Marlin Stutzman Ethics and Sex Scandals [2012]

Ethics Allegation

Before any of this will make sense we have to clarify all of the connections, I'll use this graphic as it shows clearly that both Marlin Stutzman and Tracey Jackson (the woman who had the affair with Mark Stouder) both worked with then Rep. Stouder. What makes it important in talking about Marlin Stutzman is that he is good friends with Tracey Jackson's Husband.

Marlin Stutzman was Special Assistant to Rep. Mark Souder, District 3, 2005-2008

From Wikipedia:

On June 6, 2010 a Facebook email from former Rep. Mark Souder was sent to Noble County prosecutor Steven Clouse and GOP county chairman Randy Kirkpatrick regarding Stutzman's campaign finance "problem", Souder's affair with staffer Tracy Jackson, and predictions on the Republican's caucus to replace Souder on the November ballot. The fourteen point message was eventually forwarded on to Republican leaders, journalist, and media outlets. Souder confirmed the authenticity of the message to The Journal Gazette by e-mail, but he declined to comment beyond saying it was intended to be a private message.

In the Facebook message, Souder touts Stutzman as the favorite in the caucus but also asserts that Stutzman possibly played a role in making Souder’s affair public. Tracy Jackson's husband, Brad, is mentioned throughout the message as having flown Stutzman, while he was a United States Senate candidate, to numerous campaign stops throughout the state without reporting it to the FEC.

Stutzman's only response to date regarding the unreported flights by Brad Jackson, "He (Souder) should be focusing on his family and his marriage right now. If he had concerns about our finances – which he shouldn’t – why didn’t he talk to me?”

SOURCE

Read Mark Souder's Facebook Message PDF

Souder sounds off on Stutzman : wane.com

Souder's message seems to offer contradictory statements about the affair with an aide that led him to resign. In one paragraph, he says Stutzman knew nothing of the affair and therefore couldn't have tipped off the media. In another, he mentions that Stutzman or a political consulting firm leaked word of the affair to Fox News after getting information from the staffer's husband, Brad Jackson a Kosciusko County commissioner.

Enter Mike Pence

Pence told POLITICO that when he found out the affair involved a staffer, he immediately told Souder to resign.

Pence also said that he informed the House ethics committee of Souder’s relationship with the staffer, who has been identified as Tracy Meadows Jackson.

But Pence’s revelation raises new questions about when GOP leaders and top aides became aware of Souder’s affair. SOURCE

In another article it states:

Allen County GOP Chairman Steve Shine said he had heard talk of an affair for about six months, and at least one of Souder's opponents reported receiving anonymous phone calls about the matter days before the May 4 primary. U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., confronted Souder about the rumors after being approached by a reporter, said Matt Lloyd, a spokesman for the House Republican Conference.

Stutzman said he first heard talk several years ago about an inappropriate relationship between Souder and Tracy Jackson, a part-time staffer in Souder's Indiana district whose husband, Brad, is a pilot and flew Stutzman around on occasions during his Senate campaign. Stutzman worked years ago as a special assistant to Souder in the district. He said he and another staffer confronted the congressman, who called the allegations a "vicious rumor." SOURCE

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Richard Mourdock [2012]

Richard Mourdock [R-IN]
State Treasurer
Track Record
Challenging Richard Lugar [R] in the primary and Rep. Joe Donnelly [D] for Senate

(Photo Credit: AP)

Richard Mourdock was elected Indiana’s State Treasurer in November 2006 and was re-elected in 2010, leading the Republican ticket with over 62% of the vote. As Treasurer, Richard has been an integral part of the state’s fiscal health.  Richard’s leadership earned over $1 billion in investment income for taxpayers and successfully expanded the state’s college savings plan.  At the same time, his office has returned an average of 10% of his budget back to the Treasury each year.

Prior to his election as State Treasurer, Richard had a successful 30 year career in the private sector, managing businesses in the energy, environmental and construction industries. He also served two terms as County Commissioner of Vanderburgh County.

Richard is a licensed pilot, has been active in Christian Missions in Bolivia, holds a Master’s Degree in Geology from Ball State University and a Bachelor’s Degree from Defiance College in Ohio. Richard has completed six marathons in the past eight years. He and his wife, Marilyn, live in Darmstadt, Indiana. SOURCE

    

On the Issues

VoteMatch Responses 

(CLICK HERE for full answers)

• Abortion is a woman's right - Strongly Opposes
• Require hiring more women & minorities -  Strongly Opposes
• Same-sex domestic partnership benefits - Strongly Opposes
• Teacher-led prayer in public schools - Favors
• Death Penalty - Strongly Favors
• Mandatory Three Strikes sentencing laws - Favors
• Absolute right to gun ownership - Strongly Favors
• More federal funding for health coverage - Strongly Opposes
• Privatize Social Security - Favors
• Parents choose schools via vouchers -  Strongly Favors
• Replace coal & oil with alternatives - Strongly Opposes
• Drug use is immoral: enforce laws against it -  Strongly Favors
• Allow churches to provide welfare services -  Strongly Favors
• Make taxes more progressive -  Strongly Opposes
• Illegal immigrants earn citizenship -  Strongly Opposes
• Support & expand free trade - Favors
• Expand the armed forces - Strongly Favors
• Stricter limits on political campaign funds - Opposes
• The Patriot Act harms civil liberties -  Strongly Opposes
• US out of Iraq & Afghanistan -  Strongly Opposes

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Opposed the Chrysler Bailouts Which are Now Seen as a Success

Kokomo upshifting with Chrysler investment SOURCE

Kathleen McLaughlin, Indianapolis Business Journal 12/7/2011

Kokomo hopes to build upon Chrysler Group LLC’s $1.3 billion retooling of its four local factories. The investment secured 3,500 jobs and will make the transmissions produced here a key element in future sales strategy.

Three years ago, Kokomo was the poster child for worst-case scenarios. Its two largest employers were—and are—Chrysler and Delphi Automotive. As Congress deliberated over an auto industry bailout, Mayor Greg Goodnight faced the repeated question: “What are you going to do if it completely collapses?”

Goodnight’s answer was always the same.

“We’ll figure it out,” he said. “What do you do if an earthquake hits a city? You figure it out.”

The earthquake never hit. The federal government rescued General Motors and Chrysler, and the automakers later restructured in bankruptcy court. Delphi, which was in trouble long before the 2008 financial crisis, continued to downsize, but maintains 1,400 employees in Kokomo, where it’s matching an $89 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop electronics for hybrid vehicles.

Since Chrysler announced the final piece of its $1.3 billion investment in November 2010, employment at three transmission-assembly plants has grown to 4,200, United Auto Workers Local 685 President Rich Boruff said. Another 600 to 800 work at the castings plant, which is represented by a separate local. (Local 685 is the single-largest union shop in Chrysler.)

Keeping those jobs is a huge relief to Jeb Conrad, CEO of the Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance.

“It’s difficult to diversify your economy and be attractive to new business if you have 20-percent unemployment and boarded-up buildings,” he said.

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Chrysler Adds 1,100 Jobs In Spite of Richard Mourdock

by DOUG on NOVEMBER 19, 2011 SOURCE

The “new” Chrysler, which Richard Mourdock spent $2 million of Indiana’s money opposing, is adding 1,100 new jobs.

No real point to this post other than it’s an opportunity for me to reiterate how bad I think Mourdock’s decision to challenge the bankruptcy work out was.

Mourdock could Benefit from Climate Regulations

A leading tea party candidate who hopes to knock off venerable Sen. Richard Lugar in next May's GOP primary has campaigned heavily against measures to combat climate change even as he holds stock in an energy company that's banking on those regulations to help build a market for its product.

Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock holds up to $350,000 in stock in USA Synthetic Fuel Corp. and its parent company, Global Energy Inc., according to his latest federal financial disclosure filings. The Cincinnati-based companies are seeking financing for a coal-gasification plant in Lima, Ohio, that has been pitched to investors and Obama administration officials as a clean energy alternative to more traditional power sources.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, USA Synthetic Fuel said part of its business strategy relies on being able to produce synthetic natural gas cheaper than traditional natural gas suppliers as demand for the fuel grows under expected climate change regulations.

Tea party members and Republicans nationwide say the regulations being pushed by the Obama administration amount to a national "energy tax" because they would increase the overall price of power by limiting cheaper, but dirtier, fuel sources. SOURCE

Endorsed by the Controversial Koch Industries Backed FreedomWorks

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INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, FreedomWorks PAC officially endorses Richard Mourdock in the Indiana Senate race as the clear choice for voters who are for free markets, fiscal responsibility, and constitutionally limited government.

Through in-depth one-on-one discussions with Richard Mourdock, a detailed look at his record and, most importantly, from listening to what our members and allies in Indiana have to say, FreedomWorks PAC believes Richard Mourdock is the best candidate for those who want a Senator who will fight on behalf of taxpayers against runaway government spending and federal overreach. SOURCE

From Crooks and Liars:

FreedomWorks' predecessor was Citizens for a Sound Economy Foundation. Of the three major players who donated large sums to Citizens for a Sound Economy, Koch charities were by far and away the largest donors, with nearly $13 million donated between 1985 and 2005. Other large donors include the Olin Foundation, the Coors Family, and the Scaife foundations.

Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE) underwent a transformation in 2004 when it merged with Empower America and was reborn as FreedomWorks. CSEF was renamed, becoming Americans for Prosperity. Just like that, one Koch-Scaife-Coors-Olin venture became two. Twice the voice; twice the reach.

Business Mag Expose Says Koch Brothers Were Supplying Iran In Possible Violation of U.S. Trade Embargo

In a bold and spectacular move, Bloomberg Markets Magazine wrote a story titled "The secret sins of Koch Industries" which does not only focus on several new revelations, but also provides a comprehensive overview about scandals of Koch Industries which happened during the last decades. The story also explicitly puts the well known political activities of the Koch Brothers in context with their highly questionable behaviour in business. 

[...] No less than 15 Bloomberg journalists in several countries have worked on it. It is fascinating to see that such a major investigative piece about a highly political issue does appear in a business magazine and not in one of the more "traditional" political magazines or newspapers. 

[...] Next to Jane Mayer's ground breaking piece about the Koch Brothers in the New Yorker, this article by Bloomberg Markets Magazine undoubtedly represents another PR disaster for the Koch Brothers, and could also have severe consequences. Image Source

Bloomberg Markets Magazine reveals in this article for example that:

• Koch Industries used the European offices of their subsidiary Koch-Glitsch to sell millions of dollars of petrochemical equipment to Iran in an apparent violation of the US-Iran trade embargo, as recently as 2007 

• Internal documents of Koch Industries prove that the company took elaborate steps to ensure that their US-employees weren't involved in the sales to Iran 

• While is not 100% certain at this point that Koch Industries did in fact violate US law, according to Bloomberg Markets Magazine, internal memos show for example that the details of the sales with Iran were meticulously checked by US lawyers of Koch Industries and coordinated with the lawyers in order to fully ensure that no visible involvement of US-citizens took place 

• Koch Industries paid bribes in six countries from 2002 to 2008 to win business in Africa, India and the Middle East, comparable to similar behaviour of German technology giant Siemens (Siemens subsequently had to pay a $ 1.6 billion fine!) 

• Koch Industries sacked a compliance officer in France in June 2009 who discovered the illegal bribes at Koch Industries subsidiary Koch-Glitsch 

• These revelations were made possible through newly discovered documents from two labour court cases in France 

• Bloomberg Markets reveals that former employees of Koch Industries harshly criticize the company for their internal practices and ethics 

• The story also covers in great detail over several pages earlier violations of Koch Industries: The company in the past "rigged prices with competitors, lied to regulators and repeatedly run afoul of environmental regulations, resulting in five criminal convictions since 1999 in the U.S. and Canada." SOURCE SOURCE

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Richard Lugar [2012]

Sen. Richard Lugar [R-IN]

U.S. Senator, Indiana
Track Record
Challenging Richard Mourdock [R] in the primary and Rep. Joe Donnelly [D] for Senate

photo: Getty

Although Lugar's party is in the minority in the Senate, he has good relationships with President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. Lugar was named an honorary co-chairman of their inauguration.On the day of the final 2008 presidential debate, Lugar gave a speech at the National Defense University praising Obama's foreign policy approach, and warning against the isolationist, reactive policies espoused by Senator McCain. At that debate, Obama also listed Lugar as among the individuals "who have shaped my ideas and who will be surrounding me in the White House". There were rumors that either Obama or McCain would select Lugar to be Secretary of State, but that he preferred to keep his Senate seat. 

On March 18, 2009, Lugar cast his 12,000th Senate vote, putting him in 13th place for all-time most votes. In 32 years in the Senate, he has a better than 98% attendance record. Senator Lugar has announced that he will run for reelection in 2012, and has an official campaign site.

During the August recess of 2005, Lugar and freshman Senator Barack Obama visited Russia, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine to inspect nuclear facilities there. He was detained for three hours at an airport in the city of Perm, near the Ural Mountains, where they were scheduled to depart for a meeting with the President and the Speaker of the House of Ukraine. He was released after a brief dialogue between U.S. and Russian officials, and the Russians later apologized for this incident. In January 2007, President Bush signed into law the Lugar-Obama Proliferation and Threat Reduction Initiative which was furthering Lugar's work with Senator Nunn in deactivating weapons in the former Soviet Union. The Lugar-Obama program focuses on terrorists and their use of multiple types of weapons. SOURCE

    

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On the Issues

VoteMatch Responses 

(CLICK HERE for full answers)

• Abortion is a woman's right - Opposes
• Require hiring more women & minorities -  Opposes
• Same-sex domestic partnership benefits -  Strongly Opposes
• Teacher-led prayer in public schools -  Strongly Favors
• Death Penalty -   Favors
• Mandatory Three Strikes sentencing laws - Strongly Favors
• Absolute right to gun ownership - Favors
• More federal funding for health coverage - Opposes
• Privatize Social Security - Strongly Favors
• Parents choose schools via vouchers -  Strongly Favors
• Replace coal & oil with alternatives -  Opposes
• Drug use is immoral: enforce laws against it - No Opinion
• Allow churches to provide welfare services -  Favors
• Make taxes more progressive -  Strongly Opposes
• Illegal immigrants earn citizenship -  Favors
• Support & expand free trade -  Strongly Favors
• Expand the armed forces - Strongly Favors
• Stricter limits on political campaign funds -  Opposes
• The Patriot Act harms civil liberties -  Strongly Opposes
• US out of Iraq & Afghanistan - Opposes

The Keystone XL Pipeline Controversy 

Lugar, who sponsored legislation forcing Obama to issue a decision by Feb. 21, made the following remarks while visiting Endress+Hauser Instruments in Greenwood, a prospective supplier of instruments and gauges for the pipeline, which would stretch 1,700 miles from Canada to Port Arthur, Texas:

“A majority of Americans support the pipeline. The studying time is done. The environmental concerns have been addressed. The job creation, economic and energy security arguments are overwhelmingly in favor of building it. The president opposing pipeline construction is not in the best interest of the United States. Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette

Why did the study need to be redone?

Answer: The other study was done by a group that had a conflict of interests.

Would our oil or gas be cheaper? 
Answer: No, the price would actually go up.

How would this benefit Indiana? 

Answer: It wouldn't. Our prices would go up, Canada would benefit and some workers in other states would be employed. 

Why is Dick Lugar spending so much time and energy on the Keystone XL Pipeline when it has no benefit for those that he represents in Indiana? 

Answer: I don't know. Last summer he was doing tours of Indiana wind farms. He claimed that the wind farms could help bring energy independence to our country and put a lot of Hoosiers back to work. Indiana would benefit from wind farms but we will not benefit at all from the Keystone XL pipeline.

Lugar's Ad
The following is from IndyStar.com 1-17-2012

Lugar's ad begins airing today. It highlights his opposition to Obama on the 2009 economic stimulus bill, on the 2010 health-care overhaul and particularly on the current debate over whether to allow construction of an oil pipeline from Canada through the United States. The ad says Lugar wrote the law to stop Obama from killing the jobs that would be created if the Keystone Pipeline is built.

Update [SOURCE]

I don't know at this time what Richard Lugar has to do with this but I will continue to research it.

Think Progress reports that Indiana’s Washington D.C. representatives were paid with taxpayer dollars to lobby Congress during the fourth quarter of 2011 including “advocacy of the tar sands pipeline.” The Indiana Petroleum Council has pushed the Keystone XL pipeline even though it is unlikely that any Indiana residents will work on its construction. It is one thing to push the pipeline if it created jobs for Indiana residents and one would expect the state to actively lobby for any project to help the unemployed, but not only are there no jobs for Indiana residents, the pipeline does not even pass through Indiana. And yet Indiana taxpayer’s are funding the oil industry’s lobbying effort at a time when Governor Daniels and Republican state legislators have slashed spending for programs like Medicaid and most recently, full day kindergarten and the state fair. Apparently, for Daniels and Republicans in Indiana, it is better to spend tax dollars to enrich the oil industry than fund children’s health, higher education, and K-12 education that suffered Republican’s deep spending cuts.

The unlikely target of conservatives

Lugar’s courtliness and Midwestern aversion to rhetorical flamboyance do not match this moment of fevered politics. So this race will take the temperature of a fundamentally temperate state that Obama carried in 2008 by a wafer-thin margin (28,391 votes). In what may be Lugar’s principal vulnerability, some Hoosiers think that with his many foreign policy interests — he has been, and could again be, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee — he has neglected Indiana: The day Mourdock announced his challenge, a large majority of the 92 Republican county chairmen endorsed him. READ THE ARTICLE

SOURCE Line up: (left to right) Senate Foreign Relations

Committe Chairman John Kerry, President Hu,

Harry Reid, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee

ranking Republican Richard Lugar and John McCain

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Joe Donnelly [2012]

Rep. Joe Donnelly [D-IN2]
U.S. Representative, Indiana’s 2nd District
Track Record
Challenging either Sen. Richard Lugar [R] or Richard Mourdock [R] for Senate

Indiana Congressman Joe Donnelly is running for Senate in 2012. He made the official announcement Monday.

The three-term, second district congressman from Northern Indiana announced his intention to run for current Senator Dick Lugar’s seat in a video on his website.

In it Donnelly says Indiana needs a senator willing to fight for the best interests of middle-class workers and seniors.

I ran for Congress to fight for jobs and the values of hard work, community and opportunity that come with those jobs. Now I’m here because I want to take the fight for American jobs and opportunity to the United State Senate. 

Some speculate Donnelly’s decision to run is based on the new congressional redistricting maps approved by the Indiana General Assembly. Under the new maps, Donnelly’s chances at reelection in his current district seem more unlikely. SOURCE

    

On the Issues

VoteMatch Responses 

(CLICK HERE for full answers)

• Abortion is a woman's right - Strongly Opposes
• Require hiring more women & minorities - Favors
• Same-sex domestic partnership benefits - Opposes
• Teacher-led prayer in public schools - Neutral
• Death Penalty -  Neutral
• Mandatory Three Strikes sentencing laws -  Opposes
• Absolute right to gun ownership - Strongly Favors
• More federal funding for health coverage -  Strongly Favors
• Privatize Social Security - Strongly Opposes
• Parents choose schools via vouchers -  Strongly Opposes
• Replace coal & oil with alternatives - Favors
• Drug use is immoral: enforce laws against it - Favors
• Allow churches to provide welfare services -  Opposes
• Make taxes more progressive -  Favors
• Illegal immigrants earn citizenship - Strongly Opposes
• Support & expand free trade -  Strongly Opposes
• Expand the armed forces - Favors
• Stricter limits on political campaign funds - Strongly Favors
• The Patriot Act harms civil liberties - Opposes
• US out of Iraq & Afghanistan - Opposes

About

As a husband, father, former small business owner, and graduate of Notre Dame, Joe Donnelly understands the Hoosier values of family, faith, and hard work. His father was a small business owner and his mother was a homemaker. After graduating from Notre Dame in 1977, Joe went on to graduate from the Notre Dame Law School in 1981.

After practicing law and working in business for 15 years, Joe opened his own small business, Marking Solutions, based out of Mishawaka. Marking Solutions was a printing and rubber stamp company and enjoyed success in its 10 years of operation.

Joe has enjoyed a long and distinguished career not only in business, but also as a public servant. From 1988-1989 he served on the Indiana State Election Board, a position that allowed him to work with members of both parties to ensure fair and accurate election results. Joe was also a member of the school board for Mishawaka Marian High School from 1997-2001, serving as president during the 2000-2001 school term. In this position, he gained valuable insight and experience in managing and finding solutions to the problems that our education system faces.

In 2006, he was elected to U.S. Congress to represent Indiana's 2nd District. He is currently serving his third term after being reelected in 2008 and 2010. He is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition which promotes a moderate agenda that includes fiscal discipline and strong national security. Joe also serves on two important committees that help meet the diverse needs of Indiana's 2nd District: Financial Services and Veteran's Affairs.

Joe lives in Granger with his wife, Jill. Together they have two children, Molly and Joe, Jr. They are members of St. Anthony de Padua Parish, where Joe served as chairman of the Bishop's Appeal Campaign from 1994-1996. SOURCE

Meeting hard-working Hoosiers at the statehouse
to stand up against so-called Right to Work law.

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