To recap yesterday's developments, Republican Attorney General Greg Zoeller -- to his credit -- has gone on an all-out offensive over the National Republican Congressional Committee's skirting of Indiana's ban on automatic dialing calls, or "robo"-calls.
Reports say the healthcare-themed calls were placed in three congressional districts, and it doesn't take a lot of thinking to figure out which ones we're talking about.
Republican challengers in those districts -- to their detriment -- have remained notably silent over the intrusions into the households they supposedly want to represent.
One of these challengers, State Rep. Jackie Walorski, owes even more of an explanation to the people of Indiana's Second District.
See, back in 2007, Walorski supported HB 1046, which would have strengthened Indiana's robocall ban. You can see her "Yea" vote here.
Flash-forward to 2010, and Walorski's nowhere to be found while her friends in Washington laugh in the face of Hoosier privacy on her behalf with thousands of invasive phone calls to voters in Northern Indiana.
For a candidate who describes herself so often as a politician of principle, every passing day of silence proves more and more that Walorski is willing to talk the talk, but not walk the walk.
The more and more I think about the Jim Shella story I linked to below regarding the NRCC's use of pseudo-robocalls in Indiana -- and their subsequent refusal to stop -- the more and more I think that the Republican challengers in the affected districts owe it to their potential constituents to condemn the NRCC's tactics.
To recap, all three major political parties in Indiana signed a "treaty" months ago pledging to not use automated phone calls in the upcoming election cycle.
Not only is the legality of robocalling in question right now, but at the end of the day, people hate these calls. The treaty was widely seen as a win-win for both the political organizations and ordinary Hoosiers.
Clearly, though, the NRCC didn't get the memo. And when Attorney General Greg Zoeller pointed it out, they gave Hoosiers the political equivalent of a middle finger.
All of which leads me to a simple question: Will any of these candidates step forward to condemn the NRCC's flagrant disregard for what Hoosiers want?
But don't take my word for it, here's the take of all-around good guy Butch Morgan.
Butch Morgan, chairman of the Democratic Party of St. Joseph County, said comparing the Massachusetts Senate race with politics in northern Indiana is "a little bit like comparing apples and oranges."
Many races county voters will decide in November will include incumbent Democrats, whereas the Massachusetts special election was an open race to fill the seat the late Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy occupied since 1962. Coakley, the state's attorney general, has been accused of letting up after she had a 15-point lead in early January and many Democrats reportedly decided not to vote in the election.
"If our congressman (Joe Donnelly, D-Granger) had a double-digit lead two months out, he would work like he was 10 points behind," Morgan said.
"Every district, every state has its own set of circumstances. There are a lot of dynamics (in Massachusetts) that are not going to happen here."
Amen.
More importantly, it's worth noting that the presumptive GOP candidate, State Representative Jackie Walorski, has never, ever shown herself capable of building the kind of broad political coalition that we saw in Massachusetts.
In short, she's a divider, not a uniter.
Congressman Joe Donnelly, on the other hand, has proven time and time again that he's beholden first and foremost to his constituents, and his voting record shows that. The health care vote may be politically charged, but in a district with double-digit unemployment rates everywhere you look, people realize that the "health care crisis" isn't just a talking point -- it's an undeniable part of everyday life for millions of Hoosiers.
I wonder if she'll ceremonially dump her filing papers in the St. Joseph River inside a giant tea bag?
Indiana State Rep. Jackie Walorski announced today her intention to run for the 2nd Congressional District on the Republican ticket.
Walorski, a resident of Jimtown, made the announcement this morning on WFRN radio station.
"I am filing for my exploratory committee today because it is increasingly difficult to stand by and watch Washington move down a path that the majority of voters don't agree with," Walorski said in a prepared statement. "The frustration in the 2nd Congressional District is palpable," she said.
Let's be clear here: Joe Donnelly has spent the last few months working tirelessly with both sides of the aisle to fight for the best interests of his constituents. Jackie Walorski has flown around the country to participate in teabagging protests, going so far as to camp out across the street from President Obama's recent appearance in Wakarusa so as to voice her displeasure with ...um... socialism. Or something.
Donnelly v. Walorski -- Reasoned, Rational Discussion v. Radical, Partisan Divisiveness
Jackie Walorski vs. Joe Donnelly. That's the race for Congress the National Republican Congressional Committee wants in Indiana's 2nd District in 2010.
The NRCC, plotting campaign strategy for Republican control of the U.S. House, tried unsuccessfully to convince Walorski to run against Donnelly, the Democratic congressman from Granger, in 2008.
Will Walorski run this time?
She doesn't say "yes." But she doesn't say "no."
Say yes!
The piece goes on to describe the multi-faceted candidacy Walorski would bring to the table, including her rabid brand of reactionary conservatism, and... uh, that's actually all she'd bring.
Well, that and a guaranteed six months of great blog posts here and elsewhere.
And in case you're wondering, she attributes the affectionate moniker "Wacky Jackie" to a sense among Democrats that she poses a real threat to popular incumbent Congressman Joe Donnelly. You know, rather than the other option, which includes the fact that her cartoonish dedication to hyper-partisanship is humorous to the outside world.
State Rep. Jackie "Don't call me Wacky" Walorski cares about her constituents. In fact, she cares so much, she knew that they would prefer her to skip her legislative duties in order to stand around with a bunch of people in colonial-era gear holding tea bags.
Tax Day is less than a week away, and thousands of people across the country and right here at home are marking the deadline by protesting what they call wasteful spending in Washington. On Saturday, hundreds gathered in Goshen for a "Tax Day Tea Party."
[...]
"If we went to a flat tax and a fair tax, and ratcheted back the spending in this country, we absolutely could," said State Representative Jackie Walorski.
Meanwhile, back at the General Assembly, bills were on third reading as the adults in the room worked to, you know, pass bills and the whatnot.
Actually, I think the best thing for Walorski's district -- and the rest of us -- might be if we find a tea bag event for every day of the legislative session.
I absolutely love it when the other side does our electoral strategizing for us. Here's an update from Wacky Jackie Walorski land, where the creation of her Patriots' Project PAC has apparently signaled her larger political ambitions.
Word is also that the folks at the Patriots' Project PAC have begun marketing Walorski as a Lincoln Day speaker across the state. What do Lincoln Day speaking engagements usually hint at? Statewide or congressional candidacies.
Walorski has been rumored as a possible 2nd Congressional District candidate against Democrat Joe Donnelly, which could be attractive in what should be a good 2010 cycle for Republicans. But could a statewide Lincoln Day circuit tour mean that Walorski is also exploring support for a 2010 Secretary of State bid?
Oh, please? Pretty, pretty please? It would be nice to have a statewide contest where we were the shoo-ins, for once.
Remember this classless blog post by state representative Jackie Walorski on her official campaign blog?
I need your prayer and financial support today to continue to mount an offensive for the protection of Hoosier children. I have often told you that you are the world changers and your support makes all the difference in this State. Many of you have asked if I am standing alone on this issue...maybe as a Legislator, but you are my base of support and with all of us we can bring common sense back into this equation of protecting our kids.
The post is still on her site, for the moment, but today brings word from the Indiana Democratic Party that the fundraising ask may have gone beyond tactless straight into unlawful territory. From a press release put out in the last hour:
According to IC 3-9-2-12, members of the General Assembly are prohibited from soliciting campaign contributions during the legislative session in odd-numbered years. Furthermore, House Ethics Rules state that a member may not raise money from Organization Day until adjournment in long sessions.
"The rules of the House are more stringent than state statute and were created to prevent this kind of solicitation around legislative activity," Parker said. "The rules are the rules, and even Jackie Walorski must follow them. This is the most blatant attempt to raise money during the prohibited period since the rules were adopted many years ago."
Parker said he wanted to refer the matter first to the House Ethics Committee but hopes that the St. Joseph County Prosecutor will look into the matter if Walorski is found to have violated state law.
Holier-than-thou expert state Rep. Jackie Walorski knows what the holiday season stands for -- money, money, money! I'm all for giving to the less fortunate among us, but this is a little ridiculous...
I need your prayer and financial support today to continue to mount an offensive for the protection of Hoosier children. I have often told you that you are the world changers and your support makes all the difference in this State. Many of you have asked if I am standing alone on this issue...maybe as a Legislator, but you are my base of support and with all of us we can bring common sense back into this equation of protecting our kids.
She's pure class, to the end. She might as well conclude with a theological revelation that even baby Jesus knew that such donations aren't tax deductible, so give until it hurts, but don't expect the communist bureaucracy to give you any breaks!
Wacky Jackie Walorski is a Frankenstein-esque creature of conservative clichés. From her perch in a relatively safe Republican House district, she generally seems content to simply shout out the first thing that comes to mind, which in most cases, has the rhetorical maturity of a teenager.
For this reason, she was especially well suited to represent the cause of Sarah Palin, and has been fighting tirelessly ever since that little electoral gift joined the ticket and began her inevitable, consistent fall in the polls.
On her "campaign blog" this morning, Jackie unleashes the kind of vapid stupidity that always seems to surprise me, no matter the sterling track record a politician has when it comes to idiocy.
Interestingly enough, for all of the record millions of dollars raised and spent by Obama and the antics of the pathetic media, marching like soldiers to the beat of Obama's drum, still nearly HALF of this country isn't budging or moving Obama's way. The heart and soul of our country isn't marching to Obama's drum..we are hard working, middle class Americans who believe in God, Guns and Country and aren't impressed with the American Idol type of hype that has flooded the air. We're the ones who work hard for our money and don't take kindly to government "redistributing it" to others.
This year, as in the past two or three Presidential elections, about 10% of voters are deciding the fate of our nation. Most of our nation hasn't moved an inch. Some of the liberal factions have moved further left but this time the media is unashamedly with them. Some on the right have moved further right as well.
But for the majority of us, we're right here, we've always been here and we'll remain here... standing on the driving principles that founded this great nation and we won't be talked "down to" or talked "into" anything else.
We're proud, hard working Americans and this is OUR country.
Richard Nixon! The silent majority! Ah, yes!
Aside from the fact that a solid majority of the country is behind Barack Obama -- he will likely be elected with well over 50% of the vote, something George W. Bush did only by the narrowest of margins in 2004 -- and ignoring the fact that Wacky Jackie's "heart and soul of America" shtick only works if you consider the entire Ohio Valley pinko-commie country, I still can't get past the tragic fact that someone who represents an area so economically hard hit over the last eight years would make the honest-to-god claim that supporters of Barack Obama don't work hard and love this country.
Jackie Walorski doesn't want to be talked "into" anything, but the rest of us would certainly like to be told that that two terms of George W. Bush weren't the best our country has to offer.
If you want to leave Jackie a message about how you actually do believe in God, work incredibly hard, or perhaps even own a gun, please feel free to email her at h21@in.gov or give her a ring at (800) 382-9841 in Indianapolis / (574) 293-6622 in Elkhart. She may have her non-existent, "real" silent majority, but we happen to have a pretty vocal one at the moment.
This afternoon we check in with state representative "Wacky" Jackie Walorski, who responds to what she calls Obama's "empty rhetoric" with some totally hardcore, uh, empty rhetoric.
"In my district, the hard core anthem that's coming out of there is people aren't looking for rhetoric, I can tell you that. People are looking for hard-core solutions," Walorski said. "They're looking for leadership. When Barack Obama made the comment that we can solve the gas issues by putting air in our tires, I think most of the people in my district were insulted that as they're losing their jobs and can't buy food for their table and they're in unemployment lines, they need somebody to stand up and say, 'Enough is enough, this is what we're going to do.' This is the hard core plan. And they're simply not seeing that."
Ah, campaign surrogate eloquence, Bill and Ted style. I love it. (I'll admit, the emphasis is mine, but that's how I imagine she said it.)
For his part, Obama responded to the criticisms with what I would imagine we could describe as a totally hardcore reality check.
Obama, though, fired back, laying out his plan for investing in new technology and alternative energy sources which he said would make the nation independent of the use of any oil from the Middle East or Venezuela.
Besides, he said, experts, including in NASCAR and the Triple-A motor club, say such conservation steps would save oil. And McCain himself, Obama said, said Tuesday night that keeping tires inflated is a good idea.
"In the coming days it's going to be interesting to watch this debate between John McCain and John McCain," Obama said to cheers.
Couple all of this with Obama's plan to provide $1,000 rebates for families to deal with skyrocketing fuel costs, and it suddenly becomes clear why our pal Jackie got the nod for today's conference call: no self-respecting Republican would be caught dead touting a party line this ridiculous.
Eric Miller, Rep. Jackie Walorksi, and the rest of the political ambulance chasers out there have spent the last few months finding any camera that will operate to push their anti-property tax message. While no one will deny the reality of public anger toward the current tax system, the truth of the matter is that while tea bags and clever protest signs are great theater, truly dismantling the state's reliance on property taxes is not something that can be as easily undertaken.
Tim Evans writes for the Star this morning on yesterday's meeting of the legislative commission that is examining the problems facing Indiana taxpayers. The verdict? If people really want to see the last property tax bill of their lifetime, they better be willing to take a significant tax hike elsewhere.
Hoosiers upset by escalating tax bills got a wake-up call Monday when a legislative commission was told Indiana would have to increase the state sales tax from 6 percent to 13.2 percent or the state income tax from 3.4 percent to 9 percent to eliminate property taxes.
Either option would replace the $6.2 billion raised by property taxes in 2007, Diane Powers, director of fiscal and management analysis for the Legislative Services Agency, told lawmakers.
To replace property tax revenue using a 50-50 split, the state sales tax would have to be raised to 9.5 percent and the state income tax to 6 percent, Powers said.
While Eric Miller, Walorski, and the rest of the opportunists out there have done an excellent job of spinning a negative for Hoosiers into a positive for their public image, I seriously doubt they have the clout to convince a majority of the state to embrace such a tax hike. The article points out numerous other problems with an immediate and full movement away from property taxes, none of which were apparently addressed by Miller or any of his supporters. Rhetoric is impressive, I guess, but responsible policy making isn't as simple as a ten second sound bite.
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Republican challengers in those districts -- to their detriment -- have remained notably silent over the intrusions into the households they supposedly want to represent.
