Government Blog Posts

The new education chief

April 22, 2009
Comments(5)
Tony Bennett has been state superintendent of public instruction for just three months, but heâ??s making plenty of waves. Bennett, who replaced longtime chief Suellen Reed after she decided not to run for re-election, has not abandoned his campaign...
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Food, children and bars

March 3, 2009
Comments(14)
More bars in the state are allowing minors â?? people under age 21 â?? with the proviso that parents are there, too. State law also stipulates a barrier separating bars and family dining areas. Supporters of the trend say...
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'Livability' for Indianapolis

February 23, 2009
Comments(11)
A year into his tenure as mayor of Indianapolis, Greg Ballard over the weekend articulated what may be the closest thing weâ??ll hear for his vision for the city. Ballardâ??s State of the City address touted making Indianapolis the...
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Wobbly on township government

February 12, 2009
Comments(19)
State legislators seem to be looking for excuses to dodge the recommendation in the Kernan-Shepard report to eliminate township-level government. This wasnâ??t unexpected. Township officials often are close friends and political allies of legislators, so the legislators donâ??t want...
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Tap the rainy day fund?

February 9, 2009
Comments(11)
The weakening economy is producing worse and worse tax revenue forecasts for Indiana. As a result, Democrats are calling for Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, to open the stateâ??s $1.3 billion rainy day fund. Tough times like these are what...
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Tax cheats, or just ignorance?

February 6, 2009
Comments(6)
A third nominee to join the Obama administration has gone down in flames after revelations about problems with income taxes. A Senate panel last night called off confirmation hearings for U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis, who was nominated to lead the Labor...
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Obama and executive salary caps

February 5, 2009
Comments(9)
All things considered, there shouldnâ??t be a fuss about President Obamaâ??s plan to cap salaries of executives in companies that receive federal bailouts. Thatâ??s the take of Dan Dalton, an Indiana University specialist on corporate governance. Dalton points out that...
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Hoosier lessons for Obama

January 20, 2009
Comments(9)
Some people went ballistic when $40 million was spent on George W. Bushâ??s inauguration in 2001, and now $120 million is going toward Barack Obamaâ??s inauguration festivities today â?? much of it donated, of course. Few people would argue against celebrating...
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Daniels' budget axing priorities?

January 7, 2009
Comments(14)
Gov. Mitch Daniels said yesterday he wants to spare schools and public safety from the scalpel as he looks to prepare an honestly balanced budget during a time of declining tax revenue. But Democrats accuse the Republican of crimping...
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Backsliding on environment?

December 30, 2008
Comments(6)
One of the most curious developments underway in state government is the moves by the Department of Environmental Management to back peddle on its mandate to keep an eye on polluters. Environmental groups are aghast at IDEMâ??s plan to slap penalties...
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Tough budget choices for state

December 29, 2008
Comments(3)
Gov. Mitch Daniels has ordered a string of budget cuts as the recession hammers tax revenue, and the upcoming General Assembly promises to generate squabbles over what little money is left to spend. If you were governor, what would...
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Pondering corruption

December 10, 2008
Comments(3)
Yet another Illinois governor is going down in legal flames, as Rod Blagojevich struggles to extricate himself from federal accusations that he brazenly tried to peddle Barack Obamaâ??s Senate seat to the highest bidder. So, weâ??re reminded again that power corrupts....
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Questions about Detroit's bench

December 8, 2008
Comments(7)
Politicians are about to step in for directors and force sweeping changes on the Detroit car companies, judging from the direction of talks in Congress. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd yesterday called for the firing of General Motors...
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Smoking ban back on the table

November 19, 2008
Comments(26)
Smoking in public places is in retreat across the country, and now Charlie Brown, the state representative from Gary, wants to ban it in bars, casinos and other enclosed places in Indiana. Brown plans to introduce a bill during...
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A tiny Indiana bank and the bailout

November 18, 2008
Comments(7)
Newton County Loan & Savings bank couldnâ??t be more out of the way â?? or more relevant in this day of government bailouts. The thrift is in Goodland, a burg between Lafayette and Chicago, and has all of $7.3 million in...
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Bail out Detroit?

November 17, 2008
Comments(3)
Two schools of thought are emerging over the proposed bailout of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. One is that the auto industry is too big to fail. Itâ??s not just because of the manufacturing operations and all the suppliers...
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Whatâ??s next for Daniels?

November 12, 2008
Comments(12)
Mitch Daniels has plenty of reason to feel good about himself these days. Last week, he won reelection in a landslide after cutting a wake through a change-averse state, and without going negative on his opponent, Jill Long Thompson. Daniels also needs...
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After assessors, what's next?

November 6, 2008
Comment(1)
Indiana voters this week in effect fired most of the remaining township assessors after the Legislature merged the vast majority of their work into county-level assessor offices earlier this year. But many of the recommendations from the report on...
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Obama, Daniels and Indiana

November 5, 2008
Comments(23)
Change agents Barack Obama and Mitch Daniels won over Hoosiers yesterday, but from different ends of the political spectrum. Barack Obama took the state after a campaign in which he promised to increase regulations on business, raise taxes on...
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There's gotta be a better way

November 4, 2008
Comments(11)
We live in the country that invented the light bulb, put a man on the moon and cracked the human genome, but weâ??re still standing in line to vote. Election Day is evolving into Election Month as more people make decisions...
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Nuclear war, assessors and voters

November 3, 2008
Comments(3)
Following a nuclear holocaust, itâ??s been said, only cockroaches and township assessors will be left. Now, assessors might finally meet their match in something more powerful than atomic weapons â?? voters. The Legislature wiped out a warren of them this year when...
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Bringing on the generic drugs

October 30, 2008
Comments(2)
Times are tough enough that more people are beginning to switch to generic drugs to save money. Insurers like Indianapolis-based WellPoint are playing a role, too, by pushing policy holders toward generics. People also are splitting pills...
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Concerns of a state health official

October 29, 2008
Comments(0)
One of the people responsible for ensuring we stay healthy is Dr. Judy Monroe, who directs the Indiana Department of Health. So, what keeps someone with a job like hers up at night? A nightmare scenario is a new virus that quickly...
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A historian previews the election

October 8, 2008
Comments(13)
Jerry Handfield hasnâ??t lived in Indiana since 2001, when he moved to Washington to take a similar job overseeing that stateâ??s archives. But Handfield still keeps tabs on Indiana. So much so that he checks the Weather Channel when tornadoes rip...
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Race and the Obama vote

October 7, 2008
Comments(11)
Yet another poll shows the contest between John McCain and Barack Obama as too close to call in Indiana. The WISH-TV Channel 13 survey has each with 46 percent of likely voters. With margins like this, the election could...
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  1. liek the rest of America

  2. These quaint,obsessed musings by the stalkers are certainly entertaining, but I'm trying to figure out what, if anything, all the yelping below has to do with Zak Brown.

  3. It's evident that Moffett was pushing the right buttons and corporate America is now trying to squash him. He just wanted to withdraw the free pilot services provided to the company by the pilots to try and put some pressure on a company that has not been interested in negotiating a contract in over 5 years. The company does not provide a contract because not having one has saved them a bundle of money. Shame on any Republic pilots not standing behind their union leader just because things are getting tough, can you not see such strategic moves by the company as putting the last union president in a corporate position and into THEIR pocket. Do you really believe the last union president is so appalled at the attempts by Moffett, do you not remember his oppositions to the company? We stood behind him. It has been proven over and over again for thousands of years without fail, a man cannot serve two masters. Anyone that believes people vote contrary to their paycheck and livelihood deserve to be taken advantage of, the recent statements by the former union president are laughable as he denounces the current union president from his new corporate position. Have you ever seen a drafted sports player score points for his previous team, it cannot be done, he is not on the pilots side anymore, he gets his money a different way now than you and I do, and he should not be allowed to remain on the seniority list. A drafted player brings strength, credibility, tactical knowledge, and a strategic advantage to his NEW team, he would not be drafted or paid were it otherwise. We are all forced to choose only one side to play for and support, not doing so has many references in life such as insider trading and shaving points, all illegal for good reason. This basic fact is why corporate moguls, scientist, and engineers all sign non-discloser agreements and non-compete clauses, as protection in case they are lured into switching sides as our former union president has done. No NFL coach ever drafted a player so that both teams could benefit and better understand each other, they are recruited to win the game against that former team, period. Likewise the company does not recruit the former union president by accident or mutual understanding, its strategy. Don't confuse playing the game with good sportsman-like conduct in support of common business and prosperity goals, with the requirement to only play for one side. Good men we all love and favor fall subject to this manipulation, often without their knowledge, and it is not a betrayal of their friendship to oppose them when they switch sides. If we did not love and trust them, they would not have been chosen and lured to the other side in the first place. The deception by the drafted player is not made at a conscious level, it's just human nature and it's all about money and power which corrupts our ability to be objective and loyal to two masters. This is why our court system created the defense attorney, and why our military created counter intelligence. Its strategy and its propaganda, and it works, and that's why the "powers to be" manipulate the chess pieces by sometimes changing their colors. Some players know they are being manipulated when their color is changed, but it brings them more money and power so they do not care. The rest have good intentions but do not even realize they are being manipulated. This tactic is also known by another name, Divide and Conquer. In battle sending an imperfect message with an imperfect team is obviously not ideal, but it's still being sent by YOUR team, your union leader, a leader that has common goals and common rewards with you, they are the best, because we have elected them to do a job for us. If you are not backing Moffett but believing the spin by those that have recently switched sides, you are taking food out of your own mouth. Showing unity and backing an imperfect situation still results in taking just as much ground, it's about unity and bargaining power. It's not necessary to wait around for that perfect attack because it will never come, the company will spin and attempt to destroy anyone that gets in their way. Ultimately it's not about any specific attack anyway, ASAP or whatever it makes no difference, it is and always has been only about power. If this company cared about safety it would not build pairings with 8 hour overnights, come on, are you that naive? Besides, do you really think Hoffa cares, no, he got a call from corporate America and was squeezed into denouncing Moffett. If he didn't they would spin the safety card against him and the Teamsters National with implication for truckers, future contracts, insurance rates etc...saying something like the Teamsters use safety as a bargaining chip, blah blah blah... Do you really think any pilot is going to do something unsafe for the contract, absolutely not, the only ones threatening safety here is the company with reduced rest, fatigue, and poverty. Do you not find it odd that Hoffa and the Teamsters are opposing a Teamster president publicly? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and work with one of their own? Why did they not sit down and help him strategize, correct any mistakes, and charge ahead? Would the Teamsters National not normally support and leverage a contract for all those pilots that have been paying Teamster dues, isn't that why we have all been paying Teamster dues in the first place? I sure haven't been paying dues so that the Teamsters National could come along and write this kind of an article undercutting our union leader and our unity. Whose side is the Teamsters National really on, it's obviously not the Republic pilots side.

  4. No matter what Moffatt does the company is going to spin it like he is the terrorist and brainwash people like you into believing it, wake up, back your players that are trying to change things for you and your livelihood. Where has Hoffa been for the last 6 years, except collecting our dues. Seriously, do you really think an FO going for upgrade, signed off by a checkairman ready for the upgrade, who then fails, is not even capable of returning as a First Officer.

  5. whoa!

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