Marriage Amendment on the Brink
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V19, N18 Thursday Jan. 16, 2014 Marriage amendment on the brink A highly anticipated on the fast track where, once dealt with, would committee vote delayed allow the Indiana General Assembly to deal with tax until next week as 4 repeals, a replacement for Common Core and criminal Republicans mull code reforms. But in a twist By BRIAN A. HOWEY few saw coming, gridlock INDIANAPOLIS – State Rep. appears to have settled on Wendy McNamara has a three-ring bind- the committee, with the er with 400 pages of material on HJR-3, fate of the amendment and the constitutional marriage amendment. the 2014 election cycle in And she also found herself in the near Indiana hanging in the bal- exclusive company of Gov. Mike Pence, ance. when she escorted him to his State of “We anticipated a the State address Tuesday evening. committee vote,” said Curt McNamara, along with Republi- Smith of the Indiana Fam- can State Reps. Jerry Torr, Dan Leonard ily Institute. “There are a and Casey Cox, continued to find them- couple who are undecided. selves in the epic crosshairs of what We are guardedly optimis- has become one of the most compelling tic.” policy and political debates in modern Gov. Mike Pence with State Reps. Dan Leonard “There was a lot Indiana history. The expectation on and Wendy McNamara prior to the State of the of compelling testimony on Monday was for three or four hours of State address Tuesday evening. (HPI Photo by House Judiciary Committee testimony, Continued on page 4 and then a vote that would send HJR-3 Brian A. Howey) Pence climbs Mt. Baldy By BRIAN A. HOWEY INDIANAPOLIS – One of the most unique places in Indiana is Mount Baldy on the southern rim of Lake Michi- gan. In a state with no mountains and Southern Indiana ridges that rise only “We are reviewing those stan- 1,000 feet above sea level, Mount Baldy is conspicuous as dards. I’m pretty confident there a rounded sand dune towering are going to be changes to those over the Michigan City harbor. This is my hometown, and as standards. And Indiana will a child, climbing Mount Baldy be adopting a new set of stan- and rolling down through the squeaky white sand was a sum- dards.” mer ritual and one enjoyed by other kids growing up there, like - Supt. Glenda Ritz, on changes Scott Pelath, Don Larsen and coming to Common Core John G. Roberts. Page 2 It became a generational beachgoers using their bare hands as thing when I would take my two sons local businesses rushed machinery to up to the top where a lesson would be clear away the sand. Even reporters taught. To the east was Michigan City covering the story were seen using and Long Beach. To the west was the their notepads to dig. For nearly three Chicago skyline. Looking north, there hours, no one out of the nearly 140 was 380 miles of fresh water sea people on that sand dune gave up stretching well beyond the horizon all until a firefighter felt a hand beneath the way to Manistique, Mich. This was the surface and pulled little Nathan to a view of “freedom and unparalleled safety. They called it the Miracle on is a non-partisan newslet- opportunity, adventure and danger.” Mount Baldy.” ter based in Indianapolis and To the south was the Indi- Nathan had sifted 11 feet Nashville, Ind. It was founded ana State Penitentiary, a massive Civil below, close to a netherworld holding in 1994 in Fort Wayne. War era chamber of punishment, as- who knows how many souls. It is published by WWWHowey Media, LLC 405 Massachusetts Ave., Suite 300 Indianapolis, IN 46204 Brian A. Howey, Publisher Mark Schoeff Jr., Washington Jack E. Howey, Editor Mary Lou Howey, Editor sault and despair. If you happened to Nathan was limp and cold, Maureen Hayden, Statehouse have been atop Mount Baldy on Sept. with no pulse, no breathing. LaPorte Matthew Butler, Daily Wire 26, 1933, you might have heard the County Deputy Coroner Mark Huff- pops of a gun battle as John Dillinger man ordered the boy into the back Subscriptions sprang Harry Pierpont, Charles Makley, of a pickup truck and he was taken HPI, HPI Daily Wire $599 John Hamilton, Walter Dietrich and to a waiting ambulance. As the truck Russell Clark, who would make up the bounced over the dune, the AP report- HPI Weekly, $350 infamous Dillinger Gang. ed, a medic noticed something aston- Ray Volpe, Account Manager To my sons, Mount Baldy was ishing: The boy took a breath. Then, a 317.602.3620 a lesson of choices, opportunities, cut on his head started bleeding. The email: [email protected] challenges and consequences. jolt apparently shocked Nathan’s body As evil as that 1933 incident back to life, Huffman said. was – portrayed in the opening scene “Man, I tell you that was such Contact HPI of the Johnny Depp film “Public En- a great feeling,” Huffman said. “This www.howeypolitics.com emies” – what occurred nearly eight is not something that I as the chief [email protected] decades later on July 15, 2013, was deputy coroner get to report that of- Howey’s Cabin: 812.988.6520 the antipodal event, when 6-year-old ten. It’s an absolute miracle this child Howey’s cell: 317.506.0883 Nathan Woessner, hiking on Mount survived.” Baldy with his father Greg and a When Gov. Pence called the Washington: 202.256.5822 friend, disappeared, as the Associated hospital to talk to the family, he said, Business Office: 317.602.3620 Press described it, “without warning or “I told him I thought it was a miracle. sound.” Greg told me, ‘Governor, this is every- © 2014, Howey Politics Indiana. During his State of the one’s miracle.’” And so it is. All rights reserved. Photocopy- State address Tuesday night, Gov. “That’s the Indiana way. We Mike Pence picked up the narrative. are strong and good people, but we ing, Internet forwarding, fax- “His dad ran to the scene, marshal- are never stronger than when we ing or reproducing in any form, ing help even while frantically dig- work together,” Pence said. whole or part, is a violation of ging for his son,” Pence said of the While Pence made a televised federal law without permission drama. “Michigan City police and fire pitch aimed at average Hoosiers, he from the publisher. raced to the dune and were joined by made a push for his business tax Page 3 repeal, his pre-K education program, and waded into the healthcare decisions. controversies of the day – the marriage amendment, and “Let me be clear, we will continue to work in good the board of education feud with Education Supt. Glenda faith with federal officials to expand our Healthy Indiana Ritz. Plan,” Pence emphasized. “I will oppose any expansion of But it was this last part of the speech that Gov. our health insurance system that condemns vulnerable Pence does best. He has the Clintonian gift of empathy. Hoosiers to substandard health care or threatens the fiscal He maintains a positive outlook. The glass is always more health of our state.” than half full. While Democrats and a recent letter from more It reminded me of former Republican Chairman than a dozen clergy have questioned his Medicaid deci- Mike McDaniel’s observation about Gov. Frank O’Bannon sion, on this front Pence has wide public support. But this after his passing a decade ago. “During the last 34 years, will also be one of his greatest challenges, whether the politics in Indiana has evolved into a full contact sport,” U.S. Department of Health and Human Services grants his McDaniel wrote. “Politics is truly a rough and tumble life request to expand HIP, or refuses. While so much atten- today. A lot of good people stay away from politics and tion has been placed on tax cuts, jobs and education, this public service because it has is the epic issue on the plate that become so mean-spirited. Yet stands to impact the most Hoosiers, throughout this evolution, Frank and we are only in the beginning O’Bannon kept his civility. People chapters. liked Gov. O’Bannon because they There also was Pence’s tribute to sensed that he genuinely liked Karen Sauer, the “single mom who and cared about them.” felt called to adopt,” as he put it. And this is territory that This was fascinating because it Gov. Pence has staked. was a breakaway from the Pence His vigorous brand of worldview of whole families with a conservatism brings out the crit- mom and dad. Here was a single ics from the center and left. But woman who fished Neven and when the topic of Pence comes Dusten out of the foster care sector, up, the preface is nearly always and provided a durable, loving home, “he’s a nice guy” or something even if it doesn’t meet the Ward and akin to that. June Cleaver threshold. Polling over the last year finds the political ground Pence made his pitch for adoption, perhaps the quaking on a number of social issues that tend to be most conspicuous acknowledgement of a Howey Politics moving away from the governor. But with his approval in Indiana column by Howard County Republican Chair- the 60th percentile – and much of it driven by his friendly man Craig Dunn, who last summer urged his party to go personality – the Hoosier governor along with his super beyond bringing all children out of the womb and build a majorities in the Indiana General Assembly are in an world of support and care.