Gettin' Together?

Getting’ Together?

By Russ Stilwell

A couple weeks ago, I talked about being “politically boxed in a corner.”  We discussed how to get out, what the price might be and are you willing to pay the price. 

Isn't it funny what 10 days can do to ease the complexity for an exit strategy, particularly if you had not wanted one for the past month?  In case you’re been living under a rock, “The House Democrats are Back.”

Prediction:  In less than a week, the House R’s will wish the Dems had stayed in Urbana.  They will face a worn-out, issue-driven wide-awake caucus bent on making sure that the issues they hold dear have a voice. 

And there will be no shortage of democrat debate, or amendments for that matter.    

For the first time in a long time, I suspect that many of the House Dems have read and reread each of the House R’s controversial bills – and there are plenty of them.  And they have prepared and reviewed amendments. 

Add all this together and throw it in the political blender with a Type-A legislator who hasn’t had a chance to debate for weeks and you’re got late night sessions, pent up passion and Hoosier politics at its best.

The House D’s have been considering how they might return to the capitol ever since they left.  Much has happened.  What started as a walk-out on Right to Work (and other issues, for sure) ended up being the longest legislative caucus walkout in modern day history – in any state.

There are still a myriad of still lingering issues that the House has on its calendar that will make this session interesting.  Did I mention project labor agreements, school vouchers, collective bargaining and the budget? 

Political pundits, including this one, have been ranting for a month or more about the democrat walk-out, the longest walkout in U.S. modern-day era by a state legislative caucus.  It never came close to receiving the Wisconsin national media frenzy.  But it did strengthen the will of a whole lot of Hoosiers on the receiving end of the over-reaching republican butcher knife. 

Sometimes the House Democrats just can’t help themselves.  And sometimes the House Republicans, despite a sizable majority, do the unthinkable and make self-inflicted wounds on their political armor.

History will record two classic wounds:  1995 and 2011.  For one, the history is already etched in the books and for the other (2011), history is being recorded.  The House R’s had it all in 1995 with a 56-44 majority that resulted from the republican wave in the 1994 elections. 

And then they did the unthinkable.  They made sure the democrat base was energized!

They took on our public school teachers and the ISTA.  They conducted a full scale attack on labor and the building trades (remember the rallies?).  And for good measure they smacked around the trial lawyers and attempted mid-census redistricting that caused a 10-day democrat walkout.  The result?  They rallied the democrat base and lost their majority the very next election.

2011?  Time will tell but history has a strong habit of repeating itself.  The R’s took on every anti-labor issue imaginable.  They shredded the ISTA into pieces.  They made our public school teachers the scapegoat for all of our education woes.  And for good measure they took their agenda to a whole new level of rallying the democrat base! 

Stay tuned for 2012.  It should be interesting fodder.  The democrat base is energized!

What about the return of the Democrats?  Will they be subdued into submission?  Don’t think so!

My best guess is the five-week 15-round bout the House D’s sprung on the House R’s was the opening of a multi-bout fight.  The issues are still there.  The D’s are still simmering over the overreaching and the House R’s feel it’s their time. 

Not really a good recipe to sing, “Getting’ Together”, from the old Tommy James and the Shondales song from the 60’s.  Those lyrics won’t make it past the first week of long night sessions.

Gettin' together is better than ever
Gettin' together never felt like this before
Gettin' together is better than ever
Gettin' together

But the issues are so very real . . . and so very partisan . . . and so very polarized.  Getting’ Together just may not be better than ever!  Getting’ together might be lining up for the feature fight in another 15-round fight.

Time to Get Out of the Box!

By Russ Stilwell  

Time to Get Out of the Box!

Last weekend I decided to take a trip to Urbana, IL and see first-hand what all the fuss was about in this college dominated community just a few miles from our Hoosier border.   As I pulled into the parking lot of the Comfort Inn I knew right away that House Dem’s weren’t holed up in a four-star hotel.

And no, there wasn’t a hot tub, as Mitch likes to suggest from time-to-time.  What I did see was a group of special Hoosiers defying all odds to insure that their beloved state continues to value fairness in the workplace and classroom! 

As I visited with these former colleagues of mine, I realized that they’re not in Urbana to score political points.  And they’re not in the Land of Lincoln for the purpose of offending the new Republican majority.

They know they are the last assemblage left in our Hoosier State that can prevent the wholesale destruction of the assault on the middle class and the union members who sustain that middle class.

They sent strong signals to the other side that they are prepared to come back, debate the issues and finish their collective work if one particularly offensive bill would be rescinded   Seems like a simple solution to such a complex stalemate.  But politics and type A personalities never make for simple solutions. 

I have known House Democrat Leader Pat Bauer for a long time.  And I’ll readily admit that he can be difficult to deal with from time-to-time.  But I also know a lot about this man that many folks don’t.  And after spending several hours with him this past weekend, I renewed my belief no one … and I mean no one . . . should ever relish rolling in the muddy ring of politics with Pat Bauer.

Unlike most politicians, Pat Bauer is an excellent listener!  He takes ridicule and Bauer-bashing with a grain of salt, although sometimes I do think it bothers him more than he shows.  But he is one thing above all else – one tough down-in-the-your-face leader. 

And contrary to his critics, he doesn’t always pick the fights.  Most just come his way and unlike many of his contemporaries, Pat Bauer never walks away from a fight!  And if that fight is for the things he champions most, there is not a fiercer combatant than the feisty out-spoken Irishman from South Bend, Indiana!

And Pat Bauer champions the fight for the little people (and no, not because he is short) and those that need a voice.  He champions the fight of the middle class, public schools and the rights of Hoosiers to have a union and earn a decent wage.  Sometimes, I think that is his calling.

If you ever find yourself engaged in a political fight with Pat Bauer, you had better come well prepared and ready to go the full 15 rounds!

 I really don’t know what round this legislative stalemate is in, but I know that Pat Bauer has a lot of rounds left him!  He won’t bite off your ear to end the fight, but when the bout is over, you might wish he had. 
That brings me to the point of this article.  Are Pat Bauer and the House Democrats in a box?

 Some might suggest that these temporary residents of the Land of Lincoln are in a box.  Others might suggest that Speaker Bosma and his band of 60 are in a box.

One should not be surprised that both caucuses are in a box.  On any given day these Type A personalities are boiling, enraged, fighting mad, livid, singing songs in caucus or just resigned to another day useless day of waiting. 

Like most Hoosiers, I would like for this stalemate to end.  So I thought I would do what any enterprising Hoosier would do.   Find out how to get out of a box!

Peanuts and the Coconut!

 In Africa and parts of India the natives use a unique technique to catch monkeys.
They hollow out one end of a coconut and tie a long line to it. Then they put peanuts inside the coconut and hide it in the bush.  When a monkey discovers the coconut is filled with nuts, he works his hand through the small hole in one end of coconut to grab a fist full of nuts, but finds when he makes a fist to grab the peanuts he is unable to pull his hand out through the hole.

Once the monkey has his hand inside the coconut, the natives slowly pull in the line attached to the coconut. No matter how loud the monkey squeals, he remains trapped as long as his fist is clenched.
The monkey could easily escape if he he’d just let go.  The monkey would never be caught if he would only let go of the peanuts.  The monkey was in a box.  He could have his freedom if only he let go of the peanuts.  And the only way he could have the peanuts was to give up his freedom.

It looks to me that Speaker Bosma and the House Republicans are just like the proverbial monkey.  They won’t let go of their over-reaching fist-clenching agenda on common construction.  And every day Leader Bauer and his band of 39 pull that string every closer to the brink of legislative destruction. 

What is a Box?

A box (just like the coconut) is just metaphor for a situation that restricts your freedom. House D’s stuck in Urbana and House R’s stuck on a half-empty legislative chamber.

There is always a way out of every box.  One only needs to be willing to pay the price.

Know that you pay a price to remain in the box

Anytime you remain in a box you pay a price. The House D’s are getting the wrath of Hoosiers for not doing the job they were elected to do. 

House R’s are on the receiving end of a barrage of outrage from many of the voters who just may have put them in office.  I just can’t believe either side is enjoying their position. 

Recognize there is a way out of the box

To get out, you will have to pay a price. You can always get out of the box.  You just have to be willing to pay the price. 

The House D’s have served notice that their price is one lonely legislative arrow in the overloaded Republican quiver of arrows. 

The House R’s?  Seems their price was $250 daily fines, a poorly sung melody in their caucus that pissed off the D’s and a Freshmen Republican letter serving notice that their agenda was nothing short of the Second Crusade!. 

Pay the price and get out of the box?

House D’s were probing for a rallying cause, and the House R’s sent them a Right to Work curve ball that was deflected out of the park all the way to Urbana!  It’s time for Speaker Bosma to unclench his fist full of labor-troubling peanuts and this “session of all sessions” can begin anew. 

If you are trapped in a box one should remember that the “Art of War” claims that there is nothing more dangerous than a foe that has no way out but to fight.  And if the fight goes another round, my money is on the tough-nosed guy in the corner protecting the little guy on the street!  My money’s on Pat Bauer and the House Democrats!

Empty the Water

Empty the Water!

By Russ Stilwell

Where oh where shall I begin?  There’s just not enough time or space for this week’s column. Let me begin with a coal mine story. 

Years ago, when I began working in the coal mines of SW Indiana, most underground miners carried a round lunch bucket to work that included a separate compartment that held water.  Every once in a while a miner would take the cap off that water container, hold it upside down and empty out the water.  He would holler “home.” 

This signaled that it was time to dump your water, pick up your tools and head for the house.  Or, in the case of the Indiana House Democrats, Urbana, IL.  There were injustices to be heard!

Sometimes the mine walkouts were brief.  Most were for a just cause and some over nonsense.  With working conditions hundreds of feet into the bowels of the earth, it didn’t take much to set off the miners.   Years ago, the Lansford Valley Gazette explained it well; “A coal mine is six dimensional; Dusty, deep, dark, damp, dirty and dangerous.  Any one of those dimensions could aggravate a miner on any given day.”  They stood tall for their health, their safety and their family.

Fast forward to 2011.  Now, I’m not suggesting that the House Democrats resemble these miners of decades ago.  But they do have a lot in common.  They too emptied their water and went home.  They called it a day.  Or maybe a week or two. 

And just like those miners, they stood tall!  Their courage and conviction is just as profound as those miners of years ago.  Standing up for the working class!

For weeks, House democrats listened, complained, offered amendments and more as their Republican counterparts unleashed a barrage of initiatives aimed directly at labor and the hard-working middle class Hoosiers. 

These good intention R’s sought to abolish collective bargaining, union construction and for good measure they took on public education with their tax vouchers for private schools. 

Oh, and they made sure there was parity. They awarded unemployed Hoosiers with a 25% cut in weekly unemployment benefits while rewarding Hoosier corporations with a 25% corporate tax break (SB 589). 

But it just wasn’t enough.  On the final day to announce a committee hearing, the House R’s announced a hearing for that fateful Right to Work bill.  The bill was heard in a cramped basement meeting room without input from scores of folks who signed up to oppose the bill.  The fight was on.

Then just as quickly, they passed the bill in a party-line vote and sent it to the House floor for adoption.  What did they expect?    What were they thinking?  The kindling was hot, RTW was the legislative spark and House D’s proclaimed “enough is enough.”

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the opening day of the legislative session where Democrat Leader Pat Bauer sent that “not so subtle smoke signal to Speaker Bosma” when RTW was assigned.   Too bad the Speaker didn’t heed the signal.  The stage was set.  It’s no wonder the House D’s emptied their water!

It was simple on opening day and it’s simple today in Urbana, IL. House D’s sent   the same parting shot, “we matter, we count and be careful with your agenda or you just might not have one.” 

House D’s, and for that matter our public servants and union activists know that we have tough budgets.  They know that difficult choices have to be made.  And they know that they will be expected to play a part in those choices. 

But they do not believe that punitive mean-spirited efforts to dismantle collective bargaining are part of the solution or part of the choices.

Indiana cannot balance the budget, protect the middle class and call our Hoosier state a great place to do business when they place the blame for our economic peril on our public servants who teach our kids, pick up our trash, build our infrastructure and protect our communities! 

When they seek to eliminate unions and collective bargaining, they are seeking to undermine the middle class as we know it!

If they succeed, then all Hoosiers will suffer.  And not just for a year or two, but for generations!

Maybe, just maybe, this could have all been avoided.  When you are in the minority, you expect to lose your legislative battles.  You expect to experience unpleasant policies and law.

But sometimes you do have to stand up and be counted.  And yes, sometimes you have to stand down and “empty your water” just like those miners a long time ago!

Standing up (or standing down) for your core beliefs is a long-held American tradition.  It takes courage, commitment and a core belief to empty your water and head for the house. 

It is far easier to say, “I did my best and voted against it, but the bill/s passed anyway”.  It takes special leaders to say enough is enough and follow their hearts, their convictions and their principles.  We need more of these special leaders.

Where will it all end?  We must have compromise and discussion that allows all of the voices in our society to be heard. 

There have been thousands of voices heard in our capitol the past several days.  And I would expect that intensity to grow in the coming weeks.  It isn’t about the budget and tax cuts for corporations.  It’s about middle class Hoosiers believing that are getting a fair shake from their government. 

Maybe it’s time these working class Hoosiers think about draining their water buckets as well.  My best guess is that the water will be gushing by the end of next week as Hoosiers by the tens of thousands visit their capitol!