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(11/30/10 6:08am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Gov. Mitch Daniels is working to reward students who graduate early from high school with financial support.At a press conference this past month, Daniels said he plans to ask the Indiana General Assembly to give early high school graduates the money the state would have otherwise spent on their 12th grade year. The money could then be used for higher education at a college or university within the state of Indiana.Indiana spends $5,864.78 per student per year, according to the Indiana Department of Education.“I congratulate the governor on being creative and not being afraid to push the edge of the envelope and to think differently,” State Rep. Peggy Welch (D-Bloomington) said. If this bill were to pass, students could potentially attend college as young as 16 or 17 years old. While Welch said she supports the measure, she said she still has concerns about whether this particular proposal is the best way to increase the Indiana college graduation rate.Linda Connelly, a post high school counselor at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Ill., said 16 and 17 year olds are not emotionally or socially ready for a college setting.“We are always pushing students ahead and never really give them time to develop socially and emotionally,” Connelly said. “I do not feel most 16, 17 year olds are ready to mix with 18 to 22 year olds in an academic setting.”Welch proposes sending students to early college high schools, which allow students to earn both a high school diploma and an associate degree, or up to two years of credit toward a bachelor’s degree. “This is one of the ways we can help students to get the college credits, but to also have the social safety net of high school,” Welch said. “These early colleges are getting academically transferable courses, but they are still within their high school settings so it achieves the same goal, but takes a different way of getting there.” While this proposal may help parents that are financially unable to send their kids to college, it could also allow parents to pressure their students to graduate early who would otherwise prefer to stay in school, Connelly said.“That’s a concern,” Welch said. “This is just one piece of a huge puzzle to reach that goal of increasing the number of Hoosier students that finish college.”The Indiana Department of Education Superintendant Tony Bennett and Gov. Daniels will lead an Indiana education round table on Dec. 8 to discuss the bill’s agenda and language.The Indiana Department of Education is not permitted to comment on the bill until after Dec. 8.
(11/12/10 4:59am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The lack of kosher meals for prisoners has landed the Indiana Department of Corrections in violation of the law, according to a federal judge’s ruling last week.An Orthodox Jew inmate at Miami Correctional Facility in Bunker Hill, Ind., Matson Willis, filed a class action suit in 2009 after the agency began replacing kosher meals with vegan meals. Kosher dietary laws, practiced by observant Jews, prohibit eating certain animals, and the ones that are permitted must be killed, butchered and served according to a specific set of religious rules. The department claims the removal of kosher meals was due to staggering costs, but Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson ruled in favor of Willis, asserting it was an abridgement of his religious rights. Doug Garrison, the communications chief for the department, said the cost of a kosher meal is three to four times the cost of the typical $1.20 meal at the prison. “Eventually what happened was many, many more people started asking for the kosher meals,” Garrison said. “There was no way to prove you’re Jewish and you don’t prove you have a kosher preference, but many found they liked those meals better and many more people signed up to get kosher meals.”Garrison said the demand increase for kosher meals added hundreds of thousands of dollars to the monthly bill, causing the prison to exceed its budget. While courts may be reluctant to find prisoners insincere in their religious affiliations and practices, IU law professor Daniel Conkle said they theoretically could.“If all at once you have prisoners claiming to be Jewish, and if the prison has opportunity for Jewish worship and they never go for example, that might be evidence of a lack of sincerity,” Conkle said. “If they’re not practicing Judaism except when it’s time to get meals, that might, in fact, undermine their claim.”Previously, the Supreme Court ruled that religious liberty could be restricted as long as the prison regulation was reasonable and designed for legitimate, theological interest.In a 1992 case, Scott v. Mississippi Department of Corrections, the appellate court upheld haircut rules in a case involving a traditional Rastafarian hairstyle, arguing the loss of absolute freedom of religious expression is a sacrifice required by incarceration. That all changed in 2000 when President Clinton passed the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, which states a request for a special religious diet can only be refused based on a compelling prison interest and if it is the least restrictive means possible for the prison protecting that interest.“Under that standard, to me it’s not at all surprising that the federal court has granted relief to the prisoner,” Conkle said. “In terms of the prison’s attempt to justify denying the kosher meal, that argument, ‘too costly,’ might have worked under the old pre-2000 legal doctrine, but under RLUIPA, it has to be a compelling interest, and cost savings is not going to cut it.”A hearing in federal court is scheduled for Nov. 30, where a possible injunction may be imposed.
(11/04/10 3:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Although Republicans have gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives, IU professor James Perry said it’s not necessarily a win for the GOP.“Independents have swung in the last two elections, and I’m not sure this election says anything about Republicans winning,” said Perry, a Distinguished Professor from the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs. “Clearly a lot of people with ‘Rs’ got elected, but just perhaps like the last two elections it was the Independents saying, ‘we don’t see things your way.’”Independent voters who supported Democrats in 2006 and 2008, swung to the Republican Party in Tuesday’s midterm elections, according to a study conducted by the Wall Street Journal. As of Wednesday evening, Republicans gained 60 seats in the House, giving them a majority of 239 seats. In the State of Indiana, six out of the nine U.S. Congressional Districts went red.IU SPEA professor Leslie Lenkowsky said this will give Indiana Republicans, including Rep. Mike Pence and Gov. Mitch Daniels, a solid foundation for a potential run for president. With Obama up for re-election in 2012, Lenkowsky said the shift in the House might actually serve as a beacon of hope for his campaign.“Losing control of one or both Houses of Congress may be the best thing that would happen for President Obama’s chances of re-election because he’ll then be able to say, ‘I’m fighting for values we Democrats hold dear; The Republicans are getting in the way. You have to give your support,” Lenkowsky said.Until then, Lenkowsky predicts Republicans will start trimming back on initiatives President Obama instigated. One such initiative consisted of increasing the size of AmeriCorps, a national community service program that employs men and women ages 18 to 24. “It’s supposed to grow from 75,000 members to 250,000 members, but it will only do that if Congress appropriates money to pay for those positions,” Lenkowsky said. “I would think under a Republican Congress they’ll be much less willing to appropriate money to keep the program on that growth path. They won’t kill it, but they will be very reluctant to see it expand that much.”While Obama’s new health care plan could be repealed, Lenkowsky said it would be very unlikely. “I doubt very much as long as President Obama is present that signature initiatives of his such as health care reform will be repealed,” Lenkowsky said. “What will happen is that their growth will slow down and they may be changed in certain ways to appeal in the leadership of the House.”While two elections still remain undecided for the U.S. Senate, the Democrats have managed to maintain a small majority. Perry said a reason the Republican Party might not have won the Senate might have been because of the Tea Party’s presence. Nevertheless, Lenkowsky said the shift in the House represents the voice of the majority of voters. “You can’t fool the voters,” Lenkowsky said. “We’ve seen this time and time again.”
(11/03/10 4:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The last time two Republicans held Indiana’s U.S. Senate seats was in 1998, but with Republican Dan Coats’ victory against Democrat Brad Ellsworth, the 12-year dry spell has been broken. At exactly 7 p.m., two giant screens at the Republic Election Night Party flashed Fox News Channel’s election results with Coats’ victory against Ellsworth. Murray Clark, chairman of the Indiana Republican Party said Coats’ victory was a huge success for the Republican Party.“We have high expectations,” Clark said. “The governor likes to say that the voting public always seeks equilibrium. So I think you’re seeing a correction occurring both statewide and nationally, and I really think it’s going to be a good night.”Senator-elect Dan Coats, spoke at the event about what his election means for Hoosiers and Indiana.“Hoosiers have every reason to be proud because with your help, we have done our part by turning a U.S. Senate seat from one that is fundamentally supportive of the Obama regime to one that firmly opposes it.”With his victory, Coats said he plans to force congressional restraint through earmark reform, through a line-item veto and through balancing the budget.“Tonight we celebrate, but with tomorrow’s dawn come responsibilities,” Coats said. “For me the responsibility is you. Because I’ve been chosen by the people of Indiana to stop reckless spending, to fight for our national security, to fight against a government take-over of health care and to fight for every Indiana job, and that is exactly what I will do.”The Election Night Party for GOP candidates was at the Grand Hall of the Crowne Plaza Hotel Union Station in Indianapolis. Upon arrival at the Crowne Plaza, attendees were greeted with campaign posters for Indiana Republican candidates as well as green “My Man Mitch” T-shirts. Although Gov. Mitch Daniels did not run in this year’s election, he came out to support fellow Republicans. “Indiana and our Party have a lot to be proud of tonight: We have contributed a great new Senator and at least two Congressmen to a new Washington, D.C., and we have elected some outstanding — idealistic public servants to an all-Republican State House here in our own state,” Daniels said. Daniels also announced a new pro-taxpayer majority had been elected in the Indiana House of Representatives. “All that hard work you did, all of the successes we have enjoyed are not the goal — they are the means to an end,” Daniels said. “We are going to bring Indiana a new wave of reform in state government, a new wave of reform in local government, and we are going to finally give the students of Indiana an education system built around them.” Even before results were finalized, the atmosphere at the event felt like a victory celebration as guests flocked to the open bar and speakers cranked party jams, including Joan Jett’s “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll,” James Brown’s “I’m a Soul Man” and Tom Cochrane’s “Life is a Highway.”As results quickly poured in, the Indiana State Republican Party announced the victories of Republican candidates: Representative-elect Dan Burton for the 5th Congressional District, Representative-elect Mike Pence for the 6th Congressional District and Representative-elect Todd Rokita for the 4th Congressional District. Rokita, Indiana’s current Secretary of State, spoke at the party about taking back the country.“Not only did we find Hoosiers that are willing to listen to the adult conversation of living within our means, we’re going to see that this Hoosier State is leading the conversation all across America,” Rokita said. “We intend to bring this adult conversation about living within our means to Washington, to the West Coast to the East Coast, all over the world if we have to.”
(10/29/10 4:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Democratic National Committee claims independent expenditures made on Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Coats’ behalf are coming from the same companies that threaten American jobs.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Political Action Committee recently plunked down $5,000 for Coats’ campaign, according to the Federal Election Commission.The U.S. Chamber of Commerce PAC is an organization the DNC claims is paying for ads with revenue generated by state-owned companies in the Middle East and China.An advertisement paid for by the DNC claims the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is stealing U.S. democracy by taking secret foreign money to influence elections. As a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, nonprofit groups or 501(c)(6) organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, are able spend unlimited sums of money on advertising, and through their PAC, they are also able to donate to candidates and political parties. Coats’ campaign denies the allegations against the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and voiced Coats’ support for the Citizens United decision.“This is an issue of the freedom of speech and where transparency is important through the disclosing of where PAC checks come from, where individual checks come from,” said Pete Seat, a spokesman for Dan Coats. “At the end of the day, a ruling such as this is about the freedom of speech and ensuring that voices are heard during elections.” Democrats such as President Barack Obama condemned the Citizens United decision, arguing it will open a floodgate for special interests, including foreign corporations.“President Obama and his allies like to go out and rail against groups putting ads on television and sending out mailers, but what’s ironic about the situation is labor organizations, which predominantly support Democrats, have spent far more money than the U.S. Chamber or any other organizations that Democrats rail against,” Seat said. Seat said the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union, both labor organizations, have spent together a total of $171.5 million on this election compared to the U.S. Chamber and two other organizations, which have spent $140 million.“There’s a lot of railing from Democrats, but at the end of the day they have benefited far more from the type of spending they decry than the other side has,” Seat said. Nevertheless, Coats has more than doubled Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Brad Ellsworth’s total receipts thus far. Ellsworth was unavailable for comment. As of Oct. 28, Coats has more than $4.4 million in receipts compared with Ellsworth who has more than $2.2 million, according to the FEC.Other groups supporting Coats include the Indiana Republican State Committee, INC, which contributed about $1,270 to Coats’ campaign and spent more than $4,300 in independent expenditures on Coats’ behalf. Although Ellsworth is falling behind in campaign donations, he has the support of an Indiana politician with millions of dollars in campaign cash, retiring U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind. According to a press release on Bayh’s website, Bayh recently donated $1 million of his $13 million “war chest” to Indiana Democrats, calling it “a million dollar vote of confidence in Brad Ellsworth and Indiana Democrats.”Dan Parker, Indiana Democratic Party chairman, said in the press release that federal rules will allow the party to spend $850,000 of Bayh’s $1 million contribution directly on Ellsworth’s Senate campaign. With Election Day four days away, recent poll reports predict Coats will pull through with a win.Coats has maintained a steady lead with 53 percent of the vote compared to Ellsworth, who has 33.7 percent of the vote, according to RealClearPoltics.com.
(10/28/10 2:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Nonprofit groups, or 501(c)(4)s, are teaming up with Political Action Committees to oust 9th District Democratic incumbent Rep. Baron Hill from the U.S. Congress.With the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case, the government is banned from capping corporation’s spending in elections, and nonprofit groups, or 501(c)(4) groups, don’t have to disclose their donors.Hill’s 9th District Republican opponent Todd Young voiced his support for the Citizens United ruling at the 9th Congressional District debate Oct. 18 in Bloomington, calling it a First Amendment right.The National Republican Congressional Committee alone has spent more than $5 million against Hill, according to reports filed by the FEC.The NRCC’s most recent attack advertisement against Hill condemns his support of the stimulus package and questions his loyalty to fellow Hoosiers. “Hoosiers know me and that I stand with them,” Hill said. “No amount of negative ads from Washington special interests can change that.”Young and his campaign were unavailable for comment. Other groups working against Hill include the Coalition to Protect Seniors, Inc.; Susan B. Anthony List, Inc., a political action committee that seeks to eliminate abortion in the U.S.; and the American Future Fund, a 501(c)(4).Ideas have surfaced about the agenda of the American Future Fund with the discovery that one of its contributors is Bruce Rastetter, the CEO of Hawkeye Energy Holdings, one of the country’s largest ethanol producers.As a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Hill has legislative oversight in ethanol and other energy sources, which might explain why he, along with 13 other Democratic politicians have been targeted by American Future Fund ads. Nearly every incumbent on the organization’s list sits on a panel with influence over energy or agriculture policy. Of the 14 candidates, five sit on the House Committee on Agriculture and two are on the Energy and Commerce Committee. Hill said he believes the Citizens United case was wrongly decided.“There is too much money in politics right now, and Citizens United has opened up a floodgate of anonymous corporate money that is trying to buy our elections,” Hill said.“People have a right to spend their money, but citizens should also have the right to know who is spending money to support or defeat a particular candidate.”Despite the numerous attack ads against Hill, the incumbent still leads with about $1.9 million in receipts, compared to Young with about $1.7 million.Hill has racked up a good chunk of his contributions from union organizations such as America’s Union Movement, Congress of Industrial Organizations, Service Employees International Union, United Food and Commercial Workers, American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, according to the FEC.The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has also supported Hill by running ads targeting Young.Most recently, The DCCC released two ads titled “We Can’t Trust His Story and We Can’t Afford His Ideas,” and “He’s Got a History We Can’t Trust,” criticizing Young’s support of Social Security privatization and the National FairTax, a national retail sales tax to replace all of the current federal taxes. Despite the funds and the ads paid for by Hill supporters, The National Journal predicted Young is more likely to win the congressional seat. On Monday, out of the 80 races, The National Journal ranked the 9th District Congressional race to be the 29th most likely to switch party control after Tuesday’s 2010 midterm election. The race is between Hill (D), Greg Knott (L) and Young (R).
(10/26/10 2:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>During Richard Nixon’s re-election campaign in 1972, “contributors were flying into Washington with satchels of cash,” according to a recent New York Times article, “Return of the Secret Donors.” Although his election fell right before a campaign finance law went into effect, more than 30 years later secretive contributions are still prevalent.Earlier this year, a Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case, declared the government is now banned from capping a corporation’s spending in elections. For the first time, nonprofit groups can also anonymously finance ads directly supporting or opposing a candidate. From 2000 to 2008, the total cost of all federal elections increased 71 percent.According to a recent study from the Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy organization, in 2004 and 2006, the large majority of independent groups revealed their donors. But in 2008, only half of these groups disclosed their donors, and this year, that number has shrunk to a mere 32 percent.If organizations wanted to influence an election before the decision, they could contribute to a Political Action Committee. These groups are limited on how much they can contribute to a candidate, party or other PACs and were required to detail their donations or expenses as public information. Included in the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, independent expenditure committees known as 501(c) 4, 5 and 6 groups, named after a section of the tax code, are not allowed to directly contribute to candidates or parties, but they can advocate for or against a candidate by name without limit, such as in advertising. They also don’t have to detail contributors because their main purpose is progressing social welfare, not politics. Groups that are included in the “independent expenditure” category include unions and non-profit, tax-exempt organizations that have gained social welfare status by the Internal Revenue Service. In response to the Citizens United decision, Democrats unsuccessfully tried to pass the Disclose Act, which would require corporations and unions to release details of their donors. “Right now it looks like the Democratic Party is heading for a loss, so they are looking for someone to blame,” said Professor Leslie Lenkowsky of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. “Easy to blame a Supreme Court Case.” According to the Center for Public Integrity, GOP-allied independent groups spent $18.1 million on Senate ads from Aug. 1 to Sept. 20, 2010, while Democratic groups spent $2.6 million in the same time period. In U.S. House races, the GOP groups spent $6.7 million compared to $2.3 million by Democrats.Such groups include American Crossroads, a non-profit group founded by former President George W. Bush’s adviser Karl Rove and former Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillepsie. American Crossroads funnels most of its money through its sister branch, Crossroads GPS, an independent expenditure organization, according to www.sourcewatch.org.American Crossroads said it plans to spend $50 million this year to help GOP Senate and House candidates with television ads. According to the Center for Public Integrity, Americans for Prosperity was the largest spender on House races in a one-month period during last summer. It plans to spend $45 million this year. According to its website, the American Future Fund, an independent expenditure committee, has launched a series of expensive ads targeting liberal congressional candidates. This past month the organization unleashed a television ad in Illinois opposing Democrat congressional candidate Phil Hare. It also reserved $1 million in Iowa’s 1st District this fall, as well as a $4 million television campaign that encompasses congressional seats in 13 different states, including Massachusetts, Illinois, Iowa and Washington.While it is difficult to say who is funding these groups, there have been some links.American Future Fund said it specifically targets members of Congress who vote with Nancy Pelosi more than 87 percent of the time and members of Congress who support government-run health care, bailouts and the various stimulus packages.Like American Future Fund, many of these conservative groups play a leading role against Democrat-backed initiatives.This may explain why groups like Southwest Louisiana Lands, Dixie Rice Agricultural Corporation and the CEO and president of Chief Oil and Gas each contributed $1 million to the American Crossroads groups, according to the Federal Elections Committee website. Bruce Rastetter, co-founder of Hawkeye Energy Holdings, one of the country’s largest ethanol producers, also served as a major contributor to the American Future Fund.Groups helping to fund the Democratic candidates in this year’s elections include America’s Union Movement, Congress of Industrial Organizations, Service Employees International Union, United Food and Commercial Workers and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, as well as all unions and all independent expenditure groups. Despite the surge in spending for this year’s election, Lenkowsky said he doubts election results will be effected, noting Meg Whitman has spent $140 million or so of her own fortune in the California Gubernatorial election and is still trailing in the polls. “Past experience suggests there is not a very direct correlation between any kind of election spending and the success of candidates,” Lenkowsky said. “It could change, but I tend to doubt it. Organization counts, issues still count.”
(10/20/10 4:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Libertarian party candidates’ presence in the 2010 elections is vast, but the chances of their election to the Senate or the House is unlikely, according to political experts. So the question remains: Why do they try?The Libertarian Party is the third-largest political party in America. In Indiana, there are more than 100 Libertarian candidates running for positions at the local and federal level. Mike Wherry, one of those Libertarian candidates, is running for Indiana’s Secretary of State, and there are nine candidates running for the U.S. House of Representatives in each of Indiana’s nine districts. Two of Indiana’s Libertarian candidates in the spotlight include Rebecca Sink-Burris, candidate for U.S. Senate, and Greg Knott, candidate for Congress representing the 9th District.When both candidates were asked if they had a chance of winning the elections, both responded jokingly they were not delusional.They said the purpose they serve in the elections is not necessarily to win, but to influence the major party candidates to adopt their views.Political Science graduate student Nick D’Amico said third-party candidates have a history of pulling away voters from Republicans and Democrats. This was the case during the 2000 presidential election in which Independent Ralph Nader pulled votes away from Democrat Al Gore and during the 1992 presidential election in which Independent Ross Perot pulled away votes from Republican George Bush Sr.“When you run a third-party candidate, the other candidates don’t want to lose votes so they will start to absorb a lot of those issues into their own party platform,” D’Amico said. “Simply being in the race forces their issues to at least be discussed and even possibly implemented by other politicians who are looking to win those voters.”Out of 435 House elections, the 9th District congressional race has been named the 4th hottest race by Politico.com. Politico analysts have deemed the race a toss up between Democrat incumbent Baron Hill and Republican Todd Young.Knott is not receiving much attention in the election on a national level, but he said he is confident he could win anywhere from 5 to 10 percent of the votes, which would sway both Young and Hill to adopt his views.“It’s already a really tight race, so for a third-party candidate to come in and take 5 percent is a big deal. It’s kind of like being kingmaker in a way,” Knott said. “If they can adopt positions on my platform, they might be able to pull over my voters.”D’Amico said the votes typically given to Libertarian candidates serve more as a signal to demonstrate voters’ disapproval rather than an attempt to actually elect the candidate. “If you simply didn’t vote then you are not counted at all, and they don’t take that as a punishment message,” D’Amico said. “Actually running third-party candidates, it’s a signaling mechanism that signals to the national party that the national party needs to shift what it’s doing if it doesn’t want to lose support.”For Sink-Burris, running in the election is centered around swaying political opinion as well as civic responsibility.“Government has overstepped its bounds and is bankrupting us,” Sink-Burris said. “I’m not the kind of person who can have strong principles and can just sit by and not do anything.”While Sink-Burris said it’s not always about winning, Knott said he might reconsider his party affiliation and let someone else take on the role as the “alternative” candidate so he can have a shot in the future. “I wouldn’t mind running for office again, and if I run for a federal level office again, it would almost certainly be as one of the two major parties,” Knott said.“ A lot of voters only consider voting for one of the two major parties. They don’t consider voting other people even if they think they’re a better candidate.”
(10/18/10 4:08am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Greg Knott, the Libertarian candidate for U.S. Congress representing the 9th District, is accusing Democratic opponent Rep. Baron Hill of giving more than $300,000 in earmarks to his former chief of staff’s lobbying client.After losing the congressional election in 2004, Hill was hired as a senior adviser for mCapitol Management, a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C., working alongside his former chief of staff Ryan Guthrie, who was hired as a lobbyist.According to the data from Fiscal Year 2008 appropriations bills, once Hill was back in Congress in 2007 with Guthrie on his campaign, $390,000 of earmark money was given to Schneck Medical Center, a client of Guthrie’s while working at mCapitol Management. Guthrie received $30,000 in lobbying fees from Schneck Medical Center while working there in 2006, according to the political watchdog site Center for Responsive Politics. Knott said it was unethical for Hill to give earmark dollars to clients his chief of staff and lobbying firm worked closely with, not to mention that Schneck Medical Center is located in Seymour, Ind., which is Hill’s hometown. On top of the $390,000 given to Schneck Medical Center, Knott said another $300,000 was given in earmarks to clients of mCapitol Management. “I think it’s important that every student and every voter know that he took private money, private lobbying fees and then turned around and gave $625,000 dollars in public money to those same clients,” Knott said. “I think most people would see that as a bribe and think it should be illegal — and it should be illegal — but it’s not, so we have to use the ballot box to get Hill out.”Daniel Altman, the communications director for the Hoosiers for Hill campaign, said Knott’s accusations warrant an apology.“He only submits requests when the projects or programs benefit the people of southern Indiana, and this includes Schneck Medical Center’s appropriation to expand their emergency room,” Altman said. “It is a nonprofit hospital that employs 800 Hoosiers who serve 120,000 patients. It is critically important to rural southern Indiana.” Because Hill worked as senior adviser, he was not in violation of the Congressional Ethics Rules. The current regulations state members of Congress are prohibited from lobbying for one year after leaving the government.
(10/12/10 5:25am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Indiana U.S. Senate Candidates Republican Dan Coats, Democrat Brad Ellsworth and Libertarian Rebecca Sink-Burris squared off at a debate on the IU-Purdue University Indianapolis campus Monday night.The candidates answered questions from the audience as well as from the moderator Mizell Stewart II, the editor of the Evansville Courier & Press, on a range of issues including campaign contributions, abortion and sex education and partisan politics.CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONSPaulette Vandegriff from Greenfield, Ind., asked the candidates to address the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case, and the U.S. Senate’s inability to reach a vote on a bill that would require disclosure on campaign contributions. Coats said people need to know who is running political races and he regrets that the First Amendment allows outside groups to put up advertisements about the candidates.With the time left, Coats took the opportunity to argue that Ellsworth has received more special interest money percentage wise than any other candidate running for U.S. Senate.In response, Ellsworth argued that Coats actually raised three times the money he raised in the last financial report and more importantly, Coats has more than 100 special interest groups he dealt with personally while working as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C.“I don’t think he is going cast a vote in Senate without a conflict of interests,” Ellsworth said.Sink-Burris followed by saying she has taken no money from special interests and she is running her campaign with small contributions. PARTISAN POLITICSOn the issue of partisan politics, all three candidates had separate stances.Ellsworth said his career in law enforcement gave him experience in resolving disputes and he supported bringing civility back to Washington. “It wasn’t about Republicans and Democrats, it wasn’t about black and white, we just went and tried to solve a problem,” Ellsworth said. “These problems that face our economy are not just Republican and Democrat problems. No one has a corner on the market on good ideas. We should be working together.”Coats argued that the issue isn’t bringing back civility, but rather keeping the Democratic Party responsible.“We don’t go there and sing Kumbayah across the aisles, we have to hold this party responsible. That’s absolutely in the wrong direction, plunging us into debt,” Coats said.On the other hand Sink-Burris said the only way to change the atmosphere in Congress and the Senate is to send a Libertarian candidate to Washington.“The Republicans are running us off a cliff of death in government spending at 60 miles-an-hour and then the Democrats came in and blew right past all of Bush’s records and are driving off that same cliff at 90 miles-an-hour,” Sink-Burris said. “You can’t count on old parties to change, it just isn’t going to happen.”ABORTIONAmy Olson Clifford the development manager at Hoosier Oncology of Indianapolis asked the candidates to state their position on sex education and abortion.Sink-Burris said abortions should be rare and safe, but never paid for by tax dollars. On the issue of sex education, Sink-Burris said she supports giving parents the right to send their children to a school of their choice, whether it includes sex education or not. “Personally as a parent, I found the earlier the better you should talk to your children about these issues,” Sink-Burris said. Dan Coats said sex education and birth control is not the responsibility of the government or the state government. “It is a decision that ought to be decided between parents and their children,” Coats said. Brad Ellsworth was in agreement with both candidates. He said he is a pro-life democrat and all life needs to be respected. This was the first of the three Indiana U.S. Senate debates for the 2010 election. The next will take place Oct. 22 in Fort Wayne, Ind., and the last one will take place Oct. 25 in Vincennes, Ind.
(10/08/10 4:01am)
Republican Dan Coats, Democrat Brad Ellsworth, and Libertarian Rebecca Sink-Burris say their stances on issues such as the economy, gay rights, national defense, and more.
(10/06/10 4:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>U.S. Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-8th, the Democratic candidate for Indiana’s U.S. Senate race against Republican Dan Coats, made an appearance Tuesday at an IU student rally to promote early voting.IU students and Bloomington residents gathered at the Sample Gates carrying “Ellsworth For Senate” signs and then marched to the Curry Building, where early voting took place. Ellsworth has been the 8th Congressional District U.S. Representative since 2007.“The reason I’m on this march is really to show enthusiasm for the Democratic party,” Bloomington resident James Dorr said. “On the TV news, they keep talking about how the enthusiasm is on the Republican side, and so I think it would be a good idea to have a few warm bodies up here for the opposition.”Senior Jennifer Pike, president of Students for Baron Hill, combined efforts with the Students for Brad Ellsworth to encourage early voting.“Things can always come up on Tuesday in the middle of the week right around midterm time, that it can be very hard to get to the polls especially if you have a job or classes or both,” Pike said referring to Election Day. “So we think it’s best to vote early to make sure that your vote gets in and gets counted.” Ellsworth said he voted Tuesday in Vanderburgh County, and he encouraged other voters to cast their ballots early as well.“It’s a beautiful day today, and we don’t know on Nov. 2 — it could be raining; it could be sleeting; there could be ice in the road; they might hold you in class longer than you thought,” Ellsworth said. “There’s probably going to be long lines. There’s a lot of voter excitement on both sides. So let’s get it out of the way, and we can move on, and then we can work on the rest of the people that couldn’t make it to the rally today.” Ellsworth said students make a significant contribution to Bloomington despite the Monroe County Election Board’s decision to reject satellite voting in Monroe County for this year’s election. “Are you kidding me? Ask them down at Nick’s if you make a contribution,” Ellsworth said. “I bet they would say something different.”
(10/01/10 12:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Students are facing a poor job market, an unstable economy, a decline in education funding and a variety of other issues. The 9th District Congressional candidates Democrat Baron Hill, Republican Todd Young and Libertarian Greg Knott offer their stances on each of these issues before they face one another for a debate Oct. 18 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Democrat incumbent Baron Hill has been in office as Indiana’s 9th District U.S. Representative for almost 12 years. The New York Times has deemed the 9th District Congressional race to be a toss up as of now between Democratic incumbent Baron Hill and Republican candidate Todd Young. BARON HILL (Democrat) Baron Hill is the 9th District’s current representative. He was first elected to Congress in 1998 and is currently serving his fifth term.Economy:If elected in November, Hill emphasized continuing down a similar path and implementing policies proposed during the last term. Policies Hill mentioned included the economic stimulus bill, cash for clunkers, homeowner’s credit and a $50 billion jobs bill President Obama proposed that will create projects for road, water and sewer projects. “I think the policies that we have put forth to try to get this country back moving again should continue to be carried out,” Hill said. “A lot of those policies that were put in place I believe kept us from sliding off in the direction of a depression.”Hill also supports the Small Business Jobs Act, which was signed this past week by Obama and guarantees loans for small businesses and offers tax credits.“In the final analysis, it’s the private sector that at some point has to grip a hole in making the investments that they have not been making recently, and that will get us back to full employment and good, strong job growth,” Hill said.Education:During his term, Hill said interest rates of college loans were lowered and opportunities increased for the Federal Pell Grant, a program that provides need-based grants to low-income college students. Currently, Hill said students can obtain anywhere between $12,000 and $16,000 in relief loans, but he said the government can do better.“I would be supportive of even increasing student loans because one of the things we can do as a government is to create opportunities for young people, in particular, to be able to stand on their own two feet because they’ve got a good education,” Hill said.National Security:Hill said he supported the decision to reduce troops in Iraq in order to build up a security force in Afghanistan. “We have a mission in Afghanistan and that mission is to dramatically reduce the ability of the Al-Qaida and the Taliban to inflict another blow on the United States like they did on 9/11,” Hill said. “The president thinks that we can accomplish that mission by the first probably next year and I support him in those efforts.” Gay Rights:“I think marriage is between a man and a woman. I don’t advocate that, but I do believe in civil unions and as it relates to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in the military, I voted to eliminate that policy,” Hill said.Abortion:As a father of three daughters, Hill said he advocates for some restrictions on abortion but supports the right of women to choose.“I believe parents ought to have a right to know if one of their children going to be having the abortion is under legal age,” Hill said. “I don’t believe in federal funding for abortions, but I think fundamentally that decision should be left up to the individual women and not the government.”GREG KNOTT (Libertarian) Greg Knott, a graduate from the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs, works in Bloomington as an IT network administrator for the land survey and civil engineering firm Bledsoe, Riggert and Guerrettaz Inc.Economy:Knott supports FairTax, a national retail sales tax to replace all of the current federal taxes.“It totally untaxes the working poor,” Knott said. “Currently the working poor, they don’t pay much of any income tax, but they do pay about 15 percent in payroll taxes, and that would remove that burden from them and also give them a rebate to pay for all of the basics in life.” With the FairTax, Knott said job growth could be stimulated without cutting government revenue or adding to the national debt. “Economists agree there are hidden embedded taxes within the price of a good — it averages about 22 percent across the economy,” Knott said. “The FairTax eliminates all of those hidden embedded taxes, lowers the price of manufactured goods and averages 22 percent, which boosts exports, which grows American manufacturing jobs.”Education:Knott said Indiana is not investing enough in primary and secondary education. “Here in Monroe country we’re spending about $55 hundred per student per year—that’s just not enough to make sure every child graduates from high school prepared for the work force and prepared for college,” Knott said.Knott said he supports implementing a program in Monroe County similar to the Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy, which spends about $16,000 per student. In order to increase education spending by about more than $10,000 per student in Monroe County, Knott said the U.S. must cut overseas military spending. “We spend almost as much on our military as almost the entire rest of the world combined, and much of that is wasteful overseas military deployments,” Knott said. “There’s a proposal now in Congress to cut the overseas spending by over a trillion dollars and my suggestion would be to use those savings to invest in K-12 scholarships, in $16,000 per year per student for the 30 percent of students that are most at risk of not graduating high school.”National Security:Knott supports immediate withdrawal from both Iraq and Afghanistan. “For every dollar we spend overseas, it’s one less dollar we have to spend here at home,” Knott said. “The researchers from Harvard and Columbia estimate that the war will be $7 trillion, which if you divide that by 114 million households ends up to be $61,000 per household, and I don’t think Indiana families feel like they are $61,000 more secure.”Gay Rights:“I don’t see a role for government in marriage. I think we should go back to where churches marry people,” Knott said. “I think everyone — heterosexuals and homosexuals — should get a contract from the state government called a civil union.”Abortion:“My personal view is that abortion should be safe, legal and rare up to the point of fetal viability,” Knott said. “I see no role for the federal government to have in abortion whatsoever, but I do see a state role, and I don’t see a federal role for abortion restrictions or abortion subsidies or abortion funding.”TODD YOUNG (Republican) Todd Young is a Marine veteran and deputy prosecutor and earned his J.D. from IU. He served as a delegate to the Indiana Republican State Convention and as a vice precinct committeeman.Economy:Young said the spending carried out over the past 18 plus months has been obtuse and he supports cutting spending dramatically.“When you spend a lot of money by borrowing from others — largely foreign governments like we have been doing here — that creates great uncertainty about the future, and in order to pay back these debts, you’re going to have to cut spending in certain areas. You’re going to have to raise taxes significantly, you inflate the value of the dollar, you may have to raise interest rates — all of these uncertainties stifle investments in our economy,” Young said.Young also said he supports lowering taxes and conducting more cost-benefit analyses so endued costs are not imposed on businesses and individual American families.“Let’s not be careless about those regulations that do pass,” Young said. “We need to recognize we’re in a globally competitive economy so when we pass a cap and trade bill as Baron Hill supported, what we end up doing is doubling the price of electricity in places like the State of Indiana, and that increases the cost of doing business, and that will send jobs overseas.”Education:Young said he supports increasing higher education spending.“I have no plans to eliminate the current grants offered to our college students — in fact, we need to continue to give those who have a difficult time affording college,” Young said.If elected, Young said he would work to identify avenues to increase education assistance to further train the workforce for a globally competitive economy.National Security:According to ToddYoungforCongress.com, Young supports investing in America’s military, and if elected, he would work to provide soldiers with advanced equipment. Young also said on his website that until America returns to a state of fiscal responsibility, the safety of its citizens is at risk.Gay Rights:Young said he does not support a federal constitutional amendment that would change the definition of marriage to include homosexual couples.“Marriage is a union between one man and one woman,” Young said. “I have a limited view of government and what areas they should be involved in, especially our federal government.”Instead, Young said gay marriage issues should be handled at the state level.“This allows for some diversity between states in our region and frankly differences in culture across this wonderful country,” Young said. “One of the visions of our founding fathers is to allow for that diversity and legislative experimentation and mobility.”Abortion:Young identifies himself as a “pro-life” candidate and disapproves of the Supreme Court decision, Roe V. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States. He said like gay marriage, abortion rights should be returned to the states.
(09/27/10 4:58am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On a Facebook memorial page dedicated to Billy Lucas, one student apologizes for calling Lucas a “fag,” and another speaks about seeing students physically abuse Lucas in the school hallways.Lucas, age 15, was found dead by his mother two weeks ago after he hung himself in the family’s barn in Greensburg, Ind. Reports said the severe bullying Lucas faced at school caused him to commit suicide.This recent suicide has prompted state legislators to strengthen Indiana’s anti-bullying law. State Sen. Tom Wyss, R-15th District, the creator of the 2005 law, said legislation should be tightened to prevent future tragedies. The current legislation allows local schools to put together their own policy system because, as Wyss said, no two schools are alike. The government helps with the funding and training of the school safety specialists, and then the specialists go back to the schools and train the teachers and administrators, he said. While some school districts have followed through and implemented successful programs, Wyss said many have failed to come up with concrete systems.“It is very obvious to me the administrations have not followed through,” Wyss said. “I thought through the safety specialists, we took care of the teachers, but what we needed to do is take care of the administrators.”Wyss said he is working with the Indiana Department of Education to ensure administrators are not only trained, but also understand their responsibilities. Besides the administration, Wyss placed some of the blame for bullying incidents on parents.“Not everything has to be done by the schools as far as the upbringing of children,” Wyss said. “Parents are responsible to put values and to put expectations in their children so when they go to school they are acting properly.”Although some of the schools did not live up to the expectations set by the legislation, Wyss said no penalties were included in the law. When the Indiana legislation is amended in January, he said schools who do not comply should expect serious consequences. Although 44 states have anti-bullying laws, many of these laws are not comprehensive and lack specific definitions of what bullying entails, according to the U.S. Department of Education. “If you pass a law that says bullying is not allowed, there is not a lot of guidance for teachers to rely on, and they don’t know how to implement policies,” said Jason Wallace, an IU law student and author of the paper “Bullycide in American Schools: Forging a Comprehensive Legislative Solution.”The paper, which addresses “bullycide” — students committing suicide as a result of bullying — will be published in the winter edition of the Indiana Law Journal. “If the legislation is not clear and detailed enough, then teachers don’t know what to do,” Wallace said. On June 28, Illinois expanded anti-bullying laws to include harassment based on sexual orientation. The new law also expanded the definition of bullying to include electronic harassment through texting or social networking sites.“Our goal is to save lives through suicide prevention and of course, through better policies,” said Lindsay Anderson, legislative director for Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn. “The larger issue is to have more students stay in school successfully.”Moreover, the law created a 15-person bullying prevention task force that will provide a detailed report about bullying prevention on March 1.“Our state superintendent of education appointed members to this task force to further examine the policies and best practices from all over the country,” Anderson said. Similar to Indiana’s law, Illinois requires school districts and private schools to develop plans for bullying and gang prevention.While some states have taken the initiative to implement strict anti-bullying legislation, Wallace said the real solution to the problem of “bullycide” is to implement federal anti-bullying legislation.“If you leave it up to the states, a good chunk of them will never pass it on their own, and we need a federal system,” Wallace said. “Some state legislators say they don’t agree with homosexuality, and the goal of anti-bullying legislation is to push beyond that.” In North Carolina, some Republicans criticized the anti-bullying legislation for protecting characteristics such as sexual orientation and attempted to amend the bill. While they were unsuccessful, a similar case in Minnesota, which attempted to expand existing anti-bullying legislation, led the governor to veto the bill. Nevertheless, gays and lesbians are twice as likely to be victims of interpersonal violence, especially in their childhood, according to a 2010 study by the Harvard School of Public Health.Currently, six states, including South Dakota, North Dakota, Michigan, Montana, Hawaii and Missouri, still lack anti-bullying laws.“I would encourage other states to take a close look at these issues,” Anderson said. “I think that education is so important, and in order for students to learn, they need to feel safe in their environment.”
(09/24/10 2:56am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Homophobic and anti-Islamic comments tweeted by Stan Solomon, the volunteer campaign manager for the 7th district Republican Congressional candidate Marvin Scott, led Solomon to resign last week.On his twitter account, Solomon posted “‘gay’ stands for ‘Got AIDS yet?’” and he suggested Americans should burn the cities Mecca and Medina, two of Islam’s holiest sites.Jerry Alexander, the new campaign manager for Scott started Monday.Alexander said Scott and Solomon do not share similar views.“Dr. Scott believes in the constitution and everybody’s right to have a religious faith,” Alexander said. “He is not anti-Muslim.” While Alexander said Scott does not agree with the anti-gay comments posted on Solomon’s twitter account, he emphasized Scott’s support for the Federal Marriage Amendment.“He believes the issue of homosexuality is a problem for some people, and he believes in the right of people to choose their own preferences in that area, but he also believes that we need to have a marriage amendment — that includes the marriage of one man with a woman,” Alexander said.The Indiana Stonewall Democrats, the state organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Democrats, issued a press release Monday, Sept. 13, calling for Solomon’s resignation.Scott was criticized in the statement for not calling for Solomon’s resignation. The statement also reinforced the organization’s support for Scott’s democratic opponent in the 7th district congressional race, Rep. Andre Carson.Rep. Carson supports the GLBT community of the 7th district, according to the statement. Carson’s campaign manager, Matt Hammond, said Solomon’s words will definitely sway voters opinions come election time.“Because of the way Marvin has conducted himself, and because of the way his campaign has insulted people of Indianapolis, they will just absolutely refuse to vote for him,” Hammond said.
(09/21/10 2:34am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Democrat Baron Hill, Republican Todd Young and Libertarian Greg Knott, the congressional candidates for Indiana’s 9th Congressional District, will engage in a debate, answering questions submitted by IU students and constituents.The debate is sponsored by the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and will take place from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 18 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater.“The main purpose of the debate goes along with the mission of SPEA to increase the knowledge and the engagement of students with public policy,” said Brian DeLong, the facilitator for the debate. Delong is a SPEA lecturer and IU debate coach. The 9th district’s current representative, Hill, was first elected to Congress in 1998 and is currently serving his fifth term. He also served eight years in the Indiana House of Representatives and worked as a senior advisor at mCapitol Management, a lobbying firm.“Two years ago, the country was on the verge of economic collapse, and Congress actually got that turned around,” Hill said. “The issue in this election is all about do we want to return to the past politics that got us into this mess in the first place or do we want to move forward in a different direction like we started to in 2008?”Representing the Republican ticket is Todd Young, a Marine veteran and deputy prosecutor, who earned his J.D. from IU. He served as a delegate to the Indiana Republican State Convention and as a vice precinct committeeman.“My background lends itself to being a member of Congress in ways that Hill’s does not,” Young said. “I’ve spent 10 years in various capacities in the military. I do have business experience. I spent a short stay on Capitol Hill — just long enough to figure out how things work up there — and I’m familiar with our Constitution, having studied it and applied it on a daily basis as an attorney.”On the other hand, Knott said experience is not necessarily the key to solving the problems the country still faces.“I haven’t been a lawyer like Mr. Young — we’ve got 220-something lawyers in Congress already,” Knott said. “If we’re wanting change in Washington, I don’t think sending another lawyer is the way to accomplish that.”Knott is running on a platform that supports the Lobbyist Reform Act. With the act, he said he hopes to prohibit individuals such as Hill from switching from corporate lobbying to government service. All questions for the debate must be submitted by Oct. 6 either on the IU SPEA Web site or by mail to Debate Question, SPEA, 1315 E. 10th St., Suite 312.The League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County will then choose the final questions on Oct. 12 to 14.The debate is free and open to the public, and Hill encourages all students to attend. “What we do in Congress affects everybody’s lives,” Hill said. “Whether it be college loans or taxes or the deficit or what we are going to do for secondary education or what we are going to be doing for social security — all of these one day are going to be affecting the lives of the students at Indiana University.”
(09/15/10 3:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>While Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh’s retirement from the U.S. Senate is approaching, supporters expect he might run for governor of Ind. in 2012. Ed Treacy, chairman of the Marion County Democratic Party, said he thinks the chances are high that Bayh will run for the position again. “I have met with him and talked with him and requested that he consider running, and he has said that he hasn’t ruled that out,” Treacy said. Treacy also pointed out the significance of Bayh’s appearance at the annual Indiana Democratic Editorial Association event in French Lick last month.“He hasn’t been there for the last couple years, and I think that the importance factor is that he was there, and the chairman of the Democratic National Committee was down there,” Treacy said. If Bayh chooses to run, the 2012 gubernatorial campaign might bear a striking resemblance to the 1988 campaign, in which Bayh won his first of two terms as Indiana’s governor. Bayh, a centrist Democrat from a republican leaning state, announced in Feb. that he would not seek a third term in the Senate. At his press conference he cited partisan bickering as a cause and told reporters the decision was difficult, but he thought he could contribute to society in other ways, such as creating jobs with a business, leading a college or university or running a charity. Though he didn’t mention running for governor, he took the opportunity to highlight his accomplishments when he served as one.“As Governor, I worked with an outstanding team to balance the budget, cut taxes, leave the largest surplus in state history, create the most new jobs in any eight-year period, increase funding for schools every year, make college more affordable and reform welfare to emphasize work,” Bayh said.While serving as governor in 1990, Bayh created the 21st Century Scholar’s Program, which offers full-ride university scholarships to Indiana students with financial need. While the program is currently facing financial troubles, it has enrolled more than 100,000 students, since 1995, according to a report released by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. On the other hand, critics point out that Bayh has been away from Indiana for 12 years while serving as a senator.“I think a lot of people don’t like the fact that he spent so much time in Washington and became a beltway elite,” said junior Jeff Cummins, internal vice-chairman of the IU College Republicans. “He may have lost touch with his Hoosier roots and people may want someone who is more familiar with what’s going on in Indiana, not an establishment candidate.”Another issue, Cummins pointed out, was Bayh’s support for health care reform.About 58 percent of Americans (96 percent of republicans, 10 percent of democrats and 54 percent of independents) support repealing the health care reform legislation that was signed into law by President Barack Obama in March, according to a study conducted last April by the IU Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research.In his political career, Bayh has yet to lose any statewide campaign. Treacy said Bayh will make a decision next year as to whether or not he will run for governor.If Bayh does choose to run, he may be up against businessman Jim Schellinger, former U.S. Representative Jill Long Thompson, Mayor of Evansville Jonathan Weinzapfel, Mayor of Hammond Thomas McDermott, Jr. and Lake County Sheriff Roy Dominguez.“I think for someone sitting there with $11 million in his bank account and for someone who already has universal identity in Indiana makes him the proverbial 1800-pound gorilla in the room,” Treacy said. “No one is probably going to take him on when he’s got that kind of money and an undefeated political history.”
(09/14/10 4:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>There has been increased speculation as to whether Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, to some, “My Man Mitch,” will seek the GOP nomination for president in 2012.Despite Daniel’s continuous rejection of the rumors, U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., is currently not supporting any Republican presidential candidates, hoping Daniels will join the race, according to an article in Politico. Daniels has issued several statements both on Fox News Sunday and the Louisville Courier-Journal assuring he is not running for president in the 2012 election, but he will “think about it.” Just that comment alone has intrigued thousands of supporters, especially given Daniels’ financial track record for the State of Indiana. In 2005, Daniels balanced the state budget for the first time in eight years, turning the $600 million deficit he inherited into an annual surplus of $370 million. Despite declining state revenue during a national recession, Daniels has maintained a balanced budget and has avoided raising state taxes. “I think that he will have the most fiscally conservative credentials of any candidates in the field if he runs,” said junior Jeff Cummins, internal vice-chairman of the IU College Republicans. On the other hand, some are skeptical about Daniels’ policies and decisions made during Indiana’s economic crisis.In December, Daniels ordered $300 million in kindergarten through 12th grade funding cuts, according to the Indiana State Teachers Association website.“When you don’t provide for public education in the state of Indiana, you are looking at larger disparities and inequalities, higher dropout rates and the state not performing and meeting national standards, which will affect the future leadership of the state,” said senior Kelly Smith, president of IU College Democrats.Critics also point out that before the recession Daniels leased a state toll road to a consortium in 2006 for $3.8 billion, according to the Indiana State website. “He may have balanced the state budget for a few years by selling a state asset, but now here we are down the road with the financial crisis, and the deficit in Indiana is not looking good, and we don’t have state assets like the toll road bringing in money,” said junior Logan Souder, vice president of policy for IU College Democrats. “I definitely think people will hold that against him.”More recently, Daniels — a pro-life supporter — received fervent criticism from social conservatives after he told The Weekly Standard he favored a temporary truce on social issues.“He is without a doubt a social conservative, he is just more concerned with putting people back to work first,” Cummins said. “Once Americans are back to work and the economy is back in full swing, he will focus on social issues. He will come out in favor of socially conservative values, I have no doubt.”Whether Daniels will run is still fuzzy, but if he does choose to run, he may be up against former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and Mike Huckabee, a Fox News host and former 2008 presidential candidate.“On the whole, Mitch Daniels would be a better choice,” said Tara Fleming, press secretary of the IU College Republicans. “Given the situation of the country, we need someone that has experience turning around a financial crisis.”
(09/10/10 2:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Indiana State Budget Committee met on Wednesday to discuss possible solutions to the financial problems incurred by Indiana scholarship programs.A study conducted by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education and the State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana along with 19 recommendations were presented to the committee.The study indicated Indiana has increased the number of students attending college, but completion rates of students who rely on financial aid have failed to keep up.During the past 10 years, the number of students receiving scholarship awards in Indiana increased 84 percent, a number that is surpassing available state funds.The study also shows many students attending universities are in their late 20’s or early 30’s and are part-time students, many whom are holding down jobs and supporting a family at the same time.“We acknowledge that the demographics on college campuses are changing,” said Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington. “There are people who are going part-time and need assistance, and we are considering solutions.”In the last two years, need-based student demographics have switched from 33 percent adult students and 66 percent traditional students to slightly more than 50 percent adult students and slightly less than 50 percent of traditional students. “We ought to make more aid available to adult learners that don’t necessarily want to go full-time,” said Claudia Braman, executive director of assistance commission. As of now, the commission only has $5 million to distribute to students attending school on a part-time basis.“I hope to keep the SSACI programs alive,” said Luke Kenley, R-Noblesville and Budget Committee chair.Kenley said individual awards have been smaller than in the past. While he would like to see scholarships increase in monetary amount, he doesn’t see it happening until the state revenue increases. The State Budget Committee also heard recommendations about adjusting the Twenty-first Century Scholars Program, a program that offers full-ride university scholarships to students with financial need. The program will need to spend more than 300 percent of its 2007 budget to meet the estimated need of scholars in 2017.In order to meet the need of the Twenty-first Century Scholars Program, the assistance commission has been chipping away money from the Frank O’Bannon Grant Program, one of Indiana’s scholarship programs for children in need of post-secondary financial aid, to cover the Twenty-First Century deficiencies.Recommendations regarding the scholars program included requiring students to participate in the program’s early intervention and student services, raising the minimum GPA for enrollment from 2.0 to 2.5, and reviewing whether or not students meet the state-required income amount when they graduate from high school and attend college. Welsh said some of the recommendations, such as increasing the minimum GPA requirement for the Twenty-First Century Scholars Program from a 2.0 to a 2.5, will be easy, but others that involve amendments to legislation could take a few years. Welsh declined to comment about specifics of the amendments. The budget committee will meet in January once the Indiana General Assembly begins its session where discussions concerning the recommendations will continue.
(09/08/10 4:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Booming enrollments are causing severe financial problems for the Twenty-first Century Scholars Program. The program, which offers full-ride university scholarships to students with financial need will require about an extra $30 million in the next state funding cycle in addition to its $28 million budget to keep up with enrollment, which nearly doubled in the past few years. Thus far, the program’s middle school enrollment has increased by more than 16,000 since 2008 after state lawmakers allowed sixth graders to apply for the first time along with seventh and eighth graders during the 2008-09 school year. In order to cover the deficiencies, the 21st Century Scholars program has been forced to dip into the Frank O’Bannon Grant, one of Indiana’s scholarship programs for children in need of post-secondary financial aid. Established in 1990 by then Gov. Evan Bayh, 21st Century Scholars is a way to encourage students to maintain at least a 2.0 grade-point average and pledge to be good citizens in exchange for four years of free college tuition at an Indiana public university. Eligible students are also able to attend a private school in Indiana with a significant portion of the tuition paid by the state.Since 1995, 104,138 students have enrolled in the scholars program according to a report released by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education.Junior Chontay Combs entered the program as an eighth grader while in foster care.“Being able to come to a major university my freshman year when I didn’t have parents was extremely helpful, and it reduced the stress so much,” Combs said. “I didn’t have to worry about loans or a job, and I could focus on my academics and being an impactful student here at IU.” As of now, a student with a family of four that earns less than $35, 798 a year is permitted to apply for the scholarship program.If the parent earns a salary increase or gets a better job, the program still ensures it will pay the tuition.However, all of that may be subject to change. A study conducted by the CHE and the State Student Assistance Commission of Indiana found one out of five scholars program students that do not show financial need once they enroll in college. This is because students are able to enroll as young as 10 or 11-years old, said Jason Bearce, Indiana’s Associate Commissioner for Higher Education.“These students are enrolling at such an early age that a family’s financial circumstances can change dramatically by the time a student reaches their senior year in high school,” Bearce said. “We want to be sure we’re providing that money to the families who need it the most.” With a severe lack of funds, the CHE is looking into an amendment to the current legislation that will require an assessment of the student’s financial need over time. This could lead to an adjustment of a student’s scholarship if needed, Bearce said. The CHE is also recommending the minimum GPA requirement be raised from a 2.0 to a 2.5, Bearce said. Combs said she supports changing the process to include a reassessment of financial needs. “I was an extremely needy person when I came into the program, and I believe that the program should check and make sure that the people who actually need it receive the scholarship,” she said. While some are happy about the possible change, others might struggle to afford tuition, or families could pass up job opportunities to increase their income as a way to keep their eligibility. “We have to believe that Hoosiers as a whole want to improve their financial state,” Bearce said. “We can speculate over whether families would pass up opportunities, and though we don’t think that would be an issue, it is something we are aware of and will be considering.”The Indiana General Assembly’s State Budget Committee will be meeting with members of the CHE and the assistance commission to discuss the funding of Indiana’s college scholarship programs today. Bearce said a decision about an amendment to the legislation could be made as soon as January, but any change would not apply to students who are already in the program.