Although I’ve been in the “opinion” business for six years now, it still amazes me sometimes at the reaction I get from people.   I criticize Sarah Palin, I’m a liberal Democrat.  I  agree with one of Mitch Daniels’ policies, I’m a Republican shrill.

I get e-mails all the time from someone telling me, “you’re a journalist, you’re supposed to be fair and objective.” My personal favorites will always be the one from the guy who told me “I don’t want to listen to no terrorist talk radio.” I wrote him back telling him he was using a double-negative so he actually did want to listen to terrorist talk radio.  The other is from a lady who used the n-word in her correspondence but misspelled it, I wrote her back, correcting her spelling, and asking her not to add to the stereotype of the ignorant bigot.

I bring this up because I think some people are confused as to what I do for a living.  I am a commentator, which means I comment and offer opinions about local, state and national issues.  I am not a pure journalist in the sense of the term because I can do more than report facts, I can offer opinions.  I do use my journalistic and reporter skills when gathering information.  I also use my attorney skills, my comedian skills, and on a good day on the air, my acting skills.  They tend to come in pretty handy.

I make it a point to treat most people fairly most of the time, but every once in a while, I’ll admit to maybe having a little too much fun at some knuckleheads’ expense.  But I am actually under no obligation to objective, unbiased, fair or anything of the sort.   My job is not to be fair, it’s to be right.  However, to do this job properly you have to look at the facts as objectively as possible in order to draw the right conclusions.   We may interpret the facts differently, but hey that’s America.   And as far as elected officials go, my bias more toward the ones who aren’t jerks, than their political philosophies.

So the next time you read something or hear something on the radio show and you think I’m an arrogant, pompous, self-absorbed, egotistical, unfair loudmouth, you’re probably right.  And oddly enough, so I am. Thanks for reading, listening, watching and allowing me to do a little refresher for everyone.

Enjoy your Sunday.

I went looking for a copy of Governor Sarah Palin book “Going Rogue” at the downtown Borders bookstore.  I couldn’t find it.  It wasn’t because they were sold out, but because I was looking in the fiction section.

More than 1,000 people gathered in Noblesville to see the former Vice-Presidential candidate and get signed copies of her book.   I frankly don’t see what the big deal is.  When in America did we start rooting for losers and quitters?  On top of that take Sarah Palin out of politics, and what do you get?  A middle-aged woman, with a Cohen Brothers accent,  from the meth capital of Alaska,  whose teenage daughter got knocked up by her boyfriend who’s now posing for Playgirl.   These people either belong in a trailer park or Jerry Springer; not that there’s much difference.

I’ll even go a step further that if Sarah Palin was less attractive there’s no way she’d get the attention to the level that she does now, at least from a bunch of middle-age men who have some librarian fantasy that they’re holding over from high school.

And please spare the Obama diatribe that is about to follow.  I tried reading the President’s book and really couldn’t get past page 46.  It was wordy and self-serving, normally qualities I respect, but I had other things to do.

I’m sure Governor Palin will keep making the lecture circuit and speaking tours and make quite a nice bit of change doing it.  I fully endorse her getting rich while doing it because the longer she stays on the road, the longer she stays away from politics.

Rico, Melyssa, Think Again, Pascal, Taxpayer you may begin…

The Center for Disease Control says in 2008, Indiana went from 6th to 2nd in the nation in the percentage of adults who smoke, but since 2005 more than 30 municipalities have imposed smoking bans in one form or another in public places.

So although there are fewer places to smoke in Indiana more people are smoking.  And how is total smoking ban going to reduce the number of smokers when it seems to have the opposite effect?

I don’t know what rocket scientist came up with this rule in Indianapolis Public Schools, but I can’t think of a better way to get sued and cost the taxpayers thousands of  dollars.

According to scienceblogs.com,  IPS  is blocking atheist websites from its computers; actually its blocking all  “alternative spirituality” websites.

Sites that promote and provide information on religions such as Wicca, Witchcraft or Satanism. Occult practices, atheistic views, voodoo rituals or any form of mysticism are represented here. Includes sites that endorse or offer methods, means of instruction, or other resources to affect or influence real events through the use of spells, incantations, curses and magic powers. This category includes sites which discuss or deal with paranormal or unexplained events. 

You can read the full rule here .  If I were a Wiccan or an atheist I’d be heading off to my attorney to either file a lawsuit or get some clarification  because if IPS isn’t going to block sites related to Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Shintoism or Greek or Roman mythology , then I deserve equal access and I’m going to sue until I get it.  And If I were an IPS official, I’d start praying now and hopefully to as many members of the pantheon as humanly possible.

As you folks know one of my big issues down at the Statehouse is government reform and consolidation.  I think there is too much government in Indiana and it can be streamlined for more accountability, efficiency and savings.  

The township assessors have already felt the bite of the consolidation and it looks like the Trustees are next.   We all know the stories about township trustees who sit on tons of cash and property, rent office space out of their own homes, hire half their family tree, etc, etc.  For example on December 10th, the Wayne Township Board in Marion County will vote on giving itself insurance, a pension and a raise.  Township government has always had a lots of supporters in the Legislature, but I doubt if they will have many friends this time around.

Lawmakers are talking about getting rid 3,000-4,000 township advisory board members, transferring the budget functions of the township to the County, consolidating poor relief efforts into one trustee instead of several.  When Mitch Daniels, Pat Bauer, David Long,  Brian Bosma and Vi Simpson all think something needs to be done at the township level, something is definitely going to happen. 

The question is what and when?  I’m counting the days.

The Libertarian Party of Marion County is asking Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi to probe Smoke Free Indy to see whether the group used public money for political purposes.

As I told you last week Smoke Free Indy posted a blog critical of the LPMC which could be argued was crossing the line from advocacy in politicking. 

What adds a new twist to all this is that Smoke Free Indy advocate Tim Filler tells the Indianapolis Star that the group is an all volunteer organization that received no public money.

I’m not sure if Tim was just nervous and mispoke or if there was something else going on because Smoke Free Indy is the beneficiary of thousands of  public monies.

I’ve done some checking regarding invoices and Smoke Free Indy’s activities and here’s what’s been submitted from June 2008 – June 2009 to the the Marion County Department of Public Health.

• Personnel – $38,154.
• Fringe  – $9,136
• Supplies – $758.00
• Equipment – $2,034.
• Travel – $1,658.
• Paid media – $8,100.
• Other – $23,000.
• Indirect Costs – $4,000.

Personally, I’d  like to know what falls under “other.”   Now Smoke Free Indy may be trying to argue that since these are tobacco settlement dollars and pure “taxpayer” money their activities are okay.   

Good luck with that one.

Indiana’s four legislative leaders today are showing unity on state finances, but differing on property tax caps.

Speaking at the Indiana Chamber 2010 Legislative Preview Lunch Senate Pro Tem David Long, House Speaker Pat Bauer, Senate Democratic Leader Vi Simpson and House Republican Leader Brian Bosma all agreed that with Indiana’s $310 million revenue shortfall, there was no room in the upcoming session for new spending.  However Bauer and Simpson said the state should protect education and programs that create jobs.

The four leaders were split however on property tax caps, but appeared to all believe that there would be a vote next year.  House Speaker Pat Bauer, as reported here earlier, said the tax caps were not enough to provide Hoosiers with property tax relief  and he wanted to see safeguards put into the assessment area.  Long said he did not oppose that idea, but thought a tax cap vote should stand on its own merit and not be tied to any other issue.  Bosma said the caps were necessary to protect taxpayers and encourage government efficiency.  Simpson said she opposed the caps because the hurt local governments’ abilities to provide services.

The four leaders also did agree that there would be some government reform measures passed, but they would be small.

Tomorrow is Organization Day.

I picked up a lot of gossip over the weekend.  So naturally I did what anyone else would do.  Share it!!!  Enjoy.

The list of candidates for Public Safety Director is now down to four; three in-house and one from outside.   Interim Director Mark Renner, current police chief Mike Spears and Darryl Pierce.  Also on the list is Frank Straub, Public Safety Director of White Plains, NY.   My money is on the man from out of town.    From what I hear he’s highly qualified, brings a fresh perspective to public safety that Indianapolis could use to move it forward and really enhance the relationship between citizens and the public safety community.

Things continue to be interesting in the race for Marion County Sheriff.  Republican Bart Mcatee was asked if he’d ever given money to incumbent Democrat Frank Anderson.  He said yes, because Anderson had given him a 40 percent raise.   And on the Democratic side, it might not be Watergate just yet, but word is someone sympathetic to the campaign of John Layton has been “digging” into the background of challenger Mark Brown.

Several IPS schools could be ripe for a takeover by the State of Indiana.  The schools have failed to meet state performance standards and the state Department of Education has sent in technical assistance teams to repair the damage.  However, if the schools don’t show progress next year, DOE could come in and under Indiana law takeover the schools, dissolve all collective bargaining agreements, and hire or contract out new staff to run the facility.  The list of schools includes Arlington, Broad Ripple, Emerich Manual, William Gambold Middle School, Thomas Carr Howe, and George Washington Community.  I have a theory about all this which I will post in a later blog.  If you take a close look at changes in IPS you will see a system that is turning into two school districts one for achievers and one for everybody else, and it’s not by default.

Indiana Republicans could see themselves in the same boat as their New York counterparts which third party, or for that matter, tea party, challengers.  Ft. Wayne attorney Phil Troyer has announced he will take Mark Souder in Indiana’s 3rd Congressional District in the Republican primary.  In addition there’s some talk that Mike Sodrel may mount a challenge in the 9^th Congressional District Republican primary against Todd Young.  Sodrel has reportedly been making the tea party rounds as well.

Although both sides in the proposed smoking ban debate claim they have public support, if Facebook determined who wins, the pro-smoking ban folks would lose big time.  Smoke Free Indy boasts 491 friends, while Save Indianapolis Bars has 1,274 friends.

And speaking of the end of a beautiful friendship, City-County Councilor Angela Mansfield, co-author of the current smoking ban proposal, has reportedly been banned from the Living Room Lounge at 9^th and Penn.   Mansfield has cited the Living Room Lounge as a place where she loves the food, but doesn’t like the secondhand smoke.  Well apparently the owner has told the staff she won’t have to worry about the smoke, because she’s no longer welcome and has ordered the staff not to serve her.

Look for a come to Jesus meeting in the next couple of months by CCC Republicans.  The caucus has been divided over the smoking ban and tactics used by opposing sides.  Democrats are cheering over the divisions as well.  Expect CCC member Jeff Cardwell to probably take the lead in healing these most recent wounds.

That’s all I got.  Enjoy the rest of your day.

Editor’s Note:  Sorry about the technical glitches this weekend.  I guess the good thing is that a lot of people read IB because I got quite a few calls, e-mails and text messages.  It’s good to be loved.

“Walking into a bar and complaining about the cigarette smoke is like walking onto the Interstate and complaining about the speeding traffic.”

Unless you’ve been living in a cave or under a rock you know I am not a big fan of expanding the current Indianapolis smoking ban because, like 81-percent of the rest of Marion County,  I think the current compromise works just fine.   Adults can exercise their choice and decide whether they want to work or patronize one of the one-percent of the places in Marion County that allow smoking.  So with that said, allow me to ask what’s up with Smoke Free Indy (SFIndy), the main proponents of the smoking ban.

I ask this because SFIndy is getting up to $71,000 of your money for its activities, which lately have started to look a lot more like politically attacking elected officials and going after political parties rather advocating a smoke free workplace.   Allow me to explain.

First of all,  SFIndy is not your usual advocacy group.  It’s not a not-for-profit, nor a registered lobbying group.  It’s not even a 527.  It’s a collection of about 30 organizations who are registered somewhere, but SFIndy itself isn’t.  So first of all we have an organization that’s not registered anywhere getting up to $71,000 of taxpayer money.

Second, the $71,000 in taxpayer money comes from Indiana tobacco settlement dollars.  Pay close attention,  because this part can get confusing.  Indiana dolls out tobacco settlement dollars and one of those agencies that distribute money is Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation.  Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation gives money to the Marion County Health Department.  The Marion County Health Department gives money to the Indiana Academy of Family Physicians and Clarian Health Partners.  Clarian has a contract to promote anti-tobacco activities, but the Indiana Academy of Family Physicians is the home office for the non-registered SFIndy on Monument Circle and employs SFIndy’s staff.  The Academy of Family Physicians contract runs through September 2010.

So what, you might say.  There are lots of groups that aren’t “registered” with any state, federal or local office and engage in community activism.  True .  But how many of those unregistered groups are getting up to $71,000 of your money to lobby your government to promote ending an activity that a significant majority of you don’t think is a problem?  Exactly!

And to make life even more interesting,  It appears SFIndy has been engaging in activities that some people might think would warrant a look by the Marion County Prosecutor’s office or at the least the State Board of Accounts to make sure they’re kosher.  There’s this rule that government funds can’t be used for political purposes, especially when it comes to politically attacking elected officials and political parties.

By my count SFIndy looks like it’s done both.  SFIndy used its Facebook page to go after Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard on the smoking ban; some of which I’ve seen could have been written by Ed Treacy.   And SFIndy used its blog page to do a pretty blatant political attack on the Libertarian Party of Indiana.  And Lord only knows what they’re doing on Twitter.   No offense folks, but I thought SFIndy was supposed to engage in advocacy not political activity.  And what’s really interesting is that all of sudden the questionable material started to disappear when I started making phone calls asking for copies of invoices SFIndy has submitted to local governments for reimbursement.  And if I was one of those 30 organizations that received federal funding,  SFIndy’s activities might be jeopardizing my status because the federal government doesn’t like it when organizations get federal funds which could be channeled to political activity no matter how remote the connection may appear to be; that little thing called the Hatch Act.

For the record,  I did place a call to the Indiana Academy of Family Physicians.  So far my message has not been returned.

Now if  SFIndy wants to use taxpayer money to promote a smoke-free workplace, that’s one thing.   I have no problem with education, encouraging bar owners to go smoke free,  doing job boards that promote smoke free workplaces, etc.   But when you cross the line and engage in what look like pretty blatant political attacks on elected officials and political parties, that’s something else.   In some places it’s called criminal.  At the very least here in Indianapolis, it should be called highly suspect and warrant  an investigation.

Smoke Free Indy Organizational Partners