According to filings with the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission nearly one-third, or 45 state legislators, accepted the Colts' offer to purchase tickets to the Super Bowl game in Miami at $600 a ticket. Although the legislators were required to purchase their tickets, it was quite a gift since many long-time Colts season ticket-holders were skipped over so tickets could be offered to politicians and other elites. If those same legislators had to purchase those tickets from ticket brokers, they would have been required to pay at least $3,000 a ticket. The filing the Colts' lobbyist made today doesn't confirm the legislator's actual attendance at the game; only that they purchased the tickets from the Colts. The legislators accepting the tickets were admonished not to resell or gift them to another person. It will be interesting to see if any of the legislators who accepted the sweetheart ticket deal vote against an unprecedented income and sale tax break legislators are considering offering this year to billionaire football team owners as an incentive to entice the NFL to allow Indianapolis to host the 2011 Super Bowl.
The list of legislators purchasing tickets, according to the Star, were as follows:
STATE SENATORS
Ron Alting, R-Lafayette
Robert Deig, D-Mount Vernon
Vic Heinold, R-Kouts
Glenn Howard, D-Indianapolis
Dennis Kruse, R-Auburn
Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis
Patricia Miller, R-Indianapolis
Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond
Sam Smith Jr., D-East Chicago
Brent Steele, R-Bedford
Brent Waltz, R-Greenwood
Tom Weatherwax, R-Logansport
Tom Wyss, R-Fort Wayne
Michael Young, R-Indianapolis
STATE REPRESENTATIVES
Terri Austin, D-Anderson
Bob Bischoff, D-Greendale
Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis
Charlie Brown, D-Gary
Larry Buell, R-Indianapolis
Mara Candelaria Reardon, D-Munster
Dave Cheatham, D-North Vernon
Dave Crooks, D-Washington
Dick Dodge, R-Pleasant Lake
Jon Elrod, R-Indianapolis
Ralph Foley, R-Martinsville
Craig Fry, D-Mishawaka
Eric Gutwein, R-Rensselaer
Clyde Kersey, D-Terre Haute
Sheila Klinker, D-Lafayette
Bob Kuzman, D-Crown Point
Don Lehe, R-Brookston
Daniel Leonard, R-Huntington
Carolene Mays, D-Indianapolis
Rich McLain, R-Logansport
David Niezgodski, D-South Bend
Greg Porter, D-Indianapolis
Scott Reske, D-Pendleton
Mike Ripley, R-Monroe
Bill Ruppel, R-North Manchester
Dan Stevenson, D-Highland
Vanessa Summers, D-Indianapolis
Eric Turner, R-Marion
Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon
Matt Whetstone, R-Brownsburg
David Wolkins, R-Winona Lake
16 comments:
Will freshman GOP Representative Jon Elrod explain this away as a "youthful indiscretion" ?
23 Republicans, 22 Democrats....Let's hear about how its all the GOP's fault everything goes wrong Wilson. Looks like plenty of your people had "indiscretions" too. Judge not lest ye be judged.
With a few notable exceptions, this list was:
1. an embarrassment to represent us in this world-class venue;
2. bipartisan goofiness;
3. a list of the most-on-the-take, always-have-their-hands-out legislators in the entire General Assembly.
4. Repeat No. 3, and add "no class, polyester lardasses."
And I'm betting these folks strapped on the feed bag, too...all paid by some lobbyists who, if they play their cards right, don't have to report all their expenses because guess what? The entire legislature was invited. I'm pretty sure the rules exempt sponsors who invite everyone, from reporting gifts of meals, lodging and entertainment.
I'm just hoping that most of this delegation didn't wear nametags to indentify them as Hoosiers. If they did, it confirmed all the stereotypes big-city media types think already.
Harrison Ullman was right.
And, also on the Miami list, at God knows whose expense, Dr. Eugene White...who's president of the national superintendents' association, and gone half the year for that...someone please tell me how a Super Bowl trip and schmoozing helps IPS kids. Is the IPS School Board even remotely paying attention to this guy? He's on a world tour to promote himself.
I'm glad for our team and our city. But common sense has left the building for these glad-handers.
Wonder if White's presence at the Super Bowl had anything to do with IPS school bus drivers calling in sick today, forcing the closure of the entire school system?
I notice some guys from Da Region. No doubt they were happy that the Colts organization subsidized their attendance at the Bears game...
Glenn Howard was raising hell with the police who raided an illegal gambling establishment, so he was not in attendance......where'd his ticket go?
"Glenn Howard, D-Indianapolis"
I thought he showed up at a peashakes house that was busted by metro PD?
"Glenn Howard was raising hell with the police who raided an illegal gambling establishment, so he was not in attendance......where'd his ticket go?"
Must have lost it in a bet!!!
Maybe it's early, or too cold, but for the life of me I don't know what "pwned" is.
Jon Elrod is new. He'll learn the ropes. And he is already a target in 2008...it's not exactly a Republican district. He worked that district hard, but for him to win, Mahern had to sleep on the job. It came together in the end, but, for all you paying attention: over 35 votes were never, ever counted. God love Indiana "recounts." Anything that purges Maherns from our public life ain't all bad.
This legislator list is a statewide embarrassment.
And Dr. White should hang his head in shame.
The enthusiasm for Peterson when he was introduced sounded very weak on my television. In fact, some of the players behind the podium appeared to be laughing at the unenthusiastic response Peterson received from the audience.
Yes, AI is right. The reception for Bart at the celebration was as cool as the weather. BRRR!! Bundle up Bart! Let that be clue to climate to come.
Really Bart had NOTHING to do with the team. It was Dungy, Irsay, Polian and, oh yeah, THE PLAYERS. Bart is just standing in the city.
Well, be that as it may, he is mayor of the championship city.
He has a right to be there on the stage.
And, if there, he needs to prepare for less-than-enthusiastic greetings. Which is what he got. It was polite, but no more. A smattering of boos, plainly audible to those in the Dome. And the players were not necessarily goofing on Bart, AI--they were upbeat and laughing through everyone's speeches. Players being players.
If I were mayor, I'd have declined the opportunity to speak. The night really belonged to the players and the organization. Hell, even Bob Lamey spoke (he was the emcee). His sorry voice is ridiculed in almost every other NFL market when replays are broadcast after games. The Colts' radio team is a disaster, but, they earned the right to be there on the stage.
Our legislators, council members, and IPS superintendent did not earn any rights to be in Miami or on a stage, by virtue of their "leadership." Heck while Gene White was away, his bus drivers got blue flu, and school had to be cancelled. How's that for great leadership? Calling off school via Long Distance!
Pray tell how Monroe Gray, Mr. & Mrs., had any money for hotels, etc., when they have their "concrete company" equipment repossessed? His council (and IFD?) salary(ies) are being garnished. Good manners and decorum dictated this public servant watch the game at home on TV.
But, hey, if ya got the juice, what good is it if it's unused?
Firday, night Channel 6 caught JoAnn Sanders at the airport leaving for Miami. How many city-county councillors took the tickets?
The Star says that members of Congress were offered the same deal. Any word on whether any of them accepted?
I beleive Sen. Bayh accepted, as did some others, including, of course, Burton.
I don't hahve the same problem with them. And they definitely used personal or campaign funds to pay for the trip, and they'll report it.
The state must reform its reporting requirements and enact some reasonable bans altogether.
Or the legislature will continue to have zero respect.
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