I will freely admit that while I am not the most religious person in the world, I don’t think God would mind if I offered him another Commandment, “Thou shall not grandstand and use my name in the process!” I think that advice would well at least three elected officials in Indiana: Congressmen Dan Burton, Mike Sodrel and State Senator Mike Delph.

Three held a news conference this morning. Sodrel announced he has filed a bill (HR 4776) that would prohibit the federal courts from hearing cases involving the content of legislative speech. He says the bill is in direct response to the Indiana Civil Liberties prayer suit against House Speaker Brian Bosma. I thought this matter already became a federal case once it went before Judge David Hamilton, but leave it to elected officials to find opportunities to grab some headlines.

The problem with the event is that the three lawmakers obviously thought there was no in the press corps who has a law degree and studied Constitutional Law while he was law school. And he’s incredibly good looking by the way.

I asked Sodrel a couple of questions. First, by removing the federal courts jurisdiction over the content of legislative speech, don’t you open the door to discrimination with no recourse. Sodrel’s response, in part, was that “no system was perfect.” I later asked him that the last couple times Congress tried a stunt like this it was go after speech it didn’t like, alleged Communists in the 1950s and right after the Civil War during Reconstruction to go after an Alabama publisher. Once again his response was that he could think of no instance where something like that would happen today. I could.

At this point something happened to me that hadn’t occurred in years. I had a politician try to lecture me. Congressman Burton told me that he didn’t know who I was and he had never seen me before (I’ve interviewed him four times in the past, two face to face). And that he had been in the legislature longer than I had been alive. Good to know the “Nivea for Men” Products are working. Burton then went on to tell me that in his 40 years of being in the Indiana House and in Congress he would never see a religious minority be denied the chance to say a prayer at the Speaker’s podium. Call me when the Wiccans show up or the Atlantean Poseidon worshippers. But I figure the Congressman got on my case because he needed to vent on someone after getting a traffic ticket Monday in Indianapolis. I don’t take it personally.

My only real criticism of Mike Delph in all this is he apparently misunderstood Judge Hamilton’s ruling when he told the press that it was okay to say “Allah”, but not “Christ,” so he interpreted that as discrimination. The Judge actually had a logical explanation for that. “Allah” is Arabic for “God.” Actually what the order says (on page 15) is “If those offering prayers in the Indiana House of Representatives choose to use the Arabic Allah, the Spanish Dies, the German Got, the French Dieu, the Swedish Gud, the Greek Theos, the Hebrew Elohim, the Italian Dio or any other language in addressing the God who is the focus of the non-sectarian prayers contemplated in Marsh v. Chambers, the court sees little risk that the choice of language would advance a particular religion or disparage others. If and when the prayer practices in the Indiana House of Representatives ever seem to be advancing Islam, an appropriate party can bring the problem to the attention of this or another court.” Mike may not have read that far, but he’s new on the job and I’m more willing to give him a bit of a pass, for now.

The main point of all this is this morning was nothing but grandstanding before an election to score points with voters. As someone who worked in and covered politics for 12 years, I can usually respect that as long as people are honest about it. But like I stated earlier, there ought to be a Commandment to deal nonsense like this.

Let me start this blurb off by saying the Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives is as anti-Semitic as I am humble! Brian Bosma has come under some criticism in the blogosphere for comments he made during a recent meeting with some members of the Jewish Community.

Brian Howey of the Howey Political Report and Jim Shella of WISH-TV Channel 8 are both reporting the Speaker met with Jewish leaders today to quell controversy over statements that are being hinted as anti-Semitic. In an e-mail making its way through the blogosphere (Advance America and The Daily Pulse) Bosma was quoted in a meeting regarding the House Prayer suit that “How many Jews are there in Indiana? About 2%? There are at least 80% Christians in Indiana.” The actual number according to data cited by Channel 8 was 0.6%. The Speaker is quoted as saying he did not mean for the statement to come out that way and the latest news is that his apology was accepted.

Apparently what has not been reported yet by media brothers is that apparently the group the Speaker met with, the Indianapolis Jewish Relations Committee, has been traditionally hostile to the Speaker. And while the meeting starting out fine, it progressively got worse so by the time the controversial statements were made, things had apparently come to a bit of a boiling point.

What I am waiting to see how soon the cries of anti-Semitism start being hurled at the Speaker. It’s already begun. The blog headline at The Daily Pulse is “Jews – the 2% Solution.” A play on “The Final Solution,” if you know what I mean. Bosma is undoubtedly a cultural conservative. We disagree on abortion, gay marriage and gambling expansion. But if he is anything he is open-minded and not a racist or anti-Semite. However, somehow I don’t think any of that will matter when people start to play politics; which should start right about now.

If you don’t recognize the above word, don’t feel bad, it’s not a word. It’s the mispronunciation of the word “foreigners.” I did that because apparently a lot of people in Northern Indiana have issues with the fact the company bidding to operate the toll road is a foreign company. My response, so what?! Who cares?!

Indiana is tied to foreign investment. Here are some stats from the U.S. Department of Commerce…

A total of 6,210 companies exported goods from Indiana locations in 2003. Of those, 5,110 (82 percent) were small and medium-sized enterprises, with fewer than 500 employees.

In 2003, foreign-controlled companies employed 134,200 workers in Indiana. Major sources of Indiana’s foreign investment in 2003 were Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France; two-thirds of which are manufacturing jobs.

Indiana’s export shipments of merchandise in 2004 totaled $19.1 billion, the 13th largest figure among the states.

“Furreners”, who needs them? Apparently we do.

Mark August 17, 2006 on your calendars. It’s the day the NK Hurst eminent domain case goes to trial. Provided the two sides don’t settle, the case will be heard by Judge Cale Bradford, the Chief Judge in Marion County. The two sides met this morning. Judge Bradford said he wanted to complete the case in two days, but it looks like the parties will ask for more time. The judge denied NK Hurst’s motion to dismiss the case, but he did approve their motion to change judges. In fact, the Court was so annoyed at the State it created a new rule mandating cases be assigned on a random basis. NK Hurst had maintained the State had gone judge shopping when it originally filed. Stay tuned…

Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson invited a number of us media folks to his office for lunch Thursday to talk about Indy Works. I walked in not expecting to hear anything different, but the Mayor did have some interesting insights. He told us that while there is a more positive atmosphere in the Statehouse this time around when it came to Indy Works, the votes still aren’t there to pass anything and he doubts Indy Works will see the light of day.

As I reported earlier this week at WXNT-AM, the Mayor told us he sat down with seven of the nine township trustees to offer a compromise on Indy Works, he would get the fire departments, the trustees would keep their poor relief and all of them would sit on a board that would develop and craft fire policy. The trustees weren’t having any of that.

If the Mayor wants to get Indy Works, then the best thing he may have to do is absolutely nothing. I have maintained before that a huge property tax increase that is coming next year, anywhere from 9-15 percent by some estimates. If I were Mayor Peterson, I would go about my business managing the city and let the tax increases fall where they may. Subsequently, in every property tax bill I would include the pictures of state lawmakers who did not pass property tax relief. I would also include the slogan, “Less Government = Less Taxes” Support Indy Works.

Of course if I were the GOP, I’d get that tax relief done ASAP.

A top Hamilton County Republican tells me the Paul Felix; candidate for Hamilton County Prosecutor has a very good shot at beating incumbent Sonia Leerkamp. The official noted that Felix has been working precincts and going door to door while Leerkamp, who has gotten some positive press as of late, has hardly campaigned at all. Stay tuned.

As I sat in the State Senate news conference yesterday on the lifetime health care benefit, all I could think was these guys are missing a prime opportunity. Allow me to explain. Lawmakers came under fire recently for a “perk” that had the state pick up their premium for health insurance. The public outcry led House Speaker Brian Bosma to cancel the benefit for the House. The Senate took a different approach and instead of ending the program, mended it. Now the state will pick up more of the tab, but the program will stay here. The Senate had the perfect opportunity to end this program and follow the lead of the House, but instead kept the program. Maybe it’s because a majority of the Senators are at the age where it would be more difficult for them to get health insurance, but you think they would get that benefit from their day jobs, since being a lawmaker is a part-time job. One commentator went on to say the Senators are either very detached or insulated from reality to move forward with the plan. The only good thing to really come out of yesterday’s event was the fact the Statehouse had to be evacuated because of a suspicious envelope with white powder was mailed to the Speaker’s Office; a small reprieve, but probably not enough.

Sometimes I look around this state and wonder if I am still in Indiana. Daylight Savings Time, economic growth, the possibility of government reform. And then something happens. You see, I’ve been arguing that the folks using Indiana’s Northern Toll Road have been basically driving for free for the past 20 years and now I can prove it with the use of a simple inflation calculator. Driving across the toll road in 1985 would cost you $4.65. In 2005, driving across the toll road would also cost you $4.65. There has not been an increase in the tolls in 20 years. Now let’s do some math. Using an inflation calculator, that in 2005 dollars, it should cost $8.25 to cross the Indiana Toll Road. So let’s see it should cost $8.25 to cross the toll, but it only costs $4.65 a difference of $3.60. And just for the record, under the Daniels’ administration plan the tolls would increase to $8.00. And as the costs of maintaining the Toll Road have increased over 20 years, money to pay for it had to come from somewhere, say the road fund for other roads in Indiana, maybe. And please note, the people of Northern Indiana, who have been driving on these roads for practically nothing for more than 20 years, are complaining about having to pay an increase in the toll. Just making sure to see if I was still in Indiana and it turns out I am.

The race for Marion County Prosecutor is going to be a political junkie’s dream. You have two sharp lawyers who aren’t going to give an inch when fighting for media’s attention. Democratic candidate Melina Kennedy proposes an ordinance calling for sex offenders to stay out of parks and public playgrounds. The Carl Brizzi Camp passes out magnets on Monument Circle promoting the sex offender hotline. Brizzi’s allies did not miss taking a shot at Kennedy’s proposal saying sex offenders are already forbidden under current law from being at schools, playgrounds, or day care centers unless given permission by the Court. I called the Kennedy camp for a response. They told me the current rule only applies to sex offenders on probation and once off probation they are free to hit parks and playgrounds. However, the Indiana House and Senate have passed bills calling for lifetime probation for sex offenders. The drama continues.

One Statehouse Democrat is coming out in favor of Governor Mitch Daniels’ Major Moves plan. State Senator Glen Howard of Indianapolis is the first, and probably only, Marion County Democrat to say he will vote for the plan. Howard told me he likes Major moves because it means badly need road and construction jobs for the inner city. House Democrats voted against the proposal saying it was a bad deal for Hoosiers. However, Howard says they will support the proposal once it eventually passes. Under the plan, Indiana would lease the toll road for nearly four billion dollars to Spanish-Australian conglomerate. Howard says he’s gotten assurances from the trade unions that they will work with minorities to make sure they are not left out of the job creation Major Moves is expected to spawn.