DeSeve, an Obama adviser, said the mistakes were a result of human error that shouldn't detract from the overall effort to bring openness to the stimulus
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