Ex-BMV Offical's Ethics Wrist Slap or More Reasons why Indy Republican will not endorse Mike Pence!

In a story reported in today's Propaganda Rag Indianapolis Star by Tony Cook one of the only real reporters left at the Star. It is reported how former Bureau of Motor Vehicles Chief of Staff Shawn Walters and the Indiana State Ethics Commission have reached and agreement for Walters to pay a $500 fine for having violated state ethics law requiring a one year cooling off period for state employees who wish to leave state employment and go to work for a company that does business with the state. Yesterday the Star reported that Shawn Walters had come to a settlement between himself and Indiana Inspector General Cynthia Carrasco. And that the terms of the settlement would be revealed today. This whole sordid tale revolves around Walters having taken a position with Express MVA a company that had a contract with the state to charge "convenience fees" at BMV Express workstations that were double the costs of services usually charged at BMV branches. A class action lawsuit was settled last year for $30 Million after it was discovered that the BMV had been overcharging customers for several years. A news report in the Indianapolis Star back in May  2015 and a posting by Gary Welsh at the same time argued that political patronage was to blame for much of the overcharges.  Many top executives at the BMV were aware of these problems but chose to not do anything about them. Rumors have said that it was because the BMV did not wish to suffer any budget shortfalls. Governor Mike Pence had the state's contract with Express MVA cancelled in August 2015. Inspector General Cynthia Carrasco was asked by Governor Pence to investigate the matter. Today it the $500 settlement was revealed to the public. The staff here at Indy Republican cannot figure out why any fine was levied at all if the only thing Walters is going to get is a $500 wrist slap!


Julia Vaughan with Common Cause Indiana is quoted as saying the fine "amounts to a slap on the wrist. Five Hundred Dollars is not going to put fear into anybody. It's not significant enough punishment to get anybody's attention or to make them take these laws seriously."


It's interesting that the article points out that the ethics case in question did not address Walters part in the multi million dollar overcharges to Hoosier motorists. Neither Shawn Walters or his attorney Debra Minott (who strangely was Walters employer when she was in charge of FSSA) were present at the hearing today. Some readers may recall that Debra Minott was appointed by Governor Pence to run FSSA shortly after he took office and was then mysteriously removed from her position at FSSA for reasons that are still not clear. Before her 18 month tenure as head of FSSA Minott was in charge of the State Personnel Department (SPD) during the first term of former Governor Mitch Daniels and also left that position for unspecified reasons. Minott's appointment as FSSA Secretary was a move that angered many Indiana Republicans who were left asking ourselves Why in the world is Mike Pence stupid enough to appoint a Mitch Daniels crony to run FSSA after the mess she caused at SPD? Gary Welsh pointed out that Mike Pence did not cause the overcharging problems at the BMV that occurred under the administration of Mitch Daniels. But apparently neither the Indianapolis Star or Matt Tully's Circle Jerk Club as Gary Welsh so affectionately refereed to him and his clique as. Would trouble themselves enough to hold Daniels feet to the fire! They all were probably admiring themselves too much in the mirror or social climbing!


But for all the trouble that "Napoleon Mitch" Daniels caused at the BMV. Mike Pence deserves as much blame for his refusal to fire every Daniels holdover and heed the advice of Real Republicans Gary Welsh, Paul Ogden, and Charlie White. Men who tried to do the right thing and try to root out corruption, sin and vice. But the Uber-Christian Mike Pence seems to be so convinced of his own moral righteousness that he cannot or will not see the corruption going on in front of his face or do anything to root it out! No doubt the scandals at the BMV have been archived away by Indiana Democrats for use against Pence in the upcoming Governor's race where he is being challenged by former Indiana State House Speaker John Gregg. For the simple reason that Mike Pence has repeatedly kept Mitch Daniels hacks and parasites in his administration is enough cause for all of us at Indy Republican to refuse to endorse him for reelection as Governor of for election to any other office whatsoever! The staff will not vote for Pence or Gregg and at this point are probably just going to refuse to vote for any candidate running for Governor! To Governor Mike Pence if there is any awareness left in your brain at all could you please for your own sake and what remains of your reputation start actually doing your job! For those of you who wish to peruse the story that most of the Indianapolis Press will not tell you about the BMV the staff refers you to the following articles, post's and podcasts for the truth! Strangely some of these articles are from the Indianapolis Star and are mostly if not all written by Tony Cook!


Gary Welsh's Postings:


Debra Minott gets the Heave Ho from Pence!:
http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2014/06/pence-fires-fssa-secretary.html




Pence appoints Mitch Daniels Holdover to run the BMV:
http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2015/02/yet-more-bmv-overcharges-brings-new.html




Surprise, Surprise, Surprise! Patronage Alive and Well at the BMV!:
http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2015/05/star-bmv-fee-overcharging-problem-may.html




Shawn Walters, BMV, and Shady Deals:
http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2015/07/more-bmv-shady-dealings.html




Pence Does Something Right Cancels Bad BMV Contract:
http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2015/08/pence-cancels-sweetheart-bmv-contract.html




Former BMV Chief of Staff on Unpaid Leave from New Employer Pending Ethics Investigation:
http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2015/08/express-mva-places-former-bmv-employees.html


BMV CFO Demoted:
http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2015/08/bmvs-unqualified-political-hack-cfo.html




Indystar articles:


Ex BMV Officals fine:
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2016/06/09/former-top-bmv-official-fined-500-ethics-violation/85641756/




Former BMV Offical to face ethics complaint:
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2016/06/07/former-top-bmv-official-faces-ethics-complaint-thursday/85557192/




BMV Offical took Job with Express MVA:
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2015/07/24/bmv-boss-pushed-fee-took-job-company-benefited/30632873/




Overcharges ignored by BMV:
http://www.indystar.com/story/money/2015/03/22/bmv-officials-knew-overcharges-let-ride/25177557/


BMV and Patronage:
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/2015/05/23/patronage-lead-bmv-overcharges/27797473/




FSSA Chief's Ouster:
http://www.indystar.com/story/news/politics/2014/06/19/concerns-pences-obamacare-alternative-preceded-fssa-chiefs-ouster/11006829/


Paul Ogden's posts:


Pence Cancels BMV Contract:
http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2015/08/governor-pence-end-questionable-bmv.html



Charlie White's Podcast:



Charlie White's Discussion of BMV Troubles:

http://indianatalks.com/site/2015/05/the-charlie-white-show-5-26-15-podcast/

RINO Mike Pence & Indiana Republicans & Democrats Screw the Taxpayers AGAIN!

If you wonder why the staff at INDY REPUBLICAN has come to the conclusion that the statehouse media in this state is a complete joke. And that the elites of both political parties in Indiana are only out to mess over the citizens of Indiana. You need look no further than this article in today's Indianapolis Business Journal:




"Local governments will see fewer audits due to a recent change in Indiana state law.


The State Board of Accounts used to audit cities and counties every year, and audit school corporations every two years. Now those audits will be conducted every four years unless there are red flags."


Todd Caldwell the director of Audit Services for the State Board of Accounts is quoted as saying: "The statute on frequency of audits changed last year from annual or biannual to a risk-based approach."  The article goes on to point out that there are almost 200 Field Examiners that work in all of Indiana's 92 Counties. Caldwell told the Muncie Star Press that "because of budget limitations and the sheer number of entities that require auditing mean's there is too much work and not enough people to do it."


We at INDY REPUBLICAN have found the law that Todd Caldwell is referring to is House Bill 1104 which was passed last year by the Indiana General Assembly. The digest of the bill "Permits the state board of accounts to determine the frequency with which the state board of accounts conducts financial examinations based on risk based criteria approved by the audit and financial reporting subcommittee of the legislative council" Also included in the digest of the bill it "Specifies that certain examinations by the state board of accounts may (rather than must, under current law) be made without notice."


In effect the state legislature and the Governor have stated that instead of counties and schools being audited for waste, fraud, and abuse every year or every two years. That they will only be audited if the audit and financial reporting subcommittee's approved risk based criteria are met. As far as all of us at INDY REPUBLICAN concerned this might as well be a giant sign that it is open season for local city, county and school bureaucrats to commit as much corruption as they want! Since they know they will not be audited very often! Although Caldwell does say that the state does consider various risk factors. Since the bill: "Eliminates the requirement that the state examiner must annually furnish forms and instructions to reporting officers." How in the world will the Field Examiners know what to look for?


The State Board of Accounts has in the past shown itself to be very helpful in finding issues with financial irregularities at the city, county and school level. For those seeking a more in depth look at SBOA's work we refer you to  the late great Gary Welsh of Advance Indiana fame who painstakingly chronicled some of the SBOA's outstanding work on behalf of Indiana taxpayers here, here, and here.


It is true that the Republican Party has a supermajority in both the Indiana State House and State Senate. But keep in mind that the overwhelming number of House and Senate Democrats voted for this bill and it was signed into law by Governor Mike Pence on May 5th, 2015 and is now Public Law 181. The bill passed by 88 to 6 in the House and by 47 to 1 in the State Senate. Here is the breakdown by party of members of both Houses:






Indiana State House:


71 Republicans
29 Democrats


Indiana State Senate:


40 Republican
10 Democrats


So assuming that all the nay votes were cast by democrats that means that around 80 percent of the Democrats in the House and 90 percent of Democrats in the Senate voted for this bill. Interestingly an alert staff member pointed out that one of the co-authors of this bill is Rep. Gail Riecken who represents Evansville is the Assistant Democratic Floor Leader in the State House! The staffer also informed us that back during the 2009 Special Legislative Session that Riecken authored a bill that would require a performance audit of Family and Social Services Administration's (FSSA) welfare privatization debacle. Gary Welsh reported very well on the FSSA disaster here. So the fact that Riecken having authored a bill to audit the failed welfare privatization at FSSA. Then in 2015 co-authors a bill that cripples the very agency designed to help root our local government corruption should give the voters of her district cause to seriously question just how committed she is to making sure that taxpayer money is not wasted! This certainly does not inspire any confidence in Democrats claiming that they will restore accountability to Indiana Government!


Governor Mike Pence also deserves a large amount of the blame for not being a MAN and vetoing this bill when it got to his desk! After seeing how Governor Pence has kept most of the staff from the previous Governor at the state. It isn't a surprise that he would pick Mitch Daniels old crony former State GOP Chairman Eric Holcomb to be his Lt. Governor after Democrat Republican Susan Ellsperman left his administration to become the new head of IVY TECH State College. Holcomb's pick as Lt. Governor should scare the living daylights out of all Indiana Citizens especially Republicans if for no other reason than former Indiana Democratic Party Communications Director Political Hack Jennifer Wagner seems to think it is a great move by Mike Pence to pick Eric Holcomb! That's funny awhile back Wagner spent a huge amount of time and effort on her now defunct Taking Down Words blog tearing up every Republican she could find! Especially striking is that she had not a word of criticism of former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels in her recent article about "Little Man" Holcomb. As she ripped Daniels up constantly on her now defunct blog! (Deservedly so most of the INDY REPUBLICAN staff believes.)






Real Indiana Republicans Gary Welsh, Paul Ogden and Charlie White have chronicled Eric Holcomb's myriad of shortcomings as both a man and as a running mate for Governor Pence. Read here, here, here, and here for the information that the Indiana press will not share with you. So for that reason INDY REPUBLICAN'S staff will because we wish to share the truth and to restore the True Grand Old Party! We will not water down the principles of Republicanism to fit the agenda of any man or any number of men. Regardless of what Party Label they claim as their own!


We urge all Indiana citizens to call your lawmakers and urge them to repeal this horrific law! If anyone has any suggestion, comments, or news tips for the staff please post a comment and someone will get back to you.

Marion County GOP trades one Democrat Stooge for Another to be their new Chairman

Yesterday the Indianapolis Star wrote an article about how a new Indianapolis Ethics ordinance has moved Marion County Democrat Republican Chairwoman Jennifer Ping to step aside from her position and make way for a new Democrat Republican Indianapolis City County Council Minority Leader Mike McQuillen to assume control of what remains of the crumbling Marion County Republican Party. Lest anyone think that the probable appointment of McQuillen to become the new Marion County GOP Chair will do anything to reverse the GOP's deservedly sagging fortunes we will refer you to the following blog post that show how the Marion County GOP is now a directly controlled subsidiary of the Marion County Democrats and also why Mike McQuillen is the worst possible choice to revive the County Party. If the leadership of the Marion County GOP had any sense they would appoint Paul Ogden or Christine Scales Party Chair yesterday! But they won't because the Party would rather lose with candidates that they can control then win anything with any candidates of merit.


Here are Gary Welsh's Post about Jennifer Ping and Mike McQuillen:




Jennifer Ping:


Governor Mike "Pampered" Pence and State House Speaker Brian "The Weasel" Bosma's selling out the GOP:

http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2015/12/republican-officials-endorse-turning.html




Fake Republican Ping Slated to be New Marion County GOP Chair:

http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2015/12/joe-hogsett-and-democrats-poised-to.html


Marion County GOP Bosses Issue the Death Knell to County Republicans:

http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2015/12/marion-co-gop-picks-democrats-choice-to.html




Mike McQuillen:


Mike McQuillen Rebukes Real Republican Christine Scales while lavishing praise to RINO Jose Evans:


http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2013/03/republican-council-leader-rebukes.html

http://advanceindiana.blogspot.com/2013/03/jose-evans-switches-parties.html

UPDATE: Fellow Blogger Paul Ogden of Ogden on Politics has an in depth look at this story here:
http://www.ogdenonpolitics.com/2016/05/annoited-new-marion-county-gop-chairman.html

WISH-TV'S News Directors Exit Continues the Decline of the Indianapolis Media

In an article on the Indianapolis Business Journals website yesterday. It's revealed that Elbert Tucker is leaving after less than a year into his time as the News Director for WISH-TV in Indianapolis. The article goes onto to say that Tucker is leaving to return to Tennessee to be closer to his family. It seems like the local news media in Indiana is only interested in having old line hack reporters like Jim "Shill" Shella on their payroll. And the Langley-Controlled Indianapolis Star has certainly declined considerably since they were sold to the Gannet Corporation in 1999. Instead of the Hard Nosed Reporting of Dick Cady we are now treated to Matt Tully and the garbage that his Circle Jerk Club would tell him as Gary Welsh used to say. Indy Republican is certain that the late great Gary Welsh is laughing from his grave at the continued decline of what remains of the mainstream media in Indiana. Click here for the link about Tuckers departure.

Where Have All The Real Republicans Gone?

As promised we here at Indy Republican are blogging about issues the Mainstream Media will not discuss. The question of the day is why does there seem to be so few Genuine Republicans left these days? Where to begin. Well for one thing Donald Trump the presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee. Has a long history of supporting liberal democratic positions. Such as his past advocacy of Universal Health Care, his support for Abortion on demand. Just like Mitt Romney who ran in 2012 who started Romneycare in Massachusetts, and who was pro choice when he ran for the U.S. Senate in 1994. Or former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and former Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard who both supported and pushed for higher and higher taxes, and were extremely hostile to the rights of Gun Owners. Why do We The People keep electing people to office who run as Republicans and then proceed to act no different than Democrats once elected? Especially in Indiana the only Genuine Republicans Left around the Hoosier State seem to be few and far between. As political commentators go we have Paul Ogden, Charlie White, and Gary Welsh. As for past and present elected officeholders we have Indianapolis City County Councilwoman Christine Scales the only member of either party on the council to stand up against crippling taxes enacted by both parties in the Circle City. In the Indiana State Senate we have Mike Delph who is always a gentleman and is one of the only public officals in Indiana who has refused to pile on the Charlie White hate train. Kudos to you Mike! Also we have Indiana State Senator and soon to be US Congressman Jim Banks who has the distinction of pushing for more transparency in the affairs of the Indiana Republican Party! That is about all of the real Republicans left in the Hoosier State we can think of if you out there think of anymore we should include on this list please let the staff at Indy Republican know in the comments section. Have a Blessed Day!




UPDATE: Indy Republican is sorry to report that Gary Welsh died on May 1st, 2016. We here send our sympathies to his family. Some of us had the privilege of knowing Mr. Welsh personally and are saddened by his unfortunate demise. Paul Ogden has information about a life celebration to take place for Mr. Welsh in a post of his click here for the information on the celebration.




Also we would like to add the following tributes to Gary Welsh from Paul Ogden, Jon Easter, Matt Stone, Pat Andrews, and last but not least Ruth Holladay.

Inaugural Post of Indy Republican

Hello out there in cyberspace! And welcome to the Indy Republican Blog. On this blog we will be giving a voice to all disgruntled and disenchanted persons throughout this great country of our the Good Old U S of A! Although this blog is written with a predominantly Libertarian/Conservative Republican bent. We at the Indy Republican hope to give voice to all of you out there who are tired of being spoon fed what to think and who to support by the establishment press and by the political powers that be. Hope you all enjoy the blog! And pass on any suggestions you may have via the comments tab.