RedState Blog Attacks Trio Of Hoosier Congressmen As Boehner's Bootlickers

RedState blog's Daniel Horowitz has a scathing review of three Republican members of the Indiana Republican delegation, including Represenatives Susan Brooks, Larry Buschon and Todd Young, who Horowitz refers to as "Boehner's Bootlickers." All three are attacked by Horowitz as being "pro-abortion, big labor-backed Republican Mainstreet Partnership."

He had this to say about Larry Buschon:

During his first term in Congress, Bucshon voted down-the-line with leadership, earning a 64% score from Heritage Action.  Despite campaigning on the promise of a balanced budget and cutting spending, he voted to raise the debt ceiling and against efforts by RSC members to cut spending.

In 2012, he still ran as a Tea Party member, noting that “his views are right in line with the majority of Tea Party members.”  Yet, he supports federal legislation limiting scope of practice for alternative healthcare providers, such as optometrists and chiropractors – the antitheses of free market healthcare reforms advocated by the Tea Party.

This about Susan Brooks:

With only 30% of the vote, Susan Brooks, the most liberal candidate in a crowded field, slipped into Congress and quickly became a water-carrier for leadership . . .

She has voted against most attempts to roll back spending and in support of bloated bills to increase spending, earning her a 58% from Heritage Action.

More recently, she has supported the Ryan-Murray bill, the omnibus, farm bill, and the bill in October funding Obamacare and raising the debt ceiling.  At the time, she echoed Obama's fallacious talking point about default almost verbatim . . .

Yet, despite her bold declaration about default, she didn’t have the moxie to vote for the latest debt ceiling suspension last month, presumably, because leadership had the votes to pass it with Democrat support.

Like most of Boehner’s bootlickers, Brooks is a big supporter of amnesty, and even had the temerity to praise the Gang of 8 bill – the most egregious piece of legislation since Obamacare.  She will clearly be part of any effort to push amnesty thought the House in the coming months and years . . .

Brooks is also a big proponent of limiting private gun sales.

And this about Todd Young:

If there is a time when leadership needs a rank-and-file member to carry their water, Young will be one of the first and most alacritous in line.  After voting to suspend the debt ceiling yet again in October, Young sponsored a vacuous non-binding resolution to disapprove the debt ceiling increase.  The resolution was just ceremonial thanks to Young’s previous vote, but much like Senator Mitch McConnell, he sent out a press release dishonestly giving the impression that he was fighting Obama on the debt, while obfuscating his previous consequential vote.

And remember, not all Republicans are created equal when it comes to taxes. Young is a co-sponsor of the internet sales tax, a harmful proposal that is gaining steam with the K Street crowd . . .

Indiana's Congressional Delegation Votes Against Curtailing NSA Surveillance Powers, Demand Their Resignations

Indiana's congressional delegation had an opportunity to cast a key vote yesterday in the House of Representatives to curtail the powers of the NSA to spy on American citizens. Unfortunately, a lot of them stood on the side of violating your constitutional rights. An amendment offered by U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI) that would have required a showing to the FISA court that reasonable grounds existed for gathering information about a particular person or group, rather than the indiscriminate gathering of sensitive personal information on every single American as the NSA is currently doing, was defeated in the House yesterday. Only one member of Indiana's congressional delegation, Andre Carson (D), voted in favor of the Amash amendment. All other members of the delegation voted against it, except U.S. Rep. Todd Rokita (R), who missed the vote. Those voting against the amendment included:

Susan Brooks (R)
Larry Buschon (R)
Luke Messer (R)
Marlin Stutzman (R)
Pete Visclosky (D)
Todd Young (R)
Jackie Walorski (R)

If you are represented by one of these members who voted against this amendment, you should demand their resignation from Congress. By their actions, they have demonstrated their unwillingness to uphold the oath they took to uphold the Constitution of the United States. The NSA surveillance program drives a fork through your fundamental rights to First Amendment free speech rights and your right to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment. Their vote on this amendment demonstrates that they believe in a totalitarian state that would make Adolf Hitler proud. There were 94 Republicans and 111 Democrats who supported the Amash amendment, while 134 Republicans and 83 Democrats voted against it. The final vote was 205-217.

Christie Takes A Swipe At McIntosh While Campaigning For Brooks

Gov. Chris Christie didn't hold back in going after the front-runner in the Fifth District congressional primary race during a fundraising appearance in Carmel today on behalf of Susan Brooks. Christie took a jab at former U.S. Rep. David McIntosh, referring to him as a K Street lobbyist. WTHR reports:

"Congress needs to be changed. You are not going to change Congress by simply sending the same old people back. You are not going to change Congress by sending a K Street lobbyist back to Congress. If you really want to change Congress, or change our country, you need to send different people there," Christie said.

Christie's visit prompted continued media speculation about the New Jersey governor's prospects this year as a vice presidential running mate for the Republican presidential nominee. "There is an old axiom in politics. It's always good to be right and early and I was both, so I am happy with how it turned out," Christie told reporters in reference to his early endorsement of the presumptive Republican nominee, Mitt Romney. Christie isn't ruling out the potential role as Gov. Daniels has done on several occasions. "I don't need to be VP. In the end, it is his call, whether he wants to have that conversation. If he does, I'll listen, but as I have said before, I don't expect I will be asked," Christie said.

McGoff Continues To Slam McIntosh Over Residency Issue

Fifth District congressional candidate Dr. John McGoff continues to hammer away at a residency issue now plaguing former U.S. Rep. David McIntosh, who is vying against McGoff and a crowded field of candidates to be the Republican nominee to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Dan Burton. McGoff fired off another press release after a citizen complaint was filed today with the Madison Co. Election Board and the Secretary of State's office accusing McIntosh of being illegally registered to vote in an Anderson precinct and committing perjury.

“David has been deflecting questions for days saying that residency is not an issue. Today, residency is the issue – front and center. It can no longer be ignored.”

Over the past two weeks, McIntosh has fielded questions regarding residency after a staff member revealed that he held a Virginia driver’s license despite continuing to vote out of a rented Madison County address and is now running for Congress.  

In an attempt to preempt residency questions, McIntosh sought legal opinion in 2011 from Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings. McIntosh’s lawyer, Jackie Bennett, wrote, “In [David’s] heart, Indiana is and always will be his home. But he has been mindful that his partnership in a law firm located outside the state….” Cummings agreed with Bennett’s 5-page brief that McIntosh met residency requirements based on grounds of “intent.”

McGoff Campaign Manager Lou Quinto disagreed with this assessment, “It’s laughable to think that both Bennett and Cummings believe residency is a state of mind. Residency is not mental; it’s physical. Residency is where you live, where you lay your head down at night, where you go to church and where your children go to school. David McIntosh’s heart may be in Indiana, but he, his family, and his job are all in Virginia.”

Recently, residency questions have been a repeated issue in Indiana politics. Secretary of State Charlie White was convicted of voter fraud in February. Senator Richard Lugar has experienced similar scrutiny. Conservative political action committees Club for Growth and Freedom Works have spent a combined $350,000 on attack ads against Senator Lugar which often question his residency. At the same time, both groups have endorsed McIntosh in the 5^th District primary.

Quinto believes that the endorsements are telling, “Here, we have two well-known conservative organizations attacking Senator Lugar for living in Virginia while serving Hoosiers. At the same time, they are supporting McIntosh, a Virginia resident working in the private sector serving his own financial needs. This is nothing more than Washington politics trying to trump Hoosier values.” 

Madison Co. Prosecutor Rodney Cummings is caught in the middle of the debate after McIntosh's campaign produced an advisory opinion he issued in his official capacity last year in response to an inquiry from a prominent Washington, D.C. white collar criminal defense lawyer, Jackie Bennett, asking Cummings to opine on the legality of McIntosh's residency in Anderson for voting purposes despite the fact that he lived with his family in Arlington, Virginia and had declared himself a Virginia resident in order to obtain driver's license in that state. McIntosh also owns a second, million-dollar home in Florida, while he only rents a very small home in Anderson where he and his family clearly do not reside. McIntosh's wife, Ruthie, is not registered to vote in Anderson.

Cummings told the Star that he won't even look at the complaint filed against McIntosh until after the May 8 primary, saying that the timing of the complaint made it "politically motivated." "In political elections, we have had a number of issues like this come up and we won't address them until after the election is over," Cummings said. The story doesn't address the issue of whether Cummings should have even provided the advisory opinion to McIntosh in the first instance, and having done so, whether he should recuse himself from any further participation in the matter.

McIntosh, for his part, responded to the complaint by blaming it on his opponents. McIntosh claims to be the "only true conservative" in the Fifth District race. "[T]hey have chosen a highly unoriginal attack . . . to hide the fact that they are not conservative on the issues." Jon Sturgill, the attorney who filed the complaint on behalf of Greg Wright, denies he is working on behalf of any of the other candidates, although he acknowledged that he has worked in the past for David Brooks, the husband of one of McIntosh's opponents, Susan Brooks.  “I don’t work with David Brooks,” Sturgill told the Star. “I’m not an employee of David. I don’t associate with David regularly.”

McGoff Hits McIntosh On Residency Issue

First, Sen. Richard Lugar faced tough questions and legal challenges over whether he was a resident of Indianapolis or the Virginia home at which he and his wife have resided for the past thirty-five years. Now former U.S. Rep. David McIntosh is facing tough questions about where he truly resides. Although McIntosh has registered to vote at addresses in Pendleton and Anderson within Indiana's 5th congressional district where he is running as a candidate and has voted in the past, Virginia records show that he owns a home there and has been issued a driver's license by that state. One of his primary opponents, Dr. John McGoff, fired off a press release asking questions about his residency in light of a report earlier today on the IndyPolitics blog.

“Voting records show McIntosh participating in several Indiana primaries and general elections while at the same time holding a Virginia driver’s license which, under Virginia law, you can only have if you are a resident,” the press release reads, quoting from IndyPolitics.

Virginia statute states that you must show two proofs of identity, one proof of legal presence and one proof of Virginia residency, in order to obtain a driver’s license in that state.

Today, Dr. John McGoff, a front running candidate for the 5th District seat, responded, “You have to ask the important questions. Where does David McIntosh live? Where does the McIntosh family go to church? What school do his children attend? The answer to all of these questions is Arlington, Virginia, not Indiana….”

When IndyPolitics.org asked for a comment on the allegations, a McIntosh campaign staff member stated that McIntosh “was forced to get a Virginia driver’s license, but he never gave up his Indiana residency.”

Dr. McGoff questions McIntosh’s bid for election in the 5th District, “You can only be forced to obtain a Virginia driver’s license if you actually live in Virginia. If David McIntosh wanted to re-enter Congress, perhaps he should have sought office in Virginia. I’m not sure if it’s pride or arrogance, but the voters of the 5th District will not tolerate another insincere career politician after 30 years of Dan Burton.”

Residency has been an issue in at least two recent Indiana elections. Both incumbent Senator Richard Lugar and Charlie White have faced challenges based on residency.

Sen. Lugar last week agreed to re-register at his family's farm after a successful citizen complaint established to the satisfaction of the Marion County Election Board that Lugar had been voting illegally from a home in Indianapolis he sold 35 years ago. Lugar initially filed suit against the Board to overturn their decision, claiming the Indiana Constitution allowed him to vote using the residence he had established at the time of his first election to the Senate in 1976 regardless of whether he subsequently abandoned the residence. After cooler heads prevailed, Lugar agreed to come into compliance with the law and register to vote at his family's farm in Marion County.

McIntosh, by contrast, apparently relies on a rented residence owned by a defense contractor executive as his voting residence in Indiana since he gave up his seat in the House following his unsuccessful run for governor in 2000. McIntosh and his family moved to Washington where they have been living for more than a decade before McIntosh decided to return to Indiana to run in the newly-drawn 5th congressional district being vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Dan Burton (R). In order to run for Congress, McIntosh need only be able to prove that he is an inhabitant of the state at the time of this year's November general election under the U.S. Constitution. He is not required to reside within the 5th district or be a registered voter of the state so long as he can prove he is an inhabitant of the state "when elected."

The legal question for McIntosh, as with Lugar, is whether he is legally registered to vote in the precinct in Indiana at which he is currently registered to vote. The fact that he resides with his family in Virginia and has a Virginia driver's license makes the case pretty weak for proving his residence in that Indiana precinct for voting purposes. A spokesman for the McIntosh campaign told IndyPolitics that the Madison County Prosecutor advised him that there was nothing improper with his current voter registration. "When asked about whether they are concerned about possible voter fraud, the spokesman said they have a legal opinion from the Madison County County Prosecutor’s office which assured them they were not breaking any laws because 'McIntosh had always been a resident in the 5th District' and there was no issue there." Sen. Lugar also had an advisory opinion from the Attorney General claiming it was perfectly legal for him to continue voting at a home in Indianapolis he sold 35 years ago that wasn't worth the paper on which it was written. A political foe can certainly make a lot of mischief with McIntosh's residency, whether legal or not, as Sen. Lugar has already learned the hard way.

McGoff has cited recent polls as showing him running neck-and-neck with McIntosh in a crowded primary race. Marion Mayor Wayne Seybold recently won the endorsement of a number of Republican state lawmakers in the 5th district, as well as the endorsement of Rep. Burton. McIntosh and former U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks have raised by far the most amount of money for their respective campaigns. McGoff enjoys high name recognition from his two previous unsuccessful bids to unseat Burton in the past two elections.

UPDATE: Susan Brooks has weighed into the debate over McIntosh's residency. WISH-TV has this quote from her:

"I call on David McIntosh to tell us where has he sworn under the penalty of perjury that he is a resident - of which state?" Brooks said.

McIntosh's campaign produced to WISH-TV's Jim Shella a letter from Madison Co. Prosecutor Rodney Cummings saying there was nothing improper with his voter registration status. Dr. McGoff is not impressed. "When I heard that he's not living here and not working here," McGoff said, "I think that is an important issue for voters in the Fifth District to know." I'm not sure where this whole thing got started of Attorney Generals and prosecutors producing advisory opinions concerning the voter registration status of political candidates, but it is an entirely inappropriate and unseemly practice. As I told someone the other day, poor Charlie White didn't have the malice of forethought to use his political muscle to get an Attorney General or prosecutor to write an opinion for him to exonerate him from any potential wrongdoing. Brooks' husband, David, represented Charlie White in the appeal of the challenge to his eligibility to serve as Secretary of State based on his voter registration status before the Indiana Supreme Court.

UPDATE (4/5/12): The Star's Chris Sikich has more on McIntosh's residency problem today. He lays out the relevant facts of McIntosh's residency as follows:

Virginia authorities told McIntosh to obtain a Virginia driver's license because of his home there, Streeter said. His family lives in Virginia, and his two children go to school there.

McIntosh, though, has voted in Indiana. He voted from a home he owned in Muncie from 1993 until he sold it in 2008. Although McIntosh rented out the main floor after moving out of state, his campaign maintains he kept a portion of the home for his own residence.

He voted from a Pendleton home he rented from 2008 to 2011, and he switched his residence last year to a home he rents in Anderson. Streeter said McIntosh no longer has the Virginia license, having switched back to an Indiana license.

No law requires congressional candidates to live in their district, though they have to be an inhabitant of the state. McIntosh's campaign says he has been.

As I understand it, McIntosh used a residence owned by Randall Wilson, a CPA who serves on the board of Anderson-based Xtreme Alternative Defense Systems (Xads), a company that has contracts with the Defense Department, for his Pendleton voting address from 2008 to 2011. Just like Lugar, McIntosh had the malice of forethought to suspect the residency problem might become a political, if not a legal issue, one day and used his insider political status to obtain a favorable advisory opinion from the county prosecutor:

Knowing the residency issue had cost other politicians, his lawyer, Jackie M. Bennett Jr., wrote a letter to Madison County Prosecutor Rodney Cummings in July, citing several legal precedents to confirm McIntosh's residency.

Cummings agreed, writing back that McIntosh has taken reasonable steps to maintain his residency.

"It is my considered judgment that David McIntosh has been, and continues to be, a resident of Madison County, Indiana, and as such, he may vote and seek office as a resident of Madison County," Cummings wrote.

The Star doesn't include the full contents of the Cummings advisory opinion, which as I said before, isn't worth the paper on which it's written. If a complaint was filed against McIntosh and the election board agreed that McIntosh had violated election laws by illegally registering to vote at someone's home where he clearly wasn't residing, Cummings would be required to recuse himself from the case and appoint a special prosecutor because of the improper advisory opinion he issued to McIntosh. The Attorney General and county prosecutors have no business issuing advisory opinions for the benefit of private citizens concerning the legality of their actions, which essentially amounts to allowing them to issue free get out of jail cards to their political cronies.

Brooks' First TV Ad Accuses Opponents Of Being "Career Politicians"

Former U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks has launched her first TV ad in her bid to win Indiana's 5th congressional district seat being vacated by retiring U.S. Rep. Dan Burton. "I'm running against some good guys, but they're career politicians . . . " is how her first ad begins. I suspect every single one of her Republican primary opponents would take issue with her characterization of them as career politicians.

McIntosh Claims To Benefit Most From Burton's Exit From 5th District Race

Former U.S. Rep. David McIntosh's campaign is citing a recent poll it commissioned as evidence that the former congressman will benefit the most among the remaining contenders for Indiana's fifth district congressional seat following the announcement yesterday by U.S. Rep. Dan Burton that he would not run for re-election.  According to the poll taken by Wilson Perkins Allen, voters expressing a preference for Burton indicated by a 2-1 margin, or 38%-14%, they would prefer McIntosh over the other candidates in the race.

That same poll showed Burton leading the field with 29%, nearly the same percentage he received in the primary two years ago, followed by McIntosh with 20% of the vote. Former Marion Co. Coroner John McGoff garnered a 14% share in the poll sampling ahead of attorney Jack Lugar's 11% support and former U.S. Attorney Susan Brook's 4% share. Lugar, who is no relation to Sen. Lugar, clearly benefits from sharing the same last name with the well-known senator. He is considered the least credible among the competing candidates and has raised the least amount of money. Brooks has raised more money than any of the other candidates, but she has very low name recognition in the district compared to McIntosh and McGoff. There could still be other late entrants into the race. Many are closely watching to see if State Sen. Mike Delph, a former Burton aide, will jump into the race.

Burton Campaigning For Gingrich While Ignoring 5th District Voters McGoff Claims

Fifth district Republican congressional candidate Dr. John McGoff is slamming U.S. Rep. Dan Burton for spending time campaigning for Newt Gingrich's presidential campaign in the Florida primary while ignorning the voters in his congressional district. Burton, who is facing stiff opposition in this year's Republican primary as he has in the past two elections, has been skipping candidate forums being held in the district. McGoff's press release reads:

On Thursday night during the GOP presidential candidates’ debate, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich mentioned during one of his responses that Congressman Dan Burton was in Jacksonville campaigning for him. 

"When I heard that, I wish I could say that I was surprised that Congressman Burton was too busy campaigning for someone else, while ignoring the voters in his own district by not participating in candidate forums here at home," said Dr. John McGoff a candidate for the 5th Congressional District seat. "The fact that he was in Florida in January, where golf courses are plentiful, was not lost on me either."

In the last two weeks, there have been two candidate forums: one in Howard County and one in Pike Township in Marion County. Congressman Burton was invited to both but declined to participate. At these events the candidates answered questions from the audience regarding national issues affecting voters in the 5th District.

"Congressman Burton takes the 5th District voters for granted and has for years," McGoff said. "He's been in Washington since 1982, and until I ran against him in the 2008 primary, he never had a challenger.  Since he didn't have to campaign for re-election he stayed in Washington. Most people will tell you Congressman Burton makes only obligatory visits to the District."

At last week’s Howard County GOP Century Club Forum, Howard County GOP Chairman Craig Dunn said, "The 2012 Congressional election will not be about politics as usual. The Howard County Republican Party and the Republican voters of the 5th Congressional District are deeply disappointed by the Congressman's failure to participate."

As of today, there are four more candidate forums scheduled throughout the District and the Congressman has indicated he will not be participating in any of these events.

Burton seems to be counting on a crowded field of candidates to allow him to sneak back in again this year as happened two years ago when he narrowly won in a four-way race. You have to think Burton's luck is about to run out. Avoiding public appearances in his district leads one to conclude that he really doesn't care whether he wins re-election, which begs the question of why he decided to run again if he doesn't want to campaign. In addition to McGoff, Burton faces opposition from former U.S. Attorney Susan Brooks, former U.S. Rep. David McIntosh and attorney Jack Lugar (no relation to Sen. Lugar).