News
- 08/30/10 - Daniels takes new hit on aid (Courier&Press)INDIANAPOLIS — There was never any doubt Gov. Mitch Daniels would ensure Indiana got its share of the latest round of federal dollars intended to help states pay for Medicaid. The Republican has said he believes the $26 billion in state aid Congress passed this month is unwise, but has also maintained if the federal government is making that money available, he will not allow Indiana to become a donor state by refusing it. But his decision to request the money formally Friday did not stop a barrage of Democratic criticism. Tim Kaine, the Democratic National Committee chairman and former Virginia governor, was in town over the weekend for the Indiana Democratic Editorial Association conference in French Lick, Ind. He took several shots at Daniels. MORE
- 08/25/10 - State treasurer candidate talks jobs (Herald Argus)Something Pete Buttigieg learned at Oxford University as a Rhodes scholar that has stuck with him is the tendency of unemployment to “get locked in if you let it get too high,” he said. Buttigieg, pronounced (Boota-judge), who is running for Indiana state treasurer as a Democrat, said the good news is “you can make a difference.” Buttigieg met early Monday with members of the Building and Construction Trades Council in La Porte. “Those guys are held accountable for how many of their guys are working,” Buttigieg said. Buttigieg said Hoosiers all over the state are concerned with job creation more than any other issue. MORE
- 08/24/10 - Donnelly distances self from Dems (South Bend Tribune)South Bend - U.S. Rep. Joe Donnelly has drawn national attention in recent weeks for his efforts to distance himself from Democratic Party leaders. Reporters, bloggers and commentators have picked up on Donnelly's two televised campaign advertisements in which he says he doesn't work for "the Washington crowd," referring to fellow party members President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and calls cap-and-trade legislation "Nancy Pelosi's energy tax on Hoosier families." MORE
- 08/11/10 - Daniels Flip-Flops on Stimulus Money (IndyStar)Gov. Mitch Daniels says he is opposed to more federal stimulus money for Indiana, but six months ago he asked for just that. On a national television show Sunday, Daniels denounced a new $26 billion stimulus bill shortly after the program's host introduced him as a "prime contender" for president. But in February, Daniels signed onto a letter seeking additional stimulus funds to run the state's Medicaid program, which is the bulk of the money in the new stimulus bill Congress is expected to pass today. The contrast in those two positions has ignited a political firestorm from Democrats, who argue Daniels is more interested in his national appearance and potential bid for president than taking care of Hoosiers. MORE
- 07/28/10 - Baron Hill-backed disaster legislation passes House (Courier-Journal)INDIANAPOLIS – The U.S. House passed legislation Tuesday that could make it easier for communities to obtain federal emergency assistance when disasters strike along state borders. The Multi-State Disaster Relief Act now moves to the Senate for consideration. U.S. Rep. Baron Hill, D-9th District, has been pushing the legislation since the Federal Emergency Management Agency twice denied some aid to flood-ravaged Southern Indiana after storms nearly a year ago. The Louisville area was hit by the same weather, but individuals and businesses there received assistance because Kentucky emergency officials were able to tally more damage than were Indiana officials. Hill said FEMA treated the states’ requests as essentially two separate incidents and did not take into consideration the totality of damage in both states. MORE
- 07/12/10 - Ben GiaQuinta dies (Journal Gazette)FORT WAYNE - Ben GiaQuinta, a former state representative and World War II veteran, died Sunday morning from complications tied to congestive heart failure. He was 87. GiaQuinta died at the home of his son, Mark GiaQuinta, where he had been living for seven months. His six children were with him when he died. “Most people will think of him as a true gentleman and someone who was very kind and thoughtful,” Mark GiaQuinta said. “But he was also extremely determined in everything he did, that’s what made him an effective legislator. When he wanted to get something through, he was relentless in his approach.” Ben GiaQuinta, born in Brockton, Mass., served in World War II for three years and fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He spent much of the war with the 102nd Infantry in Europe as a rifleman and machine gunner. Before his retirement in 2006, he was the last World War II veteran to serve in the Indiana House. MORE
- 07/08/10 - A fascinating race for state treasurer (Brian Howey)INDIANAPOLIS - This year we have a fascinating race between the Republican incumbent Richard Mourdock and a 28-year-old Democrat from South Bend named Peter Buttigieg (pronunced Boota-judge). Buttigieg is a Rhodes Scholar and studied economics at Oxford. Mourdock is best known for his attempts to derail the Chrysler-Fiat merger, a case that was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court during the summer of 2009 when the U.S. auto industry teetered on the brink. When the merger occurred, Mourdock believed that Indiana police and teacher pension funds were getting ripped off. Mourdock said he was doing his fiduciary duty and spent more than $2 million to pursue the lawsuit that ultimately the Supreme Court said had not carried the burden of proof. Buttigieg is critical of Mourdock's attempts to stop the Chrysler-Fiat merger, which, if it had not occurred, would have forced Chrysler into liquidation. He questioned Mourdock's wisdom for investing Hoosier pension funds into Chrysler stock, which was rated as junk status at the time of purchase. MORE
- 07/07/10 - Some answers for those asking, ‘Brad Ellsworth?’ (Indy Star)Indianapolis - Election Day is less than four months away, but many Indiana voters still don't know much about Brad Ellsworth, the Democratic nominee for Senate. That could change shortly, as he began airing his first campaign commercial Tuesday. It's none too soon. As a congressman from Evansville, he could walk down the street in many parts of the state without being recognized. But he's not worried. Four months is a lifetime in a political campaign, and with a rare open Senate seat at stake, there's little doubt his race against former Sen. Dan Coats ultimately will receive gobs of attention. MORE
- 06/25/10 - Treasurer candidate says no to bank PAC donations (Northwest Indiana Times)
Indianapolis - The likely Democratic
nominee for state treasurer says he won't accept campaign donations from bank
political action committees. Pete Buttigieg said Wednesday it is
a conflict of interest for the state's chief investment officer to take
campaign donations from bank PACs since the treasurer decides which banks
hold the state's money. "Hoosiers should never have to
wonder whether decisions made in the treasurer's office about where to place
their money are affected by campaign contributions -- and when I am
state treasurer, they won't," Buttigieg said. The treasurer manages more than $7
billion in state assets and investments. Besides refusing donations from bank
PACs, Buttigieg said he will only accept donations made by bank employees up
to $2,300, the maximum individual donation allowed in a federal race. If
elected, he said he will work with state legislators to enact a ban on
donations by bank PACs to future treasurer candidates. "If a bank gives money and then
gets state business, it can create the appearance of a pay-to-play
situation," Buttigieg said. "Until we can pass this long-overdue
reform, I am going to lead by example and hold myself to this standard, and I
invite my opponent to do the same.".
MORE - 06/07/10 - Chrysler Bankruptcy Drives Treasurer’s Race (Courier & Press)
INDIANAPOLIS - A year ago, Richard Mourdock placed the Indiana Treasurer's Office prominently on the political radar when he tried to toss a roadblock into the path of bankruptcy proceedings intended to save Chrysler from liquidation. Friday, Mourdock was in New York for a speaking engagement in front of Kaplan Fox & Kilsheimer LLP - the 111th of what he calls the "Chrysler speeches," most of which he has delivered to rotary clubs and chambers of commerce throughout Indiana. On Friday, a column on which he and Gov. Mitch Daniels collaborated on was published in the Wall Street Journal a year after a federal judge green-lighted the bankruptcy deal favored by President Barack Obama's administration. It's an unusual amount of publicity for the normally nondescript office to receive, and with Hoosiers set to determine in November whether to keep Mourdock for a second term or replace him with a Democrat, the Chrysler bankruptcy challenge could be the race's defining issue. The former Vanderburgh County commissioner drives a Dodge Ram and has owned two other Chrysler-made vehicles. But he points to his lawsuit, filed on behalf of two Indiana pension funds - one for teachers and one for public safety officers - as evidence he has been a careful steward of Hoosiers' dollars. His opponent, South Bend economist Pete Buttigieg (pronounced "Boota-judge"), also is highlighting that battle against the Chrysler bankruptcy for other reasons. He says Mourdock's move was a reckless one that put auto-industry jobs on the line.
MORE