Blue 812 News Issue 10

Mar 02, 2025

Surely you have seen something about the ABSOLUTELY INSANE (technical term) Oval Office meeting with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine? The meeting between Trump, Zelenskyy and Vice President JD Vance started out friendly enough. Zelenskyy came to Washington to urge Trump to continue supporting his country’s fight against Russia’s invasion and negotiate a response to Trump’s demand for $500 billion in rare earth minerals. As the three men answered questions from the press, tempers began to rise until they boiled over into angry scolds, accusations and downright insults.

A careful viewing of the tape shows that JD Vance started the fight by accusing Zelenskyy of coming to “litigate this in front of the American media.” Trump’s team appears to have been looking for a barfight. “This is going to be big,” a reporter overheard White House staff whisper (sorry this links to what was formerly Twitter - it is a very thorough transcript of the meeting). Trump thundered: “You don’t have the cards right now … You’re gambling with World War III!” Zelenskyy shot back: “We’re not playing cards!” Trump then kicked Zelenskyy out of the White House — and hinted at a withdrawal of U.S. military support. “I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved,” he wrote. “He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace.” The White House canceled a joint news conference with the leaders.

Meanwhile, a Russian state news reporter seemingly waltzed into the Oval Office for the meeting, and no one’s even talking about that.

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Next week, Linda McMahon, who has been credibly accused of knowingly enabling the sexual exploitation of children, is up for a vote to become the Secretary of Education. Use the script below (from @momsforindiana) to contact Senators Young & Banks and voice your opposition:

The Constitution’s Second Amendment protections don’t include machine guns, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled last week. That means fully automatic firearms and conversion devices are not constitutionally protected. In a Feb. 19 opinion, a three-judge panel cited a long history of recognition that the Second Amendement right to bear arms is “not unlimited.” The panel based their opinion on“the overwhelming number” of federal district courts and federal appellate courts that “have uniformly concluded” that the plain text of the Second Amendment doesn’t protect machine guns because they’re “dangerous and unusual weapons.”

Senator Jim Banks is at it again with his newly-introduced bill to federally defund NPR. Banks previously filed a nearly identical bill last year when he was in the House. NPR says less than 1 percent of its revenue comes from federal funding. Their main complaint is NPR’s ‘liberal bias’ censoring conservative voices, but I know I yell at Republicans on Morning Edition regularly.

When the legislature reconvenes tomorrow, it will be the second half of the legislative session, when House bills are sent to the Senate, and Senate bills are sent to the House. There, they will be assigned to a new committee, and the legislative process repeats.

Only bills that were passed by the first chamber are eligible to cross over, meaning many bills are essentially "dead." However, language from dead bills can be resurrected into live bills via amendments, so it's important we stay focused and pay attention.

from MADVoters:

Two property tax bills have a public hearing on Wednesday: SB 1 and SB 518.

Property taxes are paid by property owners. They are the primary source of funding for counties, cities, towns, and townships, paying for libraries, fire and police departments, waste disposal, schools, roads, parks, infrastructure, and construction. Property taxes vary based on property values, and Indiana’s property taxes are capped at 1% of the home’s value. Property taxes on a $100K house can be no more than $1000.

SB 1 claims to provide property tax relief by allowing homeowners to defer property taxes and capping property tax growth. This plan it will cost local communities $1.4 billion in lost revenue and does not offer a replacement revenue stream.

Ball State economist Michael Hicks argues that mostly more affluent Hoosiers will benefit the most from cuts to Indiana's already-low property tax, at the risk of gutting public services.

SB 518 will require school corporations to share revenue in part from property tax levies with charter schools. In 2028 (the first year the bill would go into effect), about $6 million could be shifted from traditional public schools to charters, according to an estimate from the Indiana Legislative Services Agency. Vigo County nows stands to lose just over a million dollars in 2028 as part of this plan:

Unlike traditional public schools, which are governed by locally-elected boards, charter schools are managed by charter companies, which can be out of state, and governed by an appointed, private board. Charter schools also don't have to follow the same requirements as traditional public schools, like employing licensed teachers or offering transportation. Although charter schools aren't technically allowed to deny students like a private school can, their de-regulated nature means they may lack necessary supports to serve all students. Charter schools are notorious for closing unexpectedly after just a few years in operation, leaving students stranded with inconsistent education, not to mention the many cases of fraud by charter school operators, including one as recently as last week! Why should charter schools get access to public funds when they are not playing by the same rules the public schools must follow?

Take Action on SB 1 & SB 518:
- Contact Ways & Means committee chairman, Rep. Jeff Thompson, with your comments: [email protected] / 317-232-9651

from Citizen’s Action Coalition:

Please visit act.citact.org/i45khgj to urge your legislators and all members of the Senate & House Utilities Committees to reject these bills!

Please visit act.citact.org/kjvtpjc to urge your state legislators and ALL of the legislators on the Senate Utilities Committee to hear and support these bills!

Please visit act.citact.org/jejx60k to urge your state legislators and ALL members of the Senate & House Utilities Committees to hear and support these bills!

Local party elections are underway! You can read 2025 IDP Reorganization Guide and 2025 IDP Reorganization Procedures for specific processes.

On March 1, Vigo County precinct committeepersons & their vices voted for Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer & Secretary. No surprises here, it’s still Joe Etling, Kim Worland, Michelle Edwards & John Wright. No one else stepped up for consideration.

On March 8, county party officials will then elect the leadership for each of our Congressional District Parties. Chairs and Vice Chairs of each congressional district, along with leadership of constituency caucuses and DNC members from Indiana will vote to decide the State Party leadership on March 15. Gary city councilmember Darren Washington is the fifth Hoosier to throw their hat in the ring. Blue812News supports Destiny Wells for Indiana party chair. You can watch a panel interview with Destiny, Jennifer McCormick & Karen Tallian here at ProjectNext on YouTube.

Our District 8 chair is currently Dave Crooks (812.617.0179), and vice-chair is Cheryl Schultz (812.459.7645). You can contact them at their numbers above to share your support for Destiny Wells for State Party Chair, plus email [email protected] (Women’s Caucus chair) prior to March 15th.

In related news, Republicans also selected their county leadership on the 1st. Randall Gentry will serve as a chairman for the Vigo County Republican Party. Shirley Padgett was selected as Vice Chair. Anthony Rubinacci was elected as Secretary and Johnny Norton will serve as the Treasurer for the Republican party.

here’s the official fundraising site for the government of Ukraine, since the US government is likely not chipping in anymore…

If anyone is interested in a yard sign supporting Ukraine, you can get them by messaging Ulyana Mytzan Stokoloska on Facebook which is supported by the Ukrainian Society of Indiana. The proceeds go directly to her charity “With Love from Ukraine

If you’re on BlueSky (new-ish alternative to Twitter), there’s a starter pack for the accounts for the alt-government departments. One click and you’ll be following the alt-CDC, alt-USAID, alt-HHS, etc.

A group of organizers and volunteers have launched the Resist List, a list of all the forms of resistance planned and going on across the country.

Indiana Public Broadcasting has a comprehensive website called Civically, Indiana to answer all the hows and whys of Indiana state government & elections. It’s like a big FAQ for all the legislative and election questions you have and didn’t know you had.

ISTA’s Day of Action on March 4 offers a prime opportunity for you to stand in solidarity for public education. Preceding this, plan to attend ISTA’s virtual legislative briefing on March 3 to get the latest insights on education legislation

Tuesday 3/4: March for Liberty at Indiana Statehouse

also March 4th - the next 50501 protest

Nasty Women Vigo County will be meeting March 4th at the VCPL in meeting room D at 5pm. Pamphlet club reading for the week is the INDems Party Platform

Friday 3/7: Stand Up for Science rally at Indiana Statehouse

Friday 3/7: US Congressman Mark Messmer is having Mobile Office Hours in Vigo County at City Hall Board of Public Works (17 Harding Ave.) from 10 am -noon.

Saturday 3/8: Legislative Crackerbarrel at the Vigo County Public Library main branch 10 am - 12 pm in the lower-level meeting rooms. Hear from Vigo County’s state legislators about the committees they serve on, the bills they have sponsored or plan to sponsor, and the impact upcoming laws will have on your business, civic, and social priorities. Bring your questions regarding your legislators’ 2025 initiatives for respectful discussion with the panel during the audience question and answer session.

Saturday 3/8: International Women's Day March at Indiana Statehouse

Monday 3/10, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM "What Now? A Citizen's Call to Faithful Action."A number of speakers will share information on specific issues andthere will be a time for participants to ask questions. Feel free to invite anyone you know who wants to better understand recent political shifts and want to find reasonable, faithful responses and actions we can take to protect local people. Central Christian Church (DoC) 4950 Wabash Avenue, Terre Haute, IN 47803

March 15th: St. Patrick’s Day parade. Walk with VigoDems! Line up begins at noon in the parking lot north of Baesler’s. Parade is at 1:00pm. Democrats’ Day of Service for March will be picking up debris/trash along the parade route directly afterwards. Supplies will be available at the end of the parade route (near 19th and Poplar). The tram will be available for anyone that would prefer to ride the route.

Protesters at national parks around the country held demonstrations against the Trump administration’s extensive federal staffing cuts. Other activists found a way to get their messages to a broader audience by placing signs in front of parks’ live webcams. And of course, others hung upside down flags from mountainsides. Five federal employees who worked at the Indiana Dunes National Park have been fired in the wake of the Trump administration's efforts to reduce the size of the federal government (sorry, that last part was kind of a downer).

Rudolph Giuliani has "fully satisfied" the $148 million judgment won by two Georgia election workers who said he defamed them by falsely claiming they helped steal the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

The Supreme Court turned away a pair of cases from abortion opponents who say laws limiting anti-abortion demonstrations near clinics violate their First Amendment rights.

Trump's time in the White House runs out in:

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