It's Happening All Over Again

It's quite obvious press coverage of our newly-installed congressman in the 7th District will be sugar-coated just like it was for more than a decade with the do-nothing Julia Carson. As Advance Indiana reported on Thursday, Andre Carson's first vote in Congress was for one of the largest tax increases in history. The Star, for the record, never reported on Carson's vote, although the budget vote was widely discussed in the national news media. The state Republican Party put out a press release attacking Carson's vote, which the Star chose to assail in today's "Behind Closed Doors" column instead of reporting on Carson's vote. The item reads:

In Washington, Carson's first day on the job earned him an attack press release from the Indiana GOP, although the release was a little fuzzy on the details.

Indiana GOP Chairman Murray Clark accused Carson of using his first congressional vote to approve a tax increase and a budget with more than 11,000 earmarks.

Carson's first vote Thursday was, in fact, on a quorum -- or roll call. Carson then voted against a GOP budget resolution and then in favor of the Democratic version that passed. (Indiana Reps. Joe Donnelly, Brad Ellsworth and Baron Hill were among the 16 Democrats who voted against the version that passed.)

The budget resolution is a nonbinding blueprint for future spending and tax bills. The spending bills Congress passed last year included more than 11,000 earmarks, but the House hasn't written any of this year's spending bills.

House Democrats' budget plan assumes all of the tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 will expire as scheduled in 2010. The GOP alternative that failed assumed the tax cuts will be extended before 2010.

The Star attacks the GOP release as being "fuzzy on the details." You've got to be kidding. The Star uses the excuse that a quorum roll call vote, which is a non-substantive vote, was his first vote to question the accuracy of the GOP press release? And then suggests it really wasn't a vote to raise taxes or approve earmarks? Clearly, the Star's reporters need to do a little homework on what that budget resolution was about. It does in fact create the framework for a massive tax increase and continues to allow budget earmarks. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi originally proposed a moratorium on earmarks as part of the resolution but dropped it after members of her own party objected so strenuously. Isn't this so reminiscent of the Julia Carson years? Every time anyone attacked Julia Carson the tables were turned by the local media and the person doing the attacking was made out to be the bad person. It's starting all over again with Andre Carson.

Even more insulting was that same column's attempt to misrepresent Beth White's performance in Tuesday's election. The column reads:

Tuesday's special election came with something voters haven't been accustomed to the past few years: nothing going wrong.

Despite three Republican press releases sent throughout the day about minor election flaws, the Marion County Election Board escaped the day virtually unscathed.

No ballot shortages, no mass failure of polling places to open, no machines malfunctioning. County Clerk Beth White's predecessor saw repeated election problems, and White's election debut a year ago was called a "catastrophe."

"It absolutely did go well," White said late in the week. "The honest answer is I'm relieved, I guess. We've been on the defense since the beginning of my term."

Again, we have a deliberate attempt by the Star to cover up what really took place. It is a fact that at least 6 precincts did not open on time--in Republican areas naturally. Isn't it true that heavily Republican precincts traditionally vote early in the morning as opposed to heavily Democratic precincts, which seem to get most of their voters in the closing hours of election day? The incredible part of this item is where White acknowledges that a Franklin Township precinct was opened in the wrong location. "A third release highlighted the fact that a Franklin Township precinct hadn't opened on time," the column reads. "The inspector, White said, had opened the precinct on time -- but in the wrong location." So the county spends all that money on post cards to alert voters of their polling locations last week and one of Beth White's inspectors in a heavily Republican precinct just happens to open up the polling place in the wrong location and that's no big deal? The Star apparently thinks so. "But none of the problems drew much attention, and the GOP press releases didn't stick."

What the Star is trying to tell you is that it really doesn't matter when mostly white Republicans are disenfranchised. Republicans petitioned to keep the polls open later in those precincts which did in fact open up late. The Democratic-controlled election board told them to go to hell. Apparently some Center Township polling places which delivered a big Carson vote were allowed to stay open late. Their votes didn't get delivered to the convention center until several hours after the polls closed. The fact remains that in every election she has conducted there have been voters denied the right to vote because of Beth White's mismanagement of elections. That's not a conspiracy theory. It's a fact, even if the Star doesn't give a damn.