Clere: Bauer In Full Disrespect Mode

Kudos to State Rep. Ed Clere for penning an op/ed about Boss Bauer’s antics this session. The truth about Bauer’s iron-fisted rule is spreading throughout the state, and there is a lot of chatter about how his one-man reform blockade will affect vulnerable House Democrats in 2010.

Clere brings the message to southeastern Indiana by mentioned some things we’ve covered before as well as a new one.

 STATEHOUSE — What do taxpayers, Congressman Mike Pence and fallen soldiers have in common?

Indiana House Speaker Pat Bauer didn’t have time for any of them.

I write this column with a sense of disappointment. I was hopeful I would have something positive to report to you today.

Instead, for the most part, last week was a series of setbacks and missed opportunities.

Editorial from State Representative Randy Borror (R-Fort Wayne)

    
    The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives passed House Bill 1729 on Wednesday, aptly titled, “Gaming Tax Relief.”  With utter disregard for the critical issues facing the average Hoosier, including how Hoosiers will pay their mortgages, whether the state will act to address a historic deficit in its unemployment insurance trust fund, areas in our state suffering from the highest unemployment rates in the post World War II era, and small and large businesses across our state struggling to keep their doors open, House Democrat Leadership bestowed an $80 million tax cut on one very select group of companies — horse tracks and casinos.

Help Indiana Republicans Win Back The State Legislature

A lot of conservatives from across Indiana are interested in not just winning back the US Congressional Seats we lost in 2006, but also our state’s House of Representatives, which we tragically lost as well.

I’ve written before that thanks to the immediate results of Governor Mitch Daniels’ amazing first term, Indiana has faired somewhat better economically, relative to the rest of the country, and the Indiana Republican Party is, at the moment, probably the strongest state Republican Party in any of the 50 states, despite the unusually low popularity of John McCain, our party’s national candidate in our Hoosier state. The unpopularity of Jill Long Thompson doesn’t hurt either.

That means we’re one of the few states where ground can be made up in both the US Congressional races and our local elections, as well. Whether you’re from Indiana and want to help Governor Daniels and his second term agenda, or you’re from out of state and want to invest money in races where Republicans are much more likely to win seats,I highly recommend checking out House Victory ‘08, the website being used by the Indiana House Republican Campaign Committee.

Pennsylvania Makes a Major Move

Governor Ed Rendell (D-PA) announced the winning bid for the lease of the Pennsylvania Turnpike yesterday.  A team led by Citi Infrastructure Investors won the competitive bid by offering $12.8 billion for a 75-year lease of the Turnpike.  The deal offers many of the same protections as the lease of the Indiana Toll Road in terms of limited toll increases and guaranteed improvements to the road.  In terms of the dollars and cents, the deal is very close to what Indiana received.

It's Payback Time

Governor Mitch Daniels has ordered the remaining money owed to local government be repaid by the end of the month, a full year ahead of schedule. This completes a payback program that Daniels started in 2006 to repay local government and schools money that was withheld starting in 2002 to "balance" the state's budget. This would be a rough equivalent to you withholding payment to the phone company so you can pay your credit card and tell people you don't have any debt. That's the way the State of Indiana used to work, but not anymore.