Comments on Advance Indiana™: Star Makes Light Of Vaughn's Strong-Arming To Win Approval Of ACS Parking Meter Lease Deal For His Law Firm's Client

Ryan Vaughn has so many conflict of interests goin...

2010-11-14T22:57:59.686-05:00

Ryan Vaughn has so many conflict of interests going that he needs to resign the council. I hope the voters either in the GOP primary or in the fall send Vaughn back to the private sector to peddle his wares without the added problem of the conflict of interest with his council leadership problem.

I don't want to misquote Cato, but the term wa...

2010-11-14T21:27:49.776-05:00

I don't want to misquote Cato, but the term was something like the "power elites". The Star, Jim Shella, et al are generally interested in promoting incumbent interests, keeping the interviews coming, the P.R. wagon rolling, the conventions booked, avoiding accusations of political incorrectness- all while the aggravations and corruption pointed out by average citizens and Tea Partiers alike are depicited as the frothing of nut cases.

Think there'll ever be investigative reporting on the millions we pay out in benefits to illegal immigrants in this state? Given our IPS graduation rate, how about a comparative investigation of where our public education tax dollars go for in pupil head count relative to salaries/benefits and the number of administrators? Will there every be a clamoring to look at the books for the Pacers? Speaking of graduation rates, how about the affectation of generation after generation of subsidized parenting as a lifestyle choice? Think there won't be some interesting statistics there?

No wonder we're supposed to just take the word of ACS on what the books look like and say, "Oh sure, just tell us how much is is and we'll write a check." If the mayor and council head say it's the right thing to do, then golly gee- if they were wrong then the Star would be all over it.

Right?

You're right on the mark. The Star dumps legi...

2010-11-14T10:54:07.236-05:00

You're right on the mark. The Star dumps legitimate stories into Behind Closed Doors when they don't fit the Star's agenda.

Not once has the Star mentioned the fact that Ballard's chief legal advisor, Joe Loftus, someone who is paid for our tax dollars, is a paid lobbyist for ACS. How could the Star possibly not think that's relevant? Then you have Vaughn's role. He not only is going to vote for the ACS deal, he is activiely pushing the deal in comittee and behind closed doors. Yet he is an attorney for the firm that represents ACS and he himself was identified in state records as an ACS lobbyist.

Yet through it all, the Star's editors think these conflicts are all no big deal. Yet they think conflicts of interest, some much less, are a big deal when it comes to the state level. If a story doesn't fit the Star's agenda, then it downplays the story or doesn't report on it at all.