My sister says we need “brains, not Braun.”
Braun’s recent, mis-named “education plan” reinforces that observation. As State Affairs has reported, Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Braun wants to remove all income limits for the state’s private school voucher program. Currently, only the wealthiest Indiana families are excluded from the use of our tax dollars to attend private–overwhelmingly religious–schools, so this proposal would further enrich the wealthy Hoosiers who disproportionately constitute Braun’s donors.
But it would do far more than that–and its disregard for evidence sheds a lot of light on why Braun has been such an undistinguished Senator.
When voucher programs were first introduced, some advocates were sincere in believing that they would improve education. We now have mountains of evidence that they don’t–that test scores of voucher students not only don’t improve, but often decline. That would be reason enough to oppose them, but the documented negative consequences go well beyond their lack of efficacy. Vouchers not only haven’t improved educational outcomes, they have increased racial segregation, facilitated religious discrimination, and been a windfall for the wealthy (many of whom already had children in private schools), all while robbing the nation’s public schools of desperately needed resources.
Braun is endorsing a program that all available evidence tells us has failed miserably while diverting millions of dollars that would otherwise be available for public education and underfunded physical and social infrastructure purposes.
(Braun’s disregard for evidence joins his disregard for public opinion. Just recently, he joined other Republicans in the U.S. Senate in defeating a bill that would offer legal protection for IVF. )
Granted, of the four candidates on Indiana’s GOP ticket, Braun has been the least militant Christian Nationalist. For that matter, he comes across as one of those candidates running for office in order to “be someone” rather than “do something.” It is probable that–just as with his dutiful obeisance to Trump–he’s just going with the GOP’s far Right flow. If that’s the case, we certainly can’t count on him to oppose the “theocrats-R-us” positions of the rest of the ticket.
I’ve previously reported on the extremist, unconstitutional ambitions of Micah Beckwith. (Since that enumeration, Beckwith has confirmed that he opposes the exceptions for rape and incest in Indiana’s draconian abortion ban.) At least Beckwith is honest; he publicly embraces a Christian Nationalist identity.
I’ve also written numerous times about the odious Jim Banks, running for U.S. Senate. Banks is an anti-woman, virulently anti-LGBTQ, pro-gun, climate-denying culture warrior who lives in a million dollar home in Virginia. He wants a national abortion ban with no exceptions.
And I can’t even count the number of posts I’ve devoted to Indiana’s unethical publicity-hound Attorney-General Todd Rokita. (Here’s just one of those numerous commentaries…) I’m hardly the only one who has reported on Rokita’s efforts to pander to the most extreme MAGA folks–and his persistent use of the office to pursue culture-war efforts unrelated to the duties of an Attorney General.
The Democratic ticket, on the other hand, is refreshingly competent and sane.
Jennifer McCormick is a warrior for public education. She’s pro-choice. She wants to legalize medical marijuana. She’s the only candidate with an actual property tax plan. Terry Goodin, running for Lieutenant Governor, has significant experience with farm policy–a primary task of the LG’s office. Valerie McCray, running for Senate, is a mental health professional who is pro-choice, pro-human-rights, and concerned with the needs of America’s veterans. Destiny Wells is an Army Reserve Lt. Colonel in Military Intelligence, and an attorney committed to returning the office of Attorney General to its proper functions.
If survey research is to be believed, the Democratic ticket is far more representative of the beliefs and priorities of Indiana’s citizens than the Republican ticket. That said, Hoosiers who follow politics have recently been treated to two contending polls, one of which shows the Democratic ticket within striking distance of the theocrats, and one of which shows the Hoosier electorate still comfortably wedded to them, albeit somewhat unenthusiastically.
Polls typically report the preferences of “likely” voters, not registered voters. Pollsters have what are called “likely voter screens,” and in normal election cycles, their assessments of who among the registered voters is likely to go to the polls is reasonably accurate–although, as these dueling polls show, they can differ. But this year, there is evidence that–much like the year in which Obama was elected–a lot of unlikely voters may turn out. Registrations have spiked, and enthusiasm for the Harris/Walz ticket is palpable.
In Indiana, unusual turnout might give us a respite from 20 years of increasingly theocratic Republican control.
Mike Braun is trying to get the State of Indiana to build a new terrain highway for his business in Dubois County, and most likely if elected, he will get his wish. The road, called the Mid-States Corridor (MSC) would run north and south between I-64 and I-69 through Dubois and Martin Counties. Not only would this road be an evironmental disaster, it would take out hundreds of homes and farms, many that have existed for 200+ years. The public was not included in the planning or implementation of MSC since it was created by a Regional Development Authority, which is a private agency that uses public funds, and is clearly a way around the democratic process. The RDA can basically do anything it wants for as long as it wants to because of the law that created the agency. In 2017, Mike Braun, then State Rep, and fellow Dubois County resident State Senator Mark Messmer both sponsored the legislation that allowed the MSC to move forward to build through their home counties.
The people of Dubios and Martin counties have been in very strong opposition to this road, and the process that created it. Despite this opposition, Braun refuses to comment about the road, and rarely weighs in on the discussion of a road that is clearly intended to benefit his trucking business in Indiana.
Braun is showing the typical behavior of the GOP, that refuses to listen to the majority of the people in his district, and if elected Governor, he will most certainly make sure “his Mic-States Corridor” will be completed at the expense of the very people he is supposed to protect.
Thanks, Teresa, for the info!
Those RDAs are like many Hoosier so-called “economic development agencies” that “require private meetings” and are not subject to press scrutiny. I’ve tried to get regional data from them, but even the public access counselor shot me down. You are exactly right; they are alternative governments that circumvent the public realm. Usually, bastards like Braun and/or his friends own or have bought farmland where the road will go through and get top dollar from the state to buy them out.
The hypocrisy of the GOP is glaring. They advocate for choice when it comes to schools, but when it comes to a woman’s body, not so much. They refuse to accept those of us as “pro-choice” by insisting on calling us baby killers or pro-abortionists.
They did the same thing with the campus protests when Hoosier GOPs called them “pro-Hamas” or “anti-Israel,” thus being anti-Semitic. Sheila’s favorite AG is having a conference tomorrow which a Wayne County GOP Prosecutor had this to say about Rokita:
“And Shipman, a Republican, accused fellow Republican Rokita of misusing his position to grandstand and further his own political ambitions.”
I wish I could attend in person to hear Lorenzo Vidino speak. Google this educational quack from Georgetown. He’s clearly anti-Islamist.
https://www.wfyi.org/news/articles/local-prosecutor-criticizes-rokitas-antisemitism-training-as-political-grandstanding
What if those of us who have never had children in school don’t have to pay any school taxes. Public money – and that means all of our tax dollars – belong in public schools. If not, then I don’t see why any of us without children in school should pay any school tax if our money isn’t staying in public schools. To funnel our public money to private uses breaches the trust between government and we the taxpayers.
“But this year, there is evidence that–much like the year in which Obama was elected–a lot of unlikely voters may turn out. Registrations have spiked, and enthusiasm for the Harris/Walz ticket is palpable.
In Indiana, unusual turnout might give us a respite from 20 years of increasingly theocratic Republican control.”
Exactly. We are going to surprise a lot of people in November. GOTV! Name recognition and voter turn-out is the whole deal.
I have to ask how it’s possible to watch the candidates speak and still be undecided?
I’m crossing fingers and praying for my home state to wake up and smell the incense from the Christian Sharia warriors. It feels like a good time might be coming and I am hopeful.
On the national scene, the picture is much the same. Did anyone see tfg tell us that he’s better than Elvis? I can’t help but think that he might be right. He might just be better than Elvis at the end – drug addled, overweight, and incapable of self care. Tfg doesn’t have a drug problem, as far as I know. He has said that he knows he won the debate, because of the applause? The delusional self love and his incomparable ego make him unfit for any public office.
In 2022 our turnout was just less than 40%, the second worst in the nation. So, yeah, unusual turnout absolutely could help end GOP control. Certainly we could sweep the state-wide offices. But if we really want out of the woods, Indiana Democrats will have to do more than just mobilize for one election cycle. We’ll have to organize, with a strategy to keep winning elections for many election cycles to come.
I have sent large checks to the 4 principle ladies campaigns along with my phone number, address, and the offer to canvas for them. So far, I have not heard from any of them (but the checks have been cashed). Not even a bumper sticker.
Not a very effective way to build visibility.
Huh?! Some really radical ideas here!
Despite their dreams, MAGA is only a piece of “public” and not the separate state they wish they were. They are the reborn Confederacy. They deserve the same end that they were issued in their first incarnation.
While so many are shocked and angered by the Republican 2025 plan and the various iterations of the voucher system I have to ask “Where is the Democrat’s detailed and written plan for the America we want”? And don’t tell me to look at the Democrat Party Platform. I want a clear idea of where we want to take the country, not policy.
If we find ourselves running in circles maybe it’s because we don’t know where you are going. A map anyone?
The Harris/Walz plan for the country is listed on their website, Theresa. You’ll find their roadmap, so cut and paste to hold them accountable for adhering to it or deviating from it, as Obama did after being elected. Rebuilding the middle class sounds good, but how can she/he do that in an oligarchy that controls your party?
https://kamalaharris.com/issues/
What I like about their plan is that they compare Project 2025 with their goals and objectives. The two visions are starkly different even though they are both neoliberals.
I’ll check it out, Todd. Thanks for the tip.
Indiana republican voters need to wake up and stop electing politicians that care only about their major campaign donors and their own future political ambitions. If they don’t, they are going to feel continuously more financial pain because current citizens will move elsewhere and the young people will leave as soon as they can. Taxes on those left will increase to the point of being unsustainable.
I, too, have donated and provided contact information to both state and local Democrats. The only one who has responded was local. Still waiting for state contact.
Along with others, I make my efforts concrete by working to GOTV, encouraging others on social media to register to vote, providing a link to verify voter registration/register, find an early voting site and provide reminders when registration deadline occurs.
I won’t be hindered from activism by organizational barriers. Find a way to help. I have a yard sign that I made myself asking my neighbors to VOTE, and signs for Harris/Walz and Fady right there with them.
Of note: As of today, there are Harris/Walz and McCormick/Goodin signs in my neighborhood and none for any R currently running.
I would love to see a flood of blue metro voters for the Dem ticket overcome the rural county Repub voters. We know those counties are losing population every census. GOTV!
Braun’s education plan lists UNIVERSAL school choice as his very first education priority. In a nutshell, he would FORCE poor and middle income taxpayers to provide tuition-free, exclusive, private and prep school enrollment to the children of multi-millionaires and billionaires, and would continue to fund vouchers with cuts to public schools.
When Braun was in our state legislature, many Republicans privately admitted that they wanted a foot-in-the-door for private school subsidies with the rationale that these were for the failing public school students in poor families, but legislators wanted it for the wealthiest families.
Braun and other voucher supporters said if students leave public for private schools, the dollars should follow the child to the private school. But private schools’ most favored clientele are THEIR biggest donors and their own church members whose children are already enrolled in their schools. They are not so interested in public school transfers who are at-risk students or have failing grades and are from poor families – the failing students whom vouchers were supposed to ‘rescue’.
It was all a lie to get that all important foot-in-the-door and ultimately squeeze out the kids these schools didn’t want to enroll in order to subsidize the students they already had. To slam the door harder on poor and at-risk students, private schools can and do raise tuition by the amount of the voucher, making it impossible for poor families to pay the tuition exceeding the voucher amount. GOP lawmakers refused any prohibition on tuition increases by the voucher amounts.
It was noticeable that Braun’s point #4 in his education agenda was to make student safety a “priority”. Braun didn’t even make student safety HIS first priority since it came in a poor 4th to vouchers for the children of the first priority multi-millionaires. When people tell you who they really are, believe them.
I have attended a couple of meeting with McCormick and she is authentic, knowledgeable and cares for our child, especially urban and rural children.
I am baffled why Hoosiers would support a candidate that lacks care for the entire community.