A blog dedicated to carrying on the work of Gary Welsh's Advance Indiana by continuing the fight for the Republican Principles of limited government, free speech, advocate for good government, rule of law, civil liberties, and opposing cults. We oppose the Church of Scientology. Send any requests, news tips, or gossip. Email: 6vwts@notsharingmy.info. Use the Contact Form on the right side of the screen. Follow on Twitter: @IndyRepublicanX
As we, the late great Gary Welsh and Paul Ogden have written about previously. The Hoosier state’s unemployment insurance program as managed by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) continues to hurt everyday Hoosiers, be a dumping ground for every two bit political hack where they use taxpayer money and funnel it to them and their cronies. Click here, here and here for more information on the corrupt possibly illegal conduct performed by members of the DWD leadership. And they refuse to be open and transparent notwithstanding that this agency is supposed to safeguard the state’s unemployment insurance funds.
Back in 2012 Gary Welsh and Paul Ogden both reported on Whistleblower’s at DWD who revealed that mismanagement at the agency was to blame for the bankrupting of Indiana’s Unemployment Insurance Fund. From the end of 2008 to 2015 the state was forced to borrow money from the federal government to cover the shortfall caused by the incompetence and corruption by the agency heads at DWD. WISH-TV’s Deanna Dewberry did a wonderful report on DWD back in 2012 which can be read by clicking here. Unfortunately the agency has not noticeably improved at all over the years. The agency has especially been dropping the ball when it comes to preventing and go after unemployment insurance fraud.
Now a sensible administration after all of this negative publicity, we would think would want to at least attempt to appear to clean up there act. If only to try and stem the continuing bad public relations. But as WISH-TV’s Richard Essex reported last Wednesday July 7th, 2021 DWD is just doubling down on avoiding public scrutiny. In a wonderful story entitled “How the Department of Workforce Development stonewalls Hoosiers”, Essex had this to say about his attempts to speak with DWD:
For months, News 8 has asked the Indiana Department of Workforce Development for a sit-down interview with its leader, Commissioner Fred Payne; News 8’s request have been repeatedly denied.
So on Wednesday, News 8 went to the state government’s office building to make a request in person.
The Department of Workforce Development main office appears to be right next to the public entrance of the Government Center South building.
“Hi, I’m Richard Essex of WISH-TV. We are trying to make an appointment to see the commissioner, Fred Payne,” News 8’s Richard Essex said. “Is this the office?”
Upon News 8’s arrival at the office, a security guard hired by the state said she wasn’t sure where Payne’s office was located.
“Well, you can go down there to the other office and get a hold of him,” she said.
The security guard escorted News 8 to another office that she called the intake office. Once inside that office, News 8 made the same request; a woman lady behind the desk at the intake office said she was new to the job and wasn’t sure who we needed to speak with.
After waiting an hour, News 8 was told someone was coming to talk.
Next thing that happened, the office door was closed and locked.
News 8 waited in a hallway after being promised someone would come to talk. No one ever appeared, so News 8 went back the first office.
As it turns out, News 8 were not the only ones in the building trying to get answers.
Kathi Dean told News 8 the Department of Workforce Development claims she was overpaid. Dean had grown tired of waiting for callbacks and unanswered emails, so she came to downtown Indianapolis for answers.
“What about people that worked for years and put time into this and have to work and wait and wait on this money?” Dean asked. “So if you want to stop our PUA (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance), just go right ahead on and give us our money from unemployment back pay all at one time so we can go ahead on and live.”
A security guard told Dean to make an appointment.
News 8 continued to wait for someone from Workforce Development to come out and talk, or at least make an appointment.
Several people were in the office; none of them came to the door.
Here’s the video from WISH-TV’s website featuring the comically inept conduct displayed by DWD:
We are most pleased that Mister Essex is not alone in his quest to get answers out of DWD. Bob Segall over at WTHR has also done his own championship work on the problems plaguing DWD.
We cannot recommend enough that you all check out Mister’s Segall’s and Essex’s great work, it’s YUGE!
Looking into all of this craziness at DWD reminds us all of a story that Paul Ogden mentioned on his blog back in 2011. Itwas a report about a possibly non existent state agency, Kara Kenney as always did an incredible job reporting on it at the time.
Many questions remain, and much digging needs to be done. One of the biggest concerns is how do Hoosiers navigate the labyrinth, that stands in the way of them receiving their benefits? To be honest we are not sure quite yet how. Perhaps a few little birdies might clue us in. Gary Welsh is gone physically from this world but his work had barely begun. Hang tight fellow ruffians! Things are going to get interesting!
P.S. Note to all of you, according to what we hear through the grapevine the Leadership Team at DWD, including the Commissioner have offices on the third floor of DWD in the government center south. Word of caution, should you get to the third floor our sources tell us that the atmosphere is a bit thinner than elsewhere in the building. Just FYI.
UPDATE: An alert reader just sent us this awesome tweet from Rob Kendall giving his take on the whole situation:
Good Morning Friends! We at the blog are working on some more stories for the coming weeks and months. So we thought that while we have to unfortunately keep you waiting, that we would repost some of our earlier work. This post is from back in March 2018. We were inspired to write it because of a wonderful article by Sarah Quinlan over at Redstate. This was of course before Redstate purged itself of its talent and decided to become shills for the Orange Man Baby Trump. We stand by every word of this post and hope you all will enjoy this little gem from our vaults. Have a blessed day brothers and sisters!
Monday, March 26, 2018
Conservatives should Oppose the Death Penalty
Recently we all were pursuing online and came across an intriguing article called “Republicans Should Seek to End the Death Penalty Not Expand It” by Sarah Quinlan over at Redstate. The article is well worth reading in it’s own right. IR being conservative Republicans and believing christians one area in which we are at variance with many of our fellow conservatives is in our opposition to capital punishment. We oppose this on many grounds rooted in our Christian faith as well as being a natural outgrowth of our desire to limit the power of the state to the functions it MUST absolutely have in order to defend the lives, liberty and property of its citizenry.
Those of us who are opposed to abortion must if we are to be intellectually and morally consistent must at the very minimum be as equally concerned about the death penalty. It is an irreconcilable quandary to us to favor limiting government power but to also allow the state which we at best view as a restrained monster the power of life and death over its citizens. We are not opposed to killing in self defense or defense of others. Or in defense of the United States in time of war. Those are very different circumstances than executing a person convicted of a crime. As Christians and conservatives we are all to familiar with the reality of sin or of fallen human nature. We are all to painfully aware that sin and vice have one of there greatest breeding grounds in government. For that reason alone we should abolish the death penalty if only to possibly avoid being victims of it ourselves. After all anyone may potentially be wrongfully convicted of a capital offense. This maybe just us speaking here but we don’t feel like being sent to death row.
One of our favorite all time tv series is WKRP In Cincinnati. To this day we still often watch episodes of this great classic of American television. One of our favorite characters has always been Herb Tarlek the shady sales manager at WKRP. We were sorry to find out that Frank Bonner the actor that played Herb Tarlek passed away a few days ago. Our old friend the late great blogger Gary Welsh often told us how much he loved WKRP when he was growing up and we think his affinity for white belts was something he might have picked up from Herb Tarlek.
Variety reported on his death and had this to say about Frank Bonner’s passing:
Frank Bonner, the veteran actor who became famous for portraying Herb Tarlek on the TV sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati,” died Wednesday. He was 79.
Bonner’s family confirmed to TMZ that the actor died as a result of complications from Lewy body dementia.
Desiree Boers-Kort, Bonner’s daughter, posted in a “WKRP In Cincinnati” Facebook group, saying that the actor “loved his fans and was still signing autograph requests up until the last few weeks of his illness. Thank you to all who followed his career. He will be forever missed.“
Bonner appeared in 88 of the 90 episodes of “WKRP in Cincinnati,” which aired for four seasons from 1978-82. He also directed six episodes of the sitcom, which followed the misadventures of the staff of a struggling rock radio station in Cincinnati. Bonner’s character was a tasteless sales manager at the station who often failed to secure deals with major advertising agencies. From his signature white belt and shoes to his polyester suits, “plaid boy” would often come into work and be laughed at for his loud outfits. His catchphrase, “Hokay, fine,” was a response used when acknowledging decisions that he didn’t particularly like.
Indy Republican sends our deepest sympathies to Mister Bonner’s family and friends. We can think of no more fitting a tribute to this man than to play the theme song to his most successful show. Here it is the WKRP theme song:
IR and the gang hope you are all doing well today, and remember if you overslept for work, don’t go in! Because you are already late!
A few days ago one of our favorite singers Sir Tom Jones turned 81 years old. Tom is well known for his television show from the 1960’s and for appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show. He will always be known for some of his greatest hits “She’s a Lady”, “Green, Green Grass of Home”, the theme to the classics James Bond film “Thunderball” and the unforgettable “It’s Not Unusual”. He has also appeared in films including the criminally underrated 1996 comedy “Mars Attacks”. We thought we would share with all of you some sampling’s of Tom’s to help brighten your day!
Indy Republican would like to wish you all a safe and happy Memorial Day! Throughout the day please take a moment to express your gratitude to our veterans that are still with us. And pay our respects to those who gave all for our freedoms. Also we would like to express our everlasting thanks to our friend and mentor the late, great Gary Welsh. Though Gary never served in the military he was a genuine patriot and hero. He like others that have gone before us are gone physically, their memories and spirits live eternal!
In that spirit let us celebrate and honor America’s Best! Listen to the great classic “Ballad of the Green Berets”:
We the Indy Republican Posse do sincerely miss, and look to the late great President Ronald Reagan for both inspiration, as well as a contrast to the freak show antics that was the Presidency of Donald Trump. A great friend of the blog came across this footage from the late 1970’s of then Governor Reagan of California speaking at Dean Martin’s Celebrity Roast of George Burns.
Watching this we not only laughed, but saw how a real statesman acts. And why Donald Trump could never be Reagan. What some forget is that Trump actually attacked Reagan in the 1980’s. Check out this this 2015 article that reports on Trump’s spat with Reagan in 1987.
Here’s some much needed comedy from the undisputed king of political wit, Ronald Reagan:
In the near future we plan on outlining in greater detail why we, as Anti-Trump Conservatives are the true followers of Conservatism and Republicanism. Unlike the tangerine con man Trump.
For now the picture below though short of a thousand words, illustrates briefly the extent to which the modern Trumplican Party has left we Republicans politically homeless:
We just found this kickass monologue by the very talented and funny British comedian Ricky Gervais. This is from his presentation at the 2020 Golden Globe Awards. If more talent like his gets put on stage at awards shows we will start watching them again!
IndyStar investigative journalist Ryan Martin requested records on employee turnover from the attorney general's office in July 2018. One of the records that fit the request was a PowerPoint presentation on the office's budget that was sent to the personal email addresses of Hill and then-Chief Deputy Aaron Negangard.
Before sending the record to Martin, Hill's office redacted the personal email addresses it contained. His office acknowledged to Martin that the addresses weren't exempt from public records law, saying that "we would provide the information to you if you request it."
So Martin requested the addresses. When the office still didn't provide them, he filed a complaint with the state's Public Access Counselor, a custodian of public records disputes.
The counselor issued an advisory opinion siding with Martin. "While not prohibited, the use of private email for public business invites oft-unforeseen problems down the road when those emails are requested," counselor Luke Britt wrote in the opinion.
After Britt weighed in, Martin reported that IndyStar sent five emails requesting the information over a 22-day period. The office responded with a new reason as to why it wasn't providing the records, claiming that they were part of Hill's and Negangard's personnel files.
In January 2021, Judge James Joven ruled in favor of IndyStar. In his decision, he wrote that Hill's attorneys failed to show why personal email addresses should be exempt from public record laws. Such laws protect personnel files related to work but don't protect information that doesn't have to do with the management of employees, Joven wrote.
Joven also ordered the attorney general's office to pay IndyStar $49,150 in attorneys fees, and Hill was fined $100 in civil penalties. Britt told IndyStar the civil penalty may mark the first time that an Indiana law sanctioning public employees for not complying with records requests has been applied in court.
We here at Indy Republican would like to applaud Johnny Magdaleno, Ryan Martin and the Indianapolis Star for filing this lawsuit and forcing the issue into the open. If this gets to be a trend their might be hope for the Indianapolis Star yet.
We strongly encourage our readers to contact the Indianapolis Star and tell them to do much more work advocating for good government. Somewhere in this universe Gary Welsh is smiling down at this.
