FCYD Announces "State of the Union" Watch Party

From the Floyd County Young Democrats:

FCYD is hosting a party! Join your fellow Democrats at the home of Debbie Farmer, our gracious host, and enjoy an evening of food, fun, and fellowship, as we observe the President's State of the Union Address

(Don't worry we won't force you to watch his speech!)

This is our first meeting of the new year for the group and their first meeting leading into the 2006 election cycle. With several important races to watch this year, FCYD is committed to motiving our party and the electorate.

If you're thinking that you might pass on this evening, please think again! Having a team like FCYD ready to carry the Democratic message to the people is crucial to our election effort! Please join us!

Click here to view the invitation and submit your response:

http://www.democrats.org/page/event/detail/4jvpb

Local Democrats file for office

Illustrating the strength of their Party in Floyd County, several local Democratic candidates came together yesterday on the first day of filing to announce their candidacy for office. Pictured right, these men and women are a diverse group ranging in age, political experience, and career and community background. A complete list of the announced candidates as of January 18, 2006 is as follows:

State Senate District #46:
Connie Sipes

State House District #70:
Paul Robertson

State House District #72:
Bill Cochran

Floyd County Commissioner District #1:
Randy Stumler

Floyd County Prosecutor:
K. Lee Kotner

Floyd County Sheriff:
Wayne Kessinger
Darrell Mills

Floyd County Auditor:
Teresa Plaiss

Floyd County Clerk:
Linda Moeller

Floyd County Assessor:
Brenda Egge

Township Assessor:
Barbara Sillings

Floyd County Council District #1:
Ted Heavrin

Floyd County Council District #3:
Steve Mennemeyer

Floyd County Council District #4:
Jeff Fessel

Franklin Township Trustee:
Mike Riley

Franklin Township Advisory Board:
Paul Byrne
Randy Hubert

Georgetown Township Trustee:
David Riley

Georgetown Township Advisory Board:
Dennis Roudenbush

Greenville Township Trustee:
Hilda Gibson

Greenville Township Advisory Board:
Jeanette Seewer

Lafayette Township Trustee:
Evans Freiberger

New Albany Township Trustee:
Thomas Cannon
Jeanie Freiberger

New Albany Township Advisory Board:
Lodema Applegate
Patty Walker

Additional filings will be announced as they become official in the Floyd County Clerk's Office.

Democrats urge Bush to disclose extent of Abramoff ties

Tuesday, January 17, 2006; Posted: 7:22 p.m. EST (00:22 GMT)

Jack Abramoff leaves a federal court in Washington after pleading guilty to conspiracy, tax and fraud charges.

Bottom of Form

(CNN) -- As Senate Democrats pressed President Bush to act with "openness and accountability" when he responds to questions about dealings with Jack Abramoff, a White House spokesman Tuesday remained reticent about Bush's contacts with the embattled lobbyist.

Abramoff attended "just a few staff-level meetings" and two Hanukkah receptions in recent years, spokesman Scott McClellan said.

However, McClellan declined to give any details about the meetings between White House aides and Abramoff, who pleaded guilty on January 3 to bilking clients, evading taxes and conspiring to bribe a congressman. Abramoff has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in a wide-ranging influence-peddling probe. (Watch the rise and fall of a Washington power lobbyist -- 1:50)

Learn more online at CNN.com

Eminent domain laws need more focus

By Lesley Stedman Weidenbener
lstedman@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

INDIANAPOLIS — Tightening the state's eminent domain law and funding full-day kindergarten are state Sen. Connie Sipes' priorities for this year's General Assembly session.

The House is working on legislation that would put some restrictions on eminent domain, which is the seizure of private property, with compensation, for what is generally considered public purposes.

Read more online at the Courier-Journal.

“STATE OF THE STATE” - The Real Issues

By the Indiana State Democratic Party

ISSUE: Jobs The Governor has shown no leadership in bringing new jobs to Indiana. The state lost 7,000 jobs under his watch in 2005, and the jobs that remain in Indiana continue to decline in quality. Recent study ranked Indiana as the fourth-worst state in the country for “momentum,” which included analyses of personal income, employment and population.

Mitch Daniels is out of touch with average Hoosiers, and he doesn’t realize that talking about job creation and future commitments does nothing to help Indiana residents put food on the table now. Moreover, Daniels’ administration completely overlooked certain regions of the state when they handed out economic development incentives this year.

Mitch Daniels is more interested in helping out his corporate cronies than improving the state of Indiana’s economy. For example, he stood next to Delphi executives, who are raking in large bonuses, and told the media that $9 an hour jobs for regular Delphi employees are “excellent.”

Instead of focusing on keeping jobs in Indiana, Mitch Daniels is committed to laying off state employees and outsourcing their jobs to out-of-state companies, who pay lower wages and offer cut-rate benefits. The planned closure of Silvercrest Child Development Center is a local example of this failed policy.

The Governor’s jobs agenda is all talk and no action.

ISSUE: Outsourcing government contracts
The Governor has awarded more than half a billion dollars in state contracts to companies that are not located in Indiana after promising voters that on his first day in office, he would stop sending their money out of state. Additionally, according to published reports, a $1 billion contract to privatize Medicaid services will be awarded to an out-of-state vendor, and the Governor currently is pushing the sale of the Indiana Toll Road to foreign interests for a one-time cash infusion.

Mitch Daniels broke his campaign promise to keep taxpayer money in Indiana.
Legislators on both sides of the aisle are growing concerned about the outsourcing and its effects on vital government services.

The Governor’s agenda includes selling off Indiana one piece at a time to out-of-state companies and foreign interests. That’s not what Hoosiers voted for in 2004.

The proposal to sell off the Indiana Toll Road has met with incredible resistance across the state, and the Governor and the General Assembly should consider other alternatives before handing the keys to one of the state’s largest assets to a group of profit-driven foreign investors.

ISSUE: Giving local governments more control over their destinies
Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson brought a government consolidation proposal to the General Assembly last year after months of study and consideration, but lawmakers, voting along partisan lines, rejected his attempts to make government more efficient. During that session, though, legislators balanced the state’s budget on the backs of local governments across Indiana. Now, one year later, Mitch Daniels has decided to embrace increasing control at the local level and allowing municipal governments to consolidate services as they see fit.

It’s too bad the Governor didn’t step up to the plate last year to advocate increased control at the local level. He’s late to the game with this “new” proposal.

We support the idea of local control, and we’re happy that the Governor, who’s created more than half a dozen new state agencies since he took office, is going to support smaller, more efficient government.

We hope the General Assembly is more interested in doing what’s right for government this year than it was last year.

ISSUE: Health care
Though it’s routinely on most Hoosiers’ minds, Mitch Daniels has been eerily silent on the issue of affordable health care. Mitch Daniels should rally behind a proposal that allows small businesses to pool employees to purchase lower-cost health insurance.

The Governor has done very little to ease the burden of prescription drug costs, and he refuses to think outside the box on this issue.

ISSUE: Quality of life
Mitch Daniels has spent an inordinate amount of time discussing what he’s done to make government more efficient, but he’s neglected to focus on making average Hoosiers’ lives any better. He’s cut vital services, made it harder to interact with government and ignored critical issues such as job growth and the economy.

Though he ran an “Average Joe” campaign, Mitch Daniels has proven that he’s not in touch with ordinary Hoosiers who’re trying to make ends meet. This is a Governor who thinks $9 an hour is an “excellent” job for average Hoosier employees while their bosses haul in $90 million in bonuses.

Mitch Daniels has advocated a number of policy changes that haven’t resulted in any progress for regular Hoosiers. That’s the definition of “change for change’s sake.”

ISSUE: Education
The Governor has told the media and the public on a number of occasions that education is his top priority, yet he signed a budget last year that flat-lined education spending, leading to teacher layoffs and severe financial constraints in school districts across the state.

Mitch Daniels talks about valuing education, but he has been unwilling to put state money on the table to improve Indiana’s education system. The Governor told us education would be a top priority, but his freshman budget forced thousands of teacher layoffs across the state.

Mitch Daniels constantly vilifies public schools instead of giving them the resources they need to continue to succeed.

ISSUE: Governor’s attitude toward detractors
One of the basic tenets of American freedom is the ability to disagree with government in an environment of open debate. Mitch Daniels has shown time and again that things have to be his way – or else. He alluded to House Democrats as car bombers. He called criticism from the Indiana Democratic Party “boneheaded.” He sarcastically shoots down average citizens who ask him tough questions. Above all, he is arrogant to the point where he is unable to consider anything other than his own viewpoint.

A little more than half of all Hoosier voters cast their ballots for Mitch Daniels, but he is responsible for governing the entire state. How can that happen when he won’t even listen to other ideas?

Indiana has a long history of leaders who seek bipartisan consensus. Mitch Daniels barely tolerates dissent in his own ranks, let alone from his critics.
In the face of adversity, Mitch Daniels would rather takes his ball and go home than give an inch to his opponents.

The Governor talks about wanting to foster new ideas, but any time people disagree with him, he belittles them with a snide comment or put-down.

Indiana Democratic Party responds to Governor's speech

“State of the State” address ignores state’s real problems

When he ran for office, Mitch Daniels told voters he would value education, create jobs and lower property taxes. One year later, we’ve seen failure on all three fronts.

In his speech tonight, the Governor again showed that he would rather pay lip-service to progress while glossing over tough issues like job loss, outsourcing and skyrocketing property taxes.

The Governor’s proposal to spend $156 million shoring up education funding may sound magnanimous, but in truth, he created the problem last year by signing a budget that flat-lined education spending across the state. Thousands of teachers lost their jobs, and school districts were left strapped for cash during the year.

In his speech, the Governor proposed a tax increase for the second year in a row, which again shows how out of touch he is with average Hoosiers and their expectations of government.

Indiana lost thousands of jobs last year, but the Governor believes the best way to improve our economy is to send billions of dollars in state contracts to non-Indiana companies and to champion low-paying jobs while corporate executives rake in large bonuses. Noticeably absent from his speech were the true statistics about the current state of Indiana’s economy under his leadership.

As we said after last year’s “State of the State” address, we remain hopeful that the political, partisan campaigning will end soon so that governing on behalf of all Hoosiers can begin.

As always, our legislative caucus remains committed to an agenda that benefits this state, and our lawmakers will continue to strive for bipartisan cooperation with the Governor.

For more information on the Democratic message, visit the Indiana Democratic Website.

Indiana Toll Road petition an overwhelming success

On the first anniversary of his inauguration, the Indiana Democratic Party delivered to Gov. Mitch Daniels’ office more than 2,500 signatures of Hoosiers opposed to the sale of the Indiana Toll Road.

The party launched the petition in December to give Hoosiers a forum where they could voice their concerns about Daniels’ proposal to sell the road to a foreign investor for a one-time cash infusion to the state. The plan requires legislative approval from the Indiana General Assembly, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed concerns about it.

“For an electronic petition that was circulated largely by e-mail and word-of-mouth, we were honestly surprised to receive so many signatures,” said Indiana Democratic Party Chair Dan Parker.

More than 1,000 people signed the Toll Road petition in its first week on the Internet.

“This level of response tells us there are a lot of Hoosiers out there who are dissatisfied with the short-term fix the Governor has proposed. We hope this means he’ll start putting some ideas on the table that regular Hoosiers can embrace, instead of plans that divide the state,” Parker said.

Thank you for all your support and help. We couldn't have done it without you!

Campaign Finance Reports Due

This is just a friendly reminder that at 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 18, 2006, all candidate committees, legislative caucus committees, and political action committees must file their annual campaign finance reports for the 2005 fiscal year in the Floyd County Clerk's office. For more information please visit Indiana Election Division at http://www.in.gov/sos/elections/.

Legislators join fight for Silvercrest; closing process advances

By Dick Kaukas
dkaukas@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Supporters said yesterday that they will continue fighting to keep the Silvercrest Children's Development Center in New Albany open, even as the state moves ahead with its plans to close it.

Rep. Bill Cochran, D-New Albany, said at a news conference that he intends to introduce amendments to legislation during the current session of the General Assembly directing that the center, which treats children with multiple disabilities, "stay open and funded.

Click here for the full story!

Property tax reform a big focus of session

By Lesley Stedman Weidenbener
lstedman@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Veteran Rep. Paul Robertson, D-Depauw, believes proposals for property-tax relief will be one of the key issues debated in this year's session of the Indiana General Assembly, which began last week.

Already, the House Ways and Means Committee is debating a bill that would -- at least temporarily -- reduce homeowners' taxes. And Gov. Mitch Daniels is expected to unveil a plan this week to reduce local governments' reliance on the unpopular tax.

Read more online at the Courier - Journal.

Bayh traveling in Mideast, will visit Hoosier soldiers

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- Sen. Evan Bayh is traveling in the Middle East this week as part of a congressional delegation and expects to meet with Hoosier soldiers serving in Iraq.

Bayh, an Indiana Democrat who is considering a possible 2008 Democratic presidential bid, is a member of the Senate intelligence and armed services committees.

Read more online at the Courier - Journal.

Staff members defend Silvercrest

Staff members defend Silvercrest
They say state report urging closing flawed

By Dick Kaukas
dkaukas@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal

Staff members at the Silvercrest Children's Development Center in New Albany have written a sweeping rebuttal to a state health department report that concluded the center is "archaic" and should be closed.

Elise Klink, a teacher at Silvercrest for 22 years and one of the rebuttal's authors, said yesterday that the 60-page document "does present grounds" for the state to take another look at its decision.

Read the full story online at here!