a. "I do not support same-sex marriage."
b. "I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman."
c. "I support a constitutional measure to ban gays from marrying."
d. "I oppose a constitutional measure to ban gays from marrying."
e. "I believe in individual religious freedom and in equal protection of the [...]
I picked up a few months ago a dusty old book published in 1940 by Erika and Klaus Mann entitled "The Other Germany". It's a poignant book, for Erika and Klaus are well educated and worldly Germans who were appalled about the events in Germany in the 1930's. As the [...]
The New York Times this morning both amuses and provokes. It amuses by discussing in depth what the White House teams might look like for each Senator Obama and for Senator McCain, but in the cagiest manner possible with regard to the postion of Secretary of State, which it [...]
In two weeks, Indiana will almost certainly produce a strong vote for an incumbent Republican Governor, Mitch Daniels, and quite likely, for the first time in decades will at the same time reward its electoral votes to an aspiring Democratic President, Senator Barack Obama.
The vote [...]
Pat Buchanan speaking to the Republican Convention in 1992 in retrospect was akin to Dicken's Ghost of Christmas Future... a specter so grim and frightening as to cause the most penurious of misers (Scrooge) to recoil. Our Republican Party, however, did not recoil from Buchanan's rightist agenda. Now, the party [...]
I have received a forwarded e-mail regarding Barack Obama's tax policy circulating among some Republican friends of mine that is utter factual claptrap, of the same quality of information that floats "revealing" terrifying computer viruses long since contained, living only as urban legend.
Frankly, I find Barack Obama's tax policies, generally [...]
Larry Gigerich, managing director of a firm with interests before the State, nevertheless has his facts right in a recent opinion piece in the Indianapolis Star.
Let's start with the obvious: The weakening national economy is affecting every part of the United States. When you consider that the Midwest has [...]
Jill Long Thompson, candidate for Governor of Indiana, has been leveling against incumbent Mitch Daniels a near-total red herring with regard to the investment of toll road proceeds in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac and High Yield Bonds. (First of all, the responsibility falls with the State Treasurer, but aside from that....) [...]
What a difference competence makes... or in this case... would have made had it been allowed to prevail.
What has impressed me most about the Daniels Administration and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation under Nate Feltman is the sober financial realism with which they address the growth of business in [...]
Imagine a world in which the conservative wing of the Republican Party, whose every presidential candidate had lost EVEN in the Republican Primary, had seen its influence muted, rather than expressed, in the selection of a vice presidential candidate. Imagine if conservative abortion and gay-rights political ideologies had taken a [...]
The New York Times has done an effective job in describing the division of the Republican Party between its ideologic, social conservative and more progressive, business-minded wings.
The credit crisis has only exacerbated the division, as it appears that the principle opposition to effective intervention in economic collapse came [...]
As a reminder to rigid conservatives, our system during the cold war in counterpoint to communism was not referred to mainly as "Free Market". There remains around the globe today small stone-age economies, still bartering in seashells and beads (or some equivalent) that are more “free market” than we are.
No, our [...]
There's a certain poetic justice to the New York Sun, the conservative attempt to counter the New York Times, going bust today for lack of capital in the crunch. That is an allegory for the ideological conservative plan for America under present circumstances... highly principled and economically defeated.
Financial [...]
So let me get this straight.
Mike Pence who personally, along with his entire staff, lives utterly at tax payer expense, and who has made no discernable contribution to the economy, places his own job in November above the jobs of the Americans across this country who will lose theirs [...]
(Courtesy of the Indianapolis Star, Printed Sept. 26th)
By way of full disclaimer, I am a registered investment adviser. Though I believe I was relatively early in concern about a housing bubble and avoided the securities that have given Wall Street such difficulty, I still can think of no portfolio of mine, whether conservative or [...]
(This piece represents my own thoughts, and not necessarily the thoughts of the First Republicans. I welcome any Republican who subscribes to this organization's philosophies to write and post here, including those who may disagree with me.)
The choice of Palin in my opinion reflects the very thought process that [...]
An article in the Indianapolis Star unfortunately startled many in the glbt community by reporting that Governor Daniels said he would vote for a Constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. There are many possible Constitutional amendments, those that ban outright and those circumvent judicial processes by reserving the power of [...]
Jon Elrod in an Indiana Equality Survey declined to answer several questions due to a lack of familiarity. His silence on those questions was too easily misinterpreted as potential opposition to GLBT interests, so I have spoken with Jon Elrod, discussed the substance of the matters with him, and obtained [...]
In response to the post below, which also appeared as a guest post on Indiana-Bilerico (a blog of interest to the Indiana GLBT community), a thoughtful challenge appeared under the pen name of Tyrion on Tyrion's Blog. The points Tyrion makes are of a respectful nature and deserve [...]
In the special election on March 11th, we will be presented with a decision which previously has been all too rare, a choice between two candidates, Jon Elrod and Andre Carson, either one of which could be worthy personally of GLBT support.
I write as one who as a Republican valued [...]
I appreciate a few inquiries I have received. With the end of the legislative session, and the defeat (for the present) of at least of one the legislature's most villainous undertakings (an undertaking opposed by the editorial board of every newspaper in the state that spoke, large or small, Republican [...]
According to a report in the Indianapolis Star, Senator Pat Miller is intent on reintroducing a measure that would make it illegal to accept anything of value in exchange for arranging a surrogate adoption.
That's craziness.
Sure, it's a field that ought to be regulated, like any adoption, to ensure that [...]
A recent poll out indicates Giuliani continues to lead the field, with the conservative vote divided. In Indiana, I am aware of only two significant Republican movements, one for Giuliani and one for Romney. If Romney is doing as poorly in Indiana as he is doing nationally, that should [...]
In the beginning, the American motto was E Pluribus Unum, a Latin expression that appeared on all our currency and proclaimed to the world that we were a nation of diverse states, religions, and peoples brought together to produce one. Like laminations of iron, folded and hammered again, a plurality [...]
In the wake of yesterday's ruling on abortion, I think it is appropriate to provide some thinking about this organization and its position on a mother's right to control her body as it balances with the value of the life within. First Republicans was founded especially by Republicans who were [...]
Ari Fleisher, President Bush's form spokesman, writes in the Wall Street Journal of the disparity in the payment of income taxes, arguing that the rich are getting soaked. To prove his point, he argues that the top 1% of the population earn 16.3% of the nation's income, but pay [...]
Tom has learned that it can sometimes take me an hour to pick up a gallon of milk. One reason is that next to the Marsh I run to is a Half Price Books, and like an addict needing a hit, I can't resist the urge to check out one [...]
An interesting report appeared on WTHR (Channel 13 News) last evening about abandoned houses in Indianapolis. An unknown person or group erected a billboard-type sign in front of an abandoned house which has been upsetting the neighbors for some time. The sign announces the inaugural "Abandoned Home Tour of Indianapolis" [...]
I remember the last time I told a Polish joke. It was in the sixth grade at Springmill Elementary School. I didn't know who or what the Polish were, but telling Polish jokes was the fashionable thing to do in sixth grade. I was relating this particular Polish joke to [...]
Before we get too far away from the topic, has anybody heard how much Mitt Romney actually raised on his visit to Indianapolis? Anybody? Anybody?
[...]It's remarkable to me how our Party in Indiana has come to be defined by the politics of just a few people in the legislature who see an ideology of intolerance as their ticket to election.
I recently attended a political briefing on this score by an architect of that strategy, [...]
The following comes from Indiana Equality, in support of the bipartisan initiative of Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi and Representative Greg Porter:
Call your State Legislator This Morning!
Ask them to vote Yes on Rep. Porter?s Bias Crimes Amendment to Senate Bill 45
Make Your Voice Heard! Tell Your State Representative to include language against bias [...]
If memory serves, in Dickens' Tale of Two Cities, the carriage of an aristocrat rolls over an urchin. The powdered wig and face of a French lord looks out upon the dying urchin, tosses a coin to the boy's father, and then urges his driver on to his country estate, [...]
The Indianapolis Star in reports today on a Romney fundraiser held in Indianapolis. The Guiliani fundraiser, according to the Star, netted $250,000. The Romney crowd seems a little coy to me in reporting how much they raised. Is it because they are doing last-minute tabulating? Is it because they [...]
When I took the phone call yesterday afternoon informing me that the attempt to amend the Constitution of the State of Indiana had died in committee, these raspy words came to me. They come from an Indiana institution, attorney Mark Gray, 90 years old and today in declining health. [...]
I hope the Indianapolis Star is misreporting this morning, or quoting out of context. Otherwise, two different responses to the above headline tug at me.
The first is satire ("Dear Friend: I would have seen you at the farmer's market in Broad Ripple Saturday, but I missed the convoy [...]
In establishing this blog, we intended it to serve as forum for any who might share our principles, (though not necessarily agree on their ramifications.) If you've been reading and enjoying, and would like to participate as a blogger, we would welcome you.
[...]Many might applaud an Administration move this last week which slapped tariffs on Chinese imports in response to a U.S. court ruling that the Chinese illegally subsidized exports. Professor Jeremy Siegel of the Wharton School, however, argues that the Administration is playing with fire.
Siegel observes that the drop [...]
To recap from a First Republican perspective, 130 religious leaders have joined Lilly, Wellpoint, Dow Agro, and Cummins, Republicans Scott Keller and Jon Elrod, and First Republicans President Sydney Steele in supporting change for SJR-7, or opposing the measure outright.
House Speaker Pat Bauer has announced his position that the second [...]
My partner Tom and I hosted a little gathering at our home this afternoon. It was fairly social, except that three of our guests kept bringing up their work... which was criminal investigation. Sure, we had called them because we had been robbed. And sure, the subject matter was not [...]
That's the conclusion of one the world's leading bond managers, Bill Gross, of PIMCO.
Specifically, as the sub-prime market melts down, levels of housing affordability will be under pressure to revert to levels that existed a few years ago. Under current conditions of sub-prime market melt down, and observing [...]
In 1977, Indiana was the 35th and final state to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. The amendment coasted to a stop when it hit the conservative mud of the Confederacy. (The only northern state that has failed to ratify the ERA is Illinois.) In Indiana, the ERA passed with considerable [...]
(UPDATE: Barron's has named Whole Foods CEO John Mackey to their list of Best CEO's. In what little write-up each CEO receives comes this word: Whole Foods has inked a deal to buy smaller rival Wild Oats. Got that? So Whole Foods succeeds in rezoning and tearing down woods that [...]
Yesterday, First Republicans met in a convivial setting to receive briefings from Tom John, chair of the Marion County Republican Party, Scott Keller, City County Councilman, and Jon Elrod, state representative. A good time was had by all.
Amidst much interesting talk, one outstanding proposal rang out, coming from Jon Elrod, [...]
The Indianapolis Star this morning makes public the intention of the Cummins Engine to testify against the passage of SJR-7, an amendment to the State Constitution which would invalidate the equal protection clause for gay and lesbians citizens, ban civil union for same sex couples, and remove the force [...]
I've heard attendance figures at the Casinos in French Lick have fallen faster than expected. I'm not especially surprised. Though I think they should be able to get some boosts over time as conventions schedule, note that Atlantic City is facing the same difficulty according to the New York [...]
First Republicans will be hosting a series of groundlevel political briefings in a convivial cocktail setting in the Presidential Suite at the Columbia Club in Indianapolis on March 22nd at 5:30 pm. We welcome all -- voter, political aspirant, office holder, Republican, and Former Republican alike -- who share our Principles, whether you've [...]
The question of the day is whether problems in sub-prime mortgages will spread into the rest of the economy. They will in Indianapolis, and are likely to in the rest of the country.
Regarding Indianapolis, one national hint appeared in the Wall Street Journal today, where our very own Meridian [...]
Pope Benedict has renewed the Vatican's call for Roman Catholic politicians to marshal the Church's teachings and apply them in government. While most may disagree with the Catholic Church on many topics, including its opposition to contraception and its opposition to any rights for same sex couples whatsoever, the [...]
I hope you'll indulge me for a moment. The following comes from my final Officer Effectiveness Report just prior to my leaving the Air Force, written by the Squadron Operations Officer and endorsed by the Wing Commander, a Lt. Col. and Bird Col. respectively. (The OER drives officer promotions, among [...]
The Indiana Conference of the American Association of University Professors has posted on the front page of their website the following letter, directed to the Speaker of the Indiana House of Representatives:
Dear Speaker Bauer,
A recent Michigan Court of Appeals decision bans school districts and state universities from providing health insurance and [...]
Every once in a while, it pays to open a familiar envelope and see if anything has changed in the world of Republican organizations.
Boy, has it.
Senator John Danforth of Missouri and Governor Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey have joined their forces in The Republican Leadership Council. The Republican [...]
The Indianapolis Star yesterday reported on the migration of St. Francis Health-care to surrounding towns. This migration is not without ramifications, for in some instances it reduces, even zeros out, access to contraceptive medicine in communities.
Consider this recent example: A small town in rural Indiana has a small [...]
There are two amusing stories bouncing around which point up the same longstanding principle, observed 200 years ago by the British classical historian Macaulay. Some things are timeless.
1.) The first is Newt Gingrich acknowledging to Dobson that while he was attacking Clinton, he was carrying on an affair [...]
First Republicans will be hosting a series of groundlevel political briefings in a convivial cocktail setting in the Presidential Suite at the Columbia Club in Indianapolis on March 22nd at 5:30 pm. We welcome all -- voter, political aspirant, office holder, Republican, and Former Republican alike -- who share our [...]
Leading Republican contender Rudolph Guiliani is coming to town tomorrow! We invite you to join First Republicans and others at a fundraiser and reception in his honor on Wednesday, from 6 to 7:30 pm, at Obsidian Enterprises, 111 Monument Circle, Ste 4800. Come, bring a friend, and together contribute at least [...]
Texas is emerging from a brouhaha about the attempt to administer HPV vaccine to 6th grade females, a vaccination from which parents would be allowed to opt out. (HPV is the most common cause of cervical cancer.) Many parents complain about the message it sends to children about sexual activity.
Two recent observations [...]
The markets today gave us a nice little reminder that we're all in this together.
Beginning in Shanghai, which has been enjoying a bubble of epic proportions, the global sneeze took more than 8% off it's value, which has given them stock prices that they haven't seen so low since.... [...]
According to the New York Times, the Christian Right is having a tough time settling on a candidate for President. It isn't going to get easier.
The problem is finding among the ideologues someone who is competent enough to govern our nation. That's an impossible task. As any executive [...]
A Republican candidate vying for office says something lunk-headed... like the Democratic Party is controlled by wealthy Jews.. and rather than no comment, or "what he really meant to say was...", the Marion County Chair Tom John harkens to Lincoln while announcing that the Party would immediately review whether such [...]
It seems as though the Bush Administration is determined to throw into deep relief the division between the libertarian strain of the Republican Party and the conservative strain.
The libertarian strain places value on the Constitution and its Bill of Rights as the preeminent protector of natural rights, universal in [...]
Smokers are already taxing the rest of us. Indiana's health care costs are sky-high. Among the contributing factors is the extraordinary cost of medical care for smokers, which cost is spread across the entire population. Those Republicans and Democrats who oppose raising that tax a significant amount to cover health care [...]
The Legislators have voted themselves a pay raise. That pay raise was not a selfish act, but in the service of Indiana voters, for it helps to open up legislative service to more citizens. They've also indexed Legislative pay to Judicial pay, another good move. In the past, [...]
This evening comes dire news from the Mideast. It turns out that the Administration's plan of posting our troops in isolated positions around Iraq, rather than basing them out of strongholds, makes targets of them. One such outpost has come under terrifying attack by two suicide car bombs followed by [...]
This message is directed to the staff of the State Republican Party, of the office of the Secretary of State, of the Office of the Marion County Prosecutor and Marion County Republican Party, of the offices of the Treasurer, of the Auditor and of the Governor, of young Republicans, to [...]
You know the crowd.
You've got Eric Miller of Advance America, who ran for Governor of Indiana against Mitch Daniels in 2004 and lost the Republican Primary by an overwhelming margin. Miller, who was divorced for decades and living as a single man, in theory in a state of admirable [...]
I recommend as a great historical documentary The Goebbels Experiment, now on DVD at Blockbuster, Goebbels being the famous German propaganda minister. The movie is remarkable for having not a single word, and nary a single image, that is modern. Instead, from the very beginning, nothing we hear comes from [...]
The New York Times this morning summarized Rudolph Giuliani's views on Iraq as he expressed them on Larry King:
He said that the United States went to war with far too few forces and was wrong to dismantle Saddam Hussein?s military and government, and he [...]
Mitt Romney, formerly moderate, now seems to be the darling of the conservative movement, edging up on John McCain, also formerly occupying moderate territory. Meanwhile Brownback is genuinely conservative, as is Huckabee.
The developing race for the conservative vote will resolve to this question indelicately phrased: Is the far right wing [...]
Tom John, in my estimation, is a significant step forward for the Republican Party as a competitive force in Marion County. The changes in the Marion County Republican Party portend an eventual healthy challenge to Democratic Party rule, which will ultimately succeed. As politics are cyclical, we will see paths [...]
Today the Marion County Republican Party met to elect a new chair, with a gratifying result. Tom John is the new Marion County Republican Chair. His position was not uncontested, with three other Republicans vying for the honor, including First Republican Sally Spiers in a noble effort. The convention was [...]
(I've temporarily re-featured this post, if only because further observations that warrant consideration are involved in the comments.)
I can't help but be amused by the recent brouhaha about Senator Glenn Howard appearing at a pea-shake shakedown to plead the case of the ... er... shakers. (Pardon me if I've gotten [...]
Readers of the right wing Republican play book have reached the back cover and found there are no more winning plays to run. Now they're doubling back through, trying to recycle some old ones. But the fans have grown tired; it's going to take new coaching.
Let's face it. Bush [...]
One of the most distasteful aspects of the liberal temperament is (as the classic English historian Macaulay put it) the tendency to embrace change, no matter its problems. And one of most distasteful aspects of the conservative mind is the tendency to reject change no matter how beneficial.
Rush Limbaugh [...]
(The following we posted in February as a link. With it's dry title, I observed that nobody followed the link. With the announcement of PrincetonOne's investment downtown, it is seems timely again. Below I am indulging in placing the whole thing on the front page for a day or two. [...]
Convoluted isn't it? But true.
This is the chain, in somewhat over-simplified form:
1. Oil prices delivered record profits into the Middle East in 2006. The Middle East then cycled over $500 billion back through London in 2006 to buy U.S. securities, especially U.S. treasuries. (In comparison, due to the headline [...]
Below I have taken the liberty of posting the remarks to the Senate Judiciary made yesterday by Mr. Mark Sniderman on behalf of the Jewish Community Relations Council in Indianapolis, a council representing every synagogue and Jewish membership organization. Mr. Sniderman speaks in opposition to SJR-7, which opposition the JCRC [...]
Every once it becomes possible to see personally the impact of an abstract concept, and see that big ideas really do have an impact on the ground. You read the headlines, but see the impact in person.
For instance, I entered the military at a time the headlines had military spending [...]
It was in a conversation this weekend that reality came home for me about the attempt to amend the Indiana Constitution to deny any of the legal incidents of marriage to gay and lesbian citizens. (The effect of this strongly worded amendment would be to prevent any public entity from [...]
I think I've hit on it. For a long time now, whenever I hear somebody categorize him or herself as either a liberal or conservative, or condemn somebody else for the same, it results in momentary diminished regard for that individual. But I couldn't put my finger on what [...]
The Science Section of the New York Times this week reported the results of a study on the higher incidence of homicide in place where rates of household gun ownership are high.
I think this link is entirely credible. Over the years, I've scanned the map that the Indianapolis [...]
This morning's Wall Street Journal has a piece co-written by the 1992 Nobel economics laureate and University of Chicago professor Gary S. Becker. It's worth reading in its entirety, not merely what I quote here. But Becker gets right to the point:
The strong bipartisan support for increasing the federal [...]
Word had it that City County Councilman Scott Schneider had decided not to run for re-election to the Council. And Advance Indiana now reports the same of Lynn McWhirter and Isaac Randolph and rumors of Earl Salisbury.
In this respect, they all follow Jim Bradford and Phil Borst. Schneider and [...]
I had a lunch this week with a gentleman from Cincinnati seeking my business. Nice enough guy, but he is forever prefacing his statements with: "Now, I'm very conservative..." He's not alone; I've found it to be a common refrain among white businessmen hailing from Cincinnati. This is, after all, [...]
I've heard a lot of talk lately about whether or not the Nation is ready either for a female president (Hilary Clinton) or an African American president (Barack Obama). The answer is yes. Britain wasn't ready for a female prime minister... until suddenly they had one in Margaret Thatcher. And [...]
This generation's test of character has arrived, by which every Hoosier today will be judged by his or her posterity. This test applies as much to the thinking straight community as to the gay community, as much to the journalist and editorial writer as to the office holder, as much [...]
This past week I attended a briefing by Nate Feltman, Indiana's Secretary of Commerce, on the Administration's efforts.
Feltman gave due bi-partisan credit for the establishment of the IEDC. Nevertheless, under the Daniels administration, I think the numbers speak for an operation under Daniels that is both impressive and unprecedented [...]
Governor Daniels and Governor Schwartzenegger (two Republicans!) have each put forth proposals to improve the health insurance picture, and both deserve some points. Each plan has an essential merit.
The California plan not only offers universal coverage, but REQUIRES it... which is to say that every Californian has no choice but [...]
Our world isn't perfect. Obviously. If we were to take and examine a snapshot of how various tasks are performed, whether by government or by private sector, it's not clear to me that we would conclude it should all be organized precisely as it is today. It is clear that [...]
From recent headlines comes a study in genuine contrast. First, the headline from the Star: "Daniels and Dems: kumbaya?", in which an air of potential cooperation is suggested between the Governor's office and the House Democrats. Hurrah. Bully for Both Parties. In that headline rests some indication that the [...]
As former Speaker of the House Brian Bosma and current Speaker Pat Bauer have both expressed interest in bringing an amendment to the Constitution to vote in defense of the family in Indiana, I think it would be helpful to identify an especially threatening nest of domestic terrorists. Hoosiers need [...]
(Back from the Holidays... much rested, thank you!)
Significant changes in crime fighting techniques may or may not have some effect on a wave of crime, but Indianapolis and other parts of the country have been suffering a surging tide of crime, not a minor wave.
When crime trends up in [...]
Yesterday, former president Gerald Ford passed away, the loss of a Republican noble. As the Indiana legislature approaches its next session, I am reminded that Ford had a strong opinion on a topic that is certain, alas, to rise again, forced by an intolerant few. According to the Detroit Free [...]
A former Republican governor and Senator has passed away at the age of 93, having left several important legacies in his place. It is well to remember that such Republican men and women have played a role in the GOP, for both ultra-conservative Republicans and competitive Democrats now join [...]
People who are politically independent, lapsed Republicans, or even Democrats ask how I can be Republican. Though the answer can be complex, one fundamental answer for me personally is that my parents were (and are) Republican, and I wanted to be just like them. I still do; my parents are [...]
