Veery Interesting…

Younger readers of this blog will probably not recall a comic named Arte Johnson, who played a “left-over” Nazi soldier on Rowan and Martin’s Laugh In. (They probably don’t remember Laugh In, either…) Johnson would skulk behind a potted plant to spy on a comic bit, only to emerge and proclaim (with a German accent) “Veery Interesting..”

That comic bit and phrase came to my mind when a friend sent me an announcement from Governor Mike Braun’s official website,in which the Governor announced his gratitude for having been presented with the “Governor of the Year Award” from something called the Foundation for Government Accountability, or FGA. The award was described as a recognition of a “uniquely dedicated leader who advances policies that reduce barriers to work, increase trust in government, and promote self-sufficiency and dignity for individuals and families.”

Given Hoosiers’ general impression of Governor Braun’s “uniqueness”–an impression reflected in an approval rating in the high twenties–I found this veery interesting, especially since I’d never heard of the Foundation for Government Accountability.

My first suspicion was that the Foundation was one of those mythical organizations that used to be a staple of “dirty trick” politics: some supporters of Candidate A would invent an organization (“Housewives for Better Groceries…whatever) and issue the bogus organization’s endorsement of Candidate A. So, suspicious person that I am, I googled the Foundation for Government Accountability, which turns out to exist.

It’s website claims that FGA is “non-partisan.” It also describes an entity that is very far to the Right. Despite the fact that most Americans have never heard of it, the organization claims to be a “leading public policy organization” that has passed reforms in 34 states–reforms that “seek to free individuals from the trap of government dependence and to let them experience the power of work.”

Its website tells us that FGA was founded to offer a solution to America’s “increasingly unaffordable health care costs and broken state budgets.” The organization is particularly focused upon “families trapped on welfare, unable to free themselves from government dependency.” Rejecting what it calls “the one-size fits all solutions” that policymakers have been offering, “FGA saw another way—reducing government dependency through the power of work.” Indeed, the website claims that FDA is “driven by the proven results of the power of work. By the individuals whose lives have changed after being freed from the welfare trap. By the future generations who will succeed as a result of escaping the cycle of dependency.”

I think we can sense a theme…

Wikipedia lists FDA’s major funders (including Leonard Leo of Federalist Society infamy) and its policy positions. Those policy positions are eye-opening, to say the least: FDA strongly supports the SAVE Act that would disenfranchise millions of Americans, for example. It supports measures that would encourage patients to “shop” for medical care. It advocates repeal of several parts of the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, “particularly with an eye towards expanding the legality of teenage labor,” and it supports the imposition of work requirements for food stamp recipients. As you’ve probably guessed, FDA opposes Medicaid expansion.

Perhaps most telling, FGA was a member of the advisory board of Project 2025. It was one of the collection of extreme right-wing policy organizations that crafted that odious document. As readers of this blog know, Project 2025’s outrageous proposals–which Trump has dutifully been implementing despite his statements that he had no idea what it was–would reshape the federal government, consolidate executive power and impose the fever-dreams of White Christian nationalists on all Americans.

That is the organization that has bestowed  a “best governor” award on Indiana’s governor, to celebrate his “bold, forward-thinking leadership.” The announcement congratulated Braun for efforts to reform Indiana’s food stamp program, and his work on the “Make Indiana Healthy Again initiative,” with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz. It noted Indiana’s leadership “in the popular movement to remove junk food from the food stamp program.”

Most of all, the award celebrated Braun for “elevating work over welfare.”

What the award really does is dispel any doubt about Braun’s political identity–and his willingness to publicize and celebrate the award dispels any lingering myth of his competence…

SEE MANY OF YOU AT NO KINGS later today…..