Democratic precinct committeemen will choose a candidate tomorrow night to take the place of Andre Carson who is now serving in Congress.  The nominees to fill the District  15 seat are Doris Minton McNeill, a member of the Wayne Township Board, Eddie Littlejohn who ran last year for the seat in a special caucus and Wyatt Jones, Sr. Today was the filing deadline.

I took that line from the book “Parliament of Whores”.  It’s about 17 years old, but it’s still relevant today.  It was written by political satirist P.J. O’Rourke.  In his book he argues (tongue and cheek) that there is no poverty in America.  I agree.

I bring this up because Hillary Clinton has called for the creation of a “Poverty Czar” to deal with the nation’s poverty problem.  From what I’ve been able to gather, the number of poor people in the country has stayed pretty much same (as a percentage) for the past 150 years so I don’t see what the big deal is.

Let me show you some math.  According to the 2002 census there were 6.8 million families living in poverty, that amounts to about 32 million people.   To live in poverty, the federal government says you and your family of three to four need to make about   $19,000 a year.  If you make more than that, according to the federal government, you’re not in poverty anymore.  You won’t be staying at the Trump Towers, but you ain’t in poverty.

The general belief is that a family living in poverty makes about $7,200 less than the poverty figure.  That means someone needs to find them $7,200 and they are no longer in poverty.  They’re poor, but not in poverty.  Take that average $7,200 x 6.8 million families and that means you need $48,960,000,000 to get the poor in America out of poverty.

And since I am compassionate, I’ll make it an even $50 billion.

Now let’s see what’s being spent on people in poverty in this country; food stamps, energy assistance, earned income tax credits, housing assistance, Medicaid and anything else you can think of.

When you add it all up it’s easily $106 billion and change.  And it’s all tax free at that.  So if people living in poverty need $50 billion to get out of poverty and the government is  spending $106 billion, that’s an extra $56 billion for people in poverty.  Take that $56 billion and divide amongst 6.8 million families that’s an extra $8,200 a household.  Who couldn’t use an extra eight grand in their pocketbook.

This doesn’t even include the fact that many people in “poverty” have homes, cell phones, cars and live better than 75-percent of the rest of the country.  And here’s an interesting thought, the more education you have and more stable family you come from, the less likely you are to have a life of poverty.  Imagine that.

All this goes to prove the fact that no matter how much you spend you will always have the poor.  I do recall a famous carpenter saying that a couple thousand years ago.

Funny how those words still ring true today.

There’s no one major story to write about this morning, but there are a few smaller items of interest.

FIRE, FIRE BURNING BRIGHT 

Expect an announcement tomorrow that IFD Chief James Greeson is leaving his post to take over as State Fire Marshall.   Sources say he will take the place of current fire marshal Roger Johnson who will go work on Governor Mitch Daniels re-election bid.   No word on who would be the interim chief, however Mayor Greg Ballard wants to do a nationwide search, but the law would have be changed as currently the city code says a Chief must come from within IFD.  I have never understood that rule.  The best person should be hired for the job, regardless of where they are from.

MORE INDECISION ’08

If you thought some of Indiana’s Congressional super-delegates were in an odd position, imagine if you are Democratic candidate for Governor of 7th District Congressional candidate.  With Hillary and Barack virtually tied in the latest polls, no candidate can afford to alienate virtually half of his or her base.

HERE WE GO AGAIN

I am hearing a proposal is being introduced on the Indianapolis City-County Council to reduce the public safety tax since the state has now picked up the pre-1977 police pension.  By some estimates the tax would be cut by about 30-40 percent.  The problem with this is that although the state has picked up the tab, it is still unclear whether local lawmakers can reduce the tax, as the law only allows you to do so under certain circumstances.  I’m going through the 600+ page HB 1001 which would spell all this out, if it exists.  If you come across it before I do, please send me the citation.

AWARDS AWARDS

I attended the Associated Press awards dinner last night for Indiana News Broadcasters.  After being there, I can tell you that there a lot of people in this state who work really hard to bring you news and information concerning your community.  They all deserve a round of applause for their efforts.

There may be some good news for the Jill Long Thompson camp.  A poll to be unveiled tonight by WISH-TV is expected to show JLT is leading her challenger Jim Schellinger in the Democratic primary race for Governor.   This would be interesting because Schellinger has been on television longer than JLT and Schellinger has been considered the favorite son of Democratic insiders.  Stay tuned.

There are a few things to report to you this morning.

A lawsuit has been filed by inmates at the Marion County Jail II over it’s conditions.  They say they didn’t get proper medical care, safety conditions at the jail  and the grievance procedure.  I’m willing to bet that this is just the tip of the iceberg.  I have heard plenty of stories like this.  Last year a man reportedly did not get his heart attack medicine and one death at the jail in January, my sources tell me, was a  suicide.  This is only going to get worse, trust me.

If Indianapolis is going to do something about the downtown panhandler problem, the sooner the better.  I visited with a number of merchants yesterday and each had a story about panhandlers accosting their customers and even walking into their establishments and asking patrons for money; some while trying to eat.  They are out of control.

Keep an eye out for news concerning State Representative and Congressional candidate Carolene Mays.  The word on the street there is some bad press coming that could put a  major roadblock in her campaign.  Speaking of Congress, Dr. Woody Meyers has unveiled a new blog.

If you want to fill the City-County Council vacancy left by Andre Carson’s election to Congress, you have until Monday to file.  I’m waiting to see if former Peterson Deputy Mayor Steve Campbell puts his name in the hat.

My colleague, Norm Cox, has some questions about Jill Long Thompson’s plan to suspend the gas tax after it hits $2.75 a gallon.

Expect something a little extra when you go vote in the May primary.  Marion County Clerk Beth White says exit pollsters will be stationed outside some polling places taking information who you voted for and why.  White says will be credentialed and voters don’t have to respond if they don’t want to.

And my condolences to the family of John Okeson.  The former Clerk of the Supreme Court and aide to Governor Mitch Daniels died this week.  John was a really good guy and a wealth of knowledge on Indiana government and politics.  I enjoyed talking to him and learned a lot from him.  He will be missed.

The latest news out of the Hillary Clinton camp is that she has been referring to herself as “Rocky” (the boxer, not the flying squirrel nor the guy created by Dr. Frankenfurter) in her quest for the Presidency.  She’s trying to remind voters that she doesn’t give up.  Someone should also tell her that Rocky got his clocked cleaned by the Black guy (Apollo Creed) in the first film also.

There is a new poll out on Survey USA concerning the Democratic primary for the race for the Presidency as well as the race for Governor. The Schellinger camp and Long Thompson camp are spinning this puppy more than the guy at the yo-yo factory, so I will give you the basic facts and you can go from there.

Schellinger leads Long Thompson 41-39 with 20% undecided. Schellinger does better with 18-34 year olds (48-37-15) ; Long Thompson 50-64 year olds (41-37-21). Long Thompson does better with Blacks (40-35-25).

When it comes to regions of Indiana, Long Thompson does better in the north (52-31-17); Schellinger does better in Central Indiana (45-32-22). He also does better in Indianapolis (44-35-21) and southern Indiana (50-28-22).

Some other details about the poll include the following according to SurveyUSA:

The poll was conducted exclusively for WHAS-TV Louisville KY and WCPO-TV Cincinnati OH.  The survey has a  4.3 percent margin of sampling error.

Schellinger leads by 21 among men. Long Thompson leads by 13 among women — a 34-point Gender Gap. Long Thompson leads by 21 points in Northern Indiana. Schellinger leads by 22 in Southern Indiana, by 13 in Central Indiana and by 9 in greater Indianapolis. The race is closely contested, and neither candidate far ahead, among young and old; black and white; Republican, Independent and Democrat; Conservative, Moderate and Liberal. Schellinger has a slight advantage among those who attend church regularly and those who are Pro-Life. 1 in 5 voters are undecided. The contest could go either way.

The poll also showed Hillary Clinton leading Barack Obama 52-43.

A new study out today shows that Indianapolis has one of the worst graduation rates in the nation. If I had a business that got these kinds of results, I would either be fired or run out of town. Who still has a problem with school choice after reading this story?

I told you guys a while back the city was looking to crackdown on panhandlers, one of which was to make them pay a registration fee.   As someone who spends most of his time in downtown Indianapolis I can tell you the downtown panhandlers are a big pain.  There are a couple who actually have talent and I don’t mind giving them change, but the rest need to go.

They are a nusiance and potentially dangerous under the wrong set of circumstances.

I argue they would all go away if people would just stop giving them money.  Just like stray cats and dogs, they will only stick around if you feed them.  If people would simply stop giving to the panhandlers, the panhandlers would go away.

I am not talking about not contributing to the homeless.  Homeless and panhandlers are two completely different creatures.  I encourage everyone to give to charities that help the homeless, but giving money to panhandlers only creates more panhandlers.

Indiana has the pleasure of actually mattering in this Election year. Earlier in the month, Barack Obama visited Plainfield High School. Hillary Clinton visited Ben Davis High School this past Saturday. WXNT producer Chris Spangle covered both and here are his impressions:

Both gyms are of equal size. Both Schools opened space for overflow. Senator Obama filled the entire gym and the auxillary gym used for overflow two hours before the event. Senator Clinton did not have anyone in the auditorium used for overflow. She did not fill the entire main gym. There were at least 50 seats empty out. I’d estimate that 3,000 showed up for Obama, and 2,000 for Clinton.

Both candidates brought a proportionate amount of Indianapolis’s ethnic make-up. There were members of all races, colors, creeds, and religions at these events. Economically, Obama brought more middle-class and upper-class listeners. Clinton had more working-class and union members.

Crowd Reaction: Both crowds were very enthusiastic for their candidate. Surprisingly, Hillary’s crowd cheered more intensely. Could be the building, but they were louder and more fervent. The crowd leaving Obama’s event was more positive on the Senator, and more upbeat. I heard a mixed reaction from the crowd exiting Clinton’s event. Some were inspired, some were calling B.S.

Message: Obama was more a message of hope and unity. It was meant to inspire. Hillary’s was more intellectual. The speech was mostly that the G.O.P. has left the country a disaster, and asking the crowd to remember how wonderful it was under her husband. The job will be hard, but she is the only one to fix it. Obama was more upbeat, saying that while we have problems, they aren’t anything Americans can’t overcome. I won’t say Clinton wasn’t positive, but I did have a looming sense of doom if I didn’t take her advice and elect her.

Campaign Staff: The Obama event was very structured. Press had to register online the day before. Clinton had open press. Obama had three press agents there greeting the press, helping them set up. They also had student ambassadors to keep the press in their spot, and to assist with questions about the school. The two or three hours that I was there, I didn’t meet one member of the Clinton team. No one introduced themselves or asked if I needed assistance. Now, in fairness, the Clinton Camp is doing a lot of stops in a short amount of time, which needs a lot of logistical support and planning. That could have been why there seemed to be a lack of staff wandering around.

P.S.  Superdelegate Andre Carson spent a few moments with Barack Obama when he visited earlier this month. He also attended Obama’s speech. Congressman Carson was not present at Senator Clinton’s speech.