Northwest Indiana Comical Politics

Tom McDermott, Jr. Lies Again

Tom McDermott, Jr., Mayor of the City of Hammond, has blatantly lied to his constituency on his radio show.  In this lie, McDermott made it clear that he has no concept of what ethics in public life is made of.  He also made it clear that there is no limit to the thievery of his family.

McDermott was specifically asked on his radio show if anyone in his family had made any money from the whole transaction the surrounds the demolition and redevelopment of the "River Parks Apartments".  These are the apartments on Kennedy Av. on the border with Highland.

McDermott's answer was very technically correct in the fine Clintonian tradition of splitting hairs, no pun intended, when the then President said "I did not have sex with that women" or "it depends on what the meaning of 'is' is."  McDermott said specifically that no one in his extended family has made any public money from the City of Hammond since his father made a salary as Mayor.  Specifically refusing to discuss any other kinds of funds or his family's actual involvement.

Everyone is sure that this is probably technically true.  Public money means funds paid directly from the City as a salary or as part of a contract.  Although this still raises the question of Daddy McDermott's disaster in handling the City's health insurance contract when Junior took over as Mayor.

The fact is that the McDermott family has been stealing Hammond blind.  They have made money and will make money from the Cabellas deal, both father and younger brother.  Even though the deal is far from clear as being beneficial to Hammond and whether in the end Hammond may not be paying more that it will ever get in.  It is also clear that Cabellas was forced into the deal with daddy by someone in City government.  There is no legitimate American Corporation that would put up with this kind of third world strong arming or middle-eastern bazaar kick-back scheme.

Obviously from the Mayor's answer they are making money off of the River Park Apartment rebuild project.  One should also not forget the Interstate Plaza which is part of Cabellas overall.

When the McDermotts are done Hammond will be left as a shell.  There is no plan to bring more middle class people into the City.  The one source of funds and middle class population, Purdue Calumet, is being undermined by the Mayor with his pal heading the institution and this year decreasing the money being asked for the campus as opposed to West Lafayette.

Again, the main reason is the University funds have limited thievery rights for the McDermott clan, so why bother?  There are so many ignorant Hammond citizens to pluck clean -- let the fun continue.

University Presidents Destroy Indiana Economic Development

My earlier discussion of Indiana higher education highlighted two pieces of important information about the condition of higher education in Indiana and, in particular, Northwest Indiana. This was during my presentation to the Commission of Higher Education.

First, Indiana is No. 1 in the country in the unequal distribution of tax dollars to higher education campuses. Second, the northern and southeastern parts of the state have been ignored in developing higher education. The obvious next question is, so what? Or, put another way, what really are the consequences to the state?

The consequences can be found on the Commission of Higher Education's Web site study, where Indiana is compared with eight other states: Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, Virginia and Massachusetts. This is heavily weighted toward to Midwest, making the comparison of like apples clearer.

When combined with the Department of Education study, the conclusion that must be drawn is, the officials deciding the distribution of higher education funds in the state are responsible for its lackluster economic performance and its continued inability to grow as a mature, self-sustaining economic powerhouse. In the process, they have uselessly drained the state's coffers, with no measurable serious advantages to Hoosiers.

Of all the states studied, Indiana is No. 2 in higher education operating expenses and scholarship spending for each citizen. For each Hoosier citizen, Indiana spends $275 on higher education. Only Minnesota spends more. Indiana also comes in right behind Minnesota when it comes to spending level per higher education student. For each student in a public university, Indiana spends $5,359 --higher than all its nearby states except Minnesota.

This would be commendable if it was equitably spread across the state -- as Wisconsin does, for example -- but it is not. More than 40 percent of all the higher education funds go to two places: Bloomington and West Lafayette. If one includes Muncie and the professional schools, more than 60 percent of all funds are allocated to four places.

What is important to understand is that none of the three campuses (Bloomington, West Lafayette or Muncie) has stepped up to the plate and provided economic development for Indiana. According to the commission's study, when measuring federal spending on university-based research and development, Indiana is at the bottom of all nine states. These campuses are getting too much taxpayer money, are bringing in the least research money and are starving the rest of the state when it comes to higher education.

The consequences are real. Of all nine states, Indiana has the highest dropout rate at 13 percent, double the other states. In addition, Indiana has the lowest per-capita personal income of all the states. The economic demise of Indiana is not due to lack of funding; Hoosiers do more than their fair share. It is the result of what the Department of Education identified as the selfish distribution of these funds, without concern for their consequences on the state.

The fault lies first with the presidents of the universities, who never have performed to improve Indiana, only their résumés. Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas must assume part of the guilt because he sits on the Commission of Higher Education; so must our elected state legislators for not being awake enough to understand the consequences of their actions of just going along to get along.

More Thieving NWI Comical Politicians Going to Jail

Monday, the U. S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana will anounce more indictments against our local Democratic politicians and/or their appointees who have been freely stealing money from the public.

Being indicted in NWI by the "Dutchman" is as good as guilty.  Actually it means that you are guilty of what they indict you for plus a thousand other illegal activities that are too numerous to bother with.

So far there have been over 30 local Democrats indicted and convicted of public fraud.  In addition, there are seven more awaiting trail and certain conviction.  Not a single one has said they are sorry nor had a reasonable explanation for how they got into the theft culture of NWI.

It is a further example of NWI Comical Politics that not a single NWI Democratic Politician at any level has ever, not ever, called for the resignation of anyone responsible.  It is further indicative of the tribal political culture of the local Democratic Party that this thievery has never stopped and continues to be reinforced by the Democratic Party.  Many of the recent people indicted pursued their activities long after the indictments began.

When the "Dutchman" retires and the Democrats take over, it is going to be business as usual in the extreme.  There will be no stopping them then.  Every Democratic Mayor and his family and friends will steal everything that is not nailed down (well actually they probably will steal the nails too).

On Monday look for the new list of indicted NWI comical politicians.  It is no wonder that this part of the State of Indiana is the joke of Hoosier land and the Country as a whole.

Jischke Possible Competitor for Governor Daniels

From several sources, the new gubernatorial candidate for the Democrats is in the works to oppose Governor Daniels in two years.  The reality is that the Democrats did not have any candidate that had a chance of making a dent in Daniels prospects at re-election. 

Assuming no great stumble on the part of Daniels, and none is likely, the Democratic Party needs someone who has state wide name recognition, no known baggage, and can align with someone in Northwest Indiana to get the Lake County Democratic Vote.  The Lake County vote is a necessary win, by a wide margin, if any Democrat is to succeed in a State-wide office.

The current person the Democratic Party is attempting to recruit to run for Governor of Indiana is retiring Purdue University President Martin Jischke.  This was originally heard from one good source two weeks ago and since then has been confirmed by two others.

This would fit in with Jischke's sudden "retirement" as Purdue's president.  He is leaving at the age of 65.  The Board of Trustees would have readily given him an extension to 70 like they did with Beering.  This type of sudden exit is usually indicative of either a new political move or concern with an investigation of some past official activity.  The more sensible alternative explanation for the retirement is the former.  No one has even attempted a credible explanation for this sudden desire to join the 65 retiree set.

Jischke would be a good candidate for the Democrats, especially if he ran with someone from NWI, like Tome McDermott.

Jischke's main problems is that he has done little to promote the development of most of the State and as far as NWI is concerned he has continued to promote the institutional racism that provides less funds for Hoosier higher education black and Hispanic students as opposed to their white counterparts.  That alone could be disastrous in the end for any possible Jischke candidacy.

No more Lying to the Higher Education Commission

Last Friday, Friday the thirteenth, the Indiana Commission of Higher Education met in West Lafayette to review the 2007-08 and 2008-09 budget submissions for the various Indiana public university campuses. This is one of the legal steps in preparation for the budget request to the Legislature, which eventually provides the actual tax money to the campuses.

I addressed the commission. Unlike the boards of trustees of Purdue and Indiana universities, they allow Hoosier taxpayers to address them. I went as a taxpaying citizen of Northwest Indiana. NWI has more than 850,000 people and makes up about 14 percent of the state's population.

My question was, are we getting our fair share in the benefits allocated for higher education in the state? I was alone. There was no support from any local or state elected officials. No Mayor McDermott of Hammond, no Mayor Clay of Gary, and no Senator Mrvan, they were no shows for the most important job they had to do.  Just me.

I told the commission I was there to speak for the people of NWI who were not being represented and do not have a voice. I said I didn't have fancy PowerPoint presentations or the slick handouts university presidents gave commission members. I told them I brought facts and the interests of NWI.

According to the Department of Education, Indiana's higher education funding ranks first for its inequitable distribution across the various campuses. This dire statistic has been known for two years, but nothing has been done by the commission or our local legislators.

I told the commission three changes that need to occur. One, funding needs to be greatly equalized between the center of the state and the northern part, in particular NWI. The president of Indiana State University earlier told the commission that each incoming freshman gets a free laptop computer. A great idea, I said, but we in NWI cannot even keep our campus libraries open past 5 p.m. because of lack of funding.

Two, institutional and structural racism must end -- now. Most Hoosier African-Americans and Hispanics attend campuses in NWI. But they receive less than half the public funds of their fellow white Hoosiers in the center and southern parts of the state. Although this has been historical reality, it must end, because it is illegal.

Three, the mission of NWI's largest campuses -- Purdue University Calumet and Indiana University Northwest -- needs to be changed from the current low-level status to an equal mission with Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. IUPUI has the mission of a "metropolitan university," with greater quality, status and funds than the lower status of regional campus given to PUC and IUN. Why is this the case?

The ISU president's presentation included a map of Indiana that inadvertently quickly showed the inequality. The northern third of the state had nothing. Everything was in the state's center and south. I could feel the university presidents' daggers aimed at my back as I presented the truth. Sadly, it is the presidents of the various Indiana universities who have let down the state and undermined its economic development and continued the brain drain to promote their own interests.

This is not new. In the 1970s, the Legislature created independent trustees for NWI campuses. This has never been implemented, even though the law clearly states that no budget be presented to the commission for PUC, IUN and Purdue North Central without the approval of these trustees.

In this process, NWI has been severely damaged.

NWI and Commission of Higher Education

Press Release

For immediate release

Presentation for NWI Higher Education before Indiana Commission of Higher Education

On Friday, October 13, 2006, Dr. Maurice M. Eisenstein will be making a presentation before the Indiana Commission of Higher Education. The Commission will be meeting in West Lafayette, Indiana on the Campus of Purdue University. Commissioner Stan Jones knows of this presentation and it has been ok’d.

Dr. Eisenstein will be presenting the NWI citizen’s perspective on the higher education needs. Specifically, he will be showing how the northern part of the State and in particularly NWI is not equitably represented in the State’s distribution of higher education benefits. Secondly, he will indicating that it is time to end the institutional and structural racism that have characterized higher education in Indiana for the past 30 years.

Finally, Dr. Eisenstein will inquire as to why Indiana’s Public Law creating an advisory NWI Board of Trustees for Purdue University Calumet, Indiana University Northwest and Purdue North Central has never been implemented by the universities.

In the Northern half of the State there is no serious institution of higher education with the exception of Notre Dame, which is strictly a private institution. The northern part of the State and in particular Northwest Indiana has waited long enough to gain benefits for its future from having serious higher education institutions not just “regional” campuses. For example, Purdue University Calumet receives about half the State tax dollars per Hoosier citizen student that West Lafayette, Bloomington, Ball State, or Indiana State receives, all located around Indianapolis. There is not substantive justification for this spread in funding of tax dollars to fund Hoosier students. Purdue University Calumet receives $3,500 per student per semester from Hoosier Tax Payers to educate its students. The other campuses receive over $7,500 per student from the Hoosier Tax Payers. Even Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis receives over $5,000 per Hoosier Student (not including the medical or the law school). Let us not forget that the size of those other campuses gives them economies of scale that IUN and PUC do not have.

Further promoting the inequality between the middle of the State and NWI. Why does not NWI have a medical school and a law school? There is more than enough demand in NWI and in Chicago-land generally, certainly enough to be equal to Indianapolis. Why is the Purdue Board of Trustees asking for twice the percent increase for West Lafayette as for Hammond? Is it because the Hammond Campus has the highest level of African-American and Hispanic students in the whole State? This is the very nature of institutional racism. The Commission of Higher Education must put a stop to it immediately. Where is the 11,000-student growth promised by the president of Indiana University for IUN when there is no money in the budget for it?

NWI cannot develop economically without the level of higher education investment that is occurring in Indianapolis and without the leadership mission that a metropolitan university undertakes as opposed to the lowest rated “regional” campuses.

Finally, the State Legislature passed Indiana Code 20-12-16 Calumet Trustees Advisory Board, which requires no budget be proposed for PUC or IUN without recommendation of this Board. Where is it?

For Questions Contact Maurice M. Eisenstein at 219 513-0196 or 219 614-7353 or by email at: [email protected]

NWI Federal Indictments In as Called

The Federal indictments of three of Gary, Indiana's finest civic leaders are in.  Lake County Council President Will Smith, Lawyer Willie Brown, and general thief Roosevelt Powell were announced today by the "Dutchman" and NWI savior, U. S. Attorney Van Boklen.

This blog called it last Friday.  Remember that when you that feeling of doubt comes over you about what the Professor is projecting.