I was recently chatting with a buddy of mine from my graduate school days at the University of Illinois.  We were joking about the times we would go out, try to pick up a young lady or two, and just before we were about to seal the deal, then someone would overreach by asking her friend if she wanted to join in.  The end result was going home solo.

At 1:30 Wednesday afternoon, Indiana House Democrats went home solo.

That morning, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels had just handed Democrats the best gift they could get, a rescission of the rules that would have limited the occupancy at the Statehouse to 3,000.   After a barrage of public and media complaints, the Daniels folks conceded and went back to the original policy.  By the way, I don’t think the policy in itself was bad, but it could have be implemented a lot smoother, to say the least, but I digress.

After the Governor made his announcement, Democrats could have held a news conference with their friends from labor and celebrated how they had fought to keep “the people’s house” open to the people.   Then they could have gone into session with some political swag and then fought the upcoming battle over “right-to-work”.

Not so much.  Instead of sealing the deal, the Democrats went home to Cinemax.

My Democratic friends had the perfect opportunity to made Republicans the bad guys, but instead the big story of the day was their walkout.  A quick glance around the Internet and the Democrats and walking out are the top story.  Granted, the Governor made headlines as well, but why would you want to share the space when you’ve got news like that to work with.

What makes matters worse is that despite a show of  unity, members are privately griping about possibly not being able to work for 10 weeks.  See my latest cheat sheet for what they are saying. And then throw in the fact the Speaker has threatened to enact anti-bolting statute if the Democrats stay away, which will result in $1,000 daily fines.

Democratic leader Pat Bauer accused the Republicans of trying to rush right to work and force it on the voters and called for statewide hearings and to slow down.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but there have already been about 20 hours of testimony on this and there is a joint committee session scheduled for Friday at 9 a.m.  And anyone who has been paying attention to this issue, knows this has been a GOP priority.

I am confused by the Democrats’ strategy on this one.  Instead of taking a major win with the Governor’s concession, they decide to overreach.  I don’t see how they win the court of public opinion by not showing up.  If I were them, I’d engage in political jujitsu.  I’d agree to comeback to the floor provided every member of my caucus gets to give a 5-10 minute anti-right to work speech on the floor.  After that, we’d vote and I would make right to work my 2012 campaign issue. And use it to raise a ton of money on the promise to repeal “right to work”.  If history is any indication, they could potentially come out ahead, seeing how it was labor issues in 1995 that led them to recapture the House in 1996.  However, this strategy requires you to put your ego on the shelf and stop playing Connect Four, but instead play three-dimensional chess.

Indiana House Democrats are blowing a major opportunity in their zeal to stop right to work, which I frankly don’t think will work.   For one thing, they’re not held up in a hotel 141 miles away, instead they’re in the room adjacent to the Indiana Supreme Court, so it’s a lot harder to hold your caucus together.  Second, and most importantly, they are engaging in a short-sighted strategy that won’t get them what they want.  Instead of being the victor, they just come across as being spoiled.

Here is the text of HB 1001, the “Right to Work” Bill.

Employee’s right to work. Makes it a Class A misdemeanor to require an individual to: (1) become or remain a member of a labor organization; (2) pay dues, fees, or other charges to a labor organization; or (3) pay to a charity or another third party an amount that represents dues, fees, or other charges required of members of a labor organization; as a condition of employment or continuation of employment. Establishes a separate private right of action for violations or threatened violations. Provides that the statute does not apply to federal employees, employees subject to certain federal laws, certain employees over whom the federal government has jurisdiction, state employees, and employees of a political subdivision. Provides that the statute does not apply to the extent it is in conflict with or preempted by federal law.

Life just got a whole lot more fun for the next 10 weeks.

The incoming President of the Indianapolis City-County Council says she wants to work with Republican Mayor Greg Ballard and not fight with him, however Democrats will stand up for their principles.

I sat down and interviewed Democrat Maggie Lewis, who is expected to be voted Council President at the Council’s January 9th meeting, for my news blog, Indy Politics.

In it she discusses the following…

• Her opposition to fast tracking the current smoking ban proposal.
• Her desire to move more Council hearings out of the City-County building and into neighborhoods.
• Doing more with the Mayor’s office to develop local businesses.
• Whether Democrats will challenge the Mayor over the new Council maps.
• Dealing with a large class of freshmen councilors.
• Dealing with an expected $50 million budget shortfall and whether a tax increase will be necessary.
• Her relationship with Mayor Greg Ballard and how combative the Council and the Mayor’s relationship will be.
• How she deals with the stress over being Council President.

Lewis’ comments run about 9 minutes.  You can hear them by clicking here
.

In one of his last official acts as Indianapolis Mayor for his first term, Greg Ballard signed new City-County Council District maps this morning, a move that is sure to infuriate some Democrats.

The Mayor signed the ordinance which created the new maps about 10 this morning.  Democrats and other critics had complained the maps were illegal, violated the Voting Rights Act and that Republicans had rushed the process.  One of their strongest arguments were that the maps had to be adopted in 2012 and the Mayor could not sign them in 2011.

Under Indiana Code 36-3-4-3, the maps must be…

• are compact, subject only to natural boundary lines (such as railroads, major highways, rivers, creeks, parks, and major industrial complexes);
• contain, as nearly as is possible, equal population; and
• do not cross precinct boundary lines.

The code also says the division shall be made during the second year after a year in which a federal decennial census is conducted and may also be made at any other time, subject to IC 3-11-1.5-32.

By signing the maps into law this morning the Mayor has fulfilled that crucial requirement of the law since 2012 is the second year after the 2010 census.  There is no rule that says the division has to be done in June, September or November, only in 2012, and 9 this morning on New Year’s Day counts as 2012.

Regardless it is still likely that a lawsuit will be filed.  The ordinance creating the maps was signed along with a few dozen other proposals.

Two points of note, the maps would not go ito effect until 2015 there is ample time for this issue to be litigated.  Despite cries of the process being rushed and ending up in court, the exact same thing happened 10 years ago where the Indiana Supreme Court ended up drawing the maps because the Democratic Mayor and Republican-controlled Council couldn’t agree on a new map and that was after months of hearings and public testimony.

There were four public hearings on the maps, about 100 citizens attended.

It’s not as good as previous years, but the Steve Jobs part is pretty cool. Happy New Year!

As tradition dictates, it’s time for me to do my top 10 list of political stories for the year.  The criteria are the same as always, magnitude and impact.  Ironically, it was a pretty easy list to put together.  So with that said, here we go, in reverse order.

10. Richard Mourdock challenges Dick Lugar for the U.S. Senate and finds out while the Tea Party movement has a lot of energy, they don’t have a lot of money.

9.  Republicans redraw state legislative and congressional maps making it hard to be a Democrat in Indiana.

8.  State Democratic Dysfunction; the fight and previous hard feelings over the recent battle over State Chairman  make it even harder to be a Democrat in Indiana.

7.  State takes over failing IPS schools, the only people who object are the status quo who have an interest in maintaining an educational system that would make Jim Crow proud.

6.  GOP candidates for President hit the Hoosier state, odds are the nominee will be back to consult with Mitch Daniels.

5.  Local and State Pols behaving badly; this year was living proof that if you are a state or local official, a Republican or Democrat, if you behave badly there are consequences and repercussions and usually they involve a grand jury.

4.  Split in the Black Church over the Mayor’s race; this item demonstrated three things. First, not all Black people think alike.  Second , God doesn’t like it when preachers go out and race pimp.  Third, if I ever decide to attend church regularly, it will be the one of David, not Goliath.

3.  House Democrats Exit to Illinois in an effort to put the kibosh on “right to work” legislation.  In the end, they got a temporary delay  and along with some Democrats from Wisconsin, did their part to help the Illinois economy.

2.  Mitch Daniels Declines to Run for President and by doing so makes the job of every political pundit that much easier and that much more difficult at the same time.

1.  Greg Ballard Re-elected Mayor of Indianapolis; thus disproving the adage that nice guys finish last, for a second time.

About this time of year I start doing my review of crime stats to see how the city of Indianapolis is doing.  Overall, crime was up in 2011, but less than 4%.  According to the preliminary data released by  Department of Public Safety, there were 44,693 incidents in 2011 as December 24.   That number was 47,564 in 2010, for an increase of 3.72%.    Here is the breakdown in individual categories.

• Murder – 94. Up 1% from 93 in 2010.
• Rape – 391, Down 9.7% from 433 in 2010.
• Robbery – 2,527, Up 0.24% from 2,521 in 2010.
• Aggravated Assault – 1,627, Down 2.05% from 1,661 in 2010.
• Residential Burglary – 10,958, Up 5.58% from 10,379 in 2010,
• Non-Residential Burglary – 2,521. Up 25.8% from 2,003 in 2010.
• Larceny – 25,049.  Up 0.49% from 24,927 in 2010.
• Vehicle Theft – 5,785.  Up 11.7% from 5,180 in 2010.
• Arson –  380.  Up  3.54% from 367 in 2010.

A quick reminder about homicides and murder, they are not necessarily the same thing.  All murders are homicides, but not all homicides are murders.  A murder is the purposeful, unlawful killing of another human being.  A homicide is simply killing another person, whether on purpose, accidental or self-defense.

What is really disturbing in all this that while murder is near a record low in he city.  The number of blacks tend to make up a disproportionate number of the victims.  By my count, blacks made up any where from 55-60% of the deaths, although they are only 25-28% of the population.

Here’s to a better 2012.

Three of the five candidates for the 5th Congressional District will meet in a couple weeks for their first joint appearance in front of Republican voters.   The Howard County Republican Party is announcing that Susan Brooks, David McIntosh and John McGoff will all participate their Century Club candidate breakfast on January 14 at 8:45 at the Elite Banquet Center in Kokomo, located at  2820 S. LaFountain St.

According to the release sent out by Craig Dunn Howard County GOP Chairman, incumbent Dan Burton declined to participate.  There is no word yet on whether candidate Jack Lugar will appear at the forum either.    FYI, I will be there to act as moderator.  The event is open to the public, however you  must RSVP by January 12.

Questions or RSVPs for the Fifth District Congressional Forum may be addressed to:  Craig Dunn-Howard County Republican Chairman,  Telephone: 765-457-1134 W. or 765-252-8643 C.  Email inquiries to:  chairman@howardcountyrepublicans.org

I want to say this is the first time the candidates will meet in a public forum to debate the issues, so it should be interesting.

I wanted to take a second and wish all of you Merry Christmas!  We’ll be going dark for a few days but be back up on Tuesday.    I hope you have a great day.  And for our regular posters I hope many of you get what you want for Christmas and the rest of you what you deserve.   Happy Holidays!

It’s no big secret that political candidates like to record holiday greetings but sometimes you have to wonder if  Republicans Mike Pence and Jim Wallace are using the same media production companies.

And just so you know, as soon I get a holiday greeting from Democrat John Gregg and Libertarian Rupert Boneham, I will post them here.