Blogger Dinner with Lt. Gov. Skillman

I'm terribly late in posting this, but better late than never, right?

Two weeks ago, I joined bloggers from Hoosier Access, Indy Conservative Hardball and Prosper GroupThink for an informal blogger dinner with LG Becky Skillman to discuss 2008, her plans for the future and the Daniels administration's agenda for their second term.  I am trying to directly quote the LG as much as possible below.

Two weeks ago (four weeks ago now) Skillman filed her paperwork to run again as Lt. Gov. "It's hard to believe 4 years have passed...but it's been a time of action.  I can travel to any part of this state and see signs of progress."

About jobs:
More than 60% of new jobs coming in are coming to areas with less than 25,000 in population. Since 2005, we're right at 67,000. We've had $15.6 billion in private capital investments.  We're #1 in new Foreign production jobs. 14,000 of those jobs are with international companies that chose to expand or relocate their operations here.

About the re-election campaign:
She is looking forward to the next 6 months of the campaign, which she says will remain positive.  "We won't attempt to divide Hoosiers.  We will speak the truth."

About the recent CA Supreme Court decision over-turning CA marriage law passed by referendum.
"The Governor has said that he would vote for an amendment if he had the chance."  (Note:  In Indiana, the Governor doesn't sign off on an amendment like SJR7).  "It's unconscionable for the will of the people to be overturned."

~ ~ Listen to the Governor's statement here. ~ ~

Some social conservatives are unhappy with Gov. Daniels.  Is this fair? (BTW, VR didn't ask this one)
"I've never questioned what he would do (when it comes to marriage).  (In 2004 during the search for an LG) I filled out a 17 page survey on my beliefs, and he wouldn't choose someone who didn't line up with his values and beliefs."

Will the marriage amendment be on the agenda in 2009?
"It's safe to say it's going to introduced and pursued."

Do you have a preview of what's coming in years 5-8?
"A great deal of our focus in the 2009 session will be on Education.  You will recall in 2007, we introduced the measure to franchise the Hoosier Lottery, with the proceeds going to college scholarships. That passed the Senate but not the House of Reps.  The top bid was 2.6 billion - we set a threshold of $1 billion." 

"The legislature did not include in the last budget full funding for Full Day Kindergarten as the Gov wanted." 

"We'll be looking at discipline in the classroom.  We'll have 1 or 2 bills introduced...also more instruction not construction of schools."

"One top priority is the 2nd passage of the Constitutional amendment regarding the property tax reform in 2009."

"Within the next 30 days or so we'll have more of our agenda ready for announcement. The state's economic health will continue to be the #1 priority going forward.  Indiana is the only state in the black in a sea of red in the Midwest."

What are the effects of the excited Democrat Party on the 2008 campaign?
"Hoosiers are accustomed to taking one race at a time.  They're very independent."

"Every election cycle we say it's the most important. We just have to turn our supporters out to vote."

Skillman 2012?
"I don't know. If in politics a week is a year, 5 years from now feels like an eternity. But, I'm not intimidated by it."

Indiana Government
"It's absolutely true that we are in a new era of local government restraint."

"The size of state government has been decreased by 10% but we've increased worker pay, and it still costs less today than it did before."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On a personal note, we've highlighted Lt. Gov. Skillman's leaderhip in the past, but I continue to be impressed with her depth of knowledge and familiarity on a wide range of issues.  She is a classy lady, an effective Lieutenant Governor, and a wonderful role model for young girls seeking to be successful in life.  She should also be commended for her efforts to be accessible to bloggers.  We can be a tough crowd sometimes, but her willingness to provide access and submit to interviews demonstrates that she wants to involve Hoosiers of all types in her administration.

Comments

[Stacey]

I completely agree with your commentary. I've never met Ms. Skillman, but I've heard her speak. She really seems to be down to earth, yet extremely capable and savvy.

I enjoyed this post. Thanks.

[Kenn Gividen]

The difference between liberals and conservatives can be summed up thusly:

Conservative believe we should all be equal at the starting line.

Liberals believe we should all be equal at the finish line.

Care to read more of my jeanyus quotes?

Click here:

http://www.angelfire.com/indie/aaahome/bbbkennsquotes.html

[Curt Smith]

Great leader, great post

Must you promote yourself here, Kenn?

[Tom]

As the words say at the top of this page, "Truth Is King". So here's the truth.
We had a CAFO expansion a couple of years back. When asked about total water usage, the figure given averaged out to only one ounce of water a day per cow. Commissioners should have caught this and my guess is that they purposely overlooked it. One BZA member said that he didn't think it would damage any wells. At this point of time, it was a known fact that it had damaged a well.

People who were worried about their property value and health emailed Becky Skillman and she eventually came to our area. Just to pass within half a mile of the people who emailed her. Instead, she went to the CAFO's ground breaking ceremony and commended them. This goes to show that Becky Skillman, Mitch Daniels, and the commissioners could care less about our health and property value as long as it's not in their backyards.

[Kurt Luidhardt]

Tom,

I sympathize with your desire to not have a CAFO in your backyard.

However, these farms are important to our economy and I am also sympathetic to the administration's position that they are to be encouraged when they meet environmental standards.

[Tom]

Are they important enough to sell out our health? This has been a big issue around here. People have made remarks that it's not that bad. The funny thing is that the people who make these remarks don't live anywhere around the CAFO.

As far as meeting the environmental standards, there's a stream running through this area. So (in order to "protect" it) they put up a small ribbon around it. This ribbon has been down for a couple of years now. And (as I said) a well has already damaged. When the commissioners were giving them rules to follow, they were looking at each other like it was a joke.
That's how little they follow the rules.

According to the Journal of Veterinary Medicine, Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuburculosis (MAP) and Crohn's disease can be transmitted to humans from cattle and can survive pasteurization. Is your health worth it? Is your child's health worth it?

These CAFOs are coming from overseas and the reason is because they're closing them down over there.