But one lawmaker used his time at the House microphone to air his gripe: Colts fans didn’t get enough good-visibility seats.
Colts fans were stuck in the upper-deck end zone, groused Rep. Steve Buyer, R-4th, because “all the prime seats in the Super Bowl go to all the other (team) owners” who trade them in attempts to attract a Super Bowl to their city. “They trade seats for votes.”
As a result, he said, “fans of the teams that get to play the Super Bowl really don’t get to see much of their team at a Super Bowl,” while spectators “who don’t really like either team” get the best stadium real estate.
Buyer attended the Super Bowl when the Colts offered Indiana politicians the chance to buy (at face value) about 450 of the 13,000 tickets the team was allotted.
I've met Buyer twice, once when I was in law school and once during an Indiana Leadership Forum trip to D.C. after he was elected to Congress. On both occasions, he made a very bad impression with me. On the second occasion in D.C., he insulted me in front of a large group for asking him a straight-forward question about Congress' pay and pension system. For some reason, he thought I was saying he was overpaid, missing the whole point of my question, which was a criticism of the manner in which changes to pay and pensions had been accomplished. This incident is further confirmation of my low opinion of him.
On another note, a quote attributed to U.S. Rep. Julia Carson (D) may leave her constituents shaking their heads as well. Paying tribute to the Colts and Dungy, Carson said of her distict: “See, we have good things in my district. They’re not all drive-by shootings.” That's nice to know.
But the crazies at IndyU and their ilk appreciated the back-handed recognition of their raison d'etre !
ReplyDeleteIs there any state with a worse congressional delegation than Indiana's? What an SNL comedy cast they would make.
ReplyDeleteLord, their comments are embarassing and funny at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI could care less if Indy gets a Super Bowl! I'm concerned about educating our children, keeping our university gradutates in Indiana, making sure there are good jobs here for them, and keeping our citizens safe. NONE of these issues are helped by the NFL.
Having said that I am intensely proud of Coach Dungy and Peyton Manning. They are the glitter in all the muck.
The crazies at IndyU are the ones who would lay their lives on the line to protect ALL of us, including you Wilson. Remember Officers Laird, Baker, and on and on who left their families to go to work and never came home. Is it too much to ask that they get a fair contract for the work they do? After all, if it was such a high paying, glamorous job, wouldn't everyone want to be a law enforcement officer?
ReplyDeleteCaptain, I don't think Wilson was insulting the character of the fine IMPD officers. I highly value their service, and I'm pretty sure Wilson does too. Wilson's a goof, but I bet he's appreciative of true public servants.
ReplyDeleteWhat he railed against, and I concur, is the nonsense that occupies about two-thirds of the IndyU site. It's often a hateful anti-Peterson diatribe that is half true, at best.
Maybe all these people who took kickbacks of discounted tickets (which compared to the price they were going for amounts to a $3000 kickback each) should have gotten seats where I did for Super Bowl: on the couch. At least I didn't get rained on...
ReplyDeleteSteve Buyer got his job because he was a Gulf War vet way back when we still liked fighting in Iraq. Since then, he has done nothing but abuse his fellow veterans in Congress by cutting back their benefits and entrench himself in the caucus. I'm sad to say I voted for him last year too.
As far as his recent attendance, a knee operation should not prevent him from going to work. Heck, if they can wheel in Julia's corpse every day, he ought to be able to do the same thing. I've had brothers who had knee surgery, and the most they were down was a week, and that was only because they didn't have crutches that were tall enough on hand. Dan Burton is taking all the heat for this attendance issue, but Stevie seems to be falling through the cracks.
FYI: Steve Buyer is hardly a combat veteran - he served in the JAG in Kuwait - maybe he filed lawsuits against Saddam Hussein? Lawyers out in the fighting are very unusual ...
ReplyDeleteI believe Ms. Carson served on the Veterans' Affairs Cmte. for a spell.
ReplyDeleteLast session, Rep. Buyer chaired it.
Their accomplishments on that committee could not be more opposite.
I wonder how the good ole' American Legion feels now, about their boy Buyer, after he presided over some of the largest cuts in VA benefits in history?
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