Capitol Police Officer's Keystone Moment

I'm not sure why this Capitol Police officer thought his car could crash the barrier erected by his own police department, but he did. The officer, who was not seriously injured, was responding to a short high-speed chase with a deranged Connecticut woman who first tried to penetrate the White House grounds before fleeing at a high speed in the direction of the Capitol Building. In this second video, you see the moment police drew their guns after the woman's car struck a barricade. Watch how easily she escapes after being blocked by a police cruiser and police officers fire at her as she flees.    

UPDATE: It looks like Miriam Carey, the woman shot dead by Capitol Police, has a lot in common with the Navy Yard shooter. She was being treated for mental depression and believe she was being electronically monitored by President Obama. From ABC News:

According to sources Carey believed she was the "prophet of Stamford" and was capable of communicating with Obama.

Her mother, Idella Carrey, told ABC News that her daughter had been hospitalized after suffering post-partum depression.

On Dec. 10, 2012, police were called to Carey's home by her boyfriend Eric Francis, 54, father of her baby. Francis told police Carey was emotionally disturbed and he believed his daughter was in danger, according to sources.

Carey told police President Obama had placed Stamford on lockdown and had arranged to have her home electronically monitored and her life broadcast on television, sources said.

Police handcuffed Carey and remanded her for a mental health evaluation. According to sources, Carey had a family history of schizophrenia and was taking medication for a mental illness.

On Dec. 21, Francis again called police to report his girlfriend was "off her medication" and acting erratically.

In January, the source said, a state social worker met with Carey and Francis and Francis told the social worker that Carey was "100 percent back to normal." Carey told the social worker she had been diagnosed with post-partum depression, was on prescription medication, and was receiving treatment, the source said.

Does anyone else get the distinct impression that everything that happens in Washington anymore is like witnessing the endless production of a bad movie that just won't end?

U.S. Government Bars NSA Critic From Entering Country

The European press is reporting that German-Bulgarian writer and activist Ilija Trojanow, an outspoken critic of the NSA's surveillance activities, was barred from entering the country to appear before a literary conference in Denver where he was invited to speak. “It is more than ironic if an author who raises his voice against the dangers of surveillance and the secret state within a state for years, will be denied entry into the ‘land of the brave and the free," Trojanow was quoted as saying in response to a decision by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to deny his entry into the U.S. Trojanow was offered no explanation by U.S. officials for denying his entry.

The story is getting a lot of play in Europe, particularly in Germany where great outrage is being expressed. Naturally, the state-controlled media in the U.S. is virtually silent. The U.S. freely allows people to travel to the United States from countries that have been the source of terrorism around the world, and it makes little effort to control millions of undocumented aliens from pouring across our borders. Yet it denies entry to someone who, like many Americans, are disturbed by the growing and pervasive surveillance activities of our NSA and isn't afraid to say so? This is the kind of action one would expect from government officials in the former Soviet Union or China, not the United States of America.

Hat tip to Jonathan Turley.

ACS/Xerox Contract Worker Exploited Loophole In Private Contractor's System To Fraudulently Receive $34,000 In Child Support Payments

A fraudulent scheme devised by an employee of ACS/Xerox, the private contractor hired by the state's Family & Social Services Administration to manage welfare services, has resulted in charges against the employee and three other persons. According to the Star's Michael Boren, Michelle Milbourn, 40-year old employee of ACS/Xerox, overheard a supervisor discussing a loophole in the private contractor's system for processing child support payments that could be exploited to fraudulently receive payments. Milbourn, a mother of four children, found friends who aided her in receiving about $34,000 in fraudulent payments through her own child support account over a one-year period beginning in December, 2011. Boren's story describes the scheme:

The loophole was rather simple: The Kid Star system could accept checks for less than $5,000 and pay them into a child support account — even before the check was cleared by a bank. That essentially means someone could still get the money from a bad check, so long as there were no other issues with it. Only checks for more than $5,000 would cause the Kid Star system to wait for bank clearance.

Milbourn first tested the loophole in December 2011, when she asked Tessa Rooney, a 22-year-old friend of her oldest child, to provide checks for the scheme, according to the affidavit. Milbourn allegedly filled out two checks, each for $3,150, and then had Rooney, of Mooresville, sign them, the affidavit said. The checks were posted in Milbourn’s child support accounts before the bank could bounce them.

For the next year, Milbourn allegedly used a similar check scheme — soon involving her friend, Andrea Brown, 35, Indianapolis — to eventually receive $34,824 in false child support funds, according to the affidavit. She paid those involved up to $500 for the checks, which were always made for less than $5,000 so they could fall through the loophole.

Boren says officials for the private contractor did not discover Milbourn's scheme until April of this year after noticing on spreadsheets that a number of payments had been paid through Milbourn's account involving payments where the checks had been returned for non-sufficient funds. The private contractor fired Milbourn on May 3. Boren says that a fourth person, Kathleen White, has also been charged in the scheme, along with Milbourn, Tessa Rooney and Andrea Brown. They face felony charges of theft, forgery and conspiracy. I found this comment from Inspector General David Thomas interesting:

Inspector General David Thomas said his office is working with DCS to determine whether DCS officials could have identified the problem sooner. They also are working to determine whether the system that allowed Milbourn to collect the money — despite the fact that checks deposited into her account later bounced — needs improvement.

“It’s definitely not a good thing that a system allowed the checks to come in and then bounce,” Thomas said. “But that’s why crimes are crimes because people always try to find ways to get around any system.”

If child support payments were being paid out for which there were no funds to cover, then who was covering the shortfall in the account. Boren's story answers that question. "DCS officials said the money came from its contractor, Xerox, not taxpayers," Boren writes. "Xerox reimbursed the state for the stolen funds, according to the affidavit." How would DCS even know there was a problem if the private contractor was fronting the payments for non-sufficient funds to cover accounting discrepancies?

Nationally-Respected Legal Scholar Sides With Ogden In Disciplinary Case

Highly-respected legal scholar Jonathan Turley, who chairs the Public Interest Law section at George Washington University Law School, has weighed in on the pending disciplinary complaint against fellow blogger Paul Ogden where the Disciplinary Commission is seeking to suspend him from the practice of law for up to one year with no automatic right of reinstatement because of criticism he leveled against a judge for his handling of a probate case before Ogden had him removed from the case by filing a lazy judge motion. Turley writes at his widely-read blog that he does not believe the opinions Ogden expressed in a private e-mail about the judge should be a basis for discipline.

I have previously expressed concern over cases of discipline for both lawyers and laypersons criticizing judges. One troubling case is unfolding in Indiana where the Indiana Disciplinary Commission is recommending a one year suspension for Indianapolis attorney and blogger Paul K. Ogden, who criticized a judge in emails and refused to apologize for what he considered an exercise of free speech.

Ogden sent emails to another attorney accusing Hendricks Superior Judge David Coleman of mishandling an estate case. One particular email sent to opposing counsel Steve Harris of Mooresville said that Coleman “should be turned in to the disciplinary commission for how he handled this case.” That email is part of the position of hearing officer Robert W. York who finds that he “cannot stress enough the conclusion that (Ogden) has a profound lack of both insight into his own conduct and lack or respect for those who disagree with him in any way.” The case is disturbing on a number of levels including the commission’s position that Odgen should be punished because he believes he is “superior to the courts and the law” and that his criticism of Coleman was “filled with inaccurate claims and slanderous innuendo.”

Ogden insists that it was his criticism of the disciplinary process that led to the charges:

I have long felt that one of our responsibilities as attorney is to speak out about the need for reform of our legal system. While I have broached many topics for reform in the legal system, many times on this blog, it was not until January of 2011 when I first decided to touch the third rail and publish an article on the disciplinary process. That story included my research that during the last three years when the Disciplinary Commission was headed by Donald Lundberg, 397 of the 400 published disciplinary cases had been against small firm attorneys and sole practitioners. It was just a few months after that story that the relatively new Executive Secretary of the Commission Michael Witte began filing grievances against me which ultimately resulted in the charges that were heard yesterday.

I tend to favor the free speech values in such cases. In the Indiana, I fail to see how emails criticizing judges should be the basis for discipline. This is a matter of professional opinion. What do you think?

A highly-respected Indiana attorney, Ted Waggoner, who publishes an informative blog, Lawyers With Troubles, ponders the potential impact of Ogden's case on the free speech rights of the clients represented by attorneys.

If you are not a lawyer, you ought to consider where your rights to speak freely are if the lawyers lose their rights.

RIP, Tom Clancy

Best-selling author and spy novelist extraordinaire Tom Clancy died unexpectedly yesterday after a brief hospital stay at the age of  66 in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland. His cause of death is unknown. He wrote a number of military and espionage thrillers, including "Patriot Games," "Hunt For Red October," "The Sum Of All Fears" and "Clear And Present Danger," all of which were turned into blockbuster films. His last book, "Command Authority" is scheduled for release later this year, along with a film version starring actor Chris Pine.

Boone County Airport Turning Into Boondoggle For Hamilton County Taxpayers

In 2003, the Hamilton Co. Council voted to spend $4.6 million to purchase a privately-owned airport across the county line in Boone County from the airport's owner, Ray Van Sickle. It changed the airport's name from Terry Airport to Indianapolis Executive Airport and entered into a 40-year contract with Montgomery Aviation to continue as the airport's fixed based operator. When you read the rest of what I have to say, you might ask yourself why the airport wasn't renamed the Montgomery Airport since it appears to be operated 100% for the benefit of the Montgomery family.

At the end of Montgomery Aviation's 40-year contract with Hamilton County, which runs out in 2043, the county is required to purchase the buildings at their appraised value. In addition to the 40-year contract, the county has allowed Dan and Andrea Montgomery, the owners of Montgomery Aviation, to build the home in which they live on the airport's grounds. The county also has a contract with Dan Montgomery to serve as the airport's manager. If the county replaces Dan as the airport manager, it is required to purchase the Montgomery's house. In addition the maintenance and fuel operations, Montgomery Aviation also operates a flight school at the airport. Montgomery Aviation has a couple dozen full-time employees and about a dozen part-time employees.

Montgomery Aviation now has another proposition for the Hamilton County Council. It wants the county to pay nearly double to purchase the airport hangar and terminal buildings out of which it operates what the county paid to purchase the entire airport 10 years ago. That's right. They are asking Hamilton County taxpayers to pay them now $8.4 million to purchase buildings it agreed to maintain and improve under its 40-year contract with the county, which is already kicking in an additional $300,000 annually to Montgomery to subsidize maintenance of the airport.

Dan and Andrea Montgomery complain that they can't afford the interest rates banks are charging them on the money they've borrowed for their operations at the airport. In other words, they are going broke and want a bailout from the taxpayers in neighboring county. According to the Star's Dan McFeely, there are more than enough fools on the Hamilton County Council to go along with their proposition to fleece the county's taxpayers. The argument is that Hamilton County can float a bond to pay the obviously inflated price for the buildings to bail out Montgomery Aviation and make what was already a sweetheart deal with the company even sweeter.

McFeely feeds us the typical made-up dribble about economic impact that makes the additional investment critical. The Aviation Association of Indiana produced a bogus report claiming the small airport has an annual economic impact of $430 million and supports nearly 2,400 jobs. In 2009, the same association produced a report that claimed the airport had an annual economic impact of $88 million. Yes, during the worst economic downtown since the Great Depression this airport's economic impact we are led to believe grew from $88 million to $430 million. The airport's primary benefactors are a handful of wealthy corporate executives who live in Zionsville or Carmel and don't want to bother with the hassle of parking their corporate jets and commuting twenty miles to and from the Indianapolis International Airport.

The airport's other primary benefit during the past several years came when the city of Indianapolis hosted the Super Bowl. Everything is about the Super Bowl, right? Hamilton County used a $3.4 million grant from the federal government intended to help the national economy recover from the Great Recession to rebuild and extend its runways in preparation for the 2012 Super Bowl. "During the 2012 Super Bowl, it had nearly 60 aircraft on the ground at game time and another 80-plus drop-offs and pick-ups over the course of the weekend," McFeely writes. He also says that it was the primary airport used by PGA golfers when they flew in on their private jets to play in the 2012 BMW Championship at Crooked Stick golf course in Carmel. Hamilton County plans to spend more money in the future to extend the runways even further so it can reclaim the longest runway honors from competing Mount Comfort Airport in Hancock County.

There is only one council member who apparently is thinking with his head or at least looking out for the taxpayers. Rich McKinney appears to be making a losing argument that Montgomery Aviation still has 30 years left on its contract with the county. The proponents of the deal naturally point to the investments made by the Montgomerys, which have made it a "world-class facility." There's that favorite buzzword that always appears whenever there is a discussion in Indiana about tapping taxpayers to subsidize the businesses of favored private business owners.

McKinney has the right idea. If the Montgomerys are truly having problems repaying their lender for the money they've borrowed, then the county should simply let the bank foreclose on the buildings and buy the buildings up on the cheap instead of paying a grossly inflated price to the Montgomerys to purchase them now. “I’m not wishing the Montgomerys to go under, but this is business,” said McKinney. “I am trying to be a good steward of the taxpayer’s money. It just doesn’t seem right, doesn’t feel right.” Andrea Montgomery tells McFeely their motivation in selling the buildings to the county now is to take advantage of lower interest rates in the bond market and "the uncertain future value of the buildings." Obviously, the latter is a greater concern. Who else is going to be in the market to buy the buildings at the end of their 40-year contract besides the county?

So what happens if Hamilton County is dumb enough to pay this inflated price of $8.4 million for the buildings? Montgomery Aviation will pay $420,000 annually to the county to lease the buildings, but that's at least $100,000 less than what annual bond payments will run. To make up the difference, the county says it will reduce the annual subsidies it offers to Montgomery Aviation to operate the airport, which are currently running at about $300,000. If you do the math, Hamilton County will wind up paying out at least $12.5 million to purchase the buildings after factoring in interest payments on the bonds. Presumably, the buildings will probably require substantial improvements before the bonds are paid off.

UPDATE: An alert reader spotted the fact that the economic impact estimates put out by the Aviation Association of Indiana for the airport comes close to matching the economic impact tourists to the Grand Canyon have annually according to the National Parks Service:

“In a report earlier this year, the National Parks Service said the canyon’s 4.3 million visitors a year spent more than $467 million and supported 7,361 jobs in Arizona in 2011, the most recent figures available.”

The reader writes:  "So you see the Boone County Airport is very similar to the Grand Canyon in terms of economic impact.  It seems the Hamilton County Council just wants to make it a 'deep hole' also."

IMS Announces Grand Prix Race Next May

The IMS is going to resurrect a Grand Prix race with its Indy Car series at the Speedway next May 10 to create more activity at the Speedway during the month of May in addition to the running of its signature race Memorial Day weekend. The existing road coarse designed for Formula One racing will be modified as part of a $5 million project. Tickets for the inaugural race go on sale October 14.

Evansville Council Approves $20 Million Taxpayer Subsidy For Downtown Hotel

Proving once again that public officials in Indiana are the most corrupt and ignorant in all of America, the Evansville city council unanimously approved giving $20 million to an out-of-state developer from Branson, Missouri, HCW, to build a new downtown hotel the city's mayor, Lloyd Winnecke, claims will leave the city in ruins if it is not built. Mayor Winnecke originally planned to give the private developer $37.5 million for the downtown hotel project, an amount he lowered to $20 million after some city council members balked at such a large contribution to the project and after the county commissioners coughed up $2 million for the project. Winnecke believes that by building this Hilton Doubletree Hotel the city will become a mecca for hosting conventions. Hah.

These people are so incompetent it is beyond belief. This private developer refused to produce a business plan or share any financial data about its business with Evansville officials. The developer isn't required to share a penny with the city in consideration for its investment. Why should they when the local media in Evansville was clamoring that council members were making the city look like the laughing stock of the Midwest by requesting to see the information and get answers to their questions before voting on it? Yeah, they're the laughing stock of the Midwest. Just not for the reason they're thinking.

I don't know what it takes before taxpayers start taking to the streets and protesting all of this crony capitalism taking place in this state. Time and time again, taxpayers are asked to pay higher taxes only to see our elected officials pass out large subsidies to private developers to finance their development projects in exchange for campaign contributions from the few, well-heeled persons who benefit from these deals. If the legislature doesn't start enacting state laws that put a stop to these ever-increasing public subsidies to private developments, the people of this state are going to become nothing more than slaves working for an elite chosen class which gets to grow and expand their business empires on the backs of the rest of us. This isn't capitalism. This isn't free enterprise. This isn't a representative democracy. This is a dictatorial, fascist government picking who wins and who loses. We have morphed into Nazi Germany.

1.5% Local Income Tax Hits Lake County Taxpayers This Month

A newly-enacted 1.5% local income tax hits taxpayers in Lake County starting today. According to the Northwest Indiana Times, local governmental units have prepared 2014 budgets anticipating a windfall of more than $45 million from the newly-enacted tax. Part of the tax increase, 1%, is earmarked to provide property tax relief; however, homeowners in East Chicago, Gary, Hammond and Lake Station will see very little property tax relief because most of them are already paying the maximum allowed under the state's property tax cap law.

The other 0.5% is split between public safety and economic development purposes. The portion allotted for public safety is to be used for police, firefighters, emergency medical services, 911 services, the county jail and juvenile detention services. The portion set aside for economic development purposes can be used for "any lawful purpose," which in Indiana includes public handouts to businesses which make campaign contributions to the elected officials who make tax and spending decisions.