Mike Pence: Elect Me, or Face Totalitarianism

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Saturday July 02, 2011 · 8:55 AM PDT

2011/07/02 · 08:55

Republican Congressman and former radio talk show host Mike Pence is ramping up his campaign to be Indiana's next governor, but this probably isn't the kind of statement his communications team wanted to make:

Pence's campaign manager would not comment on Pence's belief that Indiana is on the verge of totalitarianism, but said Indiana's future is at a crossroads.

The Times of Northwest Indiana election blog reports that in a fundraising email, Pence trotted out a trite line from a speech Reagan gave in 1964:

In his email, Pence quotes former President Ronald Reagan, who said politics is not about choosing right or left but up or down: "Up to man's age-old dream -- the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order -- or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism."
"That's the choice Indiana faces today," Pence said.

Indiana Democrats pounced on Pence's statement, saying that it demonstrated that Pence was "a very divisive, ideological Congressman." Indiana Democratic Party chairman Dan Parker responded that "Pence routinely resorts to such hyperbole because 'actions speak louder than words, and the problem for Mike Pence is he doesn't have a record of actually doing anything.'"

Parker has a point. According to GovTrack.us, "Mike Pence has sponsored 62 bills since Jan 3, 2001 of which 59 haven't made it out of committee and none were successfully enacted." The bills Pence has introduced the last session are about abortion, the "Fairness Doctrine", and repealing the estate tax.

Mitch Daniels and the “culture of secrecy” in Indiana

ironheel

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Thursday June 03, 2010 · 8:41 AM PDT

2010/06/03 · 08:41

The governor refers to Indiana as the island of prosperity. We’re the island of secrets. - Senate Democrat Leader Vi Simpson

On Tuesday, Indiana Senate minority leader Vi Simpson (D-Ellettsville) called out Governor Mitch Daniels and his administration for their culture of secrecy around state budgeting and spending. Specifically, Simpson and State Rep. Bill Crawford (D-Indianapolis) want to know what services, programs, and personnel have been cut under Daniels' repeated budget crises.

ironheel

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Monday July 21, 2008 · 10:45 AM PDT

2008/07/21 · 10:45

Apparently, John McCain and his campaign team still don't know how to use "the Google". Even if they failed to watch or read the news, "a google" could have shown them all the things wrong with their latest fundraising email:

The Obama Democrats are counting on their wealthy special interest groups, Big Labor Unions and unregulated "527" groups like MoveOn.org to fill their campaign coffers and try to bury our GOP get-out-the-vote efforts in an avalanche of special interest cash.

I guess being Republicans, little things like facts can't get in the way:

ironheel

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Tuesday February 26, 2008 · 6:22 AM PST

2008/02/26 · 06:22

I received an email from Nancy Skinner's campaign this morning, stating that she will be withdrawing from the race in Michigan's 9th Congressional district.

Despite winning Democracy for America's 2008 Grassroots All Star contest (see SharonRB's diary for details), Nancy Skinner has been unable to match the fundraising of former Lottery Commissioner Gary Peters. According to the Detroit Free Press, she is stepping aside to let Peters focus his resources on incumbent Republican Joe Knollenberg:

"The truth is that it takes enormous resources to beat an incumbent, and given the way our late primary is structured, a costly primary is a gift to Knollenberg", Skinner said. "Gary Peters has been able to amass those resources and support at a level that I have not been able to this point."

ironheel

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Thursday October 11, 2007 · 7:55 AM PDT

2007/10/11 · 07:55

Just got the word that's going around...

Baron Hill (IN-09), who originally voted against the SCHIP expansion, will announce that he will vote to override the President's callous veto of the bill.

Let's congratulate Baron Hill, and give him all the encouragement he can get!

* Jeffersonville Office
phone is (812) 288-3999
(toll-free number) is 1-866-440-1321
fax is (812) 288-3873

* Bloomington Office
phone is (812) 336-3000
fax is (812) 336-3355

* Washington office
phone is (202) 225-5315
fax is (202) 226-6866

Baron Hill: Won't Condemn Limbaugh

ironheel

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Tuesday October 09, 2007 · 5:56 PM PDT

2007/10/09 · 17:56

After my representative, the honorable Baron Hill, voted to condemn "in the strongest possible terms" a large number of his volunteers from the last few campaigns, I decided to write him a letter.

In my letter, I wrote (in part):

Earlier this week, you voted to approve a measure "condemn[ing] in the strongest possible terms" me, my wife, and hundreds of those who have given of their time, effort and money for your previous campaigns. In that case, we pointed out that an active US general was betraying his military uniform to deliver a partisan message on behalf of the President.

In this case, Mr. Limbaugh is engaging in vicious personal attacks on the men and women who are brave enough to fight for our country. Surely his comments rise to the level of condemnation by our Congress.

Baron's response after the jump...

ironheel

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Monday October 08, 2007 · 10:59 AM PDT

2007/10/08 · 10:59

Baron Hill sent out an email to supporters on Friday, explaining his continued opposition to expanding SCHIP. This was sent in response to the MoveOn action, in which about 25 people showed up at his small Bloomington office over lunch to ask for his support, and more showed up at his office around 5:00pm.

Strangely, it doesn't mention the donations he receives from Big Tobacco, or that Indiana will pay more into the program because, well, we have more smokers.

Full text of the email after the jump...

ironheel

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Saturday July 09, 2005 · 6:21 PM PDT

2005/07/09 · 18:21

From the Indianapolis Star , among others:

Officials at the Islamic Center of Bloomington said a window was broken at the center and a liquid accelerant was poured through the window to start the fire. Damage was minor.

As some may remember, Indiana is also the home of the Evansville resident who decided to ram his car into a mosque and the Gary resident who shot at a Yemeni-born US citizen, both in 2001. You can read about these and other happenings in Indiana here.
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Tricky Dick

ironheel

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Thursday October 07, 2004 · 11:42 AM PDT

2004/10/07 · 11:42

According to the venerable Yahoo! News and AP, this is an actual quote from the honorable Richard Cheney, Vice President of these United States, 7 October 2004, in response to the latest report detailing the lack of WMDs in Iraq:

"The headlines all say no weapons of mass destruction stockpiled in Baghdad. We already knew that," Cheney said.

Some of you, especially you stoned slackers out there, may remember this part of the honorable President Bush's State of the Union speech in 2003:

The United Nations concluded in 1999 that Saddam Hussein had biological weapons sufficient to produce over 25,000 liters of anthrax -- enough doses to kill several million people. He hasn't accounted for that material. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

The United Nations concluded that Saddam Hussein had materials sufficient to produce more than 38,000 liters of botulinum toxin -- enough to subject millions of people to death by respiratory failure. He hadn't accounted for that material. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed it.

Our intelligence officials estimate that Saddam Hussein had the materials to produce as much as 500 tons of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent. In such quantities, these chemical agents could also kill untold thousands. He's not accounted for these materials. He has given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

U.S. intelligence indicates that Saddam Hussein had upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents. Inspectors recently turned up 16 of them -- despite Iraq's recent declaration denying their existence. Saddam Hussein has not accounted for the remaining 29,984 of these prohibited munitions. He's given no evidence that he has destroyed them.

Some people may vaguely recall the honorable Colin Powell's presentation before the United Nations in February 2003:

Our conservative estimate is that Iraq today has a stockpile of between 100 and 500 tons of chemical weapons agent. That is enough agent to fill 16,000 battlefield rockets. Even the low end of 100 tons of agent would enable Saddam Hussein to cause mass casualties across more than 100 square miles of territory, an area nearly five times the size of Manhattan

My personal favorite, though, is the honorable VP himself, in an August 2002 speech to the VFW:

Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.

So are they all, all honorable men.

RSS

Mike Pence: Elect Me, or Face Totalitarianism

Mitch Daniels and the “culture of secrecy” in Indiana

McCain: Still can't use the Google

DFA All-Star Nancy Skinner Withdraws

Baron Hill: Will Override SCHIP Veto

Baron Hill: Won't Condemn Limbaugh

Baron Hill: With Bush on SCHIP

Mosque Arson in Indiana

Tricky Dick