Democrats Must Embrace Elimination of Gasoline Sales Tax - Part 2: A Political Perspective
In Part 1 I covered the basic idea of suspending the gasoline tax and how it would not only benefit consumers but also remain revenue neutral to the state. Now I’ll outline how Democrats can use this issue as a political tool to gain traction against Governor Mitch Daniels.
Let’s just start by being completely honest - Daniels won the property tax debate in a major way. One can argue the merits of his plan but right now it’s popular with homeowners and will likely continue to be so through the November elections as more and more people open their new property tax bills. Daniels will continue to push the message that he’s the governor that tackles the big problems while putting money back into taxpayers’ pockets.
So the problem facing Democrats is how can they change that narrative? Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jill Long-Thompson’s plan to suspend the sales tax on gasoline provides that opportunity if they craft the correct message.
Democratic State Convention
Last night I had a great time going from room to room hamming it up with the rest of the politicos and delegates. There were several hospitality suites on a variety of floors. Congressmen Donnelly and Ellsworth had a hospitality suite and I went there to ask about their sellout FISA vote but by the time I made it to their room they were gone. I did get a chance to thank congressman Baron Hill for his vote against the FISA amendment and I spent the majority of my time in that room.
At 11:30pm the hotel management shut us down because things were too loud but we were allowed to go hang out in the lobby. Somehow I ended up with all the beer - and at midnight that is where the real political power is, heh.
This morning we elected our national delegates for the 3rd district. The Obama winners were Graham Richard and Sofia Rodriguez. Rick Stevenson wasn’t present for the vote which surprised me given he campaigned for the position although he did show up later. I’m not sure why the 3rd District got the shaft but our meeting room was ridiculously small and only about half the people could fit in with the other half having to wait in the hallway.
As an interesting aside I spoke with Graham Richard and he told me he’s considering blogging from the national convention. I told him that was a fantastic idea and I hope he ultimately decides to do that. Also of note Sandy Kennedy mentioned she will not be running for City Clerk in 2011.
The main convention meeting and speeches are just now starting up…
A GOP State Delegate wants to save gas
Any delegate who is driving to Indy on Monday AM - returning on Monday afternoon or evening who would like a fellow delegate to buy the gasoline, please contact me. I would rather ride than drive. Just reply to this post or e-mail me at john.kalb@verizon.net. Thanks John B. Kalb
Allen County Democratic Party amends campaign finance report, almost assuredly due to my written complaint
As has been discussed on this blog repeatedly I feel that the Allen County Democratic Party violated campaign finance law with their most recent campaign finance filing.
Kevin Knuth and I had a long exchange on this blog where he kept re-iterating that I could not PROVE that the Allen County Democratic Party violated Indiana Campaign Finance law by not properly reporting their debts as required.
Over the last 16 months on this blog and my previous blog I have repeatedly stated that Indiana Campaign Finance law is vague and open to interpretation. I feel that this is wrong and that the Indiana Campaign Finance Laws need to defined such that they are not open to interpretation.
I can promise you that I can audit the campaign finance reports of Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and Independents and find numerous campaign finance report violations with little effort. I feel that this is a problem that needs to be resolved.
About four weeks ago the Political Notebook section of the JG reported on my complaint and their report is worth a read:
http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080427/LOCAL0202/804270440
I find the following quote from Andy Downs (Democratic member of Allen County Election Board particularly encouraging in regards to my complaint:
Governor Daniels Releases Bogus Ad
There’s many half-truths in this ad but there’s one blatant lie as well - see if you can catch it.
Didn’t raise taxes? Surely people won’t believe that. Hell his first proposal after taking office was to raise the income tax on those making over 100k by 1%. That proposal didn’t pass but he’s supported other tax increases as well. Thomas from Blue Indiana explains:
Jill Long Thompson Is Your Democratic Gubernatorial Nominee (UPDATE - Schellinger Concedes)
99% Reporting
Jill Long Thompson 564,936 - 50 percent
Jim Schellinger 559,475 - 50 percent
Lake county put her over the top. Congrats to JLT! I wonder how long the party stuck around the Grand Wayne Center before getting the boot. If any readers were present at JLT’s party then let us know how it went…
UPDATE 5/7 - It’s official, Schellinger has conceded. From the press release:
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Schellinger called his primary opponent, Jill Long Thompson, at 4:15 p.m. to offer his congratulations and concede the gubernatorial primary race.
(Photo from Berry Street Beacon)
Governor’s Race Sits at 50-50
Jim Schellinger has a modest 6600 vote lead but there are still a few Northwest counties that have yet to report (including Lake) and I would expect those counties to go for Jill Long Thompson. As expected this is going down to the wire…
Allen County GOP Denies Database to Primary Candidates!
Let me start by telling you that my blood is absolutely boiling right now.
As many of you know I recently switched from the Libertarian Party back to the Republican Party. This was a tough decision for me and some days it is a decision that I question a lot. Today is one of those days. As most of you know I am in favor of smaller Government and protecting our individual freedoms.
The Republican Party maintains a database of likely Republican voters that is known as “Voters Vault”. This database is a powerful tool that Republicans can use to market themselves to like-minded Republicans.
Scott Wise is running for Congress in the Republican Party against Mark Souder. Scott Wise spent a term on the Whitley County Council as a Republican and was active in the Republican Party for many years. Scott is a friend of mine and he “flirted” with the Libertarian Party in 2006 and wanted to be their candidate for Congress in 2006. I was going to be Scott’s Campaign manager until the Indiana Election Board stepped in and shamefully disqualified many Libertarian candidates from running in the election due to a “loophole” in the state law.
Scott Wise wanted access to the “Voter Vault” database and requested access to it. Below is the exact reponse that he received from the Indiana Republican Party and I quote:
Jill Long-Thompson On Suspension of Gas Sales Tax
Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Jill Long-Thompson wants to cap the amount of sales tax that’s charged on gasoline so that any portion of the price over $2.75/gallon would not get the sales tax applied to it. I don’t think this goes far enough - back in 2006 state Democrats campaigned on the promise of repealing the sales tax on gasoline altogether and that’s what should be done.
Since the governor and state legislature are hell-bent on holding down local government spending they can lead by example and figure out a way to pay for a complete suspension of the gas sales tax. This tax hurts everyone from working class Hoosiers to major corporations and we’re one of only 8 states that even has the tax.
Obama Discusses “Free Trade” With Journal Gazette
There’s nothing more frustrating than reading a story on NAFTA that doesn’t accurately describe what has happened since its enactment. So after reading Sylvia Smith’s story in this morning’s JG I was certainly frustrated. She briefly interviewed Barack Obama and he mentioned that we need to look at revisiting our trade policies to make sure they are fair to the United States. Smith then added a few statistics to her story that I don’t feel tell the full picture. I have some charts below that will make NAFTA’s effect on Indiana crystal clear.
I also want to point out that we do not have ANY “free trade” agreements. At the end of this post I have included testimony from the Senate floor where Senator Byron Dorgan illustrates why this is so. His examples will probably be eye-opening to those that haven’t seen them before and you’ll understand why our trade deficit has ballooned and why these agreements are unfair to the United States.
