Endorsing the Indiana House and local races and calling Rob Pastore!

The Fight to face Porky Pete House 01

I have been supporting Eric Olson and Mark Leyva as the top two candidates for the 01 Congressional race but a good source has recommended that I talk with Rob Pastore so tomorrow I have Rob's number and I will be calling him for a short interview and will report back to all!  Hopefully Pastore will have some interesting takes on the race in Lake County and I suspect he supports himself for Congress as well.  Pete Lindemulder looks like a guy who may be a candidate for the future but did not really get cranked up in time this year.  This is one race the Tea Party has had some influence, but not to the extent the Senate race has demonstrated.   Tea Party-promoted candidates Marlin Stutzman (my pick) and John Hostettler both seem likely to beat Coats at the polls.   Really, any informed voter is NOT going to vote for Dan Coats/

Poo-flingers abound  

Sadly, a few oddball people and a few crooked people in every election do most of the damage and dirty tricks.  Taking signs from private property is one typical dirty trick that is all too commonplace in these parts.  I have also found that one of the Tea Party Patriot groups I have been a part of has become a home to overamped lunatic types, most of whom are fans of John Hostettler.   Now John Hostettler is the guy I would vote for if Marlin Stutzman was not in the Senate race and I have no bones to pick with John or his campaign.   But some of his supporters are so out of control making wild accusations on one particular site that I decided I should simply stay away and not even be a part of it anymore.  I will not identify the site because I do not roll that way.  But if any members of that particular group notice I am not around anymore you know why.  Too many kooks for me.

I have so many injuries and nerve damage that if I could not work in consulting and sales from my home office I would be unable to work at all.  I am an Army vet and I am proud of my country and refused to consider taking disability and putting a handicapped sign on my car.  I am working my way through life as best I can.  I do not need to hang around with people who have no respect for the truth or civility and think the best politics is to take out the legs of the other guy.   Enough said?  If you can walk on a bridge over muck you will not wade into it unless you like to get into it...I have rubber boots but I save them for non-bridge situations.

Hanover School Board District One and Two

It is hard to figure out who wants to do what in these races unless you know the candidates, so I have been networking to find out what I can about them.  My two picks are as follows:

Dana Griner and James Sakelaris

Several of the Republican Candidates in the primary locally are running unopposed, such as Scott Bourrell and Roberta Allen and Robert Carnahan.  But why not vote for them anyway? 

Local Indiana House Races


Katz over Klein - I endorse Fran Katz, a very highly respected agronomist and businesswoman who understands a great deal about business.   We need people in Indianapolis that understand business. Shelli VanDenburgh, the incumbent, has a fair amount of money.  No matter who wins this nomination the fight in November will be a tough one.   Katz was the choice of local grassroots while Klein was picked by the HRCC.  To some extent this is a Tea Party Patriot versus Standard Republican choice from on high.

Anderson over Lehe - Don Lehe has been a reasonably effective guy who has pretty well followed the party line.   In fact, he follows it so often that perhaps a man who does not automatically follow the crowd is called for?  Both candidates will be far better than whoever runs from the Donkey side.

Local Indiana Senate Race District Six

Is there any way I would support anyone but the second-ranking Senator in the Indiana Senate, a great name in local politics and a wonderful person - Sue Landske?  It will be a sad day for those of us in her district when she decides to hang up her shingle for the last time and I sure hope it will not be soon.

Lake County Council District Seven Race

Rick Niemeyer.  A respected local businessman and one with some leadership and experience.  Good guy, too!  He is one of the dairy Niemeyers, in case you know a family member.

Lake County District Four Race

I will give a big YES to the "Candidate of No", a fellow blogger Eric Krieg.  I am not in his district, but he impresses me anyway!

Sheriff of Lake County


Dan Bursac is a long-time cop who knows the department inside and out, as a beat guy, a desk guy, a lab guy, a detective working on homicide cases...He has been there and done that.  Every time he runs for office and a Democrat wins he gets moved to another position in the force.   He pays a price for putting himself out there!   Why have we not had a Republican Sheriff since the days of FDR?  Why is so much money poured into the Democrat?  Could the Sheriff's office be better?  Now do not get me wrong, I think that Sheriff Roy Dominguez was a pretty good Sheriff.  He may well have made some improvements during his term.  Still, it would be so nice to see what would happen if a Republican had a chance to take the reins...

Liars, tramps and thieves (from NWI Politics)

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Northwest Indiana - Still the home of dirty politics - liars, tramps and thieves

SIGN STEALERS

The Indiana District 01 Congressional race.   I know Mark Leyva and Eric Olson well enough to know that neither of them are dirty politicians.  One of those two men will hopefully win the Republican nomination and carry the fight to Pete Visclosky.   Sadly, there are remnants of the old time Northern Lake County dirty politics going on.   Campaign signs of South County Congressional candidates are disappearing from private property.   Eric Olson reported, if I have this right, eight known thefts in one day!   Campaign signs are costly (around three or four bucks a pop and maybe more) but beyond that to steal an opponents sign is the act of a cowardly and low-life cretin.  Is that strong enough?   Signs are a way for Americans to express their first amendment rights and the villains behind this need to be nabbed!  I hope the candidate and individuals behind this sign stealing get caught by a Cedar Lake or St John cop!!!

At least this year I have not yet heard of any death threats. 

With Dan Coats being hammered in the polls and Don Bates and Richard Behney falling behind, it appears to be fight to the finish for Marlin Stutzman and John Hostettler for US Senate, Republican side.   Certainly the RNC can pour money down on Dan Coats for a last burst of advertising but since he has yet to even disclose his campaign finances that probably does not happen.

One learns a lot about candidates and their followers in times like these.   The Stutzman camp has been quite civil to his fellow grassroots candidates and so have the vast majority of their followers.   Unfortunately the Hostettler side has been passing a chopped up and heavily edited youtube purporting to show Stutzman giving uncertain answers to almost unintelligible questions.   With changes in background noises and patchy images there is nothing professional about the video it is of far lesser quality than the Dan Rather faked Bush papers.

Secondly we have the false charge that Marlin Stutzman voted for the largest tax increase in Indiana history or something similar.  In fact, a Federal unfunded mandate plus a rise in unemployment meant that more workers were fired or laid off.   This is not a tax increase, it is an unemployment increase thanks to the Obama Administration.   So what did Marlin and fellow Republican Senators accomplish?

"Senators also successfully delayed $400 million in new unemployment
insurance premiums from going into effect in 2010. By
avoiding premium increases, lawmakers hope employers large
and small will be in stronger positions to retain or add employees.
Lawmakers also passed initiatives to help Hoosiers recover
from the national recession:

• new employer tax credits will be offered
to businesses relocating or incorporating in Indiana.
Qualified businesses must hire 10 or more -
full-time employees, not including owners.

• small business tax credits will be expanded
to make small employers with fewer than
35 workers eligible for Economic Development
for a Growing Economy (EDGE) credits.

• small business ombudsman will be an advocate
for small employers with state agencies,
helping navigate regulations, streamline paperwork and coordinate
due dates. Also, the ombudsman will monitor outdated, ineffective
and overly burdensome reporting requests and red tape.

• h.i.R.e. (Helping Indiana Re-start Employment) initiative
will offer tax incentives to employers who hire and train unemployed
and underemployed Hoosiers."

The Legislature had to adjust the unemployment insurance law and they had to try to keep that adjustment from hurting Hoosiers.   Marlin and Sue Landske and the other Senators didn't vote for a tax increase, the managed to put off a tax hike that was caused by growing unemployment.  Obama caused the increase, not the Hoosier legislature and certainly not Marlin Stutzman.  If you hear anyone pass along that misinformation kindly teach them?   It is easy to learn things online.

By the way, Brian Bosma asserted to me personally that this was the only way the Republicans could manage to work within the law, and deal with the Democrats in Indianapolis and also save businesses from taking one in the kidneys in 2010.  Because of a conversation I had with John Hostettler in which I suggested how things had gone down in Indianapolis I asked Brian himself and had about a ten minute conversation covering this topic and confirmed what is published on the Senate website appropriate to Marlin Stutzman.

My Senator is Sue Landske, the second ranking Senator and a great name in Indiana and she has the same story.  Read her own website.

~

There are a number of wing nuts that are infiltrating the Tea Party movement.  Of course we could expect Democrats to insert people to act badly and make the whole group look bad.  But sometimes when the primary gets close and the going gets tough we can all be tempted to be a wing nut.   May we all try to be patient with even the most heinous remarks by fellow grassroots people and hang in there.  I am really trying to do it to the best of my ability.   Of course, I am a crusader by nature, a man of principle I certainly hope and to the wing nuts I might seem to be the wing nut.

Let's try to stay positive and play fair, okay kiddees?  Cut out the lies and the thieving and promote the GOOD things about your particular candidate rather than trying to take the legs out from under everyone else? 

American Vet discusses the Federal Races. First, the Senate.

This post is not the official Cedar Lake Republican endorsement.   Cedar Lake Republicans are officially agnostic about the candidates during the primary.  The endorsement is made by this blogger.

Marlin Stutzman is my choice for the Senate Race.  He was endorsed by 23 fellow State Senators and 27 fellow State Representatives.  The people he has worked with to balance the Indiana budget and make things happen in Indianapolis are on his side!  Not the national elephants.  Not the big money folks.

He has sponsored or authored several important measures to balance the budget in Indiana, put through a real ethics law, give Indiana a lifetime carry permit and has not just the Indiana State Right to Life endorsement (all Republicans get that one) but has received county endorsements including the Lake County endorsement.  In fact Marlin and his wife Christy will be at this year's Lake County Right to Life banquet on Friday.  So will I.

Perhaps the best reason to vote for Marlin is his ringing endorsement by Senator Sue Landske, my State Senator for many years and someone who has done the long hard work for her constituents.  Every time one of my kids made the high honor roll they received a certificate from Sue Landske.  You don't think that mattered to them and to me?  For years I just voted for Sue and did my life but when the country started going sideways I knew I had to get involved and now we know each other on sight.  I would rather hug Sue Landske than get within a mile of Barack Obama.  No, within 100 miles of Barack Obama.  Sue Landske is a great name in Cedar Lake.

But the cherry on the sundae is the sudden outbreak of dirty politics.   Marlin Stutzman was the only candidate to disclose his finances on time and accurately and one candidate accused him of lying about his money (he wasn't).  Then a patched-together clumsily youtube was published by apparently the loony side of Hostettler's supporters to attack Stutzman.  *I do not think John was involved in this* .  In fact Stutzman is winning the majority of online polls posted by tea parties and newspapers and blogs.   It looks like Marlin Stutzman can beat the RNC machine and clobber Coats.  John Hostettler is close but some of his followers are making him look bad and it is likely to backfire.   We The People are tired of dirty politics and backroom deals.

Even though the RNC wanted Coats to win apparently Stutzman is spoiling the party.  Good.  He might turn out to be a great Senator.  Occasionally we get a chance to have one.  Marlin can be our Jim DeMint.   He was a tea party guy before it was popular, an ordinary farmer who felt called to serve the people and people who are of less than sterling character do not like him.  That sounds like the trifecta to me!

Official endorsements
Some local people I admire like him in leadership roles who are not at liberty to endorse but:

Erick Erickson likes him.
The  Tea Party Action Coalition likes him.
CPAC likes him.
ACU likes him.
Mark Levin likes him.
Glenn Beck called him for an interview.

Nobody owns me.  Nobody pays me.  I am my own man.  I heartily recommend Marlin Stutzman!

Lake County Tea Party and RTL coming events this week

Tea Party Information courtesy of

Mark Leyva

Please visit our website: www.TeaPartyofLakeCounty.org

SENATE POLLING SURVEY:
WOWO Radio Senate polling

SPECIAL EVENS:"Freedom Forum"
Tuesday, April 27

Sen. candidate Richard Behney
Living Stones Church
909 Pratt Street Door#4
Crown Point, IN 46307
6:30 - 8:30pm

Team Hammond Taxpayers' Group

Tuesday, April 27,

2010 Doors open at 6:30pm
Local Candidates' Night Forum
Woodmar United Methodist Church
7320 Northcote Avenue in Hammond
For more information, contact Jim Sheehan at 844-1417

LAKE COUNTY RIGHT TO LIFE BANQUET

Len Reynolds and I personally invite you to the fund-raising 
and informational banquet for 
Lake County Right To Life!


Friday, April 30th

Silent Auction Begins at 5:00 p.m.

Dinner & Program starts at 6:30 p.m.

Featured Speaker: Rev. Dr. Johnny Pope
Topic: " Life through Love” ~ Gods Purpose for all Life
Patrician Banquet Center
410 E Highway 30, Schererville
Between Austin & Cline Ave.

Tickets are $35.00 per person
($20 for students)

Send check payable to:
Lake County Right to Life
P.O. Box 9103
Highland, IN 46322
219-838-1138

Dr. Johnny Pope is the senior pastor of Christchurch Baptist
Fellowship, in Houston, Texas.

Dr. Pope studied for the ministry at
Hyles - Anderson College in Crown Point, IN.
Upon graduation, he spent 10 years in evangelism followed by
three years on the faculty of Hyles - Anderson.
A renowned speaker on the subject of abstinence and chastity.
A favorite preacher for many. Dr. Pope is in
constant demand by churches coast to coast, and spanning the
globe. In the last year, he has spoken in over 20 states, as well as
Canada and Germany.

What do you do when it is one and not two?

One of the important things we have been doing to inform ourselves this year, my wife and I, has been attendance at debates and candidate meet/greets. We have gone as far as Warsaw, Indiana (twice) and other places around the area to meet and hear candidates for federal, state and local races in order to make up our minds. Of course one result of all this attending is the making of acquaintances among the others coming to hear candidates or the candidates themselves.

We have been faithful members of the Lake County Tea Party, led by Mark Leyva and also attendees at several Northwest Indiana Patriots, an organization headed by Faith Jones and Anthony Gunia. We've gotten to know the photo-chronicler (is that a word?) of the Tea Party Patriot movement, award-winning photojournalist Thomas Semesky and many other Patriots and candidates. Spending time with Marlin Stutzman and his family and also some of his staff convinced me that Stutzman deserved my vote. I discovered that he was more than likeable and admirable but is the kind of accomplished young man who could become a genuine statesman.  Therefore he has earned my vote for Senate in the Republican Primary this May 4th.

However, I also believe that Richard Behney is a tremendous guy and very earnest and motivated.  But because of his experience and knowledge John Hostettler would normally be the guy I vote for this spring.   I would be proud to vote for John Hostettler.  I simply believe that Marlin Stutzman is even more of a perfect candidate from my particular point of view.

Now digressing, back to the idea of making friends and doing politics, perhaps the hardest thing of all is to weigh personal relationships against ideals.   We hear that Mike Pence has endorsed Dan Coats and the talk is all about how Coats helped Pence get his start in politics.   But Coats is not the guy he was two decades ago.   Sarah Palin goes to Arizona to help John McCain, even though the Maverick of the Senate has become the compromiser instead.   A special interest gives you fifty thousand dollars to help you win a primary and then asks you to vote for a particular bill you do not like.   Ah, politics.

For me, the hardest thing is to have friends running against each other for the same office.   They may kid around amongst themselves but in the long run they really want your vote as a friend and what happens when you think the other guy is the better candidate?   Do you pretend?  Do you risk hurting feelings?

This year there is a particular race in which I must choose between two candidates that are very good ones and yet in the end I can only vote for one of them.   Here is part of the price I pay for paying attention and getting into the trenches!   I have been coddled and I have been warned and I have been lied to but nothing is harder than choosing between two people you like and admire.  

~

The Saturday St John Candidate breakfast meetup was a success in terms of drawing candidates out, although all the Senate candidates had to be in Indianapolis for a Senate debate there.   We had the Congressional District One candidates there as well as several State and County candidates.   Rich Niemeyer of the local Cedar Lake area and District 7 candidate spoke briefly and fellow blogger Rich Krieg and I got to officially meet for the first time in person.   Long time State Senator Sue Landske made it in, it was great to see her looking well.   It was great to see Mark Leyva's Dad out of the hospital and attending the event.  Joe Hero was the moderator and Lake GOP Chairwoman Kim Krull had a few words for us but mostly it was a chance to mingle with the candidates and see a real, live Republican candidate for Sheriff!

Did you know that no Sheriff or Clerk of the Republican persuasion has been elected in Lake County since the Administration of FDR?!  Is that really true?  I know Bobby Kennedy said Lake County was one of the fifteen most corrupt counties in the country way back in the '60's and apparently those two things go together?
We like to say that Northern Lake County is as crooked as Chicago, just not as subtle at it.   Now we have Chicago politicians running the White House...can we split the county in two? 

Could we just break off Washington from the rest of the country and start over?

But no, it is our duty as citizens to make a difference and we are not called to be violent like the lamestream media like to portray the Tea Party Patriots, but rather to get to the polls and vote.   Nothing says goodbye like final election results, yes?   Counting the days until Porky Pete is retired.   Under his 26 years of "leadership"  the area has gone from being a vital industrial center to a ramshackle collection of crumbling roads and houses and crooked politicians driving new cars while the inner city children are largely ignored and the average family is getting even poorer.

Can Catherine Campbell win a poor district race and find ways to make things better?  Do we need to be part of the RDA?  Can we avoid a county income tax?  Is the state government going to help us or hurt us?  We can all see that businesses need to locate here and survive here and most of the candidates realize that lowering costs for businesses brings jobs and therefore money into the region. 

Myself, my wife and candidate Eric Olson were the only people from Cedar Lake who stayed until the end.  I was sorry to see the place only half full at best.  If we do not inform ourselves and vote in the primary we will get the same old result.   Is that really what you, the voter, want? 

Saturday and Monday events to remember! (And why you should vote Republican this year)

 Why vote Republican?  Ask HELGA!!!

SATURDAY APRIL 24TH  

Sat, Apr 24th, @8:00am - 01:00PM

REPUBLICAN FEDERAL, STATE, COUNTY & LOCAL CANDIDATES MEET AND GREET

Location: ST JOHN TOWNSHIP COMMUNITY CENTER-1515 W. LINCOLN HIGHWAY (U.S.30) Schererville, IN

The likelihood is that the major US District One candidates for US Representative for the Republican side will be at this event.  

~

Clerk's Office Open for Absentee Voting
Saturday, April 24 2010, 8:00am - 3:00pm
Must be open for 7 hours today.
Location: Lake County Govt Center BOE

~

MONDAY, APRIL 26TH

7 PM-9 PM

                                              

Senator Ed Charbonneau

State Representative Ed Soliday

Candidate for Congressional District 1, Pete Lindemulder

Cordially welcome you to attend

a dessert and light fare reception in support of

State Senator Marlin Stutzman

Candidate for United States Senate

Hidden Creek Club House

8118 International Dr.
Crown Point, IN 46307

April 26, 2010

7:00pm-9:00pm

$25/Person, Business Casual                            

AUCTION  BEFORE THE EVENT AT 5:30 PM

IF WRITING A CHECK IN ADVANCE

Hoosiers for Stutzman
PO Box 129
Howe, IN 46746

To RSVP please email or call Suzy Barnhart:                     

derek816@juno.com or 219-851-8717

Last Day Absentee Ballot Application can be Received
Monday, April 26 2010, 8:00am - 12:00am
By MIDNIGHT!
Location: Lake County Govt Center BOE

Stutzman up and Coats hopefully out

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Indiana Senate race - Stutzman gets applause, Coats gets outed

ERICK ERICKSON SAYS:

The beat goes on folks.
Jim DeMint is coming out for Marlin Stutzman. This comes on the heels of Dave Keene of the American Conservative Union and Mark Levin. Conservatives are rallying to the Indiana state senator.

Here’s the thing: this endorsement puts Jim DeMint out on a limb and really at odds with his colleagues in the U.S. Senate Republican Conference, particularly coming on the heels of his support for Ken Buck in Colorado.

Helping get Marlin Stutzman elected now has a lot to do with sticking up for Jim DeMint. He is going to bat for real conservatives. His record proves it. We need to stand up with Jim DeMint.
Go Marlin.

CONSIDER GIVING THROUGH THE SENATE CONSERVATIVES FUND WEBSITE SO JIM DEMINT KNOWS YOU SUPPORT HIM IN THIS.

It has been more than a decade since Dan Coats left the United States Senate representing Indiana and moved to North Carolina to take up lobbying.

I’m finding in my conversations with people that many remember a different Dan Coats than who was actually there. The pro-life Senator was squishy on a lot of other things. In fact, Dan Coats is pretty bad on gun rights and recently renounced some of his old positions, while still trying to defend them with language used by Barack Obama on gang violence.

But what about a pretty good measure of those issues on which Dan Coats was bad to remind people of Indiana that they have a real choice and Marlin Stutzman really is to the right of Coats? It’s not a measure of the man, but of his votes — we all accept he is a fine man and a social conservative. But those are rarely the votes that matter these days.

Republicans think if they vote pro-life we’ll give them a pass on everything else. But we can’t. So what of Dan Coats on all the other issues?

Dick Lugar, Indiana’s other Republican senator is widely seen as a moderate — one of those centrist Republicans beloved by the Washington media. So how does Dan Coats stack up against Dick Lugar?
They served together in the Senate. How about this record I’ve got together on their votes? You might be stunned. From nuclear energy to federal regulation to taxes, Coats is to the left of Dick Lugar.
Think about that then think about supporting Marlin Stutzman. Remember, it is not enough that we restore the GOP to power if we don’t change the nature of the GOP.

The chart is below the fold. We’ll see if Indiana really remembers the man who left in Evan Bayh’s care so he could move to North Carolina.

Vote Description	Coats	Lugar	Date	Vote #
Mandate that all banks have Check cashing service for Govt checks	Yes	No	6/27/1990	130
Expand Clean Air Act Mandates	Yes	No	3/21/1990	37
Mandate taxpayer funded benefits for laid-off auto workers	Yes	No	9/24/1990	246
Cut Funding for MX Missile Program.	Yes	No	9/26/1991	208
Mandate that employers provide 12 weeks of family and medical leave.	Yes	No	10/2/1991	215
Allow employers to provide family and medical leave in a more flexible manner	No	Yes	10/2/1991	216
Bail out pensions when companies default on pension obligations.	Yes	No	11/19/1991	257
Federal Regulation of Cable Television industry	Yes	No	1/31/1992	14
Federal Regulation of natural gas pipeline rates	Yes	No	2/19/1992	22
Pro-growth tax cuts.	No	Yes	3/11/1992	39
Eliminate the 20% state matching requirement for transportation programs.	Yes	No	5/20/1992	101
Federal Regulation of Cable Television Industry	Yes	No	2/19/1992	22
$1B in social welfare spending and CDBG Grants	Yes	No	7/2/1992	146
Federally Mandated Family and Medical Leave Veto override	Yes	No	9/24/1992	232
Federal Regulation of Cable Television Industry Veto override	Yes	No	10/5/1992	264
Tax incentives for employers who provide family and medical leave.	No	Yes	2/3/1993	1
Allow employers to provide family medical leave as part of cafeteria plans	No	Yes	2/3/1993	4
Federally Mandated Family and Medical Leave	Yes	No	2/4/1993	11
Increase statute of limitations for lawsuits by RTC	Yes	No	5/13/1993	119
Defund unauthorized earmarks	No	Yes	7/29/1993	226
Cancel the Space Station	Yes	No	9/21/1993	272
Prohibit the death penalty for any crime committed by someone under 18	Yes	No	11/8/1993	358
Federal crime against carjacking	No	Yes	11/9/1993	361
Mandatory sentences for using firearms in commission of drug or violent crime	No	Yes	11/9/1993	362
Habeas Corpus Reform	No	Yes	11/17/1993	374
Expand Federal spending on unemployment benefits with phony offsets.	Yes	No	11/20/1993	392
Bankruptcy Reform.	No	Yes	4/20/1994	95
Offshore Drilling	No	Yes	5/18/1994	120
Mandatory minimums for violent crimes with guns and death penalty for murderers.	No	Yes	5/19/1994	126
To provide military retirees the same COLA made available to civilian retirees.	No	Yes	7/1/1994	182
Require payment of fair market value for mining patents.	No	Yes	8/8/1995	372
Allow seniors to choose their own doctor under Medicare.	No	Yes	10/26/1995	508
Increase taxes on hardrock mining.	Yes	No	10/27/1995	540
Nuclear Power	No	Yes	7/16/1996	193
Condition repeal of Cuba Sanctions upon a Democratically elected govt in Cuba	No	Yes	4/30/1996	91
Repeal Davis Bacon wage mandates	No	Yes	5/22/1996	134
Nuclear Power	No	Yes	7/31/1996	259
Increase grazing fees on Federal lands.	Yes	No	9/17/1996	291
Nuclear Power	No	Yes	4/10/1997	36
Nuclear Power	No	Yes	4/15/1997	42
Alexis Herman to be Secretary of Labor in Clinton Admin	Yes	No	4/30/1997	54
Allow state and local control of discipline in schools.	No	Yes	5/14/1997	64
Increase taxes on hardrock mining.	Yes	No	6/26/1997	131
Increase taxes on mining certain substances.	Yes	No	6/27/1997	158
5% increase in taxes on mining.	Yes	No	9/18/1997	249
Require a frivolous taxpayer funded study of former welfare recipients for the purpose of proving welfare reform was unfair. (Coats was the only Republican to vote yes)	Yes	No	3/3/1998	19
Personal retirement accounts in Social Security.	No	Yes	4/1/1998	56
Increase funding for Juvenile law enforcement and detention by reducing juvenile delinquency “prevention” programs.	No	Yes	7/22/1998	220
Make it a Federal crime to tape a phone call unless all parties gave prior consent	Yes	No	7/22/1998	225
Prohibit paying court appointed defense attorneys in capital cases more than defense attorneys in such cases	No	Yes	7/23/1998	230
Increase taxes on hardrock mining	Yes	No	9/15/1998	268
Ban credit cards for individuals under 21 (unless parents assumed liability) Yes             (Lugar no)