Indiana’s recently-passed “right-to-work” bill was still on the minds of many Jeffersonville residents when Governor Mitch Daniels visited this evening for a town hall meeting and book signing at the public library.

About two dozen union protestors stood outside the library holding signs during Daniels’ talk, which was briefly disrupted by chants that could be heard through a nearby window.

During a question and answer session, Daniels defended the Republican-led legislation, which he says will spur job growth. Labor unions say it will drive down wages and diminish work quality.

On another matter, Daniels said he’s comfortable with his decision not to run for president.

“Having been through this for quite a long time, it’s kind of funny to me that you should have to explain why you don’t want to run for President of the United States. I’m tempted to say ‘what sensible person would want to run for president?’” he said.

Daniels decided last year not to seek the GOP nomination after consulting with his family.

Calling them “juvenile” and “petty”, Louisville Metro Councilman Jon Ackerson, R-18, is lashing out at his Republican colleagues for endorsing a Tea Party challenger in the upcoming GOP primary.

Six of the eight remaining Republican councilmen publicly support Marilyn Parker over Ackerson and have alleged he sided with Democrats on several issues after receiving preferential treatment during redistricting. Both Ackerson and Democratic leaders deny the allegation, but Republican Caucus Chairman Ken Fleming, R-7 told WFPL Ackerson can’t be trusted with fulfilling the party’s agenda.

Ackerson says he has been a lifelong Republican, but the partisanship that has created gridlock in Washington and Frankfort is now in the council.

“Ken Fleming, our leader here in Jefferson County wants a radical right Tea Party person to serve rather than someone that’s willing to work with not only Republicans but with Democrats on issues of common concern,” he says.

Ackerson says council Republicans are applying a litmus test to being a member of the party and their efforts will backfire. He denied rumors that he plans to switch parties over the endorsement.

But Republican leaders on the council have confirmed the caucus has discussed Ackerson’s activities, but Fleming says the group hasn’t made a decision if they can or will take any disciplinary action.

Ackerson says the endorsement and possible reprimand show council Republicans are more interested in litmus tests than good government.

“I’m not concerned with whatever ‘punishment’ they want to inflict on me. That’s entirely up to their petty call. I have never heard such juvenile talk amongst what’s supposed to be responsible, mature individuals as punishing someone because they don’t vote the way you dictate to them. If they want to send me to the woodshed, let them try,” he says.

Council GOP staff and leaders promise the endorsement won’t hurt their policy initiatives. The Republican caucus is scheduled to meet tomorrow (Thursday

From the Associated Press:

The Indiana Labor Department says the company that built the stage ahead of last summer’s deadly state fair collapse showed “plain indifference” to safety standards.

Commissioner Lori Torres said today that Mid-America Sound Corporation has been cited with three major safety violations in connection with the collapse of outdoor stage rigging in high winds that killed seven people Aug. 13. A crowd had gathered at the stage to see the country duo Sugarland perform.

The department issued a $63,000 fine against the company.

It is also citing the Indiana State Fair Commission and a stagehands union for safety regulation violations.

Officials say the commission failed to conduct proper safety evaluations of its concert venues. Smaller fines were issued against the fair and the union.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is reportedly holding a grudge against U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-Wv., over a fight between their alma maters to get into the Big 12 Conference.

Last fall, the University of Louisville was jockeying with West Virginia University to jump ship from the Big East Conference to Big 12 Conference. McConnell got involved in lobbying for the Louisville Cardinals, but the NCAA eventually selected Manchin’s school.

According to Politico, McConnell is still mad about the selection and the West Virginia Democrat’s attacks.

From Politico:

Now, Manchin reports of maintaining a much “colder” relationship with McConnell, and some GOP senators said they’ve heard McConnell privately criticizing Manchin over his conduct.

Things are so bad that Manchin and others in West Virginia suspect the GOP leader worked largely out of spite when he aggressively lobbied Republican John Raese to jump into the race for his Senate seat.

“People take things personally,” Manchin said in an interview in the Capitol. “This is a bad place to have a personal vendetta, I can tell you that.”

A McConnell spokesman declined to comment on Manchin.

(SNIP)

McConnell was nothing short of furious at what he believed were Manchin’s baseless personal attacks on his conduct alleging ethical impropriety as he pushed his beloved Louisville Cardinals.

The activist who laid the groundwork for the federal law aimed at ending sexual discrimination will speak tomorrow at the University of Louisville.

Bernice Sandler was dubbed “The Godmother of Title IX” by the New York Times. The law, enacted in 1972, is best known for its impact on inequities in high school and collegiate athletics, but Sandler became involved in the issue while battling for her job at the University of Maryland.

Sandler is expected to reflect on her advocacy of Title IX and its impact on girls and women decades after its passage. Her talk begins at 9:30am tomorrow at the Bingham Humanities Building on the Belknap Campus. It’s free and open to the public.

The argument over the collection of fines from Democrats who boycotted Indiana House business over labor legislation is likely headed to the state Supreme Court.

Yesterday, a Marion County judge ruled that the state improperly seized the fines last year through payroll deduction and ordered a halt to the collection of additional fines imposed this year.

The judge says that state can collect the fines by taking action through the court system.

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller says he’ll appeal the ruling. Spokesman Bryan Corbin says the fines were collected legally and the court has no constitutional right to get involved in legislative business.

“In order to make that argument we do have to go to the higher court, to the Indiana Supreme Court, to make that case. But our contention is that the whole thing should be redirected back to the legislative branch, back to the legislature where it belongs,” he said.

More than 30 House Democrats boycotted the chamber over a controversial “right-to-work” bill for five weeks last year and several more days this year. They’re challenging thousands of dollars in fines imposed by the Republican majority.

Speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., downplayed a potential GOP mutiny over the payroll tax cut and urged Senate Democrats to let conferees negotiating the extension to finish their work.

Last year, Democrats and Republican were engaged in a hot debate over extending a cut in Social Security payroll taxes for 160 million American workers. Both parties said they favored the middle-class tax cuts, but instead of a year-long deal lawmakers were only able to compromise on a short-term agreement that is set to expire February 29.

McConnell says Republicans strongly support extending the holiday for the rest of the year, but the GOP rejects a tax hike on wealthier Americans as a way to pay for the relief.

“When a tax hike that’s been rejected repeatedly by members of both parties over the past year is the opening bid in a negotiation, I think it’s safe to say that Democrats are more interested in scoring political points than in scoring a tax cut that millions of middle-class Americans are counting on,” he says. “When the Democratic Majority Leader (Harry Reid) of the Senate suddenly drops a proposal of his own to extend this tax cut even as a conference committee is in the midst of negotiating a bipartisan solution that everybody can support, I think it’s pretty obvious that the problem isn’t with Republicans.”

Last year, Republicans took a hit in the polls over the debate and reports of internal divisions amongst GOP lawmakers over what strategy to take this time are boiling over into the public.

From Politico:

Other Republicans are pining for a different approach. Many say reforming parts of the Tax Code would be a more palatable policy choice. Georgia Rep. Paul Broun said he’s had “partial” conversations with leadership about “better ways to go” than the payroll tax holiday.

“This payroll tax holiday is just a gimmick to try to get [Obama] reelected,” he said in an interview. “This is bad policy.”

But Congress, hoping to seize a rare instance of legislative achievement, needs to hitch a number of other pet ideas to the payroll tax extension. Conference committee members spent much of their time last week debating a host of provisions peripheral to the tax cut.

The 20-member conference is having ongoing discussions this week.

The National Republican Congressional Committee has raised the profile of Kentucky 6th congressional district race by elevating GOP challenger Andy Barr, who is hoping to face Democratic incumbent Ben Chandler again this fall.

Despite two other Republicans being in the GOP primary, the NRCC highlighted Barr’s benchmarks as their reason for elevating his candidacy. In a statement, NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions all but guaranteed Barr would win the race and have a rematch against Chandler.

From CN2:

“We are looking forward to working with Andy Barr, who has already proven himself by meeting rigorous benchmarks in the ‘Young Guns’ program that will position his campaign for victory,” said NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions of Texas said in a statement. “Andy Barr’s dedication and experience enables him to advocate effectively for pro-growth policies and fight the failed status quo in Washington.”

(SNIP)

The news from Washington comes as Barr and his supporters have ramped up their lobbying of lawmakers to resist a compromise on the congressional district map. The suggested version that has come out negotiations among Republican Senate and Democratic House leaders, as well as representatives from some of the incumbent congressmen, would alter the 6th District by moving some conservatives areas, such as Garrard County and part of Jessamine County, into the 2nd District while spreading the 6th District east to some slightly Democratic counties, such as Bath, Rowan and Wolfe.

Republicans Patrick Kelly II of Lexington and Curtis Kenimer of Paris are also running for the GOP nomination.

Frustrated with the redistricting process in Frankfort, Republican congressional candidate Brooks Wicker alleges the plan threatens the viability of the Jefferson County GOP and is calling on supporters to lobby state lawmakers.

The Louisville accountant is challenging Democratic incumbent John Yarmuth, who is seeking his fourth term in office representing Kentucky’s 3rd congressional district, which covers most of Louisville.

The Democratic-controlled House submitted a map that cuts off several GOP-leaning precincts in the city’s East End. Currently, Democrats outnumber Republicans by a 2-to-1 margin among registered voters.

Both parties in Frankfort are still far apart on a compromise as the maps have gone into a bi-partisan conference committee.

Wicker says the map in the General Assembly is reshaping the district to heavily favor Yarmuth and the Democratic Party over the next decade.

“Allowing the Kentucky Democratic Party’s hold on the 3rd District to tighten—effectively ceding Democrats the largest metropolitan center in the state and the economic engine of Kentucky—will lessen already tenuous opposition representation in the 3rd District and will also weaken the ability of the Republican Party to compete in state-wide elections for the next decade,” he says. “We must fight this effort to artificially solidify Democratic power coming out of Frankfort. Elections are about citizens’ freedom to choose, not about gerrymandering stunts like this.”

Louisville Metro Council members’ endorsement of candidate Marilyn Parker over incumbent Jon Ackerson, R-18, in this year’s primary has created a rift in the caucus, but GOP staffers are downplaying the division.

Six of the eight remaining Republican members have publicly supported Parker, a former congressional candidate and Tea Party activist who has flirted with controversial issues in the past.

Several GOP members have alleged Ackerson has undermined their agenda over the past four years. Only councilmen James Peden, R-23, and Stuart Benson, R-20, are not backing Parker.

Minority Caucus Director Stephen Haag says council Republicans will remain professional and focused on serving their constituents, despite the endorsement.

“The Metro Council is used to having people on both political sides and divisions and discussions with people who have differences in opinion on political issues. I’m hopeful that we will not have any problems within the caucus or on the council related to the upcoming election, whether it’s primary or general,” he says.

But the leader of the Republican caucus says GOP members cannot trust their colleague and Ackerson lacks integrity, adding he has demonstrated he cares more about personal political gain than serving his constituents.

“We have grave concerns on if he’s really doing it for himself or if he’s actually serving the public. Each of our caucus members, we have talked about this, we are here to serve and not to be served. Unfortunately, Mr. Ackerson believes that he should be served and not to serve,” says Republican Caucus Chairman Ken Fleming, R-7.

Several other Republicans have criticized Ackerson for siding with Democrats on key issues to close the debate on union contracts and ethics reforms. He has also been slammed for working with the majority party on redistricting, which resulted in little changes to the 18th District seat.

Other sources have alleged Ackerson traded being the necessary vote for council Democrats to shut down conversations being pushed by the GOP in exchange for keeping his district safe. During the redistricting process, the east Louisville Republican submitted his new map with the Democrats.

“Councilman Ackerson has always been willing to work with the majority caucus as other members of his caucus have from time-to-time. As far as any deal being cut to spare him of any drastic change to his district, there is no deal that was made,” says Democratic caucus spokesman Tony Hyatt. “The way the redistricting plan was finalized is all 26 members had a say in how their districts were drawn. I believe Councilman Ackerson had expressed some concern to our leadership that some members of his caucus would probably alter his district and that is the reason why he ended up being with the Democratic plan.”

However, Fleming believes Ackerson acted in his own self-interests in standing against GOP initiatives and adds the caucus has discussed him leaving the party.

“It’s his decision if he wants to switch parties. Can I trust an individual to either carrying a banner or to come forth and give me the forthright on an issue, I have a very strong concern coming forward with us in a truthful manner,” he says. “I’m not going to force him out. But I have a very difficult time trusting Mr. Ackerson based on at least four cases that I can think about. The caucus has talked about Mr. Ackerson and his activities.

Republican caucus staff say the GOP’s policy initiatives will not be affected by the recent endorsement and they work with all members equally.

The council GOP is scheduled to meet as a group this Thursday.

Councilman Ackerson was unavailable for comment.