Northwest Indiana Comical Politics

Visclosky's ties to troubled PMA Group run deep from Associated Press

NWI -- The Corruption Capital of the Nation

While everyone focuses on the political corruption in the City of Chicago and Illinois State government, one should not forget that the most corrupt corner of the United States is Lake County, Indiana.  This is not surprising given that we sit adjacent to Chicago and I can throw a stone out of my window and reach the political corner of Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. and the home of Barack Obama. 

After twenty plus years of watching NWI and Chicago politics, I can unequivocally say that NWI is an easy match to Chicago in political corruption.  I am sure Lake County was a good study of Chicago politics but it has surpassed it because there is absolutely no control from media scrutiny or a viable competitive party to the Democrats.

Democrats in city, county, and generally state governments are the corrupting influence.  This comes directly from their ideology that government is the solution and therefore it has a corner on the market for raising unlimited and uncontrolled money, through taxation.

The method of distributing these enormous funds is "tribal."  By tribal one refers to the distribution of resources to and support through power primarily of those who are loyal and supportive.  "They are part of my tribe and vice versa."  Most Democratic politics is of this nature.  It began with the Roosevelt coalition, which achieve support of diverse groups by making them part of the Democratic Party "tribe" by promising to distribute to them a portion of the goods, i.e. the spoils.  This has been the story of Democratic Party control and it is no where better exemplified than in Illinois State politics and in local politics in Northwest Indiana.

If anyone wants to see what the United States will look like after four years of the Obama administration and the Democratic control of both House of Congress, just look at Indiana's Lake County and especially the northern cities of Gary, East Chicago, and Hammond.  They are the classic consequence of Democratic Party control of corrupt local government.  The result, after every conceivable social program and plan has been attempted since 1966 (over 40 years), is an economic and social structure that is worse than most third-world countries and continues to sink faster and faster.

Hundreds of billions of dollars have been poured into the area under every conceivable program from the Federal, State, and local governments.  The result has been that public education is none existent, crime is out of control (Gary has remained the murder and crime capital of the Country.  East Chicago would be; but its population is under 100,000.), population has been exiting at a geometric rate, employment and new business have been evaporating, and finally residential house prices have been plummeting close to zero and still no one wants to buy. 

There are billions of dollars allocated for social and economic development that have all gone to friends, power players, and political allies.  None and I repeat none has ever gone to help the citizens.  This is the true tribal politics that now Obama and the Chicago mafia is bringing to Washington. Just look at who he has appointed and to whom he wants to payback the tax money that is collected by the Feds.  The new public-works bill is primarily a massive tribal campaign to pay back loyal members of the Obama/Chicago tribe.  If you thought all of this bailout money was for "main street," have I got some underwater land to sell you in the Florida Everglades.

Just as everyone here (NWI) is ashamed and disgraced by Lake County, so will the Nation's citizens "feel our pain" about the United States when the Obama/Chicago tribe is done.  Welcome to my political world of NWI.

 

Obama Prepares Enemies List and Re-Education Camps

Barack Obama and his campaign have shown their total disregard for American values and the nature of the American political system.  Three newspapers who endorsed his opponent have had their reporter thrown off his campaign plane and their credentials revoked.  The following is an outline of the breaking story:

"PURGE: SKEPTICAL REPORTERS TOSSED OFF OBAMA PLANE
Fri Oct 31 2008 08:39:55 ET

NY POST, DALLAS MORNING NEWS, WASHINGTON TIMES TOLD TO GET OUT... ALL 3 ENDORSED MCCAIN

**Exclusive**

The Obama campaign has decided to heave out three newspapers from its plane for the final days of its blitz across battleground states -- and all three endorsed Sen. John McCain for president!

The NY POST, WASHINGTON TIMES and DALLAS MORNING NEWS have all been told to move out by Sunday to make room for network bigwigs -- and possibly for the inclusion of reporters from two black magazines, ESSENCE and JET, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

Despite pleas from top editors of the three newspapers that have covered the campaign for months at extraordinary cost, the Obama campaign says their reporters -- and possibly others -- will have to vacate their coveted seats so more power players can document the final days of Sen. Barack Obama's historic campaign to become the first black American president.

MORE

Some told the DRUDGE REPORT that the reporters are being ousted to bring on documentary film-makers to record the final days; others expect to see on board more sympathetic members of the media, including the NY TIMES' Maureen Dowd, who once complained that she was barred from McCain's Straight Talk Express airplane.

After a week of quiet but desperate behind-the-scenes negotiations, the reporters of the three papers heard last night that they were definitely off for the final swing. They are already planning how to cover the final days by flying commercial or driving from event to event."

Now that Obama thinks he is going to loose there is not bad treatment that is beneath him for his "enemies".  Everyone in America should know that if Obama is elected, even Richard Nixon will look like a lover of equity and freedom of the press.
Obama's intentis very clear.  Re-educate the reporters and their newspapers and the American people be damned.  He would not be a President of the American people; only of a select few.

Indiana's Obama Campaign is Sinking Fast

Senator Barack Obama was finally in Northwest Indiana (NWI) today, speaking in Munster, Indiana.  Maybe it was just me, but it seemed as if the people of NWI had little care for this fact.  His appearance might be described as "elitist" considering that it was by invitation only, which means it was a controlled small audience.  He spoke in a town, Munster, which leans heavily Republican, and more importantly is a non-union, non-Hispanic, and non-African-American town.  Citizens in Munster will vote in the Democratic primary, because that is where the fun is, but they will vote for Hillary Clinton not Barack Obama.  And these same people who vote for Hillary in the primary will not necessarily vote for her (or the Democratic presidential nominee) in the fall. 

        The latest poll, from today, shows that Obama is trailing Clinton by 3 % in Lake County and she has the rest of the State.  The largest Democratic vote in Indiana is in Marion County, i.e. Indianapolis, and here in NWI, in particular Lake County.  For Democrats, the primary is won or lost in these two counties.  The reality of the demographics of Indiana is that they favor traditional Democratic candidates during the primary season.  One of the sad realities about the State of Indiana is that it has one of the lowest rate, forty-sixth in the Country, of individuals with a college education.  There is no question that this is quickly becoming Hillary Clinton land.

        Lake County is the most tribal political area in the Country, even surpassing Chicago.  Most of the white voters in the NWI are (sarcasm alert) the gun toting, religion loving, union workers that Obama detests.  He has already indicated his distaste by characterizing them as "bitter."  They are going to be bitter when they vote against him because what really makes them exceptionally bitter is his "spiritual mentor.” 

One thing that is true in Lake County that was not the case in Pennsylvania is that people here in fact are familiar with Rev. Jeremiah Wright's ideology of America.  Why?  Well, it is not just about proximity to Chicago, there is probably a good deal of Rev. Wright's ideology peddled in Gary, Indiana as well (in fact, Lake County, Indiana, is one of the most de facto segregated areas in the United States and if we are to believe Rev. Wright's NAACP speech that is how it should be given those left-brain, right-brain learning differences he espouses).

The only group that will vote un-equivocally for Senator Obama is the African-Americans in Gary and Indianapolis.  That is a given; Obama has been getting approximately 90% of the black vote and there is nothing (even Jeremiah Wright) that appears able to hurt him with that voting demographic.  But statewide, African-Americans only make up about 9% of the overall population.  Gary as usual will fudge the numbers up; but not enough to make a real difference.

Lake County has the highest concentration of Hispanics in Indiana.  Although their turnout generally is low, it will probably be relatively good for this primary because there is a real effort to energize that Hispanic base, especially by Senator Clinton.  Hispanics, in the aggregate, are more likely to vote for Clinton than for Obama.  Some of this has to do with a general distrust by Hispanics of African-American politicians; when Blacks have won positions of power politically in Lake County the perception of Hispanic is that they have had no interest in Hispanic issues, only in getting their vote.  This does not help Obama with that voting demographic. 

On top of all this is the growing perception that Senator Obama's campaign is over.  The "spiritual adviser" of twenty years, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, has shown the reality of what Obama had to commit to so as to get elected in the City of Chicago.  There is nothing that Obama can say to put him outside this belief system that is not going to be strictly opportunistic.

Especially in NWI and Lake County, no one believes that he did not know about Wright's ideas.  Even if they continue to support Obama, they just do not find the Obama "I did not know" defense a credible argument.

Obama, as opposed to Clinton, has had to spend all of his time shoring up his national campaign.  National TV shows that he is currently doing to brace his campaign is of little value in Lake County.  The only thing he has going for him is that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright decided to wait until April/May to go public.  If this had happened in February, there would not be an Obama campaign.

However, it is clear though that the Obama campaign does have a lot of throw away money.  He cannot be here; but his campaign has spent a fortune on mailings.  In Lake County everyone is so used to this that it really is of little electoral consequence; but Hillary's walking door to door here is a Lake County political tradition that does carry weight.

Finally, in the NWI primary, especially Lake County, almost no one votes in the Republican primary, The reason for this is that no one ever runs in the Republican Party in Lake County, because the County is completely controlled by Democrats.  On the Republican side there is not a single contested race.  What occurs in most primaries is that independents and Republicans will, as usual, vote in the Democratic primary.  This will be a good chunk, approximately 25%, of the vote and the majority of it will go to Senator Clinton.  When the general election occurs, most of these people will all vote for McCain.  Indiana is one of the best states for the voters splitting their ballots in the general election.  The president is always Republican and the Congressional delegation is a mixture, even tending toward liberal Democrats.

Five days out, I would project that Senator Clinton will take Indiana by over 10%.  Seeing the disintegration of the Obama campaign in Lake County, a stone's throw from his home, I would further project that Hillary Clinton will beat Obama in North Carolina, or come close enough to count as a win for her.  If these predictions occur, although it is too late to change the delegate numbers, it does comport to the fact that Obama is un-electable.

It's the People, Stupid!!!

This past Saturday night (1/26/08) at the Black & White Ball, which honors and raises funds for the Ophilia Steen Center in Hammond, I was asked by a local politician why he had not heard from me for a while, i.e. no new commentaries. 

Honestly, I really couldn't answer the question as there was no particular reason.  I thought about it afterward and wondered -- only for a moment -- why I had not been pursuing the usual corruption and bad management of Lake County (and Northwest Indiana) with my usual zeal.  After all, it is not as if there isn't plenty to write about (such as publicly funded "educational" materials to promote the South Shore -- I mean, really, just how long did the various public officials dishing the -- these were educational materials -- have to practice that line before they could say it with a straight face).  But I digress.  Then I read a recent blog by Mr. Jerry Davich and I knew exactly what he was talking about.

Jerry Davich of the Post-Tribune Newspaper wrote what is probably the best piece recently of why it is not worth someone's time to write about politics in NWI, especially Lake County. Of course, I firmly believe that I'll pick up the "pen is mightier than the sword" motto once again and start writing away.  But, still, what he said struck me as the cold, hard truth. 

This is his piece: It's the People!!!

Lake County Needs to Continue the American Revolution

Traditional American political values always presumed that the best government was the one closest to the people.  The reason for this is that government close to the people would be more easily controlled and influenced by the citizens, whose lives the elected officials effected.

To keep elected officials under control, i.e. ensuring the people's interests, especially when it came to taxes, the citizens would directly, i.e face-to-face, confront their neighbors, the elected officials.  It was not uncommon for American citizens to picket and harass the elected official at their homes to demand explanation or a retraction, especially when it came to taxes.  Remember the elected officials are the citizens' neighbors and essentially their employees.  In many cases to make sure the elected official understood where the people stood, the citizens, i.e. the people, would not be beyond giving a good spanking or whipping to the elected official, or even burning the wayward elected official's house down (for those who doubt me, an excellent book, The Patriots, detail many such instances).

Although it sure would feel good and would be well deserved by our elected officials, I am not suggesting extreme actions against the Lake County Council members who voted for a 33% increase in our income tax as our 2007 holiday present. 

Nonetheless, there should be no opposition to any jurisdiction arresting Councilman Will Smith on general principles.  Since he is a convicted felon, a low-life criminal, one can be sure that he has committed many more crimes for which he has not been convicted.  So a little more time in jail, especially on Friday, can only equalize the scale of justice.  The only reason he is at the Council voting is the deal he has made with the "mayors" to get a job when he returns from the Federal penitentiary.  (Maybe he is in line to help Mayor Rudy Clay's son take pictures for an additional $25,000 per year.  It is true that picture taking is back-breaking work and Rudy is in line for the best dressed mayor award with the mayor of Detroit.  G-d help us all.)

It is going to be a very, very sad day for Lake County when the one man, Fran DuPey, serving in an elected position in Lake County Government retires.  The only person with guts in that whole building is Commissioner DuPey.  I have said that from my first writing about NWI, over ten years ago, and amazingly it still holds true.  She is the only Democrat to have taken a consistent anti-tax increase and pro-effective government commitment, even when this required opposing members of her own party, e.g. the northern mayors.  No one in Lake County political circles has the "fortitude" to even hold a candle to her.  All those Lake County male politicians, and the female ones too, are so fake, I can assure you they take "fake hormones" to make sure they are not mistaken for dead.

There are two things all the citizens of Lake County must to do to keep our honor as Americans.  First, attend todays (12/28/07) meeting of the Lake County Council (at 4:00 p.m.) and stop them from overriding the veto of the Lake County Commissioners (by any means).  If we have over a thousand people show up, that will tell them what we think and what we are about to do (say, take away their paycheck at the next election), it will actually scare them and they will have to take more hormones.

Second, if they get away with voting for the income tax, start picketing their homes, their work, and everywhere they go, include their supporters, such as the Mayors of the three northern cities.  In that process, make sure that no one is re-elected.  Show the Lake County Democratic Party that this is a Party vote and if the Party votes for it, you as a voter, and a true American, will make the Party pay in Lake County in the next election. 

This is the only way we will get any change in Lake County.  Alternatively south County needs to succeed from the united County.

The Hammond NWI Christmas Spirit

The following Christmas ode was written by "The Preacher," a NWI radio personality on WJOB radio.  It is currently published on the NWI Discussion Boards.  In the interest of the season, I thought it should be shared by everyone in the great State of Indiana.  All Hoosiers deserve a good laugh during the holiday season; this is especially true of the citizens of Lake County who on Friday had their State income tax increased by 33%.  This was the present (coal?) given to the citizens by their County Government. 

You can see the Ode here (and just in case, I have it available below).

(For those who do not have a translation available for the "Shakesperian" references in this Ode, one is provided at the end of the Carol.)

'Twas the night of the "Penquin"
By Mr. Crackers

‘Twas the night of “The Penquin” and out on the street
he spreads propaganda on tiny webbed feet.

His tuxedo was hung by his bedside with care,
in hopes that Tom Junior soon would be there.

Team Hammond was nervous, and crawled under their beds,
in fear that Tom Junior would lop off their heads.

And with Marty and Eddy perched on his lap,
Dappy got ready to gift wrap more crap.

As his war chest of cash grew fatter and fatter,
Wes Miller asked questions, but, it didn’t matter.

Then Marko showed up at his victory bash,
and the mayor tossed him out by the hairs on his stash.

So, Chico and Tony jumped into the fray,
but, they were no match for Big Al and Repay.

Then right out of nowhere on the board did appear,
a red-headed “Penquin” with his beak up Tom’s rear.

Then laying his finger aside of his snout,
the mayor gave him a job, exercising his clout.

And I laugh when I saw him separating my trash,
then, he flick his cig butt, and was gone in a flash.

But, I heard him exclaim as they drove down the street,
“Your taxes are paying to shoe my webbed feet!”

"I just can't stopped that monkey from writing once he gets in the holiday spirit!
All the characters feature in the above are figments of Mr. Cracker's imagination and are not real people, as far as I know."

Penquin = Steve Fowler; Tom or Tom Junior = Tom McDermott, Jr. Mayor of Hammond, Indiana; Team Hammond = loyal opposition; Marty = Marty Wiggels, Mayor's Chief of Staff (keeps watch, i.e. control, of the son for the father); Marko = Robert Markovich, Hammond City Councilman (highest vote getter in the City, which  embarassed Baby Mac who opposed his re-election); Chico = Chico Hinajosa = City Councilman (used to think well of Baby Mac); Tony = Anthony Higgs; Big Al = Al Salinas (dumbest City Councilman, a true embarassment, and supporter of Baby Mac); Eddy or Repay = Dan Repay, City Councilman (son of a descent local politician, father forgot to provide son with backbone); Mr. Cracker = The Preacher.

Hammond Mayor's Garbage in and Garbage Out

Mayor Baby Mac has continued to implement the negative management of the City of Hammond that I have been critical of all along with the new clarification of the financial cost of the City to its citizens.  The Hammond City finances continue to spiral out of control with no serious reduction in sight.

The first reduction, the Health Depatment, was a political test of wills of meaningless financial value to the City or its citizens.  The only reason it was aliminated was its lack of employment of Baby Mac's friends.

The second part was the shift of the sanitrary functions from the City's books to the Hammond Sanitary District's books.  This allowed Mayor Baby Mac to claim a reduction in the City's property tax levy while simultaneously sticking it to the citizens of Hammond with additional service costs.

The newspapers have now officially reported the "screwing" of the citizens of Hammond.  The elderly's costs will increase from $3 a month to $9 and the regular citizens's costs will go up from $5 per month to $15.  That is a 200% increase.  It is an annual increase of $72 for the elderly and $120 for regular citizens.  It is actually going to raise a ton of money for the Hammond Sanitary District because it will also collect money from not-for-profit entities that previously did not pay property tax.

Since Baby Mac controls the Hammond Sanitary District, it is going to be a good source of employment for his and Daddy Mac's friends, acquintances, and political allies.  The citizens continue to get screwed and pay for gain and benefits of the "old-boy" network.

The Lake County Government Thieves and Charlatans Are at Your Door!!!

The Lake County Government Council is about to vote on implementing a local county income tax.  An individual income tax of 1% on income earned in Lake County.  The overall affect of this tax will be to dramatically shift funds from south Lake County to the northern cities of Lake County.  It has no other value.  It is a way for the mayors of the three incompetent, corrupt, non-performing, and generally financially bankrupt cities to pick the pockets of the citizens of Lake County further.  There, literally, is no additional benefit for this effort.

The Lake County Council, who is about to vote on this tax, is so afraid of the truth coming out, that they have forbidden Mr. Michael Griffin, Clerk/Treasurer of Highland, from making a power point presentation to them on the inequality and ineffectiveness of this tax and its consequances.  There is no one who disagrees with the assessment that Mr. Griffin is the most knowledgeable individual in Lake County, if not the State of Indiana, on local government financing.  The man is not only brilliant on this topic, among others, everyone, Democrat or Republican (or in between), know him to be of the utmost integrity as well as fair and unbiased.  He is real credit to all public and elected officials. 

To deny him the opportunity to present his case speaks volumes about what the Lake County Council is about to do and their commitment to "not be confused by the facts."  I therefore take this humble opportunity to make available the power point presentation that Mr. Griffin would have presented to the Council if he had been given the opportunity.  The following is his presentation: Income20tax20talk1.ppt.

The central idea is two fold.  One, it is a shift of money from south towns to the northern cities.  Two, the tax only addresses, as usual, increasing the source of government funds not with reducing any of the costs.

This continuous feeding of the northern cities insatiable appetite for other people's money and their incompetent governorship must be put to an end.  The only way to do that is like dealing with an addict, cut off the source of juice.  You are therefore encouraged to call, fax, or write your Lake County Commissioners and Lake County Council members and tell them: "NO!!  and Hell, NO on the income tax!!"  If you do not do it now, do not cry later. 

The following are all the elected people in position to make a difference and their phone numbers:

LAKE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

Frances DuPey, Commissioner, 3rd District

Building 'A', 3rd Floor, 2293 N. Main Street, Crown Point, IN 46307

Phone: 219-755-3205

Alt. Phone: 219-933-2808

Fax: 219-755-3064

Gerry Scheub, Commissioner, 2nd District

Building 'A', 3rd Floor, 2293 N. Main Street, Crown Point, IN 46307

Phone: 219-755-3200

Fax: 219-755-3064

Roosevelt Allen Jr., Commissioner, 1st District

Building 'A', 3rd Floor, 2293 N. Main Street, Crown Point, IN 46307

Phone: 219-755-3056 Fax: 219-755-3064

Gary Courthouse, 400 Broadway, Gary, IN 46402

Phone: 219 881-6078

East Chicago Courthouse, 3711 East Main Street, East Chicago, IN 46312

Phone: 219 397-6728

LAKE COUNTY COUNCIL

Ted Bilski, Councilman

Elsie Brown-Franklin, Councilwoman

William (Will) Smith, Jr., Councilman

Thomas C. O'Donnell, Councilman

Ernie Dillon, Councilman

Larry Blanchard, Councilman

Christine Cid, Councilwoman

2293 N. Main Street

Crown Point, IN 46307

Phone: 219-755-3000

Fax: 755-3283

DO IT NOW!!!  THERE REALLY IS NO TOMORROW ON THIS.

How to Spin an Ugly Duckling Into a Princess!!!

The suck-ups to Mayor Tom McDermott, Jr, (Baby Mac) have been out in force spinning his election win in every way but the truth. 

Only in the minds of midgets (or the other way around) or people on drugs can the mayoral election in Hammond be described as anything but a goodbye send off to Baby Mac.  (It may very well be the kiss of political death to his partner in crime and fooling of the citizens of Hammond, Dan Repay.) 

The new spin is that Baby Mac almost lost the election, winning by only 400 votes, because he took the tough stand of cutting governmental costs by reducing services, specifically the health department.  To my direct knowledge, the people who are responsible for wholesale distribution of this spin are the two local newspapers, The Times and The Post-Tribune and Dr. Dan Lowery on his "Anyday NWI Will Be Like Heaven" show on Channel 56.  The newspapers gave this lie in their editorials and Lowery repeated this mantra not once but at least twice on his show.  The second time it was repeated on Lowery's show by Jim Wieser (a useless Democratic Party operative). 

First, all these people are lying about the Hammond Health Department.  And if they really don't know that they are lying, then they are just not smart enough to comment on public affairs.  (This is analogous to Dennis Miller's comment that if we are to believe Hillary Clinton that she really didn't know about Bill's extra-marital affairs, then she is just not smart enough to be president.)  The Good Government Initiative specifically recommended NOT doing away with the Hammond, East Chicago, and Gary Health Departments because their unique services were needed and could not be duplicated by the County with any net savings to the citizens.  What is it about "NOT" that these mastodons don't understand?  Baby Mac did not reduce the cost of government he only shifted its cost to all the citizens of Lake County. This is clearly shown in the 11/22/07 article that talks about Lake County creating a satellite office in Hammond.  And why is a satellite office in Hammond needed?  According to Baby Mac, it is because "a local office is needed for low-income, uninsured residents who cannot afford to travel to Crown Point for inoculations or health records."

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE COUNTY COUNCIL WANTS TO DO WITH THE LAKE COUNTY INCOME TAX.  TAX ALL LAKE COUNTY CITIZENS -- SEND THE MONEY TO THE NORTHERN PART OF LAKE COUNTY -- TO PAY FOR THE THIEVERY AND INCOMPETENCE OF BABY MAC IN HAMMOND AND HIS FELLOW COHORTS IN GARY AND EAST CHICAGO.

Dan Repay for County Commissioner?

Dan Repay for Lake County Commissioner?   Say it isn't so.   

This blog called the bait and switch scheme by Repay and his "boss" Baby Mac in previous blogs here, here, and here. These previous blogs argued that Repay and Baby Mac were cooking-up this scheme starting before the Hammond City Council primary.  That means, Repay knowingly and willingly lied to the voters, the citizens of Hammond, during the primary and again during the general election.  He has always known he has no intention of serving on Hammond's City Council in the new term because it is rumored that his blushing bride hates Hammond and this earns him a "get out of Hammond" card.

Their lackey Steve Fowler made all kinds of claims about his knowledge of Repay and how everything I said was not true.  Gosh, could Fowler -- nondescript Mayoral flunkie -- be peddling untruths (otherwise called lies)?  If so, maybe it is just all part of his training under Baby Mac. 

The problem Dan Repay now faces is that, as everyone but him knows, Baby Mac cannot deliver.  Baby Mac, with a $400,000 campaign war chest, could not muster a landslide against the $2,600 campaign an old man in a wheelchair.  No, if Repay is to have a chance at winning Lake County Commissioner, then Baby Mac is going to have to ensure that Repay has no opposition.  How might Baby Mac attempt to do that?  Enter stage right, Daddy Mac and his billionaire friend.  It is the only way Repay can win.