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Thursday’s Political Thoughts

I’m doing the morning show live from the Indiana General Assembly today, so this will be short and to the point.

Politico is reporting that Governor Mitch Daniels will announce later this Spring whether he will run for President.  The article is pretty interesting.  Of course looking at the current field of contenders, Daniels would be refreshing since he would be the intellectual grown up in the room and I’ve always preferred grown ups to grizzly bears.

An Indiana Senate Committee is moving forward with an Arizona-type illegal immigration bill.  It passed overwhelmingly.  Frankly I think lawmakers should have waited until the courts decide what to do about Arizona’s law.  I’m also still trying to see where all the illegals are Indiana?  I need some work done around the house.

Speaking of laws, as if the issue of gay marriage weren’t enough, Indiana lawmakers are looking at legislation that would require couples who want to marry to take a marriage class or pay extra for a license.  No offense, but I took a class before I got married and it didn’t tell me anything I couldn’t have figured out for myself.   And here’s the kicker, the fees from the license would go toward subsidizing poor couples who can’t afford to pay the fee.  I think there’s a term for government actions like this.

The hits just keep on coming in the debate over school reform.  I hear some union members are so mad at reform supporters that they planning another protest.  This protest would take place this Saturday at the floral shop owned by State Representative Bob Behning in Indianapolis.   While I think it is totally uncool to take your political issues to someone’s job, the good news is the union members can pick up some flowers just in time for Valentine’s Day.

And for anyone who cares, Sam Carson, the son of the late Julia Carson, is announcing today that he’s running for Mayor of Indianapolis.

That’s all for now.

Oh, one more thing.  Wednesday was a good day for shameless self-promotion.  My inaugural monthly column appeared in the Indianapolis Star this week and the Indianapolis Business Journal did a nice write up of yours truly.

Posted: 02|10|11 at 8:28 am by Abdul Hakim-Shabazz
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  • Think Again

    Rep. Cindy Noe authored the marriage class legislation.

    Someone in her caucus should muzzle her.

    Today in the House (sometime): floor amendment(s) to the Marriage Constitutional Amendment.

  • pascal

    You don’t know much about trade unions, do you? They have no class, for one. They also believe that politics ain’t beanbag games for another. Those who think ISTA is a good thing ought to observe the level of discourse that picketing suggests.

  • Anonymous

    I’ll be buying flowers from Bob.

  • varangianguard

    Well, I don’t know the Governor, but…I don’t think I would have gone straight to “intellectual”. Unless, you are talking from a comparative perspective? Besides, intellectuals really don’t have a brilliant track record when it comes to being President.

    “I need some work done around the house”? Naughty.

  • Think Again

    LOL @ Varan. Good point. Jimmy Carter was a Naval Academy science grad.

    On the flip, David Letteerman established a BSU Scholarship for hard-working C students. And George W. Bush would’ve won it hands-down if he attended Ball State.

    BlackBart: You can buy flowers from whomever you want. Just be aware that the specific floral shop you mention, and/or its owner, have a spotty record paying state taxes. A total of over $30,000 in fact:

    http://heraldbulletin.com/breakingnews/x1996463013/Indiana-goes-after-businesses-that-fail-to-pay-taxes

    I pay the sales tax for a business I co-own. Do you know how long it takes an average small business, to accumulate $30,000 in sales taxes? Quite awhile.

    And, for the record, SALES taxes are already collected from YOU, the consumer, and go immediately into the merchant’s cash drawer. (I believe the particular tax owed was sales taxes–which, ironically, he helped lead the fight to increase recently.)

    Just sayin’.

  • Think Again
  • Think Again

    Abdul– Discus alert.

  • Anonymous

    $428,000 +/-

    Do you have documentation? Or is this one of those rumors?

  • Jhays

    Evidently, Indiana shouldn’t have gotten rid of the premarital blood test for syphilis? Looks like someone is in the neurological stages of it, if they think this will work. Increasing fees and counselling for a license will decrease the divorce rate? Just like condoms decrease STDs and unwanted pregnancies, from the nightstand drawer. I’ve seen dogs mate, through a chain-link fence. What Noe is proposing isn’t even a squirt gun, much less, a garden hose. Remember Cindy, what happens in Vegas, will return to Indiana for the divorce…

    I won’t even bring up the “Tinker-Toy”, social engineering, through filling government coffers aspect.

  • Melyssa

    “While I think it is totally uncool to take your political issues to someone’s job, the good news is the union members can pick up some flowers just in time for Valentine’s Day.” —HILARIOUS LINE, ABDUL!

  • marriages are us

    The Star reports:”Under the bill, couples who complete premarital classes would pay the standard $18 fee for a marriage license and certificate. But couples that don’t take a course would pay $72.” Wow. Quadruple the rate as a penalty and that’s suppose to ‘strengthen marriages’? Who appointed Cindy Noe to regulate our social lives. Why not quadruple a drivers license so we can produce safer drivers. How about jacking up funeral costs so we can think twice about dying. Jack up property taxes and that way we can stay in our home longer.
    What is a secular regulated marriage class supposed to teach us about morals, vows. marriage?

  • Cindy the morality manager

    Quadruple the prices of groceries for Cindy Noe so she only has to go to the store once.

  • Anonymous

    Who gets to teach the class? Select the curriculum?

    Evangelicals? Bill Gothard? Muslims? The same people who teach in government schools? Doctor Ruth? Doctor Phil?

    What a dumb idea!

  • Dave

    Good point; unions have a flair for flowery derangement.

  • Soul Sista

    State sponsored blackmail

  • Dave

    Fine idea BB; we should all, including private & charter school employees, encourage flower business with Bob.

  • Rico

    “I need some work done around the house”?
    I thought Abdul took a class before marriage. That’s what the wife’s for!

  • Rico

    G.W’s grades were higher than John Kerry’s. Just sayin.

  • Rico

    …….a Carson as mayor……….It is time yet for us all to put a loaded gun in our mouths…?

  • Ramon

    This Carson supported and campaigned for Mitch Daniels for governor. That should tell you aobout his lack of judgement.

  • Wurstnitemare

    Now that Abdul is a member of the legitimate press, does this mean that he will have credability? Just asking….

    Loved Abduls story on Melina. It could not have been written any better than if the folks on the 25th floor had written it…..wait. Did Dr. Straub approve the copy?

  • Think Again

    Uh, no they weren’t. Not that it makes any difference. They’re both challenged.

  • Think Again

    Oh hell no, not a rumor. Rep. Behning blamed the lack of tax payments, on a relative who “did the books.” I tried to post a link, but you can look for yourself. Google: Berkshire Florist taxes. Multiple articles right there.

    Mistakes can happen. But $30K? For a floral shop that size, that’d be a damned good year. Or more.

    Remember, it’s more than just an error. Customers gave the state’s money (tax) to the merchant, who was obligated to forward it to the state. Hundreds of thousands of merchants do it every month. Except Berkshire FLoral, it seems, for a periof of how long?

    Here’s hoping the error was cleared up and all is OK now.

  • Illini Interference

    Why would Abdul, a non-voting Hoosier, be given any credability to report on Hoosier politics. He is an Illini. And a shill for the local elite.

  • Rico

    Uh, Yes they were, smartass! Is it just a knee-jerk reaction for you to feel you’re right about everything. Look it up, professor!

  • Rico

    It’s his genes I’m concerned about.

  • Anonymous

    Abdul’s been a Hoosier fixture for about a decade +/-

    His credibility lies in his (mostly) objectivity and his perennial pulse-pinching grasp of Indiana politics. Add his sense of humor and sacrasm and you have the best of both worlds: An informed newscaster and a gifted communicator. Let me coin a term: “infotainer.”

    My only beef with Abdul is that he seems to be in denial over serious racial issues . . . but then none of us is perfect.

  • Ramon

    Then let him transfer his residency to Indiana and vote here. Until he does that, he is an outsider.

  • Abdul

    I also get a nice check, too!

  • pascal

    He thinks he knows things but he doesn’t. It is an old lawyer trick, be loud, pretend you are confident of your facts, be aggressive (even if you have tiny fists). Both of them had much better grades than our affirmative action president, a real fool, which you can look up while you are doing the homework on the other two guys. That ought to keep you busy and silent for maybe a year or two?

  • Anonymous

    Bob Behning is a friend of mine. I think very little of his politics or his ideas on education, but he knows this.

    I sincerely hope you’re just stirring the pot, here, Abdul.

    IF, and I say, IF what you say is true, shame on the person that came up with the idea to make it this personal. Bob’s wrong on education, but two wrongs don’t make a right…and that’s what would happen if this protest goes on.

  • Anonymous

    Folks, it’s spelled “credibility”.

  • Anonymous

    It was in the Indianapolis Star.

    http://iphone.indystar.com/posts/show/46622?page=4

  • Abdul

    Ramon, God forbid someone from outside should add to Indiana’s intellectual gene pool. Or do you prefer inbreeding?

  • Think Again

    Well, that certainly veered into a wall, didn’t it?

  • Think Again

    You two are hilarious. I googled it, and there are five good articles on each politician’s college grades. But none of the articles says how each did academically…so I just deduced:

    Kerry went on to law school at Boston College, a top-50 law school. Bush got an MBA at Harvard. I judged the law degree slightly harder to get. Kerry also chaired the Yale Political Union, which has a GPA requirement.

    A judgment call. I’m not a Kerry fan at all, by the way.

    And neither is a good leader. At all.

  • Think Again

    Personal? It’s personal to point out that a state legislator, who’s voted to raise our sales taxes, can’t pay (on time) over $30,000 his own business owes? Do you know what it takes for the state to go after you on such charges? They hound you to death for a year or more.

    Really?

    It’s not personal at all. Hundreds–perhaps thousands–of customers paid those sales taxes to the merchant. Over a long period of time.

    Missing a month or two because of bookkeeping errors is understandable. A small business is long hours.

    Maybe he’s overworked, and should give up something. He may be a great person–I suspect that’s true.

  • Pogden297

    TA, actually GW’s were higher than Al Gore’s. I did the research on it. Not sure about John Kerry.

  • Rico

    Your googling skills are apparently no better than your powers of deduction.
    You are correct that neither was an exceptional student. However, Bush’s grades were higher. While at Yale, G.W. Bush’s cumulative average was a 77 while Kerry’s was a 76. What’s that quote you love about having your own facts?

  • Rico

    Thanks, teach. Don’t you have a rally to go to or something?

  • Anonymous

    You mean, “checks”?

    :-)

  • http://www.twrecruitment.com/ berkshire teaching jobs

     right, that should do it