Pence Outlines Legislative Agenda

Gov. Mike Pence outlined his legislative agenda for next year at a legislative conference today attended primarily by lobbyists, lawyers and government employees. He wants more tax cuts for business, more spending on highways, more charter schools, job training for under-skilled workers and expanding health care coverage under the state's Healthy Indiana Plan.

Pence's plan to eliminate the business personal property tax would cost local governments about $1 billion annually in lost revenues. Pence believes the tax discourages businesses from investing in Indiana. The proposal he outlined today didn't say how he would help local governments make up for those lost revenues. He also wants to tinker with the "soil productivity factor" used for assessing farmland to protect farmers from "dramatically" higher taxes. He also wants to increase the personal income tax exemption to provide additional tax relief to individuals on the lower-earning end.

Pence plans to spur investment in start-up businesses by eliminating restrictions on the offering of securities for sale by creating new exemptions known as "crowd-funding" where capital is raised by selling securities to a large number of investors in small denominations. He also wants to increase private and public investment in the state's larger cities, which he says are unable to compete with peer cities in other states in attracting talent and investment. The plan seems to be to develop a billion-dollar spending plan on this endeavor. Again, he offers no details on the source of funding.

Pence believes "roads mean jobs" and to that end wants to "invest" $400 million for new highways. He doesn't say how he plans to pay for the new spending.

Apparently, charter schools are hamstrung by inflexible state regulations. He wants to let them manage their funds with the same flexibility as school districts and repurpose unused school buildings for "promising new schools." He also wants to create a voucher program to fund a pre-K program for the children of low-income parents earning up to 185% of the poverty level. He also wants to provide financial incentives to teachers to move to jobs at under-performing schools. Again, it's not clear what the source of funding is for these new initiatives.

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Obama Lied About Meeting Illegal Alien "Uncle": So What Else Is He Lying About?

Onyango Obama (left), reputed Kenyan uncle of President Barack Obama (AP Photo) 

A federal immigration judge recently ruled that Onyango Obama, who has been living in the United States illegally for the past 43 years and twice ordered removed from the country during the 1980s, could remain in the U.S. under a law that permits aliens who entered the U.S. unlawfully prior to 1972 and who remained here continuously to obtain permanent resident status. Onyango, a reputed uncle of President Barack Obama, briefly became an issue during the 2012 presidential election after he was arrested in Framingham, Massachusetts for drunk driving and his illegal status and prior deportation orders against him came to light. At the time, the Boston Globe reported that President Obama had never met his uncle, citing White House sources.

After Onyango testified at his immigration hearing recently that President Obama had lived with him briefly in Boston when he started attending Harvard Law School back in the 1980s, the White House was confronted with the inconsistent statements. White House spokesman Jay Carney now claims there was a miscommunication that resulted from the failure of the White House staff to consult with Obama prior to releasing the statement last year claiming that the two had never met. "The president did stay with him for a brief period of time until his apartment was ready. After that, they saw each other once every few months, but after law school they fell out of touch. The president has not seen him in 20 years, has not spoken with him in 10."

The claim that the two had never met seemed dubious from the beginning given that Obama also had a reputed aunt from Kenya living in Boston, Zeituni Onyango. The aunt also obtained permanent resident status during Obama's first term despite having lived in the U.S. illegally for decades, while living in public housing and drawing welfare benefits. She attended Obama's first inauguration. A federal immigration judge allowed her to remain in the U.S. and become a permanent resident despite prior orders of deportation against her as well based on the claim that her illegal status had been improperly disclosed by a Department of Homeland Security employee during the 2008 presidential election for political purposes. As with his uncle, Obama also claimed he had no idea his aunt was living in the U.S. illegally.

My theory is that Obama and the White House are still lying about Obama's relationship with Zeituni and Onyango, and that every effort must be made to keep these two "family members" happy to avoid blowing his cover. This is based on my belief that the biographical narrative identifying Barack Obama from Kenya as his biological father is total fiction. I don't believe that he is a blood relative to any members of the Obama family from Kenya. There is absolutely no family resemblance, and the elder Obama never accorded himself in any manner that would indicate that he was either married to Obama's reputed mother, Stanley A. Dunham, conveniently the same alias used by her reputed father, a CIA asset assigned to handle the elder Obama while he was on a student exchange program sponsored by the CIA at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, or that he was the father of her child.

Unearthed INS records of the elder Obama's time in the U.S. disclosed some filings he made with the agency after leaving Hawaii to attend Harvard where he didn't even bother to claim Dunham as his wife or Obama as his son, and that at least one INS official who reviewed his file questioned the bona fides of the couple's marriage. His mother's passport records showed a different name for the young Obama than had ever previously been disclosed. Her earlier passport records from the 1960s conveniently disappeared altogether, supposedly as a part of normal public records destruction that took place during the 1980s.

Obama's mother was supposedly given the name Stanley Ann Dunham due to her father's disappointment that her mother, Madelyn Dunham, gave birth to a daughter rather than a son. She supposedly used the name "Ann" rather than Stanley because of the embarrassment of being given a boy's name. Like her father, Madelyn was also a CIA asset assigned to work at the Bank of Hawaii where she was allegedly responsible for laundering money used to propagate American influence in the Asian-Pacific region. Madelyn's death in Hawaii coincided with the date of his election as president in 2008. Obama's mother used several aliases during her life just like her son. Although the fake Obama biographical narrative tells us that she died in 1995 from ovarian cancer, it is quite possible she is still alive today living under a different alias. It's noteworthy that photo analysts have determined that virtually every family photo of the man when he was younger, like his birth certificate, was photoshopped.

One of my working theories is that Elizabeth Duke, a member of Bill Ayers' terrorist Weather Underground organization responsible for bombing multiple federal buildings during the late 1970s and early 1980s, is Obama's biological mother. Like Ayers, she is Jewish, which is a bit ironic since that would make him the first Jewish president as opposed to the first Muslim president based on the erroneous claim that he is the son of the elder Barack Obama, a Muslim. Despite being on the lam for 20 years after she skipped bail on a multi-count indictment against her for her role in several bombings, putting her on the FBI's most wanted list, the Obama Justice Department filed paperwork to dismiss the charges and bench warrant for her arrest only months after he took office in 2009. Nobody has appeared to be able to track down the whereabouts of Elizabeth Duke, suggesting she is living under a different alias and remains in regular contact with Obama. One possibility is Jo Ann Newman. It's anybody's guess who his real father is when it's so difficult to pin down his mother.

Duke was obviously an associate of Ayers, who now admits that he ghost wrote Obama's fictional autobiography, "Dreams From My Father." Ayers' father, Tom Ayers, was the CEO of Commonwealth Edison and served on the board of directors of General Dynamics with former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Ayers also served on G.D. Searle's board when Rumsfeld served as its CEO. According to the Ayers' mailman in their Glen Ellyn neighborhood, he met a college-aged Obama while delivering mail to their home one day many years prior to Obama's claim that he did not meet Ayers until he and Michelle moved into the same neighborhood on Chicago's south side and Ayers and Dohrn agreed to host his first fundraiser for him when he decided to run for the Illinois Senate in 1996.

I've always had a difficult time buying into the meme that Bill Ayers and his wife, Bernadine Dohrn, were true left-wing terrorists given that both grew up in well-established, connected Jewish families and were highly-educated. The Weather Underground had been infiltrated by the CIA, and the two were likely working under cover for the CIA as part of an effort to radicalize and turn public opinion against the anti-Vietnam War movement. Ayers has boasted in the past of his skill at creating phony documents for Weather Underground members, including birth certificates and passports, just as Duke was accused of doing in her federal indictment. Along with Bill's father, the couple played a key role in grooming Obama for much bigger things.  I don't know how accurate my theories about his true identity are, but I know for certain that the biography spoon fed to the American public by the mainstream media is a total fabrication. It's always a work in progress. What is clear is that the American people still haven't a clue who this man really is.

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Democrats Finally Seeking Answers Regarding Sawyer Resignation

It took them more than a week, but Indiana Democratic Party officials are finally seeking answers from Gov. Mike Pence on the reason he forced State Auditor Dwayne Sawyer to resign from his office a mere three months after announcing his appointment with great fanfare. According to the Star's Barb Berggoetz, a letter from Democratic Chairman John Zody requests the following information:

• Written and electronic records pertaining to the appointment process of Sawyer within the governor’s office and any exchange with the office of former auditor Tim Berry, who left when he was appointed state GOP Party chairman.
• A list of criteria used by the administration in vetting potential appointees for state offices.
• A list of current vacancies in senior state agency positions, including directors and commissioners, and information on whether there is an active search to fill such vacancies if they exist.

The sad thing with this story is that a number of State House reporters have been clued in about the reason Sawyer resigned for "family and personal reasons" but none will report on those reasons. They've pretty much taken the cue to go along with the "nothing to see here, move along approach." It would be nice if at least one legitimate State House reporter would report the truth to the public. If the governor is going to demand the resignation of another constitutional officer, then it's not asking too much to demand that he give the real reason he sought that resignation.

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Mediation Fails To Resolves Differences Between Ritz And State Board Members

I don't think anyone actually believed that bringing in a national mediator from the national association representing school boards would succeed in resolving the differences between State Supt. Glenda Ritz and the board members appointed by Gov. Mike Pence. It's clear that the rubber stamp board members' only goal is to ensure that the new agency established by Pence, Center for Education and Career Innovation, makes education policy and not the state's Department of Education.

Ritz shared with the media an e-mail an attorney hired by Pence's office at the CECI which outlined ways of minimizing Ritz' role over board matters, including a change in law to allow Pence to appoint the board's chairperson. The October 3 e-mail was authored by Claire Fiddian-Green and was found on the Department's e-mail server when Fiddian-Green was still using an e-mail account housed on the Department's server. According to the Journal-Gazette's Niki Kelly, Ritz confronted Pence with the e-mail during a meeting with him last week. A spokesperson for Pence says that Pence rejected the proposal and insists the e-mail was never circulated among state board members.

What's going on here is very simple. The people appointed to the state board are put there to pursue policies that will enrich interests seeking to profiteer from education under the guise of education reform. Fiddian-Green served as Executive Director of the Indiana Charter School Board Association before joining the Pence administration. Prior to that, she worked for the Mind Trust, which is run by David Harris, a political crony of former Mayor Bart Peterson, who is a now a Vice President at Eli Lilly, the same place former Gov. Mitch Daniels worked as a high-level executive. Where did Fiddian-Green work before the Mind Trust? She was a senior analyst in Eli Lilly's Corporate Finance Investment Banking group. It's a small world.

So it came as little surprise when Pence appointed a former Peterson political hack, Gordon Hendry, to the state board as a Democrat member and he's quickly become an outspoken critic of Ritz to give the false appearance the opposition to her is bipartisan, a meme that hack State House reporters like Jim Shella are more than willing to serve up to you. It's like the scene in "The Shooter" where Sen. Charles Meacham tells Bob Lee Swagger that there are no sides. "There's no Republicans or Democrats. There's no Sunnis and Shiites. There's only haves and have-nots." Ritz is a thorn in the side of those who are profiteering off of education in Indiana. She will either have to join forces with the haves or see her role reduced to nothing more than a ceremonial figure head. The goal is to turn education into a big money machine for the haves, not to improve the quality of education in Indiana.

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Attorneys Reject Big Firm Candidate For Judicial Nominating Commission Again

Attorneys in Indiana's second judicial district continue their pattern of picking small firm candidates for the Indiana Judicial Nominating Commission over big law firm candidates. Indianapolis trial lawyer Lee Christie defeated Jan Carroll, a partner at Barnes & Thornburg and spouse of 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John Tinder, for a coveted spot on the 7-member commission. Christie received 1,435 votes compared to the 1,159 votes collected by Carroll. Christie replaces Indianapolis trial attorney William Winningham, who defeated Carroll and several other candidates for a 3-year term on the Commission in 2010.

The 7-member commission is chaired by the Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court. The six other members are chosen from the state's three judicial districts, three of whom are attorneys elected by members of the bar and three of whom are citizens appointed by the governor. Big law firms are viewed by rank-and-file attorneys as exerting too much influence over the selection of judges to fill vacancies on the state's Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. The perception is that gubernatorial appointees to the Commission simply rubber stamp the candidates preferred by the governor's office, which are typically candidates preferred by the state's big law firms. Tom Rose, Molly Kitchell and Jean Northenor are the current non-attorney appointees to the Commission. Goshen attorney John Ulmer and Terre Haute attorney Stephen Williams are the two other attorney members elected to the Commission. Gov. Mike Pence, incidentally, will present his 2014 legislative agenda at a conference tomorrow hosted by one of the state's big law firms.

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Lake County Surveyor Reaches Plea Agreement With Federal Prosecutors In Public Corruption Case

Lake Co. Survey George Van Til (D) has agreed to plead guilty to six counts of wire fraud related his use of county employees and resources for campaign purposes and pay $20,000 in restitution to Lake County according to the Northwest Indiana Times' Bill Dolan. The U.S. Attorney's Office has agreed to drop two obstruction of justice charges against Van Til in exchange for the plea agreement, along with a shortened sentence rather than take his chances at a trial scheduled to begin next week. Van Til is just one in a long line of Democratic politicians in Lake County convicted of public corruption charges brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Indiana in recent years.
My good friend Kim Krull links to a list of the infamous Lake County pols on Facebook. The list is 56 and growing. Marion County politicians should consider themselves lucky that we don't have a federal prosecutor in Indianapolis who will prosecute public corruption cases like occurs regularly in the Northern District:

1. East Chicago City Councilman Frank Kollintzas (fled the US to avoid prison), convicted for misappropriation of federal funds, lying to the FBI.
2. East Chicago City Councilman Joe De La Cruz, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds.
3. East Chicago City Controller Edwardo Maldonado, convicted for misappropriation of federal funds. Convicted a second time in July 2006 for using public money to pay his defense attorneys.
4. East Chicago City Councilman Adrian Santos, pled guilty to fraud and conspiracy in connection with the $24 million sidewalks-for-votes case.
5. East Chicago Parks Superintendent Jose Valdez Jr., fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.
6. East Chicago City Engineer Pedro Porras, fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.
7. Gerry Nannenga, former carpenter's union official, accepting bribes to approve the Coffee Creek land deal.
8. Kevin Pastrick, son of former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick, paying bribes to approve the Coffee Creek land deal.
9. Peter Manous, former Indiana Democratic chairman, paying bribes to approve the Coffee Creek land deal.
10. Carl Paul Ihle Jr., co-owner with Kevin Pastrick of Sand Creek Sales, forging documents and lying about the Coffee Creek land deal.
11. Peter Benjamin, former Lake County auditor and assessor, paying bribes to Lake County Councilman Troy Montgomery.
12. Troy Montgomery, former Lake County councilman, accepting Benjamin's bribes.
13. Joel Markovich, former Lake County councilman and contractor, fraud in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.
14. Katie Hall, Gary city clerk, extorting $19,000 in campaign contributions from office employees.
15. Junifer Hall, chief deputy Gary city clerk and daughter of Katie Hall, extorting $19,000 in campaign contributions from office employees.
16. Former East Chicago Police Chief Edward Samuels, ghost employment as a security guard in a city housing project.
17. East Chicago Building Commission Miguel "Mike" Arredondo, ghost employment as a security guard in a city housing project.
18. Gary City Parks Superintendent Kimberly Lyles, lying to federal agents about influence peddling.
19. Assistant County Building Administrator Jan Allison, extortion.
20. G. Gregory Cvitkovich, former North Township trustee, tax fraud.
21. James H. Fife III, a former special assistant to the East Chicago mayor, federal tax fraud.
22. Karen Krahn-Fife, federal tax fraud.
23. East Chicago City Councilman Randall Artis, fraud and conspiracy in connection with the sidewalks-for-votes case.
24. Robert White, Gary city councilman, fraud.
25. Lake County Recorder Morris Carter, extortion.
26. Former Schererville Town Judge Deborah Riga, fraud in using office to personally benefit her family business.
27. Jojuana Meeks, embezzling money from Gary Urban Enterprise Association.
28. Charmaine Pratchett, embezzling money from GUEA.
29. Derrick Earls, embezzling from GUEA board.
30. Johnnie Wright, embezzling from GUEA board.
31. Will Smith Jr., Lake County Council president, tax evasion for a questionable land deal with GUEA.
32. Roosevelt Powell, former delinquent tax collector for Lake County, tax evasion, theft conspiracies involving GUEA land deals.
33. Willie Harris, Gary attorney, tax evasion, theft conspiracies involving GUEA land deals.
34. Nancy Fromm, addiction counselor, lying to federal agents.
35. Otho Lyles III, tax evasion and lying to FBI in Gary City Hall investigation.
36. George Pabey, E. Chicago Mayor , convicted of conspiracy and theft of government funds while Mayor of East Chicago
37. Jewell Harris Sr Convicted of double-billing Gary for debris-hauling work at The Steel Yard stadium.
38. Bob Cantrell former director in the North Township Trustee's office and chairman of the East Chicago GOP under Roger Chiabai: convicted with tax evasion and insurance fraud.
39. Dozier Allen, convicted with skimming money from a federal grant to Calumet Township.
40. Wanda Joshua, convicted with skimming money from a federal grant to Calumet Township.
41. Roland D. Watson, former deputy assessor of Calumet Township, which includes the city of Gary
Watson, 37, of Gary, pled guilty of having conspired to share in bribes paid by businessmen to win tax breaks for their properties.
42. Former Lake County Sheriff Rudy Bartolomei was convicted of extortion while serving as sheriff in 1985. He entered the witness protection plan with his wife in about 1986.
43. Frank A.J. Stodola, 66, of Hammond, a former judge and county commissioner: sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for racketeering and extortion and ordered to forfeit $10,800 in bribe money, amid charges that he sold his commisioner`s office to the highest bidder
44. Michael Jankovich, 76, of Hobart, former Lake County assessor and longtime local Democratic power: sentenced to prison for 6 years, fined $250,000 and ordered to forfeit $11,700 in bribe receipts, after pleading guilty to charges of racketeering and extortion in soliciting bribes from businessmen in return for cutting their tax bills.
45. Noah Atterson Spann, 48, of East Chicago, the highest elected black county executive and a fellow county commissioner with Bartolomei: sentenced to 20 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy, fined $25,000 and ordered to forfeit $29,615 in payoff money.
46. Rudy Byron, 51, of Gary, a Spann protege and former Lake County inspector: sentenced to 9 years in prison and fined $15,000 for accepting payoffs to help two janitorial firms get lucrative county contracts and for concealing payments of $50,000 from his income-tax returns.
47. Albert Young Jr., who signed a plea agreement and admitted guilt, to two years on probationconvicted with skimming money from a federal grant to Calumet Township.
48. Ann Marie Karras guilty in April 2009 of two fraud counts for taking checks from a federal contract between 2000 and 2002.
49. Morris Carter, County Recorder took a $1,000 bribe.
50. Jose Camacho, East Chicago conviction along with Pabey.
51. Thomas Philpot, convicted of stealing child support money while the County Clerk. He had also been the County Coroner.
52. Al Salinas- Hammond City Councilman pleaded guilty to taking kickbacks in exchange for steering city work to a contractor. Also pleaded guilty to one count of willful failure to file tax returns from 2006 to 2009
53. Marylin Krusas- gary City Councilwoman pleaded guilty to tax evasion when she failed to file tax returns since 1991 and had failed to pay taxes on a $232,680 inheritance she received in 2009 and 2010
54. George Van Til- Pleaded guilty to wire fraud 12-2-13 in exchange for a lighter sentence and having to pay the county $20,000 in restitution.
55. Manny Montalvo- East chicago library director and former Secretary of the the Lake Co Democratic Party pleaded guilty of lying on a tax return. convicted of battery in 2010. Sentenced to 24 months probation which includes 4 months of home detention.
56. Lonnie Randolph- Reprimanded by the State Supreme Court for misconduct.

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More Residency Games For Candidates Who Don't Get The Charlie White Treatment

A vacancy in the Union County Prosecutor's Office points up a common residency game played among attorneys and judges in that part of the state without risk of the Charlie White treatment. A deputy prosecutor applied with the local Republican Party to fill a vacancy in the office after the current prosecutor, Ron Jordan, submitted his resignation to Gov. Mike Pence, citing changes in the Indiana Criminal Code made by the legislature and a desire to spend more time with his family and to travel. Jordan recommended Republicans appoint a deputy in his office, Kathy Kolger, to fill his vacancy. She became the acting prosecutor upon Jordan's resignation at the end of October. There was only one problem. Kolger lived in Wayne County where her husband is a judge.

According to the Liberty Herald, Kolger established a new residence in Union County and registered to vote there in order to apply for the vacancy. Apparently, we are to believe that she no longer resides with her husband in Wayne County. Some Republican precinct committee persons thought her residency smelled and refused to support her appointment. Although she was the only candidate who applied for the vacancy, she failed to receive a majority of the votes at the caucus that was convened to fill the vacancy. Kolger insists that she complied with the residency requirement, and that she had obtained an opinion from the Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council that confirmed it was kosher. Besides, Kolger pointed out that others had done the same thing as her, including her predecessor. "Kolger also pointed out the last several judges elected to the Union Circuit Court were not residents of the county and moved into the county in time to establish residency to run for office," the Liberty Herald reported. "She added the candidate that challenged Jordan during his last run for office had moved into the county." I guess Charlie White remains the only candidate in the history of Indiana to be slapped with multiple felony charges for violating Indiana's residency law for voting registration purposes. We can presume that special prosecutors Dan Sigler and John Dowd didn't consult with IPAC before prosecuting White for seven felony offenses arising out of a single ballot cast by White in a single election.

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