Thank you!

I just wanted to take a few seconds on this Memorial Day weekend to wish every single military man or woman who has served and protected our country, a hearty, "Thanks and God Bless You"! My dad served in the United States Air Force and we are honoring him by placing a flag on his grave today. It seems like such a simple thing, to place a flag somewhere and say, "thank you" but it is an act that must suffice because there aren't words that go deep enough to express how much our freedom means to us.


The last verse of, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" says, "As He (Christ) died to make men holy, let us die to make men free"...and that's what our armed services have done since the founding of this great land. Freedom has an incredible price tag but the world still longs for such freedom.


I pray for protection and God's blessing on every soldier today, tomorrow and until they all come home, safely. Happy Memorial Day and God Bless America!

Marriage

It should come as no surprise that California's High Court struck down the gay marriage ban. More than 60% of Californians said they wanted marriage defined as between one man and one woman, but the appointed judges knew better. It's interesting to listen and watch the nation wide outrage at, yet another, "legislative" act decided by appointed judges, ruling from the bench. After all, the majority of voters in California have spoken, yet the mighty Supreme Court Justices showed those voters a thing or two.

Back home again in Indiana, we know what the Californians are going through. Every poll ever taken on the subject shows that nearly 70% of Hoosiers believe that marriage should be defined as between one man and one woman. Yet, in the last Indiana legislative session, it took only ONE man to stand between what the majority of Hoosiers wanted and the will of the people. House Speaker, Pat Bauer, decided that he, alone, would kill any chance for Indiana to have a Constitutional Amendment protecting marriage. The only difference between what happened there and here is how many people it took to defeat the will of the people.

What is "change"?

It's been fascinating to watch and listen to the Presidential candidates talk about "change". Barack Obama is basing his entire campaign on "change". I'm not sure if he's talking about "change" for the sake of "change" or what, because he's never really spelled out what exactly he would do to "change" anything in this country.

But, it's equally interesting to read the editorials of several newspapers around Indiana. In Northern Indiana, the newspaper tone has been instructing it's faithful readers to "embrace change" and to vote against Hoosier incumbents in November. Is that "change" for the sake of "change"? As a legislator, I've been involved in helping move Indiana forward in many areas. Indiana now leads the Midwest in job creation, we have our own "Big 3" auto makers, employing thousands of Hoosiers. Our State has gone from bankrupt to having a cash balance on hand. We went from one of the worst child abuse States to one of the best in child protection. These "changes" weren't easy.

In fact, many Hoosiers say the "changes" in Indiana have been too many and too quick. Yet, on Tuesday millions of Hoosiers voted for "change" at the national level. If, in Indiana, "change" has meant to make government smaller, create jobs, get tough on child abuse and reform an archaic tax system...and it hasn't been popular...what are Hoosiers voting for that will be popular?

The only logical answer is that there is a ground swell of Hoosiers that have decided they want what the Presidential candidates are promising: bigger government with lots of new entitlement programs; higher taxes on hard working, middle class Hoosiers; escalating gas and food prices; socialized medicine which devalues quality care; all delivered with a huge smile that says, "you asked for it...you got it"!

Election Day!

Thank God, it's Election Day! You're thinking, "Amen!” right? No, I'm serious! Voting is an exercise of freedom and we're not only a free nation but a free people. I do thank God not only for our freedom but also for our liberty!

There isn't a nation on the face of the earth like America and tonight no matter the outcome, Hoosier Americans have spoken! It doesn't mean we'll all be happy with the outcome, but it does mean an end to those annoying political TV ads! I'm a political junkie and even I am tired of them and completely tuning them out!

In the good old days, political TV ads used to be like the Super Bowl Ads...I couldn't wait to see them, I'd watch for the commercials during regular TV programming. Tonight, I will be celebrating an end to the Hillary vs. Obama rhetoric and thanking God that when the sun comes up tomorrow morning, the real campaign begins!!