I was already to scribble down a thought or two tonight about the latest on the walkout (TRO issued on fines, whether Dems will be back next week, Super Bowl protests, etc).  And then this came across my laptop.  Enjoy…

Call it a threat or promise.  A letter sent out by the IBEW #725 in Terre Haute to some southwestern Indiana charities and other not-for-profit organizations is asking them to either write letters to Indiana lawmakers in opposition to “right to work” legislation over never ask again for donations, sponsorships, or services from the union hall.

In the letter dated on January 13, IBEW #725 Business Manager R. Todd Thacker asks receipients to write letters to members of the Indiana House and Senate to reject the bill because it would lower the wages of both union and non-union workers.  However the letter also states…

If you feel you cannot send a support letter because you have a philosophical difference, please send me a letter explaining why.  Unlike legislators trying to push this bill through we want to hear everyone’s opinion on Right to Work for Less, as we have found a majority of Indiana workers and Indiana legislators do not understand the bill.

If you feel you cannot do this because you have a philosophical difference, please refrain from requesting any future donations, sponsorships, or services from the union hall as we will have limited funds to pass on to our community.  Please do not perceive this as a threat, it is just the prudent thing to do with our member’s money.

The letter requests a response by this week.  You can read the full text of the letter here.  It is saved in Slideshare which may be incompatible with some Apple products.

Indiana House Speaker Brian Bosma says if Democrats don’t show up for work at 9 a.m. Wednesday, he will start levying $1,000 a day fines.  Democrats say they have no intention of paying.

The fines are the result of a tumultuous afternoon at the Statehouse where Democrats refused to come back from an afternoon caucus after learning their amendment for a statewide referendum on right to work legislation might be unconstitutional.

Bosma said Democratic Leader Pat Bauer gave his word that they would return and allow for amendment votes on right to work, but Bauer reneged on the promise.

Bauer said Democrats needed more time to study the Constitutionality of the issue, but agreed to help move other bills.

You can hear comments from both men below, brought to you by Leon Tailoring.

Interview: Brian Bosma Run Time – 5 minutes.

Intervew: Pat Bauer Run Time – 7 minutes.

Under the current House rules the Speaker can levy fines without invoking the anti-bolting statute.  Democrats say the fines are unconstitutional.

I know that headline may seem like you’re reading something from the Bizzaro universe, but it is true. A comparison of two polls commissioned by the Indiana AFL-CIO within 6 weeks of each other shows the number of Hoosiers opposing “Right to Work” dropped from 47% to 36%.

The Union released a poll Monday showing that more than 70% of Hoosiers think a referendum should be held on “Right to Work” legislation.  The survey of 500 registered voters also gave a breakdown of support for RTW.

• 33% – Support.
• 36% – Strongly or Somewhat Oppose.
• 30% – No Opinion.

Now compare those numbers with a similar poll also done by the AFL-CIO in December.

• 38% – Support.
• 47% – Strongly or Somewhat Oppose.
• 15% – Not Sure.

You can see the breakdowns for that poll here.  The union did not respond to a request to release the breakdowns of the January poll.  However both surveyed interviewed about 500 Hoosiers and had a margin of error of +/- 4.4%.

However, it is interesting to note that according to the Union’s own polling data, which they are using to push for a referendum on “Right to Work”, the percentage of people who opposed RTW was twice as large as the drop off of people who support it.  And an even closer look at the poll seems to show they are going into the “no opinion” category.

Now I know my union friends, I do have some, are probably going to accuse me of some major spin and the ones that aren’t are out looking for some tar and feathers.  With all due respect, I did not make these numbers up, these are their poll numbers.  I for one would love to hear them explain how after all the shouting, walking out and commercials they have run about “right to work for less”, their own polling shows the number of Hoosiers who oppose RTW dropped 11-points in a little more than a month.

I for one will be fascinated by the response, if I actually get one.

As I sat down and started to think about what to write for my annual MLK Day post, I went back to look at some prior writings.  I came across this one from last year.  The scary part is that when I look at the people who are still fighting school reform and defending bad education systems that do untold damage to Black children, i.e.IPS bureaucrats, teachers unions, their friends in the Indiana General Assembly, the post applies even more so today.  So why reinvent the wheel?

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As the nation commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,  I personally can’t help but think and ponder what would have happened if Dr. King had not been assassinated in 1968 but instead lived to see today.  The sarcastic side of my nature immediately takes me to an episode of the Boondocks, however the more serious side of my nature forces me to believe that Dr. King’s fight today would include doing battle with the opponents of Indiana’s school reform.

It would not take a lot of effort to point to stories and statistics about the plight of black males and education, particularly those in predominantly urban environments.  Just take a step into a typical Indianapolis Public School classroom and look at the educational malpractice that takes place everyday.  The graduation rate amongst Black males is almost criminal. Black students are being turned into a permanent underclass.  And the education establishment and their allies in the Indiana General Assembly are more concerned about their jobs and political contributions than they are in educating children.

If Dr. King were alive and walked into a typical urban classroom he would be furious.  He would agree that who needs Jim Crow laws, dogs and water hoses,  and whips and chains to keep a segment of  society in bondage when all you really need to do is give them a poor education and no means to escape and you can keep them intellectually enslaved all you want.   The opponents of choice, accountability and reform are the real educational bigots here.  If they were serious about the education of Black youth they would embrace change and open the flood gates so reform could sweep through this state and cleanse the educational landscape of the weeds and thickets of  mediocrity, complacency and low standards.

I was listening to radio broadcast this past week of an Indiana lawmaker who alluded that the real reason behind school reform was to attack and harm black children.  I’m not sure what planet she was on, however looking at the educational landscape and who has been running the schools,  I don’t think the reformers are Black children’s problems, the lawmakers and policy makers who look like them tend to be their worst enemies.

What is it about school choice that frightens these individuals?  What is about accountability that makes the collective hairs on their backs stand up?  What is so wrong about giving parents the ability to choose an accredited institution of learning that works best for them?  We ask these questions and we are accused of hating public education and not caring about children.  Well no offense, but who is the bigger threat to the future?  The people who want to reform education or those who want to protect the status quo, while giving only lip service to reform?

Luckily, Indiana has a reform-minded Governor, Superintendent of Public Instruction and a Legislature willing to unshackle the educationally oppressed.    I even had a conversation with a Black lawmaker on Thursday who told he was sick and tired of seeing children in his district being condemned to lives of  poverty simply because a union wanted to protect a bad teacher so it could continue to collect dues.

I realize the words I’ve written today may seem harsh, but the truth hurts.  Deal with it.  But you cannot tell me that if Dr. King was alive today, that he would be satisfied with the status quo in the education of Black youth.  I doubt seriously that he would pleased with educational homicide that Black students are being subjected to while being forced to stay in failing urban schools.

If Dr. King were alive today, he would still lead a chorus of  “We Shall Overcome” however, he’d be singing about education.

The four Republicans who want incumbent Congressman Dan Burton’s job took to the stage for the first time Saturday as a group to make their case to Howard County voters as to why they should get the job.

Susan Brooks, Jack Lugar, John McGoff and David McIntosh touched on job creation, taxes, the federal bailout of Chrysler and whether the four of them running meant Burton would be re-elected. Audio from the hour-long forum is below.  It is broken into four parts, each about 15-18 minutes long.

5th District Forum, Part 1

• Opening Statements
• Candidate positions on the Chrysler Bailout

5th District Forum, Part 2

• Job Creation
• Balancing the federal budget
• Tax Reform

5th District Forum, Part 3

• Committee Assignments
• Term Limits

5th District Forum, Part 4

• Will They Split the Ticket?
• Closing Statements

The head of the Howard County Republican Party says incumbent 5th District Congressman Dan Burton made a mistake by skipping Saturday’s candidate forum in Kokomo.  Burton declined to attend, however Howard County Chairman Craig Dunn says Burton should have attended, especially as competitive as the race could get.

You can hear Dunn’s comments below.  They run approximately 5 minutes.

Interview: Craig Dunn

The most interesting thing I can say about the forum was the responses from the audience.  Virtually everyone said that they could easily see the four candidates replacing Burton.  That’s not a good sign for the incumbent.

Don’t be surprised if you wake up on March 15th (the same days as the Ides of March, ironically) and find yourself in the 23rd “Right to Work” (RTW) state in the country.   RTW for Indiana is inevitable.  A full House vote is coming, and RTW will pass.  It won’t be a sweeping majority, I count about five House Republican “no” votes right now, but it will happen. it will be the law that you can’t force someone to pay union dues or fees as a condition of their employment.   The fact that House Democratic Leader Pat Bauer cut a deal with House Speaker Brian Bosma Wednesday for the measure to move forward was the last thing I needed to know. But even if you eliminate the deal cut by the Speaker and the Leader the signs were already there that this fight was over.  Here they are…

• A Political and PR mistake.  The first serious misstep Democrats made was when the Governor reinstated the original Statehouse policy on access and lifted the 3,000 person limit.  House Democrats could have used that headline to gain momentum in their fight, however they walked out instead, becoming the news themselves.  Also, sequels are usually never as good as the originals.   Democrats had already walked out before when they went to Champaign last year.  So that tactic had already been done, so the impact was lessened.
• Public comments by the Democrats.  In a news conference last week, Bauer admitted that they can’t stay gone indefinitely.   At a public hearing in Ft. Wayne, State Rep. Win Moses told the audience, the Republicans have the vote to pass RTW.
• “Defections” in the ranks over strategy.   Already State Reps. Steve Stemler,  Dave  Cheatham and Peggy Welch were not participating in the walkout.  Note, Welch did join later after the fight at committee hearing. They were later joined by Ed DeLaney and Dale Grubb, who lost his caucus leadership position over wanting to fight RTW on the floor instead of in a room adjacent to the Supreme Court.
• Time and money.  House Democrats were gone for 3 days and returned to work on the first day they were eligible for anti-bolting statute fines, $1,000 per day.  Even if they had stayed out for 3 days after the House Labor & Pension committee hearing, they would had have come back Friday to avoid fines.  Assuming the committee report on RTW would have been adopted, the bill would have been eligible for second reading on Tuesday or Wednesday of the next week.  We can safely say that Democrats would have loaded up the measure with amendments, they would all be defeated and the they would caucus again.  Once again, another three days out and return, so the bill would be eligible for 3rd reading on Monday the 23rd.   And if you don’t think the Speaker was ready to bring down the hammer of fines, read this letter he sent to Pat Bauer.

Throw in the deal and the fact the fines were about to come down, you can see my point.  Now this does not mean Democrats are going down without a fight.  The AFL-CIO had two town hall meetings on Wednesday in Bedford and Jeffersonville on RTW.   A rally is planned for today at the Statehouse where demonstrators are supposed to wear their favorite NFL Jersey and then march down to Lucas Oil Stadium.  This is in response to the NFL Player’s Union coming out against RTW.  Procedurally, I would not be surprised if Democrats have more than 100 amendments to file on Tuesday on RTW.  The interesting part of that equation will see how the Republicans handle it and do they put limits on the number of amendments offered and does that spark another day or two away for the Democrats?

Regardless, unless some major event of almost Biblical proportion happens, RTW is going to pass.  It is inevitable.  There are too many moving parts that are aligning for it not to happen.  The question at the end of the day will be were the Democrats’ exercises in fighting RTW ones of futility or democracy?

In my column in today’s Indianapolis Star, I pontificate about what the fight over right to work is really about.  Check it out.

Normally the first meeting of a new Indianapolis City-County Council is mostly ceremonial.  Members are sworn in, a couple speeches get made, people go home.  That was not the case Monday night.  What should have taken a few minutes turned into a fight between Democrats and Republicans and then later reportedly turned into a fight between Democrats and Democrats.

As Democrats control the Council 16-13, they get to set the committee assignments.  The melee began when Republicans were told that that Democrats had decided to change the size of the Rules committee from 5-3 to 6-2.

Republicans protested the move saying they weren’t given any notice.  And then reportedly after the full Council meeting the committee reconvened and Majority Leader Vernon Brown is alleged to have offered a plan that reduced minority party representation by one vote on every committee except for parks and ethics.

This, I am told, led to a fight/flare up between Brown and newly elected President Maggie Lewis, who was troubled by Brown’s proposal.  Lewis texted me later that evening and said Brown left, but did not storm out.  She said she ended the meeting because Brown and Mike McQuillian, the new minority leader, weren’t going to agree on anything. Lewis says she is confident things will work out, however she also says she is not in the mood for political games, from either side of the aisle.

The end result of this, for now, is that there are no committee assignments which means no measures, like the proposed smoking ban, can be heard because there is no committee to hear them.  The committee can reconvene later and assign councilors.

And this was just day one.  I can’t wait for day two.

Smoking ban proponents have officially introduced an expanded smoking ban ordinance, but it is unlikely Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard will sign it.

The proposal is similar to the one offered by outgoing City-County Council President Ryan Vaughn, in the fact that it expands the current smoking ban to include all bars and taverns, however there are exceptions for cigar bars (provided 20% of their gross sales comes from tobacco), hookah bars and retail tobacco shops.  The major change is private clubs.  In the Vaughn proposal, private clubs were exempt but members had to vote whether they would stay smoking, in the new version, a private club would have to go non-smoking if it allowed in people under 18.

I interviewed Ballard on this last week for Indy Politics.  You can listen to his comments here.  In a nutshell, he seemed very cool to the idea of that provision, saying a “private club is a private club.”  My read is that the measure won’t pass with that provision in it.  If proponents would take that out, they would likely get 90% of what they want.

Of course to be fair, I am told there are some members of the Council who want to introduce a total ban with no exemptions, which will never happen, and to even throw that thought out there tells me they must be smoking something other than cigarettes.

The new Council meets Monday night at 7 p.m.  Democrats will have a 16-13 majority.

As Indiana lawmakers get ready for the joint House and Senate committee hearing on “right to work” (RTW) today, I got to thinking about the Ball State poll that was done on the subject.  It has been the only independent poll on the subject.  As part of its 2011 survey, the Bowen Center for Public Affairs surveyed a number of topics important to Hoosiers, including whether they support RTW.  You’ve probably seen or heard about the results by now.

• 26.9% – Support RTW legislation.
• 23.6 % – Oppose RTW
• 47.8 % – Didn’t have an opinion.
• 1.8% – Refused to answer.

Based on those figures RTW opponents have tried to argue that the public doesn’t know about RTW and if they did they would oppose it, thus the Indiana House Democrats desire to hold their hearings on RTW across the state.

However, there is a difference between not knowing something and not having an opinion on a subject.  Here is the text from the actual question…

The state legislature is preparing to vote on right-to-work laws that would make it illegal for labor unions to collect dues from employees who choose not to join the union. Some people say right-to-work laws would bring more jobs to Indiana and allow workers to hold onto money that now goes toward union dues. Other people say right-to-work laws will result in lower wages for all employees in Indiana and that states with right-to-work laws have higher unemployment than states without such laws.   Do you support the passage of this legislation, oppose it, or don’t you have an opinion?

Seems pretty straightforward, don’t you think?  In addition, if you study the demographics of those surveyed, they don’t come across as unintelligent.  61% of them said they pay either very close or some attention to the Indiana General Assembly, which means there is no plausible way they could not be familiar with RTW based on last session’s walkout.  They are familiar with the Occupy Wall Street and  Tea Party movements by wide margins.  And politically speaking, they were divided about evenly between Republicans, Democrats and Independents.

So one could argue these are not unintelligent individuals, from the survey they came across the way most people do, busy but interested in what goes in the news.  And if you ask people where 61% say they pay attention to the Legislature and 48% don’t have an opinion on RTW, one could argue that only real opposition to RTW isn’t the average Hoosier, but the typical union member.

A copy of the Bowen survey can be downloaded here.