Politics and other nightmares

It's always kind of eerie and sometimes amusing when an ousider tries to figure out your psyche, even when it's something as transparent as the prevailing political culture. It may well be true that "understanding Indiana politics" could be "the key for national Democrats," but good luck to them on that undertaking.

Mike Pence, please step up your efforts to persuade Republicans to rediscover their philosophical center:

Government spending hit an all-time high for a single month in March, pushing the budget deficit up significantly from the red-ink level of a year ago.

In its monthly accounting of the government's books, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday that federal spending totaled $250 billion last month, up 13.7 percent from March 2005.

Here's coverage of the coming primary election you probably won't see anywhere else. Indiana Pundit grades candidates' yard signs (just keep scrolling down to see them all, and click on the March archives to see a few more, as well as the criteria used to come up with the grades). Only Republicans Ken Fries (sheriff) and John McGauley (recorder) got A's, but signs for several candidates got grades of C+. Tammi McKee, GOP candidate for Wayne Township assessor, had a D sign. Come on, IP, no F's out there?

Two weeks from today, April 26, will Tax Freedom Day, according to the Tax Foundation. That's the day when we will have paid all our local, state and federal taxes and will be working for ourselves. According to the foundation, that's three days later than last year and 10 days later than 2003 and 2004. Oh, had you thought your tax burden was going down? Here's a chart (it's a pdf file) showing what Indiana's numbers look like.

That rotten Dick Cheney is so demanding when it comes to what he wants in his hotel suite. Isn't that just like a Republican? Well, like a Democrat, too, it turns out. Love The Smoking Gun's bipartisanship.

For those who wondered how far public officials would try to go in eminent-domain seizures following the Supreme Court's outrageous Kelo decision, the case to watch is the one involving the exclusive Long island country club. Officials want to take it because they think it's a darn nice place and they want to run it themselves, as a public golf course.

Politicians never lie, of course; they merely "embellish the truth." And if we call them on it, there could be dire consequences:

Some of Johnson's allies say it is a dangerous precedent to punish a politician for exaggerating. But Republican Sen. Mike McGinn, a former police officer, said some lies are too big.

I can appreciate Evan Bayh's desire to reach out to Republicans, but he picked the wrong issue:

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. --Democrats need to reach out to voters of all parties and persuade them of the left's strengths on national security, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh told a gathering of young Democrats on Sunday.

Marsha Bradford "believes she's been wronged," the victim of "inappropriate conduct" that created a "work environment" she found "offensive." The city of Bloomington, which employed her, says Bradford took isolated comments that were not directed at her and used them as the basis for her complaint.

The stupid controversy over whether lethal injections are painful and therefore unconstitutionally curel and unusual punishment has affected three inmates on federal death row in Terre Haute, reports the Tribune-Star: