Next Tuesday Hoosiers will go to the ballot and vote on a number of state, federal and local races.  They will also vote on putting property tax caps into the State Constitution.  The formula is pretty simple; the amendment would cap residential, rental and commercial property taxes to one, two and three-percent of the property’s assessed value, respectively.

Now local governments have complained the caps are going to put major restraints on their ability to raise revenue.  The caps will also result in police layoffs and fire stations being closed.   Schools have said the tax caps will cause teacher firings.   Libraries will close.  Cats and dogs will start dancing with each other, etc. etc.  Please spare me the apocalyptic rhetoric.

For one thing, my friends in local government need to be reminded that it is not their money; it is the taxpayers’ money.    Secondly, I would have a lot more sympathy for local governments if many of them had done their parts.   You have to remember, when the property tax crisis exploded back in 2007 and lawmakers were scared into addressing the issue in 2008,  the Governor offered up two plans; one for tax caps and Kernan-Shepard local government reform.   Since no one wanted to put their friends out of a job; lawmakers chose tax caps.  Little did they know.  By choosing caps over consolidation, the government has literally slit its own throat and I am contempt to let it bleed to death.

Don’t come to me crying about tax caps, when school districts can’t even come together to do joint purchases on little things like paper, which would save the taxpayers’ money.   Don’t come to me crying about caps, when Indiana has more local government, per capita, than the state of California.   And please don’t come crying to me about property tax caps when you decide you want to build a new building as opposed to lease existing space.

Like I said, it would be one thing had the locals pursued policies of consolidation and collaboration and truly demonstrated they were operating with taxpayers’ best interests at heart.  But when your first instinct is to fire teachers or layoff police and fire, pardon me if I remain just a little cynical.  Now I do think that in a world of caps, locals will need more tools to pay for basic services.  I have no problem with removing some of the barriers that would allow locals to transfer funds to pay for programs.  And I also think local city-county councils should have more authority to raise or lower income/sales taxes in their jurisdictions.

But at the end of the day, property tax caps about protecting the taxpayer, plain and simple.  I don’t favor their elimination, because I do believe the land should help pay for benefits it receives.  However, the person who has lived in his or her home for decades should not have to fear losing that home, because the local governments have decided to let their spending get out of control.

My wife and I are in Chicago today for a long overdue trip to see my parents, however today is one of those days I really do wish I would have stayed in Indianapolis.

As we get to the end of the campaign, the rumor spins wildly out of control.  Some are just ridiculous.  Some are pretty right on the money.  However the latest one to come across my Blackberry would have been well worth watching.

Reportedly, today and next Saturday,  local Democrats are planning two bus trips to the polls using local churches.   One pick up is at 11:30 a.m. and the other at 1:30 in the afternoon.  The pick up points are at Tarkington Park and Flanner House.    Now since this event is supposed to involve churches and it’s a partisan event, that has some of the local tea party folks ticked off to no end and they allegedly are going to send people with cameras filming the buses loading up and heading to the polls.   This way they can later file complaints with the IRS and have the churches lose their tax-exempt status for engaging in politics.

Could you imagine what would happen if these two forces actually ran into each other?  I really hope this is just a rumor because if this is true and all goes down while I’m in the Land of Lincoln, I will never be able to forgive myself for the political hilarity that would ensue.

Talk to you tomorrow.

The curse of an election season that has a lot of focus on the national climate as well as control of the Indiana House of Representatives is that it’s real easy for a lot of candidates to get lost in the shuffle.  If you want to know what I mean, I’m talking about the races for Secretary of State, Treasurer and Auditor.

In case you need a refresher Republican Charlie White and Democrat Vop Osili and Libertarian Mike Wherry are vying for the Secretary of State.   Richard Mourdock and Pete Buttigieg are going for Treasurer.  Tim Berry and Sam Locke are running against each other for State Auditor.

There’s no question that White’s voting irregularities have raised the race to a higher profile and what would have been a complete snoozer of a race has gotten somewhat interesting, to say the least.   And while Osili has tried to capitalize on it with some limited television advertising, the race still remains off the radar screen for most Hoosiers.   The last internal polls I had a chance to see still had White with a 13-point lead over Osili; however 30-percent of the voters were still undecided.  I truly believe that had this been a “normal” midterm election, Osili would be getting a lot more traction.

In the State Treasurer’s race, Richard Mourdock has been hitting the airwaves pretty heavy and has even shown up on a billboard or two on the Interstates.  Buttigieg hasn’t hit the airwaves however he has been pretty good about putting out releases and proposals.   The latest flare up in that race is Buttigieg has accused Mourdock or all but stalking him because of a rally that was held in front of Buttigieg’s home in South Bend.  Mourdock  says there was no stalking, but he and volunteers were canvassing in South Bend and happened to be in Buttigieg’s neighborhood.   He says his supporters noticed Buttigieg’s name from the voter list and decided to take a picture in front of his home.  He says it was completely innocent and no harm was intended.

Turning to Auditor, Sam Locke is a nice guy, but if I didn’t see the occasional news release from his campaign, I would have no idea he was running.  Tim Berry gets all the advantages that being the incumbent State Treasurer brings with it.

At the end of the day, the Statewides are simply a barometer for the mood of the electorate.   And while Osili, Buttigieg and Locke are all very bright and likable men, and with the GOP motivated and Democrats scrambling to get their base out, unless something drastic happen, Republicans will keep all three seats.  The good news for Democrats is if they are victims of the political bloodbath everyone says is coming, there is going to have to been a major housecleaning in party leadership and it will be time for new blood to step up.  Osili, Buttigieg and Locke should definitely get a place at the table.

We interrupt our daily political coverage to talk about something silly!

Let me see if I understand this.  The Black unemployment rate in Indianapolis is about 20 percent.   More than 1,600 students could not attend IPS schools because they didn’t have proof of shots.   Blacks are disproportionately more impacted by crime,  poverty and foreclosures.  And what do  people find time to complain about? A statue that hasn’t even been built yet.

The statue, commissioned by the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, would be an updated depiction of the freed slave on Monument Circle.   The complaining class said the proposed sculpture was offensive and something else should go up in its place.

If all these people have to worry about is a statue then rumors of the economy being in the dumps must be grossly exaggerated.  I have never heard such silliness in my entire life.   It would be one thing if we were talking about a giant lawn jockey or mammy, but we’re talking about an updated image of something that has been sitting on Monument Circle forever.

I am fully convinced that these are the same people who walk down the grocery store aisles complaining about why the white rice called enriched and the brown rice is called wild, or even better they complain about the white cake being called angel food cake and the black cake is called devil’s food cake.  They are the products of under-worked bodies and overworked imaginations.

Get a grip, people.

Indianapolis City officials are announcing a new parking deal with ACS.  One  they say will be a better deal for the city and address concerns by critics of the original proposal.  The original 50-year deal would have paid the city $35 million up front and some revenue sharing,  however the deal would be binding for the entire term.

Under the new proposal announced Wednesday,  Indianapolis would get $20 million up front, but it would also be able break the lease every 10 years.   The city would get an increase in its share of revenue which is now estimated to be between $515 million and $600 million over the 50-year term.

In exchange for the city’s ability to terminate the lease every 10 years, Indianapolis agrees to pay a  termination fee.  $19.5 million after the first 10 years, $12.8 million after 20 years, $9.8 million after 30 years, $6.9 million after 40 years.

There is also more revenue sharing between the City and ACS when it comes to revenue sharing programs from residential parking permit programs.  However the city has the option of sharing advertising and signage revenue with ACS.

Proceeds from the parking deal would be used for infrastructure repairs and maintenance.  The deal must now have approval by the City-County Council.

“Hey, maybe you haven’t been keeping up on current events, but we just got our asses kicked, pal!”

It’s not everyday I can use a quote from the 1986 film Aliens, but after talking on background with several  Democrats across the state Monday, I seriously think, for the first time this election season, we could see a serious bloodbath come November 2.

The political climate, which appeared to get somewhat better for Democrats in the Hoosier state, only seems to have gotten worse.  And these aren’t people who are generally pessimistic.  They are party loyalists, who are generally upbeat about most political situations.  However, this time they seem ready to concede defeat and start rebuilding for 2012.

Some observations they pointed out to me…

1.       The public perception is that the economy is not getting better.  At best things are stagnant after spending billions of dollars.  At worse, the economy is worse off than it was after spending billions of dollars.

2.       When Democrats try to motivate the base by telling them things will be worse under Republicans, the counterargument is how much worse can it get?

3.       In the Democratic stronghold of Lake County, voter apathy is at a level not seen in years.

4.       Republicans are motivated by their “Tea party base.”   They may not have much use for them when it comes to governing, but a win is a win.

5.       Absurdly abysmal efforts in Marion County to get voters to participate in early voting the past two weekends.

6.       The President’s 40-percent approval ratings in Indiana.

7.       Republican fundraising efforts have been extremely successful as evidenced by the Dan Coats U.S. Senate campaign and Governor Mitch Daniels’ efforts with Aiming Higher.

8.       Efforts to subtly invoke racial pride by appealing to Blacks to support the first Black President are not getting as much traction as originally planned because of the economy.

9.       Historical trends that work against the party in power in mid-term elections.

10.   The virtual writing off of several Indiana Congressional Districts by the national Democratic Party by pulling funding.

No matter how you slice it, this is not good news.  Now this doesn’t mean all is lost.  There are still two weeks to go and in politics a day is a lifetime.  And there are a couple glimmers of hope peeking through the dark political stormy clouds.  U.S. Senator Evan Bayh is reportedly helping Marion County Democratic Prosecutor Candidate Terry Curry raise money with a $1,000 per person fundraiser.  And the last time I checked 50 people had RSVP’d.  However, most of that money is going to phone banks and not television advertising.

In addition, the Charlie White voter-irregularity story is staying alive in the media, and the White campaign has taken a bunker mentality as of late.  However, that doesn’t mean a necessarily easier road for Vop Osili.   GOP internal polling still had White with a 13-point lead last week, but 30-percent of the voters were still undecided.

And here’s the kicker, when I tried to use a “Rocky” analogy with one of the Democrats, where although Rocky Balboa lost he was still the hero, the Democrat I spoke with told me “at least Rocky was able to get a few punches in before he lost.”

Even I felt that one.

More television ads are surfacing.  Here’s one from Andre Carson, 7th District candidate for Congress.

Although I spend a lot of time talking to political figures from across Indiana, every once in a while I sit down and spent time with people outside of the political bubble.  My criteria are they don’t have to be Ph.Ds in political science, but it helps if they pay attention to what’s going on around them.  One of them is “George”.  George is an older African-American gentleman, who is retired, but works part-time.  He lives in the city of Indianapolis in a low-middle to working class neighborhood.  We were having one of our regular chats, when I asked him what he was hearing out in the neighborhood.

He told me there was a lot of anxiety about jobs.  He told me there were a lot more people out of work than he’s seen before and those people who did have jobs were worried about keeping them.   He said he supports the President, but has a harder time convincing those who voted for him the first time to come out and vote Democratic this time around.  He’s tried to convince them that the country did not get into this trouble overnight and it won’t be fixed overnight, however many of them are tired of waiting for the change they voted for.  He said they are not ready to go vote Republican, but they are seriously considering staying home.

I asked him about some of the different story lines that have evolved over this campaign season, Dan Coats’ lobbyist history.  Brad Ellsworth’s health care vote.  Charlie White’s voting controversy, etc.  He told me bluntly, nobody cared.   They were concerned about jobs and taking care of their families, none of the other storylines the political class gets excited over really mattered.   I asked him if it would make a difference if the President came to his door personally and asked him to be patient?  He said it would work for him, but probably not for his neighbors.

This is the worst case scenario for Democrats in a mid-term election.  Ask anyone in politics and they will tell you the worst thing you can have is a demoralized base.  Republicans are fired up, albeit many of them are not as angry as they were last year, but the passion is still there.  Some Democrats have adopted a strategy, at least in part, of playing on the fears and anxieties associated with the first Black President and subtly alluding playing the race card, by appealing to the “excitement and hope” that was felt when Obama got elected.  I’m not sure how well that’s going to work.   I asked George if that made a difference?   He said “no”.    His friends and neighbors care more about jobs.

And for the record,  less than 2,000 people have taken advantage of early in-person voting in Marion County.  I expected a lot more.  I’m sure some other people did too.

The campaign finance reports for the latest filing periods are up.  Here’s how the candidates are doing and what they’ve got left to spend for the last two weeks of the 2010 campaign.

The Dan Coats campaign tells me they raised more than $2 million in the third quarter and have more than $1.3 million in cash on hand.  They’ve raised more than $4 million for the entire year.    I have a message into the Brad Ellsworth and Rebecca Sink- Burris camps.

As far as the other races of note go, here are some of them.   Note, these are all year-to-date numbers numbers are rounded off.

Marion County Prosecutor

• Mark Massa – $613,000 raised.  $502,000 spent. $111,000 on hand.
• Terry Curry – $321,000 raised.  $194,000 spent.  $127,000 on hand.

Marion County Sheriff

• John Layton – $365,000 raised. $179,000 spent.  $185,000 on hand.
• Dennis Fishburn – $127,000 raised.  $127,000 spent.  $150.00 on hand.

State Senate District 31

• Frank Anderson – $163,000 raised.  $86,000 spent.  $78,000 on hand.
• Jim Merritt – $504,000 raised.  $390,000 spent.  $114,000 on hand.

State House District 92

• Brett Voorhies – $76,000 raised.  $58,000 spent.  $19,000 on hand.
• Phil Hinkle – $32,000 raised.  $5,700 spent.  $26,000 on hand.

State House District 89

• Cindy Kirchhofer – $52,000 raised.  $47,000 spent.  $7,000 on hand.
• John Barnes – $84,000 raised.  $68,000 spent.  $32,000 on hand.

I’m expecting more reports to be updated over the course of the day.  So check back periodically.