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Showing posts with label Things to make you jump for joy!. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Things to make you jump for joy!. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Happy 91st Birthday Captain Kirk


William Shatner, 91 years old and still our Captain


In a dose of some much needed good news, William Shatner best know for his role as the inimitable Captain James T. Kirk, turned 91 years old today! Comicbook.com has the story:

Shatner has enjoyed a 70-year career in entertainment, including his iconic role in Star Trekoriginating the character of Captain James T Kirk of the USS Enterprise. He's also had an eventful year, becoming the oldest person ever in space by joining a Blur Origin flight, seeing movement on TekWar reboot, and welcoming new Kirk actor Paul Wesley. Shatner has a dedicated fanbase and friends in the industry who are celebrating his birthday on social media today.

We here at IR join in wishing Mister Shatner a happy 91st birthday, and to Mister Shatner may you still have the same youthful enthusiasm and zest for life, if you ever do reach old age! 


Monday, December 24, 2018

INDY REPUBLICAN Wishes Everyone A Merry Christmas

We at IR have thoroughly enjoyed blogging these past two and a half years. We want all of you to enjoy yourselves and Have a very Merry Christmas. Here is Burl Ives to help us celebrate Christmas:



Sunday, December 23, 2018

Brett Baier Sings Rapper’s Delight w/The Sugarhill Gang

We are all looking forward to Christmas Eve tomorrow and we wanted to remind you that Christmas is truly the most wonderful time of the year. So in that vein we wanted to share with you Bret Baier the host of Fox News Special Report’s rendition of that indelible ditty “Rapper’s Delight”. He not only sings it well and with a Christmas themed jacket. He also sings it on stage with The Sugarhill Gang themselves!

Here it is Brett Baier singing “Rapper’s Delight”:

Friday, November 17, 2017

$1 Billion Trucking Fees Lawsuit filed against Eric Holcomb's Administration


It seems that Governor Eric "Bagman" Holcomb just got dragged into the middle of a huge knock down drag-out fight with fellow Indiana Republican and attorney Jim Bopp. The great Tony Cook of the Indianapolis Star reports on the upcoming slugfest between Holcomb and Bopp:

A class-action lawsuit accuses the state of Indiana of illegally collecting more than $1 billion in fees from truckers across the nation — and could set up a high-stakes showdown between two top Indiana Republicans. 

The lawsuit filed Friday in Marion County Superior Court accuses the Indiana Department of Revenue of collecting annual Unified Carrier Registration fees from hundreds of thousands of truckers across the nation without authorization under Indiana law.

The attorney behind the lawsuit is Jim Bopp, a high-powered Republican attorney from Terre Haute best known for representing Citizens United in a U.S. Supreme Court case that overturned restrictions on political spending by corporations, nonprofits and labor unions.

His client is the Small Business in Transportation Coalition, a trucking industry trade group with a colorful and controversial leader who recently organized a parade of big rigs in Washington D.C. to promote expanded gun rights and who has been accused by the Federal Trade Commission of deceptive business practices.

On the other side of the lawsuit is the administration of Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb — specifically the Indiana Department of Revenue and its commissioner, Adam Krupp.

A spokeswomen for Holcomb did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment on the lawsuit. A spokeswoman for the Department of Revenue said she couldn't immediately comment on pending litigation.

"I’m a conservative who does not want to see government overreaching, taxing people and collecting money unless the people authorize it through the legislature," Bopp said. "What’s important to me is that government stays within its bounds. This has got to be one of the most expensive violations of law that I’ve seen."

Indeed, the stakes could be huge.
Indiana handles registrations and fees on behalf of 41 states under the so-called Unified Carrier Registration Plan, a federally authorized compact that allows interstate truckers to register and pay fees just once a year, rather than in multiple states. 
Bopp said the state collects $100 million a year in UCR fees from close to 400,000 truckers a year. The fees depend on the size of the fleet, the form of payment and location of the truck's home base, but begin at $76 per vehicle, according to the lawsuit. 
"Without such authority under Indiana law, INDOR’s nationwide collection of the UCR-related fees is unlawful and every trucker since 2008 is entitled to a refund of these illegally collected fees," Bopp said.
The lawsuit comes four months after the state settled the second of two class-action lawsuits over unauthorized Bureau of Motor Vehicle fees. Between settlements and voluntary refunds, the BMV admitted to overcharging Hoosier drivers more than $115 million over 15 years.

Well INDY REPUBLICAN doesn't know enough about this particular lawsuit to comment on the merits of Mr. Bopp's case. But Bopp's legal skills are good and he is not crazy. So for him to file such a lawsuit means that he thinks that it is a good case. So far as Governor Eric Holcomb has continued the tax-and-spend legacy of his master Mitch Daniels. It will be interesting to see just how this all goes down. Bopp is also a former Vice Chair of the Republican National Committee and has been a Republican National Committeeman from Indiana. Not exactly somebody that Holcomb wants to get into a fight with. Here's to old Eric getting his ass kicked!

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Angie's List selling it's East-Side Indianapolis Office

To all our readers IR apologizes for the delay in reporting this news. The staff has had a busy week. On Monday October 9th, 2017 Jared Council writing for the Indianapolis Business Journal reported that the Indianapolis based front um we mean business Angie's List has decided it is time to sell their east-side business campus.

Council reported:

ANGI Homeservices Inc. has listed for sale the entire Angie's List corporate campus, a 17.5-acre property that helped revitalize a section of Indianapolis just east of downtown—but one that ANGI wants nothing to do with.
Colorado-based ANGI—which debuted as a public company Oct. 2 after Angie's List Inc. merged with HomeAdvisor—announced Monday that it is selling the property for the best offer. The campus, headquartered at 1030 E. Washington St., is made up of 41 parcels with 25 buildings, 1,000 parking spaces and 190,000 square feet of office space.
The local office of Chicago-based JLL is the listing real estate brokerage.
It remains to be seen how much interest it will attract, whether one buyer will want it all, and whether the next owner (or owners) plans to be an occupant or an investor.
Abbe Hohmann, president of Indianapolis-based Site Strategies Advisory LLC, said the campus might see some interest—but it could be tough to get one buyer. Hohmann was involved in Indianapolis Public Schools' $1.65 million sale of the former Ford plant on East Washington Street to TWG Development Inc. The Ford plant is across the street from Angie's campus on a 3.6-acre lot.
"We had five bidders, so there are people looking at that East Washington Street corridor," Hohmann said. "But I think the challenge will be having one group want to buy all of that."
JLL listing agent Matt Waggoner said ANGI will accept offers until Nov. 3 and hopes to finalize a buyer or buyers by the middle of next year, when it will move affected employees to new space. He said ANGI's preference is to sell the property to one buyer, but is not ruling out offloading it in pieces.
"One of the huge benefits of this campus ... is that it's one of the biggest developable parcels in proximity to downtown," Waggoner said. "It's got a lot of parking, it's got a lot of good infrastructure and buildings, so it creates a lot of flexibility for future buyers."

There aren't many potential occupants known to be looking for 190,000 square feet of space.

Angie's List started renting east-side buildings and lots in 2000 and grew its footprint over time. In November 2012, while in the midst of adding 500 employees to the roughly 1,000 it already had, it decided to purchase those parcels—about 40—for $6.25 million.
The seller was Henry Amalgamated, a property company in which former Angie's List CEO Bill Oesterle was a 70 percent owner.
ANGI's decision is hardly a surprise. Since the merger was announced in May, officials charged with leading the new company expressed interest in cutting costs and simplifying operations. And it just doesn't need that much space. Angie's List downsized from about 2,200 employees in mid-2014 to about 1,000 today..
Angie's List and HomeAdvisor are separate brands under ANGI. Both entities plan to maintain separate operations in Indianapolis—at least for now. ANGI CEO Chris Terrill told IBJ last week that his vision is for the two brands to occupy the same office space, but that may come down the road.

We need not worry about Angie's List finding a buyer for their campus. Surely Bill Oesterle or Angie Hicks can use their political pull business acumen to find someone to by the property above market value! Let's help Paul Ogden and the late great Gary Welsh finally drive a stake through the heart of the Indianapolis vampire known as Angie's List.


Sunday, August 6, 2017

Indy Republican appreciates your support on the Carmel Carousel Petition


This past week we have published several blog posts. Covering the efforts by Tim Hannon and several other patriots in Carmel to try and stop RINO Mayor Jim Brainard and the Carmel City Council, from further raiding taxpayers money. We have received an extremely positive response to our posts and also have received many thousands of visitors to our site. A special thanks is due to Eric Morris of Veterans for Peace, Indianapolis for making all of us aware of this situation before the Indianapolis Star reported on it. We are not knocking the Star in this instance. The piece written by Andrew Clark was well written. We are just thrilled that we were able to bring Mr. Hannon's petition to your attention before anyone else did. You can read our posts on the Carmel petition fight here and here.

We would like to end this blog post by directing your attention to the following blogs that we feel are deserving of your support. We do not agree with everything on these blogs. And in some cases we disagree with them much of the time. But all of these blogs provide a valuable service and are worthy of your support and please spread the word about this blog and the following blogs.

Eric Morris's Veterans for Peace, Indianapolis blog: http://veteransforpeaceindianapolis.blogspot.com/?m=1

Paul Ogden's Ogden on Politics: http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/?m=1




Jon Easter's Indy Democrat: http://indydemocrat.blogspot.com/?m=1

Matt Stone's Indy Student/Matthew Stone dot org: http://indystudent.blogspot.com/?m=1





Thursday, May 25, 2017

Indy Republicans Guide to Taking Back The GOP

Introduction

Greetings Friends and fellow Rabble Rousers. The time has come to discuss just how we will take back the Indiana Republican Party. And to make the state party the home of real  republicans. Throughout out this state and around the country we continue to hear from countless disgruntled republicans. Men, women and young people who are frustrated and angry at being betrayed time after time by the party of Reagan and Lincoln. Some stay republicans but are only active at election time. Others leave the GOP and become Democrats, Independents, or Libertarians. The few the wisest, bravest, and the best of us work within and outside the party for change and reform.

It is not an easy path that we the disciples of constitutionalism walk. For those of us who pitch our tent in the GOP. We have it the hardest. Only the most stubborn, anti-social and independent of republicans cling to and fight for our principles within the GOP against the establishment who wants to destroy all philosophical differences and replace us with unfeeling demon robots from hell. Men and women who exist only to be a harlot to service the filthy wants and whims of their masters.

The biggest problems with the Hoosier GOP include the reduced role of elected precinct committee men and women in favor of appointed pc's. The refusal to advocate for good government such as the recent move to charge citizens search fees for public records, the increasing politicalization of state government by elimination in 2011 of the Merit System of Employment. The abandonment of free market capitalist principles with the establishment of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation to serve as a way to curry political favors with donors and lobbyists. By abandoning the principles of enforcing state ethics laws by the appointment of the Governor of the states Inspector General and making them a servant of the governor.



Since we have briefly put forth the problems of the Hoosier GOP. It is time for us to outline how we shall chip away and ultimately destroy the establishment. And what policies, laws, and reforms we will pursue and move the GOP center of gravity back towards the individual citizens of Indiana and the United States.

This will be a long, difficult task. It may take decades perhaps centuries to achieve our goals. Ultimately however we will win. So if you don't wish to take part back away now. But if you feel the calling to reform the Hoosier state. If the thought of holding your heads high and facing reality fearlessly and with a smile is what you want. If you would rather die than passively accept the sin, evil, and vice that plagues us in Indiana. Then proceed with us.

Now are you ready to rumble?

Since you have decided to join our holy quest. It's time to layout strategy.


Strategy


We face battles on many fronts. Our approach must therefore be against several targets but the methods we will be using will be similar against each.



Target #1
The Media

If we are to reform the Republican Party we must convince enough of the general and voting population of the rightness of our cause. We must also make the public aware of the corruption in our political system and explain why it must be stopped. The media is the main source of information for most people. Whether they be working class or executives. At this time unfortunately our voices within the Indiana press with some exceptions are very few.
In our state much of the media establishment of the major newspapers and television stations is run out of Indianapolis. These outlets are run by a relatively small number of people. Most of whom have an interest in not rocking the status quo. Their reasons can vary from being money grubbing power seekers to just believing they know better how to run our lives than we do. However there are still members of the Indianapolis and National press who still do a decent job at being journalists. We will list the "good journalists" shortly. In order to make the Indiana press start doing there jobs we the people must keep up non stop pressure on the press to do their jobs. As far as Establishment hack reporters like Tim Swarens and Matt Tully of the Indianapolis Star. Most likely Matt, Tim and their fellow travelers in the press will never stop pandering to the Powers that Be. In order to further our goals of having a world class media in Indiana we must work to change the media culture in this state. Here are Indy Republicans steps to reforming the media:

1. Whenever and by whomever good journalism is practiced by compliment the journalist. Contact them by Facebook, Email, Twitter, and tell them and others about there good work. Everyone needs some positive reinforcement. At the very least it will bring attention to genuine talent and greatness. 

2. If you know of something not being reported by the newspapers, radio or tv stations that should be reported make the media and others aware of these stories.

3. If the media refuses to carry the stories. Than contact Paul Ogden, Jon Easter, or fill out the contact form on the web version of the INDY REPUBLICAN blog site. And we will all do our best to get the information out there.

4. We must create and innovative in order to change the Indiana media. We encourage you all to not only share and publicize Ogden on Politics, Indy Republican and Jon Easter's Indy Democrat blogs. But to create and start your own blogs. Creating groups on social media to respond to cases of media bias and omission is a must. Such groups could fact check news stories and call out the Indianapolis press corp when it falls down on the job. Some ideas for group names are: the Ogden Brigade, Easter's Men, the Welsh Saints (in honor of the late Gary Welsh), and IR's Crusaders all have some good rings to them. 

5. Keep in touch with and support the "good" journalists. The following are journalists who are if not in complete sympathy with our aims. At the very least they aren't overly hostile to us. Kara Kenney and Rafael Sanchez at WRTV-6 are decent journalists. Nikki Kelly of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, Tony Cook, Fatima Hussein of the Indianapolis Star are good and original thinkers. Dan Carden of the Northwest Indiana Times is worth reading and check his twitter feed for good information. Hayleigh Colombo of the Indianapolis Business Journal. Rob Kendall at WYRZ-FM was a good friend of Gary Welsh and is worth listening to. At the national news level Tom Lobianco and Jake Tapper at CNN are solid guys. Liberal but good journalists they are. Eric Shawn of Fox News is a good guy. Lastly Bernard Goldberg of BernardGoldberg.com is a no nonsense man. All of these men and women are worth following and much can be learned from them.

Target #2
Local Government Officials and State Legislators

All politics is local. Getting the voters on our side will only pay dividends if we are able to have allies at both the local governmental level and in the state legislature. To that end we must elect good men and women to office. Staying engaged at the local level is absolutely essential. It is at this level we can get our feet in the door. Challenge elected officials to enforce the laws, to enact true, just and objective laws. And to repeal laws that destroy the God given and natural rights of man. When your officials do good tell them why you appreciate their service. When they fall short tell them. If they don't shape up. Then run against them. Keep after every mediocrity that is a lawmaker until either they are defeated or quit. Our elected officials are supposed to work for us. REMIND them of this. Make it so that they are so terrified to betray their oath of office that the mere thought of it makes them ill. We will win our struggle over a long period of time. It will little by little that we chip away at Indiana's Bi-Partisan Cabal. We will be as a million mosquitoes taking down an elephant. But take it down we will. 

Target #3
Taking Back the Indiana Republican Party 

This is the hardest nut we must crack. Which is all the more reason we need to pound away at the INGOP until there are no party hacks left standing. To retake the Hoosier Grand Old Party we must break up the good old boy network that is the leadership elite of our party. There are a good number of activists in Marion County who are working to take back the party from Bob Grand and Joe Loftus. Paul Ogden has worked tirelessly to fight the establishment in Marion County. His efforts are valuable and must continue. But retaking the party will have to be done by starting outside Marion County. For now our efforts must be focused on building up pro liberty County GOP organizations throughout the state. From their we will advance resolutely and gather more and more territory. Until we are in a position to challenge what remains of the so called Republican Party of Marion County. Contrary to the delusional press releases of the Marion County Party and it's propaganda ministers. The party has been losing ground and bleeding support for the last twenty years. Unless drastic course corrections are made within 5 to 10 years the Marion County GOP will be reduced to a wholly owned subsidiary of the Marion County Democratic Party. It is best to simply let the party in the Circle City implode and to get as far away as we can. To build up our strength throughout the state's other 91 County parties. We must keep the local parties focused on good government reform. We must oppose all republicans who are anti freedom. At the same time we must identify and elect pro-freedom candidates. We can't fight everywhere so we must focus all our energies into where we can win. 

Conclusion 

Above we have put out in general terms our ideas for reclaiming the Hoosier state. Later we plan to publish policy proposals. For now this should work as a starting framework to achieve our goals. Any suggestions or ideas are of course always welcome.





Monday, April 24, 2017

Governor Holcomb stands up for Hoosiers Vetos Anti-Public Records Bill!

Good evening boys and girls! This is a first for us here at IR. We are actually going to give a compliment to Governor Eric Holcomb. In our last blog post we called on Hoosiers everywhere to contact Governor Holcomb and ask him to veto HB 1523 or as we call it "Death of Public Records Act". The Indianapolis Business Journal has the story here:


Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb used the first stroke of his veto pen Monday afternoon on a bill that would have allowed state and local government agencies to charge a fee to citizens for public records requests that required more than two hours of work.
In a letter to House Speaker Brian Bosma, Holcomb wrote that the legislation was “contrary to my commitment to providing great government service at a great value for Hoosier taxpayers.”
“Providing access to public records is a key part of the work public servants perform and is important from a government transparency standpoint,” Holcomb wrote. “I do not support policies that create burdensome obstacles to the public gaining access to public documents.”
The measure by Rep. Kathy Richardson, R-Noblesville, would have allowed state and local government agencies to charge the lesser of $20 per hour or the hourly wage of the employee completing the search, after the first two hours spent working on the request.
The bill required a "good faith effort" to complete the search within a reasonable amount of time but did not set out who would audit agencies or hold them accountable.


The Indiana Coalition for Open Government had urged Holcomb to veto the proposal, calling it a step to "make government less open and insufficiently accountable" by adding barriers to access.
Indiana's chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists also opposed the bill.
Holcomb said he understood the intent behind the bill and said he supported a provision that would require public agencies to provide electronic copies of public records.
“Finally, I believe there are steps that can be taken administratively to streamline and improve the process for fulfilling public records requests, and I have charged my office to examine the best ways to provide public transparency and access to public records at the highest possible value to taxpayers,” Holcomb said.


We would like to make clear that this post should not be taken to mean that our already low opinion of Eric Holcomb has changed. It has not. But when any public official does something we view as praise worthy. We are big enough to say so. We also would like to congratulate the Indiana Coalition for Open Government and the Society of Professional Journalists on their efforts to defend all our freedoms! No word on yet on what kind of input Governor Holcomb received over this bill. Not sure if he got the singing telegram or not! Word around the capitol is that Gary Welsh's ghost maybe haunting some of the lawmakers! We cannot comment on that. However it is safe to say that the influence of Gary Welsh lives on. And his influence will not end! Thank you Gary for inspiring us all here to make this a more positive state and planet.


Here is a little song to celebrate our victory:










Monday, March 6, 2017

Indiana Will Be Restored!

Good evening friends. As all of you out there have been witness to  the sin and vice that makes up much of the world around us. It is only natural to feel discouraged and beaten down at times. What must be kept in mind is that any trouble no matter what is only temporary. IR's staff is besieged with inquiries as to how to fight back and reclaim our state and our nation. The answer is multilayered but part of the answer is it is not just enough to expose the darkness in our world. We must also practice and promote positive active goodness in our own lives. Gary Welsh was and still is a great man. He was wonderful at fighting and exposing the corruption of today. But one area our dear departed comrade sometimes fell short in was in not focusing on what is right in our lives and the goodness we can and will accomplish. We can say with the utmost confidence that Indiana and the rest of these United States shall achieve great heights and continue to be the "shining city on the hill" that will be respected by all good people everywhere. We can say this due to what we see and hear everyday. There are people who are striving to achieve goodness and who choose not to give into the darkness. Even if they are not readily visible they exist and you can be one of them. At IR we don't write to get readers. We have readers so that we may write. We have received much great feedback since we started almost a year ago. We all were inspired to our lives calling by the writing of Gary Welsh, Paul Ogden, Jon Easter, Charlie White and many others like them. Perhaps we are planting the seeds for more such men and women to emerge and say to the powers that be: "Enough"! We are not naive this process will take sometime. Decades or more possibly. But the more we get out the truth, the more shackles are broken the sooner we will achieve our values. Let us dedicate ourselves to the "great task remaining" Each day we shall continue to work for the emancipation of the spirit of mankind. We are the disciples of reason and the soldiers of freedom! Let us stand together and show the world the spirit of Gary Welsh is not only not dead but is just barely started it's fight for goodness!

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Residency Issue Cost Former Indiana School's Superintendent Tony Bennett a seat on the Clark County Council

Finally some good news this week for a change! Earlier today it was reported that former State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett was originally set to be appointed to a seat on the Clark County Council. But apparently is ineligible to take the seat because he has not resided in the county for the required period of time need to serve on the council. Elizabeth Beilman writing for the News and Tribune reports on this issue:


Former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett won't be serving on the Clark County Council after all, as he doesn't meet the residency requirements to hold office.
State law requires office holders must have lived in the district they represent for at least six months and within the county for at least a year.
The Clark County Assessor's office recorded Bennett became the owner of his Jeffersonville home Sept. 8, which doesn't meet the six-month requirement to live within the council district. His former home in New Albany was transferred to a new owner Aug. 29.
Bennett confirmed Thursday he has only lived in Clark County about six months, having previously lived in Floyd County.
"I'm not aware of any [such law]," he told the News and Tribune when informed by the newspaper of the residency requirement. "Frankly, I would assume [Clark County GOP Chairman Jamey Noel] would know that."


Bennett said he would step aside and allow someone else to fill the seat.
"I had no intentions of running when the two years were up," he said of the District 2 term. "I strictly saw this as serving the county."
Attorney Larry Wilder, often hired to represent local Republicans, took fault.
"Sometimes when you have lawyers that don't read every word in a statute, they give bad advice," Wilder said. "Tony and I talked about the opening, and I spoke with [Noel] as well, and they both asked a question about eligibility to serve and quite honestly, I made a mistake."
Bennett was one of two Republicans caucused onto the board Wednesday evening in a surprise move. But Bennett wasn't named to fill the seat vacated by Mike Popplewell, who resigned amid misdemeanor charges.
Instead, Bennett was going to represent District 2. Brian Lenfert, sitting District 2 councilman, was elected to fill Popplewell's at-large seat.
A call to Noel was not immediately returned.


Chelsea Schneider one of the only good reporters left at the Langley-Run Indianapolis Star had this to say:


Former Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett returned to Hoosier politics this week — but his stay was brief.
Bennett had been appointed to the Clark County Council in Southern Indiana on Wednesday. But a day later, Bennett said he would no longer serve after the News and Tribune reported he hadn’t lived in the county long enough to hold the office. State law requires a council member to live in the county for at least one year. Bennett told the newspaper he had lived in Clark County for about six months.
The development is the latest chapter in the high-profile Republican’s political career. He took a break after losing re-election as state schools chief in 2012 and resigning as the Florida education commissioner a year later.
After his selection, Bennett told IndyStar Wednesday that filling the vacancy was an “opportunity to do something that I think is really positive.”
“It’s just to serve the community I grew up in in a very positive way,” Bennett said. “I wanted to be a service to our county given my background. I have a good understanding of fiscal policy and budgeting.”
After learning he was ineligible for the seat, Bennett told the News and Tribune that he “had no intentions of running” when the current term was up.
Bennett and Clark County GOP Chair Jamey Noel didn’t immediately return requests for comment.


We are over joyed to hear that at least for now that Tony Bennett will not being serving in public office. It appears that his attempt to serve on the Clark County Council just went "A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-wop-bam-boom!" Couldn't have happened to a nicer lowlife! One can't help but wonder if Tony Bennett is thinking about why they chose to apply local residency law to him when so many other office holders have flouted residency laws to keep their offices! Former Senator's Dick Lugar and Evan Bayh both have. Former Governor Mitch Daniels lived at his house in Hamilton County even though the Constitution of the State of Indiana states that the governor must reside at the seat of Indiana State Government which the court's have interpreted to mean Marion County. But at least Bennett is grateful that he is not facing any legal repercussions for this. He is undoubtedly thankful that he was not charged with federal wire fraud violations from stunts that he and his staff pulled when he was Education Superintendent.


Paul Ogden and Gary Welsh both have written extensively on Bennett's time in office. Former Indiana Secretary of State Charlie White has also discussed this at length on his podcast series "The Charlie White Show".


Especially of interest is a blog post by Gary Welsh over at Advance Indiana back on December 02, 2014. The post  is titled "Joe Hogsett And Terry Curry Gave Tony Bennett Pass On Multiple Wire Fraud Violations". Mr. Welsh gave some facts which should be reviewed in light of Tony Bennett's past and also the fact that he is clearly willing to seek office again. From the keystrokes of the Grand Master himself:


Before Inspector General David Thomas entered into a settlement agreement with former Education Supt. Tony Bennett this summer letting him off with a hand slap for using state employees and state resources for political purposes, he prepared another 95-page report in which his investigation concluded there were 100 instances in which Bennett or his staff violated federal wire fraud laws. For some reason, Thomas didn't bother to release that report at the time he entered into the state ethics settlement with Bennett, but State House reporter Tom LoBianco has now obtained a copy of the original report, which should have been posted on the IG's website for public inspection but wasn't.

. . . In a section labeled “Scheme to Defraud,” the inspector general laid out its case, saying Bennett “while serving as the elected Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Indiana, devised a scheme or artifice to defraud the State of Indiana of money and property by using State of Indiana paid employees and property, for his own personal gain, as well as for his own political benefit to be re-elected to the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.”  
The violations fell into five categories: political campaign fundraising, responding to political opponent’s assertions, calendar political activity meetings, political campaign call appointments and general political campaign activity.  
Through reviews of emails and calendar entries and more than 50 interviews with top Republicans and former staffers, investigator Charles Coffin determined that Bennett falsified mileage logs to cover fundraising trips and the use of two state workers as campaign drivers. The report also details 20 days on which Bennett used the SUV to go to local Republican fundraisers coded as “business” in his handwritten vehicle logs, as well as instances when trips to events billed as education-related also had calendar notes about political donors being present.  
Bennett also used tax dollars to send a staffer to attend the 2012 Republican Party convention on his behalf . . .
According to LoBianco, the report analogized Bennett's case to the recent federal prosecution of former Lake Co. Surveyor George Van Til, who pleaded guilty last December to six federal wire fraud counts related to the use of county employees and resources for his political campaigns. Bennett could have also been prosecuted for official misconduct and ghost employment under state law just like one of his predecessors, Harold Negley, who former Marion Co. Prosecutor Steve Goldsmith prosecuted on nearly identical charges. The question now that must be answered is why former U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett and Marion Co. Prosecutor Terry Curry, both Democrats, passed on prosecuting Bennett. What was the quid pro quo? Inquiring minds want to know. The answer should be quite obvious in both instances. Both of them should be holding their heads in shame for breaching their respective oaths of office.


Welsh then goes onto point out some interesting information about former Indiana Secretary of State now Congressman Todd Rokita and how one of the staff members cited in the Inspector General's report on Bennett office. Had a spouse who was mentioned in regards to alleged violations at the Secretary of State's office under Todd Rokita.


I (Gary Welsh) would be remiss if I didn't remind people that former Secretary of State Charlie White reported his predecessor, Todd Rokita, to the state's Inspector General and the Marion Co. Prosecutor, for similar violations after he and his staff uncovered campaign-related documents on the state's computers in his office when he took office. The spouse of one of the employees cited in the Inspector General's report on Bennett's office was at the center of those violations in the Secretary of State's office. Both the Inspector General and the Marion Co. Prosecutor's Office refused to investigate White's allegations. The State House media has refused to report on White's allegations because they don't like him and want him destroyed.

Here was my reaction last July when the IG's settlement agreement with Bennett was announced:
Clearly, the admissions made by Bennett involve violations of criminal statutes, including official misconduct and ghost employment under state law. Former Education Supt. Harold Negley was forced to resign and prosecuted for exactly those same offenses back in 1985 by then-Marion Co. Prosecutor Steve Goldsmith. The state ethics commission can recommend forwarding the findings to the prosecutor for further investigation, but nothing is stopping Marion Co. Prosecutor Terry Curry from acting on his own. It remains unclear why he sat back and allowed the Inspector General's investigation to play out before convening a grand jury to conduct his own independent investigation. Remarkably, Bennett's lawyers at Barnes & Thornburg claim they have an agreement with Curry not to prosecute him, which is a complete outrage if true. Curry claimed he planned to get tough on the prosecution of public corruption cases when he ran for office four years ago, but he declines to take any action in the most brazen cases set in front of him.
It is completely beyond reason as to why Tony Bennett was not charged like his predecessor in office Harold Negley was back in 1985 for pretty much the exact same offenses! Some democrats complained about the refusal to prosecute Bennett and such refusal certainly cost the democrats their chance to pick up some more elected offices. Why Todd Rokita has been allowed to skate by in the matter of their being claims made that their was campaign related documents on the state's computers is also astonishing. It is way past time that someone looked into Mr. Rokita and his tenure as Secretary of State! We all must be vigilant in regards to Tony Bennett. He and other's might have thought that with the unfortunate demise of Gary Welsh. That he and the other parasites and vultures that seek to drain the life blood out of the citizens of Indiana with nobody noticing them. Surprise! Gary Welsh maybe gone but his influence lives on! You know we will let the great actor Henry Fonda break it down for you:






Once again we are your host here at the Indy Republican Blog saying goodnight and be happy wherever you are. But before we leave you we want to share a little treasure from the good Tony Bennett and also a link to a podcast by that great freedom fighter himself MR. CHARLIE WHITE!


Here is Tony Bennett performing that great classic "Anything Goes" with Lady Gaga:











And last but certainly not least Charlie White's take on Tony Bennett: http://indianatalks.com/site/2014/10/the-charlie-white-show-10-29-14-podcast/





Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Reasons to be thankful

We know it is hard for many of you to be hopeful at times like this. For we have to look forward to Eric "Bagman" Holcomb as Governor as well as Mike Pence as the next Vice-President of the United States. But there is a lot we all as Hoosiers and Americans have to be thankful for! For one thing we are Americans! We are citizens of the greatest country in human history! We have freedoms that are unparalleled throughout history! Ironically we the people have had these freedoms so long we have started to take them for granted and we are in danger of losing them. But we have them anyway. Yes it is true that Gary Welsh the great Titan of the Indiana Blogsphere passed way to soon. But we all need to be thankful for his contributions to this state and this nation. Thanks to him and Paul Ogden Dick Lugar and Evan Bayh are no longer rotting away in the Senate! Yes Misters Donnelly and Young are no prizes but at least it has been shown in politics that no one is invincible. Paul Ogden is still blogging all of us here have joined the cause as well! Inspired by Gary Welsh and Paul Ogden to be modern day troubadours to sing the songs of good government and freedom! Others here and there along the highways and byways will join us and ultimately we will succeed in making a more perfect state and a more perfect union! We must remember that although exposing corruption is one of our primary goals. In addition we must practice positive active goodness. Our enemies the Daniels, Bayh's, Holcomb's, Delaneys, the Matt Tully's, and the Jim Shella's wish only to continue their nihilistic crusade to destroy the good for being good. Unlike them we wish to be free and enjoy life not just avoid pain. The parasites mentioned above believe that others are merely tools to be used to further their own ends. All of us deal with others by choice and voluntary association. We strive to avoid using anyone in any manner. That is why the powers that be are scared. They know themselves to be full of it! And nothing scares them as much as men and women who can think! Slowly but surely people around this state and around the country are beginning to question the elites! Christine Scales has been the target of both political parties in Indianapolis because of her stateswoman like refusal to be bullied by either former Mayor Ballard and his RINO cronies or by Mayor Hogsett and his minions. Paul Ogden is the object of both praise and hatred for his refusal to stop calling out the garbage that has to long disgraced our state! Together and individually we shall smash the media monopoly in this state! We must remind each other and ourselves that the best things in life happen outside of government. We must remind our elected officials they work for us and we own their fate they don't own us. This struggle has and will be long and complicated. It may take decades and may require both parties to fade into oblivion before we have reclaimed our state. But ultimately we will win because we will not submit. We will honor the heroes gone before us. We will continue the work that Gary Welsh began. We will succeed and cause him and all the other angels in heaven to shout with joy at what we will ultimately accomplish. We will continue to offer advice as time, experience and the Holy Spirit guide us. As David struck down Goliath and the walls of Jericho came a tumbling down. So shall the cracks continue to open and widen in the bipartisan cabal that controls so much of our state! Remember the words of Christ who said: "Let not your heart be troubled", "let none be yee called masters", and lastly our brothers and sisters as the savior also said "Do not worry about tomorrow. For each day has enough worry unto itself. By worrying can you add a minute to your life or an inch to your height." Oh we all here forget to mention word on the street is that Holcomb is already ruffling feathers and might be in for a rocky start as governor. There are many who fear him. But just as many who will undermine him everyday he is in office. He would be wise not to trust anyone.

With that we bid you all Godspeed! May the blessings of God be with you all! AMEN!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's coming up on Turkey Day fellow freedom fighters! So all of us here at Indy REPUBLICAN wish you a Happy Thanksgiving this Thursday! We will be back after the holiday guys and gals! So just kick back, relax and remember to enjoy yourselves! We leave you this great song celebrating freedom from the great Billy Joel:




Friday, October 28, 2016

How the Mighty have Fallen! Establishment Rag Indianapolis Star to layoff more staff!

Good morning friends! Well it appears the useless Langley controlled tabloid the Indianapolis Star is falling even further into irrelevancy! In a story reported by Lesley Weidenbener in the Indianapolis Business Journal on October 26, 2016 the Indianapolis Star aka Pravda Indiana is letting go two of it's works and plans to eliminate seven more in the near future. Ms. Weidenbender reports:


The Indianapolis Star laid off two members of its reporting staff Tuesday as part of a larger effort by its owner, Gannett Co., to trim 2 percent of its workforce.
The layoffs were the seventh round of job reductions at the paper in the past eight years—and more cuts are looming.
Negotiators for The Star told union officials Tuesday that the paper plans to eliminate its entire copy editing staff and move those duties to a central copy desk in Louisville.
The move would eliminate seven jobs in Indianapolis, although two of the staff members would be moved to other positions focused on web production and proofreading headlines and front pages, according to a post on the website of the Indianapolis NewsGuild, which represents The Star’s newsroom and custodial employees.
The two employees who lost their jobs Tuesday, Phil Friend and Leah Woodrum, were web producers—reporters who generate online stories and social media content. Friend worked in sports and Woodrum handled general-assignment duties. Both joined The Star about seven months ago after being transferred from the Lafayette Journal & Courier, also owned by Gannett.
Guild President Robert King, a reporter at the paper, said the pair were generating content for The Star and other Gannett papers in Indiana.
“They were new to us but we were glad to have them,” King said. “They were good folks. I don’t think this is any reflection on their work. It’s a decision far above us here.”
Jeff Taylor, a Gannett vice president and its Midwest regional editor, declined in an email to IBJ to comment on the changes.
The announcement about the copy editors—who generally check stories for grammatical and factual errors and write headlines—was part of the paper’s opening salvo in new contract negotiations, which started Tuesday.
King declined to comment specifically on the negotiations. But a post on the union’s website said “guild leaders reacted with concern about the proposal, not only for the job losses but also for the potential damage to the quality of the news product.”
In 2012, The Star moved most of its designers to Louisville, where Gannett owns The Courier-Journal and operates a Regional Design Studio that lays out pages for area papers. Now, the guild said, The Star is seeking a change in its guild contract to allow the copy editor positions to be moved to the Design Studio as well.




“We’re still trying to put out a quality product,” King told IBJ. “And we’ve got some really good people here. But another hit to our staff is always tough.”
Today, the guild represents roughly 75 employees, down from 120 in 2011.The paper has several other job openings and King said it’s not clear whether those positions will also be eliminated.
On Monday, Gannett CEO Bob Dickey sent a memo to employees saying that the company would reduce its workforce by 2 percent as part of an effort to “assertively manage our costs” while working to transform “into a leading, next-generation media company.” Politico said the 2 percent figure represents about 350 jobs.
He said most of those laid off would be notified by end of day Tuesday with all “actions” completed by the end of the week.
“Actions like these are difficult,” Dickey wrote, “but I remain steadfastly committed to reinvesting in our employees and the capabilities required to sustain and grow our company so that we may continue to serve our customers with excellence.”


If Gannet CEO Bob Dickey was at all worried about growing his company and providing excellent customer service the first thing he should do is fire Matt Tully! And hire people like Paul Ogden, Charlie White, and former Star reporters Dick Cady & Ruth Holladay! But Gannet as usual just seems interested in spewing mindless drivel than having any media of merit! We can just here Gary Welsh laughing from his grave at the total train wreck that is the Indianapolis Star!


In the words of that classic 1970's band The Tramps all we can say about the decline of the Star is "BURN BABY BURN"!






Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Jim "Shill" Shella to Retire! Thank You God!

Hello everyone out there in cyberspace! Hope you are all having a great day. INDY REPULICAN sure as hell is! Earlier this week in article by Anthony Schoetle writing in the Indianapolis Business Journal announced that after spinning reporting on Statehouse matters since 1982. Good old Jim "Shill" Shella has decided to run like hell retire from WISH-TV. Also Shella will be leaving Indiana Week in Review aka "Pravda Week in Review" on November 18th. He has been the political establishment's propaganda minister on IWIR for 21 years now. Here are some highlights of Anthony Schoetle's article we would like to share with you as well as INDY REPULICAN'S thoughts as well about the story:


Shella is departing WISH as its parent company, Media General Inc., is about to be acquired by Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc. But Shella said he is not being forced out. In fact, he said he was offered another contract.


Shella told IBJ that “family considerations” are a factor in his retirement decision and he looks forward to spending more time with his wife, Connie, and their 38-year-old daughter, Katherine.


Our response to Shella saying he is not being forced out is: Bulls--t! If he wasn't being forced out then he had no reason to bring it up. And as far as "family considerations" go. Everyone who has any experience with people in public life know to often when someone is forced to leave or step down from a position against there will they always site family reasons as one of the main cover stories. Also very popular are health reasons. So if it is hard for all of us here to believe Shella it is mostly due to the fact that he is a hack reporter who spends his time sucking up to those in power rather than being a real journalist. We will get more in depth with that here shortly. Many of us remember Jim Shella's complete lack of professionalism and his out-and-out hit piece on the Revolt at the Statehouse back in 2009 put on by Paul Ogden, Mark Small, the late Gary Welsh and several others. For those of you who do not remember, or never heard of what transpired back in 2009 we refer you to Paul Ogden's account of the event here, as well as Gary Welsh's excellent post in which he refers to Jim Shella as a "washed up hack".


Schoetle goes onto share what some of Shella's colleagues at Pravda Indiana Week in Review say about Jim Shella.:


“If there was an Indiana political reporters’ hall of fame, Jim Shella would be going in immediately on the first ballot,” said Mike McDaniel, a former Republican state chairman and a regular on "Indiana Week in Review" for 21 years. “He’s among the best—and I’m not just talking about TV reporters—of any political reporters.”
Former Indiana Democratic Chairwoman Ann DeLaney said Shella was known for a wicked sense of humor, booming laughter and an irreverence that made him unafraid to ask difficult questions.
“He has the memory, institutional knowledge and lack of reverence to be an effective Statehouse reporter—the dean of Statehouse reporters,” said DeLaney, who has been a regular on "Indiana Week in Review" since Shella started with the show. “He has a healthy dose of skepticism. He’s not afraid to let that show. So he asks better questions and as a consequence, gets better stories.”


DeLaney said there isn’t a state lawmaker that doesn’t know—and respect—Shella. But his appeal goes beyond that, she added.
“He will be missed far beyond the Statehouse,” DeLaney said. “I get comments from the grocery clerk and the mailman about the topics we discuss on 'Indiana Week in Review.' Those are the people that Jim has helped bring the issues to.
“Through his reporting on [WISH] and his role with 'Indiana Week in Review,' he helps to drive the discussion on important topics across the state,” she added. “He’s been able to frame the discussion for 25 years. That’s a pretty significant impact.”


No doubt McDaniel and DeLaney are extremely grateful to Shella for not doing any actual investigate reporting! McDaniel is grateful that Shella bent over backwards in an unsuccessful attempt to try to save former U.S. Senator Richard Lugar's worthless butt, when it was revealed back in 2011-2012 that Lugar had not lived in Indiana since 1977!


Anne DeLaney is glad that Shella has always sucked up to her boss Evan "I am not a lobbyist" Bayh". She is also no doubt very pleased that Shella never delved into the circumstances surrounding the incident in late 2009 where her husband State Rep. Ed Delaney was attacked by Gus Mendehall. That incident is to complicated to go into in this post. Instead we will gladly direct your attention to REAL Investigative Work involving the Mendenhall-DeLaney row here:


Gary Welsh's Post's:


DeLaney Vs. Mendenhall: http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2009/11/delaney-versus-mendenhall.html




Ed DeLaney's Twisting & Turning!: http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2009/11/another-odd-twist-in-delaney-versus.html




Common Sense to Ed DeLaney Shut the Hell up!: http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2009/11/shouldnt-someone-tell-ed-delaney-to.html


Paul Ogden has provided information about what occurred from Mendenhall's point of view.


Paul Ogden's Post's:


The Mendenhall Chronicles:


Prologue: http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2011/01/mendenhall-chronicles-prologue.html




Part One: http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2011/01/mendenhall-chronicles-part-i.html




Part Two: http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2011/01/mendenhall-chronicles-part-ii.html


Part Three: http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2011/01/mendenhall-chronicles-part-iii.html


Part Four: http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2011/01/mendenhall-chronicles-part-iv.html


Part Five: http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2011/03/mendenhall-chronicles-part-v-trial.html






Also be sure to checkout Dick Cady's memoir "Deadline Indianapolis" for a look at how a real journalist would cover the DeLaney's. Needless to say Ed, Anne, Bayh, & Lugar do not come out looking that good in Cady's book.


Turns out that even though "Shill" Shella is leaving his positions at WISH-TV and IWIR we may not be hearing the last of him. The IBJ article ends with these words about Shella's life after television:


Shella said while he’s retiring from full-time work, he’s leaving the door open to other opportunities.
Shella said there’s a possibility he could make special appearances on WISH “to make commentary on political events.”
Shella also said he’s been approached about taking other positions.
“I’ve had overtures,” he said. “I haven’t pursued anything. I won’t say I won’t try something else, maybe on a part-time basis. I just think it’s time to pursue a new chapter.”


We would like to close this post with some parting thoughts all of us here share. If Shella thinks just because of the unfortunate demise of Gary Welsh. That he is going to get away with his endless spin doctoring of the news for the powers that be. He is sorely mistaken! Not going to happen Jim! To many of us are onto you! But in the spirit of honesty a regular reader of our blog asked us to share something special that they have to say to you. Are you ready Jim? Here it is:










On a lighter note in the immortal words of Kool & The Gang: Celebrate Everybody! This is the staff at INDY REPUBLICAN saying good night and God bless! If anyone is interested our some members of the staff also perform as entertainment at weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs!


Celebrate:









Friday, September 23, 2016

Hallelujah! Ogden on Politics is Back!

Everyone if we can have your attention! We have just received word that Ogden on Politics is back up and running! Our prayers have been answered! For more information read it straight from the source himself right here. Congratulations on getting your blog back Paul! You have resumed your place along with Jon Easter, the late great Gary Welsh, and Charlie White as being the undisputed kings of Indiana Political Commentators!