The Gary Snyder Show

Coming Monday...How much did he make?

Coming Monday:  How much did Terry Stoffel make on your dime pouring concrete while Police Chief?  See for yourself Monday!  You may be surprised.

Congrats Tom!

Since I have often been accused of everything from playing favorites to being Satan, I thought I would show my softer side and throw out a congratulations to President of the Huntington County Commissioners and Republican candidate of the Indiana State Senate District 17 seat, Tom Wall.

Tom and his wife recently completed the Farm Bureau Campaign School down in Indianapolis.  And from what I've been told, Tom finished near the top of his class.  Great job, maybe we will see a campaign now?  Anyway, watch out Jim!

Again, ignoring my political advice

Again, Mayor Updike has chosen to ignore the political advice I gave him nearly six months ago.  STAY OFF THE TUBE!  Nothing good can come from it.  Send out a presser, send Ruth or Pam out, just keep your mug off the television.  Anyway, here are a couple reports from the Ft. Wayne stations on his State of the City rant.  Really, two years in and your still saying the same thing?

Updike gives State of the City Address  - Kaitlyn Steward | Wane.com

Sports Night, Thursday (tonight) @ 7:00 p.m.

Sports Night is LIVE @ 7:00 p.m. Thursday.  Our guest include Blake Sebring (the other hockey guru), Asst. Sports Editor for the News-Sentinel will talk Komets Hockey; Justin Cohn (the other other hockey guru) and Pro Sports Coordinator at the Journal-Gazette might give us a ring as he prepares to head to South Beach and cover the Colts and the SuperBowl and finally, Lincoln Kaleigh Schrock, co-host of "Going the Distance" and Komets rookie will have his weekly take on just about everything.

Fusselman to host event

Join Ron Fusselman for coffee and cookies at Coffee d'Vine on Wednesday, January 27 from 6-8 p.m. as he kicks off his campaign effort to take back Indiana's 50th District House seat from the special interest groups and their candidate. Free will donations will be accepted.  You may also follow Ron's journey to the State House by becoming a fan of Ron Fusselman for State Representative on Facebook.  See you Wednesday!

Listen to a replay of Talkin' Politics with Gary L. Snyder

You don't want to miss Talkin' Politics with Gary L. Snyder, Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.  Gary & Ken will be discussing campaign finance reports, the State Representative District 50 race with Ron Fusselman, the 5th District Congressional race with Luke Messer and Tom Carney, the leading candidate for Huntington County Sheriff will be calling in to talk about the his race.  Gary & Ken might even touch on the brewing feud between the Huntington County Republican Party and the Huntington TEA Party.  Our call in number tonight is (646) 721-9681.

Click the arrow to listen to a replay or the iTunes button to download!

 

 Talkin' Politics sponsored by Carbonite

 

Political Cover?

The Huntington Common Council today (January 26, 2010) voted by a 5-2 margin to pay Umbaugh & Associates $60,000 to look at the City finances. Steve McIntyre and Jason Fields voted NO.  In return for the $60,000, Umbaugh & Associates will inform the city where they should cut spending and/or raise revenues (LOIT, Trash fee, etc.).  Isn't that what we pay the Mayor $60,000 a year to do?

I'm just gettin' started

BY KEN ZUK

 Congressman Burton asks me, "Why are you being so tough on me?" My answer, "Tough?  I'm just gettin' started."

I jumped at the chance to visit the Bendix manufacturing facility here in Huntington.  Congressman Dan Burton would be touring the plant and HuntingtonPolitics.com just might get an interview, but honestly, some of my friends are among the 400+ that work at Bendix and they have always spoken highly of the company.  Besides all that, the company started in my hometown of Pittsburgh, PA. 80 years ago this year, (actually in Wilmerding PA, yep that's right - Wilmerding).  

You would have never guessed it...

 I ran across this press release issued by Leonard's office that was recently published in several local publications.  By reading the presser (and publications), you would have never guessed Leonard voted NO on giving you the right to vote for yourself on whether to put property tax caps into the Indiana Constitution.  Leonard joined 21 Democrats in voting NO.  

STATEHOUSE-House Joint Resolution 1(HJR1) the legislation on permanent property tax caps cleared its final hurdle at the Statehouse yesterday. . The Senate passed HJR1 by a vote of 35-15 which now gives Hoosiers the final say on adding permanent, constitutional property tax protection to the constitution. .

HJR1 first passed the House last Monday by a vote of 75-23, sending the legislation to the Senate. Now that the Senate has passed HJR1, voters have nine months to educate themselves on the positives and negatives of the permanent property tax caps before casting their vote on the referendum.

I'm sorry...I got caught!

BY GARY L. SNYDER

As reported here last week, there was a $230 contribution made from Mayor Steve Updike's campaign to Stoffel for Sheriff.  There was only one problem though, it wasn't reported by the Terry Stoffell for Sheriff campaign.  Well, today we found an amended campaign finance report (CFA-4) and a note attached to it at the clerks office.  The amended report now reflects Mayor Updike's support for Terry Stoffel.  It's obvious to the casual observer that this goes beyond the incidental "oops, I forgot" and was a malicious attempt to hide the fact that Mayor Steve Updike gave Stoffel's campaign money.  What other names is he hiding until he gets caught?

A good start, but we need more ethics reform

BY LUKE MESSER

 I applaud the Indiana General Assembly for ethics reform legislation moving through its chamber. The steps, such as requiring a one-year wait period for moving from a legislator to a lobbyist, are a move in the right direction for our state. These bills, however, ignore an elephant in the room. If Indiana is serious about reform, we should consider three further, common sense proposals: 

 

• Banning legislators from being paid to represent clients before state agencies in policy matters and requiring greater financial disclosure of other business conduct by legislators. 
• Banning legislators from being paid fundraisers.
• Closing a loophole that allows some legislators to raise funds during budget sessions.

Campaign Finance - Who is it Really Important to?

(I got this earlier marked Anonymous.  After you read it, you will probably know why they wanted to stay anonymous)

BY:  Anonymous

Some people like to make a big deal about campaign finance reporting in a political campaign.  Most people don't really care who gave a person money or if they even got any money.  I suppose if you were running for President or Senator or Congressman it is very important to make sure that your opponent is doing what he is supposed to be doing.  After all, you always want to know who is giving your opponents their big bucks.  But what about a small community like Huntington?

Monday Reads

Obama Uses Teleprompters During Speech To 6th Graders | RealClearPolitics.com

The Bernanke Conundrum  - Paul Krugman | NYTimes.com

Getting honest about campaign finance reform  - Editorial | Washingtonexaminer.com

White House Toughens Tone  - Jonathan Weisman | WSJ.com

Going the Distance, Monday (tonight) at 7:00 p.m.

Updated: Day one in the books

Day one of the political filing season came and went with no big surprises, unless of course you believe some of these people are actually running is a surprise?  Here is a list of people that have officially filed to run and we'll check back periodically to update what is sure to be a very long list.  That is of course if the Herald-Press(less) doesn't get their way.