The Return!

Stay tuned...what was once Indy's Painfully Objective Political Analysis (iPOPA) is undergoing a transformation, but it will be back soon!

The Return!

Signing Off . . .

Greetings friends and fans:

The time has come for Indy's Painfully Objective Political Analysis (iPOPA) to ride off into the sunset.

Long-time readers will say, "Yeah, we heard this before! iPOPA closed up shop only to come roaring back." You got me. I got spurred back into action because of my inability to stay silent on "the untold stories."

But this time things are different.

I recently joined the staff of Congressman Andre Carson as district director, and I intend to put all of my time and mental energy into that effort. This is also why you won't see me as commentator for WRTV-6's Friday Rountable or on Fox's Face-Off in the future.

Being a blogger and media commentator has been incredibly rewarding, but nowhere near as much as the work I'm doing now, and I say this only eight days into the job.

I will see you all in the neighborhood!

Chris

Signing Off . . .

Daniels, GOP Need to Answer for White-Wash

My latest missive, which addresses the GOP's dilemma with Charlie White.

Daniels, GOP Need to Answer for White-Wash

A Candid Discussion on Education Reform

For those who haven't seen this, I squared off on Fox 59 over education reform last week with Josh Gillespie, Hoosier Access's chief blogger and Dan Burton staffer. You always get edited for TV, but it still captures some of my sentiments.



The part that got edited was me saying that if we wanted to improve education for everyone, and we truly believed teachers were the difference-makers, we'd do whatever it took to get the best teachers in the worst classrooms, which would benefit entire schools instead of giving a fraction of students the opportunity to leave for something "better."

I concede that I am wrenched by this question: who am I as a white professional to tell a single, working-class, African-American mother to keep her child in a crappy school just because she doesn't have the money for private school tuition?

But we have to acknowledge that, in many cases, certain schools and systems thrive, not because their administrators and teachers discovered the mystical formula for educational achievement. It's because the schools are populated with kids whose parents are two-income, high achievers who reinforce the value of educational attainment by modeling it. In short, when people move to Fishers for the schools, it's not because Fishers does it so uniquely; the parents are buying an educational peer group based on social class. In fact, in that kind of school, if you have one or two kids who act up, the peer pressure will likely make those two kids conform to the norm of caring about learning.

In contrast, if you have a classroom with a lot of kids from dysfunctional families, kids who have no help at home because either parents aren't available because of insane work schedules, or they don't have the knowledge or inclination, you're likely to get more classroom disruptions, which makes it harder for the children to learn.

You think I'm wrong? Then why does IPS have the highest-ranked school in the entire state on ISTEP scores, even with its top-heavy administration and its allegedly overly-friendly union contracts? Here's why. Because the Merle Sidener Gifted Academy is a magnet school of talented students, meaning that when you put kids who want to learn under one roof, IPS smokes everybody. The problem is that IPS doesn't have enough of these kids to populate every school. Carmel Clay does.

If somebody in Fishers or Carmel thinks I'm wrong, let's do an experiment. Give me the four best teachers in a given elementary school, and I'll send you sixty students who are tragically below ISTEP levels from a Marion County suburban schools and from IPS. Your designated teachers switch out 15 student in their class for 15 of mine. In six months, let's see if the Marion County students have improved, or if those students are the same or worse while the Fishers students have lost ground.

You might say, "Oh, we'd never get sixty new students into our best school because there are already too many students from the neighborhood," to which I'd respond, "There's your voucher program - take just enough to not tip the dynamics of the class, but not enough to give everybody an equal shot at 'quality' education."

What Republicans want to do with vouchers is reinforce a vicious cycle by taking money out of schools that need it the most because its teachers have the most difficult jobs. Do I think IPS could cut some of its 170-plus administrators with $100,000+ salaries? Absolutely. But I doubt that would be enough to recruit the "great" teachers from other school systems, which is what needs to happen.

If Republicans were serious about reform, they'd try to show us all that charters and voucher systems work by passing a law that says if they get the right to do this, they would guarantee existing funding levels plus annual increases to offset inflation for existing schools. I'd let them do their experiment if it didn't cost existing schools. Then they could say, "Look! We told you we'd outperform you!" They won't do that, of course, because charters have mixed records, and they aren't interested in investing more in education.

Or how about this. You get pro-voucher philanthropists to donate to an endowment for a new charter school, and instead of selecting from a lottery system, you select from the poorest ISTEP performers in Marion county. After a year, if a majority of the students haven't improved by 25%, the endowment is forfeited to IPS's worst school with a restriction that the money can ONLY go to acquire new teachers. Will somebody put their money with their mouth is if the student body isn't self-selecting based on a higher degree of parental involvement (which in most cases means higher achievement anyway)? I bet not.

This whole GOP model is upside down. If I had run the Colts back when they were terrible in the 1980s, would I have said, "Hey, fans! Sorry we're terrible. Take your money and watch the Bengals!" No. I'd have opened up my checkbook and paid big money for a free agent or a 1st-round draft choice known as Peyton Manning (who the Colts got by BEING terrible, by the way), and I'd use the new talent to right the ship.

I haven't heard of anybody in either political party who looked at the ISTEP scores, graduation rates, and drop-out rates in this state without concluding that a lot of our schools are sinking ships. But here lies the difference: Republicans want to get a select few "passengers" to the lifeboats. Democrats are trying to save everybody.

A Candid Discussion on Education Reform

Indiana Senate Republicans Redefine "Shotgun" Offense

Take a look at my latest on Senate Bill 292, which the Indianapolis Colts ownership claims will endanger fans and players by prohibiting the Capital Improvement Board (CIB) from banning firearms at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Great idea, GOP! Nothing spells party like guns, firearms, and fans angry at a bad call!

Indiana Senate Republicans Redefine "Shotgun" Offense

Evan Bayh Self-Destructs for Big Firm Dollars

Take a look at my take on Evan Bayh's recent career moves in my post for WRTV-6's Capitol Watch Blog.

Evan Bayh Self-Destructs for Big Firm Dollars

Lacey Seizure Should Prompt Outrage

Jacob Lacey is over it, but we shouldn't be.

The Indianapolis Colts' second-year cover man said he was driving near Avon at noon when police stopped him, handcuffed him, and searched his vehicle. According to Lacey, his vehicle was surrounded by eight squad cars.

Lacey added that one officer told him he fit the description of a crime suspect, but when police found nothing (or when somebody realized they had a Colts player in cuffs without any probable cause), they left without any apology.

Curiously, neither the Avon PD nor the Hendricks County Sheriff's Office have record of it. Sergeant Linda Jackson with IMPD said "she had not heard" that IMPD was involved. (I am following up to find out for sure).

One of three things can be true: (1) Jacob Lacey is a pathological liar who felt the need to concoct a fantastic story just before a critical football game, knowing the distraction it could create for his team; (2) Lacey got the wrong police department (maybe IMPD was wrong or it was the Indiana State Police); or (3) a lot of law enforcement officers are engaged in a cover up in Hendricks County because they all realized they'd walked in it big time.

I'm opting for two or three, and while I applaud Lacey for not wanting to literally make a federal case out of this, somebody needs to investigate this further. But for the fact Lacey has the media's ear, nobody would blink on a story like this, and too many would assume the black person pulled over in the white suburb MUST have done something wrong.

We need to know what crime report police were allegedly responding to in their investigation, and if it comes back as just "black male," it will tell you why we still have two systems of justice in this country.

Sadly, "driving while black" isn't anything new; it's expected, and that's the most distressing part of the this story. The reason Lacy has already moved on? In his words, "it's not my first go-round."

Maybe not, but it should be his last.

Lacey Seizure Should Prompt Outrage

Pete Repeat Good News for South Bend

Pete Buttigieg, the Democratic candidate who ran for state treasurer but lost in November is keeping his running shoes on and making a bid for Mayor of South Bend.

The seat is open after current Democratic Mayor Steve Luecke announced he will not run for re-election.

Anticipating his opponents' future efforts to paint two quicks runs in an unflattering light, Buttigieg notes:

While running two back-to-back campaigns is not a decision to take lightly, I cannot ignore this opportunity to make a difference. I was fortunate enough to have a great upbringing here, but our community struggles with the same kinds of issues I highlighted in the campaign for Treasurer. Without economic growth and more good-paying jobs, we risk falling into a cycle of decline in our neighborhoods, streets, schools, and economy.

There are four other names being bandied about - Pastor Barrett Berry of the Pentecostal Cathedral church, State Representative Ryan Dvorak, Work One business service representative Mike Dollinger, and St. Joseph County Councilor Mike Hamann. But I hope the city's Democrats pick Pete.

I've been around a lot of political people, and I don't remember being as excited about a candidate's long-term prospects since Evan Bayh was elected Secretary of State. Pete exudes intelligence, and every aspect of his campaign was pitch perfect, making him one of the few Willy Wonk-ish types who successfully tamed their inner professorial instinct. Nobody, except perhaps a clone of Pete with Meg Whitman's money, was going to be the Everlasting GOPstopper this year.

The biggest knock I've heard on Pete is that he looks really, really young, an affliction I wish I had. Of course, this is precisely why Pete can engage a new generation of Democratic leaders in not only South Bend, but throughout the state.

Buttigieg will need to corral support quickly to keep this venture from turning into a world of pure imagination. But if he is able to do so and win the general election, the sky (in a glass elevator) will be the limit.

(Somebody remind me to stop eating chocolate before I go to sleep).

Pete Repeat Good News for South Bend

Bayh Out, Pence Definite Now?

Evan Bayh announced today that he would not run for governor in 2012, adding to the sizeable wake of political devastation he has left for Democrats from his exit out of politics.

With Bayh waving off, Mike Pence's "fork in the road" just turned into a choice between a presidential path covered with savage brush and a road paved with gold leading to the Indiana statehouse.

I previously wrote that no citizen or party loyalist can demand someone's service or soul simply because they have political strength. If Bayh was, as he stated, burned out on the partisanship of D.C., nobody had the right to make him stay. Likewise, nobody had the right to make him campaign again.

Bayh says his decision was based, principally, on the well-being of his sons:

While Susan and I prefer Indiana to Washington, D.C., at this time, a statewide campaign would require relocating our children; it would require a change of schools, separation from their friends and athletic teams—all during a formative time in their lives. In addition, while adults seeking public office knowingly accept the rigor and occasional nastiness of modern campaigns, imposing the process on children—particularly teenagers—would be especially onerous.

Bayh also notes his desire to contribute differently:

. . .there are many honorable ways to contribute to society—creating jobs, growing a business, helping guide an institution of higher learning, or helping run a worthy charitable endeavor. I’ll continue to serve, but my contributions will take a different form and on a different stage. I will reassume the most important role any one can play in a democracy—involved citizen.

Among angry, progressive, Democratic activitists, there was already a developing meme that Bayh runs from a fight, and that he exited from the Senate race for fear he might have either lost or won so narrowly as to tarnish his "untouchable" status. The fact Pence was strongly looking at the gubernatorial race and would be a formidable foe had Bayh chose to run certainly doesn't detract from this narrative.

Accordingly, I would anticipate many people will question if burnout or kids are Bayh's real motivation for leaving. But such speculation, ironically, confirms the very public cynicism that would, standing alone, be sufficient grounds to prompt Bayh to go running screaming into the night.

But Bayh now has ten million dollars in the bank and no campaign. While he had no duty to stay, he arguably has a duty to mitigate the damage of his exit. If he wants to patch over the sore spots with people in his own party, he should cut a check for the whole balance to the Indiana Democratic Party.

After all, if Bayh is now content just to be an "involved citizen" for the rest of his life, why hoard the money? Even a small portion of that ten million could capture a lot of mayor chairs in 2011, which could then be used to help raise money for Democrats in 2012.

But I would anticipate Bayh will instead do what a politician would do - strategically dole out his money while accruing chits nationally, thereby maintaining influence well in excess of those "involved citizens" who find themselves shy of ten million.

Unfortunately, if Bayh chooses the later route, he will continue to be, for many Hoosier Democrats, what Lebron James is to Cleveland - the man who gave us some greatness before guaranteeing we'd be less competitive by moving to a greener pasture and taking his money with him.

Bayh Out, Pence Definite Now?

Libertarians Call Out Mayor Ballard on Epic Budget Cut Failure

You can't accuse the Marion County Libertarian Party of not living up to its principles, even if it puts them at odds with a mayor whose election they backed strongly.

In a release today accompanied by damning video of Greg Ballard uttering a campaign promise I knew would haunt him like "read my lips," the MCLP says it was surprised to hear Ballard is running for re-election because he said he wouldn't unless he could cut the City's budget by ten percent by the third year.



The MCLP says the Mayor fell way short. From MCLP Chair, Tim Maguire:

"I am very surprised that Ballard decided against honoring his campaign promise not to run again if he wasn’t able to cut the budget by 10%, especially since the budget cuts necessary would have been so easy to make. Even without the benefit of a full time team of lawyers and accountants, we were able to find at least $65 million that could have been cut off the top of the 2011 budget."

Libertarian City-County Councillor Ed Coleman added this gasoline to the fire:

When I ran as part of the 2007 GOP campaign team, it was because I and other small government advocates believed Greg Ballard's promise to reform government and reduce the spending. It was broken promises like this that prompted me to abandon the failed Republican Party and its bloated-government policies.

The 25th Floor of the City-County Building has undoubtedly assembled its team of lawyers to figure a palatable way for the Mayor to tell the public he met his promise to eradicate all the "fluff," but if you look at the Libertarian Party's analysis, you'll realize how quickly our Mayor will be resorting to a defense akin to "it depends on what the definition of 'is' is."

Libertarians Call Out Mayor Ballard on Epic Budget Cut Failure

The Never-Ending Fundraising Operation? C’est La Vie. Now Let's Move On!

It’s not surprising most candidates hate raising money. After all, who wants to be the equivalent of the friend you have to avoid because they sell Amway, Avon, or dietary supplements and you fear any interaction opens the door for “the ask?”

But is there a time when it’s not only unpleasant, but also actually gauche to raise money?

I ask because some 2010 Democratic candidates for countywide office and their campaign staffs grumbled that mayoral and city-county council candidates raised money this year.

I remembered this when, a few weeks ago, I received an invite for a high-priced fundraiser for prosecutor-elect Terry Curry hosted by Marion County Democratic Party Chair Ed Treacy and Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan. Yesterday, I got an email touting a second low-dollar event for Curry at Sun King Brewery. The dates? December 2nd and 8th, 2010, respectively.

Democratic candidates and activists focusing on 2011 now have their chance to bristle about a guy who hasn’t even taken office raising money for 2014.

They shouldn’t. The 2010 candidates and their staffs were wrong, and anybody who gripes about the Curry fundraisers now is equally wrong.

Excluding the ban on Indiana legislative candidates raising donations while the Indiana General Assembly is in session, there is no “off season” for fundraising. Ever.

When people complain about somebody raising money in their year, they’re really complaining about their own lack of fundraising traction. Anybody who is going to give to Candidate A will do it. When a prospective donor tells Candidate A, “I don’t have the money because I gave to candidates B, C, and D already,” it’s the same as when your dating interest tell you he is she is not ready for commitment. To paraphrase Chris Rock, they’re just not ready to commit to you.

But more critically, money is a transferrable good, and it behooves any party to have as much of it in the hands of as many of its candidates as it can get with the hopes it will travel.

Some people can raise money from certain donors when others can’t. I can easily envision people who would not traditionally give to Democrats (including Curry) who might fall over themselves now to throw money at the newly-elected prosecutor.

If Emily Post on Political Fundraising dictated that you sideline your money horses, you never get to see what they can pull in for the good of other candidates.

And that’s the real issue – will a candidate raising money in an off-year share the spoils of war?

With Curry, I’d say it’s a given. I haven’t tabulated the total, but I noticed at least one donation to Curry for $12,500 from the Marion County Democratic Party. For Curry to set the Dems up for 2011 would be a fitting token of appreciation.

As long as that’s Curry’s plan, there’s no naughty here, and Santa should reward him with two huge holiday fundraisers.

UPDATE: Several people have suggested that these events are to retire campaign debts, and there's no doubt that's true. But if you fall in the "it's unfair, waaa waaa!" crowd, that would actually be worse because political dollars are being taken out of circulation that could be used for 2011 and there won't even be anything left to share. iPOPA makes no distinctions on contributions regardless of their form, time, or purpose and says simply: If you are a candidate, quit worrying about what others do, run YOUR race, and raise YOUR money.

The Never-Ending Fundraising Operation? C’est La Vie. Now Let's Move On!

Lugar Shows Richard Mourdock and Mike Delph the Uphill Climb

According to the blog of Wish-TV political guru, Jim Shella, Indiana's senior senator, Richard Lugar, has a poll that shows he has the highest favorable rating (66%) among Hoosier Republican politicians, including Governor Mitch Daniels (59%).

Shella writes, "Curiously, Lugar included potential primary challengers Richard Mourdock and Mike Delph in the poll. Mourdock is at 14% and Delph is at 7%."

There's nothing curious about including Mourdock and Delph. It's ingenious politics. You know who responds to polls? The "smart money crowd" (a/k/a lobbyists, interest groups, and party officials who don't want to get frozen out if they support a Lugar opponent and lose).

A well-known political maxim is that if you shoot at the king, you better kill him. Lugar is trying to show he's bullet-proof. And given that Lugar has an underwhelming $2.3 million in the bank with only two years to go, scaring the smart money into his column before one of his prospective opponents can get traction is critical.

I'm probably in the minority on this, but I think Lugar could be in jeopardy unless the GOP plays nice in 2012. In a general election? Without question, Lugar could still dominate.

But what if we see a GOP primary fight between Congressman Mike Pence and Lieutenant Governor Becky Skillman? Pence would fuel a high-octane cultural conservative/Tea Party turnout, and Lugar's statesmanship, outspoken role in nuclear anti-proliferation (and castigation of his own party for not getting on board), and occasional kind word toward the President make him too internationalist and soft for the Pence constituency.

If such a showdown in the Guv's race were to materialize, and Lugar were to square off with only one primary opponent, he could be doomed. The "only one opponent" piece is crucial though. The Indiana GOP has already showed it was in the market for something new when it only gave Dan "Sugar" Coats thirty-nine percent of the vote. Had Marlin Stutzman not been in a four-way field, he'd be a senator, not a representative. Any more than one opponent, and Lugar is a shoe-in.

The key to Lugar's survivability will be his next two years of voting. If he doesn't placate the neocons and deficit hawks in his own party, they'll be eager to trade in for a newer, more idealogically-pure model. Lugar would be eighty in 2012.

Lugar Shows Richard Mourdock and Mike Delph the Uphill Climb

City-County Councillor Paul Bateman Pays the Price: Nice Knowing You!

"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" - Matthew 16:26

Minister Paul Bateman, the Democratic City-County Councillor who broke party rank to give approval to Mayor Greg Ballard's short-sighted and short-monied fifty-year parking lease to ACS, might as well vote with Ballard and the Republican caucus for the remainder of his short time in office in exchange for a job with the City or with a city contractor because this is almost certainly his last term.

Steve Talley, the former council president who resigned the District 11 seat, which Bateman assumed, to take a job in the Department of Public Safety in the Peterson Administration in 2005, has decided he'd like his seat back. Needless to say, party faithful and elected officials in Lawrence Township are strongly supportive. Talley already did an impressive amount of door-to-door for other Democratic candidates in 2010, so he's undoubtedly reconnected with many of his constituents.

In his short time on the council, Bateman had already stained the Democratic Party's brand when, in late 2009, a bankruptcy trustee sought a nearly $1.3 million judgment against Bateman and others for allegedly using money, or authorizing the use of such monies, from the Russell Foundation for personal expenses, such as clothing, dental work, and purchase of a fleet of vehicles. Bateman was never charged criminally, and he made the right decision to step down from the Council's Ethics Committee when the investigation was ongoing. But I never understood how someone could be so integral to an organization while knowing so little about expenses of over half of its total donations toward non-charity related activities.

Moreover, that cloud was hardly one the party needed hanging over it while it was trying to contend that the GOP had bred a "culture of corruption" via Tim Durham, Lincoln Plowman, and Carl Brizzi.

In the interest of full disclosure, when I served as campaign manager for Pam Carter's attorney general race in 1992, Paul Bateman was one of the first people on board. Bateman was working with the UAW then out of Anderson, he was very helpful to our effort, and I've liked him personally since then. In fact, even today, if I saw Councillor Bateman on the street, I'd shake his hand and wish him well.

But not as a councillor.

City-County Councillor Paul Bateman Pays the Price: Nice Knowing You!

Mayor Ballard Gives Pacers Eleven Million Per Year, They'll Save Twenty-Five?!?

I've written before on how my objection to the City bailing out the Indiana Pacers to the tune of eleven million per year for the next three years is informed by the fact the team's financial woes are caused by the NBA's terrible business model. I've also said NBA Commissioner David Stern is coming to the rescue.

Stern has said the NBA will pursue more aggressive revenue sharing to bring it in line with the NFL's extremely successful model. Any change to the existing revenue sharing model will put more money in the Pacers' hands as a "small market team."

But more importantly, Stern has consistently said the owners will try to lower the salary cap. He just hadn't floated a number until now.

According to Stern, the owners will ask for a thirty-three percent reduction in NBA players' salaries.

NBA owners pay their players roughly $2 billion, and the Pacers, with a payroll of $64,368,000 (19th highest of the 30 teams), account for 3.21 percent of that total.

So what would a thirty-three percent reduction ($800 million total) mean for the Pacers on a pro rata basis? An annual savings of $25,680,000 per year.

Many may rightfully contend that the players won't agree to a thirty-three percent reduction. Fair enough. But if the league gets only half of its requested savings ($400 million for a twenty-percent reduction), the Pacers still save $12,840,000 per year, or more than what the City is giving them.

Even if your goal was to keep the team at all costs, would you agree to give the Pacers taxpayer's money while knowing that a year from now they will be sitting on tens of millions more?

Here's your answer.

Not unless you were a mayor who (a) either has lousy business sense; or (b)made a pledge to GOP bigwig and Pacers CEO, Jim Morris, and/or to Bob Grand, a/k/a "the most influential man in the Ballard administration," a/k/a "the former President of the Capital Improvement Board, a/k/a "partner at Barnes and Thornburg, the Pacers' law firm."

One wonders exactly how many more times the Mayor can take an idea that is not bad in principle (see Citizens Gas sale, parking renovation) and craft lousy deals that benefit the politically influential to the detriment of average taxpayers.

Mayor Ballard Gives Pacers Eleven Million Per Year, They'll Save Twenty-Five?!?

Race Card Fever Is Catching!

Apparently, Democratic City-County Councillor Paul Bateman isn't the only one willing to join in the Mayor's race card game.

None other than T. Garrett Benjamin, the senior pastor of Light of the World Christian Church, is now personally lobbying members of the City-County Council to vote yes for a "once in a life time" opportunity "to put a minority firm on top and make them one of the largest in the country."

It boggles the mind that folks as astute as Reverend Benjamin cannot see that the City can do this on its own, keep tens (if not hundreds) of millions more than we will with this contract, AND STILL make Global the principal contractor, thereby giving it the experience and scope to compete nationally.

Minority business enterprises should absolutely be given "the opportunity to compete and prosper," as Reverend Benjamin contends. But our city doesn't need to sell its soul to ACS to give them that opportunity. Why do so many think it does?

Race Card Fever Is Catching!

Mayor Ballard Plays Race Card, Democrat Paul Bateman Picks It Up

This past Saturday I finally met Mayor Greg Ballard. I had just finished a segment on 1310 AM - The Light, during which I criticized the Mayor’s parking deal. He was waiting outside the studio, so I introduced myself and shook his hand. He glared at me like I’d walked on his lunch.

Never would I have imagined how badly he’d walk all over himself politically during the sixty minutes that followed, or that it would be a Democrat who would be coming to his rescue tonight.

The Mayor's radio appearance was calamitous. He used condescending phrases like, “Let me tell you something” while alternating between lecturing and being dismissive. When one man, obviously picking up on what the rest of the world was sensing, actually said that the Mayor sounded arrogant, the Mayor’s response was, “I have no idea what that is about.”

Oh, we know, Mr. Mayor.

But that’s no excuse for the racial demagoguery he is employing to sell the ACS fifty-year parking meter lease.

Being painfully objective, I am duty-bound to say that race in Marion County is ever-present in politics, especially in my party. Race gets harnessed frequently, and on occasion, abused. (See Al Sharpton, appearance on November 17).

But usually when people stoke a racial fire, they are trying to mold others’ perceptions or interpretations of events, and you can’t objectively say they’re right or wrong. Is Mayor Ballard indifferent to the bruises of Brandon Johnson or does he care deeply while being saddled with a tough Merit Board decision? A race-based appeal (pointing out that a white dude might not care all that much) might move people to the former view.

But what the Mayor is doing now isn't race-based persuasion; it's deceit in the form of omitting an unshakeable fact.

The Mayor asserted that his parking lease would make minority-business enterprise (MBE) Global Parking System, Inc., a national player and help it grow it’s 60% plus minority workforce. Repeating what he had said previously on Amos in the Afternoons, the Mayor quizzed with incredulity, “I don’t know how somebody could be against that!”

You get it, black folks? The Mayor is really looking out for you by specifically looking out for one company. If you are against this deal, you must be against Hal Darring, Global's CEO, which means you must be against black people.

But here’s the Mayor's obvious deceit through an even more obvious omission. If the City of Indianapolis was as psyched about Hal as the Mayor claims, it could pay for new meters itself (using bonds if necessary, as suggested by Bill Hudnut), make additional millions by cutting out ACS as the middle man, and still make Global its primary contractor.

Nobody could think the only way Hal gets more city work is by ACS fleecing the taxpayers on this deal, right?

Wrong.

Democratic (and African-American) City-County Councillor Paul Bateman, whose district cuts through most of Lawrence Township, is going to vote for the Mayor's deal for one reason: to help Global Parking and Hal Darring. Given that an awful lot of this administration's marquee deals were designed to reward particular businesses and/or individual's, who can criticize Bateman's motive?

But in supporting this deal, Bateman has bought into the disingenuous, racial crockery the Mayor is selling.

But wait! Say you're ACS and you want this deal badly. Maybe you sell it to Paul Bateman by letting him know that if ACS scores, it'll let Global come along when it rolls its pro-privatizatized monopoly, parking meter cabal into the next city. Maybe the real value for Global isn't gaining the experience or increased scale, but rather, the distinction of being ACS' go-to MBE subcontractor.

Fair enough. But if ACS is really interested in Global as a subcontractor, that interest shouldn't fall off just because ACS doesn't get an Indy deal, should it, Councillor Bateman? So who is really getting played?

In addition to tossing out the race card, the Mayor also implicitly admitted his administration's incompetence and political cowardice during his radio interview.

Ask the Mayor why the City can’t handle its own parking, and he’ll tell you parking “isn’t a core competency,” and he’ll tell you how meters stayed bagged too long, and the city loses revenue. First of all, as the Mayor admitted on air, we already have a private company doing the collections and ticket writing. That means there are two possible parties who are screwing up the bagging of meters: (1) the city; or (2) the contractor. If it’s “the city” that means YOU are admitting, Mr. Mayor, that you don’t know how to manage people. Make me manager for a day, and I'll tell every employee that any meter I find bagged for more than two hours more than necessary will result in the firing of the employee who was responsible for the meter. Problem solved.

Now, if the bagging problem is the the contractor’s fault, you are admitting, Mr. Mayor, that you don’t know how to manage a contract, so the idea we’d hand you a long-term one is pretty bananas, wouldn’t you say?

Friends, this is real simple. Over the next fifty years, meter users in Indianapolis will pay an estimated $1.0-$1.5 billion. If we take the Mayor's proposal, ACS will get between $400-$800 million of that money. If we don't take the Mayor's proposal, we'll get an additional $400-$800 million minus the costs of the equipment, upgrades, and management expenses.

Now, you'll all say, "Yeah, but it's ACS' management savvy that's getting that $1.5 billion. Not at all. This isn't ACS capturing greater market share with innovative product lines. The new money will come from increases from adding new meters, raising the rates, and technology that reduces "spillover," those situations where patron B uses the remaining time left on a meter from Patron A's change. Under this new contract, you won't be able to do that.

And therein lies the Mayor's political cowardice. One thing he also said on 1310 AM was that parking rates haven't gone up in twenty years. Notice the inactive verb? He doesn’t say “we” haven’t raised the meter rates while speaking about all the former mayors and himself. In Mayor Ballard's world, the meters are all Johnny Five's that can spring to life and adjust their own rates.

(Pssst! Mr. Mayor, raising the meter rate is your job).

At the end of the day, this is the REAL reason the Mayor wants to hand operations over to ACS. So that when rates go up, the Mayor can act like he had nothing to do with it, which is exactly what he'll be saying when our water and wastewater rates explode two years from now.

Mayor Ballard Plays Race Card, Democrat Paul Bateman Picks It Up

Mike Pence is "Running" for President

Many of my Republican colleagues have opined with near certainty that Mike Pence only has his sights on the Indiana Statehouse.

I doubt they're so sure now.

WRTV-6's political vet, Norm Cox, is on to something when he noticed that Pence is scheduled to speak at the Detroit Economic Club (DEC).

Why is a DEC speech significant?

Let's talk first about some political realities.

There is a perception that Americans don't trust folk too desperate to be president. This is why politicians say things like "I'm flattered by the groundswell of grassroots support" or in Pence's case, "We've been very humbled by the encouragement we've received back in Indiana and around the country."

But more importantly, no politician wants to announce a presidential exploratory committee to have it disastrously collapse for want of traction. A respectable showing and early exit in the presidential jockeying is survivable, but in a vocation where perception is reality, getting embarrassed can be a body blow, even if the goal is to elevate your profile immediately for another position (say Governor of a Midwestern state) with an eye toward a later Whitehouse run.

So what is a presidential aspirant to do?

Easy. Try to build a coalition of support while not letting anyone claim you're trying to build a coalition of support. It helps to think of politicians who run for president as your uncle who brings the guitar to the Christmas party and then guffaws, "Oh, I guess if you all want me to play a song or two, I can!" Somehow it seems less self-indulgent if they can claim they're only doing it because they're fulfilling the wishes of others.

So, let's say you're Mike Pence, the darling of social conservatives, and one knock on you is that you'll get crushed in a general election because you'll put waging a cultural war above curing America's current economic strife. What would you do?

Easy again. You'd find a prized podium like the Detroit Economic Club's (every president since Nixon has stood behind it) that captures the fancy of the CEO class, and you deliver a major address setting forth your "vision" for "economic growth, prosperity, and job creation with a plan focused on a renewal of the free market, smaller government, tax relief and reform, spending restraint, increased trade and more."

Sure, these are just the poll-tested, Tea Party/GOP talking points, but why spend time talking national economic policy if all you want is a little old governor's office?

The beauty of the DEC location is that, by staying in the industrial Midwest, Pence can say he's just talking common issues with Indiana's neighbor to the North. It's not like he's making a trip to New Hampshire. Yet.

Make no mistake, folks, Mike Pence has the train chugging along now, and if the DEC address fuels his speed by virtue of national buzz, he can always throw the track switch at the last minute toward Whitehouseville and away from Governortown.

Mike Pence is "Running" for President

Join iPOPA for the DEMOCRATIC TAKEOVER of "Abdul in the Morning"

The Democratic Takeover!

Please join me tomorrow morning for the DEMOCRATIC TAKEOVER version of "Abdul in the Morning" on WXNT 1430 AM from 6 - 9 a.m.

I'll be dissecting Tuesday's election results and figuring out precisely how hosed Democrats are, in addition to addressing redistricting and the criminal investigation against Secretary of State-Elect Charlie White with my in-studio guest, Jon Elrod.

We'll also discuss Mike Pence's anticipated gubernatorial run, the pickle in which that run puts Mitch Daniels, and whether Democrats have a right to be angry at Senator Evan Bayh.

I'll either make your blood boil or you'll find me "refreshingly candid." You won't go away ambivalent. Think I'm wrong?!? Tune in, and I'll prove it to you.

Township Update

After looking at a new version of the "uncertified" election results from the Marion County Clerk's Office, I can now report that while Wayne Township Small Claims Judge Maxine King did lose (though by only six votes), Wayne Township constable Bill Newman retained his office by 18 votes.

If township government survives sixty Republican members of the Indiana General Assembly, Democrats will take back both of the offices.

Join iPOPA for the DEMOCRATIC TAKEOVER of "Abdul in the Morning"

I Didn't Say What?!? Marvin Scott Justified in Fearing Muslim

In my election night post-mortem, I failed to mention that Congressman Andre Carson, hopefully, turned the lights out on Marvin Scott's political career (and led all Democrats in performance) with 59% of the vote.

Scott ran one of the most divisive campaigns in memory, which in this climate, is really saying something. Dr. Scott was, however, justified in fearing ONE Muslim - the one who electorally donkey-kicked his hindquarters. Let's hope the professor now realizes he needs to do more publishing and less rubbishing.

For my Democrat friends who are apoplectic on how I could forget the Congressman, or who see this as a slight, calm down. You need to understand that it's actually the highest form of praise. Andre Carson winning on election night is like the sun coming up. When you know something is going to happen without question, sometimes you just take it for granted.

But rest assured, I always know bold leadership is in the building and if AC had not been on the ticket, things could have been a lot worse.

I Didn't Say What?!? Marvin Scott Justified in Fearing Muslim

I Said What?!?

A colleague just pointed out that in my blog post about yesterday's results, I referred to our Democratic party trustee in Warren Township, Marion County as Russ Bennett. While I'm sure that's flattering for my buddy Russ Bennett, who is a great Democrat, my party's man in Warren Township is actually JEFF Bennett, who none of us can forget.

Blogs are like gremlims - you should never feed them after midnight or bad things happen. Also, this should serve as a warning to us all - friends don't let friends post under the influence of really crappy election returns.

My apologies to Jeff - we know you, partner!

I Said What?!?