I knew this day would eventually come.  Barack Obama is President. O.J. Simpson is going to prison.  And Abdul is getting married.

Yup, your favorite radio talk show host/tv commentator/attorney/pundit/comedian/college professor asked his lovely girlfriend to marry him and she, probably against her better judgment, said “yes.”

We’ve been dating for a year, which is ironic because our first date was almost our last.  But after a series of relationships that either ended in ambiguity or someone going nuts, I found the right one.

She tolerates my ego and loves my cooking.  What more could a man ask for?

No date has been set, but I wanted to share the good news with all of you.

Now I have to call Hallie Berry and break her heart.

Ah, the burdens of matrimony.

City-County Council Democrats are calling for an investigation into the city’s purchase of 85 hybrid vehicles from Andy Mohr Toyota as opposed to Penske Chevrolet, which submitted a lower bid.

In a news release this afternoon, Minority Leader Joanne Sanders said the city should have went with Penske’s Malibus and is spending $150,000 more than necessary.

“With the country in a recession and the city struggling to pay its bills, the taxpayers of Indianapolis deserve to know why the mayor’s office isn’t keeping a closer eye on our tax dollars,” Sanders said. “Instead of trying to get the best deal possible for taxpayers in buying these 85 cars, the city ignored the low bidder and spent nearly $150,000 more in taxpayer money than was necessary.”

City Controller Dave Reynolds told me earlier this week that while Penske submitted a lower bid, the city would save more over time on mileage because the Toyota’s got better gas mileage than the Malibu.

Sanders said she would seek a bi-partisan investigation into the bid.

It is good to know my Democratic friends on Council now care about bi-partisan investigations.  I was starting to worry for a while.

As the big three automakers wait for their government bailout, one question being asked is whether they should merge or be broken into smaller pieces?

Senator Robert Bennet of Utah asked the automakers in a hearing yesterday if they would consider a merger? The head of GM skirted around the question, the head of Chrysler, LLC,  Robert Nardelli said a merger would save $8 to $10 billion.

In addition, there are too many dealerships.  According to USA Today, Toyota has less than 2,000 dealerships while Ford has 4,000.  The average Toyota dealer sold more than 1,600 cars in 2007; Ford 236. Consolidation would likely make some sense here.

On the flip-side there is an argument for breaking up the auto dealers and selling off the less profitable areas, for example GM selling off Saab and Saturn.  More companies could mean more competition and better products.

Regardless, the current business model is not working and something needs to be changed as opposed to just giving away $34 billion of the taxpayers money.

So what’s your preference, put them together or tear them apart?

And don’t get me started on the UAW!

Full Disclosure: If you haven’t figured it out by now, I am a cigar smoker and I do not apologize for it.

The Smoke Free Indy people are back again and this time they calling for a ban on smoking in all Marion County workplaces including bars, private clubs and bowling alleys.

Right now the current law bans smoking in most public places and in bars and restaurants that allow individuals under 18.  Smoke Free Indy says people who work in exempt places are being exposed to secondhand smoke and they deserve the same protections as people who work in other smoke-free environments.

The problem with Smoke Free Indy is that its primary argument works against it.

Their main argument is that no one should have to choose between their job and breathing clean air.  No one has to make that choice.  Anyone who wants to work in a smoke free restaurant can do that today.  When the City-County Council passed the original smoking ban in 2005, it gave the public, businesses and workers a choice.  You can have a smoking workplace if you don’t allow children.  You can work in a smoke free workplace, if that is your choice.  And you can patronize a smoke-free workplace, if that is your choice.

Smoke Free Indy also offers contradictory evidence by saying that lung cancer attributed to second hand smoke is increasing in Marion County, but the number of smoking venues has dropped since the ban went into effect.   So anyone who is contracting lung cancer due to second hand smoke, at least since 2005, probably isn’t getting it at work; also don’t forget many workplaces were already non-smoking prior to the original ban.  And in a study that evaluated the compromise smoking ban one year into its effect it showed that citizens liked the law, compliance was high and there was no overall negative impact on sales or employment.  That infers that the compromise is working and consumers, businesses and workers are all exercising their free market choices.

I am all for banning smoking in a place where no one has a choice, a hospital, school, government building, etc.  If you are there, it is probably because you have to be and a smoking ban is reasonable.  I will also gladly concede that if a bowling alley allows children, a smoking ban makes sense.  And if you wanted to grandfather in existing businesses while banning smoking in new establishments, I could give you that.  At the very least someone going into business would know the rules of the game and could make the choice to decide whether it was something worthwhile.

But a total ban, sorry, the free market can take care of this.  In fact, it already has. 

I’ve been involved in a discussion lately over whether Hillary Clinton can serve as Secretary of State because the Constitution  forbids a sitting member of Congress from taking a cabinet post if that position saw an increase in pay.

The guys over at Politico have written about too…

Hillary Clinton’s nomination of Secretary of State has resurrected an obscure constitutional clause that prohibits members of Congress from being appointed to positions that saw a wage increase during that lawmaker’s tenure.  But Democrats are readying legislation that could be acted on as soon as next week to pave the way for the New York Democrat’s confirmation in Barack Obama’s Cabinet.  Clinton’s office says this issue has been resolved numerous times in the past and that all parties were aware of it in advance of her being announced this week as Obama’s choice for the nation’s top diplomat. For those of you who haven’t been following this arcane constitutional challenge, “emoluments” is the operative constitutional word here, and it means payments arising from holding an office. A source close to the transition has provided a series of legal points, which could serve as the basis of a legislative proposal in the Senate. Here’s what the source sent The Crypt:  · The Ineligibility Clause of the Constitution (article 1, section 6, clause 2) provides:  No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time.  · This provision does not prohibit the appointment of Senator Clinton as Secretary of State.  · Historical practice and Department of Justice interpretation have in fact permitted appointments of members of Congress to such offices so long as their salaries are based on the levels set before the relevant term of office.  · This longstanding practice—which dates back at least 100 years to President Taft’s appointment of Philander Knox to be Secretary of State—is often referred to as the “Saxbe Fix,” referring to the arrangement whereby Congress set the salary for President Nixon’s nominee for Attorney General William Saxbe so it would reflect the salary level in place before his congressional term of office.  · Other cabinet officials appointed under such an arrangement include Secretary of State Edmund Muskie and Secretary of the Treasury Lloyd Bentsen.  · As constitutional scholar Ron Rotunda has explained, as a matter of historical practice, Congress has interpreted the ineligibility imposed by this clause as nonabsolute; that is, a Senator (or Representative) could be appointed to an office although the emoluments had been increased during the term for which the Senator (or Representative) had been elected to Congress, if the increase were rescinded.  · This interpretation fully satisfies the concerns motivating this constitutional restriction, by removing any risk of self-dealing.  · So long as Congress agrees to set the salary for the Secretary of State at levels set before the start of Senator Clinton’s current term–which began on January 4, 2007–her appointment will satisfy the Constitution as it has long been interpreted and applied.

Crisis averted.  Next.

There are a few interesting tidbits to report this morning.

Stimulating Daniels

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels says he supports economic stimulus for the states as long as it is used to create jobs and strengthen the economy in the long term.   The nation’s governors met yesterday with President-elect Barack Obama to talk about their economies.  Daniels had positive remarks for President-elect saying he was sincre in his concern for the states.  Daniels also says that because Indiana is doing better than most states he doesn’t want the state to get short-changed in any stimulus package.

Lights Out

The Smoke Free Indy crowd is presenting a proposal to the City-County Council Community Affairs Committee tonight to ban all smoking in the workplace.  Currently Marion County’s anti-smoking ordinance only applies to places that allow patrons under 18.  Smoke Free Indy says smoking is workplace health issue and employees have a right to clean air.

Car Wars II

The decision by the city of Indianapolis to buy Toyota hybrids instead of American vehicles for the Department of Public Safety is raising the question of whether local governments have an obligation to buy American?  I’ve always maintained that governments have a duty to get the most bang out for its dollars and if that responsibility can be met by buying foreign, so be it.

A local car dealer is formally protesting the city of Indianapolis’ decision to purchase 85 hybrid vehicles from a Japanese automaker.

In an e-mail sent Monday to the Mayor and City-County Council, Mike Chaney of Penske Chevrolet said DPS awarding of $2 million contract to Andy Mohr Toyota for the hybrid vehicles was $184,000 more than what Chevy would have charged them.   Chaney says Toyota charged the city approximately $25,000 per hybrid when Penske would have only charged $24,000.

Chaney also says they could have delivered the vehicles between April and June of 2009 while Toyota’s would have been staggered over a six month period and disputed the gas savings of the Toyota  Hybrid.  Chaney also says in his e-mail that Toyota is making a profit of $197,000 while Penske would have made a profit of $4,400. 

In his complaint,  Chaney also accuses the city of giving Andy Mohr Toyota preferential treatment and accused Public Safety Director Scott Newman of having inappropriate contact with Toyota.

City officials say they followed all standard bidding practices and stand by their decision to purchase the Toyota hybrids.  

Editor’s note: The following post has absolutely nothing to do with government or politics, but the next one will.  

I made the crucial mistake of going to the mall the day after Thanksgiving.  It was not by choice.  My lovely girlfriend wanted to and being the good boyfriend I did what I was told.

Now please note, I do not celebrate Christmas because I am not a Christian.  I’m not even a very good Muslim for that matter.

Going to the mall the day after Thanksgiving has no appeal to me what-so-ever. However, I went.

And after dealing with crowds and clueless clerks we walked out with two items: a set of towels and a light bulb that will last 3 years.  

My girlfriend bought the bamboo towels, which are for guests and I am not allowed to touch.  No one will use them and they will sit in her bathroom along with carved soap sculptures that may as well be the Holy Grail.  

I will never understand the psyche of women when it comes to these kinds of purchases.  A friend told me a story of his wife buying a $150 glass bowl that sat on the coffee table and was filled with pot pourri.  

I am a firm believer that the only thing you should buy to look at is art.  Everything else has to serve a purpose otherwise, what good is it.

And for the record, I bought the light bulb.  Because unlike the bamboo towels, I actually get to touch it, albeit twice (putting it in and taking it out) but I still get to touch it.   Of course after writing this, that will probably be all I get touch for a while.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard is leading a delegation to China and Japan in hopes to increase foreign investment in the city.  

While that’s nothing out of the ordinary, there’s a question as to whether the Mayor should be taking his wife along on the junket at the taxpayers’ expense, although he is reimbursing the taxpayers for her flight.

It is a fair question.  Times are tight, so we should all ask how taxpayer dollars are being spent, but I don’t think the Mayor is off-base by taking his wife on this particular trip.  

After all, she is from that part of the world and can offer insight on Asian culture, that if done right can be indispensable.

It would be one thing if this were Brazil or Australia, but this is China and Japan, so why not take someone along who can offer expertise?  

Now if the couple starts globetrotting, then we may need have a talk, probably in several languages.

But until then if Mrs. Ballard can help bring jobs to the city by reminding the delegation of cultural norms and practices, then go for it.

As you guys know I’m Islamic and don’t really celebrate Christmas.  Well actually Islamic-lite, I love bacon, drink Scotch and smoke cigars.

But I really have to wonder what’s going through people’s heads when a Wal-Mart greeter is trampled to death and two people are  shot dead at a mall on what’s supposed to be the busiest shopping day of the year.

I don’t think the Son of Man would appreciate people acting like this as they get ready to celebrate his birthday, which by the way was nowhere near December 25.