Daniels wants control of the Marion County Judiciary. Why?

[T Bone]

Look at this sequence of events. currently transpiring.

There is a bill in the legislature for him to be able to APPOINT an Inspector General for the entire state. As I understand it this Inspector General would work for the Governor and could go into ANY county, overriding the locally ELECTED prosecutor. Stopping cases in the courts of that county or initiating cases in the courts of that county.

Carl Brizzi, the Republican prosecutor of Marion County recently charged a Republican 'insider' with campaign fund theft and misuse, stating that 'political corruption doesn't belong to just any one political party.' words to that effect....

Also in this timeline, figure in now, that Mitch doesn't want o live in the Governor's Mansion in Marion Couty. YET. In fact with the announcement that he is building a home in Hamilton County it would appear that for some reason, at least temporarily, he wants his residence to be OUT of Marion County.

NOW, I understand there is a bill in the Legislature that would effectively allow Mini Bush Mitch to APPOINT the circuit JUDGES in Marion County ONLY !!! No other county in the state effected. Just Marion. It is some bill disguised as a 'merit' selection of judges, but JUST for Marion County.

So, for some reason he is delaying a move to the governor's mansion, actually planning on getting OUT of the county -for a while- and he basically wants veto power over the prosecutors of the whole state, and power to appoint the JUDGES in Marion County, well at least for now.

All just a coincidence, no doubt, but I would happen to notice it since I am a coincidence theorist.


On top of this none of the local media is on the case for some odd reason.

[theorist]

1. I'll keep my eyes peeled.

If this has something to do with reeling in local governments filled with liberals, then Monroe would be on the list, right?

[T Bone]

3. It gives him vast prosecutorial powers anywhere in the state

That the state constitution does not permit. Suddenly he is wiser than Owen, Conner, and many other great minds that formulated our constition in Indiana ? I don't think so.

[theorist]

5. After rereading your post a couple times, I caught what you were saying.

I'm probably considered more extreme than a "coincidence theorist" (although my user name has nothing to do with conspiracies), so I'm intrigued as to the real intent here.

Tonight I'll start collecting sources and set up a timeline. This could lead to a great piece to run in the Indiana Daily Student (IU's paper). I'm pretty sure they'll publish anything. I'll probably post the links and sources here for my own book keeping.

[T Bone]

6. Great, lets make it a DU collaborative effort right here.

Maybe we can bust Tenderloin Boy.

[theorist]

7. That would be something.

I've got some stuff to take care of first. I hope to have my first post up within a few hours. Thanks for bringing this up. You can't imagine how pissed I was that daniels won, considering the role he played in our current budget crisis. I've been telling people for over a year that he's the architect of the national deficit. It's a bit hyperbolic, but it gets the point across. "My Bitch Mitch", right?

[GetTheRightVote]

2. When you see an elected official not going to his resident be afraid

be very afriad, keep your eyes open.

:kick:

[T Bone]

4. As Jon Stewart on the Daily show would say...

"Oh, yes, he is up to something." (or already has been)

[hippiechick]

8. Is he still open to IPALCO suits ?

Could be trying to load/overrule the local Prosecutors so that no county in the state will take a class action suit against him for his IPALCO mini-Enron antics ?

:shrug:

[T Bone]

10. Indiana HB 1703 ?

H.B. 1703, THE REPUBLICAN GRAB for the Marion County Judiciary. That is the info I have for the Indiana House Bill that, in effect, would let the governor appoint the judges in Marion County only. At least for now. Don't imagine for one minute that mini-Bush wouldn't want to appoint the county judges in ALL of Indiana.

We supposedly fight a war to obtain for the Iraqis the right to vote. Isn't it ironic that our Republican controlled legislature wants to take that right, with regard to judges, away from the citizens and voters of Marion County?

[theorist]

9. Recent update on Carmel home project.

I don't think this means that he'll be moving in permanently, but the outcry over his building of a "dream home" in a Carmel gated community has urged him to put his plans on hold.

Gov. Mitch Daniels said his plans to build a new luxury home in Hamilton County are now on hold.

Daniels sparked controversy this week when he confirmed to The Indianapolis Star that he and his wife, Cheri, had purchased a 1.5 acre lot in Laurelwood, a gated development in Carmel. Carmel building authorities recently approved a building permit for a 22,000-square-foot house, with plans that include 12 bathrooms and a six-car garage.

Daniels, speaking to reporters today, said those plans don't represent the scope of the home he plans to build, which he said would be a dream home, but smaller.

http://www.indystar.com/articles/0/221531-1990-093.html

Here are some details on the originally planned dream home:
http://www.indystar.com/articles/1/220952-9871-009.html

[BiggJawn]

11. How quickly he forgot that he isn't a CEO anymore...

Mitch, Mitch, Mitch...<chuckle> Finding out that heavy-handed shit the IPL and Lilly's stockholders didn't give a rat's ass about as long as they got paid isn't playing too well with us lowly Serfs, eh?

Fuck you, asshole, you're retiring in '08, don't get TOO effin' comfy, unnerstan?.

[theorist]

12. I'll be posting my time line soon, but here's something interesting.

Daniels went by the book in shortening his speech - Jan. 23, 2005

Most of it is a boring story about a passage from Ecclesiastes prompting the guv to shorten his speech by 10 minutes. This little snippet caught my eye, though.

http://www.indystar.com/articles/1/211727-6741-098.html

Now that tax talk is rising in the Statehouse, several Hoosier lawmakers are raising caveats to the no-tax pledge they signed with Americans for Tax Reform, a Washington, D.C.-based, anti-tax group run by ex-Reagan aide Grover Norquist.

Under an Internet link labeled "List of Pledge Signers for 2005" on the group's Web site, (www.atr.org) are names of six state senators and 21 representatives.

Rep. David Wolkins, R-Winona Lake, said he's tried for years to get off the list. This year, he's written legislation that would increase the state's tax on new tire sales, and says he could support Daniels' call for a temporary income tax increase, if necessary.

Do you think Hoosier repubs will eat their own?

on edit: Here's another article on this topic. It looks like Rep. Wolkins (R-Winona Lake) is willing to sue Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform if his name remains on the list after the obligatory press conference. Funny stuff.
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/nation/politics/10832593.htm

[theorist]

13. Here's a preliminary list of articles about our new Gov.

I'll keep working on it for the next few days. Please contribute. I'll probably have to move this to the demopedia page.

Pre-gov info on Daniels.

• Biography http://www.indystar.com/library/factfiles/people/d/daniels_mitch/daniels.html
  
• Office of Management and Budget and why Daniel’s position was like a hall monitor in a school full of bullies after 9/11: http://www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/light/20020101.htm (Paul C. Light; 01/2002)
  
  • NewsMax version of “The Blade”: http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/5/17/195149.shtml (05/2001)
    
  • Time “Person of the Week” http://www.time.com/time/pow/article/0,8599,171656,00.html (08/17/2001)
• Backdating the recession: http://mediamatters.org/items/200405010002

2005-01-10: Gov. Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. Inaugurated as 49th Governor of Indiana
http://www.in.gov/gov/inaug_address.html (Full text of speech)
http://www.tribstar.com/articles/2005/01/11/news/news05.txt (Howard Greninger; 01/11)
http://www.indystar.com/articles/3/209825-1863-009.html (01/16)

2005-01-18: Gov. Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. Delivers State of the State Address
http://www.in.gov/gov/stateofstate.html (Full text of speech)
http://www.stateline.org/stateline/?pa=story&sa=showStoryInfo&id=425752 (Full text of speech)
Important Points

• “The state of our state is far from sound. The state of our state needs serious attention.”
  
• Economy is weak, and it’s the state’s government’s fault; government is facing bankruptcy.
  • Plan: Create a new state post (Inspector General) by executive order and install Republican Clay County Prosecuting Attorney David Thomas.
    
  • Desired Effect: Reduce fraud and abuse of government funds; raise ethics standards.
• Educational system is broken, and more money won’t help.
  • Plan: Do not increase funding; distribute funds differently; reduce “non-academic funding”, e.g. construction (see superintendent’s comments below)
    
  • Desired Effect: New funding will not be needed until budget problems are fixed.
• Fixing the economy (“The wolf is not at the door, he is inside the cabin.”)
  • Plan: Raise Taxes on those make over $100,000 in 2005; Cut the fat (fewer government vehicles/employees); cut Medicare slowly, but surely (“…remembering that taxpayers deserve compassion, too.”)
    
  • Desired Effect: “that the state we all love might get back on its fiscal feet”
• Less important (to me): Daylight Savings Time

2005-01-19: House Bill 1703 Introduced
http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2005/IN/IN1703.1.html (Full text of bill)
http://www.indystar.com/articles/5/218399-4105-009.html (Vic Ryckaert; 01/29)
http://www.indystar.com/articles/5/218399-4105-102.html (ibid. looks like they filed this one twice)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=151x1512 (hippiechick; 01/29)
http://www.indystar.com/articles/1/220293-9531-009.html (Indianapolis Star; 02/06)
http://www.indystar.com/articles/9/220676-3559-098.html (Mary Beth Schneider; 02/08)

Indiana Law Blog Posts on HB 1703:
http://66.220.22.172/archives/2005/01/ind_courts_prop.html (01/29)
http://66.220.22.172/archives/2005/02/ind_courts_more.html (02/01)
http://66.220.22.172/archives/2005/02/ind_law_house_p.html (02/07)
http://66.220.22.172/archives/2005/02/ind_courts_mari.html (02/08)

2005-02-08: Daniels Will Not Live in Gov.’s Mansion
http://www.wabashplaindealer.com/articles/2005/02/09/state_news/state2.txt (AP)
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2916756&nav=0Ra7W6rE (WISH-TV)

2005-02-09: Democrats Question Fund-Raiser at Governor's Residence
http://www.indystar.com/articles/5/220917-4575-009.html (Mary Beth Schneider)

2005-02-09: Daniels Cancels GOP Fund-Raiser
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/local/10866967.htm (AP)
http://www.indystar.com/articles/4/221001-4604-092.html (AP)
http://www.indystar.com/articles/4/221175-2864-009.html (Star and news service reports; 02/10)
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2928586&nav=0Ra7WDGA (WISH-TV; 02/10)

2005-02-10: Hoosier Superintendent of Schools Says, “Governor of the state lied in his State of the State”
http://www.indystar.com/articles/3/221376-4433-109.html (Andy Gammill)
http://www.indystar.com/articles/3/221448-3343-009.html (Andy Gammill; 02/11)

2005-02-11: Emergency Session Held Over Superintendent’s Comment
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2936238&nav=0Ra7WHT1 (WISH-TV)

2005-02-11: Daniels cancels building of Carmel home
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2936883&nav=0Ra7WHxZ (WISH-TV)
http://www.indystar.com/articles/0/221531-1990-093.html (Mary Beth Schneider)

*(Article dates same as timeline dates unless otherwise noted.)

[hippiechick]

14. This is AWESOME ! Thank you !!

:yourock: