Friday Leftovers

There has been plenty that I have wanted to post about this week but alas life has its challenges. So here is a roundup of the things that were missed.

The Robert Cantrell trial is set to begin next Tuesday. Until recently, Cantrell was a political power broker in Lake County and is being charged with 11 counts of defrauding the public of honest services while working for a public entity, defrauding an insurance company, and failing to report receiving kickbacks from a contractor. Oh, and I don’t believe that it was a coincidence that his trial was delayed until after the primary election. His daughter, Julie Cantrell, was running for re-election for Superior Court Judge earlier this month. All of the press surrounding her father’s trial would have been very damaging to her campaign.

Giving credit where credit is due. State Senator Sue Landske (R- Cedar Lake) recently donated $1000 to help send kids to Tri Town Safety Village in Schererville. That’s a lot of cash in the campaign world as it takes about $30,000 to run a successful campaign for State Senate.

Supporters of the South Shore Line expansion project are making preparations for upcoming legislative hearings in Indianapolis. During the last legislative session East Chicago Mayor George Pabey and Gary Mayor Rudy Clay killed the expansion by publicly demanding that something be in the project for them. The expansion isn’t such a bad thing provided that legislators can come up with a fair way to pay for it. The federal government and Regional Development Authority are already on board with a sizable chunk of cash for the project. I understand the arguments put forth by some environmentalists that the South Shore expansion will lead to more urban sprawl but I am willing to trade some urban sprawl to keep more cars, and therefore less greenhouse gas emitters, off the highways.

Porter County Commissioners are doing something about the uninsured and prescription drug costs by partnering with the National Association of Counties. As a result, uninsured residents will be able to receive 20-30% discounts on prescription drugs. Commissioners did all that they could and should be commended, but what we really need is single payer health insurance.

I've tried to be patient. Hillary Clinton is really starting to get under my skin. She continues to ignore the rules and change the conditions for victory. It has gone beyond ridiculous and is becoming downright deceitful.

John McCain continues to get a free pass by the American media. We have to go to the British Broadcasting Corporation to get any substantive coverage on Pastor Hagee and his ridiculous comments. How many weeks did the American media talk about Reverend Wright? Neither Wright nor Hagee is a “real” story but if the media went all out on the Wright story shouldn’t they do the same for Hagee?

Appeasement Schmeezment. President Bush’s argument on appeasement is ridiculous and hypocritical.

Star Trek Enters the Primary Fray

If you love Star Trek and love politics, then you HAVE to see this.

Northwest Indiana Blue

Inspired by the success of Blue Majority, the Act Blue fundraising page created by authors of Daily Kos, The Swing State Project, and Open Left, I’d like to introduce Northwest Indiana Blue.

It’s not a snappy name; I’ll give you that. Try as I might, I kept striking out on that one. I’m open to suggestions.

NWI Blue will be around from time to time asking, begging, and nagging for contributions to Northwest Indiana candidates for state office.

And without further ado, here are our NWI Blue candidates:

Jill Long Thompson – Governor
Larry Balmer – 5th District State Senator
Myron Sutton – 15th District State Representative
Larry Chubb – 4th District State Representative

These candidates were picked because they are facing Republican incumbents and are competing in districts that have competitive in the past.

I strongly believe that expanding Democratic control in state government is the most important thing that Indiana Democrats need to do this November. Jill Long Thompson must be our next governor, the near super majority that Republicans enjoy in the State Senate must be broken, and Democrats must expand their advantage in the State House of Representatives. Indiana simply cannot bear another four years of the reckless policies of Mitch Daniels and the status quo of pandering to select groups of voters with wedge issues in the State Legislature. NWI Blue hopes in some small way to help change that.

So how about a contribution today?

Another State Agency Behaving Badly

Blue Indiana and Masson’s Blog have been more on top of this story than I have been. I don’t recall seeing anything about it in the local papers but I miss things. Ask my wife.

Anyway, the American Civil Liberties Union is seeking to file a class action suit against Indiana's Family and Social Services Agency (FSSA) over the problems resulting from the privatization of the states welfare services. Essentially, as a result of those privatization efforts, benefits are being denied to people who qualify for them. You can find more by clicking Thomas and Doug’s posts here, here, here, and here.

As a side note, I think that we are seeing what a lot of us knew all along. Privatization of government services allows those services to be delivered cheaper but not necessarily better.

First it was the Indiana Department of Environmental Management running roughshod over environmentalists concerns about the British Petroleum refinery expansion in Whiting.

Last week, it was the Department of Local Government Finance bullying LaPorte County officials over homestead rebate checks. Those checks haven’t been sent because the DLGF keeps delaying a decision regarding a possible reassessment.

This week, it’s the FSSA’s turn. The state is facing a possible class action lawsuit over privatization gone bad and the FSSA is refusing to accept any responsibility for it.

Is it me or is there a pattern here?

Caption Fun: God Bless America

This is in honor of TDW who always had the best 'Caption Fun' pictures.

How would you caption this picture?

In case you hadn't heard, Taking Down Words will be no more but TDW (Jen Wagner) will be reincarnated in the blogosphere somewhere in the near future.

We Don’t Need No Stinking Badges Rail Traffic

Canadian National Railway wants the Federal Government, specifically, the Surface Transportation Board, to speed up the review of it’s proposed purchase of the EJ&E railroad line.

What’s the rush?

While I understand that this is a good thing for reducing rail traffic in Chicago, it is likely that the acquisition will lead to increased rail traffic here in Northwest Indiana. If you have ever driven in Lake County you would know that this is NOT a good thing. Ironically, as I write this, I can hear a train from either Gibson Yards or the Northfolk Southern Line crossing nearby. Oh, there’s another. Seriously, I’m not making this up.

To the point, I was glad to read today that Congressman Pete Visclosky and Senators Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh were cool to the idea:

The three said Tuesday the deal threatens plans to expand the Gary/Chicago International Airport and the South Shore commuter rail line. They also said putting 34 trains per day on some EJ&E segments would bisect communities and tie up traffic.

Visclosky added:

"This is a matter of public concern and the STB (Surface Transportation Board) should not hasten its ruling for CN's private gain,"

Canadian National’s bid needs to be fully studied to determine what impact its finalization would have on the region. If that impact can be minimized and the effected communities have had their concerns addressed, then the deal should go forward.

If the deal does go through, I am going to miss those cool looking bright orange EJ&E locomotives.

Not the Sharpest Tool in the Shed

From the La Porte County Herald-Argus:

A man with a warrant for possession of heroin was arrested Friday after a La Porte County Sheriff's Deputy spotted him sitting at the bar of the Fraternal Order of Police lodge in Trail Creek.

D’OH!