Think About It with Michael Leppert

I was speeding through Georgia this past Sunday and I couldn't help looking for political billboards. Then I saw it. A "Now Hiring" billboard for state troopers, with instructions to apply at gatrooper.com. As an occasional government watchdog, I was fascinated by this whole new strategy for filling one of any state government's toughest jobs.

Of course, after concluding that Georgia is experiencing a state trooper shortage, I drove faster. Why not, right?

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Last Thursday, as reported by Casey Smith of the Indiana Capital Chronicle, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said he'll sign any abortion-restricting measures that make it to his desk during the upcoming special legislative session. "I don't have any red lines right now," the governor said.

That is a remarkable place for him to be in this first post-Roe summer. It's remarkable in that he has abdicated his leadership on the issue before the real part of the initial debate has even started. On the largest public policy decision during his two terms, he is actively taking a pass.

A red line, as defined by Cambridge Dictionary is "a limit beyond which someone's behavior is no longer acceptable." It makes me wonder, for only unnecessary reasons apparently, what the governor's red lines might be. I am even more curious about when he will reveal and fight for them. Especially if now is not the time.

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I was lucky to be able to see Rusty Bowers, the speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, testify recently before the January 6 Committee. It was a fascinating story Bowers told about the pressure he got from then-President Donald Trump to participate in a coup to flip the electoral votes of Arizona from President-elect Joe Biden to Trump. He successfully resisted that pressure, using his commitment to his oath of office and his faith as the sources of his needed strength.

"It is a tenet of my faith that the Constitution is divinely inspired …" Bowers testified. And while that specific language made me cringe a little, as I learned more about him and his faith in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I thought I understood him better.

That understanding was short-lived.

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Thursday, June 23, 2022, is one of those days on Capitol Hill that will appear on history tests years from now. It was gun day on the hill, and two of the three branches of government seemed to be passing each other on Constitution Avenue going in different directions.

In the morning, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in the case challenging a 109-year-old New York state law that required a person to show "proper cause" to receive a permit to carry a gun outside of the home. The six conservative members of the court voted to strike down the law, while all three of the liberal justices dissented. The majority opinion was written by Justice Clarence Thomas, stating that the concern for public safety isn't enough to justify new gun controls, according to NBC News. I guess 109-years-old is the new, "new."

Links and Resources Mentioned

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-says-second-amendment-guarantees-right-carry-guns-public-rcna17721

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The third of seven expected hearings of the January 6 Committee was held on Thursday. Just like the two before it, there were plenty of "wow" moments. It is also clear there are plenty more wows to come.

Here in Indiana, we know former Vice President, former Indiana governor, former congressman, and former radio personality, Mike Pence better than most. I have written more about him than anybody ever should have, though I continue to be deeply thankful someone wrote more, specifically Tom LoBianco, in his book about Pence, "Piety and Power." It appears he has a few more chapters to add.

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Americans addicted to belief in "the big lie," and the unconditional defense of those responsible for all of its components, are in a zombie fog.

The January 6 Committee began telling the story of its work Thursday night. By the time it took its first break, an hour into the opening hearing, I was nauseous. This was not a protest or a riot. There is no serious "counter-narrative" available for the offering. It is clear from the volume of new information presented in the first two hours of the committee hearings, a story in which Americans have already received mounds of data, that this is big enough to justify the all networks, prime-time display. It is now clear that it is far bigger.

It is irrefutable documentation of history.

Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN 3rd District) gave an utterly shameful and embarrassing interview to Kaitlin Lange of the Indianapolis Star that was published a couple of hours before the start of Thursday night's hearing. "There's never been a committee like this…completely partisan, one-sided without the voice of the minority to ask questions that reflect our point of view, our side of the aisle," he said. That statement relies on his assumption that Americans, Hoosiers, won't remember how the January 6 Committee, in its present form, came to exist.

He's feeding brains to zombies.

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In the last two weeks, I have heard two things regarding the state of our union that disturb me more than anything.

The first was a statement made on the morning news early last week, after the massacre in Buffalo, but before the one in Uvalde. A reporter, not a commentator, but a reporter, matter-of-factly reported on the gun policy debate that, "the Senate is an outlier on this issue." Think about how ridiculous that statement is, and then factor in the casual nature in which it was said on national television.

This week, after the Uvalde massacre, but before the one in Tulsa, I had heard the American government described as being "minoritarian" in nature. In other words, the minority is ruling right now–at least in the context of gun policy.

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One anti-problem-solving sentiment used by Republican Senators Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio this week is an old one. It goes like this: "There is no law that we could pass that would have prevented that shooting." Now, no intelligent person thinks there is some magical, singular solution that inconveniences no one. But that sentiment is the saddest possible excuse for inaction.

I pray for all the people who use it.

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It appears Indiana's leaders don't want to get caught trying on this one. It is another intolerable fiscal choice, given the one elephant in Indiana's fiscal room: an oversized and outrageous budget surplus. That surplus, which has hovered around $2 billion for more than a decade, has continued to grow recently, and has the potential to reach $6 billion before the fiscal year ends next summer. It has become the most important part of the budget to Indiana Republicans.

Whether a gas tax holiday is a political gimmick or not, in Indiana we can afford that gimmick several times over.

But the leaders here are afraid they might get caught trying to help. If they do, what will people expect next?

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I regularly tell my students these days, just like I used to regularly tell my clients, if you have an idea for a policy change in America, be prepared to successfully make your case purely on economic terms. In other words, trying to convince policymakers the change that is being proposed is simply the right thing to do usually won't get the effort very far. Proponents for change need to show them the money.

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