Porter County Indiana Politics - Latest Comments

Re: An early look at 2010 - Northwest Indiana elections

Meaghan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:58:36 -0000

He has a lot of very well connected friends in Washington and I have reason to believe that some big names (Newt!) would be willing to endorse Kevin if he ran! The drought is almost over! We just gotta get him to run!

Re: An early look at 2010 - Northwest Indiana elections

Meaghan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:55:37 -0000

I got somebody who can beat Pete Visclosky here in District 1!

DRAFT Kevin Tracy for US Congress!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=115800288396

I've head from a few people that he's talking about it privately with friends and family! We need to give him all the encouragement we can! He's young, energetic and a national security guru with experience in the military and in the government's counter-terrorism operations!

Re: An early look at 2010 - Northwest Indiana elections

BGM — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:40:44 -0000

Didn't Jackie Walorski file for an exploratory committee for D2 against Donnelly? Any updates?

Re: An early look at 2010 - Northwest Indiana elections

Rob — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:01:36 -0000

Steve, I dont know if you remember the gentleman who came from Gary to attend our PC GOP meeting at Portage High School. He stopped by my work yesterday to drop off some fliers.

Jayson Williams - Republican - Gary - Running for Congress D1 - 2010.

Interesting.....

Re: An early look at 2010 - Northwest Indiana elections

Laura Blaney — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:27:46 -0000

You're right, incumbent clerk is Pam Fish D.

Re: An early look at 2010 - Northwest Indiana elections

Laura Blaney — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:26:45 -0000

Maureen Wendrickx (I think I spelled that right) D - currently Portage Twp. assessor - is running for county assessor.

Re: An early look at 2010 - Northwest Indiana elections

NWIpundit — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:32:43 -0000

I remember reading that somebody from Beverly Shores is running for some county office. Heh. Can I be any more vague? Trouble is I can't remember what paper I read it in.

Re: An early look at 2010 - Northwest Indiana elections

daltonsbriefs — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:09:15 -0000

thanks pundit, I think Vicki is running as a Democrat correct?

As a general announcement, if you have links to candidates' sites or facebook fan pages, I'll try to start adding those too. Eventually would like to have all the candidates listed, with links to their pages, so that those who aren't political addicts can find information and contacts. Anyone have a great page for State Rep and Senate maps so people can even figure out who their rep is?

Re: An early look at 2010 - Northwest Indiana elections

NWIpundit — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:00:07 -0000

Vicki Urbanik is running for Porter Co. Auditor. Source: http://chestertontribune.com/Politics%20and%20E...

Re: RTA referendum fails big

daltonsbriefs — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:37:32 -0000

I have asked Republican Party Chairperson Joyce Webster for a statement on yesterday's vote. Will post once I receive. Should probably send a note to Democrat Chair Chidester too, although he never responds to requests.

Re: RTA referendum fails big

Rob — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:28:40 -0000

Valparaiso will be Merrillville v.2.0 in about a decade.

Re: RTA referendum fails big

streeter — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:50:00 -0000

I voted no, as did many people I know who are professionals, who take the train to work, and are otherwise educated individuals. I have no connection to Bob Harper, or any other so-called caucus.

From what I can tell the only so-called major "flaw" with this legislation that the proponents cite is that it allowed for a referendum in the first instance. It may feel good to think that the 80% to 90% of the voters are just so ill-informed and uneducated that they didn't know better, but that’s the easy way out, and it is the kind of argument we heard from the Democrats when GW was reelected.

It's time to for the Porter County Republican leadership to step-back and decide whether it wants to win elections on the county level. Chuck Williams recognized this after the last election. Being perceived as the party of higher taxes, mass transit expansion, larger government and consolidation/merger/cooperation with Lake County politicos, is not going to win any favors with the electorate. And actually calling for a boycott of an election, is just something I cannot fathom in the United States.

Re: Jackie Walorski files exploratory committee for Congress

vlq2010 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:54:27 -0000

Run! Jackie Run! Finally a candidate in District 2 that will represent common sense Hoosier values.

Re: Porter County GOP gets criticism

Oscar Zoroaster ... — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:39:19 -0000

***First, why did these people come to the meeting in the first place? Patriots are supposedly independents so why do they care what the GOPs stance is on the issue?***

The NWI Patriots have been totally infested with rodents known as the Republican Liberty Caucus. The RLC is using Faith Jones and her organization to undermine the GOP. You're exactly right! They SHOULD have no business infiltrating a Porter County Republican meeting! Especially not if they aren't going to try doing the same thing at a Democratic Party Meeting.

The RLC and NWIPs have no room to criticize the 'weak' leadership of Joyce Webster when Ms. Jones has let herself and her group be totally overrun by partisans. Look in the mirror!

Re: Rep Soliday says Porter County may control RTA

Kevin Tracy — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 15:31:03 -0000

That is interesting. I still plan on voting "No" on the thing, but interesting nevertheless. Whether it is 3 or 4, if the referendum were to pass (it won't) I would expect that Porter and LaPorte Counties would form a voting block anyway. My concern still would be the accountability and loyalty of the people representing our county. People can make really stupid decisions.

Re: Time for regional tourism collaboration

Fatpete — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:07:57 -0000

My first instinct is the bed tax is less offensive than property tax, but I'd listen to other arguments. My guess is the tourism board was explained as benefitting the hotels so let them fund it. Now you have a tax established that I can't imagine brings in tourism dollar for tax dollar, I'd be stunned if it was close. Instead of realizing it failed and eliminating the damn tax and board groups are now calling for it to be used other ways. This is where I get closer to the bullhorn crowd, once a tax is established it will be brutal getting rid of it. How about leaving the bed tax and reducing the property tax of the hotelier.

What I still don't get is who comes here for a vacation? Our most amazing attraction is religously gaurded by the granola crowd. Put a damn resort on the lakefront and now we have somewhere for people to come.

Re: Time for regional tourism collaboration

daltonsbriefs — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:32:17 -0000

So Pete would you prefer the bed tax go away completely, or be redirected to economic development, or be used in a regional effort to market NW Indiana? Those are the three proposals I've heard recently.

Re: Time for regional tourism collaboration

Fatpete — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:08:01 -0000

Are you serious? Porter County has a tourism board? What the hell for? Where do they get the money? Honestly who comes and vacations in Porter County without already having a strong tie to the community like family or VU? Are people that drive in for one day for popcorn or Oz considered tourists? I'll happily be corrected but a local tourism board certainly brings in far less than it costs.

Re: Background for a Letter of Correction to the Recent Harper Letter of Half Truths

daltonsbriefs — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:14:31 -0000

Now now, of all the posts for you to question our editorial policies this one is your least favorable argument. Someone takes Commissioner Harper's positions and one by one gives another side to the debate, that's exactly what I wanted this site to accomplish. Long winded posts copied from other national blogs on the relative merits of the Federal Reserve or Gay Marriage are boring, I'm glad to see active participation by the RLC, Democrats, Union Members, elected officials, tea partiers, patriots, Republicans, and even that dreaded Valpo crowd.

I have edited posts featuring foul language, and will continue to do so because my kids read this site.
I have no problem with anonymous posters, and of course I know who everyone is, and continue to protect those identities. When someone wants to "out" themselves that's their decision, not mine.
I personally post in my own name every time.
Cross posting is not only allowed it is encouraged, so that we can all find other great sites.
Lastly, one person's gossip is another person's conspiracy theory and a third person's attack on freedom worthy of debate and concern

Re: Background for a Letter of Correction to the Recent Harper Letter of Half Truths

Joe NotaPlumber — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:18:17 -0000

You know 'Reasonable_Democratits' its so funny when they post hit pieces on this site they never repeat never ever post a real name. Because they are afraid of the political flak! I only use a fake name on this site because it is such a hack of a political speech. I don't want anyone to know who I am and that I actually read let alone reply to any of this trash!

Here: Featuring multiple authors reviewing political events and politicians and issues in Indiana's Porter County and all of Northwest Indiana. On the Chicago Southshore in the "Region" of Northwest Indiana. Good government a key focus. The views expressed are those of each author, not necessarily the editors.

Yes and Steve hides behind this statement pretty well!
Well if the poster is masked then it must be the editor because he allows such trash!

Here is another blog picked at random from the top 50 #29 to be specific HoosierAccess.
Posting rules:

Posting Guidelines (In quotes is my comments about 'unreasonbellpundit')

The purpose of Hoosier Access is to promote conservative and Republican ideals. This is our home, and we ask you kindly not to track mud into it. Revocation of posting privileges (banning) will take place after a warning of behavior which violates the intent and spirit of these rules.

The proprietors of this site are the sole and final judges and enforcers of this policy.

(Little harsh but understandable otherwise you get a unreasonbellpundit.......)

1) There will be no profanity, no personal attacks, harassment or demonization of a particular individual. There also cannot be any disruptive behavior or off-topic remarks for the sake of promoting one’s self. Concerning profanity, if you have a question about a word or phrase, just don’t use it. Profanity on our site does not need to be used to prove a point, add emphasis or convey a message.

2) All posts must relate to news, politics, or policies that involve any part of the state of Indiana or any government official at any level of Indiana government as well as our federally elected officials and issues in which they are involved.

3) Gossip will not be allowed. You want to gossip, go someplace else. Hoosier Access will not be a dumping ground for salacious “news”.

(Actually all Steve's site is ...... is gossip)

4) Contributing bloggers can be removed by the Editorial Board at the sole discretion of said board.

(Why bother they change their pseudonym with each hit piece!)

5) Users will not be allowed to sign up with accounts that impersonate identifiable public figures. We will scrutinize all new accounts that purport to be such.

6) Cross posting is allowed. But do not partial post and then link to the rest of the post on your blog. Post the whole thing or your post will be deleted.

Re: St Joe County Republicans on RTA referendum

Rob — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:54:12 -0000

I'd agree that South Bend probably doesn't need public transit to accommodate growth like Lake & Porter Co.

It is my concern that the author of this article did not read the bill before spouting an opinion:

To me, the law says that each county will receive in proportion to what it pays in. Obviously, there is always fear that anything regional will ultimately end up with people giving money to Gary (the abyss).

IC 8-24-17-3

(5) year period beginning in the year of the request, reduced by the amount of capital costs that will be paid from sources other than the improvement tax. In determining the amount to propose for capital costs to be allocated to each member county, the board shall allocate the capital costs according to a formula established by the board that reflects the benefit received by the county from the capital costs in facilitating public transportation in the county and to and from the county.

Re: Background for a Letter of Correction to the Recent Harper Letter of Half Truths

Reasonable_Democrat — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:08:34 -0000

The Dark Knight anonymously trashes Bob Harper? If this person had any courage to back up their convictions, they would have proudly signed their name to this biased and completely inaccurate "factoid" check. What a joke. Vote NO on November 3rd.

Re: Porter County GOP gets criticism

streeter — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:33:29 -0000

I would happily share my tax returns with you if I thought it would make you realize the fallacy in your arguments.

The truest characters of ignorance are vanity and pride and arrogance - Samuel Butler

Re: NW Indiana Patriots - Tea Party respond

BGM — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:05:36 -0000

First, I would like to commend the NWIP's for focusing on issues locally; I have to sharply disagree with the Wizard here. The quote, "All politics is local" should be the motto of every grassroots movement. The issues that truly affect us in our everyday lives are at the local level, and they are more likely to positively or negatively impact us. While I disagree with their particular position on this issue, I think they have the right idea spending time and energy on local issues. It is much more efficient and much more likely to actually make a difference, even if it happens to be one I disagree with.

Also, I would like to interject something that has been entirely absent from this debate. Let's break down a "who's who" of local political groups. We have the Northwest Indiana Patriots ("NWIP's"), the TEA Movement ("Taxed Enough Already"), and the Republican Liberty Caucus ("RLC") who all coincidentally happen to believe in an identical set of values and share in an ironically similar agenda. On one hand, NWIP's claim to be completely independent of any partisan political organization, which if true, I find entirely noble. On the other hand, for being independent, there certainly is an imbalanced cross section of views actually represented. I was well networked in the mainstream GOP well before the founding of the TEA Movement, and I happened to notice a significant overlap between NWIP roles and that of the fringe RLC. I admittedly am less clear on the relationship between NWIP and the National Tea Party Movement, and I respect Faith in her independent initiative here, but I suspect a very close kinship whether anyone admits it or not. To take it a step further, though, there is noticeable overlap between the County Libertarians and the local RLC. To claim that these overlaps are mere coincidences is both politically naive and void of any common sense. Whatever token members of NWIP represent outside viewpoints is incidental to what it is trying to accomplish, and this is only possible out of the ideological anomaly that is Northwest Indiana. If one were to place Bob Harper and the rest of the Porter Democrats onto an ideological spectrum, it would make libertarians seem generous by comparison; the only difference is the motivation behind the objectives, which I will table for now (but would be eager to discuss at a later time and place). This is possible nowhere else in the world--where local Democrats have more in common with Libertarians than moderate Conservatives. The RLC and Bob Harper are clearly in bed with one another, whether either admits it or not...

That being said, as I have reiterated on here time and again, the common goal of all of these fringe minority groups is to undermine or outright destroy the existing Republican Organization. What infiltrators managed to "accomplish" last Thursday is unclear. Continuing to disrupt meetings in the future will not result in having a greater voice, it will result in being shut out entirely. I, myself, would like to see all of the various groups be included and have a voice in the official party. When the motive becomes disruption, however, they have to be excluded for order's sake. Last Thursday, the purpose of these groups was to put the PCGOP leadership on the spot on a single issue. For their narrow cause, this was win-win. If the leadership adopted their position, they win. If the leadership adopted the opposite position, they would still win, because they could then go back to their respective cliques and use it as fodder in continuing to bash the mainstream GOP, and further strengthen their respective causes. If the leadership refuses to adopt either position as an official party position, the groups can exploit the GOP organization as weak, which is precisely what they did. This is a classic move. Bravo!

What is going to happen is that the Indiana GOP is going to go the way of Florida if these groups are not careful, and the extremists are going to get booted out entirely. Believe it or not, I don't want to see this. What these minority groups need to keep in mind is that they are just that--minority groups. Though they disagree with some positions of the official party, they need to have respect for the established order to effect any change at all, and they need to be tactful in their approach. This abrasiveness and the lack of sophistication that they have demonstrated will get them absolutely nowhere.

I commend the energy, voice, and participation of all of these respective movements. It is precisely what is missing from mainstream conservatism: more heart. That isn't to say, however, that we should ignore rationale and reason. When did it become fashionable or respectable to be unsophisticated or unread? I think this debate has taken a nasty turn when "polish" and "sophistication" are synonymous with Obamania. Do we not remember William F. and the National Review? Where did intellectual conservatism go? An understanding of political tactics is not interchangeable with political corruption. It is simply working smarter, not harder. If this past defeat has taught us anything, it should be that we need to find energetic, educated, charismatic leaders to counter what our opposition will inevitably bring in the future.

If we are to succeed as a whole, the Republican tent needs to be large enough to house all of the diverse interests that its members represent. Currently, a few people comprising small minorities are unrealistically trying to shove the majority out of the tent, claiming the extremist position as the only legitimately "Republican" one. We have to remember that we agree more than we disagree over petty, circumstantial issues. We also need to remember that our abstract platform of ideals is unenforceable, in the sense that it fails to instruct individual consciences on how to vote and how to shape the details of particular policies. Contrary to what some would have you believe, our Platform does not cater to any of the particular factions that are currently feuding within our party. It does, however, give us a general fallback philosophy that makes us different from liberal Democrats, and exposes the similarities that we need to rally upon now more than ever to bring all of us on the right side of the aisle together and advance our collective interest. Or--we can continue to squabble over petty issues while the Democrats succeed, it's our choice...

Re: Porter County GOP gets criticism

Insider — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:39:46 -0000

Today, the hammer comes down on the Patriots, RLC or anyone else who opposes the train and/or the Local GOP.

First, why did these people come to the meeting in the first place? Patriots are supposedly independents so why do they care what the GOPs stance is on the issue? There are 2 'anti-RTA' sites out there. Read the bill yourself and figure it out. Anyone will REAL economic training understands that some parts of the county will benefit while others could be worse off, it's called zero-sum gain. That is why Republicans do not have a position on the RTD Referendum. Our (current) needs are different.

Next, I'm tired of all of these buzz words being thrown around like 'tax' and 'liberty'. Using those terms is NO DIFFERENT than BO and his 'Hope & Change'. The people who don't want the taxes don't pay (hardly any) taxes to begin with! Next, unless you've actually served in the military, you have NO business giving lectures or speeches on liberty. People who have actually fought for it, don't need to talk about it.

Next, how do these individuals hope to plan for the future of NWI? Where will your kids get jobs? I find it awfully hilarious that the 'free market capitalists' don't want government intervention but the day their job goes overseas due to the free market, they become protectionists overnight. If it weren't for such 'leftist' policies, NWI would have been gone 50 years ago!

We need the train to Valpo because Chicago has (higher quality) service jobs and it allows us to take money out of their state and reinvest it here. How many secretaries do you know in NWI making 50-60K/year?!? Have you noticed the number of stop lights on US 30, 49 and business 6? As porter Co grows those roads are going to make it IMPOSSIBLE for people to travel to chicago in a reasonable amount of time. Guess what, you'd rather pay for 1,000 miles of road to be repaired every year than to have one train!

Go ahead folks, you can SLOW growth but you can never STOP it. The train will increase Valpo property values like no other and make the city 'high end' but as long as you fight it, we will experience more and more lake county flight and soon porter county will be a mirror image, just a bunch of big box stores and $7/hr jobs. This is when the real crime comes.

'Tax' arguments about 'struggling' Americans is way off base. Do you still buy cigarettes, beer, own a fancy cell phone, flat screen tv or any other 'non-essentials'? Because unless you have had to give up any or all of the above, you have the money to afford this SMALL tax. If you're so selfish that you don't want to subsidize people to make the long commute, you have to ask yourself what kind of team player you are in the community. Go into your church and say you don't want to give an offering because well....it might help somebody else. Not all redistribution of wealth is welfare. This is a long term investment for our future. If the train doesn't come today, it will be here eventually but it wont be pretty. Eminent domain (which costs taxpayers) not to mention all of the road maintenance costs from urban sprawl.

The RTD is NOT about tax. The RTD is not about redistributing wealth. The RTD is not about another bureaucracy.
The RTD is about jobs. The RTD is about the future of NWI. The RTD is about proving to Indy that we can help ourselves!