Tag Archives: Indiana

Former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz endorses Republican Mike Braun

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The race between incumbent Democrat Joe Donnelly and challenger Republican Mike Braun is one race sure to get more and more national attention as we move closer and closer to November.

Why? Well, Donnelly’s seat is an easy target for Republicans. Indiana is a fairly red state and went overwhelmingly for Trump. Democrat Donnelly has cast some votes that are going to hurt him with Hoosiers for sure.

Either way, look for both parties and many, many PACS to become heavily invested in this race.  In addition to commercials and money, another common way to swing voters are endorsements. And Mike Braun just got what is likely the biggest endorsement thus far in the race for Indiana’s senate seat.

Lou Holtz, former Notre Dame football coach, wrote a column in which he provided his ringing endorsement of Braun.

In part, Holtz writes:

I trust Mike Braun to go to Washington and represent what is in the best interest of the people of Indiana and continue being guided by the philosophies that have been so successful for him as a state senator.

He goes on to say:

Mike is an individual who knows how to win and that you do this by helping other people get what they want.

 

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Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly meets with Supreme Court nominee Kavanaugh

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Indiana Democratic Senator Joe Donnelly met with Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh Wednesday.

Kavanaugh was nominated by President Trump to fill the seat being vacated by retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy. If confirmed, this will be President Trump’s second appointment to the highest court in the land.

However, while the Republicans do hold a slim 51-49 majority in the Senate, Trump and the Republicans will likely need a few Democrat votes here and there in order to confirm Kavanaugh.

Why? Well, no one is quite sure what the health of Arizona Sen. John McCain will be like at the time of the vote and Sens. Olympia Snowe of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska are wildcards, who may or may not vote for Trump’s man.  So, enter blue-dog Democrats.

Sen. Donnelly is an extremely conservative Democrat when compared to the likes of his fellow party members Chuck Schumer and Elizabeth Warren. Also, add to the mix the Donnelly is currently in a tough re-election campaign against Republican Mike Braun in Indiana, a state that went overwhelmingly for Trump just a little less than two years ago.

He’s the perfect kind of Democrat to vote for Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, right?

Well, not so fast.

Apparently, Donnelly is still undecided according to the statement put out by his office.

But let’s be honest, Donnelly is a tough position when it comes to his vote for Kavanaugh.

He doesn’t vote for Kavanaugh, pleases Schumer and the rest of Democratic party leadership, but angers Hoosiers and independents, soft Republicans that would’ve voted for him in November. He votes to confirm Kavanuagh, angers Schumer and his Democratic buddies in D.C. and Democrats back home in Indiana.

Let’s remember Donnelly voted to confirm Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s first appointee to the Supreme Court nominee.

My guess: He votes for Kavanaugh and hopes it doesn’t hurt him too badly with Democrats right before his re-election chances.

Marion Co. Jail in Indiana releases illegal immigrant involved in hit-and-run

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What is going on in central Indiana?

The Marion County Jail in Indianapolis has let an illegal immigrant simply walk out of jail.

You may remember that Juana Loa-Nunez is accused of striking a kindergarten teacher crossing the road, just trying to get to work. Loa-Nunez then attempted to flee the scene, but fellow motorists boxed her vehicle in, not allowing her to run.

The woman struck suffered injuries to her legs.

It was later learned that Loa-Nunez was in the country illegally and did not have a license.

Well, now the blame game is under way in central Indiana. That’s because Loa-Nunez was allowed to just walk out of jail after posting $250 bail.

According to WISH-TV, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement notified the Marion County Jail that they wanted to take her into custody.

The Marion County Jail says they notified ICE of a four-hour window to pick up Loa-Nunez and that immigration officials failed to act.

Now, everyone is full damage control releasing statements.

The following statement is from ICE:

“Without any regard for the safety of its citizens, on May 10, Marion County brazenly ignored an immigration detainer and released a Mexican woman from its jail without first notifying U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).  The woman it released is an illegal alien who is accused of hitting and badly injuring a pedestrian, and then fleeing the scene before being pursued and stopped by conscientious citizens.  Marion County allowed this woman to go free, and she continues to be a danger to anyone else who happens to be on the same road she drives.

“As law enforcement professionals, ICE and Marion County should both have the same ultimate goal in mind — to protect the public by combating criminals and holding accountable those who break our laws.  ICE helps fulfill that role by removing criminal aliens and other immigration violators from the streets, and from the United States.  ICE can do its job more effectively when local officials actively work to protect its citizens by honoring ICE immigration detainers.”

But the Marion County Jail responded and blamed ICE for Loa-Nunez’s release:

United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently released a statement blaming the Marion County for the release of Juana Noemi Loa-Nunez from the Marion County Jail. In accord with the ruling of Federal Judge Sarah Evans Barker, and Indiana law, ICE was given four hours notice to take custody of Ms. Loa-Nunez. ICE failed to act in accord with the law by failing to pick up this individual in a timely manner.

“Judge Sarah Evans Barker has ruled that ICE must provide a criminal warrant or a criminal probable cause affidavit for the County to detail undocumented individuals. ICE failed to provide such documentation, despite receiving timely notice. Thus, ICE allowed this individual to go free.

“If ICE wished to challenged the ruling of Judge Sarah Evans Barker, it could have done so. It did not.

“United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, not the Sheriffs of Indiana, is charged with the enforcement of immigration law. However, Marion County acts wholly in accord with the ruling of Judge Sarah Evans Barker and Indiana law.”

Now, the likelihood of ever finding her is pretty slim.

This is simply ridiculous.

And let’s remember this is happening in conservative, red state Indiana.

As they say, this is why Trump was elected.

 

Driver in Hit and Run Accident in Indianapolis Suspected to be Here Illegally

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Indianapolis, Ind. – In February, a Colts player and his Uber driver were killed by a drunk driver in a hit and run accident. The suspect, Manuel Orrego-Savala had been deported twice and was here illegally again.

On Monday morning, another hit and run occurred, when Juana Noemi Loa-Nunez allegedly struck pre-school teacher Jessica Parks while she was crossing the street and on her way to work.  Parks’ injuries to her legs and lower body are serious.

Loa-Nunez tried to flee the scene and according to the Indianapolis Star, “several people chased Loa-Nunez down the street to stop her from leaving the scene. Van Williams, a bus driver for Fervent Prayer Church and Parks’ co-worker, was able to veer his bus in front of Loa-Nunez, and another witness, Shayna Pearson, pulled up behind her to prevent her from escaping.”

Today, the Star is reporting that ICE says Nunez is suspected of being here illegally.

Responding IMPD Officers arrived and took Loa-Nunez in for questioning and a blood draw at a local hospital.  Monday afternoon, police said Loa was arrested on charges of leaving the scene of an accident causing serious bodily injury, and operating a vehicle having never received a license.

On Tuesday, ICE released the following statement about Loa-Nunez:

“On May 8, 2018, deportation officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) placed an immigration detainer and an administrative arrest warrant with the Marion County (Indiana) Jail, following Loa-Nunez’s local arrest on criminal charges.”

These kinds of incidents are happening all over the country, with two right here in Indiana in such a short amount of time. Immigration reform is long overdue and there’s something is happening in our system where people aren’t being caught when they enter the country illegally.

The Center for Immigration Studies found that non-citizens commit a disproportionate amount of  federal crimes and are more likely to commit crimes than citizens. From that study:

Areas where non-citizens account for a much larger share of convictions than their 8.4 percent share of the adult population include:

  • 42.4 percent of kidnapping convictions;
  • 31.5 percent of drug convictions;
  • 22.9 percent of money laundering convictions;
  • 13.4 percent of administration of justice offenses (e.g. witness tampering, obstruction, and contempt);
  • 17.8 percent of economic crimes (e.g. larceny, embezzlement, and fraud);
  • 13 percent of other convictions (e.g. bribery, civil rights, environmental, and prison offenses); and
  • 12.8 percent of auto thefts.

Areas where non-citizens account for a share of convictions roughly equal to their share of the adult population include:

  • 9.6 percent of assaults;
  • 8.9 percent of homicides; and
  • 7.5 percent of firearm crimes.

Areas where non-citizens account for a share of convictions lower than their share of the adult population include:

  • 4.1 percent of sex crimes;
  • 3.3 percent of robberies;
  • 4.5 percent of arsons; and
  • 0 percent of burglaries.

Something needs to be done. American citizens are paying a high price for the lack of border security and obviously more resources are needed in our border states to try to prevent illegal immigrants from entering our country.

We owe it to Edwin Jackson, Jeffrey Monroe,  Katie Steinle, the victims of the MS-13 gang murders and all the others who don’t get national attention but whose lives are just as important.

 

Congressman Messer nominates Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

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President of United States. Businessman. Real estate mogul. Reality TV star.

Yes, all of those currently describe the man who resides in the White House, but if House Republicans get their way, Trump could add yet another title.

A number of House Republicans, headed up by Congressman Luke Messer, have nominated President Trump for the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.

The letter, addressed to the Nobel Committee, says in part:

“We, the undersigned members of the United States Congress, respectfully nominate Donald J. Trump to receive the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his work to end the Korean War, denuclearize the Korean peninsula and bring peace to the region.”

To have the North and South Korea talking, let alone discussing an official end to the Korean War, is pretty amazing and yes, Donald Trump does deserve credit for his part. Trump has been active in the region, even agreeing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

Trump should get recognition for his part in that area of the world, but let’s be honest, Messer knows what he’s doing. Messer is locked in a tight primary battle against Congressman Rokita and former State Rep. Mike Braun. This letter gets Messer some earned media at an opportune time and helps tie him closer to Trump, the overriding factor in this primary battle.

However, with all the names on the letter, it’s oddly surprising that Trump’s supposed “best friend” and “right-hand man,” Rokita’s signature is missing.

 

 

 

Todd Rokita: Congressman, avid negative campaigner and …children’s author?

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Congressmen Luke Messer, Todd Rokita and former state representative and businessman Mike Braun are set to debate April 30. It’ll be the final time the candidates are together, an opportunity for the three men to give one final plea before voters head to the polls.

Expect the negative attacks to fly fast and furious in Monday’s debate. Why should anyone expect it to be any different from the rest of the race?

The Rokita campaign, before finally agreeing to participate in the debate, attacked Monday’s moderator, Abdul-Hakim Shabazz. Calling him “a compromised moderator” and “closely aligned to one of the other campaigns.”  Can we say managing expectations?

This race has been an increasingly negative affair. In fact, things have gotten so bad that the Associated Press recently labeled Indiana’s Republican U.S. Senate primary “the nastiest in the nation.”

Well, with less than two weeks to election day, did you really think the attacks would cease?  Instead of easing up, candidates are turning to other communication mediums to slam one another.

For example, Todd Rokita is now a published author. His campaign released “Oh, The Places You’ll Forget,” using the Dr. Seuss classic to slam Luke Messer and his residency.

Like everything else from the Rokita campaign, it doesn’t rely on subtly to get its point across. In the opening pages, there is a reference to both Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh. Both of whom had their residency come up in their most recent campaigns.

But the Rokita campaign saved the best for last, with this terrific passage that is sure to be remembered for generations to come:

“He didn’t support Trump!                                                                                                      Oh for the love of Pete! I’m going to join Todd Rokita and “Defeat the Elite!”

Maybe, for their next act they should have their candidate put on boxing gloves and hit punching bags with his opponents’ faces.

Oh, wait.

 

Trump campaign to Rokita: Take down your yard signs

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They say there are only two things we can be sure of in life: death and taxes. Well, we might as well add another to that list: political campaigns with yard signs.

Every candidate likes seeing their signs with their name, website and ill-conceived logo and color scheme in a voter’s yard. That has to be the case, because why else would campaigns spend valuable funds on signs.

Anyway, one campaign that isn’t too thrilled with another candidate’s signs is none other than President Donald Trump’s campaign. And the candidate’s signs they aren’t real thrilled with: Todd Rokita.

As you can see, the Rokita campaign is prominently displaying the fact that they are endorsed by Trump/Pence. Except, that’s not actually the case.

You see, Rokita was actually endorsed by the Trump campaign’s Indiana leaders. That distinction is emblazoned underneath the much bigger Trump/Pence.  But hey, who really cares, right? Well, apparently the Trump campaign.

The Trump campaign has ordered those signs be taken down, stating that it gives the false impression that Rokita has the support of the president in this contentious, increasingly negative race.

The Rokita campaign’s response to demand?

“We don’t comment on yard sign strategy.”  Huh? Really?

It’s actually fairly embarrassing, especially for a campaign and a candidate that spouts “pro-Trump” ad nauseam.

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