The Daily Kos, and it's diarists, covers the political spectrum so well that I was at a loss as to what I could contribute that hadn’t already been covered by someone more adept at it than myself. I do notice that coverage of the Indiana political scene is spotty. No surprise there, it's a grim topic. I recently returned to Central Indiana due to a family emergency and find myself living here again after a long absence, so this diary will be an attempt to retain my sanity while trying to understand the local political scene. I might also occasionally wander off topic, I have strong opinions on the environment and immigrant rights, but I'll try to restrain myself.
We'll start with a general background of the current political climate. Indiana's governor is Mitch Daniels. His pre-governor gig was as Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget for “W”.
Yes, he's partially responsible for our current economic collapse. His primary push in Indiana seems to be the privatization of every facet of government along with the destruction of the unions.
One of his first acts as governor was to overturn the executive order permitting collective bargaining by state workers. He followed that up with leasing the Indiana Toll Road to foreign companies for 75 years in exchange for $3.8 Billion in cash (The toll has now risen from $14 to over $35) and to privatize the state's public assistance program. The latter was one of his biggest disasters.
Daniels went ahead without seeking legislative approval and handed over the program primarily to Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) relying on advice from Mitch Roob, a Daniels' appointee, and former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, both of whom were past vice-presidents of ACS. After two years he finally conceded the point that replacing case workers with call centers was just not working and now is involved in a breech of contract case with IBM, another contractor.
Further happenings are the much publicized bill to outlaw the “incorrect” singing of the National Anthem in public schools (If anyone is to perform it they have to sign a contract and the school is required to keep a recording for two years),the successful voter denying photo ID law and the largest school voucher program in the nation. The area of Indiana where I currently reside in is represented in the House by Mike Pence, who the people here seem to love, and who will also most likely be our next governor. Hope for a better future is not alive at this point.
I'll delve into some of those topics in later postings but now I'd like to focus on the 'Right to Work” legislation that's currently making the news. Hoosier's average wages lag the national average by over $5,000 yearly but there is still time for the race to the bottom and the Republicans in the Statehouse feel they're up to the challenge. Indiana, as a rust-belt state, still has a relatively strong labor movement and the main motivation of the right is to limit the political power of the unions and cut funding for the Democratic Party.
You might remember that Hoosier Democrats, following the lead of Wisconsin, last year fled to Illinois to deny the Republicans from having a quorum to prevent the passing of right-to-work. This year they say they won't leave the state but did boycott the opening session to debate the bill. The Republicans have pulled their own shenanigans in anew rule limiting the capacity of the Statehouse to 3,00-much smaller than the crowds of protesters that are expected to turn out during the debate. Today, under wide-spread criticism from the public, the rules was temporally rescinded by Gov. Daniels.
The fight over right-to-work promises to be messy and vocal. We still have several strong Occupy camps and they are turning out “Occupy the Statehouse” and the Dems won’t go down quietly. With the background now covered I'll move onto covering straight news with any local insight that is needed. I'll also touch on any other state news with national ramifications, such as the court case to decide whether Indiana's new school voucher law violates church-state separation laws.