V24, N32 Thursday, April 25, 2019 Republicans tout ‘historic’ budget GOP says teachers will get pay hike; gaming deal reached By JACOB CURRY INDIANAPOLIS – The 2019 General Assembly session ended Wednesday after nearly four full months of negotiation, success, and disappointment, cul- minating with what Repubilcans described as a “historic” budget. Coming into the year, there were a biennial budget late Wednesday night. The final budget some clear, pressing challenges that came out of conference committee had most of the that would top priority lists at key numbers – K-12 tuition support increases, DCS fund- the Statehouse: Passing a work- ing, and several grants – at compromise levels in between ing $34.6 billion biennial budget, their House and Senate figures. That clear compromise addressing the growing crises in reflects what GOP leaders and most of the negotiators said Indiana education, getting Indi- was an unusually smooth process of working out the two ana off the list of states without a chambers’ differences, though as always there were plenty meaningful hate crime statute, and pushing through bills of hard choices involved. The final state budget, which was on gaming and the CIB. the last item up for vote in both the House and Senate The General Assembly successfully fulfilled its constitutionally mandated duty for this session, passing Continued on page 5 A yield of incompetence By BRIAN A. HOWEY NASHVILLE, Ind. – Last winter over a plate of Cajun cookin’ at Yat’s, I compared notes with U.S. Rep. Jim Banks on the Russia collusion investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. My expressed hope was the report “Mayor Buttigieg has wasted would either absolve President Trump of conspiring with the millions of taxpayer dollars in Kremlin with compelling cer- tainty, or that it would be so a seven-year effort to keep these damning that his political sup- tapes secret and hidden from the port within the Republican Party would collapse and we would public. Mayor Buttigieg should have President Mike Pence. release the tapes immediately.” That was the scenario in July 1974 with President Nixon. - Indiana Republican Chairman Democrats were heading toward Kyle Hupfer on the South Bend impeachment, but Republicans held until the U.S. Supreme PD tape controversy Page 2 Court ordered the tapes released, Not all Hoosier Republicans which revealed Nixon as a conspiring took the default “witch hunt” stance. cover-up liar. It was Republicans Hugh U.S. Sen. Todd Young’s comms Scott, John Rhodes and Barry Goldwa- director, Amy Grappone, said in a ter who delivered the news to Nixon statement to HPI, “Sen. Young is that the gig was up. approaching this matter with utmost The Mueller report landed seriousness and is still digesting in the middle of my two best/worst details of the voluminous report. He case scenarios. It absolved President looks forward to discussing it with Trump and his campaign of conspiring colleagues on both sides of the aisle Howey Politics Indiana with the Russians. On the obstruc- when the Senate is back in session WWWHowey Media, LLC tion scenario, Mueller punted, send- and will make further comments as 405 Massachusetts Ave., ing the matter to Congress, which is appropriate.” Young told John Krull of Suite 300 Indianapolis, IN ill-equipped to referee this question. the Statehouse File last week, “There’s By the time it would even get into absolutely no question among Repub- 46204 trial mode, the 2020 election will be licans or Democrats, certainly with www.howeypolitics.com at hand and it will be the American whom I dialogue, that Russia inter- people who render the ultimate ver- fered with our election — that they Brian A. Howey, Publisher dict on President Trump’s campaign engaged in a disinformation campaign Mark Schoeff Jr., Washington and first term. Most Re- Cam Carter, copy editor publicans snapped Joel Weyrauch, copy editor quickly into line, Mary Lou Howey, Editor professing the lack Jacob Curry, Statehouse of collusion. As Jack Howey, editor emeritus Banks observed on Twitter, “No collu- sion. No obstruc- Subscriptions tion. Let’s get back HPI, HPI Daily Wire $599 to work, @Speak- erPelosi.” HPI Weekly, $350 In a more lengthy statement, to further divide the American people. Ray Volpe, Account Manager Banks bought into the “witch hunt” I think we all have to acknowledge 317.602.3620 Trump had oft described, but noted that they succeeded.” email: [email protected] something Trump has yet to acknowl- edge in the post-Mueller world, which True outrage is that the Russians successfully To find true outrage, it came Contact HPI assaulted the 2016 U.S. presidential from U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, the 2012 [email protected] election. “Mueller’s report proved GOP presidential nominee, who said, Howey’s cell: 317.506.0883 what the president has said all along, “I am sickened at the extent and per- but every American should be more Washington: 202.256.5822 vasiveness of dishonesty and misdirec- outraged than ever before by the find- tion by individuals in the highest office Business Office: 317.602.3620 ings in the Mueller report that show of the land, including the president. I without a shadow of a doubt Russia am also appalled that, among other © 2019, Howey Politics sought to meddle and disrupt our things, fellow citizens working in a Indiana. All rights reserved. election process,” Banks said. “Presi- campaign for president welcomed help dent Trump has been exonerated from Photocopying, Internet forward- from Russia — including information the witch hunt over collusion, but now that had been illegally obtained; that ing, faxing or reproducing in I hope he will swiftly turn his sights to none of them acted to inform Ameri- any form, whole or part, is a show leadership in holding Russia ac- can law enforcement; and that the violation of federal law without countable for attacking our American campaign chairman was actively pro- permission from the publisher. institutions. Congress as well should moting Russian interests in Ukraine. shift away from bogus investigations Reading the report is a sobering and instead turn toward passing tough revelation of how far we have strayed measures to address Russia’s activities from the aspirations and principles of and taking action to make the lives of the founders.” every Hoosier and American better.” Perhaps the two potentially Page 3 most vulnerable Hoosier Republicans in 2020, U.S. Reps. Director Dan Coats, his verbal assaults on NATO and the Susan Brooks and Jackie Walorski, were circumspect in European Union, his tariffs aimed at allies and foes alike, their reaction. “I am pleased portions of the report that and his policy decisions (e.g., Syrian withdrawal) seemed are legally allowed to be shared are now public and I am to match up perfectly with Putin’s diabolical playbook. My reading through Special Counsel Mueller’s findings,” Brooks colleague Craig Dunn (see page 7) can take a shotgun “at- tweeted. Walorski has not made a statement since the tempted coup d’etat” approach to all of us who wondered report was released a week ago. what the hell was really going on, but it was Trump himself who stoked the conspiracy blazes. (Most of us prefer that Different from Nixon, Clinton sagas coup d’etats remain in the banana republic realm.) Former congressman Mark Souder, observes the As I noted last week, Mueller made two damn- differences between Trump and the Nixon and Clinton ing statements. The first was the acknowledgment that impeachment sagas. “The allegations against Trump the Russians succeeded: “Although the investigation are scary, but occurred in a established that the Russian government campaign by someone not in perceived it would benefit from a Trump power. And, so far, no proof presidency and worked to secure that exists. No proof,” said Souder, outcome, and that the campaign expected who voted for two of four it would benefit electorally from informa- impeachment amendments tion stolen and released through Russian against President Clinton in efforts, the investigation did not establish 1998. “In Watergate, Nixon that members of the Trump Campaign was president, used his power conspired or coordinated with the Russian and proof existed – it just government in its election interference needed more proof. Bill Clinton activities.” was in power, used his power The second surveyed the Trumpi- and boxes and boxes of proof an incompetence: “The president’s efforts existed. Instead the GOP to influence the investigation were mostly leaders went after Monica because legal proof in a narrow unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who case. Hillary was a sitting secretary of state, former First surrounded the president declined to carry out orders or Lady and her husband still had people stacked in the fed- accede to his requests,” Mueller concluded. eral government. Where was the gnashing of teeth on the Clintons from those who are doing so with Trump? Trump 11 guardrails was a candidate, and watching for potential was important There were at least 11 Trump administration of- but this was not like previous cases and certainly not like ficials who outright disobeyed the president’s orders to ob- Nixon, or Clinton. It does not justify behavior, but it is struct, spread over 15 specific incidents, with Mueller de- NOT the same. If he did something because of what was scribing 10 of them. These include Counsel Don McGahn, proven to have been done in the campaign, not alleged, who refused Trump’s order to fire Mueller, and Coats, who then it would have more similarities.” refused to intercede and get the FBI probe halted. The full list is a who’s who of the nascent Trump presidency, from Dysfunction and incompetence Reince Priebus, to Corey Lewandowski, to Attorney Gen- Beyond the “Putin wins” acknowledgement, the eral Jeff Sessions, to Rick Dearborn, K.T.