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LUGAR CALLS FOR ‘DELIBERATIVE’ TALKS ON GM: U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar is calling for a “thoughtful and thorough discussion” of options on a potential bailout for the Big 3 American automakers (Howey Politics Indiana). 
Lugar and the late U.S. Sen. Paul Tsongas were junior members of the Senate Banking Committee who designed the Chrysler bailout in 1982. President Carter had proposed a bailout that was rejected by then Senate Banking Committee Chairman William Proxmire. Lugar spokesman Andy Fisher said that the Lugar/Tsongas plan included “serious concessions” for the automaker, dealers and the UAW. The $1.2 billion loan was paid back within four years after Chrysler came up with the single platform K-car series. Fisher said that Lugar will review the text and “analyze what is being proposed” in the coming week. U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan is calling the bailout a “bridge loan” that would save millions of American jobs. MSNBC commentator and former Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan said that if Congress allowed the Big 3 to collapse, it would be “insanity.”
BIG 3 BAILOUT FLOUNDERS ON CAPITOL HILL: The prospects of a government rescue for the foundering American automakers dwindled Thursday as Democratic Congressional leaders conceded that they would face potentially insurmountable Republican opposition during a lame-duck session next week (New York Times). At the same time, hope among many Democrats on Capitol Hill for an aggressive economic stimulus measure all but evaporated. Democratic leaders have been calling for a package that would include help for the auto companies as well as new spending on public works projects, an extension of jobless benefits, increased food stamps and aid to states for rising Medicaid expenses. But while Democrats said the stimulus measure would wait until President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January, some industry experts fear that one of the Big Three automakers will collapse before then, with potentially devastating consequences. Despite hardening opposition at the White House and among Republicans on Capitol Hill, the Democrats said they would press ahead with efforts to provide $25 billion in emergency aid for the automakers. But they said the bill would need to be approved first in the Senate, which some Democrats said was highly unlikely. Senator Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut and chairman of the banking committee, said he did not believe there would be enough Republican support to get the 60 votes needed to move a bill forward. “Right now, I don’t think there are the votes,” he said, adding that he personally favored aid for the automakers.
KOKOMO, DONNELLY REACT: Debbie Cook, Kokomo director of development, said the potential bailout package is in flux right now with congressional leaders looking at different options (de la Bastide, Kokomo Tribune). “I’m sure it will help,” Cook said of the local economy. “We have two major automobile plants here. Any help will be appreciated.” Cook noted in 1980 the federal government guaranteed loans to Chrysler of $1.5 billion. Chrysler was required to obtain $1.5 billion in private loans. The loans were repaid in 1983 with the U.S. Treasury earning $350 million. “It saved Chrysler,” she said. Cook said city officials are talking with everyone to get a feel for what a bailout package would include. Rep. Joe Donnelly, D-2nd District, said prior to the election he would support a bailout package but wanted assurances from Chrysler that the Kokomo plants would remain in operation. “Thousands of people in north central Indiana rely on the auto industry to make a living, whether they manufacture transmissions or work for auto-parts suppliers,” Donnelly said on Wednesday. “During these difficult economic times, we should do whatever we can to keep those good jobs and to create new ones. I’m looking forward to reviewing any and all legislative proposals that would help keep Hoosiers working.”
SHELBY, BOEHNER OPPOSED: Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the banking committee, said he would not support legislation to aid the auto companies and seemed prepared to let one or all of them collapse (New York Times). “The financial straits that the Big Three find themselves in is not the product of our current economic downturn, but instead is the legacy of the uncompetitive structure of its manufacturing and labor force,” Mr. Shelby said in a statement. “The financial situation facing the Big Three is not a national problem but their problem.” On Thursday, Representative John A. Boehner of Ohio, the Republican leader, also came out strongly against the idea. “Spending billions of additional federal tax dollars with no promises to reform the root causes crippling automakers’ competitiveness around the world is neither fair to taxpayers nor sound fiscal policy,” Mr. Boehner said in a statement. Representative Jeb Hensarling of Texas, chairman of the conservative Republican Study Committee, in an appearance on Fox News, said: “You wonder where bailout-mania will end.” The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, has expressed support for expediting $25 billion in loans for the auto companies that Congress approved in September. But he has not indicated any willingness to provide additional money or to use money from the financial bailout fund for the car makers.
HD26 PROVISIONAL COUNT TODAY: Tippecanoe County election officials plan to consider 414 provisional ballots cast during the Nov. 4 election, which could determine who represents Indiana House District 26 (Lafayette Journal & Courier). Election officials plan to meet at 9 this morning in the County Office Building to count the provisional ballots. In the House District 26 race, Democrat John Polles trailed Republican Randy Truitt by 21 votes after all the ballots were counted on Election Day. District 26 includes much of West Lafayette, parts of Lafayette, the western part of Tippecanoe County and parts of Warren County. Indiana election law says election boards may wait up to 10 days after Election Day before deciding whether provisional ballots are valid. The waiting period allows provisional ballot voters to bring in proper identification they didn’t have at the polls or to prove they were properly registered. That deadline is noon today.
APPEALS COURT NULLIFIES TERRE HAUTE MAYORAL ELECTION: The election contest between former Terre Haute Mayor Kevin Burke and current Mayor Duke Bennett could continue for months, but according to two of the three judges for the Indiana Court of Appeals who decided the case, neither man is currently eligible to serve as mayor (Terre Haute Tribune-Star). Judges Carr L. Darden and Elaine B. Brown, who wrote the 45-page majority opinion, concluded that Bennett was subject to the Little Hatch Act, making him ineligible as a candidate during his 2007 campaign, and concluded that Burke could not win an election in which voters were not fully informed of Bennett’s ineligibility. The legal team for Bennett, along with dissenting appeals court Judge Edward W. Najam, still claims that any post-election challenge by Burke was invalid, and the election of Bennett should stand. The majority found that neither candidate brought issues of Bennett’s eligibility to voters’ attention prior to the election. “We fault both candidates for not doing so in this case,” the opinion states. Because voters were unaware of Bennett’s ineligibility, the court determined that all votes in the 2007 mayoral election would have to be nullified equally, meaning that Burke could not have won, even if Bennett were disqualified. The Little Hatch Act, 5 U.S.C. section 1502(a), provides in part that, “[a] state or local officer or employee may not … be a candidate for elective office.” After a lengthy discussion of Bennett’s employment as director of operations at Hamilton Center Inc. from 2005-2007, it was determined that: the Little Hatch Act applies to the Hamilton Center because of its responsibility for planning and coordinating Head Start programs; that Bennett was considered a state or local employee because Hamilton Center is a state or local agency by virtue of its work with Head Start; that his work at Hamilton Center constituted his principal employment; and that it was in connection with an activity financed in part by federal funds.
BENNETT, BURKE COMMENT: Mayor Duke Bennett believes he will remain mayor until a decision from the Indiana Supreme Court is handed down, he said (Terre Haute Tribune-Star). “This is kind of uncharted territory,” he said. “Nobody really knows what could happen.” His attorney, Bryan Babb of the Bose, McKinney and Evans law firm, said the decision “means nothing. It’s a non-final, nonbinding order from two members of the Court of Appeals,” and one member of the Appeals Court vigorously disagreed. Babb echoed Bennett’s belief he will remain mayor. “This is a nonbinding ruling that doesn’t change a thing,” he said. “It’s not binding until we’ve exhausted our appeal rights.” Burke, however believes the decision is clear. “I think it’s very clear of what the judges have said so far. This is four judges now that have said Duke Bennett is subject to and in violation of the Hatch Act,” he said. “Now then, what’s the remedy? The remedy that the law states is a very harsh one. Judge Bolk and the three appellate judges don’t agree with that remedy and they’ve now said that it needs to have a special election.” “I wish I had all the answers as to what that means, he added, “but I will be meeting with my attorneys in the next few days for them to help me understand and sew some handles on the 59 page decision.” Ed Delaney, Burke’s attorney, couldn’t offer a comment Thursday, but may have something to offer today.
MUNCIE FACING ‘ECONOMIC EMERGENCY’: The already bleak financial future for the city of Muncie has taken a turn for the worse. Revenue lost to property tax caps in 2009 and 2010 is expected to be significantly higher than projected earlier this year by the state Legislative Services Agency, according to a consulting firm working on behalf of local governments (Muncie Star Press). “The revenue losses here are very significant,” Gary Malone of H.J. Umbaugh and Associates said in a Thursday meeting of local elected officials. Taxpayers can likely expect a reduction in services, but exactly how local government will change is uncertain for now. According to Umbaugh’s finding’s, the city of Muncie can expect to lose $4.3 million in 2009 and $8.4 million in 2010 in connection with recently passed legislation that caps property taxes at certain percentages of a property’s value. The caps are also known as circuit breakers. Those losses account for 18.6 percent of the estimated city of Muncie tax levy in 2009 and 35 percent in 2010. These numbers are based on an assumption that property values in Delaware County will remain constant. The fact that local property values are actually declining has officials like city controller Mary Ann Kratochvil concerned that Umbaugh’s already depressing findings might err on the side of optimism. Kratochvil and Muncie Mayor Sharon McShurley had been working under previous projections by the LSA that Muncie would lose $3.2 million in 2009 and $4 million in 2010.
TODD YOUNG EYES 9TH CD: Paoli attorney Todd Young is making calls floating a possible 9th CD Republican candidacy in 2010 (Howey Politics Indiana). Young briefly pondered a chellenge to U.S. Rep. Baron Hill in 2008 but with former congressman Mike Sodrel also considering the race, he decided not to run. Young is a former aide to U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar.
Presidential
SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON? Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is among the candidates that President-elect Barack Obama is considering for secretary of state, according to two Democratic officials in close contact with the Obama transition team (Associated Press). Clinton, the former first lady who pushed Obama hard for the Democratic presidential nomination, was rumored to be a contender for the job last week, but the talk died down as party activists questioned whether she was best-suited to be the nation’s top diplomat in an Obama administration. The talk resumed in Washington and elsewhere Thursday, a day after Obama named several former aides to President Bill Clinton to help run his transition effort. Other people frequently mentioned for the State Department job are Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and New Mexico’s Democratic governor, Bill Richardson.
OBAMA TO RESIGN SENATE ON SUNDAY: President-elect Barack Obama said Thursday he will resign from the Senate effective Sunday (Associated Press). In a statement, the junior Illinois senator called his four-year term “one of the highest honors and privileges” of his life and said the people of Illinois will stay with him as he leaves the Senate to begin “the hard task of fulfilling the simple hopes and common dreams of all Americans as our nation’s next president.” Under state law, Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich will name Obama’s replacement for the remaining two years of his term. Blagojevich has said he expects to make a decision by year’s end, and has ruled out appointing himself. Obama, elected in 2004, is the only black senator. His resignation reduces the Democratic majority to a bare minimum for the post-election session that begins next week.
BROWN CONTESTS EXIT POLL DATA: The National Exit Poll survey of Indiana voters, conducted on last Tuesday’s election, under sampled and undercounted African-American voters in Indiana ’s largest city and county (Amos Brown, WTLC-AM). An under sampling that failed to document the significant contribution of African-American voters in the November 4th election. That’s the findings of a research investigation broadcast today on the Afternoons with Amos program on Indianapolis radio station WTLC-AM. The WTLC investigation found that the exit poll, conducted by Edison-Mitofsky for the five major networks and the Associated Press, failed to adequately survey African-American voters in Indianapolis/Marion County. A city/county which contains nearly 41.5% of Indiana ’s Black voting age population. Amos Brown, host of Afternoons with Amos and an experienced demographic researcher uncovered the under sampling when he examined Indiana ’s exit poll data. “Indiana had a record voter turnout, including the highest turnout in history in Marion County, yet the statewide exit poll showed Black turnout was below expectations”, Brown reported. “That caused me to examine what might have caused this inconsistency”. The Edison-Mitofsky exit poll surveyed voters in four Marion County precincts. The percentage of Black voting age persons in those precincts ranged from 1.3% to 6.6%. Of the Marion County voters surveyed by Edison-Mitofsky, just 11% were African-American. That compares poorly to Marion County ’s actual percentage of African-Americans of voting age which is 23.5%.
PALIN GIVES ‘PEP TALK’ TO GOVERNORS: Sarah Palin called on fellow Republican governors to keep the new president and his strengthened Democratic majority in check on issues from taxes to health care as she signaled she’ll take a leadership role in a party searching for a new standard-bearer (Associated Press). Addressing the Republican Governors Association meeting Thursday, this year’s GOP vice presidential nominee – and an oft-mentioned candidate for 2012 – revisited some aspects of the bitter campaign and talked about the role of the governors in the coming year. After losing the White House and several seats in the Senate and House, the party is engaging in some soul-searching about its direction. “We are the minority party,” Palin said at a session on “Looking Toward the Future: The GOP in Transition.” “Let us resolve not to be the negative party.” Still, she took a swipe or two at President-elect Barack Obama. She said to the governors, “the buck stops on our desk. … We are not the many voting yea or nay or present.” While an Illinois state lawmaker, Obama often voted “present,” a practice the GOP criticized during the campaign. Palin noted that Congress is led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Rep. Barney Frank, and said it was the duty of GOP governors to ensure that the federal government doesn’t take over the health care system. She said if Obama and the new Congress “err on the side of excess taxes, we have to show them the way.” “Let’s reach out to Barack Obama,” Palin said. “Show him how lower taxes provide opportunity for the private sector to grow.”
2012 REPUBLICAN FIELD PONDERED: Gov. Palin likely would have competition for a possible 2012 bid from Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal - all in attendance at the three-day meeting. Jindal is a Rhodes Scholar.
State
DLGF STEPS IN FOR TROUBLED CLARK SCHOOLS: State finance officials descended on Clark County on Wednesday to help sort out the financial crunch local school corporations find themselves in because of the county’s delay in issuing property tax bills to residents (News & Tribune). The visit from the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance came after the agency received a letter from local school superintendents expressing their concerns over the issue. Enclosed with their letter, superintendents included a Sept. 7 article that appeared in The Evening News regarding the amount of money school corporations are paying in interest on loans — while at the same time not collecting tax dollars or the interest that could be earned from that money — because of the county’s delay in sending out property tax bills. The three school corporations in Clark County have borrowed more than $200 million in the last five to seven years. Of that, they have paid out more than $3.5 million in interest. More than losing money in interest, Clarksville Community School Corp. Superintendent Steve Fisher said his corporation is also missing out on interest that could have been made if the corporation received its tax money from the county on time and those funds were in the bank earning interest. “I think the real shame of this is that the taxpayers should know that we are spending a lot of money on interest,” Fisher said in a previous interview with The Evening News, adding that the money lost could have gone toward hiring more teachers, buying textbooks and more. “To me, that’s dollars coming out of the taxpayers’ pockets.” “Taxes go up to pay for the interest on the money we have to borrow,” said Monty Schneider, superintendent of West Clark Community School Corp. “That’s a lose-lose situation for everyone.”
AZTAR SUITOR APPROVED FOR LICENSE: Indiana regulators have decided to allow Eldorado Resorts LLC to obtain an Indiana casino license, a necessary step in the company’s attempt to buy Casino Aztar (Evansville Courier & Press). Today the seven members of the Indiana Gaming Commission approved a transfer of the casino license now held by Tropicana Entertainment LLC, the current owner of Aztar. Before the license can change hands, though, a Delaware bankruptcy court must allow the sale of the Evansville casino to Eldorado, a company based in Reno, Nev. A hearing on the proposed sale is scheduled to take place Tuesday.
Cities
SBA FAULTS FORT WAYNE CONTRACT: The Indiana State Board of Accounts criticized Fort Wayne’s handling of a government efficiency consulting contract in a recent audit, citing potential conflicts of interest and ethics violations (Fort Wayne Journal Gazette). City Controller Pat Roller said the contract was proper. The Sept. 29 audit covers 2007 and examines numerous issues but goes into the greatest depth with the city’s contract with the High Performance Government Network. A three-year contract was signed with the non-profit by Roller on Dec. 27, just days before Mayor Graham Richard left office. The network is staffed by several former city employees, and it costs $95,000 a year, just below the $100,000 threshold that requires City Council approval. The city has already paid half the total fee due the group.
Counties
FLOYD PASSES INCOME TAX: Floyd County workers will likely pay a new income tax in 2009 (News & Tribune). The Floyd County Council approved a new Local Option Income Tax — or LOIT — Wednesday night by a 4-3 vote. The vote went along party lines with Democrats Larry McAllister, Tom Pickett, Ted Heavrin and Carol Shope voting for the tax and Republicans Dana Fendley, Lana Aebersold and John Schellenberger voting against.
ST. JOE ASKS FOR TAX EXTENSION: Property tax bills for St. Joseph County likely will be mailed out just before the holidays of Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa (South Bend Tribune). But county Treasurer Sean J. Coleman doesn’t want property owners to face the payments just before or just after the holidays. He is asking the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance for permission to set “a reasonable, responsible and fair tax collection schedule” for 2008 property taxes. Several weeks ago, the DLGF handed down a directive for late counties, including St. Joseph, to allow for two installment payments that are six weeks apart.
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