Author Archive

By Micah Clark

Rep. Bauer and The Mother of All Hypocrisies

It is not my intent to weigh in on the “right to work” issue, but the high drama is hard to leave out of any discussion of what is happening at your state capitol.

Last night, House Democrats walked out for the third time this session. This action holds up the process and reminds everyone of their five-week trip to a Comfort Inn in Illinois last year. That departure killed numerous bills including a 2011 right to work proposal.

Late last week, House Democrats threw out a new notion that could stall right to work for a while.Rep. Pat Bauer wants right to work to be a referendum issue rather than a legislative one. However,the irony of this proposal is remarkable. Former Speaker of the House, Pat Bauer, single-handedly blocked Marriage Protection referendums for more than six years. If he were Speaker today, he’d still be blocking a people’s vote on marriage protection.  Read the rest of this entry »

By Micah Clark

What Will He Ask of His Final Session?

Governor Mitch Daniels is going to reveal his legislative agenda for his final General Assembly session on December 16th. At that time he is also expected to state his position on proposed “right to work” legislation that Republican House and Senate leaders have called their top priority for 2012.

AFA of Indiana will be one of the many players in the political process watching to see what the Governor proposes. Read the rest of this entry »

By Micah Clark

Rumors of My Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated 

Political commentators looking for a clear trend among Hoosier voters may be disappointed this morning. They may be left with fairly minor observations like “voters are looking for new faces.”   Yet, even that claim is to be tempered as many incumbent mayors in Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Kokomo and Goshen won re-election. Scores of incumbent city council members also held on yesterday in cities all across the state. Many races that were expected to be close were not. Other races were closer than predicted.  Read the rest of this entry »

By Micah Clark

Oh That Voodoo, That You Do, When You Protect Church Freedoms

Yesterday, I attended the final Joint Summer Study Committee on Child Care Issues in the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee room. I sat next to a friend who mentioned how contentious this committee had been. It didn’t take long for this to play out in this final hearing.

The contention boils down to those who want to give state government more power over church childcare ministries in order to improve some daycare center conditions, versus those who see this as a violation of the true meaning of “a wall of separation” envisioned to keep government out of churches.  Read the rest of this entry »

By Micah Clark

Just How Bad is It?   Pretty Bad

If you feel like you have been crushed financially, you probably have. A new report finds that the US standard of living has declined longer and more steeply in the last three years than during any time since the government began that measurement fifty years ago. The average American now has $1,315 less in disposable income than at the onset of the Great Recession three years ago. Read the rest of this entry »

By Micah Clark

Your Worldview Affects What You Choose to Watch

The Hollywood Reporter recently hired the firm of Penn Schoen Berland for an extensive survey of registered voters in order to study their movie viewing habits. The poll finds that a person’s worldview does impact where they spend their dollars in terms of entertainment as well as how they react to Hollywood in general.

The study reveals that in spite of Hollywood’s pervasive liberalism, many on the business side of the industry worry about political activities and comments far more than you may think. They have reason for concern too. Republicans and Tea Party activists are more likely to consider a celebrity’s political views before dropping money on movies tickets. Thirty-five percent of Republicans and 45% of Tea Party activists say that they consider a star’s political position before viewing a film, compared to only 20% of Democrats. Read the rest of this entry »

By Micah Clark

Government Caught Pink Handed Inflating Numbers

As you recall, while campaigning, Senator Barack Obama appeared to be one of the most electrifying, populist, hopeful and promising presidential candidates to seek that office since Ronald Reagan. In reality however, President Obama is the most liberal and ideologically extreme of any person to occupy the White House in our lifetimes. He is seemingly a true believer in this agenda. He appears unwilling to deviate from his worldview in part perhaps because, (even by his own admissions), he spent his whole life surrounded by America-hating radicals seeking to undermine the foundations of our nation and constantly disparaging the values essential to those foundations.  Read the rest of this entry »

By Micah Clark

AFA of Indiana News Service Continues to Expand

I am happy to report that the Thy Word Network of Christian radio stations has picked up our daily Indiana centered audio news minutes. This news service is now running in Evansville on 101.5 FM in Loogootee on 88.7 FM and in Albion on 91.7 FM.

The news minutes have been airing in Fort Wayne, Valparaiso, Elkhart, Kokomo and almost a dozen stations affiliated with WFRN. We very much appreciate these radio stations and now Thy Word Network is airing these news minutes featuring the voice of well known Family News in Focus andFocus on the Family radio’s Bob Ditmer.

We still need and welcome other radio stations, particularly in central Indiana, that may want to air this free service.   Samples of these can be heard our web site.   Email me if I can answer any questions that program managers or station owners may have on the delivery of these audio files in various formats or via an FTP site. Read the rest of this entry »

By Micah Clark

AFA of Indiana Continues to Help Make Your Voice Heard

When the mail arrives at Indianapolis Congressman Andre Carson’s office today, his staff should receive a packet containing a cover letter and 22 pages of petition signatures asking him to apologize for his racially charged comments. As you know, the Congressman told a mostly African-American audience that there were members of congress and many in the TEA Party who want to see blacks lynched.

I want to thank the nearly 600 Hoosiers who signed our online petition launched late last week asking Rep. Carson to produce evidence of such an astonishing claim or issue a public apology for his reckless and hurtful allegation. In our letter, I assured the Congressman that I would pass along his response without any commentary from me to this e-list. Read the rest of this entry »

By Micah Clark

Demonizing the TEA Party, Widening the Divide

It has been a busy week of media opportunities and “hits” following the news release we sent asking Indianapolis Congressman Andre Carson to apologize for equating those with whom he disagrees to people who lynched African-Americans. Carson told a black audience that some of his colleagues in Congress and the TEA Party would like to see them “hanging from trees.” He then created another news cycle when he refused to apologize for his remarks claiming that they were based in the truth. Read the rest of this entry »

By Micah Clark

Hi, Remember Me? Let’s be Friends

Computers and the Internet have changed the face of the world in very short order. They have impacted how we communicate, shop, work and entertain ourselves, just to name a few areas. There are a lot of good things about this innovative revolution. Technology is a morally neutral item itself. It can be used for great good in areas such as public safety, information access, business production and speedy communication or it can be a great evil in the hands of hackers and pornographers. Read the rest of this entry »