Veritas Rex

Gov. Sarah Palin will do-si-do with Mark Souder and Hank Williams, Jr. in Fort Wayne on Saturday

Alright, so maybe I'm mixing up genres, but it's a good teaser line.

Road to Victory Rally in Ft. Wayne, IN featuring Gov. Sara Palin and Hank Williams, Jr.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2008
4:00 PM to 7:30 PM
 
Saturday October 25th
 
Memorial Coliseum
4000 Parnell Ave.
Ft. Wayne, IN 46805

Call the Mark Souder for Congress committee for tickets at (260) 436-5230.

Good. Luck.

Boston Globe's Jeff Jacoby: McCain's Rx for Healthcare is Spot-On

“THE CHOICE you'll have," said Barack Obama during last week's debate, as he told voters what to expect if John McCain's health-insurance proposal becomes law, "is having your employer no longer provide you healthcare.

"Don't take my word for it," he added. "The US Chamber of Commerce, which generally doesn't support a lot of Democrats, said that this plan could lead to the unraveling of the employer-based healthcare system."

If only.”

Senator Obama is mongering Senator McCain's Healthcare proposal as something Americans should fear instead of the solution Americans need. Jacoby's summaryized point: We don't expect our auto insurance to cover oil changes and flat tires--that would make auto insurance exorbitantly expensive.

Well, surprise--that's how unique circumstances in World War II prompted employers and employees to treat health care insurance, and now we're addicted to a system that traps people in high healthcare insurance costs. A key flank of health care reform must include detaching health care insurance from employment.

Read more for this excellent column on how John McCain's health care proposal can help separate healthcare from employment status and enable Americans with more mobility without fear of losing or "lapsing" coverage. Not only does Jacoby help explain McCain's proposal, but his column doubles as a good primer on the historic nature of our health care mess.

Gianna Jessen Abortion Survivor in Australia Part 1

Must watch lecture on abortion by an adult abortion survivor, Gianna Jessen (Part 1 of 2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPF1FhCMPuQ

Gianna Jessen Abortion Survivor in Australia Part 2

Must watch lecture on abortion by an adult abortion survivor, Gianna Jessen (Part 2 of 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8B1nKGIAeg

McCain Student Body Right

A few lifetimes ago I filled the running back role for Yorktown High School’s JV football team, which gained a regional reputation for successfully running the classic football play, “Student Body Right.”
I know I risk losing at least half my audience for invoking football to illustrate a political problem; I promise simplicity and brevity.

Student Body Right simply calls for huge lumbering offensive linemen to run diagonally upfield and toward the sidelines with the ball carrier (“running back”) trailing right behind. If the linemen are fast enough—and ours were—it can work wonderfully. Head coach Scott Brooks leveraged this play, it seemed, at least once in the first half and a few times in the second half of every game to go on to earn a (very unusual) winning season.

"McCain up the middle" isn't working

Charlie Cook wisely observed that Barack Obama’s 9-point lead in the polls is tenuous and the McCain camp can still win. The veteran political analysts finishes his recent column this way:

“This contest is not over yet, of course. McCain needs something big to change the dynamics -- something bigger than a [great] ad, a strong debate performance, or a misstep by Obama. If voters stay focused on the economy, this contest could soon be out of McCain's reach. If their attention returns to national security in the next week or so, he could still come back.”

Put another way, if John McCain keeps running the same plays that don’t work, he’s going to lose. Every football team goes into the locker room at half time and inventory which plays did and didn’t work. For years, John McCain has beaten up evangelicals and conservative Christians and in 2007, he seemed to begin the process of regretting all that, and made peace with a number of their leaders. Those plays worked, to some extent, but many remained suspicious or outright distrustful of a McCain administration, until he ran a new play—Student Body Right. Sarah Palin was the running back and put points on the board, such that McCain even took the leads in the polls.

Now, the polls are inverted, and the country is wondering what play McCain will call next. That is the tough art and science facing every athletic coach and political campaign manager, but it pretty safe to at least conclude that McCain needs another student body right, but with a variation--maybe a different ball carrier.

Go back to what worked

McCain needs to get the base out in these last few weeks not only to vote, but to go door-to-door. In order to do this, he needs to look at the plays that really worked this year and running similar plays for the rest of the year, like the following:

• Student Body Right, starring J.C. Watts at the designated secretary of Health and Human Services.
• Student Body Right, starring Dan Coats as the designated secretary of Department of Defense.
• Student Body Right, starring Rudy Giuliani as designated head of the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Maybe this better qualifies as “Student Body Left.”)
• Student Body Right, starring Ann Coulter as Attorney General. (Hey, if he’s such a maverick….)

Yes, there are risks to this strategy, for as soon as you announce that Rock Star A will serve as this or that secretary or department head, you risk upsetting some governor of a battle ground state who had hoped to get picked for that certain post. Still, the McCain campaign needs new and innovative plays, and their handlers should assess the risks and boldly propose some new variations of the things that have worked in the past.

The McCain campaign has wisely heeded calls for Sarah Palin to visit the historically red Hoosier state and prevent Obama’s 40+ visits in 2008 from making Hoosier Republicans sing the blues. Governor Palin will visit the Verizon Wireless Music Center this Friday, but John McCain must dig deeper to call some truly innovative plays in order to put more points on the board and win this election.

Sine Die from the Capitol

Sine Die from the the Gov’s office

Governor Mitch Daniels just concluded his press conference over the closing of the 2008 Indiana Legislative Session, praising both houses for a bipartisan accomplishment for his historic property tax reform. Reporters pressed the first term governor to score political points but Mr. Daniels simply referred to the legislation as a “win for all Hoosiers” in a year when many citizens saw their taxes skyrocket.

Mr. Daniels repeatedly praised senate and house leaders by name for their bipartisan work resulting in a “new era of reform in Indiana.” The governor adamantly believes that today’s passage will usher in permanent protection for Indiana, adding that it’s a legislation environment like this that help explains why CEO magazine recently described Indiana as the “best place for business outside the sunbelt.”

It wasn’t all softball questions, however, in that Mary Beth Schneider of the Indianapolis Star queried the Governor on whether he relishes the role of being the author of a bill that will raise taxes for Hoosiers; sales tax will rise from 6% to 7% as an offset to property taxes decreasing, arriving at a net tax reduction. Daniels appropriately rebuffed her question, reminding the reporters that the legislation is a “major net tax cut.”

All in all, a lot of work got done during this short legislation session, all calculated for the dual purpose of tax relief for Hoosiers and economic development for Indiana. Whether 2008 actually helps the state’s economic development, however, might be questionable. Veritas Rex remembers Indiana Economic Development Corporation founding director Micky Mauer always reminding policy makers that Indiana does too much bad stuff and not enough good stuff; too much smoking, too much fatty eating, and not enough exercising makes for bad vibes among corporate shopping for a solid workforce pool for new business or expansion. The relevant question for 2008 is whether this year’s gambling expansion deserves to be on that “good” or “bad” list.

Sine Die from the L. Gov's office

I subsequently posed that question to the Lt. Governor, and it’s clearly not the kind of question that she enjoys taking, as her long time stand against gambling doesn’t necessarily square with Governor Daniel’s support (even if unenthusiastic support) of gaming expansion. She’s first and foremost a loyal supporter for the administration’s policies, and kudos enough for it.

She very diplomatically and carefully explains that she has been an opponent of gambling since her days as a state senator in the 80s and 90s, and personally hopes for the day when gambling declines.

Until then, I follow up, will there be appropriate increases in gambling counseling and intervention in the 2008 budget? Mrs. Skillman affirms, explaining that every budget since 2005 has increased in this area. She carefully and deliberately concludes the point by invoking Ronald Reagan, who opposed gambling’s expansion in the Golden State: “I prefer to govern Californians based on their strengths, not their weaknesses.”

A plaster bust of Ronald Reagan sits atop a fireplace mantle in Mrs. Skillman's office, appearing just over her shoulder as she quotes the Greatest Communicator. With the session's completion, the 2008 campaign trail is next.

Is there a Hemi in the Marriage Amendment?

Barely two weeks ago Veritas Rex hosted a robust discussion about the gay lobby's canard that passage of the Marriage Amendment (known in the Indiana General Assembly’s legi-speak as “SJR 7”) would injure Indiana's competitive standing for economic development. A favorite "Exhibit A" is the number of businesses lead by corporate giants like Eli Lilly of Indianapolis and Cummins Engine of Columbus, Indiana that testified against SJR 7 in 2007. These companies all read and re-read the same talking points about how such a development could poorly position Indiana for their choice of economic development and expansion in 2008 and beyond.

The GLBT community then gloated that Marriage Amendment supporters were ostensibly having a hard time finding sponsors in the House and Senate, though only two weeks later, we've found the Amendment offered in both houses.

Surely, such a move—indeed, in both houses!—would scare away any further economic development decisions. Evidently, Cummins Engine hasn’t been reading the papers, because despite the Hoosier intoleranati’s reintroduction of Marriage Amendment in both the House and Senate, the motor giant today announced that they will add 500 new professionals to its Columbus operation over the next two years, agreeing to lease an office building being built as part of the Commons Mall redevelopment project in order to meet expected growth.

Remember that Cummins explicitly warned us of the dire effects of doing things like recognizing that the sky is blue, water is wet, and marriage is between a man and a woman. Such legal recognition of the obvious might scare away economic development opportunities in the future. As well, such a legal recognition would make it difficult to attract and retain qualified professionals to staff that future development.

Today, we pause and salute Cummins for digging in their heals and getting done what 2% of Indiana’s population thought was impossible—economically expanding in state still noodling on legalizing blue skies, wet water, and traditional marriage.

Summary of links: Indiana Economic Development Corporation, "Cummins to Add 500 New Professionals To Its Columbus Operations" January 23, 2008.