We did a poll on last night’s radio show on the proposed amendment that would ban same-sex marriage in Indiana.  I was really interested in getting the audience’s opinion.  While I know most of the WIBC-FM audience is conservative overall, I always thought their conservatism had a deep libertarian streak in there.  It turns out, like most times, I was right.

Our criterion was pretty simple,  give us your name, age and tell us why you support or oppose the amendment in 30 seconds or less.

Halfway through the show the audience was 57% in favor of the amendment and 43% opposed.  But by the time we were done, the results were just the opposite,  57% opposed the amendment and only 43% supported it.

Here’s some other interesting data.

• Callers between the ages of 18-35 were split 53-47 in favor.
• Callers between 36-44 went 60% against the amendment.
• Callers 45-54 were opposed 59-41.
• Callers over 55 opposed the amendment by a whopping 80%.
• Most of the “no” votes came from the 45 and older crowd.

Another thing I thought was interesting were the large number of people who opposed the amendment mainly because they didn’t think the government had any business in regulating marriage, thus the libertarian streak.

Now of course this was not a scientific survey by any stretch and I would never purport that it was.  It was just a brief snapshot in time.  But if the audience that listens to conservative talk radio is opposed to the amendment then maybe it’s the amendment’s supporters that might want to keep it off the ballot.

Here are the final moments of last week’s total breakdown at the State Board of Education meeting where Superintendent Glenda Ritz walked out at the end.  Enjoy!

Former Indiana Governor and U.S. Senator Evan Bayh says the penalties under the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act should be delayed and the tax on medical devices should be repealed.

Bayh made his comments during an interview this weekend on “The Costa Report”, a national radio program.

Bayh voted for the ACA, but he said with all the problems associated with its roll out,  that it makes sense to delay the penalties for the individual mandate while the government gets all the moving parts working.

Bayh also said the tax on medical devices should be repealed since it impacts sales, not just profits.  In addition, he says many of the users  of medical are senior citizens on Medicare.

He said the recent dysfunction in Washington makes him think that if he were there he might have been able to help breach the partisan divide.

Bayh said atmosphere is so polarized in D.C. that many moderates are either leaving or staying silent.  Bayh has been named as a future contender for Governor in 2016.

You can hear the full audio here. 

Bayh’s comments are about 30 minutes into the program.

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In the absence of the elimination of the Homestead Tax Credit, the budget faced a $15 million deficit in order to add a second recruit class and pay IMPD raises. This compromise agreement closes that gap by taking a one-time loan of $6.9 million from the Fiscal Stability Fund, use of $2.4 million from the rainy day fund and spending $5.7 million in funds leftover in an escrow account to pay possible claims stemming from the transfer of the water utilities to Citizens’ Energy Group.

“From the beginning of the budget process the Council has pursued an approach to ensure more IMPD officers,” said Council President Lewis. “I am pleased this budget does that. In the end a bi-partisan approach worked well for our city.”

“While not perfect, this compromise does represent the best interest of the citizens of Indianapolis.  Now that this budget agreement is resolved, we can turn our attention to the 2015 budget,” said Michael McQuillen, Council Minority Leader.

The agreement is set to be voted upon tonight by the City-County Council.

As I sit and type this column, it looks like we are entering what will hopefully be the last stretch of  the government shutdown/debt ceiling fight/I thought this was originally about the Affordable Care Act debate.

As you are aware, the Obama administration and Congressional Republicans are at odds over the budget. At the center of the shutdown is the GOP demand that the President does what he has done for employers and delays the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act as part of a continuing resolution to keep the government functioning. The President basically told Republicans to “get bent” and thus we are in shutdown mode.

Although I find the ACA to be an abomination, sorry, make that “Obamanation,” the Republicans made a big tactical error by allowing the government to shutdown on Oct. 1.  You see that was the day the health exchanges went online and that was the day millions of people could not get on. I know I was one of them. I was working on a story for nationwide news service and part of my task was to try and log on to the health exchange.

And believe me, I tried.

I tried at 4:15 a.m., 5:15 a.m., 6:15 a.m., and 7:30 a.m., and had no luck. I had a speech to give in Evansville that afternoon, so when I got there I tried to log on again (using my iPad and wireless card) and had no luck. I gave it another shot when I got back and still, no luck! I did finally manage to log in that Friday afternoon, after spending two hours (which could have been spent billing clients). Of course when I finally signed in and clicked the final button I got an error message telling me I would have to try again this past weekend. And guess what, no luck then either because the website was taken down for repairs.

And should have been the narrative.

Millions of people trying to comply with the law couldn’t do it because the Obama administration didn’t have the right infrastructure to get the job done. Instead, the main headline was the government shutdown and the health exchanges were regulated to the second page.  Republicans could have found people in their districts who could not sign on and used that as the perfect propaganda piece. Instead, we get pictures of veterans who have to storm the World War II Memorial because it’s shutdown.

In addition, the GOP had no end game strategy on this. They were expecting the President to blink and likely had no clue as to what their plan would be if he called their bluff. Congress’ approval rating is now at 10 percent.  Of course by the time I post this it could be 5 percent, which, by the way, used car salesmen, root canals, head lice and lawyers have higher approval ratings.

So here we are going into day 12.  And it looks like the grown up Republican in the room is going to be Paul Ryan who is working on a budget deal.   The GOP should have got the hint when Speaker John Boehner earlier said  he would not allow the nation to default on its debts, so using the debt ceiling as a negotiation tool is out. So at the end of the day, what did my Republican friends, I’m sorry, what did the Tea Party conservatives actually accomplish?

Not a darn thing.    I hope this is worth it.

by

Mike Pence

As the federal government shutdown enters its second week, Hoosiers should know that Indiana will be able to mitigate the impact and continue to meet our obligations to those who support our National Guard and to our most vulnerable citizens.

At midnight on Tuesday, October 1, federal funding for many critical programs lapsed and the federal government partially shut down. Employees of the Indiana National Guard whose pay comes from the federal government were put on furlough, and new federal funding for programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and the Women, Infants and Children program (WIC) stopped.

On that first day of the federal shutdown, I ordered the Indiana National Guard to continue paying the 244 federally-reimbursed employees who provide support to the Guard. I consider the cost of approximately $33,000 a day a small price to pay for ensuring Indiana is prepared to handle any emergency.  I am grateful that most of these employees have now been recalled to work, but we stand ready to take care of those who serve by making sure they have all the support they need.

Indiana’s most vulnerable also are at risk due to the disruption in federal funding.  We have 931,737 Hoosiers who receive SNAP food assistance and 27,560 who receive TANF.  The WIC program helps another 280,000 Hoosiers provide nutritious food for their infants and children. The federal shutdown jeopardizes these programs and threatens those who most need assistance. Since Indiana has administered those programs in a responsible manner, we have funds available to continue both SNAP and WIC through October and TANF through November, if need be.  We will assess our resources and look at options for providing those services to Hoosiers should the shutdown go on longer.

While activity in Washington, D.C. has ground to a halt, Indiana will keep moving forward. We are investing in schools, pushing our career and technical education initiatives, and making our economy more competitive. We can do those things right here in Indiana with state resources and the help of talented Hoosiers from across the state.

Like every Hoosier, I am frustrated over this government shutdown, and I will continue to urge this administration to seek common ground with Congressional leaders to reopen the government as soon as possible. In the meantime, Hoosiers will be glad to know that Indiana has the resources to weather this shutdown and mitigate the impact on our people and our economy.

Mike Pence is Governor of Indiana.

IPS Superintendent Lewis Ferebee has unveiled his goals for the first 100 days on the job.  They include the following…

1. Assessing the strengths and opportunities for IPS’ instructional programs.
2. Improve Board-Superintendent relations.
3. Enhance IPS’ efficiencies and effectiveness.
4. Establish effective communication and improve relationships with stakeholders.
5. Establish a comprehensive strategic plan based on IPS’ 2010-2015 plan.

A copy of the plan is below.  Ferebee hopes his plan can be achieved by February 28, 100 days from now.

Proponents of Common Core say a new poll shows nearly two-thirds  of Hoosiers support the standards outlined in the curriculum and nearly 80 percent don’t think less of lawmakers who do.

The poll, commissioned, by Stand for Children, the education reform group, was released today, just one day before the final legislative hearing on Common Core.

The state adopted Common Core back in 2010, however, lawmakers put its implementation on hold last year due to Tea Party activist protests.

Public Opinion Strategies, a firm that has polled for many GOP congressmen, mayors, and the State Republican Party, completed the poll on Common Core last week. Among the key findings:

•  After a description of Common Core is read, 68% favored CCSS and only 24% opposed.
• Even among conservatives, 65% supported Common Core.
• 72% of Republican Primary voters say they would be more likely to vote for a Common Core supporter, or it would make no difference at all in their voting decision.
• The vast majority of Hoosiers – 89% — say the public education system in Indiana needs change.

Out of the 68% who support Common Core come from all political persuasions. Republicans support the standards 74% to 23%. Democrats are for Common Core by a margin of 76% to 17%. The classroom benchmarks perform worst among Independents but still have a 59% to 30% favorability rating.

Members of the Common Core Legislative Study Committee will issue a report on the standards as early as Tuesday, but any recommendation is not binding. The Indiana State Board of Education has the final say on the standards according to Indiana law.

The poll was conducted from Sept. 23-26, and 500 Hoosiers were surveyed. The poll has a margin of error of 4.38%.

As we have the discussion in Indianapolis about how many more police officers are needed, here’s a copy of  a pre-merger consolidation study (August 2005) that said the city’s 1,5222 officers was adequate, today we have 1,580.   While there appears to be a consensus that more officers are needed, the question is how many?