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Showing posts with label Ogden on Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ogden on Politics. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Ogden on Politics leaving the Blogsphere





It’s with a mix of emotions we report that our dear friend, fellow blogger and gadfly Paul Ogden has announced that he is leaving the world of blogging after 15 years. Paul’s blog posts will be dearly missed, but we are also happy for Paul to begin a new chapter in his life. 

We will quote from the master himself as he gives his thoughts on blogging and details some new developments in his life:

Sometime on Wednesday  the lights on the Ogden on Politics blog will go off.  I turned the auto renewal option off and on September 20, 2023 my annual subscription goes out.  Yes, I have backed up my blog in case I ever want to relive the past.

My blog was on line during the era of great Indianapolis blogs.  I think back fondly to reading Gary Welsh's Advance Indiana.  Yes, Gary liked his conspiracy theories, but he also wrote extensively researched articles and broke numerous stories, at least daily if not more.  Advance Indiana remains the gold standard when it comes to blogs.  Not sure where Gary found the time to do what he did.  He was a community resource who can never be replaced.

Here's the thing about blogging though...it is time consuming.  Even when you're only commenting on a news article, it still takes substantial time to write and edit that commentary.  If it is an investigative piece, then it could take a few hours to complete the research and write the article.  Finding the time to blog recently has been difficult.  I have a full-time job as manager of a title insurance agency as well as a part-time job.  I also occasionally write legal filings for attorney friends wanting help.  In addition to those jobs, I also help take care of my elderly mother who lives nearby.  I also try to get to the gym whenever I possibly can.

That's why I haven't been blogging much lately.  But there is another reason why I have decided to shut down the blog.  Come October, after some 17 years, I am extremely excited to be returning to government employment.  While nobody asked me to shut down my blog because of that job, having it active would be too tempting to offer political commentary on candidates and office holders.   I don't want to put myself or my bosses in an uncomfortable position because of some blog article I published.

So it is time to say goodbye.  As we older people say, "See you in the funny papers."   You younger people ... look it up.

I can speak for all of us here at the IR blog: Paul you have done well, and what you have done will live on, besides your far to young to be finished doing good in this world. Godspeed old friend and remember there are others of us who will keep up the good fight. Some of us might be rare, sometimes we are unknown but we help move the world! 

Hang Lose Paul!

P.S. Check out Paul’s blog here at the Wayback Machine: https://web.archive.org/web/20230920085121/http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/

Thursday, July 15, 2021

Hoosier Supermom Jennifer Glynn’s Facebook Page helps Hoosiers resolve their Unemployment Issues



Jasmine Minor’s report on Hoosier Heroine Jennifer Glynn 

As you all probably know by now, the Hoosier state is dropping the ball Bigly when it comes to paying Hoosiers their unemployment benefits. On Tuesday we wrote about the complete silence of the Department of Workforce Development in addressing these issues. However there is some hope in all of the darkness that is surrounding the cesspool that is our state’s unemployment system. In addition to WISH-TV’s Richard Essex and WTHR’s Bob Segall, Jasmine Minor is joining the fight for government transparency and accountability!


Here’s Jasmine Minor reporting:

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Jennifer Glynn, a mom of two, started an unemployment help group on Facebook to assist people in securing unemployment benefits.

Her only experience was going through the unemployment filing process before, but her free advice has been priceless for nearly 7,000 Hoosiers struggling to get the benefits they deserve. 

“These people shouldn’t be losing their homes, they shouldn’t be losing everything that they own,” Glynn said. “I’ve had people tell me that they were on the brink of depression until I helped them, that they were on the verge of giving up until I gave them hope.”

Glynn says while the group feels like a full-time job, often answering calls and messages at 3 a.m., she believes it’s necessary work because people are growing desperate. 

“Who else is going to help them?” Glynn asked. “I’m trying to help everybody that I can. And there have been times that I have not been able to help somebody. And that’s disappointing.”


She says the most common issue she sees is when people receive a letter for making an error on their filing or their appeal form. That error that can be costly. 

“I specifically know one woman, she had to wait over a year just for one error,” Glynn said. “That’s the longest that I’ve seen.”

However, she says it’s been nearly impossible to get someone from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development to answer a phone call or email, making it difficult to figure out what the exact error was. 

Glynn says if a claim has an issue, it can’t be fixed until a claims representative or an investigator. 

“The Indiana Department of Workforce Development currently has 16 issues listed on their COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions worksheet,” Glynn said. “The list that I have, I currently have a list of 47 that could cause issues and keep somebody from getting paid. Big difference, right?”

Glynn says, after doing extensive research, she was able to create templates others can fill out to make sure the right information is getting to claim representatives so that errors are not made. She then helps to make sure those forms are sent to the right place.

We here at Indy Republican salute Jennifer Glynn! It is men and women like her that will help us all to achieve more of our goals of good government! Gary Welsh is smiling down from heaven on this awesome lady!

If anyone needs help with their unemployment claim please click here to go to Jennifer Glynn’s Facebook Group. She needs all the help she can get! 




Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Advance Indiana Has Been Resurrected


Our Teacher, Sensai, our Mentor Gary Welsh!

Good Afternoon, Our Brothers and Sisters! It is indeed a glorious day today! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and there are still tireless patriots toiling away to ensure the rights of all! At times the struggle is very hard, our spirits are low, and hope seems very dim indeed! But as the New Testament says: “Let not your heart be troubled”. For we have just received word like manna from heaven that the late, great Gary Welsh’s blog Advance Indiana has been archived  not just on the Wayback Machine, but also as been mirrored elsewhere online! Ladies and Gentleman it gives us extreme pleasure to present to you the Advance Indiana Archives! Here’s the address:

Click away and enjoy the wisdom of the late much beloved genius Gary Welsh!

This one’s for you Gary! Shalom Brother! Amen! Praise the Lord! Oh Good Golly Miss Molly!

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Blue Indy is No More

Good evening boys and girls. Hope you all had the happiest holidays imaginable, and we all wish you a Happy 2020. A little before Christmas the Indianapolis Business Journal ran a piece by Susan Orr detailing how the death trap electric car service Blue Indy is leaving Indianapolis.

In her December 20th, 2019 article Miss Orr has this to say

Blue Indy, the electric-car-sharing service that launched in September 2015, is pulling the plug on its Indianapolis fleet.

“We regret to announce that Blue Indy will end its collaboration with the City of Indianapolis, effective May 21st, 2020,” the company said in a letter sent to customers Friday morning. “This difficult decision to end the service has been made because we did not reach the level of activity required to be economically viable.”

As of August, Blue Indy had 3,000 active members—a fifth of the total it had projected that it needed for profitability. It had 92 stations and 200 cars—80 fewer cars circulating than two years ago.

When the Paris-based company backed by French logistics company Bollore and billionaire Vincent Bollore launched in Indianapolis, it predicted that it would be operating profitably by 2020, with at least 15,000 members, 200 stations and 500 cars.

This isn’t the only place Bollore has struggled with car-sharing.

Autolib, which Bollore launched in Paris in 2011, closed seven years later after city officials refused to contribute money to offset a revenue shortfall.

Indianapolis spent $6 million to help launch Blue Indy and wasn’t expected to recoup the investment until the service turned profitable.

The controversial deal came at the end of former Republican Mayor Greg Ballard’s administration, and spurred a lawsuitfrom the Marion County auditor, a Democrat, that was eventually dismissed.

In return for the $6 million, Blue Indy promised to share profits with the city—once its own investment was recouped and Indianapolis Power & Light recovered 125% of the more than $3 million in ratepayer hikes that made the charging stations possible. IPL initially filed a $12.3 million cost-recovery request to pay for installations but the request was denied by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission.

Blue Indy, which has said it invested more than $40 million of its own money to launch the service, did not disclose its annual revenue or what performance it would need to achieve to turn a profit.

The company said it would remain in operation locally until May 21 but gradually reduce the number of cars it has operating over that time. It said it would stop charging monthly membership fees on March 21 and terminate the memberships.

The company did not say what would happen to the charging stations, which can be found all over Indianapolis and are heavily clustered in and around downtown.

All we can say is it’s about damn time Blue Indy left the Circle City. This boondoggle was never going to turn a profit. But former Mayor Ballard and company just couldn’t resist flushing more taxpayer money down the drain. Never mind the fact that Blue Indy’s cars and charging stations weren’t very safe. Paul Ogden of Ogden on Politics and the late great Gary Welsh of Advance Indiana fame have both written Bigly about Blue Indy. Click here and here to read the massive amount of material these two geniuses have written about Blue Indy. As disgusted as we are by the sheer waste of taxpayer money on this disaster. We are relieved to see it coming to an end. Gary Welsh is smiling down from heaven over this. Fear not my friends, the stone is being rolled off the tomb door, the resurrection of Indiana and the spirit of Gary Welsh is at hand! Sing songs of rejoicing and praise! As to the powers that be we have but one message to give to you: Be afraid, be VERY afraid! 

A little message to the power that be from Vincent Price:


Sunday, July 14, 2019

INDY REPUBLICAN’s Tribute to Advance Indiana’s Gary Welsh


Gary Welsh Blogger and Friend to all Good Americans 

We wanted to say something to all of our friends and readers. IR has enjoyed writing for the last three years and we intend to blog until we leave this world. It has just dawned on us now. That in all the time we have been blogging, we have never taken the time to express how much we appreciated, honored and loved our dear friend the late great Gary Welsh. The talented, charming, much beloved genius who authored the irreplaceable blog Advance Indiana. We did mention briefly now and then we missed him. And this blog is dedicated to carrying on his crusade for freedom and good government. However we all were so determined to write this blog, and to help our brothers-in-arms Paul Ogden, and Jon Easter. We never paid a proper tribute to Gary. Well that changes now. Gary Welsh was in the highest and greatest sense a man. He fought for the rights of all, and inspite of the odds he won more often than he knew. His writing style and prose were of the quality that all should aspire to. He was willing to stand alone if need be. We miss him to an extent, that our sorrow cannot be adequately expressed by the limitations of human speech. 

His blog is still read by all of us to this day. We can never bring ourselves to remove the link to his blog. To do so would make us guilty of impoverishing all who visit this blog. We are proud to have been his friends for over a decade. He helped many of us survive times that almost destroyed us. Though we miss him like we miss a father, teacher and friend. All of us are blessed to have known him. We have no doubt that regardless of whatever differences he might have had with IR and Paul Ogden. Gary Welsh was a true men, and a patriot without equal. He was and would have been proud to continue working beside us. We beseech you our readers to remember that inspite of our differences as Lincoln put it: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Yes the tensions along political, religious and partisan lines are immense today. We have faced far darker moments than we find ourselves in. We will survive this. Don’t let yourself become discouraged. Even if it seems the whole world is against you. Hold fast to your principles, your values. Make them matter to YOUR lives. Develop within yourself the satisfaction that although thanks and approval from others are not inherently bad. And you will sometimes receive them. It will not always come right away or every time you do right. As long as you hold to the knowledge and firm conviction that what you are doing is right. Your actions, your life will and does matter. The seeds you plant will eventually bear fruit. Rome was not built in a day. Our task, our calling will be lifelong. 

Our ultimate goal as expressed once again by that great republican Abe Lincoln is this: “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

Farewell Gary Welsh! You will never be forgotten. Your detractors as some have already will wither away. Your life, your work will forever stand resolute against the powers that be. Exactly as the 300 at Thermopylae held firm. As we close this tribute to the master himself. We issue a call to arms to any and all to aid us, Paul Ogden and our allies in pursuing the holy cause of freedom.

Here’s a little civil war song to get you all motivated to fight the good fight! Praise be to God! AMEN!



Tuesday, November 27, 2018

President Trump’s Unpopularity Sinking The Republican Party

Three weeks have now passed since the congressional midterms were held. We are going to give it to you straight we Republicans are in big trouble! It’s YUGE! We have lost 7 governorships, 393 state legislative seats and 7 state legislative chambers since 2017. Not to mention 40 U.S. House seats. Orange County, California once the bedrock of Republicanism on the West Coast is now trending Democratic. The GOP went from having all 4 congressional seats that were part of Orange County to having none after this election. Orange County voted for the Democratic Presidential Candidate in 2016. The first time in 80 years the GOP’s Presidential nominee lost Orange County. Here in Indiana we lost our first state senate seat in 20 years as well as 3 state house seats. Our friend Paul Ogden has more on the results here in Indiana over at his blog today. 

Gallup has President Trump’s disapproval rating at 60%. The President has yet to have his approval rating climb into the 50 percentage range or higher even once in his almost two years in office. All over the country the GOP has lost ground in the suburbs. Not just in the suburbs of Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. But we lost seats in Texas, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Kansas and we even lost a congressional seats in Oklahoma and Mia Love’s seat in Utah. Utah by the way is so hostile to Democrats that Hillary Clinton almost came in third to Evan McMullin in 2016. To assert as many of our fellow Republicans do that Trump was not a factor in this is at best willful blindness and at worst being delusional. 

The President did nothing to discourage misconceptions about why so many House Republicans lost. 

Morning after the midterms Trump proceeded to chide by name republicans who lost by saying they didn’t embrace him enough.  Basically Trump was in essence saying: “Those idiots, If only they had listened to ME! They didn’t build the wall fast enough!” This should lay to rest any doubts as to whether or not Trump can learn from his mistakes. If there is to be any chance of us avoiding a long stay in the political wilderness the party must run someone other than Donald Trump in 2020. There is no chance at all that Trump will become more Presidential or that Mike Pence will get a spine. Trump and Pence cannot and are not worthy of being saved. The only thing to be down is to go tell Donald Trump and his toady Mike Pence to go f__k themselves. It’s time to return to the ideals of the greatest republicans past and present, current and former, living and dead, Pro and Anti-Trump. Men and women like: Abe Lincoln, Chester Arthur, Teddy Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Dwight Eisenhower, Barry Goldwater, Margret Chase Smith, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, Charles Percy, Susan B. Anthony, Mia Love, Gary Welsh, Paul Ogden, Charlie White, Rex Early, Christine Scales, Susan Wright, Fredrick Douglas, Charlie Sykes, Sarah Rumpf, Nikki Haley and many others.

For a more in depth look at Donald Trump’s approval rating and the impact on republicans checkout the video below:




UPDATE: Just found this discussion on the midterms and the 2020 elections:



Monday, November 5, 2018

Indy Republicans 2018 Election Prediction’s

As promised yesterday we will share our predictions such as they are for the midterm elections taking place tomorrow.We have been continuously amazed and at times exasperated over the past two years. The first race that we are predicting is a race that has received little media attention so far the attorney generals race in Minnesota. The contest is between Republican Doug Wardlow and Democratic Congressman and DNC Vice Chair Keith Ellison. Polls have gone back and forth in this race one poll from two weeks ago showed Doug Wardlow ahead of Ellison 43-36. Another poll taken a week ago shows Ellison ahead by four points. The race has been a rollercoaster with Ellison’s ties to Louis Farrakhan, his anti-semitism, and allegations that he abused a former girlfriend in 2016. With polling swinging back and forth in this race so much we will go out on a limb and say pure guess is unfortunately Keith Ellison will win his bid to be Minnesota’s next Attorney General. We hope we are wrong on this one. But it is possible given Donald Trumps unpopularity in Minnesota that Ellison will win despite his many shortcomings.

We mostly agree with the following from our good friend Paul Ogden’s post from this afternoon in which he stated:

What has not gotten the coverage this year, but which, going into redistricting following the 2020 census, is more important than control of the U.S. Congress, are the Governor races.  The Democrats are poised to wrest seize control of Governor mansions in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, and Florida.  They also have a shot at winning Georgia.  Although those states have Republican legislatures, having a Democrat governor would even the field when it comes to redistricting.

We unlike Paul don’t see the Democrats winning any state senate seats tomorrow and we believe Mike Delph will hold on against J.D. Ford. Look for the Democrats to pickup 1 to 5 seats in the State House. Donnelly we believe will pull out a narrow win over Mike Braun. If Donnelly wins it maybe due in part to the Indiana Democratic Party’s having sent out the below shown mailers encouraging people to vote for the Libertarian Party Candidate Lucy Brenton as reported recently





We predict that the Democrats will win a net gain of 25-30 seats in the U.S. House. We predict probably no changes in Indiana’s Congressional Delegation. Trey Hollingsworth and/or Jackie Walorski might lose if the Democrats have a really good night. Otherwise no change in Indiana. Unfortunately many of Indy Republican’s favorite Republican Congressmen will probably be among the first casualties tomorrow night. Barbara Comstock in Virginia looks like they will lose, Congresswoman Mia Love of Utah might lose tomorrow according to some polling out of Utah.

In the U.S. Senate unlike Paul Ogden we think the GOP will net 1 to 3 seats instead of 1 to 2. We haven’t completely ruled out a possible upset in Texas by Beto O’Rourke against Ted Cruz. We also believe there is an outside chance that Bob Hugin will upset incumbent New Jersey Senator Bob Menedez. We wouldn’t be surprised if either race produced an upset. But we wouldn’t be surprised by much of anything tomorrow. If we Republicans lose control of either or both Houses of Congress tomorrow we predict that Trump will simply blame the congressional republicans for the loss. We can picture Donald saying: “Well I tried to save them. They didn’t build the wall fast enough. If they had just went out and grabbed as much p$!^y as I have!” And Trump will revert to being a grievance candidate running against both parties and he will become an angrier more unstable Trump. Well here’s to our predictions being more accurate than our 2016 predictions were. 

UPDATE: It looks like their might be a possible runoff for the U.S. Senate in Mississippi according to a recent poll. We have that and some commentary on the poll here:



Sunday, October 28, 2018

When Will The IBM-FSSA Debacle Ever End?

As many of our readers are undoubtedly aware. For the better part of the last decade now. We Hoosiers have been on the hook for well over a half billion dollar debacle because “Godfather” Governor Mitch Daniels and his stooge Mitch Roob had to enter into a boneheaded contract with IBM/ACS to privatize Indiana’s welfare system. We blogged about this last year and about a month became aware of some new developments in this case.


Callahan also reported:

The three-judge court also found that IBM is entitled to interest on nearly $50 million in state fees that Welch ruled Indiana owes the company. 

Judge Heather Welch had rejected IBM’s request for interest on those fees, but the appellate court reversed the decision and sent the matter back to Welch to determine the amount of interest IBM is owed. The court specified that the interest be calculated for the more than six years that have elapsed since another Marion County judge found in 2012 that Indiana owed IBM $49.5 million in state fees.

John Maley, one of the private attorneys representing Indiana in the case, called Friday’s ruling “a significant victory for Hoosier taxpayers.” He said the state’s attorneys believe Welch ruled correctly on the interest issue and that they will be conferring with state officials “regarding that narrow legal issue and possible further review.”

IBM spokesman Doug Shelton said the New York-based company is disappointed by the ruling and plans to appeal.

“IBM invested significant resources in its partnership with the state to help turn around a welfare system described at the time by Indiana’s governor as one of the worst in the nation,” he said in a statement.

Indiana and IBM sued each other in 2010 after then-Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, cancelled the $1.3 billion contract that his administration reached with the company to privatize and automate the processing of Indiana’s welfare applications.

Under that deal, an IBM-led team of vendors worked to process applications for food stamps, Medicaid and other benefits. Residents could apply for the benefits through call centers, the internet and fax machines. But the contract was pulled in late 2009, less than three years into the 10-year deal, following complaints about long wait times, lost documents and improper rejections.

Not mentioned in the article is that former Assistant State House Assistant Leader Eric Turner had owned a building which was then leased by ACS to be used as a welfare call center. IR and the late great Gary Welsh have blogged about Turners legal and ethical issues.

It’s extremely frustrating to the IR crew and those of us on the front lines of fighting the most corrupt state government in the nation that this whole shit show over at FSSA is still going on. But as long as it is we and others like us will continue to report it. Don’t worry Gary. Your crusade will continue and intensify. Until our state is rebuilt. Good night and God Bless!

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Great Scott! New Polls in Wisconsin Show Governor Walker Losing Bid for Third Term in November

Governor Scott Walker RINO-Wisconsin

If recent polling coming out of the Badger State is reliable. Than Fake Conservative/Republican Governor Scott Walker maybe looking for another job after November. Yesterday over at The Hill Justin Wise reported on a new poll that put's Walker behind his probable Democratic opponent Tony Evers the Wisconsin State School Superintendent. Wise reported:

The survey, which was released on Monday, found that Evers leads Walker 48 percent to 41 percent, with 7 percent of voters still undecided. Emerson College notes that a deciding factor in this race could be Walker's waning approval among independents in the state. Walker has an approval rating of 34 percent among independents, according to the poll. 
Meanwhile, Evers, who is the state schools superintendent, has a 47 percent approval among independents. 
Wise mentions that this is the second poll in the last week to show Walker falling behind Evers: 
The Emerson poll is the second one in less than a week that has Walker trailing in his bid for a third term as governor. A NBC News/Marist poll last Thursday found that Walker was trailing his likely Democratic challenger by 13 points, or 54 percent to 41 percent. Earlier this year Walker warned that a “blue wave” could hit the state in the midterm elections. In his warning he claimed that “big government special interests” will “target me and work to undo our bold reforms.”
IR will of course be keeping an eye on Walker's race and we are interested to see if he will win another term. Like Paul Ogden and the late, great Gary Welsh our readers can count all of the IR posse among the group of conservative republicans who are not fans of Scott Walker's. Lest our readers were to remain unaware back in 2015 Governor Walker signed into law a $500 Million tax increase to subsidize the NBA Milwaukee Bucks so that the team could build a new sports arena. Paul Ogden and Gary Welsh wrote about Walker's fleecing of Wisconsin taxpayers and betrayal of conservative principles here, here, and here. Let's see if Scotty can weasel his way into another term so that he can live off the taxpayers for another four years.






Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Paul Ogden Nails GOP’s Worthless Hoosier Senate Choices

Earlier today our good friend Paul Ogden wrote a good article discussing why none of the three losers running in the GOP Senate Primary are worthy of support by true conservatives. The only thing IR wants is for Todd Rokita to lose the Senate Primary at this point. As one man said: “If you want people to vote, give us candidates.” Good luck voting in today’s primary.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

We Need More Gadflies Not Less

Gadfly
noun, plural gadflies 
1. any of various flies (such as a horsefly, botfly, or warble fly) that bite or annoy livestock
2. a person who stimulates or annoys other people especially by persistent criticism  
  • a political gadfly


IR, Paul Ogden, Charlie White have all been accused of being gadflies. Usually meant to convey the impression that people like us exist only to irritate or annoy others with our blogging and activism. We will not speak for Misters Ogden and White. Speaking for ourselves we choose to hold public officials and others accountable when they act contrary to the values they are supposed to uphold. If by speaking truth to power we irritate some people we say GOOD! If it was not for gadflies like Paul Ogden and the late great Gary Welsh. Dick Lugar would still be decomposing in his Senate seat from a state in which he has not resided since 1977. A more recent example of the need for gadflies is provided in Paul Ogden's most recent post Indianapolis Terminates Ballard-Era Electric/Hybrid Car Contract; Will Blue Indy Be Next? Paul discusses how after several years of him and the late great Gary Welsh banging the drum against former Indianapolis Greg Ballard's Indy-Vision boondoggle. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett has decided to cancel this ill advised deal. Yes it took many years. But the point is that the contract was eventually cancelled. Not all of our heroes share our enthusiasm for being the monkey in the wrench of our political parties. Jonah Goldberg of National Review and host of the outstanding "The Remnant" podcast voiced his opinion of how he feels having to be the political odd man out:



Although we can understand Jonah's frustration we cannot share it to any significant degree. We tend to share the view of The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol in this matter:




On that note we would also say that if we are going to be the skunk's on the Republican Parties lawn we might as all stink together!


Monday, February 12, 2018

Is Blogging Worth It? Yes it is!

It has been almost two years since IR started to opine on the Central Indiana Blogsphere. We started writing a short time before our good friend Gary Welsh passed away. At first we thought we had to write as often as Gary did in order to be a good blogger. But as we have continued to speak our minds on the things that matter most to us. We have experienced great joy. We have managed to increase our output greatly since we began. But we no longer feel a need to compete against our friends Gary Welsh, Paul Ogden or Jon Easter. Don’t get us wrong we look up to all of these men and strive to have the same good qualities they do. But we must be ourselves above all. We miss Gary Welsh to this day and we feel his loss now as much as we did when he died. But we also feel as much gratitude and brotherly affection for him and his work as we ever did. All of our lives are better off that he lived. IR has gained to our great satisfaction an excellent readership. We only have hundreds not the thousands of daily readers that Advance Indiana had and our readership is still far below that of our friend Paul Ogden’s Ogden on Politics blog. But we have never been happier. Pliny the Elder said: 
“True glory consists in doing what deserves to be written; in writing what deserves to be read; and in so living as to make the world happier for our living in it.”

Gary Welsh, Paul Ogden, Jon Easter and ourselves have made the world around us happier for having lived in it. So we will keep firing away as we deem necessary at the villains of the world. We must do so on our own terms and no one else’s. We would encourage anyone who wants to blog to do so. But always remember that your blog should help lift you up not wear you down. If it starts to wear you down take a break. The world will not stop nor will the sun stop shining if you take time away from blogging.

For a thoughtful treatise on being yourself click here to read this piece by Joyce Meyer. 

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Former Indianapolis Prosecutor's Law license suspended after altering public records

Sorry to just be now reporting on this. The IR team has been very busy as of late. WRTV 6's Jordan Fischer had an interesting report about a former Indianapolis Prosecutor whose law license has been suspended for falsifying public records. Jordan Fischer's report from October 18th, 2017 had this to say:

The Indiana Supreme Court has suspended a former Indianapolis city prosecutor’s law license for altering records of his communications with Call 6 Investigates.
Former deputy prosecutor Mark Pizur was terminated from his position in April 2016 after he admitting to doctoring public records. In a statement to the court, Pizur called the move a “total lapse of judgment.”

The records in question were email communications between Pizur and Call 6 Investigator Kara Kenney following the death of puppies at the city shelter. The puppies were delivered by dogs seized from Upton's Famous Pet Training Center as part of an ongoing case against the kennel.

Last week, the Indiana Supreme Court ordered Pizur to serve a 180-day suspension from practicing law, to begin Nov. 22.
Pizur’s law license will be automatically reinstated following that period.
The city of Indianapolis eventually returned the dogs to Upton after an agreement was reached in December 2016. In exchange, Upton agreed to dismiss several lawsuits against the city and halt pending records requests and complaints.

Alrighty Then! Let's just digest what WRTV has reported. Mark Pizur a former Indianapolis City Prosecutor has admitted he was guilty of doctoring public records that he gave to WRTV Reporter Kara Kenney and he gets a six month suspension with automatic reinstatement of his law license. But Paul Ogden who did nothing more than accurately point out that a judge was violating the lazy judge rule was slapped with a $10,000 fine and 30 day suspension of his law license with automatic readmission. Why is Pizur not at the very least facing jail time or at least a heavy fine? This does not seem like justice was served in this case. But we are not at all surprised. Back in 2014 Scott Storms a former Administrative Law Judge at the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission who was fired from the IURC for overseeing cases related to Duke Energy, while at the same time Mr. Storms was lobbying Duke Energy for a job. In that case Storms was only given a reprimand. Even though his actions may have caused serious problems for people all over Indiana. Paul Ogden and Gary Welsh reported on Scot Storms scandal here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here
For more information on Mark Pizur and the Upton Pet Training Center case. Please check out the following links:

Kudos to Jordan Fischer and Kara Kenney for all there good journalistic work. 





Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Cover up at the BMV?

If anyone out there thought that electing Eric "Bagman" Holcomb would clean up the BMV. Tony Cook's column "BMV fires supervisor and her son, won't give details"  shows just how irrational hope in Holcomb is. 

Tony Cook writes:

A supervisor at the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles and her son — also a BMV employee — have been fired after an internal fraud investigation. 

But the BMV is releasing few details about the firings, rekindling concerns about openness at an agency that has overcharged customers,  grappled with an ethics scandal and faced questions about politically motivated hirings.

Stacy Cox, the accounting supervisor at BMV's headquarters in Indianapolis, was terminated on March 21 for providing false information during an investigation by the agency's Fraud and Security Enforcement division. 

Apparently if the BMV is to be believed lying during an investigation runs in the family. Since Cook goes onto say:

Her son, Richard Cody Pringle, who also worked at the central office as a driver's license printer, was terminated two weeks later for the same reason.

The fraud investigation was prompted by the employees' personal vehicle transactions, including allegations of the employees submitting false monetary amounts paid for those vehicles, according to Ashley Hungate, a spokeswoman for the state personnel department.

In phone interviews, Cox and Pringle defended their actions as oversights rather than deliberate misconduct. 

IndyStar requested a copy of the fraud investigation reports, but the BMV refused to provide them. citing exemptions to the state's public records law regarding personnel matters. 

Such reports, however, are typically released when they involve non-employees.

Government watchdogs say the agency's decision to withhold reports involving BMV employees is concerning, especially since employees fired after fraud investigations have landed sensitive jobs with BMV contractors in the past.

Sarah Bonick, a spokeswoman for the BMV, said the agency must strike a balance between employee privacy and transparency. 

Cox told IndyStar the investigation began when she bought a vehicle from an Eastside junkyard, Barlow's Used Auto Parts, where her brother worked.

The vehicle turned out to be stolen. She said she was unaware that the vehicle was stolen when she bought it.

BMV investigators later found she had titled a box truck five years earlier in her name and listed the purchase price as $0, even though her then-boyfriend had paid for it, she said. 

The BMV takes such indiscretions seriously because they can muddy the vehicle's ownership history and allow the new owner to avoid title costs, which include a 7 percent sales tax based on the purchase price listed on the title.

Pringle said BMV investigators questioned him about several vehicles he bought or sold, including a pickup truck he purchased from the owner of Barlow's, where his uncle worked.

"They accused me of lying about how much I paid for it," Pringle said. "I can't remember the amounts."

He then sold that vehicle for $500 and "some handguns," he said, but only listed the $500 cash on the title work. He later told BMV investigators that there was only one handgun involved in the exchange, though in reality there were "three or four," he said.

"It was none of their business how many guns I traded for," he said. 

In another case, he purchased a vehicle for $2,000 from a friend, but paid only $100 in cash and agreed to work off the remaining $1,900 at his friend's shop, he said. So he listed $100 on the title work.

While the terminations may be justified, advocates of open government said the BMV should be more transparent about such situations. 

"As a citizen, I am always concerned when a government agency fails to be transparent regarding offenses or violations that occur at the hands of its employees," said Zachary Baiel, president of the Indiana Coalition for Open Government. "Without access to this information, the public cannot be assured the necessary accountability has been met."

Julia Vaughn, public policy director for Common Cause Indiana, shared her concerns.

"While keeping these records under wraps serves their immediate interest of avoiding public scrutiny about what happened here, in the long-term it’s just another reason for the public not to have faith in this agency," she said. "All I can think is there is information embarrassing to someone at a higher level who is still at the BMV."

IndyStar reported in 2015 that at least three fired BMV employees were later hired by a BMV contractor, where they continued to have access to sensitive information stored on BMV terminals. 

Two of the employees had been fired after a fraud investigation; the other was terminated for poor performance that supervisors said opened up the agency to potential fraud. 

As in this latest case, the BMV declined to release any of the FSE investigation reports related to those employees.

Bonick said the BMV now has safeguards to ensure that fired employees don't end up working in similar positions for outside contractors.

"All potential employees who will have access to BMV terminals or our transaction system while working for a contractor are vetted through the State Personnel Department and also the BMV’s Fraud and Security Enforcement Department," she said in an email. "Any former State of Indiana employee, not just those who previously worked for the BMV, who have been flagged as Not Eligible For Rehire are not approved."

The firings come after several turbulent years for the agency. Since 2013, the BMV has admitted to overcharging Hoosier motorists about $90 million in taxes and fees. Those overcharges have since been refunded, but one of two class-action lawsuits over the fees remains unresolved. 

Any IndyStar investigation in 2015 found that top BMV officials knew for years they were likely gouging Hoosier motorists with excessive fees, but chose to ignore or cover up the overcharges rather than refund the extra money and adjust to significant budget losses.

The financial mismanagement raised serious questions about the qualifications of several top BMV officials and the role that political connections played in their hiring.

IndyStar also found that Shawn Walters, the agency's former chief of staff, encouraged the use of a new fee, then went to work for a private vendor that benefited from it.

The series of controversies led then-Gov. Mike Pence to shake up BMV leadership and cancel the state's contract with the controversial outside vendor. The state ethics commission later fined Walters $500 for violating state ethics rules — an amount that government accountability experts criticized as too low. 

The BMV has since worked with lawmakers to streamline the state's complicated system of fees. 

Well we can all see why Holcomb didn't have a problem vetoing the controversial public records search fee bill. It is because he knows his lapdogs throughout state government will refuse to release records by claiming they relate to "personnel matters". As for BMV spokeswoman Sarah Bonick's stating they have to balance employee privacy with transparency. We ask: "Ms. Bonick how is that applicable in this case?" Cox and Pringle are no longer employed by the BMV. So how can the BMV say that by keeping their fraud investigation reports secret you are protecting employee privacy? Especially since reports are usually released when non-employees are involved? Even conceding that somehow the agency is interested in protecting Cox and Pringle's privacy. Cox and Pringle have given interviews to the Indianapolis Star. So obviously they are not concerned about their own privacy. So there is no reason for the BMV not to release the information. 

Last June we blogged about several BMV scandals and gave links to Gary Welsh, Paul Ogden and Charlie White's chronicling of all the BMV stupidity. IR must confess that Julia Vaughn's saying "All I can think is there is information embarrassing to someone at a higher level who is still at the BMV." Has all of us thinking this is more likely than not the reason for the BMV's being so reluctant to release the information in this case. But if so who at the BMV stands to be embarrassed by this and why? For the record IR is not saying that this is anything other than a simple fraud investigation. That we don't know. But given the BMV's troubled history. Our natural inclination is to assume a cover up. Unless we are given reason to believe otherwise. If you have any information, rumors or tips. Please leave a comment at the end of this post. Or on the web version of this blog fill out the contact form and submit it. 

From all of us here at IR we wish you all a good rest of the week. And remember stay positive.




Thursday, April 6, 2017

Carl Brizzi's Law License Suspended for 30 Days

Last night WRTV reported that former Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi has been suspended from the practice of law for 30 days. For advocates of good government Carl Brizzi has been a major irritation for many years. Gary Welsh and Paul Ogden have chronicled his nefarious legal career on their blogs. WRTV's report starts out with the disclaimer that Brizzi in the past has served as an on air legal analyst in the past. Jordan Fischer over at WRTV writes:


The suspension stems from two incidents in 2008 and 2009 while Brizzi was still serving as prosecutor.
Brizzi was accused in 2008 of failing to disclose a 50-percent stake in a real estate venture with former criminal defense attorney Paul Page. An investigation by the Indiana Supreme Court's Disciplinary Commission ultimately said the evidence showed that the omission was inadvertent, and found no violation.
A second incident in 2009, also involved Page, drew more condemnation from the disciplinary commission.
In a disciplinary order filed Wednesday, the commission pointed to "high unusual" intervention by Brizzi in instructing his chief deputy to allow a criminal defendant being represented by Page to a class "D" felony rather than a class "C" felony.
Brizzi told RTV6 last year he thought the issue had been settled after he received two letters from the disciplinary commission in March 2015 saying there was no
reasonable cause to believe that you are guilty of misconduct which would warrant disciplinary conduct."

But then in May 2016, the commission filed a verified complaint for disciplinary action against Brizzi in connection to three alleged incidents of professional misconduct.
"They sent a letter last year stating all matters were closed," Brizzi told RTV6 last year. "The disciplinary commission's pursuit is surprising given their representations plus the fact that the matter is eight years old."
The Supreme Court's ruling will prohibit Brizzi – who now operates a private law practice in Fishers – from practicing law for 30 days, beginning May 1.
His license will be reinstated following his 30-day suspension. 

Longtime readers of Advance Indiana and Ogden On Politics will recognize the name Paul Page. Page was at the center of the bungled federal prosecution of real estate mogul John Bales. The failed prosecution involved the leasing of a property in Elkhart to the Indiana Department of Child Services. Gary Welsh writing on this years ago says:


Brizzi didn't pay anything to gain a 50% stake in that Elkhart building that was leased to the Department of Child Services under a sweetheart deal. This came after he decided not to pursue a criminal investigation of DCS officials in the Tajanay Bailey case that he had announced months earlier, an agency that coincidentally employs his ex-wife. The sweetheart lease deal was brokered with the same guy representing the state with whom he executed a sweetheart lease deal for office space for the prosecutor's office.


To the amazement of many then US Attorney now Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett decided instead of prosecuting Brizzi that he instead be referred to the Indiana Attorney Disciplinary Commission for possible disciplinary action. Tajanay Bailey was a 3 year old girl that was killed by her mother's boyfriend. At the time serious questions arose as to the conduct of various Department of Child Services workers in Tajanay Bailey's case. Back in 2007 soon after Tajanay's death Brizzi promised a full investigation into the matter. Strangely no such investigation to our knowledge has ever taken place. Advance Indiana wrote about the case:


Many of you will recall the tragic killing of 3-year-old Tajanay Bailey in November, 2007. She was beaten to death by her mother's live-in boyfriend at the troubled Phoenix Apartments where she and her mother lived. Subsequent new stories told a troubling tale of how case workers for the Indiana Department of Child Services had badly failed in their mission to protect children like Tajanay. According to a story in the Indianapolis Star, Marion Co. Prosecutor Carl Brizzi expressed deep concern about DCS's handling of the case and promised a complete and full investigation. Specifically, Brizzi wanted to know why DCS officials had failed to notify police after they learned Tajanay had been physically abused in the home in 2006 and why she had been returned to that same home. At the time Brizzi made those comments, Tajanay's tragic killing was all over the news. As time passed, we never heard from Brizzi again about DCS.

We now know that DCS entered into a lease agreement with L&BAB LLC in 2008 to lease a 13,000 square foot building for $248,500 a year that the business had acquired in Elkhart, Indiana only five months after the company purchased the building in February, 2008 and just three months after Brizzi said he planned to investigate DCS' handling of the Tajanay Bailey case. According to the IBJ, the 50-50 owners of L&BAB are Carl Brizzi and Paul Page. Brizzi was not required to pay anything to L&BAB for his 50 percent stake in the company. The deal raised eyebrows of many people in the legal community, largely because Page represented a number of criminal defense clients adverse to Brizzi's office at the time and other questions have been raised about whether Brizzi cut favors for Page's clients. Did the investigation of DCS' handling of the Tajanay Bailey case suffer because of the business deal Brizzi and his partner struck with the agency? It's a fair question to ask in light of recent disclosures about decisions his office has made.


Carl Brizzi also has gained notice for his bungling of the case of former Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White. Brizzi as upset as he maybe by having his law license suspended. Old Carl B is glad that he is only receiving a 30 day suspension instead of hard prison time that the rest of us "little people" would receive. He is certainly getting off much easier than Paul Ogden did in front of the Disciplinary Commission. Mr. Ogden was fined $10,000 and given a 30 day suspension for simply criticizing a judge in an email. Never mind that the judge in question had been removed from the case that Mr. Ogden was speaking of in his email under the lazy judge rule. For further details of Paul Ogden's kangaroo court farce click here. We would encourage everyone out there to post comments on every site you can find carrying Brizzi's suspension story. And point out how Brizzi is getting less than a slap on the wrist when he deserves much worse. Email all the legislatures, the Governor's office, and every media outlet in Indiana. Also call all the newspapers, radio and TV stations and demand they run stories that detail Brizzi's sordid past in detail. If they refuse then leave comment's online, start your own blog's, don't let up. Keep the pressure on. Worse case you just simply make the Indianapolis Media Complex miserable. Don't ever give up. And to the parasites of the political class out there. Gary Welsh's followers are mad as hell! We will honor and continue Gary's quest until you are all defeated! Let us all comrades turn to the song stylings of the great Twisted Sister's song for inspiration and motivation: