By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz
IndyPoltics.Org

The one thing I admire most about God is his/her wicked sense of humor, especially when it comes to dealing with folks who claim everything they do for your benefit is in his/her name.

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz is an attorney and the editor and publisher of IndyPoltics.Org.
Abdul Hakim-Shabazz is an attorney and the editor and publisher of IndyPoltics.Org.
Now, let me start by saying I am freely admit I am not a religious person by any stretch of the imagination. I do believe in a Creator. However, I don’t allow anyone else to tell me how that relationship should work. My Creator and I have a great thing going. I thank him/her on a regular basis for all cool things he/she allows me to do and for the awesome people to hang out with and he/she lets me keep doing those cool things and hang out with great people.

Commentary button in JPG – no shadowI bring this up because my “pro-family” friends have been doing victory laps following the primary defeats of Northeast Indiana State Representatives Rebecca Kubacki and Kathy Heuer. They claim in numerous e-mails that have bordered on manifestos that Kubacki and Heuer’s opposition to the marriage amendment in its original form is what did them in. The marriage amendment was part of it, but any intellectually honest observer knows there were a lot more moving parts involved: low voter turnout, late starts by both candidates, etc. But hey, in politics a win is a win, so I will give them their due. (Notice I did not use the term devil).

Now where God comes into play is the day after the holy warriors declared victory and began saber rattling against other lawmakers who had issues with the marriage amendment, a federal judge ruled that Indiana must recognize one same-sex couple from out of state. One of the women was terminally ill and wanted to die in her home state. They were married legally out-of-state but Indiana did not recognize their marriage. So they did any American would do. They exercised their God-given right to take their government to court. And they won their fight – although it’s important to note the court ruled the decision only applies to their case and it is being appealed to the 7th Circuit. Frankly, I don’t see how opponents win, because time after time courts have come back ruling that there is no rational reason for the government to deny same-sex couples the right to be as happy or as miserable as everyone else who’s gone down the road of matrimony.

And that’s where God’s wicked sense of humor comes in. Less than one day after the marriage amendment supporters were declaring victory and getting ready to launch another crusade, a federal judge comes along and formally opens the door that they have been fighting for years to keep closed and raise money. During the entire marriage amendment debate I argued an amendment to Indiana’s state constitution would do nothing to stop a federal judge from declaring it unconstitutional and throwing it out. And it looks like I was right, but what else is new?

As I stated earlier, I am not a religious person, but I have faith in my Creator that everything works out the way it’s supposed to in the long run. And it appears to me, that in the long run, the big guy/gal in the sky wants all of us to be happy and thankful. I can’t think of something to be more happy and thankful for than finding the person you want to spend the rest of your life with and making it happen.

No, I take that back. The only thing cooler than that is when the Creator uses his/her wicked sense of humor and makes stuff happen that people who invoke his/her name to make money and scare people don’t like. It shows how awesome he/she is and how powerless they are.

Abdul is an attorney and the editor and publisher of IndyPoltics.Org. He is also a frequent contributor to numerous Indiana media outlets. He can be reached at abdul@indypolitics.org

By Lesley Weidenbener          
TheStatehouseFile.com

INDIANAPOLIS – Gov. Mike Pence is apparently thinking about a bid for president in 2016 – at least that’s what he told The Washington Post.

Back home in Indiana, he’s steered clear of any such talk. No surprise. He’s been governor less than 17 months, so a move to go on the road to run for national office might not be so popular.

But a look back at what he’s done in less than a year-and-a-half in office reveals that he’s been checking off a list of accomplishments that could look pretty darn good on a presidential resume – even if they’re either not making tremendous impact on Hoosiers or can’t wholly be attributed to his administration.

Check out these examples:

Resume: Common Core opponent
National perspective: Pence leads Indiana to become the first state to pull out of Common Core. The Post calls Pence “one of the loudest voices” attacking the standards.
Indiana perspective: Indiana’s new standards largely cut and paste from Common Core, with some additions and subtractions – changes that haven’t satisfied Common Core opponents. And conservative state lawmakers led the initial charge to drop Common Core.

Resume: Tax cutter
National perspective: Pence cut the inheritance tax, business property taxes, the corporate income tax and individual income taxes, while keeping the state’s budget in the black.
Indiana perspective: Pence’s tax cut proposals were largely scaled back or rejected outright by a Republican-dominated state legislature. Lawmakers were already cutting the inheritance tax. The Senate insisted on the corporate income tax cut, which Pence had not requested. The individual income tax cut, which is half of what Pence requested, has yet to take effect and will eventually slice the tax burden for the average household by only about $75. And no part of the business tax cut will occur unless local officials approve it. Plus, most of the financial hit for the state budget will come in future years.

Resume: Education reformer
National perspective: Pence is overseeing the broadest private school voucher program in the nation and working to expand it.
Indiana perspective: Daniels and GOP lawmakers are responsible for the voucher program, which was largely in place when Pence was elected. Pence tried to lift the program’s income restrictions, but the GOP-dominated legislature told him no – essentially leaving the program as it was.

Resume: Budget balancer
National perspective: Under Pence, Indiana has one of the healthiest budget surpluses in the nation.
Indiana perspective: Pence inherited a big budget surplus from Daniels and largely maintained it. But he’s also proposed tax cuts that will reduce revenue and new spending on roads and preschool that could reduce the surplus. And while Daniels paid for major highway expansions like Interstate 69 up front in cash, Pence has proposed spreading those payments out over decades.

Resume: Job creator
National perspective: Indiana’s unemployment rate has plummeted 2 percentage points in one year, the third largest decline in the nation. Private sector job growth has also been among the best in the country.
Indiana perspective: Most economic development deals promise jobs that will be created in the years ahead, meaning much of the job creation can probably be attributed to the Daniels administration.

Still, according to The Washington Post and others, Pence’s star is rising. The Republican primary field is jumbled, which creates an opening for Pence to swoop in and charm the conservative wing of the party.

“In the last few months, people have reached out,” Pence told The Washington Post. “I’m listening.”

He’ll have to make a decision soon to put together the money and the political apparatus in the early primary states to make a bid viable. But the resume is ready – as long as the scrutiny isn’t too strong.

Lesley Weidenbener is executive editor of TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.